Is the cruise photo cd worth it?

[jl2081]

We are going on our first Disney cruise May 11th and I'm wondering if the photo cd is worth it or not. We have 2 kids, one who is 4 and the other 2 at the end of May. How many photo ops is there and on a 4 night cruise can I get my moneys worth with the time that we will have. Also, with the cd you get the rights to print as much as you want, are they good enough quality for large sizes like 8x10's and what not? Please help!!!

 

[5thGenTexan]

I think there will be plenty of opportunities for photos, before you even board perhaps. Another thing to keep in mind is that they will take a couple of pic with thier camera and then will take couple with yours if you desire. You can look at the photos before you buy, you can buy individual photos or you can buy the whole CD. Yes, you do get a release to do what you want after you get the CD. The only drawback to the ship photos other than being a bit pricey is that they put a border on everything and its nearly impossible to crop it all off.

Example:

 

[tracyandalex]

For the shorter cruises we have decided that it's not worth it we just don't feel like we take enough pictures. We are hoping to take a 7 night next spring and are really considering the CD for that cruise. if we do purchase it we will definitely be camera whores, lol.

 

[ChuckElias]

We are going on our first Disney cruise May 11th and I'm wondering if the photo cd is worth it or not. We have 2 kids, one who is 4 and the other 2 at the end of May. How many photo ops is there and on a 4 night cruise can I get my moneys worth with the time that we will have. Also, with the cd you get the rights to print as much as you want, are they good enough quality for large sizes like 8x10's and what not? Please help!!!

There will be LOTS of photo ops, especially if your kids like the characters. There will be a couple of pictures opportunities before you board (characters in the terminal; Welcome Aboard photo), there will characters in the Atrium every night, there may be photographers at your meals (although we've noticed fewer of these in the last couple of years), there will be photo ops on Castaway Cay (as you disembark and at Mount Rustmore). If you take advantage of all of these, there will certainly be enough photos to make the CD worthwhile. Personally, we've never purchased the CD because I take so many pictures on my own. But the CM photos are much better quality.

Another thing to keep in mind is that they will take a couple of pic with thier camera and then will take couple with yours if you desire.

This is not entirely true, actually. The photographers are not allowed to take pictures with the guest's camera. They will politely tell you that they can't do that. If there is a character handler there, however, the handler may take the picture for you. But, for example, if you're on Castaway Cay and want a picture at the "Fresh Catch" sign with the ship in the background, the CM will not take the shot for you. Just so you know. . .

 

[awilliams4]

To us, no way. Huge rip off. Just way too much money. Our opinion...

 

[jl2081]

Thank you guys for the info, so from my understanding I don't need to pay for this in advance I can make the decision at the end of the cruise? If that's the case that will help me in making my decision a lot easier. To me it's not about the money for the most part, I just want to make sure I get as many pictures as possible and have them be really good ones. And not have to annoy people by asking "will you take our picture". $200 isn't that bad if I know that I'm gonna get some great shots that are professional quality instead of relying on someone to use my point and shoot and hope they get us somewhat centered and don't cut off our heads or anything. Anyone going on the May 11th Dream cruise?

 

[ChuckElias]

$200 isn't that bad if I know that I'm gonna get some great shots

If you can find 10-15 that you really like, you're breaking even.

 

[Bolna]

You should also consider the time and effort you need to put in for getting all those pictures taken. You need to make sure that everyone is nicely dressed (recommended to do anyway for dinner ) and then line up for the picture. On my first cruise I was enjoying so many other things that I did not get a single picture besides the one at embarkation and then from the meals. All were pretty bad anyway, so not tempted to get any. The one from Palo would have been nice if they had taken the half minute to tell me that my necklace was the wrong way around, it was very obvious...

 

[jl2081]

You should also consider the time and effort you need to put in for getting all those pictures taken. You need to make sure that everyone is nicely dressed (recommended to do anyway for dinner ) and then line up for the picture. On my first cruise I was enjoying so many other things that I did not get a single picture besides the one at embarkation and then from the meals. All were pretty bad anyway, so not tempted to get any. The one from Palo would have been nice if they had taken the half minute to tell me that my necklace was the wrong way around, it was very obvious...

Are the lines pretty long for all the photo ops? Judging by the fact that there isn't much available room wise according to the website it looks like the ship is going to be almost filled if not sold out. So that is going to factor in with the lines.

 

[Bolna]

Are the lines pretty long for all the photo ops? Judging by the fact that there isn't much available room wise according to the website it looks like the ship is going to be almost filled if not sold out. So that is going to factor in with the lines.

Sorry, I can't help with that. I never saw a photographer without a line. Some were short, only one or two families waiting. But I definitely did not have any patience for it. I hope some others can chime in!

 

[5thGenTexan]

This is not entirely true, actually. The photographers are not allowed to take pictures with the guest's camera. They will politely tell you that they can't do that. If there is a character handler there, however, the handler may take the picture for you. But, for example, if you're on Castaway Cay and want a picture at the "Fresh Catch" sign with the ship in the background, the CM will not take the shot for you. Just so you know. . .

Thats what I meant. The one that there is there directing traffic for the particular character.

 

[5thGenTexan]

Are the lines pretty long for all the photo ops? Judging by the fact that there isn't much available room wise according to the website it looks like the ship is going to be almost filled if not sold out. So that is going to factor in with the lines.

Depends on the time of day and what else is going on. Up on Deck 9, outside, I have seen Mickey out there, Lilo and Stitch with just a few people in line. The days when Cinderella, Snow White, Tiana, Belle, and Aurora are all out in the main atrium area you will wait a bit for that, BUT once you get up to them you get the opportunity for all 5 photo ops. The day we stopped in PC and went to the Magic Kingdom for the day we came back to the ship about 3:00 due to the kids being ready for a nap. I saw Max and Jiminiy Cricket with little to no wait. In fact there was no one around and Max was happy to play and dance around with my daughter as long as she wanted to be there.

One pic I want and will wait in line is on formal night. A family pic when we are all dressed up with Mickey in his tux. Minnie in her evening dress is a bonus.

 

[ChuckElias]

Sorry, I can't help with that. I never saw a photographer without a line. Some were short, only one or two families waiting. But I definitely did not have any patience for it. I hope some others can chime in!

Some of the lines can be quite long. Specifically for Captain Mickey and the rest of the "Fab Five" in the Atrium. But there are other events where there are several characters and not everybody wants to wait for all of them, so the lines can be shorter. The line is also usually pretty long for pictures with Commadore Tom on Formal Night.

Some of the characters are on Deck 4 (just above the Atrium) and those lines tend to be a little shorter, simply because people are so focused on the Atrium characters. For example, my daughter and I walked up and were 2nd in line for this pic:

 

[flynnibus]

Are the lines pretty long for all the photo ops? Judging by the fact that there isn't much available room wise according to the website it looks like the ship is going to be almost filled if not sold out. So that is going to factor in with the lines.

In short... yes.

There are always lines for the characters and photos before dinner. There are NOT enough (IMO) photo ops outside the photos taken in the atrium. There will be some photo ops when you get to Castaway cay.. but to fill up a CD or book you do need to make a conscious effort.

The lines... there are frequently multiple character ops going on, so the lines are not too bad if you are looking at a less popular character. If you get there BEFORE the character does (say 5-10mins) you can queue up with just a minimal wait in front of you. Same thing with dinner photos, show up early and you can get in. The dinner photos tend to have shorter lines than the characters in our experience. It's not uncommon for character lines to be 'cut off' and not take any more guests.

What we found on our first cruise was.. my wife really wanted the book, but we didn't have enough photos to fill the book, and you can't remove pages. So next cruise, the wife had a mandate that everyone had to get photos as often as possible.. and we still just barely had enough. You have to make a concerted effort to get a good # of photos.

You can count on a number of character photo ops every day, and photos around dinner time, photographers coming to your dinner table at least once on the cruise, and 2-3 on castaway cay. You have to seek out the character times if you want the # of photos.

There are not roaming photographers at the scale you see with photopass in the parks. The photographers on board are contractors. They won't take photos with your camera, but DCL character assistants will typically.

 

[jl2081]

I wonder why Disney chooses to contract out for the photographers on the cruises when they have their own well established system in the parks. You would think already having that system in place they would have carried it over to the ships.