Unlimited Photo Package

[nottooshabby]

Can anybody comment on the photo quality, specifically compression artifacts. We have bought the photo disc twice about a year apart on two different cruises on FOS. The first time the images were very high quality, sized a 3-4MB each 1638x2048, 300DPI. The second time they were the same resolution and 300DPI, but files sizes were only 400-500KB. The compression artifacts were obvious and awful on the smaller images.

 

For $300 I was upset, and contacted my cruise photos, but they said that is the way it is. I'm hoping they have improved as the price for the disc now on our upcoming Allure cruise is $369!

[D4]

If you're on a ship that only offers unlimited prints (no cd), when do you receive your prints - throughout the cruise, the last night, ...? I hope it isn't the morning the cruise ends because that is a crazy time all over the ship. Thanks

[Cruise a holic]

If you're on a ship that only offers unlimited prints (no cd), when do you receive your prints - throughout the cruise, the last night, ...? I hope it isn't the morning the cruise ends because that is a crazy time all over the ship. Thanks

 

You can pick up typically the evening before the morning of disembarkation. Remember to compare the on line CD prints with the hardcopies. If you are missing any, give them time to print for you.

 

We check daily to ensure that the hardcopy and the CD match. If you check daily, you will have no last minute rush.

[D4]

You can pick up typically the evening before the morning of disembarkation. Remember to compare the on line CD prints with the hardcopies. If you are missing any, give them time to print for you.

 

We check daily to ensure that the hardcopy and the CD match. If you check daily, you will have no last minute rush.

 

The ship I'll be on does not offer CDs. They only make hardcopy prints.

[CruiseDude_83]

Does anyone know if Jewel does both print and CD or just prints? If just prints do you know the cost? We are going to take advantage of this on our next cruise and I was just curious.:cool:

[Cruise a holic]

The ship I'll be on does not offer CDs. They only make hardcopy prints.

 

If it is one of the newer ships, you can still view your photos on-line- not so sure about the older ships. They might not offer the technology. Perhaps the Jewel doesn't have an area in the photo gallery to view your pics on line. Too bad! It is wonderful technology. On some Celebrity Ships, you can view your photos in your stateroom on TV also.

Edited February 24, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[Folk Singer]

You can pick up typically the evening before the morning of disembarkation. Remember to compare the on line CD prints with the hardcopies. If you are missing any, give them time to print for you.

 

We check daily to ensure that the hardcopy and the CD match. If you check daily, you will have no last minute rush.

 

 

Will do. thanks for the tip.

[ginadc]

We just disembarked from the 2/16 sailing of the Allure and prepaid for the photo package--just the CD, no prints, as our plan is to upload to Shutterfly and print what we want. Maybe I just am bad at reading fine print, but I was very surprised when we got home and my husband put the CD into our computer to download the images. Well, he couldn't--because there are no images on the CD. Instead, apparently what you get is a program that you have to install on your computer which will then let you get your photos. When my husband (a computer engineer, by the way) tried to do that, he kept getting problems and error messages and finally had to put in a support ticket with the company to try and get it fixed. So far, we've had no response and therefore still don't have access to our photos.

 

This really makes no sense to me. Why can't they just give you a CD or a USB drive with the actual image files? Why add this additional step with additional potential for complications? Seriously annoying.

[Cruise a holic]

We just disembarked from the 2/16 sailing of the Allure and prepaid for the photo package--just the CD, no prints, as our plan is to upload to Shutterfly and print what we want. Maybe I just am bad at reading fine print, but I was very surprised when we got home and my husband put the CD into our computer to download the images. Well, he couldn't--because there are no images on the CD. Instead, apparently what you get is a program that you have to install on your computer which will then let you get your photos. When my husband (a computer engineer, by the way) tried to do that, he kept getting problems and error messages and finally had to put in a support ticket with the company to try and get it fixed. So far, we've had no response and therefore still don't have access to our photos.

 

This really makes no sense to me. Why can't they just give you a CD or a USB drive with the actual image files? Why add this additional step with additional potential for complications? Seriously annoying.

 

 

Per my DH we have never had a problem. We have a MAC. We use their (My cruise photo) software included on the disc. to extract the pictures then we upload to Shutterfly and use as we please. Do you have a MAC?

Edited February 25, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[ginadc]

Yep, we are entirely Mac-based life forms. DH finally got online with the support team and they said that this is a new error message they haven't encountered before. They sent him some possible solutions and he is now worker bee-ing away to try to fix the problem. We'll see what happens! But I still maintain it would be easier to just give people a disc that actually contains the images. Anytime you have to download software and install it on your computer, whatever OS you have, you're adding to the potential for error.

[Dan-P]

Per my DH we have never had a problem. We have a MAC. We use their (My cruise photo) software included on the disc. to extract the pictures then we upload to Shutterfly and use as we please. Do you have a MAC?

 

I am PC based, but had zero issues with installing/running the "Get the Picture!" software and accessing all of my pictures.

 

With that said, I agree that if you purchase the unlimited photo package, you should get all of the prints, unlocked, already downloaded, and ready to go on the DVD. It shouldn't be a convoluted process to get what is rightfully yours.

 

Dan.

[Cruzin-K]

I agree, having to install the software was a PITA, but I did get it to work for me, and got almost all my photos (still missing a few, but that's another story).

 

My Allure photos on the purchased CD range from about 3mb down to about 500kb with the vast majority between 1 & 2mb. They are most definitely NOT the original file size. I know this because of a problem with some of the photos from one event, they gave those to me separately, not part of the "my cruise photos" just jpegs on a disk and they are all over 3mb.

 

The Jewel does not have kiosks to view your photos. They are all hard copies. I gathered up all my photos every day and handed them to one of the photo gallery employees to put in my "folder". On the last day of the cruise, I asked for my folder and picked out the 10 photos I wanted - I'd purchased the 10 photo package earlier in the cruise which is how I got the "folder".

[Dan-P]

I agree, having to install the software was a PITA, but I did get it to work for me, and got almost all my photos (still missing a few, but that's another story).

 

My Allure photos on the purchased CD range from about 3mb down to about 500kb with the vast majority between 1 & 2mb. They are most definitely NOT the original file size. I know this because of a problem with some of the photos from one event, they gave those to me separately, not part of the "my cruise photos" just jpegs on a disk and they are all over 3mb.

 

The Jewel does not have kiosks to view your photos. They are all hard copies. I gathered up all my photos every day and handed them to one of the photo gallery employees to put in my "folder". On the last day of the cruise, I asked for my folder and picked out the 10 photos I wanted - I'd purchased the 10 photo package earlier in the cruise which is how I got the "folder".

 

I was on the Independence a couple weeks ago and had the unlimited print and digital package.

 

I just looked and all of my digitial copies are 1-1.5MB each and are all 2400 x 3000 resolution. Probably plenty good enough for printing an 8x10 copy, but I would also suspect not anywhere near the original quality/size. I'm guessing their software uses some type of compression when it loads them to the DVD/your PC.

 

I still feel like it is a fair deal. We ended up with 230 hardcopy prints and the DVD with the digital copies.

 

Dan.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Dan-P

[Folk Singer]

excellent enjoy the package.

[ginadc]

We finally got the software installed and the photos on our computers! They look gorgeous and are at a great resolution for the most part. There were just a few small glitches with the "backgrounds"--the fancy borders and things they add to some of them. For example, our embarkation photos were all embedded with a border that has ship's stats, itinerary and so forth. Just one problem: the itinerary was the previous week's--both dates and ports. Which I wouldn't care about so much, because I could just crop the photo out of the border and use the photo only--but when I do that, those photos are at such a low resolution that they are blurry.

 

Even though I had used the kiosks to fine-tune the facial recognition using the "this is not me or my party" button, we also still ended up with a few photos of some family that is not ours. No biggie, I just deleted them, but kind of weird.

 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the package, but the few glitches we had seem like they are *really* unnecessary ones. Still, we ended up with over 100 pictures total, which would have cost us a lot more going print-by-print. Even assuming that we only would have bought about 50 of those, we still saved money and got a lot of great family photos. Considering that it is a logistical challenge for us to get good photos with all five of us together (usually either DH or I is taking the picture), especially all dressed up, that's huge. We are sailing on the Oasis for Thanksgiving and will definitely do this again.

[SA Traveler]

Mycruisephoto.com is where you can preorder the photo package. Past cruises won't be there.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[mollanjake]

We finally got the software installed and the photos on our computers! They look gorgeous and are at a great resolution for the most part. There were just a few small glitches with the "backgrounds"--the fancy borders and things they add to some of them. For example, our embarkation photos were all embedded with a border that has ship's stats, itinerary and so forth. Just one problem: the itinerary was the previous week's--both dates and ports. Which I wouldn't care about so much, because I could just crop the photo out of the border and use the photo only--but when I do that, those photos are at such a low resolution that they are blurry.

 

 

 

Even though I had used the kiosks to fine-tune the facial recognition using the "this is not me or my party" button, we also still ended up with a few photos of some family that is not ours. No biggie, I just deleted them, but kind of weird.

 

 

 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the package, but the few glitches we had seem like they are *really* unnecessary ones. Still, we ended up with over 100 pictures total, which would have cost us a lot more going print-by-print. Even assuming that we only would have bought about 50 of those, we still saved money and got a lot of great family photos. Considering that it is a logistical challenge for us to get good photos with all five of us together (usually either DH or I is taking the picture), especially all dressed up, that's huge. We are sailing on the Oasis for Thanksgiving and will definitely do this again.

 

 

I had the same problem with the embarkation photos! Luckily I have the prints as well.

 

 

Laura

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[nottooshabby]

I was on the Independence a couple weeks ago and had the unlimited print and digital package.

 

I just looked and all of my digitial copies are 1-1.5MB each and are all 2400 x 3000 resolution. Probably plenty good enough for printing an 8x10 copy, but I would also suspect not anywhere near the original quality/size. I'm guessing their software uses some type of compression when it loads them to the DVD/your PC.

 

I still feel like it is a fair deal. We ended up with 230 hardcopy prints and the DVD with the digital copies.

 

Dan.

 

I complained about the compression used on the images, but to no avail, see my earlier posts. It's a shame as the compression in my opinion significantly degraded the photo quality. I'm going to try on the allure to get a DVD with the full images, but I am not holding my breath.

[Folk Singer]

I complained about the compression used on the images, but to no avail, see my earlier posts. It's a shame as the compression in my opinion significantly degraded the photo quality. I'm going to try on the allure to get a DVD with the full images, but I am not holding my breath.

 

 

good luck. have great cruise

[Toddcan]

We're sailing in 10 days, and I'm going to get a photo package for sure! We're on the Liberty, which I'm sure has the CD/Kiosks as well as print outs. But, I am trying to decide on spending the extra $100 for the printed photos too.

 

They are all 8x10, correct?

Some folks report over 200 printed photos. I know that's a bargain as par as price per print, but really.. what do you do with 200 printed photos? That must weigh a ton?

 

If I print out 8x10 at Walmart, or Costco, I'm paying just under $5 per print. So, if I get just the DVD option, I would need to print out over 20 photos to get my $100 worth.

 

Has anyone bought the full package (prints included), and just thought it would have been better to get just the DVD?

[mollanjake]

We're sailing in 10 days, and I'm going to get a photo package for sure! We're on the Liberty, which I'm sure has the CD/Kiosks as well as print outs. But, I am trying to decide on spending the extra $100 for the printed photos too.

 

They are all 8x10, correct?

Some folks report over 200 printed photos. I know that's a bargain as par as price per print, but really.. what do you do with 200 printed photos? That must weigh a ton?

 

If I print out 8x10 at Walmart, or Costco, I'm paying just under $5 per print. So, if I get just the DVD option, I would need to print out over 20 photos to get my $100 worth.

 

Has anyone bought the full package (prints included), and just thought it would have been better to get just the DVD?

 

 

Since the Independence had the photo kiosk, I agree so will the Liberty.

 

Most photos are 8x10's but some are smaller, esp ones taken off the ship. we had photos taken on Labadee and the ones getting off the ship, those are more 5X7 isn. I say 5x7ish as I tried framing a few and I had too trim down the borders. I ended up with over 300 pictures. I have framed several(less than 10) and sent a few to my in-laws.

 

I ordered the DVD prior to sailing. We took photos every possible time. we got pics of the 3 of us, mom -daughter, dad-daughter and mom-dad. I love the DVD because I can add pics to my digital photo album, christmas card, calendar etc.

 

In hind site I probably did not need to get ALL of the prints(including a bunch with my eyes closed), but I think I have used $100 worth of prints.

 

Really depends on how many people you are traveling with and who you would give pictures.

 

have a great trip!

[beshears]

OK, this is new to me, but sounds interesting.:)

 

If you have been on Freedom of the Seas within the past year, and did a 7 day cruise, what was the cost for this package?

 

I have seen on this forum that they go from $179 to $240, etc. I'm really confused. :(

 

I don't want the pictures for my computer, but the "paper" kind. Can I get them this way?

[Cruise a holic]

OK, this is new to me, but sounds interesting.:)

 

If you have been on Freedom of the Seas within the past year, and did a 7 day cruise, what was the cost for this package?

 

I have seen on this forum that they go from $179 to $240, etc. I'm really confused. :(

 

I don't want the pictures for my computer, but the "paper" kind. Can I get them this way?

 

We try (when offered) get the DVD only Two to Three hundred pictures are very heavy! Go to mycruisephotos.com follow the prompts for your specific cruise. They will ask for your ship, sail date and reservation #. Since this is the vendor for celebrity, royal and disney, each sailing could have a different price. I have had two week celebrity sailings and paid less for DVD then one week on Royal! guess the rates are set by supply and demand. we use shutterfly to make a book when we get home and only include the best pictures.

 

On our last Royal Allure cruise when onboard they asked us if we wanted the hard copies also The additional charge was very low, but we said no as packing them would be too heavy,

[zombiehunter]

What I saw on my cruise was that all the MDR pics were blown out (way too much flash everything was white), they didn't offer digitals (which I could have edited at home) and the prices were ridiculous. My suggestion would be to invest (and it is an investment if you're going to be doing this often) in a basic DSLR and learn to use it. For $300 you can take your own GOOD pictures, of whatever you want, forever.

 

The cruise photogs were using Nikon D300S's and D90s with Speedlight flashes, I was using a D40 (8 year old 6.3 mpeg entry level camera with kit lenses and a pop-up flash) and because I had a basic idea of what I was doing my stuff came out significantly better (albeit I still suck at white balance so I had to correct that at home). There's also no shortage of people willing to take your picture so set up what you need and hand it off and you're in business.

[heziggy]

does anyone know if the explorer offers the digital package or do they only have hard copes available. thank you!