Carnival Pictures - Question/Suggestion

[GrUvGrL]

After being on my first cruise I have a question maybe even more of a suggestion and I would like to know others thoughts on this.

 

After all the pictures taken by Carnival end up on the ships walls the expectation is that you would find your pictures, and buy them all! HOWEVER - at almost 30 bucks a pop this almost never happens and I cannot see why you would want 6 - 20 or more 10x13 pictures of that one occasion spread on your homes walls... I purchased 2 photos out of the stack I found and asked the crew member what they did with the ones people did not purchase. I was told they are recycled. Unless they meant someone elses picture gets printed over mine (hahaha) what that really means is they get thrown out, which in my opinion is a total waste of paper!

 

SO now for my question/suggestion - Would it not make more sense to offer a picture pass/package?

 

- Sell a pass before hand for one sum and put a cap if need be on how many pictures you can take at any given station "back drop" if they plan to print said pictures

 

OR

 

- Have a set fee (package price) for all pictures belonging to you (they are already printed after all)

 

or better yet...

 

- Sell a digital pass allowing unlimited pictures to be taken and put on a disc that people can take home (or downloaded online at home), and print at their own leisure (in turn saving the cruiseline, the cruiser and the environment the paper waste)

 

I have sent this to Carnival as a suggestion already, but would love to hear feedback.

[RyanDMB99@aol.com]

It is a waste, but as you pointed out every time someone buys their $30 picture they just paid for carnival to buy a case of photo-paper. So business-wise the ends justifies throwing out all that paper. To a green-minded person this is a travesty.

[Yazoo cruiser]

Several years ago, we had returned from our cruise and gone back to work. 2-3 days later, a friend came to my office, came in and told me she had just returned from the same cruise, we had not run into her on the ship. She had an 8x10 formal picture of me and my wife for me. She said as she was disembarking, she passed a huge trash can and our picture was right on top. She reconized us , picked up the picture and brought it to me.

[Cruisebehindthescenes]

Several years ago, we had returned from our cruise and gone back to work. 2-3 days later, a friend came to my office, came in and told me she had just returned from the same cruise, we had not run into her on the ship. She had an 8x10 formal picture of me and my wife for me. She said as she was disembarking, she passed a huge trash can and our picture was right on top. She reconized us , picked up the picture and brought it to me.

 

I find that extremely surprising. I used to work on a cruise ship, and the previous poster is correct in that the "recycled" pictures are thrown away. While it may seem like a giant waste of money to print every picture knowing full well that the larger majority will not be purchased, it makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. On a 7 day Caribbean cruise on 90,000 ton ship the average revenue from photo exceeds $30,000. When you consider that photo paper and the chemicals used to print the photos come nowhere close to that amount, it is easy to see why the cruise lines continue to operate as they do.

 

There are some cruise lines that are experimenting with a digital system whereby passengers can search for their photos on a screens by cabin number and only print the ones they opt to purchase, but they initial investment into a system like this is extremely expensive, not to mention the logistical nightmare of tagging cabin numbers on all photos taken.

[GrUvGrL]

There are some cruise lines that are experimenting with a digital system whereby passengers can search for their photos on a screens by cabin number and only print the ones they opt to purchase, but they initial investment into a system like this is extremely expensive, not to mention the logistical nightmare of tagging cabin numbers on all photos taken.

 

Although I am still a rookie cruiser I am a veteran Disney vacationer.

 

I compare this "digital" system to that of Disney, anyone who has been to Disney may know about photopass. The pictures on your photopass are not connected to the resort you stay on, but to the card you can get from every photographer at any Disney park or Water Park.

 

Basically, you want a picture taken, you hand the card to the photographer who then scans your card and takes the pictures. What? You forgot your card in your room? No problem, here is a new card. 2 families traveling at the same time going in seperate directions? No problem, use 2, 3, 4 cards...

 

Once you get home you create an account and link the cards together. You get to see the thumbnails, but not print them and I belive they are all stamped 'proof' or something. If you want the photos, you pay about $100 and then you can download them onto your computer and make a CD, you can frame your pics with disney images, order a scrapbook "binded book format" filled of your favorite photos with captions that you create on their website.

 

I am guessing the average person will buy 1 or 2 photos on the ship spending 30 to 60 dollars. This would still make Carnival money and in my opinion provide the customer with memories of their special vacation.

 

Yes there is an initial cost to them, but the end result I think benefits the cruiseline, the customer and the environment.

[FL Naturelover]

I agree that it is a big waste. We had tons of pictures taken and a very hard time deciding on which to keep. I asked why they don't offer them in digital format and was told that they tried that but many people complained that they were not able to view them once they were home. Something about the software not being compatable with every computer. Honestly I don't understand why they don't just use a photo pass like Disney does now. You get a card that allows you to access your pictures online and then you can purchase from there is you wish. Of course, I would prefer to just have the digital copies for my collection.