HAL Candid Photo Package...

First time on HAL. Westerdam to Alaska in May. Curious as to what exactly the Candid Photo Package is. How do they go about taking the pictures, how do they know who is who, and how do we find our pictures. I'm looking at the 5-10X7 prints for 62.00.

If someone has bought this package in the past, was it worth the money?

Thanks!:)

I've not pre-purchased a photo package but I'll try to answer your questions. Photos will be taken upon embarkation and upon disembarkation at every port. They will be taken at the table on formal nights (more formal portraits will also be taken on formal nights but they're not likely included in the package you're interested in), and they'll be taken at glacier viewing with you in the foreground and the glacier in the background.

You will find the photos in the Photo Gallery. You'll have to find your own pictures. Each section will be labelled like Ketchikan or first formal night early seating, etc. Once you choose your photos, you take them to the desk in the Photo Gallery.

I think they'll see on the computer system that you pre-purchased the package but I'm not sure about that.

What you can do is check every day or two to pick your photos, and have them hold them until the last full day. Then you can go through them all at once to decide which ones you want and which ones you don't want. Don't leave this until disembarkation day; it's very busy.

The photos onboard are quite expensive so you may do well to purchase the package in advance. Just know that candid is really candid. You will be dressed for your shorex, not for a formal portrait. That said, I have seen some good ones.

Enjoy your cruise!

On our Panama Canal Cruise 3 years ago, we bought the whole (all photos) package. I can't remember that we had to find our photos more than once - after that they used facial recognition software and kept all our photos in a folder (they may even have used our ID photo with the FR software from the start). At the end of the cruise, we just picked them up. It appeared every photo taken was in the folder. The only exception was group photos, e.g., formal night photo of everyone at our table. We had to find those and get one put aside before everyone else from the table/group found them and claimed them. That was 3 years ago - facial recognition software is even better now. If you buy a smaller package, it's in their best interest to collect all you photos in a folder and let you choose from the whole set at the end of the cruise because you might end up buying more.

On our Panama Canal Cruise 3 years ago, we bought the whole (all photos) package. I can't remember that we had to find our photos more than once - after that they used facial recognition software and kept all our photos in a folder (they may even have used our ID photo with the FR software from the start). At the end of the cruise, we just picked them up. It appeared every photo taken was in the folder. The only exception was group photos, e.g., formal night photo of everyone at our table. We had to find those and get one put aside before everyone else from the table/group found them and claimed them. That was 3 years ago - facial recognition software is even better now. If you buy a smaller package, it's in their best interest to collect all you photos in a folder and let you choose from the whole set at the end of the cruise because you might end up buying more.

Would you mind sharing what the cost was for the all pictures package?

I've not pre-purchased a photo package but I'll try to answer your questions. Photos will be taken upon embarkation and upon disembarkation at every port. They will be taken at the table on formal nights (more formal portraits will also be taken on formal nights but they're not likely included in the package you're interested in), and they'll be taken at glacier viewing with you in the foreground and the glacier in the background.

 

You will find the photos in the Photo Gallery. You'll have to find your own pictures. Each section will be labelled like Ketchikan or first formal night early seating, etc. Once you choose your photos, you take them to the desk in the Photo Gallery.

 

I think they'll see on the computer system that you pre-purchased the package but I'm not sure about that.

 

What you can do is check every day or two to pick your photos, and have them hold them until the last full day. Then you can go through them all at once to decide which ones you want and which ones you don't want. Don't leave this until disembarkation day; it's very busy.

 

The photos onboard are quite expensive so you may do well to purchase the package in advance. Just know that candid is really candid. You will be dressed for your shorex, not for a formal portrait. That said, I have seen some good ones.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for the information. I will purchase this package. Of all the pictures they will take I'm sure I'll find at least 5 I must have.

On our Panama Canal Cruise 3 years ago, we bought the whole (all photos) package. I can't remember that we had to find our photos more than once - after that they used facial recognition software and kept all our photos in a folder (they may even have used our ID photo with the FR software from the start). At the end of the cruise, we just picked them up. It appeared every photo taken was in the folder. The only exception was group photos, e.g., formal night photo of everyone at our table. We had to find those and get one put aside before everyone else from the table/group found them and claimed them. That was 3 years ago - facial recognition software is even better now. If you buy a smaller package, it's in their best interest to collect all you photos in a folder and let you choose from the whole set at the end of the cruise because you might end up buying more.

I didn't even think about facial recognition. Sure would make things easier with so many people on the ship. I've decided to purchase the package. I assume we can go and look at the pictures several times during the cruise. Will take your advice about claiming one of the formal night photos as soon as they are available. Thanks for the information.

Would you mind sharing what the cost was for the all pictures package?

This was a B2B cruise, 2 weeks each segment so 4 weeks total. The photo package (3 years ago) was $299/week, half price for the second segment, so $450. We got at least 70 different photos and well over 100 with duplicates, e.g., formal portraits had a large photo and 2 smaller ones all on the same sheet. Because we bought the package, we made sure we got lots of pictures taken - every port, every formal night, every time we saw the ship's photographers. We ended up with far more pictures than we could ever use, but were able to sit at our leisure to select the ones we really wanted for the photo albums, etc. The rest we just put away with the other cruise-related "stuff". It was worth the price to us.