Are the no character meets and greets a big downside for you?

[CampbellzSoup]

To me an essential part of a Disney cruise is the awesome character meet and greets and the awesome outfits they have on the ships it wasn’t as hectic as disney world at all and it was one of the best highlights of the cruise is to take photos with all of the amazing Disney characters…

Is this holding you guys back at all - do you think they’ll return?

 

[Cheburashka]

To me an essential part of a Disney cruise is the awesome character meet and greets and the awesome outfits they have on the ships it wasn’t as hectic as disney world at all and it was one of the best highlights of the cruise is to take photos with all of the amazing Disney characters…

Is this holding you guys back at all - do you think they’ll return?

It isn't holding me back because after 6 pre-Covid cruises we already have a gazillion character photos with different outfits. I'm actually kind of done waiting in line to get my picture with characters. I could understand how it would bother someone more who doesn't already have a lot of character photos.

I do think those photos with character hugs will come back eventually. It will probably take a couple of years, though, just as it will for normalcy to return everywhere. To those who say "normal will never return", I say, look around. Normalcy is already happening in a lot of areas. At this point, a lot of restrictions are a liability issue more than anything else in some areas, and once restrictions ease, normalcy will gradually follow.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

It isn't holding me back because after 6 pre-Covid cruises we already have a gazillion character photos with different outfits. I'm actually kind of done waiting in line to get my picture with characters. I could understand how it would bother someone more who doesn't already have a lot of character photos.

I do think those photos with character hugs will come back eventually. It will probably take a couple of years, though, just as it will for normalcy to return everywhere.

my son was born in 2020 - I’m like you I was over the photos for awhile but now I’d like him to meet them…. To me they are a huge part of a Disney crusie

 

[Lilsia]

Even when the kids were young, we were not really that into character pictures. We did it their first couple of trips, but after that, none of us really cared, not even the kids. We love the cruise for so many other reasons that even if they got rid of characters, it would not affect us.

 

[cvjw]

We were on the fantasy a week or so ago. Characters were everywhere. Often by themselves with no guests around. We don’t care about meeting characters, but ran into lots of them. It would have been easy to take selfie’s with them or just chat. We saw lots of kids having private sessions with them because literally no one else was around.

 

[Cheburashka]

my son was born in 2020 - I’m like you I was over the photos for awhile but now I’d like him to meet them…. To me they are a huge part of a Disney crusie

I think he'll be allowed to hug them by the time he's old enough to want to hug them.

 

[Clojel]

Not even a little. I’m actually a bit turned off about the extra character presence during dinner! I like DCL for the top level service…the characters are an afterthought to me.

 

[princessmommyx3]

Characters are not important to our family - adults or kids. Never have been.

 

[Karin1984]

No, I love meeting characters, but the chance to meet more characters in a shorter time makes up for a lot. I can still have interactions, sometimes better because characters cannot do the standard 'autograph, hug, picture' routine. They have to improvise more, can even be more personal because they have to look at you more to interact. There is no chance of autopilot.

I don't collect autographs and I am not a hugger. I find it a strange custom especially when hugging face characters as an adult, even more with male face characters. With fur characters I have the problem that I am taller than average, i have to bend down to give Mickey a proper hug, which feels weird and looks strange in pictures. A Goofy hug is therefore the best for me, and wouldn't mind that, but it would not be a reason to wait cruising.

Now, less shows and other entertainment ...

 

[squirk]

Nope.

I like seeing the characters wandering around the ship, and the spontaneity of “bumping into” a character as you are, say, waiting for an elevator.

However, as far as the actual meet-and-greets, those have never really appealed to me or my family.

 

[Travel60]

Not us. Especially during dinner when there is already enough going on Perhaps if grands were traveling with us but even then, I think it would be one and done.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

Since we are just two adults, not having the meet and greets doesn't bother us. We do like to see the characters wandering around the ship and have gotten pictures that way at times.

Psy

 

[Deb T.]

Yes, we are very eager for the regular Character Meet & Greets to return. We are two adults who mostly travel without kids or grandkids. We've found trying to get a "distanced" photo with characters very challenging because if any littles come running up, the characters' attention immediately moves to the children. We understand that... but still would also like to have our turn at a character's undivided attention, if only long enough to get a good photo with them.

 

[Kwami]

I kind of like it the way it is now. Before, the characters would come out at set times and everyone would line up to get photos, or sometimes you'd have to reserve a spot to get a photo. And because of that, I never really got to interact with the characters because 1) I have better things to do on a cruise than stand in line, and 2) I don't actually want to touch and hug characters.

Now, I get to see random characters as I walk around the ship and I can wave at them and say things to them and watch them be silly and fun, but I don't have to worry about them trying to take photos with me. And there aren't lines for most of them! I was able to get a really nice photo of Micky and Minnie waving to me from the staircase before the embarkation song that they're doing now. That wouldn't have happened before!

But, I don't have kids or travel with kids. Usually. I did travel with my niece and nephews to WDW recently and one of my nephews was crazy excited to see Micky and wave at him and get a physically-distanced photo with him. So, maybe my opinion would be different if I had kids with me.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We enjoy seeing the characters around the ships but we have never participated in the photo ops/hugs. The enjoyment of the CMs doing such a terrific job all around the ship to make our cruise the best ever is why we sail on DCL.

 

[msmama]

I'm a character person. We're some of the crazies who, before dinner, or between dinner and the show, are running from deck to deck meeting as many characters as possible.
That said, I don't plan on cancelling my next trip if I can't do that. I've had just as many cool/fun interactions with characters roaming as I have in the lines. I'll miss the pictures if I can't have them, but I'll live. Please not that my traveling party is me and my 13 year old who totally humors me with my character fun.
Also, I think some of the best parts of characters on cruises is that they get to know you as the cruise progresses (I do longer cruises and only ever on the classic smaller ships so YMMV) so the interactions get better and better. I don't see that changing even if we're socially distanced. That said, I hope the hugging comes back, but at the same time I feel like I'll be weirded out hugging Mickey right after someone else did.

 

[CamColt]

I have never been one to care about the character meet and greets. With that said on our August Dream cruise I actually have some pics with characters. We definitely saw more out and about this trip, even at places we never did before.. One example, Chip and Dale made a visit to Evolution 1 night.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am happy enough with a safe distance interaction/photos with Goofy and Jack and Sally that happened on our September DCL cruise.

 

[Cheburashka]

Although I didn't get any pictures of myself with them, on my cruise a few days ago, I still got a lot of attention from characters. At the welcome show in the atrium, it's only a dozen or so cruisers, so you do get character attention with them looking directly at you and gesturing to you. A similar thing when they showed up at dinner, although that depended more on where you were seated- they did rove around a bit, though. And while I was chilling out on the pool deck one day, a handler said "hey", and I looked up to see Pluto looking right at me and posing for my photos (I had been looking at my phone, so immediately getting pics was easy).

 

[Kwami]

The characters at dinner in Enchanted Garden was the biggest disappointment for me, though. They didn't come to the side areas at all and we couldn't see them from where we were sitting. So, all of the noise and none of the show. It really ruined the atmosphere. And EG is supposed to be the nice, relaxed restaurant!