Show times and dinner, first time on a disney cruise HELP!

[DisneyLover2122]

Hi everyone it is our first time in a Disney Cruise and we dont want to miss anything we have a 2 and a half year old daughter and she is obssesed with Mickey and Minnie!

That being said, we have 2nd seating dinner, which is around 8:30 i believe, now, i dont want to miss any shows/deck parties with the characters , fireworks, i want her to enjoy it all, is this possible with a second seating dinner? Does anyone have exact times for the shows and parties so i can start planning accordingly? Also, tips for being first timers on a disney cruise? We will be leaving in 2 weeks!! Thank you so much for your help!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Congrats on your upcoming first Disney Cruise!

One thing that might help you a bit is that there is no way humanly possible to 'do it all' so find the best things that work for your family and enjoy those!

What itinerary are you going on?

Some of the fun things to do that involve Mickey and Minnie are the Sail Away party on your departure date, Character Meet 'n Greets and the Pirate Show has Mickey in it.

As your daughter is 2 1/2 I don't believe she is old enough to be left in the Oceaneer's Club although there may be times when you choose to attend the Open House with her where characters are involved. I remember being in one Puzzle session with my DD when she was 4 and during that time Mickey, Minnie and Goofy came out at different times.

We may be on the same sailing as you depending on your itinterary!

 

[DisneyLover2122]

Hi thanks for your reply! We will be going on a 4 night cruise to the bahamas (castaway).

 

[Dug720]

Hi everyone it is our first time in a Disney Cruise and we dont want to miss anything we have a 2 and a half year old daughter and she is obssesed with Mickey and Minnie!

That being said, we have 2nd seating dinner, which is around 8:30 i believe, now, i dont want to miss any shows/deck parties with the characters , fireworks, i want her to enjoy it all, is this possible with a second seating dinner? Does anyone have exact times for the shows and parties so i can start planning accordingly? Also, tips for being first timers on a disney cruise? We will be leaving in 2 weeks!! Thank you so much for your help!

First of all, get in your head that you simply CANNOT do everything. It's just not possible! I was on a TWELVE NIGHT cruise this past summer and didn't get to do everything! And even on a 7-night to Cuba on fathom where we did have sea days and a lot of on-ship time, I had to make choices.

Ok. That's covered. The shows are timed so that late dinner sees the first show and early dinner sees the second show. If you go to your assigned dining time, you WILL have a show to go to. (It only gets sticky if you do Cabanas or Palo or Remy one night at a not-your-regular time.) Pirate Night, the more kid-friendly Mickey-based show is on deck between the two seatings - again, no problem. The second more POTC-based show (the one followed by fireworks) is at about 10 - never had a problem making it as the servers pretty much know everyone wants to see the show.

There is a Sail Away party on deck (weather pending...it gets moved to the atrium if necessary) when you sail away.

Princess Gathering and Anna and Elsa Meet & Greet are ticketed events - you need to see if there are tickets available in your cruise planner if you want those. If they are sold out, there is a *chance* there may be some held back at Guest Services, but you'd need to check as soon as you board. The other characters have random greeting times and places which will be listed in each day's Navigator.

Other than that... Any information you need will be in the Navigator as well.

Just remember that you WON'T be able to see and do it all. Make sure to take time to RELAX and BREATHE and ENJOY! (There is nothing worse than hearing someone talk about how "awful" a cruise was and when they explain it's because they tried to do everything and didn't take time to relax and enjoy it.)

 

[ALCooper3]

One thing I would say your daughter will want to do is go to the Princess Meet and Greet. You can sign up for a time during online check in if any are still available. If not try going to guest services for a ticket. The event is free, but you have to sign up for it. Meeting the pricesses was a favorite activity for our daughter. If you want to participate in all the night time activities, you might try to find time for an early afternoon nap. Our daughter was so exhausted from our day on Pirate night that we ended up missing fireworks because she was ready for bed.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

The princess Meet and Greet is nice also because you wait in one line (at the time your tickets are for, yes there is still a line but not very long), and you get to meet four or five princesses, one at a time, and have pictures with each. So it is a lot of bang for your waiting. Each Princess does such a great job of interacting with each group, even though they have a hundred of these to do. And the pictures are great.

 

[Pens Fan]

If you look here http://disneycruiselineblog.com/personal-navigators/ you will see lists of Personal Navigators for various itineraries. Click on the ship you are sailing on and see if you can find a recent Navigator for your itinerary. If you click on each day's navigator you will see show times, character meet and greets, dining times, etc. It's not a guarantee of what you will see on your cruise but it should be pretty close, especially dining and show times. They rarely change for a particular itinerary.

And I second what everyone else has said. Relax and enjoy your cruise. You can't do it all but it won't matter - you will still have a blast and it's just a great excuse to take another one (and another, and another..........).

 

[Beth06015]

Very helpful thread! I've been wondering this myself as I think the later dinner seating works better for our family (we prefer up late eat late) but we don't want to miss any of pirate night!!!

 

[Quellman]

While you are having dinner the second stage show will be going on. While the first dinner is happening, you will be able to enjoy the stage show. There will be time to see the Pirates shows as well. The stage show with Mickey and the fireworks. Be sure to check the onboard schedule for times!