When you cruise with Disney Cruise Lines, you don’t just cruise, you cruise with characters. Imagine rubbing elbows with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, dancing with Princesses, chatting with Jack Sparrow, even telling Santa Claus your Christmas Wishes – all this and more can happen on a Disney Cruise.
For the most part, character greetings on the cruise happen just like character greetings in the parks. The character greeting schedules are posted in your Personal Navigator as well as through the Disney Cruise Line Navigator App. You can also see daily schedules at the electronic boards next to the elevators in the atrium. The schedule will list which characters are appearing, the time and the location. You will want to arrive early, as other guests will start to line up to meet them as well, and just like in the parks, the line can get cut off when Mickey has to go check on Pluto or something else. Characters have meet and greets all over the ship, so be sure to keep your camera with you at all times! Because some of the meet and greets are up by the pool deck, we don’t do autograph books for our cruise line trips. My recommendation is to skip the books and save those for the parks. Some of our most memorable interactions have been on the ships! Think of fun questions you can ask the characters instead of just getting their autograph and then smiling for pictures.
For each sailing, there are a few character interactions with limited participation and require getting tickets (which are complimentary). This is because the characters involved are very popular and it makes meeting them much easier. After you check in at your port, you’ll receive your first Personal Navigator. Take a look through it, as it will list which characters require tickets and where to go once you board to receive them. On our last sailing on the Wonder, we went to D Lounge and were able to sign up for the Princess Gathering, Anna, Elsa and Olaf, and the Disney Junior Character Breakfast. Be sure to have reminders set in a way you’ll remember them so you don’t miss your time (we may or may not have missed our Princess greeting on this last trip!). It sounds like a lot of extra planning, but as someone who waited for almost 2 hours in line to meet the Princesses on the ship before they did this, trust me, it’s worth it!
Some of our favorite character interactions have been just bumping into characters as they travel around the ship. We saw Belle as we were checking out our children from the Oceaneer Club to go back to the cabin and go to bed. We shared an elevator with Daisy Duck headed to her meet and greet at the pool deck. And my husband and kids shared an elevator ride with Princess Aurora. While these can’t be planned, they are definitely fun surprises that you’ll only experience on a Disney Cruise Ship!
If your sailing stops at Disney’s Castaway Cay, don’t ride the tram to the beach. You’ll be able to meet characters along the walking path. The times are in the Navigator. My girls had so much fun interacting with Jack Sparrow. We also visited with Minnie and Goofy with almost no line to see them.
Another tip – even if you’ve met a character before, meet them again! The characters get into the daily theme as well. If you have a Pirate Night on your sailing, you can bet that they’ll be dressed in their best pirate garb. Formal night is glitz and glamour. And on holiday sailings, they wear their cutest ugly sweaters.
Don’t just cruise, cruise with characters! Contact me today to book your family’s Disney Cruise Line vacation. Email me at Amy@TravelWithTheMagic.com or you can find me on Facebook. You can also call me at 1-800-670-4312, ext 129. I can’t wait to plan your MAGICAL vacation!
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