Yay or Nay...photo cd for 3 night Dream??

[chrystalc77]

Trying to figure out a semi-budget for our 3 night on the Dream in April. Do you purchase a CD for a 3 night cruise? We've never cruised so this will be our first.....myself, DH, our 2 boys, and my parents. Trying to decide if I should go ahead and budget for this. I've definitely already got Tervis money set aside!!!

 

[jdb in AZ]

Trying to figure out a semi-budget for our 3 night on the Dream in April. Do you purchase a CD for a 3 night cruise? We've never cruised so this will be our first.....myself, DH, our 2 boys, and my parents. Trying to decide if I should go ahead and budget for this. I've definitely already got Tervis money set aside!!!

Some people love love love family cruise pictures. Others think they're an over-priced waste of $$$. We have no idea which category your family will fit into. You may end up with one 8X10" that you can't live without, or dozens of your kids interacting with the characters. Do you think your kids will want to wait in several lines to get their pictures taken over and over, or would they rather be on the Aqua Duck.

Do you and your DH love to take your own pics, or would you rather have the ship's photographers do the honors?

 

[racingfandj]

To add to what PP said, decide in advance what you are going to do. If you decide you are going to budget for it, take advantage of every opportunity you get! There will be photographers out every evening in front of scenes and blank backdrops as well as with characters. Wear nice clothes and have family pictures taken. It's not something we do very often, so I take advantage of it. They turn out wonderful - as long as the kids participate (my 4 y/o DD didn't one evening LOL).

 

[ludari]

I really enjoy talking tons of pictures while on Disney Cruises mostly with the characters. While the professional photographers is taking your picture you can asks a cast member to take your picture at the same time with your own camera. What I do is compare the both pictures and nearly all the time the pictures are nearly the same. I may have to purchase two or three pictures and once I did purchase the entire CD. Long story short I would budget for the CD but take your own camera and compare the photos. You might be happy enough with your own pictures and save the money.

 

[NCConch]

I think it has to do with the age of your kids. Mine are teens, so we were not in any of the character experience lines. We also only had one pre-dinner family picture taken and that was because there was no line. We were anti-line. We just wanted to eat and relax.

 

[sushi2]

I am willing to pay quite a bit for excellent photos. The problem with our Shutters experience though was that the photos were really bad. We had one decent photo (that we did buy), one good photo of one of my kids (which we didn't buy, because there were no good photos of my other child), and one great photo which looked exactly like the same great photo I took. The remainder were awful.
So my suggestion would be to wait and see.....

 

[3littleangels]

We did it and would gladly do it again for our next cruise.

As many pictures as our family would take for various activities and/or events, someone is always missing (DH the photographer or myself). I can probably count with one hand how many family pictures we have with all of us together. If you can budget for it, I would definitely recommend it.

 

[BowMom]

Good info! Thank you!

 

[GrtWtNorth]

I am willing to pay quite a bit for excellent photos. The problem with our Shutters experience though was that the photos were really bad.

I had the opposite experience on the Fantasy. The photos were excellent, but still not worth $300 for the CD. I think I bought the best two photos plus a frame for about $40.

 

[su_A_ve]

$225 for the CD for the 3night. $50 more to bring the prints with you as well. You could also get at 10 pictures digital CD for $100 or 15 pictures digital for $150. Photos are excellent. You get the CD with all of them but only able to unlock the number you purchased - you do this at home.

I would being your first cruise. We did it on our first and no regrets at all. But it's a small cruise, and you'll be wanting to go after every character to get pictures with.

 

[beach baby]

This might be something worth mentioning, as I have not seen it mentioned on the boards at all…..Photobombing.

I was ready to pre-purchase the photo cd for our family Fantasy cruise next year, until we got off our last 3 day Magic cruise in January.
There were a lot of great pictures I wanted to purchase of my family but didn't because every single one worth buying had some kid thinking they were the class clown. ALL the ones taken at dinner had a photobomb in them. And it wasn't the same person but a different one in each picture! Unintentionally getting in someone's photo can be funny at times I agree, but it is not cool when it's done with the purpose of ruining pictures. Probably could have photoshopped them at home, but why spend a lot of money on something I have to fix.??

That experience makes me very leery of pre buying pictures anywhere now.

 

[jdb in AZ]

This might be something worth mentioning, as I have not seen it mentioned on the boards at all…..Photobombing.

I was ready to pre-purchase the photo cd for our family Fantasy cruise next year, until we got off our last 3 day Magic cruise in January.
There were a lot of great pictures I wanted to purchase of my family but didn't because every single one worth buying had some kid thinking they were the class clown. ALL the ones taken at dinner had a photobomb in them. And it wasn't the same person but a different one in each picture! Unintentionally getting in someone's photo can be funny at times I agree, but it is not cool when it's done with the purpose of ruining pictures. Probably could have photoshopped them at home, but why spend a lot of money on something I have to fix.??

That experience makes me very leery of pre buying pictures anywhere now.

That's sad. Do the photographers notice the problem and retake the pics as soon as they realize what's happening?

 

[su_A_ve]

This might be something worth mentioning, as I have not seen it mentioned on the boards at all…..Photobombing.

I was ready to pre-purchase the photo cd for our family Fantasy cruise next year, until we got off our last 3 day Magic cruise in January.
There were a lot of great pictures I wanted to purchase of my family but didn't because every single one worth buying had some kid thinking they were the class clown. ALL the ones taken at dinner had a photobomb in them. And it wasn't the same person but a different one in each picture! Unintentionally getting in someone's photo can be funny at times I agree, but it is not cool when it's done with the purpose of ruining pictures. Probably could have photoshopped them at home, but why spend a lot of money on something I have to fix.??

That experience makes me very leery of pre buying pictures anywhere now.

Interesting - on the cruises, I've never had that issue - most of the shots taken have been with backgrounds, and hence nobody behind us. Very few shots at the dining rooms, but they've been all taken with flash, and in such a way that the background is almost black.

Last WDW trip, there were a group of Brazilian's teenagers that decided to practice that. Poor CM didn't know what to do. Was going to call security, but decided to skip the picture instead... bunch of idiots...

 

[beach baby]

I've had people in the background in other pictures on our other Disney cruises but they were minding their own business. They didn't detract from the picture. Never had a blacked out background picture in the dining rooms. Always have had very clear pictures of everything and everybody while using the flash. The background that is captured may have a lot to do with where your table is located. If you are against a wall then there will be no one else in your picture. If you are seated in the middle of a bunch of tables then other people will be in your pictures. Perhaps this cruise just had an abnormal amount of rude people on board.
Everyone has different experiences with photographers and pictures. Photobombing does happen. This was the first time I've had it be intentional.

However I'm certain it won't happen if there is a backdrop that is roped off that you are standing in front of. They do a decent job at Castaway Cay of keeping people out of your photos. I'm sure that if they see it happening they will retake them.

Photos at dinner are always my favorite because we are all dressed, prettied up, and together in one place.
Perhaps I am the only one it's happened to. Just giving an experience that will keep me from pre-purchasing the photo cd.