i want to reiterate the thought about the breakfast being rushed so have your camera ready. We had early seating dinner (and so the first character breakfast of the day) and I have to say that this was the most stressful hour of my cruise.
Be firm in stating that you want to take a picture with your camera...otherwise the characters are gone before you can blink. My daughter made friends with the little girl who was dining at our table and they were inseparable....when the first two characters came along the 2 girls were grabbed for a group shot and that was that. Couldn't get a photo of just my child alone. We were firm after that that we wanted a shot of the 2 girls as well as shots of them individually.
Also, because they are so rushed the characters just stand behind the chairs and at least in my case my daughter wasn't able to get up and "pose" for a photo. The result was a bunch of photos of my daughter slumped in a chair, character behind her, dirty breakfast dishes all around.
And to address the issue of "rushed" at our breakfast (which was on a 7 day eastern in 9/03)....50 minutes after breakfast started the head waiter (or whomever) came over the loud speaker of PA (or whatever they use) and announced "Thanks for joining us for breakfast...have a magical day" or something to that effect to clearly signal that it was time to leave...no time to relax at all if you're looking for some nice photos on your own camera.
I wish I had known prior to the cruise that this breakfast would be so rushed...then I could have been prepared. That is why I pass this info on to you....have a great breakfast and take lots of nice photos!