Photo CDs

[dutchpeter]

Please, no flames, I'm just stating my opinion...I think Shutters is a ripoff. While they do take some great photos, I just think the prices are ridiculous. I heard a fellow passenger on our cruise ask the price for a digital image for ONE 8x10...it was $119.95!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure of this b/c he was shocked and clarified his question and the cast member said it again and didn't even flinch. That's nuts!!! We did buy a very few individual shots b/c we didn't have enough shots that we liked to purchase 10 6x8s or 5 8x10s for the $84.95 package and of course they "couldn't" or wouldn't print the 8x10s as 6x8s or the 6x8s as 8x10s. I don't even think that we will bother having them take any photos on our next cruise. My camera takes great photos. I admit it was nice to have photos taken while we were already dressed up, etc, but I can't find any way to justify the prices.

I agree that Shutters is a ripoff. Outrageous prices for pictures that are not very good to start with. On our first cruise on the Wonder we bought 3 pictures that were worth while out off the dozen taken and on the Magic this summer we didn't buy any. Bad pictures, taken in great haste. And half of the pictures they took got lost in the system.... Best pictures we have, were taken with our iPhone, believe it or not.

 

[redman822]

I agree that Shutters is a ripoff. Outrageous prices for pictures that are not very good to start with. On our first cruise on the Wonder we bought 3 pictures that were worth while out off the dozen taken and on the Magic this summer we didn't buy any. Bad pictures, taken in great haste. And half of the pictures they took got lost in the system.... Best pictures we have, were taken with our iPhone, believe it or not.

I agree - the jpg quality on the CDs are horrible. I figured that with the high-end cameras they use (high end DSLR) their picture quality would trump mine - boy was I wrong. They might be using a camera that is 12MP or more, but they reduce the photo JPG quality. Here's what I posted back in April (just a couple weeks after my cruise on the topic).

Image resolution of 2400x1598 is less than a 4 megapixel image (3.8 to be exact)...best way to determine the quality of the image is to look at the average image size, which was (on average) about a 900KB (less than 1 MB) picture.

Meanwhile my ($125) Canon PowerShot SD1200IS point and shoot captures images at 3648x2736 (10MP) with image sizes around 2.5-3.0MB.

So, it all depends on what you are looking for - I expected MUCH higher resolution than they provided on the CD - they are using digital SLR cameras (I wish I had written what they were using) but to have image resolution/file size for be 1/2 to 2/3rds of what my little point and shoot provides is quite a disappointment, especially based on the price they charge for the CD.

If I had it all to do again, I'd make sure my camera was used for all of the character shots and forgo buying their CD. I won't be buying their CD again, that's for sure. I'll use the money to go towards buying a DSLR myself and not drop the resolution to 3.8MP.

 

[Hokeysmoke]

I agree - the jpg quality on the CDs are horrible. I figured that with the high-end cameras they use (high end DSLR) their picture quality would trump mine - boy was I wrong. They might be using a camera that is 12MP or more, but they reduce the photo JPG quality. Here's what I posted back in April (just a couple weeks after my cruise on the topic).



If I had it all to do again, I'd make sure my camera was used for all of the character shots and forgo buying their CD. I won't be buying their CD again, that's for sure. I'll use the money to go towards buying a DSLR myself and not drop the resolution to 3.8MP.

I respectfully disagree with all of the above. As I posted before, all of our photos on the CD were full resolution from the DSLR (7 or 12 megapixels, depending on who shot it), and there is absolutely no way to match the professional lighting (softboxes) they have for the photos. Perhaps the Wonder photographers are different?

If you "export" the pictures using the application on the CD (which you must use because the photos are encrypted), you get two folders of pictures. One is called "original_images" and the other is called "print_ready_images". The latter folder has 4 megapixel down-conversions. The other has, as far as I can tell, the ones straight from the camera.

 

[jenseib]

I respectfully disagree with all of the above. As I posted before, all of our photos on the CD were full resolution from the DSLR (7 or 12 megapixels, depending on who shot it), and there is absolutely no way to match the professional lighting (softboxes) they have for the photos. Perhaps the Wonder photographers are different?

If you "export" the pictures using the application on the CD (which you must use because the photos are encrypted), you get two folders of pictures. One is called "original_images" and the other is called "print_ready_images". The latter folder has 4 megapixel down-conversions. The other has, as far as I can tell, the ones straight from the camera.

What do you mean by export. I don't think my CD had such a thing. I just copied the folder to my pictures.

 

[Hokeysmoke]

The Photo CD we received on our 12/4 Wonder MR cruise has an application on it called "Image Desktop". This needed to be installed on our computer before we had access to the photos. The files on the CD were not image files, but had to be exported to be able to access them with any normal photo application. There's a big "EXPORT" button at the bottom of the application's main window.

Here's a link to a FAQ they provided on the CD jacket: http://www.mycruisephotos.com/help/

Note from the first page it states that the CD is "loaded with both print ready images for easy printing and the original image files for editing and making your own prints".

This certainly could be a recent change. Hopefully it's related to the lower pricing we got as well ($249). If it's implemented widely maybe everyone would get a lower price.

 

[mesaboy2]

The Photo CD we received on our 12/4 Wonder MR cruise has an application on it called "Image Desktop". This needed to be installed on our computer before we had access to the photos. The files on the CD were not image files, but had to be exported to be able to access them with any normal photo application. There's a big "EXPORT" button at the bottom of the application's main window.

Here's a link to a FAQ they provided on the CD jacket: http://www.mycruisephotos.com/help/

Note from the first page it states that the CD is "loaded with both print ready images for easy printing and the original image files for editing and making your own prints".

This certainly could be a recent change. Hopefully it's related to the lower pricing we got as well ($249). If it's implemented widely maybe everyone would get a lower price.

My CD had the same process back in June.

As for picture quality, I would guess Shutters photos are of high-enough quality for point-and-shooters like me, but wouldn't impress those who work with fancy DSLRs.

 

[redman822]

I respectfully disagree with all of the above. As I posted before, all of our photos on the CD were full resolution from the DSLR (7 or 12 megapixels, depending on who shot it), and there is absolutely no way to match the professional lighting (softboxes) they have for the photos. Perhaps the Wonder photographers are different?

If you "export" the pictures using the application on the CD (which you must use because the photos are encrypted), you get two folders of pictures. One is called "original_images" and the other is called "print_ready_images". The latter folder has 4 megapixel down-conversions. The other has, as far as I can tell, the ones straight from the camera.

A) I was on the 3/27 sail of the Dream
B) There is no application on my CD (I just went and grabbed it to be sure)
C) There is only one folder which is our cabin #.
D) I have a program that shows pixel dimensions - There were three photo sizes. The largest is 4288x2848 (5/48 photos) , the middle was 3216x2136 (39/48 photos), and the smallest is 1598x2400(4/48 photos). Therefore the average megapixel was 6.8MP.
E) Photo size by KB ranged from a low of 606KB to the high of 2MB with an average of 1MB.

My Canon PowerShot 1200 (10MP) takes photos with a resolution of 3648x2736 and an average file size 2.4MB.

 

[dolphingirl47]

A) I was on the 3/27 sail of the Dream
B) There is no application on my CD (I just went a grabbed it to be sure)
C) There is only one folder which is our cabin #.
D) I have a program that shows pixel dimensions - There were three photo sizes. The largest is 4288x2848 (5/48 photos) , the middle was 3216x2136 (39/48 photos), and the smallest is 1598x2400(4/48 photos). Therefore the average megapixel was 6.8MP.
E) Photo size by KB ranged from a low of 606KB to the high of 2MB with an average of 1MB.

My Canon PowerShot 1200 (10MP) takes photos with a resolution of 3648x2736 and an average file size 2.4MB.

Maybe they do it different on the Dream then. I have had the photo Cd three times now, once on the Magic and twice on the Wonder and it is as Hokeysmoke described. I had to download the software and then had two different versions. The original images are quite big with the smallest one being 3.7 MB and most are around 4.9 MB.

Corinna

 

[redman822]

Maybe they do it different on the Dream then. I have had the photo Cd three times now, once on the Magic and twice on the Wonder and it is as Hokeysmoke described. I had to download the software and then had two different versions. The original images are quite big with the smallest one being 3.7 MB and most are around 4.9 MB.

Corinna

If that were the case, I would be very happy. Go Figure!

Kinda silly that the newest ship of the fleet had the worst photo quality. You'd think it'd be the other way around.

 

[Texasmomof3]

Our family has two cabins. One is in my name and includes my hubby, myself and our daughter. Our second cabin is connecting, though in my moms name, and has my mom and our two other kids. Do you know if we will be able to get a cd with pictures of everyone on it. Most pictures I would think would include all 6 of us but since this will be our first cruise I am unsure how often pictures are taken and at what places? If pictures are taken of our two kids in the cabin next to us will they be able to be included on our cd?
We are cruising on the Dream in May for 3 nights! We cant wait!!!!

I am wondering the same thing as we have 7 different cabins booked on our next cruise. It would be worth it to split the cost if all the pictures are on one CD

 

[mesaboy2]

I am wondering the same thing as we have 7 different cabins booked on our next cruise. It would be worth it to split the cost if all the pictures are on one CD

I hear some have trouble getting two cabins on one CD. I think it's a safe bet there's no way they'll let you do seven unless you're the Duggars and all are immediate family--sorry.

 

[jenseib]

A) I was on the 3/27 sail of the Dream
B) There is no application on my CD (I just went and grabbed it to be sure)
C) There is only one folder which is our cabin #.
D) I have a program that shows pixel dimensions - There were three photo sizes. The largest is 4288x2848 (5/48 photos) , the middle was 3216x2136 (39/48 photos), and the smallest is 1598x2400(4/48 photos). Therefore the average megapixel was 6.8MP.
E) Photo size by KB ranged from a low of 606KB to the high of 2MB with an average of 1MB.

My Canon PowerShot 1200 (10MP) takes photos with a resolution of 3648x2736 and an average file size 2.4MB.

I was on the 3/31 sailing and I didn't have that either.

 

[mesaboy2]

I was on the 3/31 sailing and I didn't have that either.

I was on the 6/7 and I did. Weird.

 

[Princess Yellow]

If that were the case, I would be very happy. Go Figure!

Kinda silly that the newest ship of the fleet had the worst photo quality. You'd think it'd be the other way around.

Redman822, was your CD full by any chance, i.e., that your photos were compressed to fit all your photos on a CD? Personally, I would be upset if they did that instead of using a second CD, but maybe that is an explanation.

 

[redman822]

Redman822, was your CD full by any chance, i.e., that your photos were compressed to fit all your photos on a CD? Personally, I would be upset if they did that instead of using a second CD, but maybe that is an explanation.

Nope - only 48 pictures for a total of 50MB out of a CD that could hold 700MB.

 

[Crecia27]

Megapixels isn't the end all be all - with what has been listed so far you should get a good quality print and still have on your pictures on one disk. The average person doesn't need 12MP, because we aren't printing at larger than 11x14.

Smugmug recommends 2160x2160 for printing a 36x36 quality image.

(it won't let me link because I'm a DIS newbie, but it's easy to google )

 

[redman822]

Take my word for it, the image quality on my CD was horrible. I am an IT Support Manager and I had to do every trick I could try try to get the pictures able to be printed as 8x10s clearly. The first time I took them to my local shop to get them printed, everything came out with jagged lines, I had to run them through Photoshop smoothing tool to get them reasonably printable.

 

[maggs1035]

I just noticed on a recent navigator that they are now selling photo cds in shutters with all your photos. At first I thought it was a good thing- but it is $399.95?!! In addition you can then buy the printed photo packages for 1/2 price. Im just curious- Has anyone done this?

Ok.... I called Shutters and heres the deal... 349.95 is just the cd, for 399.95 you will ALSO get EVERY PIC ON CD IN PRINT, posed portrait type pics will be 8x10, candid pics will be 6x8. There would be no reason for you to buy any more photo packages or prints because you will get each pic in PRINT!!! As far as others posting a different price, it depends on the length of your cruise, the price also covers the cost of photographers time, and they are all over Castaway cay! To me this is a great deal, Im a photographer and Im never in the pics and jump at this opportunity! IMO

 

[jenseib]

Ok.... I called Shutters and heres the deal... 349.95 is just the cd, for 399.95 you will ALSO get EVERY PIC ON CD IN PRINT, posed portrait type pics will be 8x10, candid pics will be 6x8. There would be no reason for you to buy any more photo packages or prints because you will get each pic in PRINT!!! As far as others posting a different price, it depends on the length of your cruise, the price also covers the cost of photographers time, and they are all over Castaway cay! To me this is a great deal, Im a photographer and Im never in the pics and jump at this opportunity! IMO

I never heard this before.....it has to be new. The deal was that you bought the CD and got your prints at 50% off.

 

[ALSBC91]

We were on the 4/14 Western Fantasy cruise and we bought the Photo CD.

Between 2 cabins, there were 7 of us. Anytime we had to show a KTTW card, we used my husband's. We'd then have the 3 kids in the picture, then add in DH and I, and finally my parents. We even did a few of my parents alone. All of them ended up on our CD. In our folio, we even had duplicate prints a few times.

We paid the extra $50 to get all the prints as well as the CD. We had to empty our folio 3 times because it filled up! There is no way I could have gotten all the prints I wanted for $50, even taking them to WalMart to be printed.

As to the quality of the pictures, for the bulk of them, they were FABULOUS. We had a few that were just "so-so". Given what I've paid in the past to get family pictures done at home, the cost of the CD was worth it. We figured out that we had so many pictures on our CD that each one was only $2.

Also, on the Fantasy, the pictures on the CD now come with the different borders on them!

We love the CD and buy it every cruise!