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Is the photo package on DCL worth it?


JerseySeaStar
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This will be my first time cruising on Disney Cruise line.  I’ve gotten the memory maker for Disney parks and loved it.  The cruise photo package is pretty pricey so I’m wondering if it’s worth it.  Have any of you purchased it?  Was there a lot of photo ops?    I would appreciate your insight before splurging.  

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We just got back from a 5-night on Wonder. We purchased the complete photo package for $249, and we had 126 photos in the USB drive. We could have gotten more, but since we have a 2yr old sailing with us (2 kids, 7 and 2), often times the photo ops do not align with our schedule, and the 2yr old doesn't have the patience to stand in the line for too long.

 

To some people, if what you are looking for is the memory, then I would say it's not worth it. Why? For majority (except welcome onboard and portrait styled pictures) of the photo ops, there are always crew member standing right next to the photographer, and they are more than happy to take some pictures with your own phone/camera. You can have all the memory in your phone.

 

To me, the reason to purchase the package is that I want professional pictures taken, with the proper lighting, so I can print them out and frame them. To me, with the amount of picture we received, I would said it worth the money for us.

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We don't purchase it on every cruise, but for our June cruise we already purchased.  We will be in Europe and they have photographers at certain port locations.  We didn't have it the last time we went to Europe in 2013 and noticed how often the photographers were available on land.  This time we believe it will be worth it for us.  Many of the photos that we frame and hang around the house have come from Disney photographers - good memories along with a well taken photo with all of us in it instead of one of us behind a camera.

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One thing I'll add - before and/or after dinner most nights, they have professional photographers setup in the atrium - look for the ones with a white background:  they'll do a mini- photo session with you and your family all dressed up!  Well worth it!

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For me and my family - no. If you are a big picture person - then maybe. We got the package on our first cruise, and we haven't looked at it in like 10 years. Now we save our money for other things and just ask another passenger to get a pic for us. Most of them are more than willing to help out!

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  • 4 months later...

This is the second time I have purchased a package.  The 1st time, I got everything.  It was a Make a Wish cruise for my adult niece, who loved Disney.  Those photos bring me such comfort. This time I purchased the 10 photo package.  Its a short cruise with the granddaughter.  When you price out each individual photo, it makes it worth it for me.  BTW~~~~I am a maniac picture taker.  LOL.

 

Patti

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It depends on your family.  We don't buy the photos now that we are adults cruising.  When daughter was younger, I'd buy a few.  But there are always character attendants who will take photos with your camera.  There are a few where only the professionals will film (the captain's night photo with him, for instance).  If you have kids and want a zillion shots on a thumb drive, it is not a bad deal.  THe price depends on the length of the cruise.  Compared to the cost of the cruise, it isn't much.  DO check the drive to be sure you have all of your photos. 
I have one special photo of daughter--I took it at about the same time the ship's photog took one.  Mine is better!

 

One good thing about the disc/drive package is that they do take photos in the Oceaneer's Club.  If there is a photo of just your child or your child with character (no other kids in the photo), it should be in your collection.

 

Bottom line--it isn't a good deal for me.  It is if you want 100 pictures of your cruise.

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We had it once when sailing to Alaska. I think it’s worth it if you sail on cruises to Alaska and Europe with characters in special costumes and you want some nice family photos all dress up. However, we felt like we had to hunt characters down for our money’s worth and I prefer selfies with the characters. We haven’t bought any photo package since then.

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  • 1 month later...

You don't need to get 100 pictures. I choose the 10 digital only photos. I then can take the file and have any size picture made from wallets to large photos at a much more reasonable price than I would pay Disney per photo.  The first time I ordered the 10, I was given all pictures by mistake.  I figured I really didn't need more than 10.  How many professionally taken pics do you need with characters?

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  • 1 year later...

I’m not interested in characters, but I do have a small child and would like lots of photos of our cruise experience. Are there photographers wandering around taking candid or spontaneous shots, or are there just formal/scheduled photo ops?

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I would say there's no advantage whatsoever in pre-purchasing it. I would suggest you make a decision on the last 2 days of the cruise whether the pictures are worth the price to you or if you'd rather buy individual ones. We have bought the package in a few, but have opted for buying 1-2 spare ones in others.

Edited by coldflame
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On 5/25/2021 at 9:03 AM, coldflame said:

I would say there's no advantage whatsoever in pre-purchasing it. I would suggest you make a decision on the last 2 days of the cruise whether the pictures are worth the price to you or if you'd rather buy individual ones. We have bought the package in a few, but have opted for buying 1-2 spare ones in others.

Yep, I think my family has only bought the package 1 time, but something happened and we got lucky and all of the pictures from the 4 or 5 rooms were all linked together, so there was enough pics to make it worth the package price.

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4 minutes ago, ArthurUSCG said:

Yep, I think my family has only bought the package 1 time, but something happened and we got lucky and all of the pictures from the 4 or 5 rooms were all linked together, so there was enough pics to make it worth the package price.

Score! Nice deal, haha.

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