There are a lot of things I love about Disney Cruise Line, from the excellent food to the fun shows to the unique theming. One thing I’ve really enjoyed on Disney Cruise Line is how easy it is to meet characters. I only sometimes meet characters at the theme parks because, for the most part, we’re not willing to wait long enough or plan ahead enough for most characters. But, on a Disney Cruise, it’s often so easy to meet most characters that we tend to do a lot more of it. Here are 5 tips for how to easily meet lots of characters on Disney Cruise Line!
Check the Navigator
All the events for each day of your cruise are shown on the daily Navigator, which you can grab at your ship’s Guest Services desk – including characters, where they’ll meet, and how long they’ll be there. This allows you to plan all the activities for your day, and plan out which characters you’d like to meet.
Use the Navigator App
All of the schedule information that you’ll find in the paper Navigator is available in the free Disney Cruise Line Navigator app, which anyone can use at no extra cost with the ship’s WiFi. An extra perk of using the app to plan out which characters you’d like to meet is that you can bookmark character meets, and then view your own schedule of bookmarked activities. The app will also send you a notification reminder when an event you’ve bookmarked is about to start.
Make Reservations
There are a few character meets that require reservations in order to participate – for instance, a Princess Gathering meet with 3 Disney Princesses. Special seasonal events such as Star Wars Day at Sea and Marvel Day at Sea also offer advance reservations for some characters. Reservations for these can be made online ahead of time, or there may be some limited availability after you board the ship. These reserved meets only make up a small portion of the characters available to meet on board, so if you don’t get a reservation, there will still be lots of opportunities – but if you’d like to meet any of the characters that offer reservations, it’s best to make them as soon as possible.
Arrive Early
Waits for most characters typically aren’t overly long, but characters are only out for a limited amount of time, and guests are quick to line up once the character is out and meeting guests. The best way to cut down on any additional wait time is to arrive 10-15 minutes before they start meeting, and you’ll often be one of the first few people to meet them once they appear.
Costume Changes
You’ll see many of the same characters listed multiple times throughout the cruise, especially Mickey and friends, but one of our favorite things is that they all wear different costumes for different nights! You’ll see them in formal wear on formal night, in their pirate gear on pirate night, and in a variety of other costumes to reflect the destinations you’re visiting, or other events going on during your cruise. Keep checking back for photos with your favorites in different outfits.