Shutters - never again

[jstewartgt]

These guys really need to be replaced. They lost our order on the disembarkation morning and made us wait for an hour while they copied 10 pictures on to a USB drive. After something like that, I expect to be compensated in some way and I should not have to fight for it.

I'm amazed Disney lets this type of service continue on an otherwise fantastic operation

 

[anricat]

They are pretty bad, which is unfortunate because I love having the photos of our family on our cruise. On our cruise, we went to pick up our CD and (after waiting in all the wrong lines) they told me someone had already picked it up. I explained that, no, nobody had picked it up. The guy continued arguing with me, saying it must have been someone else in my stateroom (effectively calling me a liar). Meanwhile, DD is HUNGRY so DH takes her to breakfast and I tell them I'll catch up to them. The guy says that they will have to burn a new CD. Our table mates never even HAD a CD so they needed one, too. Finally, my table mate (who I was waiting with) said, "You know what? We are going to eat breakfast. We are in Animator's, here's our table number. You can bring us the CDs." Then she walked away, leaving him dumbfounded. I followed her, dubious, but then, 30 minutes later, he came with our CDs.

Later, on our cruise meet group, someone posted that they had received a CD of all the wrong photos. Turns out, it was ours! We were cabin 6550, they were cabin 6650 or something and had been given the wrong CD. *head desk*

That said, I enjoyed our photos, the only exception being the completely ridiculous borders which I should be able to choose to not have adorning my photos. I think for the amount of photos we get, it's worth it for our family.

 

[squirk]

I don't have anything against Shutters, per se. I like the library-esque theme of the space and checking out my book each day, but I agree the space could be put to better use, and the photos are horribly expensive.

Honestly, we enjoy the photos taken on our phones more than the Shutters photos, anyway, and SnapFish can make just as nice of a bound photo album for a fraction of the price.

 

[anricat]

I don't have anything against Shutters, per se. I like the library-esque theme of the space and checking out my book each day, but I agree the space could be put to better use, and the photos are horribly expensive.

Honestly, we enjoy the photos taken on our phones more than the Shutters photos, anyway, and SnapFish can make just as nice of a bound photo album for a fraction of the price.

I don't understand why they have the books. Why can't we just look at our photos on a screen? While waiting to disembark last cruise, I watched a Shutters CM empty book after book into the trash. What a waste!

 

[Jennifer777]

I don't understand why they have the books. Why can't we just look at our photos on a screen? While waiting to disembark last cruise, I watched a Shutters CM empty book after book into the trash. What a waste!

I think they have the same philosophy the school picture companies have, if you see hard copy pictures of your kids, you're more likely to buy them vs. ordering prints that aren't already in your hands. I agree this is a total waste. Time to go digital and change it so you can go online after your cruise and go through/choose your photos instead of having to deal with it while on board.

 

[squirk]

I agree it's a waste, too. However, in the grand scheme of "waste" on a cruise ship, I suspect "unused photos" isn't the worst offense by a long shot.

 

[mevelandry]

During our last cruise, we have never received our arrival picture (in the book, nor their computer system) and they never came to our table to take pictures of us in the dining rooms... At the end of the trip, we had no pictures at all (from shutters).

I don't understand why they don't switch to a system like Photopass.

 

[TestingH2O]

I think they have the same philosophy the school picture companies have, if you see hard copy pictures of your kids, you're more likely to buy them vs. ordering prints that aren't already in your hands. I agree this is a total waste. Time to go digital and change it so you can go online after your cruise and go through/choose your photos instead of having to deal with it while on board.

I would love to be able to order after the cruise. However, there's a likelihood their sales would DROP if they did that. I know plenty of people who wouldn't mind the watermark if they were just sharing images on social media. For those people, they would spend less. The way it is now, people have to purchase photos to get digital images to share.

 

[squirk]

But even if sales dropped by going to a PhotoPass system, if that freed up the Shutters space for something more profitable, that would still be a win, no?

 

[birdmom]

Our last cruise on Halloween was a shutters disaster! I had pre purchased the "all Prints" and CD. First problem was they do not print "all the prints" and i don't just mean when you are posing at one background they print one of the 5 they took, I mean they flat out skipped photo ops. I started noticing when there was no pictures of Jack and Sally. I went to shutters and asked for them and i was told the package ($400) only includes what they choose to print...... So its bad enough I had to stand in line for an hour to see Jack and Sally but shutters just decided not to print them? After arguing with the lady for 15 mins I asked for a supervisor, she said she would go ahead and print them for me that night........ next day no pics, I asked again...... they will print them for me that night.....next day no pics, 4 nights later I stood at the counter and said I was not leaving till I physically saw them. The photographers were also not well trained, they did not pose us correct, my husband was chopped off at the forehead in at least 10 photos, big gaps between us and our kids in the pics, so so so many problems. Then getting my CD on the last day..... they forgot to burn it, what a surprise. We ended up waiting an hour because there was no way I could trust them to mail it. Shutter will not get a penny from me ever again.

 

[TestingH2O]

But even if sales dropped by going to a PhotoPass system, if that freed up the Shutters space for something more profitable, that would still be a win, no?

It would be a win for the cruisers, yes. But who comes first, cruisers or company? I think we would give a different answer than the CEO.

 

[squirk]

No, I mean, the PhotoPass technology is already in place and would be, presumptively, relatively easy to implement so we all wind up "going digital". No more printing costs, reduced staffing needs, etc. So, even if sales go down, so does cost. And then they put in a new profit center to replace Shutters, so DCL winds up making more money overall.

But who knows? Maybe, despite all the waste and all the problems, Shutters is still hugely profitable, and DCL doesn't want to mess with a good thing.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

I would love to be able to order after the cruise. However, there's a likelihood their sales would DROP if they did that. I know plenty of people who wouldn't mind the watermark if they were just sharing images on social media. For those people, they would spend less. The way it is now, people have to purchase photos to get digital images to share.

WDW memory already allows this.. Watermark and all.. Been very popular!

No, I mean, the PhotoPass technology is already in place and would be, presumptively, relatively easy to implement so we all wind up "going digital". No more printing costs, reduced staffing needs, etc. So, even if sales go down, so does cost. And then they put in a new profit center to replace Shutters, so DCL winds up making more money overall.

But who knows? Maybe, despite all the waste and all the problems, Shutters is still hugely profitable, and DCL doesn't want to mess with a good thing.

On the wonder and magic I vote for another vanellope sweet shop!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm not sure where I heard it or why I'm thinking this, but I was under the impression that the photo paper and ink didn't cost Shutters anything just like in the parks the syrups for the sodas are not purchased by Disney.

I can't say I've had any truly bad experiences with Shutters over the 12 Disney cruises I've been on. I have several pre-purchased CDs that went off without a hitch. I don't always purchase them. Some cruises I skip all photo ops altogether. I do like the library style setup as opposed to the old system. I don't mind having some printed and some on our electronic folio because some don't make it into the e-folio. Those prints I can take to the desk & have added. Also, I like the screens where you can look for disconnected shots that didn't show up and have them added. It's additional avenues to find pics that the facial recognition software didn't hit on. Yeah, the facial recognition software is not 100% accurate 100% of the time. It's understandable. If every photo was matched up manually by a person the cost of photos would certainly be far more than the already high prices.

Shutters as it sits is not any more expensive or without flaws than the photo service on any other cruise line. They're pretty much par for the course. In fact, the company that operates Shutters us the same company that operates the photo programs on other cruise lines. Parks are parks. Cruises are cruises. Apples and oranges. The idea of Disney's Photopass on the cruise ships is nice but I wouldn't expect it to change.

For me, it's fine like it is. That's me. But, I've never had any issues with them either.

 

[princessmommyx3]

I have had one issue with Shutters, but I can't complain too much because they compensated me for my troubles. I bought the choose 10 digital package, and when I went to pick up my CD the last night, there were only 13 images when there should have been 66. I knew this because I had been checking our images on the kiosks throughout the week. When I asked them to correct it, the person told me that the missing images were "lost" and there was no way to get them back. I went round and round with her for about 20 minutes, even sticking my card into the kiosk and showing her the missing photos. She still told me there was nothing she could do. I walked back to my room trying to figure out what to do next and I happened to pass our concierge host in the hall. I told him my issue and even though it was after 10 and he was technically off-duty, he walked me back down to Shutters, calling a manager as we walked. When we got there, the manager was waiting for us and had the issue resolved in minutes. They ended up giving me unlimited images at no extra charge.

 

[belac]

But even if sales dropped by going to a PhotoPass system, if that freed up the Shutters space for something more profitable, that would still be a win, no?

Ahhh squirk, you hit the nail on the head right there. Now they only need to get an idea of what that space would be?

 

[squirk]

Ahhh squirk, you hit the nail on the head right there. Now they only need to get an idea of what that space would be?

Something open, that wouldn't block the light, for sure. Relocated, expanded Vista Cafe? I don't know.....

 

[MUN]

These guys really need to be replaced. They lost our order on the disembarkation morning and made us wait for an hour while they copied 10 pictures on to a USB drive. After something like that, I expect to be compensated in some way and I should not have to fight for it.

I'm amazed Disney lets this type of service continue on an otherwise fantastic operation

I'm sorry about your experience, I have always had positive experiences with Shutters.

MUN

 

[jstewartgt]

My biggest issue is it's OK to mess up, but then you need to compensate me for my lost time and your fault or it seems to me you don't care. Don't make me fight for it and then only give me a small discount. If you said this will be ready at 8AM and it's not, then there should be immediate compensation. If it takes another hour and the only thing I can do is sit and wait on you, then it should be at least 50% off and I would argue you should give it to me for free.

I sent an email to the office of the president explaining the whole ordeal. I don't expect any additional compensation at this point, but I do hope they understand this operation is below par

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

My biggest issue is it's OK to mess up, but then you need to compensate me for my lost time and your fault or it seems to me you don't care. Don't make me fight for it and then only give me a small discount. If you said this will be ready at 8AM and it's not, then there should be immediate compensation. If it takes another hour and the only thing I can do is sit and wait on you, then it should be at least 50% off and I would argue you should give it to me for free.

Why are you entitled to compensation because of a mess up? Did you miss a flight? Did you miss a car service you had to pay for? Did you miss anything that cost you anything? If not, compensation isn't really warranted at all, much less 50% off. A small discount for customer service reasons, yes, but nothing huge.