Photo package

[halfmonkey]

We're getting ready to go on our first RC cruise to Seattle and Alaska. We're super excited!

I was just checking out our itinerary and purchase items and just noticed that there is an all digital photo package available for $249. It looks likes it says that it's for all members of your stateroom so I'm guessing since we have two staterooms, we'll need to buy one for each room unless there's a loophole that I'm not aware of.

I'm curious to know if others have bought this photo package and if so, can you explain how it works. Is it like Disney's photo pass where you basically take a picture with anyone that has a camera whether it's during boarding, dinner, formal nights, activities, etc and at the end of the trip, you get a usb stick with all of the pictures?

Are there enough photo taking opportunities for this to be worth it?

 

[starvenger]

I got the photo package last year on Allure. First time doing so. You pick up the USB stick either late on the final night or before disembarkation. Note that the final night can be super hectic as people are scrambling to buy photos, so your usb might not be ready.

The photo package is similar to photo pass. Basically the same as the one on DCL - they both use ourcruisephotos but they might use different companies to hire the actual photographers. And similar to photo pass, the strategy is to get photos taken as frequently and as often as you feel comfortable with doing.

For things like formal nights they have stations and will scan a card so the photos will be attributed to whomever provided the card. If you have multiple staterooms and provide only the one card the photos will be attributed to whomever provided the card. So if you have the photo package, you will want to be the one to hand over your card.

For candids, it's a little trickier. The software is supposed to pick up people based on facial rec, and then provide the picture to your portfolio. I'd love to say that this is 100% foolproof, but then you'd call me a liar after the cruise.

You will be able to scan your Seapass in a photo kiosk to see your digital pictures. If you're on an older ship, there may be stacks or drawers that have hard copies of your photos. Some of the photos will have a border on them. Super annoying, but it can be cropped, which is not ideal but it is what it is.

With multiple rooms, I've taken a snapshot of some relevant information:


If you're doing two rooms where there is an adult in each room the above is probably not applicable. But I did mention a small hack above so that might work for you.

 

[halfmonkey]

I got the photo package last year on Allure. First time doing so. You pick up the USB stick either late on the final night or before disembarkation. Note that the final night can be super hectic as people are scrambling to buy photos, so your usb might not be ready.

The photo package is similar to photo pass. Basically the same as the one on DCL - they both use ourcruisephotos but they might use different companies to hire the actual photographers. And similar to photo pass, the strategy is to get photos taken as frequently and as often as you feel comfortable with doing.

For things like formal nights they have stations and will scan a card so the photos will be attributed to whomever provided the card. If you have multiple staterooms and provide only the one card the photos will be attributed to whomever provided the card. So if you have the photo package, you will want to be the one to hand over your card.

For candids, it's a little trickier. The software is supposed to pick up people based on facial rec, and then provide the picture to your portfolio. I'd love to say that this is 100% foolproof, but then you'd call me a liar after the cruise.

You will be able to scan your Seapass in a photo kiosk to see your digital pictures. If you're on an older ship, there may be stacks or drawers that have hard copies of your photos. Some of the photos will have a border on them. Super annoying, but it can be cropped, which is not ideal but it is what it is.

With multiple rooms, I've taken a snapshot of some relevant information:
View attachment 409950

If you're doing two rooms where there is an adult in each room the above is probably not applicable. But I did mention a small hack above so that might work for you.

So if I'm reading your "hack" above correctly, it sounds like I can order one package because in the second room is my wife, mother-in-law, and 1 child under 21 years old. Since the second room has an under 21 year old child, I can link the account once I board the ship is how I'm reading this. Am I right in this interpretation?

 

[starvenger]

Not exactly.

They allow for linking rooms if that second room does not have anyone over 21 years old registered in it. So say you have 2 teenagers and they are the only people booked in room 2. You can now link room 2 to your room.

In your scenario, they'd probably ask you to purchase a package for each room. But if 95% of the time you are taking photos with the family then so long as you provide your card for the photographer to scan the photos should appear in your account.

 

[halfmonkey]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I'll have to get two packages. Do you think it's worth it to pay about $500 for pictures? I know that's a subjective question but I'm just wondering if it's worth it in the opinion of those that have purchased it? Were there plenty of photo opportunities for you to get your money's worth especially if I have to buy two packages? Did the pictures come out nice or were the photographers really bad?

We're going on a 7 day cruise to Alaska and if we do buy the package, it would be the all digital package.

 

[starvenger]

It similar to the drink package - if you purchase it you will find ways to make it worth your while. Bonus - you can't get a hangover from taking pictures.

If you don't purchase it you will find ways to make that work as well.

Photographers run the range from bad to good. The bad ones you can determine quickly. Good ones are a bit harder to spot - but with a package you can at least review your shots and try to remember who took the pictures.

 

[SA mom]

We traveled with a group of 15 last summer. We were hard pressed to find 6 photos we really liked for one of the packages. I don’t think we even had enough photos between all 15 of us to warrant $250.

 

[GeneralTso]

I loved the package on DCL. Many different backgrounds were available. Except the one where they want you to crawl on the ground. That's a hard pass from here on out.
By the end of the cruise we had a ton of pictures and it was very worth it for us.

 

[msjprincess]

We had 3 rooms for out package, DH and me in one room, my kids in another room and my sister-in-law in another. They allowed us to link my SIL's room to our account. I know the official word is no, but we just went and asked and they did it with no problem. They don't use USBs anymore (at least not on Allure) they just emailed me a link and I was able to download all of the photos onto my computer.