Are the no character meets and greets a big downside for you?

[Cheburashka]

EG is supposed to be the nice, relaxed restaurant!

Yes, I really hope that the characters loudly invading the quiet MDRs is a trend that goes away after Meet & Greets return. I like to have dinner in peace.

 

[Ikaikalani]

Yes, I really hope that the characters loudly invading the quiet MDRs is a trend that goes away after Meet & Greets return. I like to have dinner in peace.

I hope you had a good time on your cruise!! Looking at videos, it seems the character dining room visits were very short. Is this true or just editing? I'm with you, I prefer a music free dinner so I hope they're just a minute or two

 

[Kwami]

I hope you had a good time on your cruise!! Looking at videos, it seems the character dining room visits were very short. Is this true or just editing? I'm with you, I prefer a music free dinner so I hope they're just a minute or two

When you're off to the side and you can't see the show, or have a good conversation over the very loud music, or get your food delivered, it feels like forever. But it's just a few minutes, of course.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

I don't really care about the character meet and greets. It's always annoying because we feel obliged to bring the kids and wait in line, and invariably everyone hates waiting in line. I'd rather wave at them as they walk around and call it a day.

 

[tri-ingTheBigSky]

DW still lights up like a giddy preschooler over Cinderella, but we don’t like the wait in line, hug, quick word, photo set up of the traditional M&G. I know a lot of kids do, though, so I hope they come back for those families. Plus, having the traditional method back is a sign in my mind that things are more fully “healed.”

For us, we’ll continue to get our character fix at WDW dining and the random, organic, meets that occur on the ships.

 

[HiStitch626]

It's not a huge issue, but we are booked for an MDAS cruise and I do hope the Marvel characters will be out and about, especially the Ravagers.

 

[Cheburashka]

I hope you had a good time on your cruise!! Looking at videos, it seems the character dining room visits were very short. Is this true or just editing? I'm with you, I prefer a music free dinner so I hope they're just a minute or two

It's less than 5 minutes.

 

[KashasMom]

To me an essential part of a Disney cruise is the awesome character meet and greets and the awesome outfits they have on the ships it wasn’t as hectic as disney world at all and it was one of the best highlights of the cruise is to take photos with all of the amazing Disney characters…

Is this holding you guys back at all - do you think they’ll return?

Yes, it's a disappointment for us. We travel with small kids who love the characters. The photos I've seen recently of character interactions don't look like much fun and...there's no way to know if you're even going to see any characters.

 

[Kwami]

Yes, it's a disappointment for us. We travel with small kids who love the characters. The photos I've seen recently of character interactions don't look like much fun and...there's no way to know if you're even going to see any characters.

Oh, you'll see the characters. You're forced to see Micky and Minnie when you board. After that, there are always princesses in the atrium on the way to dinner. Characters pop up in the movie theater throughout the day so that you can visit them. They also come to visit you during crafts, trivia games, and the like. The green army men can be seen marching up on deck. Etc. You'd have to try pretty hard not to see characters. Many of the appearances are noted in the daily activities in the app, too.

 

[Ikaikalani]

Oh, you'll see the characters. You're forced to see Micky and Minnie when you board. After that, there are always princesses in the atrium on the way to dinner. Characters pop up in the movie theater throughout the day so that you can visit them. They also come to visit you during crafts, trivia games, and the like. The green army men can be seen marching up on deck. Etc. You'd have to try pretty hard not to see characters. Many of the appearances are noted in the daily activities in the app, too.

If the characters pop up in the movie theater throughout the day, does this mean there are no movies during the day??

 

[Kwami]

If the characters pop up in the movie theater throughout the day, does this mean there are no movies during the day??

There are movies. The characters are between movies.

 

[Ikaikalani]

There are movies. The characters are between movies.

Thanks, good to hear.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yes, it's a disappointment for us. We travel with small kids who love the characters. The photos I've seen recently of character interactions don't look like much fun and...there's no way to know if you're even going to see any characters.

You can check in the app and it tells you the time and location of scheduled character meet and greets. The spontaneous/unscheduled ones are in addition to that.

 

[KashasMom]

Oh, you'll see the characters. You're forced to see Micky and Minnie when you board. After that, there are always princesses in the atrium on the way to dinner. Characters pop up in the movie theater throughout the day so that you can visit them. They also come to visit you during crafts, trivia games, and the like. The green army men can be seen marching up on deck. Etc. You'd have to try pretty hard not to see characters. Many of the appearances are noted in the daily activities in the app, too.

That's good to know. We've never seen Mickey and Minnie when we boarded.

 

[KashasMom]

You can check in the app and it tells you the time and location of scheduled character meet and greets. The spontaneous/unscheduled ones are in addition to that.

I thought there weren't any meet and greets happening now?

 

[Kwami]

I thought there weren't any meet and greets happening now?

There are. You just can't get too close to the characters. They'll wave to you and talk to you and pose for you and you can take photos with them. You just can't get close enough to touch them or hug them and they won't sign anything.

 

[Karin1984]

I thought there weren't any meet and greets happening now?

They call them 'appear and waive', which is a stupid name. Character sightings or something would be better.
Mickey and Minnie greeting you on board replaces the Sail Away party.

I would suggest watching the videos of Adam Hattan's staycation cruise. The friend he cruises with, Gary C, loves characters and half their time was spend meeting characters. They talked beignets with Tiana, joked with Goofy about eating at Palo, it happened several times during the cruise that they run into Donald (Gary's favourite), while Gary is wearing a Mickey t-shirt. Which almost turned into a running gag.

A picture rarily shows good interaction, especially when it's a standard posed picture. With a posed picture, you never know what happened before or after. Better look for videos.

 

[KashasMom]

They call them 'appear and waive', which is a stupid name. Character sightings or something would be better.
Mickey and Minnie greeting you on board replaces the Sail Away party.

I would suggest watching the videos of Adam Hattan's staycation cruise. The friend he cruises with, Gary C, loves characters and half their time was spend meeting characters. They talked beignets with Tiana, joked with Goofy about eating at Palo, it happened several times during the cruise that they run into Donald (Gary's favourite), while Gary is wearing a Mickey t-shirt. Which almost turned into a running gag.

A picture rarily shows good interaction, especially when it's a standard posed picture. With a posed picture, you never know what happened before or after. Better look for videos.

Oh, didn't realize there wasn't a sail away party either. I'll look for the videos, thanks.

 

[Fruto76]

We have sailed twice since August and are heading out on the Magic on 11/8. I actually prefer the current character interactions over the pre-covid. There is never a line, they are still fun and engaging- eager to pose for a quick pic and there is no awkward conversation. Quick but meaningful. I do wish there was a way to get autographs - especially for the little ones.

 

[mevelandry]

We do not have kids so this obviously plays a role in what we are looking for in a cruise (and possibly one of the reasons why we can branch out easily). I love the characters, I just don’t feel that comfortable interacting with them. So it’s not really a criteria for us when it comes to chosing a cruise. (However, I love seeing them making appearances here and there. Seeing Goofy sleep walking on the pool deck is one of my favorite memories.)

Yes, I think they’ll return at some point in 2022.