I am often asked if I think the picture packages on the cruises are worth it. While they vary greatly from one cruise line to the next for us on our recent cruise we found it well worth the price.

We just returned from our Disney Magic Cruise with some great memories and a folder full of photos to prove it. Disney’s photograph services onboard is called Shutters. They have a small staff of photographers that are around the ship in locations with beautiful backdrops and great camera equipment.  They also venture onto Castaway Cay and can get some shots during excursions or while you are enjoying your day on the beach.

Shutters is located on Deck 4, Aft. Shutters was one of the spots that got a maker over during the refurbishment last year and it looks great. The room is more open and you have more space to look thru your photos. I love this set up. The screens will let you tap your key card and it will tell you which binder your photos are in.

The photos are printed out already in the binder and you can sift thru them and make your selections.  Any photos taken before 5pm will show up that evening, after 5pm it’s typically the next day before they appear.

 

The pricing for our cruise on March 31 on the Magic was: 
$229.95 for CD with all images and rights to have photos reprinted
additional $50 to get all prints
10 8 x 10’s for $149.95 digital images or prints
15 8 x 10’s for $199.95 digital images or prints.
You can also purchase prints individually.

We planned on having photos taken on semi formal night as it was well past time for some new family shots. It’s also a good excuse to get the kids cleaned up and dressed for dinner early. So we went in knowing we wanted some pictures. Our plan was to buy 10, a few for us to keep, a few for my mom and my mother-in-law for Mother’s day.

The photos turned out great, here are a few of my favorite from Formal Night.

 

 We got a couple different poses and we had these done in front the Mickey statue as well.

After our day on Castaway Cay we went to look at our photos and start picking them out. Mistake we narrowed it down to 17 ‘must haves’ then Abigail came by and wanted her Pirate night photo. Sigh, back to the drawing board. We hemmed and hawed over it for a few minutes and Matthew pointed out I would regret it if I didn’t get them all. I knew he was right so we bought the CD and the prints. We also took the opportunity to get one more photo session in that night. I wanted a second one bur our outfits were seriously clashing with the other background and there was a huge line so I skipped it.

 

In the Atrium with Mickey
  

This was last night of the cruise and I’m glad I made everyone stand in line again for them this set, it turned out much better with these outfits than with our formal outfits on. 

Pirate Night at Dinner
Arggghhhh!
  

 

At Castaway Cay

We got some others made on Castaway Cay, some with all of us in our snorkel gear and some when we were walking around the pathways. I will not be sharing those for the world to see but actually the photographers managed to take semi flattering photos of us in our swimsuits.

Some photo spots I wish I would have waited on:
Castaway Cay -At  the first shuttle stop, a shot with the ship in the background.
Castaway Cay -At Mount RustMore
On formal night- backdrop with nighttime shot of the ship
Pirate Night- with Mickey
The dinner table photos every night, if they offer a full group/table shot take them up on it

Tips
It will take some time to get your photos taken, especially if you want any of the posed ones with characters, plan on a good 15-30 minutes in line most evenings.

Plan to hit up multiple backdrops on semi formal night if you dressed for the occasion.

Set your families expectations accordingly to help keep down on the griping, the photographers do a great job and really make sure they get good shots.

They also do individual shots and group shots. If you want a particular pairing in your family don’t be afraid to ask.

To save time waiting in line try to time your photo session as soon as they open up for the evening, right after the first group goes into dinner or the second dinner seating starts, whichever one you are not part of.