Cruise Photo Packages – Are they worth the cost?

Photographers are everywhere on a cruise ship and they are more than willing to take as many pictures as possible in hopes you will purchase a number of photos. But are cruise photo packages really worth the cost?

Crusie Photo Packages

I Purchased a Cruise Photo Package

I am a photo lover and I purchased the digital package of Cruise pictures before we left home. I wanted to be sure I had photos to use on social media and this blog.

I also wanted my son, Neal and his girlfriend, Liv to have some quality photos of their first cruise.

Cruise Photo Packages — Neal and Liv on their first cruise.

Headshots

While we had lots of couple and group photos taken, I also had some headshot portraits taken for my website. Cruises provide a great opportunity for this type of pictures at no extra cost besides the photo package.

Pre-purchase

When you pre-purchase you get all the photos taken of the people in your room for a set price. On Royal Caribbean, the cost was $150.00. These are digital photos into an account that you have access to on the ship and then via email when you get home. You have 30 days to download them to your computer. You can have prints made, use them on social media or in blog posts, etc.

Each cruise line handles their photos a bit differently. For instance, we purchased the digital package on Princess and they provided all the pictures on a USB drive (that looked like a ship) But they only added the pictures you gave them. So you had to look through the printed pictures and give them to the staff to load on your USB drive. So you need to make sure you read the fine print and find out what exactly you are getting.

Printed Cruise Photos

They also print the cruise photos each day and they have a photo gallery you can walk through to view your photos. There is no pressure to purchase. You can buy one picture individually or all the pictures for a set price.

They also have scrapbooks, frames, and other cruise related items to purchase with your cruise photos.

Since I had already purchased the digital pictures, I wasn’t planning to purchase the hard copies. But in the end, when I could buy all of them for an additional fee of $50, I purchased them. I would probably spend more than that having copies printed. So in total, we spent $200 on pictures.

You can purchase packages for just digital, just printed, or both. Cost or just digital was $150 and c

ost for both digital and printed together was $200.

Using the Cruise Photos

I have used the pictures on social media, in a variety of blog posts, and at least one or two will be on our 2019 Christmas Card. You receive a letter giving you the rights to use them and you must present that letter when you have the prints made.

I have digital rights to do what I want with them and I have 84 printed pictures. Some I look so goofy on, they will just go in the trash. But out of the 84, there are probably 50 that I will either hang or use in a scrapbook.

Should You Purchase Cruise Photo Packages?

I have purchased the digital pictures on our last two cruises. Will I purchase every time? Probably not. A cruise for an important event, or to mark an occasion probably yes. Other times, I feel just one or two pictures of us will be sufficient and I will purchase the single prints. But I’m pretty sure I will purchase pictures of some sort on each cruise.

Each person will have to weigh the pros and cons and decide for themselves if it is worth the expense. If it is a once in a lifetime experience type thing or a special occasion you want to commemorate such as a honeymoon, anniversary, big birthday, or family get-together, then it is probably wise to purchase a photo package.

As you can see from all the pictures in this post and my other cruise posts, we got our money’s worth for the purchase of the photo package on this Royal Caribbean Cruise on Brilliance of the Seas.

Pre-purchase Cruise Photo Packages if Possible

This is just one of the extra expenses you need to take into consideration when budgeting for a cruise. I knew in advance I would be purchasing this, so I had budgeted and paid for it before we left home.

Had I not done so, this would have been an added cost at the end of the cruise. (Photos cost more during the cruise than if you pre-purchase)

NOTE: Everything costs more on the cruise than if you pre-purchase….pictures, drink packages, internet service, shore excursions, etc. All can be pre-paid at a small discount in price before you ever leave your home.

Please leave a comment and let me know your experience with cruise photo packages.

Robin O'Neal Smith

Travel, Food, and More!