New Photo Packages

[melmar02]

It looks like they have changed up the photo packages a little in the Cruise Planner. All Digital option is no longer listed, but there is a 100 Print or Digital option that wasn't there before. @Matt have you heard if the unlimited photo package is gone for good?

[Lovetocruise2002]

About a month ago, we debated over purchasing the "All digital" photo package for $119 for our cruise in December (that may or may not happen).  I am so thankful we bought it.  Crazy jump in price and not unlimited anymore!

[SpeedNoodles]

I can't imagine having the time to have 100 taken in the first place.  To me that's basically unlimited, lol (says the woman who runs from any camera pointed at her, while  her husband passes her because he's running faster).

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I can't imagine having the time to have 100 taken in the first place.

Same, but that price jump is ridiculous!

[Andrew72681]

2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I can't imagine having the time to have 100 taken in the first place.  To me that's basically unlimited, lol (says the woman who runs from any camera pointed at her, while  her husband passes her because he's running faster).

Ah, as with a nothing run it to the craziest possible solution, which is this November we have 7 of us in an Aquatheatre suite, 5 girls, 2 guys. And of those girls three are between 9-14. I’d bet they get at least 100 photos each. And the best part of that package is that it was for everyone in the room. 

[Andrew72681]

Do we know if the same “one room per package” still exists? Or now if I’ve paid for 100 photos could I include other rooms photos. Could be a great one for group cruises if it works like that now. 

[CJS2766]

Get ready for the new normal! I fully expect RCI to make money ANY way they can. Hopefully some of these "tactics" backfire on them and they will get back to reasonable pricing. I understand that they need to generate revenue, but it's sad to see that you almost have to pay for every little thing. Just hope they don't start to charge you to use the restrooms!

[Andrew72681]

2 hours ago, CJS2766 said:

Get ready for the new normal! I fully expect RCI to make money ANY way they can. Hopefully some of these "tactics" backfire on them and they will get back to reasonable pricing. I understand that they need to generate revenue, but it's sad to see that you almost have to pay for every little thing. Just hope they don't start to charge you to use the restrooms!

It’s just like with airlines, one of them jumps first at a customer unfriendly change, and if it floats they all jump after.  Just look at the gratuity increases, as soon as one changes, they all follow. 

[Jax]

8 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

About a month ago, we debated over purchasing the "All digital" photo package for $119 for our cruise in December (that may or may not happen).  I am so thankful we bought it.  Crazy jump in price and not unlimited anymore!

Good for you! That’s a great deal.  I just checked my cruise planner and the unlimited digital package is not available We actually exceed 100 photos so selecting 100 may be painful. LOL Who knows, maybe it will be offered again before our cruise.  

[USCG Teacher]

45 minutes ago, Jax said:

We actually exceed 100 photos so selecting 100 may be painful.

I have to ask a question, and it is going to sound like I'm being flippant, but I swear I'm genuinely interested. How did you manage to take more than 100 photos? Was it longer than a 7 day cruise?  Were you part of a really large group? That's more than 14 pictures a day with the photographers for a week. It's been a long time since I've been on a cruise ship, so I'm seriously floored by the logistics of that! Are there more photographers than there used to be? More candid opportunities throughout the ship. Again, sorry if it seems like I'm banging on here, but I am a photo guy, I even used to manage a photo lab back in my college days, and I figured a 20 picture package would do me just fine. Maybe I need to rethink that.

[Marlena]

1 hour ago, USCG Teacher said:

I have to ask a question, and it is going to sound like I'm being flippant, but I swear I'm genuinely interested. How did you manage to take more than 100 photos? Was it longer than a 7 day cruise?  Were you part of a really large group? That's more than 14 pictures a day with the photographers for a week. It's been a long time since I've been on a cruise ship, so I'm seriously floored by the logistics of that! Are there more photographers than there used to be? More candid opportunities throughout the ship. Again, sorry if it seems like I'm banging on here, but I am a photo guy, I even used to manage a photo lab back in my college days, and I figured a 20 picture package would do me just fine. Maybe I need to rethink that.

We didnt find it that hard to have so many photos taken of us actually. They were always around the pool, lots of kind of theme photos when you get off the ship, some posed family pics before dinner and they always came to our table at dinner. Pic of 3 of us individually, then of us as a family. It added up! It helps I have a super adorable young daughter! Lol

[Matt]

19 hours ago, melmar02 said:

@Matt have you heard if the unlimited photo package is gone for good?

I haven't heard one way or the other.

Offerings do change, so it looks like they revamped what they had.

I wonder if perhaps they changed companies?

[Jax]

11 hours ago, USCG Teacher said:

I have to ask a question, and it is going to sound like I'm being flippant, but I swear I'm genuinely interested. How did you manage to take more than 100 photos? Was it longer than a 7 day cruise?  Were you part of a really large group? That's more than 14 pictures a day with the photographers for a week. It's been a long time since I've been on a cruise ship, so I'm seriously floored by the logistics of that! Are there more photographers than there used to be? More candid opportunities throughout the ship. Again, sorry if it seems like I'm banging on here, but I am a photo guy, I even used to manage a photo lab back in my college days, and I figured a 20 picture package would do me just fine. Maybe I need to rethink that.

I am always surprised at how quickly photos add up!  We get pictures done before supper against several different backdrops, at embarkation, Coco Cay, Labadee, at specialty dining restaurants each night, casual ones throughout ship and during on-board activities like Ifly and Wave Rider. The photographers try to change up the poses......some with all of us, then some with hubby and I, some separately with our son and then solos of our son. We  Disney and always get the Disney photo pass package so I think we are well trained to spot photo opportunities on board!  LOL We love looking back at the great memories.

[Pima1988]

22 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

 (says the woman who runs from any camera pointed at her, while  her husband passes her because he's running faster).

ROFL thinking that same thing!  

I swear my husband and I can do the 50 yard dash faster while serpentining to avoid the photogs in our 50s than in our 20s.  

We have purchased 3 pictures in total from all of our cruises. 1 on our Italy cruise,  because it was Italy back drop .  1 on our Sydney,  because, well, it was Sydney as a backdrop.  1 on Anthem because it was with all of my cousins.  

I can see why people buy the package, but I am someone that likes informal, spur of the moment pics more than posed/positioned pics.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

We have never EVER purchased a photograph from Royal.  2 years ago, on the last Christmas +NY cruise that they ran on Grandeur, we got 1 photo of us with Santa but it was free as a D+ perk.  We never get “Welcome Aboard” or any staged photo op.

[Pima1988]

11 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We never get “Welcome Aboard” or any staged photo op.

I absolutely hate that photo op.  It makes me feel "pressured" to buy a product before I even get on the ship.

I  feel like they should just let me walk by it without them asking.  If I want it, I will approach you, otherwise leave me alone.  Be real, it is not like you can't see it there!

 

[Marlena]

I'm assuming this is only for new bookings? They cant retract the all digital we bought? 

If they couldnt fight the 18$ glitch I'd be surprised if they can take away our all digital packages.

[RCIfan1912]

58 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We have never EVER purchased a photograph from Royal.  2 years ago, on the last Christmas +NY cruise that they ran on Grandeur, we got 1 photo of us with Santa but it was free as a D+ perk.  We never get “Welcome Aboard” or any staged photo op.

We have phones with awesome cameras in them, no need to buy photos from Royal, I agree with you. 

[melmar02]

17 hours ago, USCG Teacher said:

I have to ask a question, and it is going to sound like I'm being flippant, but I swear I'm genuinely interested. How did you manage to take more than 100 photos? Was it longer than a 7 day cruise?  Were you part of a really large group? That's more than 14 pictures a day with the photographers for a week. It's been a long time since I've been on a cruise ship, so I'm seriously floored by the logistics of that! Are there more photographers than there used to be? More candid opportunities throughout the ship. Again, sorry if it seems like I'm banging on here, but I am a photo guy, I even used to manage a photo lab back in my college days, and I figured a 20 picture package would do me just fine. Maybe I need to rethink that.

I could see how it may be a challenge for a small family of 2-3. Royal's photographer's took 110 photos of my family of 4 on our 7 day on Liberty in September. Here's how we hit that:

10 welcome aboard photos at two backdrops, 5 at sailaway on the top deck, 12 at night one dinner in the MDR, 16 at a backdrop on formal night 1, 12 in the MDR on formal night 1, 21 on the dock at Roatan (we waited a long time for our excursion, so all the roaming photographers made their rounds to us), 11 on the dock at Cozumel, 10 in the MDR on formal night 2, 9 on the Promenade lighted bridge on formal night 2. 

It was really easy for us to hit 110, and we actually had a lot of other nights we missed the photo opportunities around the ship. We had not had family photos made in a couple years, so I knew we were going to take a lot, but I feel like I missed out on those other nights now that I'm going to be limited to just 100. 

We only had 35 taken of 5 of us on a 5 day on Enchantment, but there were 2 nights that were really rocky so we skipped dinner (and photos) those nights.

 

[USCG Teacher]

6 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

I could see how it may be a challenge for a small family of 2-3. Royal's photographer's took 110 photos of my family of 4 on our 7 day on Liberty in September. Here's how we hit that:

10 welcome aboard photos at two backdrops, 5 at sailaway on the top deck, 12 at night one dinner in the MDR, 16 at a backdrop on formal night 1, 12 in the MDR on formal night 1, 21 on the dock at Roatan (we waited a long time for our excursion, so all the roaming photographers made their rounds to us), 11 on the dock at Cozumel, 10 in the MDR on formal night 2, 9 on the Promenade lighted bridge on formal night 2. 

It was really easy for us to hit 110, and we actually had a lot of other nights we missed the photo opportunities around the ship. We had not had family photos made in a couple years, so I knew we were going to take a lot, but I feel like I missed out on those other nights now that I'm going to be limited to just 100. 

We only had 35 taken of 5 of us on a 5 day on Enchantment, but there were 2 nights that were really rocky so we skipped dinner (and photos) those nights.

 

Gotcha.  I think part of this here is a fundamental difference not just in whether or not to use the professionals, but how one utilizes the shots.  In your exact 110 shot scenario, I would've ended up with 10 pictures: my favorite shot from each of the backdrops, my favorite sail away shot, my favorite shot from MDR night #1, etc.  Between my time in photography and my wife's experience as a graphic designer, we're pretty good at narrowing down and agreeing on what we think are the best photos of the family.  I totally understand the mentality of wanting all the shots, it's just not how I operate personally.  Thank you for taking the time to break it down; the 100+ number is much easier for me to wrap my brain around when I think of it in terms of proofs, not "keepers."

[melmar02]

1 hour ago, USCG Teacher said:

Gotcha.  I think part of this here is a fundamental difference not just in whether or not to use the professionals, but how one utilizes the shots.  In your exact 110 shot scenario, I would've ended up with 10 pictures: my favorite shot from each of the backdrops, my favorite sail away shot, my favorite shot from MDR night #1, etc.  Between my time in photography and my wife's experience as a graphic designer, we're pretty good at narrowing down and agreeing on what we think are the best photos of the family.  I totally understand the mentality of wanting all the shots, it's just not how I operate personally.  Thank you for taking the time to break it down; the 100+ number is much easier for me to wrap my brain around when I think of it in terms of proofs, not "keepers."

Part of my problem is that I want all the proofs too. I want time to edit lighting at home, in addition to weed out those with eyes closed,  before I decide which is the best shot. I just don't feel like I have the time (or the desire) really evaluate them all onboard.