One of our favorite things about cruising has been the photo ops Carnival sets up each night prior to dinner. I have mentioned it before, but my wife loves taking and posing for pictures, and I love my wife, so we take a LOT of them, and we enjoy sorting through the lot and picking out our favorites. We usually end up spending more than I ever imagined on photographs, but to have those images of our time together is priceless.
In addition to the professionally done ops that are available nightly, you can schedule a private photo shoot with one of the more experienced photographers. You can make arrangements prior to sailing on Carnival’s website, or you can just schedule your time after you board. There will be a Dream Studio staff member walking around nightly trying to book more shoots, so it isn’t hard to make an appointment. You can schedule shoots at the ports, at sunset on the lido, or just about anywhere you can imagine. They also have a small studio setup for portrait shots.
We had originally scheduled our shoot on formal night after the Chef’s Table, but after a day at Mr. Sanchos, followed by two more hours of drinking and dining, I was not exactly ready for my closeup. I found Omar, our photographer, and rescheduled for the next night. I am really glad we did and the results were amazing. Being comfortable in our casual cruise wear instead our more formal attire made things more natural. Omar had some great spots around the boat to take some candids, and then we made our way to the studio for some portrait sittings.
The whole shoot took about an hour and we scheduled a time to come view the results the next evening, and that’s where everything took a crazy turn. Omar Gonzalez made my wife cry. He sat us on a couch and played the slideshow that I have included below. I knew about 30 seconds in that I was going to be spending more than I expected to (far more to be honest), but it was money well spent. The Dream Studio experience was worth every penny. Honestly, I had tears in my eyes as well realizing how perfectly he had captured my wife’s beauty and our love.
Carnival’s Dream Studio offers a multitude of packages starting at pricey and reaching extreme (at least on our budget). We purchased a handsomely crafted album, the digital images and the copyrights for a fairly reasonable price. Thanks to the digital age we got out without breaking the bank and then since we have the copyrights, we made our own metal wall hangings, photo albums and prints at home by using Shutterfly.com and Snapfish.com. Those two sites are easy to use and the results have been impressive. I suggest taking your time and playing around with your creations, as there is a lot you can do with just a little time and effort.