Shutters photos

[Namsupak]

Does anyone know exactly how much the CD costs? I can't find it anywhere, all I see is the package of pictures deals. We are going on a 4-night Dream cruise in May and I'm contemplating so I need to figure out if I should save up or not?
Another question is, we are traveling with friends and they have 2 staterooms. Can we link them all together and buy 1 disc between the two families? I thought this might help with the cost then we can copy the disc and each have one. Not sure if that would work though?
Do they just take pictures at certain times and it's a compilation of that or do they walk around the ship taking random pictures too?
I'm bringing my camera and I'm always taking pictures so I'm wondering what's going to be worth it for my family?
I would like a couple of nice family shots, so either way I would purchase a few, but this will help me decide if I just want a small photo package or the CD!
Thanks for any feedback!!

Read the first few posts of the thread, people have given prices. Generally 3 and 4 nights are $199, 5 nights are $249, 7 nights $299, not sure about 10 nights as we have not done those, for the 14nights it is $399, and as said before if you buy the CD you will get 1/2 price prints.

In short, no you can not link the CDs for the situation you are talking about. Often they will help you if it is for example the parents in one room and the kids in another, you will find some workarounds here on the boards with varying degrees of success.

Onboard it is generally scheduled times (character pictures) and there are several places, all listed in the navigator. The walk around photos on the ship happen usually at dinner. When in port or at castaway key there are walk around pictures sporadically. We have been up on the pool deck on a nice day and a shutters person was taking pictures of kids in the splash zone which was nice. There are also private photo sessions you can book. Usually outside the midship dining room the photographers will set up some family style shoots (no characters), sometimes a captain photo shoot, or a formal photo shoot, the times and examples are listed in the shutters area.

A shutters person will not take pictures with your camera, but a CM will, so often you can get your shots that way.

Also one more thing to note about the CD, while it does give you the rights and all of your pictures, the one thing it doesn't give you is the backgrounds or touch ups/cropping that they do. If you like the border around the pictures then you are better off buying the prints that have them, or buying the CD for the photo files and then the prints for the borders you like.

 

[owensamo]

I asked this before somewhere else but can't seem to find it now...Can you get printing privileges/authorization for any pictures you purchase, or do you need to buy the CD to get those privileges?

If you get the CD, you do get a release with it. Otherwise, you need to go to their website and you can request a release and print it out. Since it's nearly impossible to get reprints from them after the cruise, they don't seem to have a problem with getting copies of your photos elsewhere.

 

[ITGirl50]

We have sailed three times. On two sailings we didn't intend on buying photos and we bought one or two. On one sailing I intended on getting family pictures. It's the perfect time for family portraits. We were already all dressed up for formal or semi-formal night, so why not include family portrait time? They turned out very nice. We hadn't had a family portrait in years and it was the perfect opportunity.

 

[Keurigirl]

We bought the CD this month after our 7 day cruise on the Magic. About halfway into the cruise we thought it was so much easier to let the staff take photos of our kids with their flash equipment than it was for us to take them with our camera.

I'm a photographer by trade, and I will say that I was not at ALL impressed with the quality of the backdrop photos nor their photographers ability to capture a smile on my kids faces. They'd sit there forever and wait for a 2 and 5 year old to smile politely at the camera, instead of just snapping as soon as they were giggling at each other (which would have been a great shot as well). In addition, their light placement for the white on white backdrops was terrible and there was a lot of blow out because they did not have the right setup for that kind of photo.

However, the photos of my kids with the characters were better than I could get because they did have external lighting, and even with my speedlight theirs look better.

We were good about getting photos taken, and went home with three CDs and over 300 photos of the kids. That is WAY WAY WAY cheaper than any kind of photography package, even through Walmart. So, if you do a good job getting tons of pictures taken, it is very worth it.

 

[Cdnmom2001]

. There are also private photo sessions you can book. Usually outside the midship dining room the photographers will set up some family style shoots (no characters), sometimes a captain photo shoot, or a formal photo shoot, the times and examples are listed in the shutters area.



.

Just wondering if there is an additional cost for the private session and how does one book one?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just wondering if there is an additional cost for the private session and how does one book one?

I believe there is an additional cost, but don't know what it is. You go to Shutters to set it up.