Picture Package Worth It?

[JMurray823]

Wondering if the unlimited picture package would be "worth it" to purchase? I know that's a subjective question, but looking for some feedback.

Our info: This will be our second DCL cruise, however, our first was still during COVID restrictions so I'm not sure the "normal" protocols for how often photographers are around with the characters or in other spots on the ship. This will be our son's first Disney cruise (he's 2.5). He LOVES meeting characters and we splurged for memory maker for his first trip to the parks last year and found that to be worth our money and memories. I would also like to try to reserve a spot for the royal gathering, so I'm assuming that would mean even more photo ops in addition to the other character meet and greets.

Thoughts? Opinions? Yes, it's a lot of money, but that's not really a deciding factor for us -- just wondering if it's a good use of the ~$200 pricetag.

 

[mz-s]

If you want to take the pictures, yes. If not, no. Whether it's worth it is entirely up to you. Nobody else can answer that question for you.

 

[MinnesotaDisneyFan]

I've only recently started splurging on the photo package and have always been satisfied with the purchase. The primary place to utilize it is at characters meetings, dinner, and photo backdrops. Not as many random photo opps like you find in the parks with Photopass, although sometimes they have photographers outdoors on the top decks. The backdrops are more interesting than you may expect since they change the backdrop offerings daily (pirate, cruise ships, sparkling for dress up night, etc.) and rarely have the wait times the characters do. My justification is that a digital download of ONE photo is upwards of $25, so if you get more than 10 pictures you like, the unlimited package has value. I find the quality of the photos much better than most park Photopass pictures because on the cruise ships they have a controlled environment and pay attention to perfecting the lighting and camera settings. I also enjoy all the special frames and digital stickers they add with the ship name, theme night, Castaway Cay, etc.

 

[CisforCookie991]

Totally subjective, but I think it's worth it. I also always got the photo package at WDW. We got about 100 photos and I love the cute borders. I also don't like having to rely on other people to take photos on my phone. They aren't hi-res photos (file size about the same as phone photos) but they're a nice souvenir.

 

[mz-s]

keep in mind the cast members are happy to take photos with your phone, but they're not going to be lit as well as the pro photos, may not be in focus or level etc so if you want the best quality and are willing to stand in line to meet all these characters, buy the package...

 

[Calantha]

We alternate purchasing the package because my son doesn't always love doing pictures. But at least once per year, we do it and do as many pictures as possible. I've always found it to be worth it but that's because I make it a priority when we've purchased.

 

[magsnwonderland]

We did it on our first cruise and were really happy about it. Our kids love meeting characters so it was nice to be able to hop in line whenever and get nice pictures.

 

[MamaMermaid]

If your son loves meeting the characters, it's an easy YES!

 

[Clarkson U]

Conversely we have never done a photo package and most we ever got was 10 prints for $149 on the ship.

But our kids are older and we just purchase less total pics. So it’s a toss up. We have friends who always get photo package whenever they sail socas to not worry and just take pics whenever they want knowing it’s already all paid for

 

[WEDcryoHEAD]

I did not use the photo package until our last couple of trips but have found it to be very worth it. The photos at character meet and greets are really good. There are a ton of spots throughout the parks and then they have the fun photos where they insert characters into. If you don't mind stopping and having your picture taken, frequently, then it will be worth it to you. On my last trip we visited all 4 parks, MK and Epcot twice. There were over 600 individual pictures uploaded to my photo pass. That is in addition to all of the cell phone pictures we took of each other. The trip was well documented.

 

[bigAWL]

For our March cruise on the Dream (and without really trying), between embarkation, dinners, Castaway Cay, and one backdrop photo shoot that we waited in line for, we got 53 photos on a 5-night cruise. I was very glad to have all those photos when we got home and felt it was well worth the cost.

I was also pleasantly surprised that there were no cheesy borders or logos at all on these photos, other than superimposed characters in the Magic shots. Previous digital photos (and certainly the printed ones) all had borders and branding that I struggled to crop out later.

 

[lilsonicfan]

For me, the photo package is something where if I buy it, I will purposefully go to more photo ops, including the ones with backdrops and such, and if I see photographers wandering the decks, I will go and get a shot taken. But if I don't have the photo package, I just won't seek out the opportunities or line up for characters, etc. I have really enjoyed the photo packages that we have done, especially on the longer cruises. On our 14 night cruise I think I ended up with 330 shots or something, it was a huge number and I was pretty pleased with them.

I believe you can still buy it in advance, then if you don't make enough use of it or change your mind, you can cancel, as long as you do so by the last day (or before the last day - not sure). Be sure to check your photos every night at the kiosk to make sure they are all there too!

 

[Lillebelle]

As a fellow parent of a 2.5 year old, I definitely think the package is worth it. There are loads of character meet and greet opportunities (and the characters change costumes every day to fit whatever theme so doing repeats on the cruise can still yield unique pictures). They go around and take photos at dinner almost every night. The atrium photographers are usually very good as well and as mentioned, the available backdrops change. But mostly, I think 2.5 is like the peak cute age, and you'll want all the goofy photos of your kid making a weird face along with the good ones (or at least, that's how I am). For reference, we just did a 4 night cruise and got over 100 photos (and we didn't even do the princess meet and greet). Not all of them are winners of course but I would have been really challenged to narrow that down to 10 of my kids I'd want to keep.

 

[Flcruising]

Wondering if the unlimited picture package would be "worth it" to purchase?

Thoughts? Opinions? Yes, it's a lot of money, but that's not really a deciding factor for us -- just wondering if it's a good use of the ~$200 pricetag.

Well I'm sure you have photos and snapshots from other events. How often do you pull them out of a drawer and stare at them? I suspect most people look at them once and stuff them away. If that's you snapshots on your own camera should suffice. If you do keep a few professional photos framed out on display then just buy the few for that purpose. You don't need 200 professionally posed photos hanging on your wall all from the same cruise. Besides candid (not posed) snapshots are much more interesting, filled with action and real smiles. Thats what you will get the most joy of when you do pull out old albums. Cast members will help by taking photos on your camera. No except for one or two we may frame, all the rest are a waste.
I'd rather put my time and money into something else. I say time because your going to spend a lot of time standing in lines because you want your values worth of photos you paid for. Some lines I've seen at 40 minutes and longer. I can be doing more fun things on a cruise than losing hours standing in line. Add up how much time people stand in line on a cruise. Just offering a different perspective.

 

[Anna131517]

Absolutely worth it. Especially if you go to the main hall / atrium area before dinner and get family photos. You’ll get pictures from the characters, dinner,, before dinner, and castaway cay.

 

[JoeFromSeoul]

I always buy the photo package, and most times I have kept it. On shorter cruises it can be difficult to get enough quality pictures to be worth it, in that case, I just cancel.
We load everything on a digital photo frame and enjoy them often.

 

[Flcruising]

I always buy the photo package, and most times I have kept it. On shorter cruises it can be difficult to get enough quality pictures to be worth it, in that case, I just cancel.
We load everything on a digital photo frame and enjoy them often.

Digital photo frames are nice. Of course i can put precious pics from my own camera on a digital frame without purchasing professioal photo package.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Not worth it for me on the cruise.

We pre-purchased and got a refund on the last night. The character pictures the CM took on my phone were just as good, and the photo backdrops are not my style at all so we didn't stop at any.

I had a 2.5 year old at the time. We are not buying it for our upcoming transatlantic either. Easy way to save $$!

We do add photopass to my AP at Disney, though, and find it very worth it!

 

[BStieers]

As a scrapbooker, picture holiday card, and someone who changes the photos hanging in our home regularly - ALWAYS worth it for me, on ship and shore. Whether we travel as a couple or with the entire extended family we enjoy the pictures. The god-children are only little for a minute, and having these pictures with them over the years is so very dear to me. Plus it means everyone is in the pictures, no moms having to duck out to make sure we get the shot

 

[koala1966]

Absolutely worth it, especially with a little, but honestly I've done it even when we weren't traveling with kids. For our Pixar cruise I easily got 160+ photos on a 7 day cruise, my longest lines were some specific ops that i wanted for our group but in many cases lines were only 5-10 minutes and I could have done more if I'd chosen to. Sure you can use your camera, but as others have said the way the photo pass photos are lit is a game changer, my phone takes great pictures but on the ship the lighting can be tricky and who wants to stand in line twice just because phone photos didn't turn out. Also the photographers are pretty good at grabbing candid shots during character meets which for your child's age could be precious. They grow so fast, you don't want to miss a chance to freeze this moment. But I'm a scrapbooker, have multiple digital photo frames, maintain digital photo albums online for family, and am generally the person on the family providing pictures to everyone when they need them, so my photo collection is well used.

Some tips if you do get it - start getting pictures the first day. Go to the atrium at off times, characters scheduled just before early dinner usually have shorter lines. Make sure to get the backdrop photos, those come out better than I initially expected. Sign up for the ticketed character times. Let them take your picture at dinner. And sometimes you'll see photographers wandering around decks (usually on the walking deck) or staircases, always grab them and ask for photos. I've also snagged photos during pirate deck party, watch for that. And remember there are tons of photos on Castaway if that's one of your stops. Good luck and have fun.