What's wrong with Shutters?

[ajgardner]

It seems as though I read a lot about people not liking Shutters and/or wishing Disney would get rid of them and bring in their own people. Why is this, what is not so good about Shutters?

 

[Heyriddle]

The photographers are great. Our photos have turned out wonderful and I'm not photogenic.

The prices and options aren't.

 

[shmoogrrrl]

Seems to me that they are VERY expensive, and I'd imagine that most people (including me!) would like them to go to something like the Disney Photopass in the parks. I'd love to worry about pictures once I got home.

I don't know, just my guess.

 

[Slappy32]

Shutters is outrageously expensive, IMHO.

 

[Beermam42]

Got home could not print pictures out correctly could not resize, boarders did not come out correctly. When you have done photo pass at WDW and then have to deal with Sutters you will understand just how bad they are. Buy a couple of printed shots and bring your own good camera.

 

[bumbershoot]

I didn't like that they chose what size to print things in, they chose if a border should go on it or not, and I had NO options, if I wanted those pictures, to do something else. We didn't take enough pictures to get a disc, so there were only certain pictures I wanted, but I wanted them in different sizes. And that is frustrating, when you are paying something like $75 for maybe 5 photos.

I saw a whisper of something about digital images in an option other than the CD, but in Feb that didn't exist; I could ONLY buy the prints of the pictures I wanted...there was no option to get the digital images of ONLY what I wanted.

 

[alexturner74]

I don't mind Shutters. Would I like for them to be less expensive, sure but oh well...

Alex

 

[cris0809]

The photographs are inconsistent at best. Are they better than the average person taking a photo? Maybe. Are they quality photographs? Not in my opinion. My hobbyist partner takes better photos than the ones they produce.

They are subpar photos to the ones taken in the parks by the average Photopass photographer and they deal with far more variables. Crowds, sun, wind and live animals are just a few examples.

Add in the outrageous cost, the hit-or-miss attitudes and the bothering me at my meals... it has been a negative on my comment card 9/9 times.

 

[Dizzyworld]

The photographs are inconsistent at best. Are they better than the average person taking a photo? Maybe. Are they quality photographs? Not in my opinion. My hobbyist partner takes better photos than the ones they produce.

They are subpar photos to the ones taken in the parks by the average Photopass photographer and they deal with far more variables. Crowds, sun, wind and live animals are just a few examples.

Add in the outrageous cost, the hit-or-miss attitudes and the bothering me at my meals... it has been a negative on my comment card 9/9 times.

I agree with you. We seem to buy less each cruise because of the quality. You would think they would know where to set up in the morning on CC where they take your photo with the ship in the background. The shine off the ship was horrible.

I always thought they were expensive until we bought high school senior photos. Yikes!

 

[Jey12]

For me it was mainly the price and selection of borders and cropping. Major reason I didn't pay for more than one picture was the price. Our cruise was 3 years ago so things may have changed, I'll find out here soon, but I didn't care for the scavenger hunt type of thing to find our pics on the last day of the cruise. We were all over the place in their little room with 100 other people on the same hunt! When we finally found our pics there was only one I was willing to pay for and that was because I hadn't thought to have someone take one of us with my camera right before we entered the ship. I don't remember what the exact price was for the one 8x10 but I do remember thinking I probably should have bought 2 more bottles of the Appleton rum on sale in the duty free shop instead. The rest we were able to locate I was not pleased with. I thought it's just how Disney does things, paid for the one pic and went on about my life. THEN I went to WDW the next year and was introduced to Disney's photopass. We prepaid, shared with the other family in our group and had so many pictures and borders to choose from, it took me days to complete my order. The pictures were so much better and the little magical things they add in thrilled DD7. Plus the cost was so much less! Like 75% or more less with 300% more pictures and options. I have no clue why Disney doesn't extend photopass type of things on their cruise line? To sum up I would compare shutters to hiring the neighbor kid to use their spongebob digital camera to take your family picture, and giving them $300 to do it. Photopass would be closer to hiring an established private photographer with middle of the road reviews for the price of a nice dinner out.



I have to admit I almost refused to pay for the photopass on our trip to WDW because of my experience with Shutters. I'm glad I went ahead and forked over the few extra dollars for photopass, as I'm the photographer in the family and every so often I figure I should be in a family photo.

 

[cris0809]

I agree with you. We seem to buy less each cruise because of the quality. You would think they would know where to set up in the morning on CC where they take your photo with the ship in the background. The shine off the ship was horrible.

I always thought they were expensive until we bought high school senior photos. Yikes!

They are also just not very Disney service oriented. I have gotten everything from disappointed looks to an outright eyeroll and sigh when refusing a photo. One cruise we had to tell the photographer an emphatic NO every single night at dinner even though I always say at the beginning that we prefer not to be disturbed during our meal. So pushy.

We have only ever purchased one photograph from Shutters. Begrudgingly I got a 6x8 that was taken by a very nice lady at our first Castaway Club reception when the one from our camera didn't turn out. We forgot to set it back to auto.

For what it's worth, we have a nice DSLR. Same one that Photopass photographers use in the parks.

 

[liberty6201]

I LOVE the photos taken, sure they are expensive but some of the best photos of my child's have come from a Disney ship..... And I take a LOT of photos myself. Never used photo pass so I can't compare to that but the photographers on the Med cruise in 2010 were very pleasant and we had a huge range of shots.

 

[cruzergirl]

I too love Shutters. Yes, there is some sticker shock, but on the newer ships you can definately work the system to your advantage. I took home over 200 "professional" pics plus the cd for $300 after my $100 photo credit from my TA. Would never be able to get that at home! IMO, the photographers have always gone out of their way to make my family comfortable and to take multiple poses/grouping to our family's liking. We've never once been pressured, although I'm certainly not saying it doesn't happen. I'll be on my fourth cruise shortly and already have my money budgeted for a photo package.

 

[cris0809]

I too love Shutters. Yes, there is some sticker shock, but on the newer ships you can definately work the system to your advantage. I took home over 200 "professional" pics plus the cd for $300 after my $100 photo credit from my TA. Would never be able to get that at home! IMO, the photographers have always gone out of their way to make my family comfortable and to take multiple poses/grouping to our family's liking. We've never once been pressured, although I'm certainly not saying it doesn't happen. I'll be on my fourth cruise shortly and already have my money budgeted for a photo package.

Interesting. Understand that to some people it represents value and I can respect that.

Have one question: to arrive at hundreds of useable shots how much of your time onboard is spent in photo sessions? If it's significant - which i imagine it is - I don't know that I could say you "spent $300". Since we're paying to be onboard, my mental math sheet would include time as a factor.

I'd rather find a photographer shoreside that I can research, meet, decide on a price with and be able to follow up with if I have any problems. Shutters provides none of this experience.

 

[Silverfox97]

So overpriced. In 8 cruises, I've bought two individual pics - that's all. And, to further add gas to the fire, it had a hideous border on it that was not able to be removed. Some borders aren't bad, but this one was and I bought the pic because it was a nice family photo.

We try to ignore Shutters photographers. No embarkation pic, and when they come to us at dinner, etc., we politely say 'No thank you." The amount of waste irritates me to no end. They print thousands of those prints and so many get wasted. If they can be looked at digitally (like PhotoPass), there is no reason to print them out until requested IMHO.

And to me personally, what would I do with a bunch of 'professional' photos??? Wallpaper my walls with them???? (Not flaming those that like it, just giving my personal opinion.)

Seems like Photopass would be an improvement (then again we've only ever gotten our free pic at Epcot from the Disney Visa spot).......I have a feeling that depending on the contracts with Shutters, once the Mickey Bands make their way to the ships, so will a PhotoPass.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[poohmomof5]

We have been on 12 Disney cruises, we have 5 kids and have taken numerous other family members on our cruises with us and we love Shutters. I have never had a poor service situation, in fact, we usually get to know the photographers pretty well because my girls LOVE to have their pictures taken. I think MOST of my favorite family photos are from DCL.

My husband is a picky photographer and owns a nice camera and belongs to a camera club and he agrees with me that the pictures a very good quality. I will say that we have done several long cruises on the Magic and didn't use the photographers very much on our short Dream cruises, so I can't really speak to the new ships. Maybe there is it different?

I mean for real, we have pictures with ALL my kids looking good, facing where they are supposed to, nice smiles, no red eyes etc. All in focus, nice lighting and happy as can be. It makes mom happy!

 

[n8nally]

Will the Shutters photographers use your personal camera to take a picture also, like the Photopass ones will, if you ask?

 

[Lisa Lisa]

I have mixed feelings about Shutters. IMO, they generally do a pretty good job taking the photos. We did have one situation on our most recent cruise on the Fantasy, though, where the photographer only took one photo of my family with the captain... and DH's eyes were closed. When you've stood in line for a photo, the least they can do is take 2 shots!

Here are my beefs:

1. I bought the 10-photo CD, and there are borders on all the photos. I have found them to be difficult or even impossible to crop out. In addition to the borders, some of the photos have multiple logos/graphics which make the photo look way too busy. Here is an example:

The borders are also a problem when trying to print standard sizes like 4x6 and 5x7, with portrait (vertical) orientation photos in particular. Specifically, the borders on the left and right are cut off.

2. I don't like that you can't choose to purchase more photos after returning home. I had paid for 10, but there was an 11th photo I would have bought if I'd had the option. I spoke to one of the reps at Shutters when I purchased the CD, and he said that was a common complaint and that something was "in the works." We shall see.

3. Apparently some people have had their CDs delivered to their staterooms, but I was told I had to pick ours up on the last night of the cruise or on disembarkation morning. That wasn't a huge deal, but I don't think they should be using CDs at all. Why not just allow us to log on to a web site when we get home to choose the photos we want?

I appreciate that DCL has photographers on the ship and that they are generally where you want and expect them to be. I do think there is a lot of room for improvement in the system, though.

 

[Lisa Lisa]

Will the Shutters photographers use your personal camera to take a picture also, like the Photopass ones will, if you ask?

I'm not sure whether or not it's "allowed," but I would not feel right asking the Shutters photographers to take a photo with my camera. The DCL CMs are another story. They are more than happy to do it, and IME they generally do a pretty good job. When there are CM present, I always ask them to take photos with my camera.

 

[calismic]

On our last cruise I wasn't immediately aware that Shutters was not associated with Disney. Being so used to asking the Photopass photographers to take a picture with my camera, I asked the shutters folks as well. No one gave us any beef and seemed more than willing to capture the moment for us. Later when I discovered they operated separate from Disney, I stopped asking because I felt bad. I'm easily guilted