Just back & a bit disappointed...

[lbgraves]

One thing they consider when scheduling pirate night is the fact that there is a show going on for the early seating after dinner. It is a recent release movie that usually starts at 8 and is over before the party on deck begins at 9:45. On our cruise last year the movie was Narnia...which is longer...so the pirate party didn't really get started until 10:15, the characters showed up around 10:35 and the fireworks were around 10:50. Such is life. We wanted to see them as did the kids so we knew to have them take an afternoon rest/nap as we always do on pirate night.

 

[SuzPasq]

We've had many of those impromptu moments in the years that we've cruised on the Magic.

Our favorite was when our then 5yo son, dressed as Peter Pan on Halloween, ran into Captain Hook and Smee in the hallway. Captain Hook initiated a swordfight with our son, encouraging him to use his lollipop as a sword. It was a very exciting moment for our son.

 

[crisi]

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.

Its no different than the WDW ads or videos - somehow, with 100,000 people in the park, your kid is dancing across the fenced off grass in front of the castle with Snow White. Or riding Goofy's Barnstormer with Goofy. I know it happens - but it happens so rarely and so magically that its the exception not the rule.

We found a few character greets that were less mobbed - my kids had Pluto by the Mickey Pool to themselves on Castaway Cay day. Found Mulan by the elevators without a line. But they aren't common and tend to happen most often when the ship itself isn't mobbed. When the ship is mobbed, the characters tend to stick to their meet and greets.

 

[Tarabra]

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.

I don't understand how they missed you. When you walk through the door, the greeter asks your last name, w/ microphone in hand, then announces it. Be sure when you go next that you give the greeter your name. She is the one that announces it.

As far as OP's observations, oddly enough the character appearances are MUCH better than they have been on our past 5 cruises. We REALLY saw the characters this time. Mickey walking around on Deck 10 one day while I was laying out, Cinderella walking out the door by Shutters, etc. Knew a girl that was a character on the BIG RED BOAT, and she said that they are only allowed to be in their costumes for 20 minutes. She also said that Mickey got thrown in the pool one night by some drunk guys. Needless to say, they were taken off the boat at the next port and arrested. So, even though the character meet and greets didn't meet your expectations...WOW...they are MUCH better than they used to be. Plus now they have the hotline and the sign in the atrium. Big changes since '04.

As for the fireworks... Somehow DD21mos was able to stay up for them. It's also like when we went back to the Magic Kingdom in the evening and she immediately fell asleep because she didn't take a nap that day due to all the excitement. DH said, "Oh, just let her sleep." I told him that she wasn't going to miss It's a Small World again, and we woke her up. She was so excited. She had the rest of the night to sleep. She also stayed awake for the Parade, the Fireworks, then the parade again at 11:00.

Please give DCL another chance. There are times and ways that you can get REALLY good prices on the cruise. That's what we do! Ready to go again.

 

[lbgraves]

For those who are concerned from comments on this thread regarding character interaction, you can avoid this headache with a few simple planning steps.

First, call the PALS line on the ship every night for the next day's complete schedule. They will list each character's time & place for that day unlike the navigator, which just says character meets 5-7 & 9-11. They also give the times & places where the characters will be "wandering the ship." You iwll find many on deck 9 at both the Mickey & Goofy pools. Our second cruise DH took the kids up to deck 9 after lunch and they encountered Chip & Dale strolling all alone.

Last cruise Terk came up behind DD & her friend & gave them a hug when they were at the Mickey Pool that first afternoon. On our first cruise Cinderella knew both kids by name & stopped whenever we saw her on the ship (at least once a day) to ask them about their day.

We get pictures with lots of characters and all the autographs each cruise...but we don't stand in long lines. We plan to be at the right spot 10-15 minutes ahead of time so that we are at or near the front of the line, then go on to the next meet 15 minutes later. Before dinner when the characters are out, we can meet 4-5 characters. Since that is still important to my kids, it is important to me to plan the best way to accomplish this.

Also, IMO the most important thing to realize and accept when you plan a cruise is that you just cannot do it all. If you try...you will be disappointed. We will be going on our 4th 7 day cruise this December & have still not done everything available on the ship.

 

[MrsScooby]

We just returned from the Wonder and also missed the pirate night party and fireworks due to being too tired

Really I was mad at myself for not anticipating that you can only stay up late, get up early and play all day for just so long before you run out of gas

Also, we did rebook on board and I made sure we got a cat. 6 on the starboard side so we can view the fireworks from our stateroom verandha next time (in case the nap eludes us again).

On both past cruises we ran into characters on the way to other things. I saw Dopey coming down the hall ahead of me and high five a kid in front of me. I thought I would get the same and was ready with my hand raised. Instead, he blew me a kiss and then high fived me

We only waited in line to get a picture with Jack Sparrow (about 15-20 minute wait). Oh, and in the terminal with Mickey and Minnie too. DS12 was not interested in getting his picture taken with the characters, but said he liked seeing them around the ship.

If getting your picture with the characters is a high priority then planning and getting to the right spot 15 minutes early is very helpful

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

To the OP....

The bottom line is that DCL is not going to plan their activities around your schedule. You have to plan your activities around DCL's schedule. And that includes both character greets and things like the fireworks at pirate night.

Like everyone has mentioned before, you must prioritize what you want to do and then set your schedule so that you can make them. It usually means having to give up one activity in order to make another.

I have yet to see an entire pirate night's show. We prefer late seating and we're still eating dinner when the show begins. We usually arrive just in time to watch the fireworks.

Find out the schedule for the character greets and make sure you get there early. Then you won't be disappointed.

 

[lbgraves]

This thread has been cleaned up. As has been posted before, sarcastic responses and put downs of other posters will not be tolerated. Continued posts of this nature will result in the thread being closed and the violators turned over to the webmasters.

 

[eeyoregon]

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.

Not true. On our 7 night we were constantly seeing characters out and about. My DS13 even got "trapped" in the elevator with Donald Duck for 5 floors and Donald "stole" his pizza and hat. We got to dance with Chip at the Pirate Party for over 20 mintues. The magic is definitely there...just keep your eyes open !

 

[andychris14]

we were just on the wonder and only saw characters at the times where they would take professional pictures.
We were disappointed with the cruise and had a few questions/concerns.
1- why are mickey and minnie dressed in fancy outfits when it is pirate night? They were dressed in pirate night on the first night. This does not make to much sense to me. The kids had their pirate outfits on and that would make a cute picture.
2- Pirates of the carribean movie was on at 11:45pm. The movie let out close to 3am. This is so late for the kids to stay up and then get up to go to castaway cay. This movie should start a little earlier.
3-There was so much "free time" in the kids club. Is this due to being in ports? For the 3 night cruise, there was only a handful of activities for them to join in.
Thanks

 

[discruiselovers97]

If you have a problem with the lines then would you rather just have the kids get up there get an autograph, pic, and thats it, goodbye, no interaction. That is the best part. Why not in the line talk about what do you want to ask mickey(ect.)i know it is a bummer but if you want a perfect cruise. make your own.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Thank you for your honest feedback, but I have to say I disagree with your post. If the characters were just "roaming free" around the ship, they would be mobbed. Let's admit it, we all get alittle crazy when we see them. There has to be some sort of order. I still hope you enjoyed your cruise and thanks for posting.

 

[Stormy15]

I have a tip for your next cruise, based on my experience. My family's name has always been announced, but they always say how hard it is to pronounce. The one cruise the announcer asked if she could just say our first names because she was having trouble, and we said that was fine with us. Maybe that would work for you. Otherwise, I think they stop announcing names at a certain time, but I don't remember when the time is. Could you have arrived after that time? I hope you are able to hear your names on your next cruise Good luck.

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.

 

[Stormy15]

I never really cared about the characters as my daughter is older and we have seen lots of characters. One tip I have, though, is that it seemed very easy to get pictures with characters, in very short lines, on the last night of the cruise. All of the characters come out at the same time so there are no pre-arranged lines. They come down the steps in the atrium, on both sides, sing a song, and then start taking pictures and signing autographs. My goofy husband got his picture taken with a bunch of characters that last night. We also ran into characters around the ship, even though we weren't looking for them.

 

[sandiegosusie]

For those who are concerned from comments on this thread regarding character interaction, you can avoid this headache with a few simple planning steps.

First, call the PALS line on the ship every night for the next day's complete schedule. They will list each character's time & place for that day unlike the navigator, which just says character meets 5-7 & 9-11. They also give the times & places where the characters will be "wandering the ship." You iwll find many on deck 9 at both the Mickey & Goofy pools. Our second cruise DH took the kids up to deck 9 after lunch and they encountered Chip & Dale strolling all alone.

Last cruise Terk came up behind DD & her friend & gave them a hug when they were at the Mickey Pool that first afternoon. On our first cruise Cinderella knew both kids by name & stopped whenever we saw her on the ship (at least once a day) to ask them about their day.

We get pictures with lots of characters and all the autographs each cruise...but we don't stand in long lines. We plan to be at the right spot 10-15 minutes ahead of time so that we are at or near the front of the line, then go on to the next meet 15 minutes later. Before dinner when the characters are out, we can meet 4-5 characters. Since that is still important to my kids, it is important to me to plan the best way to accomplish this.

Also, IMO the most important thing to realize and accept when you plan a cruise is that you just cannot do it all. If you try...you will be disappointed. We will be going on our 4th 7 day cruise this December & have still not done everything available on the ship.

I love the idea of calling the PALS line. Would you mind telling me what PALS stands for and where can I get the number? It would help a lot with our planning character meets. Thanks!!

 

[HollyTyler]

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!!!!

We just got back from our 3rd cruise and each time, we often came across characters walking in the hallway and they were always happy to stop for photos. In fact, before my first cruise, a co-worker told me to always have a camera in hand because you never know when you might see a character walking around and I found that to be true all 3 cruises. Even more so on Castaway Cay, which actually surprised me because of how hot it is there. Maybe we've just been lucky each time, but we had great experiences with the characters. And as far as waiting in line for photos & autographs, it's clearly posted what time each one will be around and where they'll be, so it's easy to plan on being towards the front of the line.

 

[Hobbitmomma]

Have to agree with what most previous posters have said. We made sure our two (DS7 & DD5) got naps in so they could stay up a little later. Still, we left the Pirate Party as soon as the fireworks ended. (After a quick run through the dessert buffet. We got there first!) If you have little ones, you really need to plan. There is just too much to do and you aren't going to be able to do it all.

As far as characters go, we saw tons and only waited a little bit for some and not at all for others. We also got into an elevator with Pluto. My kids were thrilled. The thing to also remember is that there are people in those costumes and it is the Caribbean which is hot and humid. (Regardless of whether they are inside or out.) They need to cool off and get hydrated. In WDW they only appear for 15 minute blocks and 10 if it's exceedingly hot. (One of my students was employed as a character for a while.) It would be very impractical for these folks to be roaming the ship all day long. Also, they are often cast as more than one character and most of them are in the shows as well, so remember, they are putting in a long day.

We are hoping to cruise with DCL again. We loved it!

 

[Doctor Pedantic]

We were on the same cruise and I agree that there weren't a whole lot of "impromptu" character meets. There were just way too many things to do to justify standing around in a long line, so we figured we'd just make do with the character breakfast. Next thing we knew, we were invited to a VIP meet and greet with the characters before the final character appearances in the lobby on the last night. We probably got photos with and autographs with 15 or 20 characters in about as many minutes....it was great.

And I agree that the Pirate party has to be late. We were late seating, and our dinners always lasted a long time, so we were late getting there. We saw most of the show, and the fireworks were amazing. Our only complaint there was that the late-night buffet after the fireworks looked fantastic, but we were still full from dinner!

 

[gismo1554]

1) The deck party started at 9:30 pm & the fireworks are at 10:30 pm. Now, if this cruise is geared to kids why in the world would they do this so late?? All of the kids were wiped out from being in St. Thomas all day & could not stay up. So, therefore we all missed it. I know there is a late seating for dinner but that is just not fair.

Bare in mind that if you have an 8.30 dinner reservation there is no way you could make an earlier firework display. Disney have to ensure that everyone can go to it and by having it earlier people wouldn't be able to. I understand that children are likely to be worn out by then but Disney aren't just geared to kids they are inclusive of everyone and so they have to make sure they cater for them all!

2) Also, obviously we all know the disney cruise is a lot of money (it's no secret) & you are paying for the name & to have characters on the ship. Well, we were all disappointed that the charatcers are just not walking freely around. You still have to wait on lines to see them like disney world & after waiting for 20 mins, they leave & sometimes another comes & sometimes they don't. As you can see (if you have cruised before) on the navigator, sometimes there are hours where there are no character appearances. They should be constantly in the atrium or up on deck 9 so every child has a chance to see or visit with a character. The other thing is they make it like an assembly line...you can talk or have any interaction with them.

They can't just have them walking around 1. due to the logistics of it 2.due to the limit in the number of characters that can be on there and 3.the CM's it would take would be enormous as they have to alternate every 30 mins I think it is when they have the full costumes on. Logistically it isn't possible. They schedule times so that people know when and where they are and this means that you can get to see them. They tend to do one early and one late autograph session to tie in to meals.

3) Then adding to our character frustration, my ds, dd & dh were taking a picture with sorcerer mickey & I took a picture behind the photographer. I took another & Max, the charatcer manager told me "mam, only 1 picture please" I said WHAT...YOUR KIDDING ME? He said we have a long line here. I said yeah I know we just waited there!!! Off to guest services DH & I went. One of the managers called us that night & offered us to meet all the characters at 10:30 that night. Yup, once again, exhausted kids couldn't make it. A little too late.

I have to say that I think you are taking this a little bit personal. The policy is 1 photo as they want to get through as many people as possible. If you had been queing for an hour and couldn't get to meet them because the woman in front took extra pictures I'm sure you'd be the first to complain! Disney did try to sort this out and I am really surprised. They did a fantastic thing offering you this opertunity and I think you are being a little bit hard on them just because you couldn't get there at the time they offered. You have to bare in mind there were other people waiting to see him and it wasn't fair on them either if you spent an extra 5 mins taking pictures when they would then miss out on there time.

I don't mean to be a downer...like I said we did have a great time & it was a trip we will never forget. The youngest was 5 months old (my ds) & the oldest on the trip was my 91 year old grandmother so we will have great memories.
Would I ever take another disney cruise? Definatley not! We would go on another crusie line & pay 1/2 the price to not have the characters.

That's your choice but if these are your only reasons for not going back then I'm surprised. You said it yourself you have great memories and it was a great cruise. I agree it is a lot of money but Disney give you extra attention you don't get anywhere else.

Glad you enjoyed the rest of the cruise.

 

[gismo1554]

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.

I agree completely! Disney didn't have to do anything for you and they did! Perhaps it wasn't a suitable time but they tried and you seem to be forgetting this. They didn't have to do anything.