Pirates Night Dinner - Any Insights?

[Mcert01]

Hi,

I'm a cruise newbie and have a couple of questions on Pirates Night dining.

I know people dress up for the party, but do people come to dinner in costume or wait for the party?

Are there any special activities for the kids at dinner, or is everything at the party?

Also, I've read some posts that the food isn't all that special at dinner. I've seen the menu, and it looks pretty good. Could the criticisms be about the food served at the party or should we avoid the rotation dining on Pirates Night?

Thanks for the help!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hi,

I'm a cruise newbie and have a couple of questions on Pirates Night dining.

I know people dress up for the party, but do people come to dinner in costume or wait for the party?

Are there any special activities for the kids at dinner, or is everything at the party?

Also, I've read some posts that the food isn't all that special at dinner. I've seen the menu, and it looks pretty good. Could the criticisms be about the food served at the party or should we avoid the rotation dining on Pirates Night?

Thanks for the help!

Some people (like us) dress for the evening - dinner, show, fireworks, party. Others only dress for the party/fireworks. Still others dress the whole day as pirates. Your call.

No special activities during dinner.

I like the Pirate menu. There are others who don't. It's all about personal taste. I don't care for the buffet afterwards, as it's basically a taco bar thing and I'm not much into tacos.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Related question... I am planning on my son doing the pirate session at BBB...what time of the day do people normally do that?

 

[Mcert01]

Thanks! The menu looks fine to me. I love Mahi Mahi, I love short ribs and I love sirloin, so I'm good.

 

[ludari]

On my last Disney cruise I dressed up for pirate night early to actually get a brunch of pictures before dinner. I also wore my costume during dinner which was a little awkward considering I had a sword through my chest but I made the best of it. As far as the pirate dinner I actually enjoy that menu very much.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Related question... I am planning on my son doing the pirate session at BBB...what time of the day do people normally do that?

Whenever they can get reservations. If your son wants to go swimming or on the aqua duck, you'd obviously want to wait to do the BBB afterward.

 

[Trera]

We go to Palo or Remy on Pirates night while our DD takes a break in the nursery.

 

[AndreAggie]

We dressed up for dinner and did the rotation with the characters for photos beforehand. Keep in mind we did a mixology class that ended less than an hour before dinner so we were feeling fairly happy and had no problems wearing our costumes! It was fun to see so many others dressing up too! We kept it simple...I wore a white top, black palazzo pants and tied a red sash around my waist. My son borrowed a costume from a friend back home and my husband wore jeans and a faux pirate t-shirt (think 80s tuxedo t-shirt, but with a pirate theme). We stayed dressed for the party. We were cruising with another family and the kids went to the kids klub in their costumes while the parents went to Cadillac Bar. We didn't do the pirate buffet.

 

[fairytalelover]

We bring full pirate costumes for every cruise and dress up for dinner. The area for photographs is available before dinner and after so we actuallyh dress up early and stand in some of the photo lines and we also take some photos after dinner. Then they have pirate activities after dinner for kids and adults. There is also the pirate show and party on the deck and the restuarants have a special pirate-themed menu and they are always yummy!

 

[fairytalelover]

how do i post a photo here?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

how do i post a photo here?

You can drag & drop the photo into the reply window. Or copy & paste. Or use a photohosting site to get an IMG code you can paste in the reply window.

One note, to post a photo, it must be smaller than 1MB.

 

[MSPeeler]

Pirates night makes me nervous! Hah.
I'm also a first time cruiser and I am planning on my kids wearing their costumes most of the day (ages 9 & 7), unless they want to go to the pool/Aqua Duck of coarse!

Even with reading this forum for a week straight, I still don't know what to expect and it's terrifying and exciting at the same time!

 

[Kimberly9701]

Pirates night makes me nervous! Hah.
I'm also a first time cruiser and I am planning on my kids wearing their costumes most of the day (ages 9 & 7), unless they want to go to the pool/Aqua Duck of coarse!

Even with reading this forum for a week straight, I still don't know what to expect and it's terrifying and exciting at the same time!

I feel the same! For our itinerary it looks like it is the night of our Cozumel day. I had originally planned on doing the Tulum ruins, which is a long excursion, but second guessing that bc of travel times to/from. Having a 6 year old asking "are we there yet" repeatedly, is not something I want to deal with. So I'm looking at shorter excursions, then some pool time on the ship, and then BBB. We have second seating at dinner so don't want to wait that long to dress up.

 

[MSPeeler]

Quick question: what time does the pirate deck party usually begin?

My kids have BBB reservations for a pirate makeover at 2:15 and 2:45, just hoping not to miss anything !

Thanks

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Quick question: what time does the pirate deck party usually begin?

My kids have BBB reservations for a pirate makeover at 2:15 and 2:45, just hoping not to miss anything !

Thanks

Depends on the ship. The Fantasy & Dream have two parties - one between the dinner seatings that's Mickey and gang, and one after the second seating that's more Jack Sparrow.

The Magic & Wonder have only one show, and it varies whether it's between the dinner seatings or after the late seating, depending on whether it's dark enough at the later time to do the fireworks or not.

 

[fauntleroy1953]

There are no rules to Pirate Day/Night. It really does come down to how much you want to get into it.
Our cruise to Alaska in May will be our 11th DCL cruise,so we're pretty much over it,usually making Palo reservations that evening.
But we do enjoy seeing all the costumes. Some people go all out,with very professional looking costumes. Other people just wear bandanas and a sash. We've noticed some children liked getting made up early in the day and love looking the way they do so much,they make the concession to not swim that day,just so they can stay in character as long as possible.
The menu is tropical in nature,with titles that are pirate themed. It's my favorite menu, but I think I might be in the minority because I hear a lot of negative comments about it while on the ships. I'm not sure why that is,because it really isn't all that unusual or strange food. It's puzzling to me why it's so unpopular.
The deck party usually starts around 9:45. There's a show on stage,Mickey zip lines between smokestacks and a Captain Jack Sparrow look a like is lowered from the smokestack to the stage and gets into the show. The show eventually goes from show to fireworks. After the fireworks, there's a small pirate themed buffet with the famous WDW smoked turkey legs as the main special item. The food tends to be on the heavy side,which can be a challenge so late at night,but it remains popular. That's it for Pirate night. The kiddos love the deck party,everyone loves seeing Mickey zip line, because,really,how often will you see that, and no one expects to see Captain Jack at the top of a smokestack,so that's a fun surprise.
Overall,it's a nice thing that Disney does for it's passengers and another way it sets itself apart from other lines. ..besides the fact it's the only cruise line the Coast Guard gives it's okay to for fireworks at sea.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

There are no rules to Pirate Day/Night. It really does come down to how much you want to get into it.
Our cruise to Alaska in May will be our 11th DCL cruise,so we're pretty much over it,usually making Palo reservations that evening.
But we do enjoy seeing all the costumes. Some people go all out,with very professional looking costumes. Other people just wear bandanas and a sash. We've noticed some children liked getting made up early in the day and love looking the way they do so much,they make the concession to not swim that day,just so they can stay in character as long as possible.
The menu is tropical in nature,with titles that are pirate themed. It's my favorite menu, but I think I might be in the minority because I hear a lot of negative comments about it while on the ships. I'm not sure why that is,because it really isn't all that unusual or strange food. It's puzzling to me why it's so unpopular.
The deck party usually starts around 9:45. There's a show on stage,Mickey zip lines between smokestacks and a Captain Jack Sparrow look a like is lowered from the smokestack to the stage and gets into the show. The show eventually goes from show to fireworks. After the fireworks, there's a small pirate themed buffet with the famous WDW smoked turkey legs as the main special item. The food tends to be on the heavy side,which can be a challenge so late at night,but it remains popular. That's it for Pirate night. The kiddos love the deck party,everyone loves seeing Mickey zip line, because,really,how often will you see that, and no one expects to see Captain Jack at the top of a smokestack,so that's a fun surprise.
Overall,it's a nice thing that Disney does for it's passengers and another way it sets itself apart from other lines. ..besides the fact it's the only cruise line the Coast Guard gives it's okay to for fireworks at sea.

What you're describing is the Pirate night show/activities for the Magic class ships. As I noted, currently, cruises on those ships that it's dark enough between the two dinner seatings, DCL has been doing the Pirate show/fireworks around 7:45. Those cruises that it's not dark enough at that time, have the Pirate show/fireworks after the second seating, around 9:45.

On the Dream class ships the Pirate show/activities are different.

 

[MSPeeler]

What you're describing is the Pirate night show/activities for the Magic class ships. As I noted, currently, cruises on those ships that it's dark enough between the two dinner seatings, DCL has been doing the Pirate show/fireworks around 7:45. Those cruises that it's not dark enough at that time, have the Pirate show/fireworks after the second seating, around 9:45.

On the Dream class ships the Pirate show/activities are different.

We will be on the 4-Night Bahamian Dream. My toddler will be asleep by 9:30, I hope I don't have to miss the show!

Thanks for the info

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We will be on the 4-Night Bahamian Dream. My toddler will be asleep by 9:30, I hope I don't have to miss the show!

Thanks for the info

On the Dream class ships, there is a Mickey and gang pirate themed show between the two dinner seatings, around 7:45. Then, after the second dinner seating, around 10:30 is the Buccaneer Blast with fireworks.

 

[Dug720]

I really liked the menu! Especially the rum-soaked chocolate cake!!!!

I wandered into Cabanas after the fireworks on my last DCL cruise and escaped as soon as I could get out of the crush. People were acting like they'd been starved for days rather than having been on a ship where you have to work to find absolutely nothing to eat. Definite skip for me that post-fireworks thing.