Senior Pictures on Disney Cruise

[indylaw99]

When we were at Disney last week, we were teasing our daughter that she should just use our PhotoPass pictures. We were only half serious but she jumped on it. She said she would rather have Disney pictures for her senior pictures than anything local because it means so much to her. Unfortunately, she was kind of sweaty and we didn't really plan appropriately in advance.

Then we got the idea that maybe we could have them done on our cruise in October--use the different bars and fun locations on the ship. My husband called DCL and they said you can get the private photographer by the hour.

On the plus side, her pictures would be unique! On the negative side, they wouldn't really be "touched up" and fancy like so many kids' senior pictures are.

Have any of you done anything like this? We had Mickey and a photographer for my in-laws' 50th anniversary a couple of years ago and got some great family pictures. But senior pictures are such a big deal (I guess?? They weren't quite so important when I graduated!).

 

[TrishaK]

I think that sounds like a great idea! There’s plenty of unique backdrops throughout the ship. I know my photos weren’t retouched back in the day (20 years ago)!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just wondering - do the photos done with the private photographer also have the borders/ship info on them?

 

[FigmentSpark]

Are they for your family or the school? If it's just for your family, then do whatever makes you happy. If it's something for the school, they might have rules about them you should check out.

 

[indylaw99]

Just wondering - do the photos done with the private photographer also have the borders/ship info on them?

I don't remember any of them from our Mickey shoot having any kind of borders.

Are they for your family or the school? If it's just for your family, then do whatever makes you happy. If it's something for the school, they might have rules about them you should check out.

Just for us. We still have to pay the $25 sitting fee to have the school yearbook one done at a specific studio. I was thinking maybe I could combine that one with the cruise ones for her announcements.

 

[verleniahall]

Are they for your family or the school? If it's just for your family, then do whatever makes you happy. If it's something for the school, they might have rules about them you should check out.

MOst school just require a head shot -| nothing super standard

Sounds super awesome

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Sounds terrific! Our DD just graduated so I have seen A LOT of senior pics and announcements in the last couple of months — your DD should totally go for it if Disney is what she loves. My DD and her friends were alllll about the different outfits and that may be important to your DD as well, so I would keep wardrobe changes in mind.

Please post a sample of her pics when you return!

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We had some ideas about doing this on our double dip last July. My son wanted me to take his senior picture (yikes!). We did take several shots around the ship, several at the French Quarter, where we stayed pre-cruise. Ultimately he ended up using a shot I took of him at a local quarry here at home. I think it is a great idea to get a senior shot on the cruise, I guess my advice would be to have many shots to choose from in the end. That is what worked best for us

 

[aliceinvunderland]

Just a thought, but maybe you could join your cruise Facebook group and see if there are any photographers that will be sailing with you that would be interested in doing a quick senior session instead of the DCL photographer. That way you could get the pics edited and retouched like you would for normal senior pics, and you wouldn’t be at the mercy of the DCL photographers (who are sometimes great and sometimes not so great).

 

[MomOTwins]

Sounds like your daughter has a good head on her shoulders -- wanting a picture that is meaningful to her rather than something "touched up and and fancy" like the other kids. Good for her.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Just a thought, but maybe you could join your cruise Facebook group and see if there are any photographers that will be sailing with you that would be interested in doing a quick senior session instead of the DCL photographer. That way you could get the pics edited and retouched like you would for normal senior pics, and you wouldn’t be at the mercy of the DCL photographers (who are sometimes great and sometimes not so great).

I love the whole "senior pictures on DCL" idea and I super love this particular idea.

 

[Pens Fan]

Lots of schools now encourage seniors to take more casual pictures. When my son graduated in 2016, the photographer the school referred everyone to took a traditional formal picture but then also had multiple areas staged for causal pictures. They would also go offsite to an area of your choice if nothing they had spoke to the student. Both the traditional photo and the casual photo of their choice went in the yearbook. My motor-head son took several casual photos, but chose a setting with old car parts - he's leaning up against an old car hood while wearing jeans, a favorite t-shirt and work boots. While it wasn't my favorite, it was the casual one he chose for the yearbook. It meant the most to him as he was surrounded by what he loves.

I think taking your daughter's photos on board a DCL cruise is a fabulous idea. The pictures should actually mean something to the student, rather than the forced, formal traditional photos we all had to take at that age. It's funny. While I did order copies of our son's formal picture, it's not nearly as good as the casual ones and is currently sitting in a spare bedroom, while two casual ones are in the living room. You can just see how uncomfortable he was in the formal attire and how happy he was to be back in his jeans and boots! Thankfully schools are changing with the times. Hopefully it works out for you and the school will allow you to use them. Even if they don't, there is no rule that you can't have your own "senior pictures" that differ from the school's.

 

[indylaw99]

Just a thought, but maybe you could join your cruise Facebook group and see if there are any photographers that will be sailing with you that would be interested in doing a quick senior session instead of the DCL photographer. That way you could get the pics edited and retouched like you would for normal senior pics, and you wouldn’t be at the mercy of the DCL photographers (who are sometimes great and sometimes not so great).

Good idea! I'm actually already in a group and didn't even think to ask!

Sounds like your daughter has a good head on her shoulders -- wanting a picture that is meaningful to her rather than something "touched up and and fancy" like the other kids. Good for her.

She's an odd combination. She loves show choir and performing on stage but when it comes to "real life" she doesn't use social media because she doesn't like the feeling of making her life a competition with other people's. The more I think about this option for the pictures, the more it does seem like a perfect fit for her because the pictures will really only be for our family anyway.

 

[SailingScout]

I saw a graduate doing this on the WBPC in April. The family would take their photos and then the graduate would take a separate one. We saw him in formal wear, grad gown, and grad cap with Mickey. I think it’s a great way to get a LOT of bang for your buck with the photo package-can’t imagine how many good shots they got, and that was only from the few times I saw them.

 

[NCConch]

Any idea on how much it costs to "hire" one of the photographers for a private session. My DS will be a senior in the fall and this will be a perfect opportunity to have pictures made. We'll probably to family and individual shots of the four of us. How long should we book for. If we can, we would like to do it the morning of CC. Do the pictures taken just get added to the USB if we go that route?

 

[indylaw99]

Any idea on how much it costs to "hire" one of the photographers for a private session. My DS will be a senior in the fall and this will be a perfect opportunity to have pictures made. We'll probably to family and individual shots of the four of us. How long should we book for. If we can, we would like to do it the morning of CC. Do the pictures taken just get added to the USB if we go that route?

I'm trying to find out the price of the pictures but they did say the photographer is $85 an hour. I thought when we did a private Mickey photo session for my in-laws' 50th that we were able to buy the regular ship photo package (about $300) and all of the pictures from that were included on it. But the photo package site says that private photography sessions are not included. So I am still confused about that!

We are looking at doing 2 hours on a port day when people will likely be gone. We were on a cruise a few years ago where the lounges were practically empty around 10 in the morning and we had fun just taking silly pictures in them. I'd like to do the same thing only with a real photographer.

One thing about Castaway Cay morning is that you might have a harder time getting a photographer because they have a lot of them positioned to get CC pictures. Then again, they seem to always have photographers stationed in a lot of places!

 

[plutos1fan]

While I have never had my official "senior pictures" taken on a Disney Cruise, I definitely have experienced my photo being taken on theDisney Wonder thanks to the professional photographers. When we go on our Disney cruises, we buy the photo package where we get all the photos they take on the entire cruise. For all the pictures on a USB stick it is about $600. However, I do not know if the all-inclusive photo package includes private session photos or the cost of a private picture session.

On the cruise there are a plethera of different backgrounds that photos can be taken in front of with a professional photographer taking the pictures. The great thing is there are Disney Cruise-theme backgrounds and non-Disney backgrounds Therefore, it may be possible for you to choose a background to be used for the senior pictures. However, I love the idea of having the pictures being taken around the ship

I have not tried to book a private photographer on one of our cruises, but I think it is a great idea! I wish I had though of that when I graduated high school or got my Associate's Degree.

Whatever your family decides to do for the photos, I hope you have a great cruise in October!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Good idea! I'm actually already in a group and didn't even think to ask!

I would be cautious about asking some other professional photographer to do professional photos onboard. I know for professional photographers to be able to "do" photo sessions in the parks, they have to get approval. I would think the same would apply to a DCL ship.

 

[Drusilla99]

My oldest’s school required the standard black drape for the yearbook for senior year, ur we did have a lot of fun with her other pictures we used for her graduation announcements. I took the photos for her while we were on a Disney Alaskan cruise, on a road trip in Canada, a vacation to Hawaii, her sport uniform at the beach and over a couple days at Disneyland. The photopass people at Disneyland were super awesome and took loads of pictures when we told them what we were doing and since we are passholders our downloads are free. We got a great mix of “her”. Have fun with it, it definitely doesn’t last!

 

[LindsayW]

I’m a photographer and was asked along for a Disney cruise wedding last year. I made it a family trip and agreed to spend part of my time aboard Shooting the photos. If you know any photographers that are Disney junkies like myself maybe you could convince them to come along for a small fee. I was willing to pay more for the cruise than I was making because 1. I was so excited at the idea of a DCL vaca! And 2. It was a huge business write off!! Awesome idea. Not sure where your cruise is going but castaway cay was a photographer’s dream!
It was a great way to convince my husband to “try cruising”! We are booked on another next year, so clearly we loved it!