Best time window to take Cruise photographer family photos during dinner time

[SebbyCub]

My 9 year olds and I will be at the 815 Dinner 2nd seating. And we plan to see the 615pm nightly shows. “When is the best time to take the nightly cruise photographer family photos” considering my dining time? (1) 825pm, 10 min after dinner start? (2) 715 pm after the 1st stage show (3) 9pm after dinner? Just want to avoid “long photo line queues” as 9 year olds can get antsy waiting. We are doing the 5 night Disney Magic Merrytime Cruise Dec 10th. (Not sure how crowded that cruise will be, for reference).

 

[SonyaShay]

My 9 year olds and I will be at the 815 Dinner 2nd seating. And we plan to see the 615pm nightly shows. “When is the best time to take the nightly cruise photographer family photos” considering my dining time? (1) 825pm, 10 min after dinner start? (2) 715 pm after the 1st stage show (3) 9pm after dinner? Just want to avoid “long photo line queues” as 9 year olds can get antsy waiting. We are doing the 5 night Disney Magic Merrytime Cruise Dec 10th. (Not sure how crowded that cruise will be, for reference).

The shortest lines we found on our Fantasy cruise were just after the doors opened for early dinner service. No more than 1 or 2 people waiting in any lines in the atrium.

 

[jdb in AZ]

If you have your pictures taken before dinner you won't have to worry about food on the 9 yr old's clothes. (My clothes tend to fit better before dinner, too.)

 

[KristiMc]

I would do it after the show and before dinner. I would not do it 10 minutes after dinner starts because you will be holding up your crew while they wait for you to arrive.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I think the lines will be pretty short in the 7:15 - 7:45 time frame. We do main (early) dining and usually wrap up between 7:15 and 7:30. We found very short waits for pictures as we left the MDRs after dinner. The lines immediately before dinner were much longer, potentially delaying our arrival at the 5:45 start had we chosen to have pictures done then. We like to avoid arriving late to dinner, since the servers are noticeably disrupted in the dinner service when some tables are ordering apps, soup, and salads while others are already being served entrees.

 

[Chipmunkmaniac]

2 weeks ago on the Fantasy it was very limited, every time timeslots of 30 min and for the later sittings I found them to be packing 5-10 min early 3 times! Lines were not short for the portraits but the ship was quite full.
What bugged me most was waiting in line 10-15 min for just 2 families in front of me but then getting rushed out in 3 pictures cause I was solo... I did get the photopackage for the characterphotos but a few nice portraits would have been nice....

 

[DCLDVC1]

My 9 year olds and I will be at the 815 Dinner 2nd seating. And we plan to see the 615pm nightly shows. “When is the best time to take the nightly cruise photographer family photos” considering my dining time? (1) 825pm, 10 min after dinner start? (2) 715 pm after the 1st stage show (3) 9pm after dinner? Just want to avoid “long photo line queues” as 9 year olds can get antsy waiting. We are doing the 5 night Disney Magic Merrytime Cruise Dec 10th. (Not sure how crowded that cruise will be, for reference).

If you show up around 8:10, the lines should be fairly short (5:40 for those with early dining). That's worked well for us in the past. It also allows for the line of people waiting to get in to the MDR to get seated and when we were done with pictures, we'd walk right in.