Ahoy there, Lora!
Welcome aboard planDisney! Adding the Unlimited Photo Package is such a great call because there’s something special about being able to fully enjoy the cruise without constantly stopping to hand someone your phone for pictures. Plus, Disney’s photographers always seem to appear at the perfect moments like magic mirrors catching memories all across the ship.
When it comes to paying for the
Unlimited Photo Package, Port Adventures, beverage tastings, premium dining, spa treatments, and other activities you booked during your activities window, those charges are not processed right away. Instead, they are added directly to your onboard account once your sailing begins. Most of those charges will typically appear sometime in the evening on embarkation day, although some experiences may not show up until after the reservation takes place. For example, Palo dinner charges or spa treatments are often added after you enjoy the experience rather than before.
During
Online Check-In, Disney will ask you to select a payment method for your onboard account. Once you attach a debit card or credit card, anything charged to your onboard account will automatically bill to that payment method. Depending on your sailing length and spending activity, you may also notice
charges processing before the end of the cruise once certain spending limits are reached. For example, on shorter sailings between two and five nights, charges may process once your onboard balance exceeds $300.
I’m a huge fan of planning our cruise budget ahead of time, so my family loves hunting for discounts on
Disney Gift Cards before we sail. Once we find a good deal, I like preloading those gift cards onto our onboard account through the
Onboard Gifts website. It’s kind of like building your own treasure chest before Captain Jack Sparrow gets to it. Then any onboard purchases pull from that balance first, and only additional charges go to the payment method selected during Online Check-In. And definitely don’t toss out any used gift cards until afterward because leftover funds are usually returned right back onto the original card.
I hope this helps as you get everything ready for your sailing! The Unlimited Photo Package is one of my favorite ways to make sure those embarkation smiles, pirate night outfits, character hugs, and sunset family photos all make it home with us.
Sea ya real soon with warm air, calm seas, and a ship that always feels like home,
Dustin