Carnival Brides-Photography

[IslandBride102012]

I'm sure this has been asked before but I know a lot of you recently got back...
How much did you spend on pictures?? Did your photographer put together a special package or did they follow the package list Carnival provides? If they put together a package for you, how much did they price it at? Can you negotiate?
I have heard that most of the photographers do not use the price list.
With only 126 days left...I feel like I need to completely solidify my budget!
Thanks for the help

[ampaisley]

I just read another review where she said her in-laws had spent $2600 on pictures but they got lots and lots of options.

That seems so pricy to me and I want to make sure I am budgeting properly to get the great shots that I want and not to waste a bunch of money.

Apparently it's not so easy to take your own photographer on board...

I too am looking for anyone else that has concrete numbers for what they paid and what they got on their Carnival Wedding Cruise.

Thanks

[cascole]

Here's the photo price list for Carnival... maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but might be some help.

[cruiseonthebrain]

We didn't budget nearly enough for pictures- mostly because they turned out better than we expected. We ended up buying the coffee table book for $1500. That included the awesome book (yes we have looked at it a ton since then so well worth the money) and that included a disc with every picture in the book and the rights to reprint those pictures on their own. I know they are not really supposed to do this, but I was so bummed at losing all the other pictures that the photographer included those on the CD too!! So for $1500 we got the book and a disc with every single picture. It was a lot, but I actually felt like we got a pretty good deal.

[Herbaltees]

Originally Posted by cruiseonthebrain

We didn't budget nearly enough for pictures- mostly because they turned out better than we expected. We ended up buying the coffee table book for $1500. That included the awesome book (yes we have looked at it a ton since then so well worth the money) and that included a disc with every picture in the book and the rights to reprint those pictures on their own. I know they are not really supposed to do this, but I was so bummed at losing all the other pictures that the photographer included those on the CD too!! So for $1500 we got the book and a disc with every single picture. It was a lot, but I actually felt like we got a pretty good deal.

Can you negotiate what goes in the book? Or do have to purchase what the photographer selected and put in the book?

[NikNik1505]

Originally Posted by ampaisley

I just read another review where she said her in-laws had spent $2600 on pictures but they got lots and lots of options.

That seems so pricy to me and I want to make sure I am budgeting properly to get the great shots that I want and not to waste a bunch of money.

Apparently it's not so easy to take your own photographer on board...

I too am looking for anyone else that has concrete numbers for what they paid and what they got on their Carnival Wedding Cruise.

Thanks

It isn't that hard to take your own photographer on board. You will get some side eye from the coordinator and have to fill out a form, but it's not difficult. My guy even used his own lighting and wasn't given any grief for it.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Originally Posted by Herbaltees

Can you negotiate what goes in the book? Or do have to purchase what the photographer selected and put in the book?

The book was put together (but not permanently pressed) when we saw it. I had the impression that we could have requested changes, but our photographer was so talented that I couldn't have imagined changing a thing. Especially when he agreed to put all of the photos on the disc for us. I had no idea about the books and I was adamant we weren't going to buy it (in my own head, not out loud). Then we opened it and my DH and I both had tears in our eyes. I think pretty much everything is negotiable so if the photographer doesn't include something you want or has a picture in there you don't want they should be able to change things even if it mean re-printing the shots. I had the feeling our guy just wanted to make sure we were absolutely pleased with everything. If you think you may want changes, make sure to schedule your viewing as early as possible. Happy planning!

[flgatormom29]

My pictures were AMAZING. I budgeted for the $1500 package and after seeing everything I couldn't leave ANYTHING. I got the whole deal (every picture printed out, 2 canvases, 2 CDs, a DVD and a professional coffee table book) and he threw in 2 free canvases, all my carnival pictures from around the ship and 3 photo books. Then he dropped the price about $700.... I almost doubled my budget, but don't regret it at all! I know if I had walked away from any of those pictures, THAT would have been my biggest regret of the entire wedding!

Good luck ladies!!! I hope you enjoy your day!!!

[Carnival_Brides]

Originally Posted by Herbaltees

Can you negotiate what goes in the book? Or do have to purchase what the photographer selected and put in the book?

We just got off of our vacation on the Glory and met with the wedding photographer, who did engagement pictures for us. He showed us his 12x12 and 8x8 sample books and said that it's easy to change things out. They were gorgeous, but we'll probably buy the images and place them in a traditional matted photo album.

[IslandBride102012]

Thanks for all the information ladies! Did anyone provide a list to the photographer so you got the shots you wanted?? What did your list consist of??

[cruiseonthebrain]

Originally Posted by IslandBride102012

Thanks for all the information ladies! Did anyone provide a list to the photographer so you got the shots you wanted?? What did your list consist of??

Honestly, I thought about a list. But I would have been sorry if I had one. Our photographer knew the ship and the lighting better than we ever could have. We enjoyed his professionalism and creativity and would have been sorry if we dictated any part of the process to him.

By the way, did you know on Carnival you can make an appointment with photo services on a non-wedding day to have a photographer take pictures of you around the ship or on shore for no cost- I'm pretty sure you just pay for the photos. I really wish I had known this- I would have loved professional quality honeymoon photos.

[Carnival_Brides]

Originally Posted by cruiseonthebrain

By the way, did you know on Carnival you can make an appointment with photo services on a non-wedding day to have a photographer take pictures of you around the ship or on shore for no cost- I'm pretty sure you just pay for the photos. I really wish I had known this- I would have loved professional quality honeymoon photos.

We did that for the engagement pictures. They charged us the going 8x10 rate, which was $22, so it's the same as the staged backdrop photos.

[Herbaltees]

Originally Posted by cruiseonthebrain

Honestly, I thought about a list. But I would have been sorry if I had one. Our photographer knew the ship and the lighting better than we ever could have. We enjoyed his professionalism and creativity and would have been sorry if we dictated any part of the process to him.

By the way, did you know on Carnival you can make an appointment with photo services on a non-wedding day to have a photographer take pictures of you around the ship or on shore for no cost- I'm pretty sure you just pay for the photos. I really wish I had known this- I would have loved professional quality honeymoon photos.

And this will be shown to you as part of your wedding package of photos?

[OhMyGosh]

I was very happy with my wedding photos from Carnival. I got the $749 package which included 25 8x10's, 18 5x7's, 1 canvas 16x20, and a disk of all the pictures. I have been able to print whatever I want from the disk and they look great.

I did not have a list of pictures I wanted and didn't need it. The photographer knew the ship well and knew exactly what he was doing.

It did break our heart that they just throw all the other pictures away (there was a ton of them!). My mother-in-law tried to negociate with him to get the rest of the pictures for $1000 but had no luck.

The "coffe table" book was soooo awesome but that would have cost $1600 on top of the $749 and we were not willing to spend that.

Don't stress about pictures. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they are. Just budget for the $749 or $999 package and you will be fine!

[cruiseonthebrain]

Originally Posted by Herbaltees

And this will be shown to you as part of your wedding package of photos?

I wish I knew the answer. I didn't know this was an option until the end of the cruise so we didn't get to do it. Check with the photography department .

[jul1221]

Our pictures came to $2300. I figured we'd spend around $1500, but when HB saw the coffee table book ($1600) he was sold. We made a few changes to it, but for the most part everything was beautiful. We also got 15 8x10, and 26 5x7's along with 2 disc's of pictures. He took over 1000 and it was so hard to edit. If we took everything it would have been $5k.

[jeschwartz82]

do the disks in the lower priced packages include ALL pictures taken, or just all pictures purchased in a digital form?

[jul1221]

The disc's include all the pictures purchased. Our disc's included all of the 8x10's, 5x7's, all pics in the book and a few that he just decided to throw in. One disc is a slideshow and 1 is single format so that we can print our own pictures.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Originally Posted by jeschwartz82

do the disks in the lower priced packages include ALL pictures taken, or just all pictures purchased in a digital form?

We were told that the disc would only have the pictures purchased. Because we bought the book our photographer took pity on us and put all of the pictures on the disc.