Just back & a bit disappointed...

[abfnumberten]

Everyone is entitled to the way they feel about their experience on DCL. I am going on my third cruise in a couple of weeks, and on my two past cruises our name has never been piped aboard when you come onto the ship. I think this might be to the fact that we have two different names due to a new marraige on my part. Disappointed, yes, but I get over it. My four year old loves the characters, but you need to plan. You might have to miss something else to get in that line for the characters, but those lines are still shorter and alot cooler then standing at WDW. I think people forget that the ship holds I think about 2500 people. Everyone cannot get personnel accommodations. We love Disney for all the other wonderful experiences we have had and I cannot wait to do it again.

 

[marlaymike]

You have to remember the ship is not only for you, there's a plenty of people paying as much or more than you. Keep in mind Disney thinks in everyone not in only one family. We went on May and we took pictures with all the characters we wanted. We organized ourselves and determine which character we were going to meet and greet. Obviously we didn't went in all lines, but have a great time doing it.

I think you should re-think about not going again in a Disney Cruise. I don't have kids but I'm returning since there is like being in the parks.

 

[VAgal76]

LindyLoo - No characters aren't wandering around the ship all day like they portray in a video. I did see a few times they were out on deck and it was listed in the navigator. They ARE dancing around during party times and have meet and greets (look at the navigator or call for times). They were really out and about in the evening at different places. You will have to wait your turn like at the parks. There are other people cruising too. Our sailing was booked and I never experienced a horrible time with seeing a character we wanted. There were lines everywhere but they moved. I don't think we stood in line more than 15 minutes at a time. If you look in your guide and see a character you REALLY want then just plan on getting there early.

 

[dflst]

With usually over 2,000 guests on board who are divided into two dining group and working within the Sunset times, it would be impossible for DCL to make certain that EVERY activity was available to EVERY guest at the time each guest preferred it.

When we did our first DCL in January 2003, we were initially overwhelmed by all the things there were to do and felt compelled to do all of them. But after about the third day we realized that we really enjoyed sailing on the MAGIC, booked another cruise on-board (big savings!) and then slowed down. I realize that everyone might not be able to afford more than one cruise in a 2-5 year period, but if you slow down and try not to do everything during one vacation you will have a better time. This goes for a visit to WDW as well. We've observed couples in screaming matches as to whether they should go to Adventureland or see Tommorrowland....

Since all of these things are there to do and you feel like you have paid for them, it can make you think you are not getting your money's worth by not trying to do all of them. But I really don't think DCL thinks that you should do all of them, but instead intended for you to choose from a list of options. Think of who has the better overall experience at an all-you-can(care)-to-eat buffet: person A who take one or two plates of well-balanced food and leaves the restaurant feeling fine, or person B who eats 4 or 5 huge plates of food, including entirely too many deserts, is forcing down that last morsel, feels cheated that they cannot eat a 6th plate, and leaves feeling bloated?

As for the characters, I agree with the statement that the lines are necessary as there are many people who are rude and will cut and push their way in front of others. Also, at international attractions like WDW and DCL you need to remember that you have a mingling of cultures and in some cultures pushing and cutting is not perceived as rude or unacceptable. The sometimes AR character guide is there to ensure that everyone gets a chance, including YOUR child.

As for having characters just wandering about the WONDER or MAGIC, I don't think that would work as well as you would think. For example, on the East-Bound Panama Canal cruise last summer, 'Captain' Mickey and Minnie along with Roy and Patty Disney were on the Captain's Bridge and waving at the Panamanian children. I was near the deck when Mickey decided to go for a walk to the other side of the ship and he was mobbed. Hundreds of people were pushing and shoving to get closer to him and were pushing him against the railing. After a few minutes he had enough and decided to go back inside. At least 50 people were chasing after him, yelling and pushing to get a photo. I am sure these were all nice people who would complain about anyone cutting or being rude, but were caught up in the moment and were swept away.

Finally, you can have too much of just about anything and if Cinderella was in the Atrium 24x7 for the entire cruise the charm and the magic of seeing her would be gone as it would no longer be special. Having to look for and find your favorite character is part of the fun. Even at WDW, my 3 DDs enjoying interacting with the less common characters like Gepetto and Baloo than the ones your see everywhere. If your DD or DS sees her/his favorite character for 3-4 minutes and leaves wanting more, it may become a lifetime memory.

 

[sdaniel105]

I have to agree with married@wdw. We made a few trips to WDW and if something was planned for the evening/ night we wanted to see (parade, laser show, etc) we put down our boys for a nap at some point during the day.

As far as the character, during our 4 Disney Cruises we have seen the characters in the hall and my dw and ds have asked for an autograph and received it. You also have the character breakfast which you can get most of the primary characters.

If we take a posed picture on our own we do try and limit it to one. We have been in a line a couple times where they allowed a couple people in front of us to take 2 or 3 shots. If everyone did this almost no one would have the opportunity to get a professional shot taken. Many times people are on there way to dinner as well and need to get thru the line.

Sean

 

[MB MinnieGirl]

Wow. I'm sorry the OP was so upset by these things that they are completely turned off by DCL. It's a good thing it's not for everyone though, or else those of us that do LOVE it would never get our ressie's.

The amount of frustration the OP had with the characters shocked me when I read it. On our 2nd DCL cruise last month my daughter bumped into several characters with NO LINES. They were just literally walking the ship...I assumed either going to a function or returning from one. She had private time, and I was able to get photos with several.....Donald Duck (outside of Beach Blanket), Dale (walking around deck 9 at Mickey pool), Cinderella (on deck 4 near Shutters), Mulan (deck 4 near aft elevators), Alice and Wonderland (near GS), and Goofy (near the kids club). There were also awesome character interactions in the kids club which DD loved with Lilio and Stitch.

Either way - if we hadn't seen these characters it wouldn't have ruined our trip - or turned us off by DCL in anyway. It was just an added bonus. We were able (as everyone else is) to look at our Navigator and plan to be in the atrium close to the start of lines that DD6 really wanted to be in so as to avoid the long wait. There were some that weren't convenient for us, and others (Capt. Jack) where the line was so long that DD just said forget it and we moved onto other fun things not letting it get to her - she knows "you can have or do it all."

To each his own I suppose, but personally, we cruise DCL not just for the mice, the pups, the aliens, and the princesses, but for the exceptional service and little bit of "magic" we can only find on "our" ship.

Good thing there are cruises out there for everyone's taste. Hope the OP finds one to suit them.

Kelly

 

[teach22180]

Trying to get on track with the Ops observations. Is there any hints or tips please, cruisers could give me for my first cruise in 6 weeks time.
QUOTE]

Since my only LITTLE disappointment in a WONDERful cruise was the difficulty seeing characters, I can let you learn from my mistakes! First, there is a phone number you can call that will have some character greetings that are not in the Navigator.

Even though I knew how to find out when the characters were around, it was hard to see them because they tended to be when we were on an excursion, at dinner, etc. Not that that's anyone's fault, it just happened that way. I just felt if there were MORE opportunities, we would have a better chance of being able to see them.

That said, when we found out Lilo and Stitch would be out on our day at sea, we planned around it and were able to be first in line. I found the photographers and handlers to be very kind and helpful.

As for running into characters just wandering around, I heard of people who had that happen; it's probably just being in the right place at the right time. We accidentally almost met Capt. Jack because we thought it was the line for the tram at CC!

 

[TanaL]

I disagree about the pirate show -- there is no other time that would work, and all fireworks shows I have been too start around the same time or later. We had late dining, so we scheduled at least an hour each day for our kids to have a nap and a snack before the show at 6 and then dinner at 8. Normally my kids don't take a nap and they go to bed earlier but we adjusted and it worked out great.

Being in the sun all day is draining, so spending an entire day at a beach would be a bad idea with my kids; even if the fireworks show was at 7pm, they'd be collapsed in a heap. With a shorter beach day and a nap they are refreshed and ready to go for the evening time.

But, I can see your point about the characters. I was disappointed at our first cruise not to get more photo ops. There are a few times when characters were walking around. My ds(4) and my dad were playing ping pong and goofy stopped to chat with them for several minutes. Unfortunately, I wasn't there with the camera! But it was a wonderful moment for 1 4 year old and his grandpa. We also got a lot of pics at the farewell party, but that was latish on the last night so maybe you missed that too? And we got out to Castaway Cay early on our second day there and were just in time for the switchover between 2 character photo ops, so we got pics with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and I think Goofy. I think what I learned was that I needed to be more proactive about finding out where the characters were and getting there early to avoid the line! This year I'm planning to get more family pictures especially.

For us, it wasn't just the character ops but the better service, the shows, Castaway Cay, nicer rooms, family oriented programming and movices, etc. that all made us want to book our second disney cruise.

That said, if a Disney cruise is not for you, there are lots of other cruise options; I'm sure you'll find something that your family enjoys.

 

[Float My Boat]

Just a tip for others...
One great way to meet characters is to hang on Deck 10 near the elevators before parties and such. That's where they usually come out before taking the stage. We have numerous pictures of our son with characters as they waited for their turn to dance.

Another tip, you can get more pictures if people didn't waste their time with autographs. My son doesn't even know what autographs are, and I will do my best to keep it that way. It takes more time for a character to sign something than to pose for a picture or 2.

 

[jd99]

Trying to get on track with the Ops observations. Is there any hints or tips please, cruisers could give me for my first cruise in 6 weeks time.

The TA showed us a Video of the cruise and on the TV holiday programme it made out characters were wandering all over the ship. This was part of the reason for booking. if you have to queue for a long time for each character, do we give this a miss? My DD4 will be so sad, but we are at WDW too.
Gosh for the $s we are paying, I thought there would be characters everywhere.................. on the Video they show lots of them at Castaway cay, please say that bits right!!!!

While we didn't see "characters everywhere" I thought there was a nice mix of characters that you would just "run into" on their way to or from a scheduled event. On Castaway, I will admit to seeing zero characters...but we weren't looking for them and spent most of the time on the beach, not in the shopping/dining area. Finally, I disagree about the lines for characters. When we stood in line, it was pretty quick moving, the characters spent more time with my DDs than at the parks or even at Character breakfasts/dinners at the parks and you could generally "knock off" multiple characters by standing in one line. One night we stood in line for maybe 10 minutes -- and the line looked daunting -- from the atrium almost to the promenade lounge -- but it moved quickly. And we met Snow White, Belle and Cinderella. Each spent enough time with my two DDs to make them smile for the rest of the trip and Cinderella spent extra time with my DD2 who told her Cinderella she "loved her" It was so sweet.

My complaint is regarding the autograph books. I think this line moved quickly because most people were just in line to meet and take photos and weren't worrying about the inane autograph books. I think it takes pressure off the characters to do everything in a short time and allows them to spend extra time with the kids so when they see a kid who just generally wants to meet them and get a picture, they are more relaxed than with those holding out the books and demanding signatures. JMHO

 

[one princess]

I think the characters are part of what set DCL apart from other cruise lines but I don't think they should be looked upon as just a "photo op". What is special is having them at the deck parties, in the shows, at the character breakfast, etc. They sometimes are just walking around the ship. You just have to be in the right place at the right time. They don't advertise this or it would just turn into another "photo op". For example, we just happened to be outside Shutters one night when Cinderella came out and spent several minutes with my dd. She was on her way to Studio Sea. She stayed in there for a good half hour dancing with all the children who happened to be in there. Truley special and no lines, autographs, or pictures. If the characters were all just wandering around the ship, it would lose some of the Magic.
But I know how dissapointed people can be when things are not what they expected. Sorry this happened to you.

Jackie

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

I think if you go on another cruise line expecting to pay half and only sacrifice characters, you'll be sorely disappointed. Those other lines will also have many activities scheduled late at night, and their shows won't be as kid friendly, their kids clubs don't run all day and late into the night (without stopping for hours in between), some charge for the kids clubs, they don't have the split bath, etc, etc. And by the time you are looking at ships of the same quality as the Disney ones, you might be saving some money, but not half. Not to say you wouldn't enjoy the other cruise lines, but on Disney you are paying for more then characters.

My kids were 3 and 5 on our last cruise. They made it all the way through pirate night because they had napped that afternoon. We also had more character interactions then we had expected and had some truly memorable character moments (my kids asking to pet Pluto and him rolling around the Atrium as they rubbed his belly, etc). I think one of the keys, as other posters have said, is not expect that you will get to do everything. Pick and choose what is important. Second of all, did your kids even miss not being able to see characters at all hours of the day? Mine were so excited by the Mickey pool, and "free" ice cream, kids club, and the movie theater, etc, etc, that the characters were just icing on top of the cake. Sometimes I think we have this image of what our "perfect vacation" will be, and when exactly what we want to happen doesn't happen the exact way we wanted it, we close ourselves off to all the wonderful things that are happening, and miss some of the best moments that couldn't have been planned or imagined.

I hope you guys find a family vacation that is more to your liking.

 

[eeyoregon]

fireworks are at 10:30 pm. Now, if this cruise is geared to kids why in the world would they do this so late??

Um, because it has to be dark for fireworks??

On our cruise the pirate party was at capacity and full of little kids who took afternoon naps. It's the only fair to have it after both dinner seatings.

I know the character lines can be frustrating but could you imagine the pure choas if there were no lines? The meak would never get a chance! On our April cruise there was tons of talking/interacting with each character and photo opportunities galore - guess we lucked out! Our favorite was getting to play miniature golf with the characters on formal night - each child got a chance.

Best of luck on the other cruise lines.

 

[eeyoregon]

I'm the one applauding management for trying to give her a unique experience she had to pass on. Maybe cruising just isn't for her family?

I agree 100%! Good grief, Disney bends over backwards to give her kids a once-in-a-lifetime one-on-one character opportunity (compensation for the photographer doing his job) and she blows it??? Weird.

My best advice for characters is to go during the day meets. On more than one occasion we floated through the atrium in mid-afternoon and the characters and their escorts/photographers were just standing there waiting for kids - guess they were all at the mickey pool

I HIGHLY recommend Sovereign of the Seas for the OP

 

[rtphokie]

T
Well, we were all disappointed that the charatcers are just not walking freely around.

DCL really should consider this. In all of Disney's ads they show children cavorting with characters down the beach or along deserted decks on the ship. This doesn't happen,ever.

You just dont run into characters, they appear for photos and then leave.

Thinking back to some of our fondest memories in the parks, they are with characters outside of the line-up-get-your-photo-and-autograph experience. Tweedle Dum sneaking up behind my father-in-law in fantasyland. Wendy and Peter Pan carrying on a long conversation with my 5 year old about whether pirates had kidnapped me (I was riding POC at the time), and when Mad Hatter carried on a nonsensical, very one sided conversation about college football with me (I was decked out in my normal Virginia Tech tshirt and hat).

It's these kind of interactions, where the characters get out an mingle, that really leave a mark.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

DCL really should consider this. In all of Disney's ads they show children cavorting with characters down the beach or along deserted decks on the ship. This doesn't happen,ever.

That was not at all our experience. We ran into characters in the halls, on deck 9, in the atrium (when their was not a scheduled greet or photo op) and at Castaway Cay.

 

[yazee1]

 

[yazee1]

Posting trouble. Previous picture was from a chance encounter with Peter Pan.

 

[JimV]

While standing in the lobby waiting for dinner at Lumiere's, the Queen of Hearts began flirting with my DS14, threatening us and insisting on a picture with our family.

Captain Hook and Smee bounded from behind a door and took DD17 prisoner (until DS10 chased them away).

Goofy sat down on the beach chair next to DW and put his arm around her -- and he wasn't mobbed at CC.

Now our kids are all older, so we took these as happy circumstances and enjoyed the unplanned experience as part of the cruise. Fortunately, we have outgrown the autograph phase.

As to the fireworks night, they have to do it after St Thomas as they do not have to sail that far on that night and can afford the time to stop the ship for fireworks. The first officer explained that to some of us at one of the adult get-togethers.

-- JimV

 

[becka]

DCL really should consider this. In all of Disney's ads they show children cavorting with characters down the beach or along deserted decks on the ship. This doesn't happen,ever.

You just dont run into characters, they appear for photos and then leave.

Thinking back to some of our fondest memories in the parks, they are with characters outside of the line-up-get-your-photo-and-autograph experience. Tweedle Dum sneaking up behind my father-in-law in fantasyland. Wendy and Peter Pan carrying on a long conversation with my 5 year old about whether pirates had kidnapped me (I was riding POC at the time), and when Mad Hatter carried on a nonsensical, very one sided conversation about college football with me (I was decked out in my normal Virginia Tech tshirt and hat).

It's these kind of interactions, where the characters get out an mingle, that really leave a mark.

Actually it does happen. While walking on Deck 9 one evening Stich came walking up to us and spent a few minutes playing with DD in her stroller. It was a wonderful spontaneous moment.

We also ran into Mulan in the hallway. DS was running ahead and we told him to stop. Out of nowhere there was Mulan telling DS that he really should listen to his parents! He didn't want to listen to us but when Mulan tells you something you should listen.

Both were very magical moments for us but they were just luck of the draw kind of things. We wondered around the ship alot because we were just trying to relax and check out the ship while pushing DD around in the stroller. Like I mentioned for our last cruise we did not make characters a high priority and we didn't want to deal with the lines. This cruise if my kids are really wanting to see the characters we will call ahead and try to plan to be there early. I really don't see how DCL can do this any other way.