Review of Panraven digital photo book

[petersoj]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share my experience so far with Panraven, the company that offers the digital photo book on Princess Cruises. I didn't find alot on the boards about this before I left so I went to the Photo Desk once on board to get more information about the questions I had. I received conflicting information from the Photo Desk people in terms of price, what was included in the price, how long I had to make it, etc. I have since emailed Princess to let them know that their photo staff was not very informed about this new product.

 

I was very excited to start my photo book after our cruise in July. After organizing my 1,000 pictures, I set-out to starting my book. First off, I have used 3 other digital photo book companies in the past to make books. The Panraven website is by far the least intuitive in terms of how to create the books. Also, it has the fewest number of templates available, although it has quite a few for adding text and captions for a single photo or 2 per page. I found that with the limited number of pages included in the Princess package (100), I couldn't afford to have only 1-2 pictures per page. I found myself frustrated that there weren't more options available, especially for vertical pictures.

 

I also am frustrated that there is not a whole lot of "help" offered while you are making your book. I checked out the "help" section on the Panraven website but it was very basic information. I had to keep emailing them every time I had a question and as you'll see below, that took a while. I also didn't like the way they set-up their ordering process. You basically create the entire book and THEN pick the cover. The problem is, throughout the process, you are told that the book will print exactly as you see it on the screen. The last step says "order book now" so I created the book with the front page being the cover. Turns out you pick the cover AFTER you say "order" and even still, I was confused because it took the picture from my 1st page and made that into the cover picture. I wasn't sure if it really WAS the cover or if it just made the cover out of what I had said the 1st page was. Needless to say, this was confusing.

 

I had to go out of town unexpectedly and knew I was coming close to the 3-month deadline of making my book. According to the Princess photo staff, I just had to email Panraven and they would grant me an extension. I emailed Panraven and a couple days later I received a response that said they had no problem extending my book for a month....for $10 a month. This isn't a huge deal except that this isn't what the Princess people said. If I had known that, I probably would've made a bigger push to get it done on time.

 

Another issue I have with the customer service. I have always received very good customer service with Princess, who prides themselves on returning emails within 24 hours. This is not the case with Panraven. They have a policy of returning emails within 1 business day but I found that this is not the case. I'm not sure why this is such an issue with them but I was disappointed in this aspect of their customer service.

 

Now I haven't received my book yet so I'm interested in seeing what the quality is compared to other photo books. Moral of the story is, it's a great price but not sure if I'd trade a cheaper book for a better photo-book making experience with another company. Hope this helps!

 

By the way, I paid $60 (+$10 for a month's extension that you won't need if you finish it w/in 3 months) and that included 100 pages (a page is considered the front OR the back of a page), free shipping and one free 8x10 of any picture that we took on board.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for the updates on the Panraven book...we've done 2 within the past year & have enjoyed them. Although we procrastinate & end up emailing to get another 3 month extension. They said soon it could be extended directly from their website & sorry to hear that now costs $10/month. :(

 

We're hoping that the promotion for a free book by purchasing a certain number of photos based on your Captain's Circle level discussed in an earlier thread will be available on our cruise next month.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280275&highlight=panraven+book

 

I've also read that if you're not happy with the Panraven customer service that it's been suggested to contact Princess to get a rapid reply from Panraven.

 

One thing we'll do differently is to "fix" any photos that appear to be a little bit dark with a program like Photoshop. If our photos appear a little too dark on our computer, they'll be slightly darker in our book. That's nothing unusual for us, it's the same thing when we download photos to Costco to be printed by them.

 

We've also been told that the Photo Shop manager has some leeway on pricing for the books. We sailed the Star five months apart & there was different promos for each cruise. So pricing varies & our experience has been they're not "set in stone". ;)

 

There are several options for the cover before completing the order including color & cover type. We prefer it to be printed directly on the cover vs. having a dust cover with it.

 

Hope you'll enjoy your book as much as we have...and thanks for the info on the extension beyond the 1st 90 days costing $10/month...guess we won't procrastinate the next time. :o

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your input, I think its such a neat book! :)

[KansasCityGuys]

Does the 3 months officially begin when you place the order for the service or after you have completed the cruise?

[Astro Flyer]

Does the 3 months officially begin when you place the order for the service or after you have completed the cruise?

For us it started the day we purchased it so we wait until near the end.

 

Don't forget to have them input your purchased photos for your book & sometimes you need to request the option to add your personal photos & to edit the book.

 

If it locks up while editing online like it does when we're doing it for awhile, we close & restart it without losing anything. It's another issue I'm sure they are working on as they perfect their product.

[KansasCityGuys]

For us it started the day we purchased it so we wait until near the end.

 

Don't forget to have them input your purchased photos for your book & sometimes you need to request the option to add your personal photos & to edit the book.

 

If it locks up while editing online like it does when we're doing it for awhile, we close & restart it without losing anything. It's another issue I'm sure they are working on as they perfect their product.

 

Thanks for the info! I am thinking about making this purchase on our upcoming cruise. Now I know to wait until the end of the cruise to make the purchase.

[suzski]

First off, I have used 3 other digital photo book companies in the past to make books. The Panraven website is by far the least intuitive in terms of how to create the books. Also, it has the fewest number of templates available, although it has quite a few for adding text and captions for a single photo or 2 per page. I found that with the limited number of pages included in the Princess package (100), I couldn't afford to have only 1-2 pictures per page. I found myself frustrated that there weren't more options available, especially for vertical pictures.

 

I also am frustrated that there is not a whole lot of "help" offered while you are making your book. I checked out the "help" section on the Panraven website but it was very basic information.

 

Would you mind sharing the names of other digital photo book companies? We sailed Princess to Alaska this summer and I did not do the Panraven order onboard....I tried doing it once I got home (understanding that I would not get the Princess deal), but I, too, have found it hard to navigate. So, my Alaska pictures sit, idly waiting, to be put into a photo book. I realize the cost will be higher with another company, but I really want to put together a book that is more professional than merely putting them in the typical, do-it-yourself album.

 

Thanks!

Suzan

[chamima]

Would you mind sharing the names of other digital photo book companies? We sailed Princess to Alaska this summer and I did not do the Panraven order onboard....I tried doing it once I got home (understanding that I would not get the Princess deal), but I, too, have found it hard to navigate. So, my Alaska pictures sit, idly waiting, to be put into a photo book. I realize the cost will be higher with another company, but I really want to put together a book that is more professional than merely putting them in the typical, do-it-yourself album.

 

Thanks!

Suzan

 

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[petersoj]

Would you mind sharing the names of other digital photo book companies? We sailed Princess to Alaska this summer and I did not do the Panraven order onboard....I tried doing it once I got home (understanding that I would not get the Princess deal), but I, too, have found it hard to navigate. So, my Alaska pictures sit, idly waiting, to be put into a photo book. I realize the cost will be higher with another company, but I really want to put together a book that is more professional than merely putting them in the typical, do-it-yourself album.

 

Thanks!

Suzan

 

I have used Shutterfly, Snapfish and MyPublisher in the past. I liked the print quality of MyPublisher the best but you can order Shutterfly through Costco at a cheaper price. They all send me great email coupons for free or discounted books throughout the year.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I was hoping to use Panraven after our OP cruise, but it is not an option with the OP. The guys in the camera dept. said the ship changes itineraries too much to have the package available.

 

I've made photo books with many companies (KodakGallery, Shutterfly, Walmart, etc) and have found that Walmart's program is by far the easiest to use. So many times, the other programs wouldn't save my material as I went along and I ended up losing many pages. My latest album was pretty costly because I had about 500 photos in it and about 140 pages. Walmart produced it and shipped it out within 24 hrs. of receiving the order.

[suzski]

Thanks all for the advice!! Looks like I've got a "project" for the weekend!

 

Suzan

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks all for the advice!! Looks like I've got a "project" for the weekend!

 

Suzan

Another thing to share...we took a 28 day TA, western Europe, Scandinavia & Russia cruise. Since it could be booked as an 18 day & a 10 day cruise we confirmed with the photo manager that we'd get a book set up as a 28 day cruise. They said it could & they were correct but it's maybe something to consider if anyone does the Panraven book in the same situation.

[caribill]

Would you mind sharing the names of other digital photo book companies?

 

My favorite is mpix.com

 

Lots of templates and very flexible in how to use them. Reasonably priced.

[kwbound]

I totally agree with the OP's opinions of Panraven. I purchased a book (actually 2 copies) through NCL's Pride of America last month and have found the site to be extremely non-user friendly and VERY restrictive in what you are able to do. There is no creative freedom to it at all, other than using your photos. You are stuck with their templates which limits photo sizes, placement etc. And OP is right on regarding help. The online help is worthless. For any question you have to email them and wait for a response, which is probably going to be, sorry that feature is unavailable. I have sent Panraven an email asking what I need to do to obtain a refund, and I also called NCL about it, but that is probably a dead-end. The Panraven experience has just been an extension of the the entire NCL experience - disappointing....but that is for another board. I am probably going to end up eating the prices I paid for the two books and making my book through Mixbook.com instead.

 

OR - does anyone know of any software that will allow you to create scrapbook pages and save each page as a jpeg file? If I could do that, I could upload those pages to Panraven and set them as background pages, and fill the book like that.

[petersoj]

I totally agree with the OP's opinions of Panraven. I purchased a book (actually 2 copies) through NCL's Pride of America last month and have found the site to be extremely non-user friendly and VERY restrictive in what you are able to do. There is no creative freedom to it at all, other than using your photos. You are stuck with their templates which limits photo sizes, placement etc. And OP is right on regarding help. The online help is worthless. For any question you have to email them and wait for a response, which is probably going to be, sorry that feature is unavailable. I have sent Panraven an email asking what I need to do to obtain a refund, and I also called NCL about it, but that is probably a dead-end. The Panraven experience has just been an extension of the the entire NCL experience - disappointing....but that is for another board. I am probably going to end up eating the prices I paid for the two books and making my book through Mixbook.com instead.

 

OR - does anyone know of any software that will allow you to create scrapbook pages and save each page as a jpeg file? If I could do that, I could upload those pages to Panraven and set them as background pages, and fill the book like that.

 

KWBound,

I did this for my Panraven book with PowerPoint. Just open up a new slideshow, arrange your pics however you want and then save it, once as a .ppt file and then save as a .jpg. That way in case you need to make changes, you'll still have the original slideshow as you cannot make changes to a .jpg easily.

 

Also, I would love to update you on my progress with Panraven that would hopefully help you as well. Could you send me an email at gosc02@yahoo.com?

[lilacbirman]

Hi all,

I also didn't like the way they set-up their ordering process. You basically create the entire book and THEN pick the cover. The problem is, throughout the process, you are told that the book will print exactly as you see it on the screen. The last step says "order book now" so I created the book with the front page being the cover. Turns out you pick the cover AFTER you say "order" and even still, I was confused because it took the picture from my 1st page and made that into the cover picture. I wasn't sure if it really WAS the cover or if it just made the cover out of what I had said the 1st page was. Needless to say, this was confusing.

 

 

I had this same situation! I was VERY disappointed that the cover was the same as my first page. I feel like one page was wasted as a duplicate! Panraven needs to explain the set up better for computer nimnils like me. :(

 

Another thing is when I placed my order, it stated that it would be 9-12 business days for delivery. Well I ordered the book in September 30 and received it on October 29, pretty much a full month or 21 business days! Geez! I realize that I live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean but that it rediculous! They really should state that if you live in Hawaii, or where ever, it will be on a slow boat and take a month for delivery.

 

That said, the photobook turned out very nice. I thought it was better than the one I bought at Costco. :)

[Grego]

Sounds like it's time for everyone to get a Mac and use iPhoto to make your books. Very intuitive program just like everything else from Apple.

[jbsayles]

This is my very first post here, yet I could not let any of you go forward with purchasing a Panraven book after my latest experience. Initially, I did a similar book as one of the other posters ($60 for 100-pages.) I dealt with the non-user friendly site, the site crashing, the confusing cover issues and the bugs in the system, but walked away with a decent book. So, mistakenly, I tried again. This time Princess offered a 50-page book, if you were an Elite passenger and bought three formal portraits and paid for the $10 shipping (total $85.) Not as good of a deal, but we did it. Well, it has been the worst process since day one. There is never any phone number to call, all communications are via email. Panraven claimed that we purchased the standard 38-page book, not the 50-page. Even though there were 5 of us on the cruise all purchasing the same promotion (which, by the way, was again offered on the cruise we went on over Thanksgiving.) That took a couple weeks to clear up the "confusion" between Princess and Panraven. Bugs in the server took a few weeks (page numbers out of order, headings that could not be changed, photos that would randomly disappear.) Now Panraven charges you $10 to "buy" an extra month if you need it, apparently even when the delays are caused by their systems or their pricing mistakes. Finally, after at least 2 dozen emails, I ordered my book Dec 17 for Christmas. They did upgrade me to two-day shipping for my 2 months of aggravation, so it would arrive in time. Well, guess what... the book arrived today (Jan 10, 2011.) They blamed the snow, the schedule, UPS, anything and everything. Excited, I tore open the book, and it is just awful. The pages were not completely cut, I had to rip them apart. I chose the black background for a dramatic effect against the Alaskan photographs, well it is dark green with "stripes" where the ink coverage is poor. Every one of the beautiful Alaskan photos has a green/blue cast - the people look dead and the scenery drab. Even the Princess stock photos, so you can't blame my camera or photography. I can only presume that they bumped up the cyan and black inks to get better background coverage and it destroyed the pictures. I am a graphic designer, I know how to edit photos, and to color correct them for the printing, I use a MacBook Pro that is color-calibrated and what was printed wasn't even close to what I sent. So the saga continues, I have no idea what the next step is, expect for another email sent to Panraven. And the hope that maybe I have prevented one of you from dealing with them. As an aside, I have previously done about a dozen photo books with Shutterfly, Snapfish and Kodak and have never had such a terrible experience. Good luck to you - a photo book is a fantastic way to preserve the wonderful cruise memories, just do it with another company.

[DrivesLikeMario]

It's so good to get feedback from people that have actually used Panraven. Thank you for taking the time to explain the difficulties. I think I'll stick with Walmart & Shutterfly. ;)

[Luvmyrotti]

Well, I guess I may be the lone dissenter. I purchased the 100 page "plus" package at a really nice discounted rate on our June Alaska trip. What I most liked is that they had the framework and story already built with stock photos, ship and port information and itinerary. I found it very easy/intuitive to add pages and move pages and photos. I liked that I didn't have to do too much of the "heavy lifting" in terms of building pages. When I found that some of our purchased photos had not been loaded, I a very good experience with customer service. I found it to be very timely and the rep went out of her way to make sure I was satisfied. Lastly, I found the quality of the book to be way over and above what I have experienced with books from other sites such as shutterfly. Anyway, I just wanted other posters to know that there are upsides to Panraven. YMMV

[Astro Flyer]

Well, I guess I may be the lone dissenter. I purchased the 100 page "plus" package at a really nice discounted rate on our June Alaska trip. What I most liked is that they had the framework and story already built with stock photos, ship and port information and itinerary. I found it very easy/intuitive to add pages and move pages and photos. I liked that I didn't have to do too much of the "heavy lifting" in terms of building pages. When I found that some of our purchased photos had not been loaded, I a very good experience with customer service. I found it to be very timely and the rep went out of her way to make sure I was satisfied. Lastly, I found the quality of the book to be way over and above what I have experienced with books from other sites such as shutterfly. Anyway, I just wanted other posters to know that there are upsides to Panraven. YMMV

Just like you, we've been very happy with the Panraven books from cruises in fall '09 & spring '10 despite some of their less than user friendly aspects of their website.

 

Our happiness lasted until our December cruise which we're now finding out has completely changed. Now not only will they no longer input those expensive photos we have to purchase onboard (take them home to scan them yourself!) but until I read "jbsayles" post we had no idea that they had cut the book down to only 38 pages. We've been working on our book to have the 100 pages & were shocked that not until checkout do you find out it's only 38 pages. :mad: That's the only place to find it out...not when you purchase it, not on the confirmation form, not when you begin to build your book...only to be shocked at checkout.

 

Each time (even on the same ship a few months apart) everything changes about with the purchase requirements. There is absolutely NO STANDARDIZATION at all which is a very poor way for Princess & Panraven to promote their book.

 

The quality of our 2 other books was good...I wonder if our next one will be as bad as the one "jbsayles" experienced.

 

Now we'll have to go through the hassle of dealing with Princess & Panraven to get this mess straightened out. They need to have the details clearly spelled out in detail so we know what it is they are selling to us! :confused:

[iratherbesailing]

We purchased the 100 page Panraven book on our Noordam cruise last March. We paid $120 which included 3 of our formal pictures. Ouch. I must say that we were very happy with the end product. I can go on Panraven and even see the videos that I included with my pictures, not to mention the sound I put with it. Being a 20 day cruise, I had lots of pictures and video to organize. I have been able to share it with my friends by rpviding them with the link. Customer service at Panraven was always answered within a day to two. My only disappointment was that I was not able to purchase this as a dvd that could be used to watch on my TV. Cruise again this March and I hope the cruiseline is promoting Panraven again.

[BayouGirlUSA]

I, too, purchased the Panraven book on our Alaskan Cruise and am very pleased with the product. I didn't have any problems with the site and got my book in a very timely manner. I'm wondering if Panraven is getting more orders on the cruise ships and this is affecting their site, quality and timeliness????

[Scrapchick]

 

OR - does anyone know of any software that will allow you to create scrapbook pages and save each page as a jpeg file? If I could do that, I could upload those pages to Panraven and set them as background pages, and fill the book like that.

 

Absolutely... You can do exactly that in Adobe Photoshop Elements... I do digital scrapbooking and create all my pages in Photoshop, then save them as 12" by 12" jpegs and upload them to Costco for printing out. They basically look like giant photographs with all the extra details on.

 

I have done one Panraven book and it was a decent enough experience, but I feel far more"free" to be creative in Photoshop, rather than just using their templates and dropping in a few pictures.

[caribill]

My favorite is mpix.com

 

Lots of templates and very flexible in how to use them. Reasonably priced.

 

Agree with using mpix.com

 

Can put photos anywhere you want on the page.

Can pick the number and sizes of photos on each page

Can easily add text anywhere you want.

Easy to pick background colors, text font, text font size, etc.

 

Only real limitation is that a photo book can only be 50 pages maximum.

 

You do have only 60 days from starting to upload your photos to completion, but an e-mail can get you a free extension without a problem.

 

They do answer e-mails within an hour during normal USA working hours.