Skip Boarding photo

[sail-a-bration]

In Seattle, is it possible to skip past the photographer who takes that first boarding shot, not the one for your ID card but the first photo as you are boarding. In Mobile, people were in this long line before getting on the ship, and it turned out to be the photograher taking family boarding shots. I managed to get out a side door and by pass the crowd. They take your picture so much at sea, I do not need to stand in line to have it done.

[dutch46]

In Seattle, is it possible to skip past the photographer who takes that first boarding shot, not the one for your ID card but the first photo as you are boarding. In Mobile, people were in this long line before getting on the ship, and it turned out to be the photograher taking family boarding shots. I managed to get out a side door and by pass the crowd. They take your picture so much at sea, I do not need to stand in line to have it done.

 

It is always possible to skip by the photo op. It is very much a voluntary thing. DW and I have skipped them for the past several cruises and also decline the ones in the dining room. Don't feel like you are obliged to have a photo taken. After all, who paid for the cruise?

[NHCruisr]

We just smile and say "no, thank you" and continue on with boarding. We do the same thing in the dining room. We have many, many pictures of ourselves on ships - sometimes the same ships and sometimes even the same clothes. Why would we need more?

[mindydaile]

We (along with several people behind us) tried to slide past the line when boarding the Zuiderdam last Feb. as none of us wanted to pose for the photographer (and would never consider buying the "official" photos anyway!) and were treated extremely rudely by the "photographer's assistant" who was guiding people into the photographs. She would not let us pass until one of the more strong willed members of our group was practically shouting that they could not force him to pose for a photograph other than the one on his ID card.

 

I know the photos are a source of revenue for the cruiseline, but if I"m not going to buy them, why force me to get it taken?

[pengu1n]

I just tell them, "Oh, you already got us!" and don't mention it was on a cruise about 5 years ago!

[jtl513]

I don't understand why the photographers think that people who don't want the picture taken would ever buy them anyway! :confused: :confused: It's like people who think I'll buy something online from them if they're "clever" enough to get by my spam blocker!! :eek:

[cusyl]

We just tell them we aren't married to each other and don't want any pictures taken on the cruise and walk right past them.:D :D

[Old As Dirt Mom]

In my experience, a smile and a "no, thank you" is a sufficient deterrent to the photographers, as NHCruisr mentioned above. I understand that HAL has started contracting with a different photography company on their cruises just in the last few months. Has anyone found their services to be an improvement over the previous company HAL used?

[grsnovi]

...Has anyone found their services to be an improvement over the previous company HAL used?

 

We had no problem skipping the embarkation photo when we went to Mexico. As to the new photographers? Other than the fact that they are doing multiple prints per page as standard and the pricing is different, I don't think the quality is any better/worse.

 

The trick with getting a photo (portrait) that you like is simply numbers - the more you take, the more likely you are to like one. My philosophy is: let them take/print all they want.

 

One thing that I just noticed/realized is that the (supposed) 8 x 10 is really not when you figure in the border they automatically print around the actual photo. I wonder if doing so somehow saves them any money? I'm not sure how it could - they're all printed on the same paper and processed the same.

[mikjr]

We have many, many pictures of ourselves on ships - sometimes the same ships and sometimes even the same clothes. Why would we need more?

 

But gee... isn't fun to see yourself over the years... getting older... a little grayer... and a little heavier... and... oh well... maybe you're right! :D

[Typhoon1]

Just walk right around the line. We never bother with the photo line.

[DesertDogs]

We were able to skip the boarding photo last cruise because we were the first two passengers to board the ship and the photographers were still setting up, so we just walked right past them and on the ship at 1135. Earliest boarding we ever had and the first time we were first on the ship. Usually the wheelchair passengers go first but they had to take and elevator that was not working so we were able to walk on first. :D

[cecilterwiliger]

I've only had problems once, and believe it or not, it was on our first cruise (not HAL). We had flown on a red-eye across the country and hadn't slept at all. then we were driven around NYC because the ship wasn't ready. As we started to board (looking like heck) we politely refused. The photographer was really insistent and in what he considered a joke, said that they needed the photos in case the ship went down and they needed to ID the bodies. Nice. This was an older ship, so it really wasn't humorous, especially for first time cruisers.

 

Since then, we've just given a polite "no thank you" and never had any problems. I did seek out a photographer on a European Cruise on the Carnival Liberty on one of its first cruises. I'm a photographer and I couldn't believe the quality on display. On formal night they had all of the photographers set up and you could choose. My son was graduating from college the next year and the photos weren't that great and REALLY expensive. The shots we got were fantastic. She even shot different types for different uses and at her suggestion, shot one suitable for a resumé.

 

Oh, the first cruise, they actually had dancing girls in the shot with you!

[jrzebird]

Our first HAL cruise, in 2007, we had our photo taken when we boarded, because it was set up as you went through the door to board and hard to escape. In January 2008, they had a separate area where those who wanted a photo could wait, and another line that just took you directly to the ship. No pressure, no guilt. These were the new photographers. I found them to be less intrusive this year. In fact, sometimes you coudn't find them!

[Bill S]

We always skip the embarkation photogs, and it was not a problem doing so when we boarded the Amsterdam in Seattle two weeks ago. We do the smiling, no thank you, method.

As another alternative, just say that you are in the witness protection program--that seems to work very well, too! ;)

[JLC@SD]

.........this works......:D

 

[Jade13]

It is the only photo we have ever bought on a ship. PS., the HAL embarkation photo was a lot nicer than Celebrity. It included a photo of the ship (vs a sign with the name), and pics of the some pf the ports to be visited. I had some OBC's and had to figure what to do with them.

[SweetpeaOne]

Every picture they take is more $$$$ for them. On our first cruise last year we thought we had to stand to in and have the photos taken. Then we just started walking right by.......

[whogo]

A polite "no thank you" does not help when the photographers have the gangway blocked full of passengers. I once shouted, "Passengers who want their photos taken stay to the right. All others to the left." It worked.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We haven't had our picture taken in years as we board the ship. Once we are called, we just walk behind them and move onto the ship.

[pipedreams62]

But there's always the option of just "Going With The Flow" they're ship photographers simply taking your photo,they're not paparazzi.

[jzygail]

I don't think I even remember a boarding photo when we boarded the Maasdam.

 

Then again, it *was* more than 5 minutes ago, so take that memory for what it's worth :D

[Nutrioso]

Tell them your in the witness protection program and any photo could get you killed.

[mamaofami]

I can't imagine that anyone would agree to be forced to have their picture taken if they don't want to. Just saying, "no thanks," and walking past should be enough, IMO.

[airlink diva]

Last year on the Maasdam, I was given a choice to take my photo. This was the first time in all of my sailings that I was asked.

I only purchased my photos from the very first cruise I sailed on (hey I didn't know better, I was a newbie :D :D !!). Since then, I take the photo, but never buy them. They are lucky to even see me in the photo area of the ship.

The same goes for the port cities. The majority of the time I say "no thanks" and keep walking.

Happy sailing!!