Photo Package(s) - NCL - Star

- Does anyone have information on the prices for the photo's taken by the photographers

on the NCL - Star?

- Do they have a CD Package - if so, what is the cost?

- Cost separately for each?

in all my years of cruising, i TOO would like to know the answer to the CD question. my last cruise on the GEM (May 2011), i tried to ask the photography folks if there is a price for "all photos taken" on CD only...i don't really need the prints.

I was told:

- i have to buy the prints

- then if i want the CD i need to pay a "licensing fee". (i'm sorry, but i forgot the price they were quoting). roughly i think it was $10 per photo.

i'm still amazed by this. for all those that claim that NCL (or any other brand) nickel and dimes, this is a good area to feel this way. (based on this recent sailing AND past sailings) I don't see why they have to print all the photos anyway. i have said in past threads that this is a waste of materials...but i know that displaying all the photos is part of the "cruise experience" (as well as marketing). but in the end...how much is wasted.

yes. these are NCL vendors and they need to make money. that's fine.

yes. the prices are scaled up. i'm fine with this also.

but my goodness, i was asking the senior photographer (assuming he was the one in charge), why we couldn't strike a deal with a CD. to buy the prints AND pay for their licenses. surely they aren't this naive to think these photos cannot be scanned (and i have a pretty decent scanner at home). i was offering $150 for all photos taken of my DW and I.

so EFF them! i bought the photos i wanted. we bought about 4 photos (or whatever the special was)...and scanned them. they could save money on needless prints and charge for an all inclusive CD.

FOR THE NCL SUGGESTION BOX: have an all inclusive CD pkg you can opt to buy. photographers can enter cabin number before they take photos and compile them on a CD for 1 price. surely there is software to help manage this process. and let's make it reasonably priced where everyone wins. NCL makes money. Vendor makes money. Passenger is happy.

My wife & I have NEVER bought an onboard photo.

but if there were a CD offering as Zone suggests, we quite possible would make that a regular part of our cruise experience.

At the prices they charge, they should be arrested. I have never bought a cruise photo in 15 cruises because of the prices they charge.

in all my years of cruising, i TOO would like to know the answer to the CD question. my last cruise on the GEM (May 2011), i tried to ask the photography folks if there is a price for "all photos taken" on CD only...i don't really need the prints.

 

I was told:

- i have to buy the prints

- then if i want the CD i need to pay a "licensing fee". (i'm sorry, but i forgot the price they were quoting). roughly i think it was $10 per photo.

 

i'm still amazed by this. for all those that claim that NCL (or any other brand) nickel and dimes, this is a good area to feel this way. (based on this recent sailing AND past sailings) I don't see why they have to print all the photos anyway. i have said in past threads that this is a waste of materials...but i know that displaying all the photos is part of the "cruise experience" (as well as marketing). but in the end...how much is wasted.

 

yes. these are NCL vendors and they need to make money. that's fine.

yes. the prices are scaled up. i'm fine with this also.

 

but my goodness, i was asking the senior photographer (assuming he was the one in charge), why we couldn't strike a deal with a CD. to buy the prints AND pay for their licenses. surely they aren't this naive to think these photos cannot be scanned (and i have a pretty decent scanner at home). i was offering $150 for all photos taken of my DW and I.

 

so EFF them! i bought the photos i wanted. we bought about 4 photos (or whatever the special was)...and scanned them. they could save money on needless prints and charge for an all inclusive CD.

 

FOR THE NCL SUGGESTION BOX: have an all inclusive CD pkg you can opt to buy. photographers can enter cabin number before they take photos and compile them on a CD for 1 price. surely there is software to help manage this process. and let's make it reasonably priced where everyone wins. NCL makes money. Vendor makes money. Passenger is happy.

When my wife and where on NCL Epic last year, they had a photo package, ( not sure the price ) and thought this was fleet wide for NCL. Guess it veries from ship to ship. The only thing I can think is this might have been a special deal the photographer's did for the Epic as it was still the it's inaugural year of sailing. We did purchase the CD package.

- The precedents has been set for the photo CD from the Epic and hopefully it can be

put fleet wide for those of us that do purchase more than 4 or 5 photos. (IMHO)

When my wife and where on NCL Epic last year, they had a photo package, ( not sure the price ) and thought this was fleet wide for NCL. Guess it veries from ship to ship. The only thing I can think is this might have been a special deal the photographer's did for the Epic as it was still the it's inaugural year of sailing. We did purchase the CD package.

 

- The precedents has been set for the photo CD from the Epic and hopefully it can be

put fleet wide for those of us that do purchase more than 4 or 5 photos. (IMHO)

i did not add this other piece of information (mainly because i think it's not a great idea). again, on the Gem in May, there was an advertisement where you can schedule "studio" time. basically it's just like going into Target, WalMart, Sears, etc...and have photos taken. i'm not sure how good of a service this is...but clearly the photo vendor is trying a new angle on making money (again, this is fine).

and yes...hopefully, a precedence has been set from the EPIC. i repeat, i can't possibly be the only one that has asked "so what do they do with all the photos that aren't purchased?" obviously they get disposed of...and to me that is waste.

technology has advanced in photography. we aren't dealing with film anymore...so we are being "greener" there. time to work on the photo aspect.

 

technology has advanced in photography. we aren't dealing with film anymore...so we are being "greener" there. time to work on the photo aspect.

I agree 100%. When on the Dream last year I was very happy to see that CCL had installed touch screen viewing stations for photographs. Not all photographs taken had been printed but you could find them by scanning your S&S car. My only qualm was that the facial recognition software could use an upgrade. We got all of our pictures but kept getting photographs of a lady who looked similar to me. I kept discarding them with the "not me" feature--I just hope she got her pictures!!

I agree 100%. When on the Dream last year I was very happy to see that CCL had installed touch screen viewing stations for photographs. Not all photographs taken had been printed but you could find them by scanning your S&S car. My only qualm was that the facial recognition software could use an upgrade. We got all of our pictures but kept getting photographs of a lady who looked similar to me. I kept discarding them with the "not me" feature--I just hope she got her pictures!!

perhaps a distant relative? :D

adding to your comment, i had this discussion with a friend of mine about 3 years ago (not that others didn't have this discussion). i was thinking about having touchscreen kiosks throughout the ship. i'm not sure how i would define "throughout", but the idea is have stations where people can take some time to view. then have a "shopping cart" to dump photos into. heck, we are all given a shipboard email address...you KNOW they can do something to update the whole photography process.

furthermore...photos should be accessible for 60 days, post-cruise to allow people to buy them. some people might not have the money right away to buy these memories. giving them a 60 day window would be a good way to increase revenue.

geez...sometimes i feel like i'm the only one thinking out of the photobox. :D

Cruise photo separately are about $20 for 8x10's and $15.00 for 5x7's.

The embarkation and captain photos come in 8x10. Port photos are 5x7. I think restaurant photos are 5x7 as well. Not sure about the Atrium photo sizes.

As for the prices and nickel and diming mentioned. The prices of NCL photos are equivalent or less than I have purchased elsewhere, Disneyworld, Vegas and numerous other tourist attractions. So they are pretty well on par to everywhere else you would get that type of photo.

I could be wrong but I thought that the photo studio was actually run by a private company contracted with NCL like the Spa. I didn't think NCL actually ran their own photo studio.

Cruise photo separately are about $20 for 8x10's and $15.00 for 5x7's.

The embarkation and captain photos come in 8x10. Port photos are 5x7. I think restaurant photos are 5x7 as well. Not sure about the Atrium photo sizes.

 

ahhh...i forget the prices. thank you.

 

As for the prices and nickel and diming mentioned. The prices of NCL photos are equivalent or less than I have purchased elsewhere, Disneyworld, Vegas and numerous other tourist attractions. So they are pretty well on par to everywhere else you would get that type of photo.

 

again, i brought up the phrase "nickel and dime" because this is an area that can definitely be perceived by many. i, personally, only have an issue with waste of printing the photos. they need to update the whole entire process. a good start would be a CD ONLY package.

 

I could be wrong but I thought that the photo studio was actually run by a private company contracted with NCL like the Spa. I didn't think NCL actually ran their own photo studio.

 

yep...it has been established in the thread. :)

Thanks for the input!

again, i brought up the phrase "nickel and dime" because this is an area that can definitely be perceived by many. i, personally, only have an issue with waste of printing the photos. they need to update the whole entire process. a good start would be a CD ONLY package.

 

I could be wrong but I thought that the photo studio was actually run by a private company contracted with NCL like the Spa. I didn't think NCL actually ran their own photo studio.

 

yep...it has been established in the thread.

Thanks for the input!

I agree it could be perceived as that. I guess I just never feel any pressure to do, buy or pay for anything I don't want. I'm a little "independent" that way. :eek: :D

Yes I think the Kiosk idea is a lot less waste, I'm sure they are just trying it out on the Epic to see if they sell as many that way as the photo already printed. I thought the Epic you could also view them on the TV screen as well. The rest of the fleet is not up to that technology yet.

Sorry I guess I missed the post that stated this was independent.

This is a very interesting thread. The "mouse" has a very good system set up in Disneyworld. I don't know why the cruise lines couldn't take notes from them.

On a different note, a friend of mine sailed on a RCCL ship for a trans-atlantic and they did offer a "package" deal. Basically, it was $150.00 for all the pictures you wanted. He said he had never seen so many people buying pictures.

Now that is a good marketing strategy. The pictures are already printed anyway, you might as well sell them for whatever you can get for them.