Disney Character Meet and Greets on board the Disney Cruise ships !

Character Meet and Greets!

You can meet a TON of characters onboard Disney Cruise ships. 

Depending on what is important to you during your cruise will depend on how to handle Character Meet & Greet strategies. 

If you need to meet them all, that is fine! On the Navigator APP there will be a daily list of where to meet characters. The APP also provides the location of characters. 

Arrive at the desired location/character 25 min prior to scheduled time. This will help guarantee first spot. The character lines will get closed off by certain number of guests or at a certain time so character will be done by the end of the blocked time. They are usually only available for 15 minute intervals.  When arriving for a character queue and you can't quite figure out the character location, watch for the cast members setting up the queue. The cast members will tape off queue lines and have the photographer come out to check lighting. Ask the cast member which character is about to come out. They are usually very helpful with this. 

Once you complete the desired character queue, immediately head to your next destination. Keep this pattern. You will eventually lose that first spot due to the nature of the lines and character interactions but should still be able to complete MANY character meet & greets. 

If you have family members with you, this is where you can really strategize by sending one family member to another destination as a sport saver in queue. Doing this, the one family member will miss out on watching the child and character interact but it again always depends on each family's preference on what is important to you. 

Mark which characters are most important to meet. 

Many characters are available later in evening, if your child can stay up this late, this is best time to meet them without much wait time. 

The FAB FIVE characters will have different outfits for different days; pirate night, Sail party outfits and beach ware! Makes for fun change ups if meeting multi times during the cruise. 

Some characters are only available if pre-booked via Cruise onboard activities. These can include the Princess Gathering, Frozen characters and Star War Characters during Star War days at sea. You will not be able to meet these characters without the reservation. If you happen to miss it when onboard activities open, go to DECK 5 for excursions to see if any available tickets come up once you board. 

When meeting for these character experiences, your reservation will show under the Navigator APP. You will need your stateroom card to check in. You only need to arrive for your designated time 5 minutes prior. 

If you want a just take a relaxed approach to meeting characters, that is definitely an option!

We chose that this past time. We did get our special ticketed M&G and did meet a couple of characters that were scheduled but mainly we did it when trying to kill time before another planned activity. 

You can meet many characters just walking around the boat. If you want to see them, just stop and see them. One thing to make sure to NOTE, the roaming characters won't always stop. Majority of the time they will pose with a few guests but then they will head on to desired destination. This also means, they may not meet your child which can sometimes cause some hurt feelings if the child doesn't know or understand how it works. 

The not so common characters have limited schedules/availability. If those rare characters are important to you, make sure to hit the first ones you see with the proper line preparation technique. 

Get those autograph books ready as well! Majority of characters will sign your books. Bring some sharpie markers. Make special photobooks to use for autograph books! Lots of options! 

The more creative the more impressed the characters seem to be when signing! 

Where special character shirts for your Meet and Greets! The characters tend to also love to interact with involved guests! 

TIPS:

For kids hesitant to meet characters either due to being shy or 'too grown', ask them to just wait in line with you so you can meet them. Generally this will take the pressure off the child in meeting them. If they want to join you for the picture when time, bonus and if not.. oh well.. you can still get an autograph. Majority of the time my little anxious ones would end up being happy and joining in for the picture!