Upcharge Character Breakfast

[bcwife76]

I'm thinking there will be a character breakfast on our next cruise and I'm looking forward to it and think our girls will love it. But if we had to pay for it then no, we would not be doing it. If we can see the same characters all over the ship then the only difference would be the meal and I'm sure it's the same breakfast food we'd be eating in the buffet anyway.

 

[dclpluto]

I'm thinking there will be a character breakfast on our next cruise and I'm looking forward to it and think our girls will love it. But if we had to pay for it then no, we would not be doing it. If we can see the same characters all over the ship then the only difference would be the meal and I'm sure it's the same breakfast food we'd be eating in the buffet anyway.

The food in the buffet is actually better and you get to pick what you want

 

[bumbershoot]

...and my kids don't always know how to interact with them at character meals in the park so it's usually autograph, pose, smile, picture, Winnie moves on.

Terrific point. That was our situation as well. Amazing interactions are few and far between, and never at meals.

Not to mention we would go to a meal in order to be fed, but ds rarely ate at them because of the characters! It was so frustrating.

Now if they had Jack Sparrow...he has consistently had THE best interaction with my son. Ds met him twice at DL and once or twice on Castaway, and he is fabulous.

Funny how some of us have our little lines in the sand about how it could work for us. But nah, since Sparrow has been great without paying extra, we're good.

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

The same way I pay extra for the convenience of having characters come to my table in the Parks I would pay extra for the convenience of the characters came to my table on the ship, how is it really different?

 

[dclpluto]

The same way I pay extra for the convenience of having characters come to my table in the Parks I would pay extra for the convenience of the characters came to my table on the ship, how is it really different?

You already get the character breakfast included with your cruise on most 7 night or longer cruises. Except for Europe cruises which I heard here. Why would you want to pay for it?

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

That's an excellent point, but for less than 7 night sailings it would be worth it.

 

[cgolf]

I would love to see this happen so I am putting it out there into the universe and hoping The Powers That Be read it.

I think there should be an improved/upscale character breakfast/brunch option. It would be ticketed with staggered dining times, top characters (actually the Pooh characters would be awesome but I'll take the Fab 5), the characters come to your table along with a photographer, but they have more than 10 seconds to interact - not asking for them to sit down and hang out for the meal but like 1-2 minutes. The food would be buffet, but better than Cabana's breakfast buffet. Similar to Crystal Palace, and reserved in advance like Palo.

An upcharge similar to Palo would be reasonable and necessary - $15 for kids, $25 for adults?

I think on cruises with sea days this is possible and would be a money maker for DCL. They have the restaurant space and the characters are on board. My family would love to have a special brunch and get most of our character pictures taken care of in one fell swoop without having to wait in line for them.

This would be completely different from the current character breakfasts which are rushed, limited menu, jr. characters, etc.

If this is something you would pay an upcharge for, please chime in! Or if you have ideas for improvement, please feel free to share.

This sounds like it used to be on the classics before the Dream class arrived, we have some nice pictures from back then

 

[Bella29]

I am definitely getting the point that my opinion is in the minority! I just want to clarify as I apparently didn't explain it well.... it would be way better food than what is offered now for breakfast on the ships, more options, similar to Palo (though not the same food or fancy atmosphere) but for families.

The last time I did a character breakfast on DCL it was Mickey's Island Jam many years ago. We got great pictures but it was quite rushed (both the character visit and the dining service itself - because they had to get through every single party on the ship in the limited # of sea days) and the food was not great. I haven't been to one recently but I thought they were not the main Disney characters, and I am assuming the food has not improved since then either. I am talking about a really special experience as far as theming, characters, and food.

Alright back to your previously scheduled naysaying and skepticism!

 

[Bella29]

You might have money coming out of your butt, but I do not. I don't want to pay a up charge for a character breakfast. If they did have a up charge they will get rid of the regular character breakfast. If you have so much money. You can get a character for 400 dollars for 30 minutes I believe the price is.

So going on a Disney cruise is fine, but the mere idea of a $25 meal elicits this level of hostility and rudeness? Please feel free to just ignore the post instead!

 

[Bella29]

I've been told my upcoming cruise on the Magic will not have a character breakfast. I'm very disappointed by this and might have been willing to pay to go to a special one if mimosas were included for me.

YES! Mimosas must be included! Or Pomosas, I like those even better.

 

[jhoannam]

NO, this trip is already costing more than we normally spend.

 

[tommysb1]

So i am confused . Do they have character breakfasts, or not? Are they only offered on the 7+ nighters? I don't agree on an up charge since the cruises cost plenty enough as it is and you get to see characters throughout the ship.

 

[JJsmama]

If they start adding more and more ticketed events (even free) and upcharge events to the cruise, it is really going to lose something for us and we will probably just stop cruising and go back to WDW. I dont like the idea of having to get on line for tickets upon embarkation, etc. Yes, i remember the character breakfast on the Magic and our server just handed us tickets one night for the next day. It was a fun interaction but the menu was very limited I remember. The purpose of the cruise to me is that it is included and easy. If it stops being that, i will stop paying for it. If i am going to plan, rush, get in line and pay up charges, i would rather have all of WDW to choose from.

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

So i am confused . Do they have character breakfasts, or not? Are they only offered on the 7+ nighters? I don't agree on an up charge since the cruises cost plenty enough as it is and you get to see characters throughout the ship.

From what I understand cruises that are seven days or more, except for European cruises, do have character breakfasts.
I pay to be in the parks, and there are characters in the parks, but I pay extra to have meals where the characters come straight to my table instead of standing in line for them.
This is kind of the same idea, they are there (on the ship) but for convenience sake you pay a little extra for them to come to you instead of standing in line to see them.

 

[SonicGuy]

So going on a Disney cruise is fine, but the mere idea of a $25 meal elicits this level of hostility and rudeness? Please feel free to just ignore the post instead!

People go for the jugular on here rather quickly. Its not you. Don't feel bad.

 

[wombat_5606]

But if it's a family of five, you're suggesting that $125 is fine with you, for breakfast, to see some ordinary people in costume that you can already see in other areas of the ship?

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

If it is worth it to you, the convenience, then absolutely.
( exactly the same as paying way too much money to eat at one of the restaurants for the Disney characters come through in the parks for the convenience of having them come to your table even though they are already at the park in a line)

If it isn't worth it to you then don't book it.

I'm just saying I agree with OP that it should be an option .

 

[Bella29]

But if it's a family of five, you're suggesting that $125 is fine with you, for breakfast, to see some ordinary people in costume that you can already see in other areas of the ship?

I'm saying I would like to have the option of a nicer breakfast with a special character meet/photo opportunity. Very similar to the character meals in the park, or the concept of Palo, or the many many upcharge meal options offered on other cruise lines.

$125 would be for 5 adults, children would be less. I took the pricing from the existing, Disney Parks character breakfasts. Apparently enough people find them worthwhile (or just have money to burn, to politely paraphrase a previous poster) that they are usually booked up. But the price is irrelevant if you think I am talking about "some ordinary people in costume".

Clearly you (and several others) are not into the idea, that's totally ok. I was actually soliciting input from people who are interested in the idea. But it's a free message board, so I guess others can disdain my idea all you want. It doesn't bother me if you want to spend your time doing that. I guess some people have time to burn too.

 

[sharksfinatic17]

So i am confused . Do they have character breakfasts, or not? Are they only offered on the 7+ nighters? I don't agree on an up charge since the cruises cost plenty enough as it is and you get to see characters throughout the ship.

In the past there had to be three sea days for there to be a character breakfast on board. And it was only done on the Magic and Wonder. Not sure if that has changed.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

In the past there had to be three sea days for there to be a character breakfast on board. And it was only done on the Magic and Wonder. Not sure if that has changed.

It has. Those cruises that have a character breakfast no longer have the character breakfast assigned to everyone, based on their dinner seating. That was the reason for 3 sea days - to have time for 6 different seating for breakfast.

Now the character breakfast is a ticketed even (on those cruises that have one). It's still apparently only on 7 night and longer cruises, but it seems the 3 sea day minimum is no longer required. Typically, I believe, there's only one character breakfast, occasionally a second one, if there are enough people who get tickets to the first to fill it up.