Prepaying Photo Packages

[Krs1300]

What do you think? Worth it?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

I found specials on the ship that undercut these offers.

You never know until the ship how many you will buy, often you buy far more than planned, for any potential saving, flexibility is better you wouldn't loose a lot waiting to the ship but could gain a lot more.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What do you think? Worth it?

"Worth it" is in the eye of the beholder. Individual photos cost $16.95-$19.95. If you feel that you're going to be wanting to buy enough photos to cover the cost of a package, it's worth it.

I'll just point out - if you purchase a package, and it turns out you aren't going to want enough photos to cover the cost, you can cancel the package at any time up to (an including) the last full day onboard with no penalty. Then you can just buy the one or two photos you want.

Same for the full digital package - if you pre-purchase it, it saves you 15%. But, again, if you don't want enought of the photos to cover the cost, you can cancel it.

 

[PlutoDisney]

We are trying to decide which package to purchase. If we were to pre-purchase the digital + prints package then decided on the ship that we only wanted digital and no prints can we downgrade? Or does it work out better to pre-purchase the digital only package and then upgrade to prints while on the ship if we decide we want them? Any advice or suggestions welcome.

 

[Krs1300]

"Worth it" is in the eye of the beholder. Individual photos cost $16.95-$19.95. If you feel that you're going to be wanting to buy enough photos to cover the cost of a package, it's worth it.

I'll just point out - if you purchase a package, and it turns out you aren't going to want enough photos to cover the cost, you can cancel the package at any time up to (an including) the last full day onboard with no penalty. Then you can just buy the one or two photos you want.

Same for the full digital package - if you pre-purchase it, it saves you 15%. But, again, if you don't want enought of the photos to cover the cost, you can cancel it.

Great to know! I will keep that in mind. I like having the option to print whichever photos I want from a digital copy. I'm hoping to take advantage of the onboard "lifestyle" photography and get some good pics of my kids. We'll see how that goes

 

[Drusilla99]

We get the digital only since a few years ago when we got the digital and prints package and got an insane amount of pictures. On our last cruise last month we took the least amount of pics ever and still ended up with 119 pictures on the disc. This was our minimum, there were some nights we didn't even go to the pre dinner photos, so I'm not sure how we hit that number. The majority of them were great and I would have wanted most.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Great to know! I will keep that in mind. I like having the option to print whichever photos I want from a digital copy. I'm hoping to take advantage of the onboard "lifestyle" photography and get some good pics of my kids. We'll see how that goes

I believe the special photography sessions are not included in any package. Those have an extra cost.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Today, I found the shutters flyer from on the ship, posted in my trip report with other information, now onboard as said, we got special offers, with the packages, photos of Olso, or Bergen or Characters were included if we purchased onboard.

Prepayment to buying on the ship is marginal, to me I like the flexibility to choose when I see how many photos there are.

 

[Cali Cat]

I believe the special photography sessions are not included in any package. Those have an extra cost.

Are you talking about the pictures with the generic white background, because these have always been included in the digital packages I've purchased. Or is "Lifestyle" something new I haven't heard of yet?

 

[Whimsical1995]

Okay so I have 2 rooms booked for our family of 5. Am I going to have to buy 2 packages?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Okay so I have 2 rooms booked for our family of 5. Am I going to have to buy 2 packages?

It depends - are the two rooms one nuclear family? That's mom and minor kids in one room and dad and minor kids in the other. Or extended family? One room mom, dad, kids, second room, grandma & grandpa (or aunt/uncle)?

If it's the nuclear family option - yes, you can get just one digital package. If extended - you must purchase two packages. However, the first room, while paying full price (the pre-purchase discount price counts as full price) the second room can get their package for 50% off.

 

[Krs1300]

Are you talking about the pictures with the generic white background, because these have always been included in the digital packages I've purchased. Or is "Lifestyle" something new I haven't heard of yet?

Yes... that is what I mean. Sorry for the confusion!

 

[FrozenFosters]

I'm thinking about buying one of these too.
Sorry, can I just confirm that if I buy one before I go it will not include character pictures from the meet and greets? As in, are these pictures considered to be special photography sessions? These are the ones we really want and the main reason we'd be buying the package.

 

[cmph]

Holy cow. I hadn't bothered to look up the photography cost in the many months that have passed since we booked our first DCL. I figured it couldn't be that different than Aulani, or Memory Maker. So what is the pre-cruise cost -15% off still accurate, from what I can tell by googling? (I'm not seeing anything the dcl site - too far out from my date.) I figured I would give it a go for our first DCL cruise, even though we tend not to get these photo packages otherwise. But yeesh.

Well, I will never complain about $150 for MemoryMaker again... which theoretically was a cost I would have shared with my parents and sister/BIL via our linked accounts (if any of them had bothered to pay me back.)

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm thinking about buying one of these too.
Sorry, can I just confirm that if I buy one before I go it will not include character pictures from the meet and greets? As in, are these pictures considered to be special photography sessions? These are the ones we really want and the main reason we'd be buying the package.

I don't think the ticketed meet & greets are exempted from the packages. They aren't a "special photography session". But, for a more definite answer, you should ask the photography people. https://support.ourcruisephotos.com/support/home

Holy cow. I hadn't bothered to look up the photography cost in the many months that have passed since we booked our first DCL. I figured it couldn't be that different than Aulani, or Memory Maker. So what is the pre-cruise cost -15% off still accurate, from what I can tell by googling? (I'm not seeing anything the dcl site - too far out from my date.) I figured I would give it a go for our first DCL cruise, even though we tend not to get these photo packages otherwise. But yeesh.

Well, I will never complain about $150 for MemoryMaker again... which theoretically was a cost I would have shared with my parents and sister/BIL via our linked accounts (if any of them had bothered to pay me back.)

15% off the full digital package, yes, it's still good.

Just as a note, Memory Maker (as well as Photo Pass) are not professional photographers. Shutters is a professional photography concessionaire. Much like on other major cruise lines. That's why the price difference.

 

[sefowler1]

If you have a large family and need to update your collection, I would go for the package. Otherwise, it seems a bother to take enough pictures to make it worth the cost. If you buy a package, you end up spending more time hopping in every picture line to take full advantage of it.

 

[cmph]

If you have a large family and need to update your collection, I would go for the package. Otherwise, it seems a bother to take enough pictures to make it worth the cost. If you buy a package, you end up spending more time hopping in every picture line to take full advantage of it.

I tend to agree with this - regarding hopping in lines. DS despises it when I grab a Photopass photog to snap a photo of us, thinks taking photos is a huge waste of his time (he's 7... there are rides to go on!). So I probably won't even do that if there is a line two days into the cruise, when he's hit his limit. Plus we just paid $225 for a private portrait session on the beach at Aulani. Maybe that's why, in my head, it's hard to swallow that cost. Sure, not as many locales/characters/events - but it was private, 100ish shots, some with all of us, some kids-only, adults-only, lighting adjustments for different perspectives, numerous poses and "action" shots, etc.

 

[Lumee23]

Does anybody know if the photo package includes pictures from Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique? Last time we went to Disney World we got the memory maker. It included digital pics from the BBB experience as well as a mini photo session with a backdrop in a separate location. Originally I was planning on doing the same thing on the ship assuming the photo package would include that but now I am wondering if that is considered specialty and not included?

We are doing Land and Sea and I figured it would be a better use of time to do BBB on the ship but if pics aren't included in the package I may rethink that decision.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Does anybody know if the photo package includes pictures from Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique? Last time we went to Disney World we got the memory maker. It included digital pics from the BBB experience as well as a mini photo session with a backdrop in a separate location. Originally I was planning on doing the same thing on the ship assuming the photo package would include that but now I am wondering if that is considered specialty and not included?

We are doing Land and Sea and I figured it would be a better use of time to do BBB on the ship but if pics aren't included in the package I may rethink that decision.

I don't think they have photographers in Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I could be wrong. Hopefully, someone who's done it can chime in here.

 

[TestingH2O]

There were no photographers in BBB on our cruise on the Dream in May.