My Cruise Photos?

[disneygoof]

$300 for a 7 day cruise. Worth it or not? Are they mostly pre/post dinner or more creative.

Thanks in advance for advice!

 

[Saamh]

We've never felt the need to buy all of the photos. To us it is not worth it. We usually buy 1 or 2 but any more than that would end up in a drawer somewhere at home. We don't scrapbook and could never display that many photos.

There will be photo ops with all the characters (times listed in your daily navigator) and also options for formal pictures before and after dinner and they'll come around the dining rooms also.

The character handlers will take your photo with your camera with the character in addition to the shutters photographer. They also let you snap one of your kids after the shutters photographer takes one. We find that we have enough in our own camera that are as good as the shutters ones but we do buy at least 1 as a souvenir photo.

If you do decide to buy the photo package make sure to take advantage of all the photo ops available to make it worth the cost!

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

$300 for a 7 day cruise. Worth it or not? Are they mostly pre/post dinner or more creative.

Thanks in advance for advice!

We just got off the Dream (4 nights). There were no candid shots, just character meets, pre/post dinner on the stairs or in front of the fake cruise ship, and (for us) they came to our dinner table 2 out of the 4 nights. I knew I wanted the photo book, so I had to work REALLY hard to get 30-35 photos to fill up the book. I don't know how people got more photos than that.

 

[SwimMom2]

I had 99 pics on my 7 day Norway cruise. They did pics on some of the port adventures, at a couple of the ports in front of the ships, at 3 dinners (2 MDR and Palo), and loads of character greets. I am curious to here if this is typical of 7 day sails or just the Europe cruises.

 

[over50visits]

We take beautiful pictures with our own camera, and crew members are always happy to take the picture when we all want to get in it. Whether at dinner, character meet, informal on the deck, we end up with 100+ pictures from a cruise. We go home, look at them once in a blue moon, and are so glad we didn't spend hundreds of dollars for basically the same thing (and you can order a beautiful hardcover album of your best photos from lots of sources, such as photos on the Mac).

So, we don't think it begins to be worth it. But….we think the cabanas on CC are worth every penny, and don't see how Remy can serve such a beautiful meal for such a small price (even though just the food/tip comes to around $200).

The next person through the door will think spending $400-500 on a cabana is silly, and that money for one meal is dumb, yet they feel spending a few hundred on pictures that provide a permanent vacation memory is a good thing to do.

I'm saying the splurges are in the eye of the beholder. Choose one or two special splurges (photo package, Remy, cabana on CC, private excursion, spa, nice piece of jewelry, wine package, etc.) that bring you the most pleasure and rest assured many here will totally agree and many will not.

 

[thumpie's mom]

We love having the professional pictures and I do buy the photo CD. That is our big splurge when on board...we don't drink, do port excursions etc, and I do budget for this ahead of time. It was particularly worth it when we did the Panama Canal cruise last year....we had well over 300 pictures. We really enjoy the pictures with the Disney decorative borders on them and do in fact look at them after we are home. They also make wonderful gifts for the grandparents etc. As others have posted, it really depends on you and what you want to spend your money on. For me...it is pictures. Have a wonderful cruise!

 

[JMHDisney]

I find that we don't end up with a ton of pictures (usually less than 30) and the ones we get are rarely better than what we took with our camera. They usually come around to dinner 1-2 nights and then you can wait in character lines (or other photo lines). We usually do 4-5 of those. There was a candid photographer on Castaway Cay but now that I think about it, those pics didn't make it into our album (perhaps because they were terrible - I was dragging my son out of the water after he panicked while snorkeling and the guy was all "photo time!" - uh, no.).

I always buy the 10 photo CD package. Can't remember how much that is but sometimes there are specials on board. They give you a CD of all your pictures and then you unlock the ones you want after you get home. I like that I don't have to decide which photos I want while I'm on the boat and 10 lets me feel like I'm getting the best pictures. It's still pricey but it feels more manageable than the mega packages.

 

[asunutgirl]

We have traditionally purchased the CD package. Last cruise we did it in advance and saved some money. I'm the photographer in our family and frankly, if we didn't buy the professional photos there would be no photos of me on our vacations. We do make an effort every night to dress for dinner and do as many of the professional photo sessions as possible. They usually turn into our Christmas card photos!

It's really up to you on how you want to spend your money. Photos are important to me - a cabana on Castway is not.

 

[mevelandry]

My opinion: Not worth it. EDIT: Most photographers are with a CM and the CM will take pictures with your camera if you ask them. DH and I had 12 pictures from our 3 nights cruise and we ended up buying only 1 of them.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Most photographs will take pictures with your camera if you ask them

I'm figuring you meant "photographers". And that's not correct. The Shutters photographers will NOT use your camera to take your photo at their photo locations. However, if the photographer has a DCL CM assisting them at the location, you can ask them to use your camera to take your photo.

 

[mevelandry]

I'm figuring you meant "photographers". And that's not correct. The Shutters photographers will NOT use your camera to take your photo at their photo locations. However, if the photographer has a DCL CM assisting them at the location, you can ask them to use your camera to take your photo.

Yeah, ok. The CM will take it. That's what I meant. Every time a CM took a picture with our camera, it was just as good as the "professional" one.

 

[AngelDisney]

Yeah, ok. The CM will take it. That's what I meant. Every time a CM took a picture with our camera, it was just as good as the "professional" one.

Unfortunately for me, the pictures the CMs took were mostly blurry. My camera is just point and shoot. But still ... We are celebrating DD's 18th birthday this time, so I am getting the prepaid CD. If we don't have enough pictures that we like, I can just cancel it on the last day.

 

[mevelandry]

Unfortunately for me, the pictures the CMs took were mostly blurry. My camera is just point and shoot. But still ... We are celebrating DD's 18th birthday this time, so I am getting the prepaid CD. If we don't have enough pictures that we like, I can just cancel it on the last day.

You can do that? (cancel it)

 

[DISGRL13]

We got the package that included all the pictures taken and we thought it was totally worth it. We had close to 300 pictures on our 12 night Med cruise last year and about 100 pictures on our 4 night Bahamas cruise this March. We take family pictures with the characters and before dinner each evening in the lobby. They have different backdrops set up where we have family pictures taken. They turned out great and were ready for me to put into frames when we got home.
** If you buy the package on line before you get on the ship you can save $50.

 

[Flossbolna]

I had 99 pics on my 7 day Norway cruise. They did pics on some of the port adventures, at a couple of the ports in front of the ships, at 3 dinners (2 MDR and Palo), and loads of character greets. I am curious to here if this is typical of 7 day sails or just the Europe cruises.

Compared to my 7-night Fantasy cruise, there were far more special photo opportunities on the Norwegian Fjords cruise (we were on the same cruise). Even the Panama Canal cruise I did last year had less opportunities. There were so many opportunities for pictures off the ship that I was really surprised and thought that it was a fantastic service for those who like getting their pictures taken. To me it appeared to be a special service because of the unique itinerary.

 

[AngelDisney]

You can do that? (cancel it)

According to their refund policy, you can cancel onboard. Click HERE.
Hope this helps. Have fun planning!

 

[mevelandry]

According to their refund policy, you can cancel onboard. Click HERE.
Hope this helps. Have fun planning!

So it's just the cd... Prints and books can't be refunded. Ok. Good to know.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So it's just the cd... Prints and books can't be refunded. Ok. Good to know.

Any package you purchase can be refunded, as long as you do it by the last full day of your cruise. We've done it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Any package you purchase can be refunded, as long as you do it by the last full day of your cruise. We've done it.

The refund policy says "After you collect your items, we will refund 100% of the cost of any faulty or damaged product except for the following: We cannot provide partial or full refunds, exchanges or substitutions for any personalized items such as Get the Picture!,PhotoBooks or printed photographs" So, until you've actually picked up your purchases, they will refund.

 

[AngelDisney]

Does this mean if you have not collected any printed photos or personalize your photo book, you can still refund? For example, I bought the photobook but I can't find enough photos I like to put on the photobook. Then I can cancel it and get full refund. But once I have picked out the photos and got the photobook created. I cannot refund any more unless the photobook is damaged or defective. If so, technically you can still refund depending on your situation. It is good to know the terms before purchasing.

Have fun planning!