Magic Norwegian ffyords

[torres_fan]

Hi everyone,

I’m very new to this so please excuse my ignorance.

We have booked our first cruise going from Dover to Dover for 7 nights going to Norway. I’ve tried looking up things about this trip but there doesn’t seem much information out there.

Myself, husband and will be 5 year old have an inside cabin and my parents who are also coming have a balcony room.

I’ve been reading as much as possible and have a few questions.

My 5 year old loves Mickey and friends and I’ve read there is a character breakfast. I’m worried all reservation will be gone for this as I won’t be able to book until the it opens for everyone. How likely am I to get this?

How do other character meetings work? Do you have to queue for ages like in the parks? Also who will be on the cruise as my little boys also asking about toy story and Spider-Man.

I’m confused in regards to things like pirate nights, formal nights or any other themed nights. Also things like sail away parties? How do you find out about these things and what actually happens?

We are on late seating for dinner. My 4 year old often stays up beyond 8 so not too concerned about him being tired but am I missing the obvious advantages to early dinner?

Also I read for breakfast a member of the party can go down and bring stuff back to the room. Is that your breakfast then gone or are you able to do that and then go again a little later for a proper breakfast?

Excersuions- how do you find out about the ones Disney do? I don’t know if I’m too far out at the moment but can’t seem to find out much information at all.

I’m in the U.K. so when my booking window opens what time am I able to do this on UK time or America?

What currency is used on board? Am I best using my card that doesn’t charge for using abroad if it’s in dollars?

I’m sorry for all the questions just a little overwhelmed and booked this a while ago and read loads and still don’t seem much wiser.

Thank you

 

[Marc D]

1- Character breakfast will most likely still be available online when your booking window opens. If it is not, go to Guests services when you embark. They hold plenty of tickets back to be made available onboard.

2- They indicate a 15 minutes window during which a specific character is available at a specific location. Anyone that shows up during that timeframe will have a chance to meet the character. On European itineraries, lines do not get too long most of the time since a lot of guests are repeat cruisers and often travel with older kids.

3- You get a daily schedule once onboard with all the activities. You will not have a Pirate Night since it does not fit with the theming of your cruise, but rather a Frozen-themed night, including a deck party. Your first sea day will be formal night. As to what happens during specific events, if you want spoilers, look them up on YouTube. There are videos of most activities.

4- Except for the time difference, there is nothing different between both seatings. On late seating, you first go to the show, then do some activities held between both seatings then go to dinner. Guests on the first seating go to the show while you eat. Youth counselors now come pick up kids to bring them to the kids clubs (if you want) at both seatings. Some posters mention late seating is less rushed, and it can probably be if you want to take your time and hang out, but we never found the service speed to be any different and we would feel bad staying there after the meal since your servers must stay there too. At that point, they will have been up and working since 7:30AM and deserve to be let go.

5- Breakfast is available at set times both at the buffet called Cabanas and in a dining room. As long as you show up during opening hours, you can go.

6- You can look up the excurions offered by DCL on this page :

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/europe/

Know that some port adventures are not offered on every sailing. You’ll find out which ones are specifically available once booking becomes available for you.

7- Your booking window opens at midnight Florida time, or Eastern time. It is the same for everybody around the planet.

8- All charges are processed in US dollars.

 

[Geomom]

Take a look at Disneycruiselineblog--Scott has personal navigators, menus, etc, listed on his site.

Here is the link to the personal navigator from the Norwegian cruise from Dover last summer. Hopefully they will be back to offering a 'different' show every night this year...it was unfortunately a test last summer to show the same Disney show 2 nts in a row...which many of us were not happy with.
https://disneycruiselineblog.com/20...gian-fjords-cruise-from-dover-august-26-2018/

As far as food--it is a cruise, and you can get as much food or as often as you would like--so you won't be 'using' up your breakfast by getting some for your kids in the morning! They will ask your room number if you do a sit down meal for breakfast/lunch in the main dining rooms--I think mainly they're trying to track how many different rooms are using that service.

Character breakfast--in Europe it is the VIP characters--Mickey, Minnie, Goofy. They come by the tables very quickly--they have you stay seated and you take pics with them behind your kids. We enjoy it, but it's good to set expectations ahead of time. I don't think you'll have an issue getting it. It will likely be on your days at sea or if you have a late arrival day, that will also be an option.

Characters--They may have some Marvel characters in the kids' clubs if there are Marvel activities. They won't have them out for meet and greets...'because we do Marvel Day at Sea cruises now.' I also don't think I've seen the Pixar characters on the Magic--they've been offered on the Wonder at times. Character meeting times will be listed in the daily personal navigators. You can also pre-book free tickets for the 'Princess gathering' and for the 'Frozen' meet and greet. The rest of the characters you just get in line for--it is nowhere near as bad as the parks. Oh, and I wanted to add that Mickey/Minnie/Donald/Goofy/Daisy/Chip/Dale will be wearing different outfits on different days--so if your kids really like Mickey, they might want pics of him wearing his Scandinavian outfit during the cruise or his Tuxedo on formal/semi formal nights!

As PP said, you won't have a Pirate night--fireworks are not allowed on the Northern cruises--instead they offer a Frozen Deck Party with singing/'snow' for cruises to Alaska, British Isles, Norway/Iceland, and Baltic Sea. There will be a day that will have a bunch of Frozen activities--including a Frozen scavenger hunt where the prize is a chocolate bar. Your stateroom host will leave the scavenger hunt details in your room, and put your prize there once you've left your answers in the room.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[aggiedog]

You'll have a great time! Lots of good answers here, but here's a few more:

You can also get room service for breakfast, to be delivered early, and still go to the dining room later.

I love the late seating for dinner, as that gives you plenty of time in port without having to get back to the ship, change, and get ready for dinner long before the ship leaves. Late seating lets you make the most of port days, have a quick snack when you do get back, and rest or swim a bit before dinner. Or catch a show before dinner, though I'll admit we're less show people than some cruisers.

 

[clareyfairymouse]

Hey,
Fellow UK Disney cruiser here. You will all have a great time!

When you arrive at the port in Dover, you will check in and get given a daily navigator that covers activities for that day. After that, you will get tomorrow's guide delivered to your room the night before so you can plan what you want to do. There is also the Disney cruise line app which works onboard on airplane mode that gives you event times, character locations & the menu for dinner etc so download that before you go.

When you do your online check in for the. Cruise, y will assign a credit card to your room. You don't pay cash for anything onboard, it's all charged to your room key & the card you've assigned. You can pay chunks off at guest relations as you go or the total will come off at the end of the week. You can also check on your total throughout the cruise too.

There will be lots of characters throughout the ship. Here are designated meet locations which will be listed per day with who and at what time. Definitely not as busy as the parks and as the previous posters have said, the characters will change costume as you move location. So they may start off in UK outfits before moving into the more European costumes.

Any queries then ask away

 

[torres_fan]

Oh wow thank you so much for all your replies, this has helped so much.

My parents have been on many cruises but Disney does seem somewhat different.

Sorry another question, in regards to the children’s club my little boy can be a bit shy does he have to go to the kids club on his own or can I stay with him for a little while? Also how do I go about him going to this, do I have to pre book or just turn up?

It’s good to know the app works when you start your cruise as I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get any info up on it.

My little boy loves frozen so the frozen party sounds good. I saw the pirate party people get dressed up do they do this with frozen? Not that my little boy would put on an Elsa dress anyway.

The semi formal and formal nights so formal are they? The cruises my parents have been on Cunard and Celebrity my dad tends to wear a tux and my mum and ball gown is this the same for Disney?

Last question I’m sorry guys but your all so helpful. The dining how exactly does that work. I see on the cruise navigator for last year there’s a frozen dinner night.. which restaurants do you go into and when? It’s 7 nights so not really sure what to expect with rotational dining ...what does this actually mean? Also there are 5 of us and we have requested to sit as just us 5 how likely will that be?

Sorry again for what are probably really obvious questions and thank you so much for all your help too.

 

[Marc D]

1- They hold open house times, during which anyone can go. You can go with him then and get him familiarized with the environment. When not in open house, you can’t go in. You do not need to reserve anything. He can just show up when he wants.

2- People do not dress up for Frozen night.

3- Formal night is less formal on DCL than on other cruise lines, and they do not enforce the dress code. Some people don’t do anything special. Others put on suits and long dresses. A minority have tuxes and gowns. You can basically do what you want and will not be out of place.

4- You get an assigned restaurant every evening. On a 7-nights, you’ll go to each of the three dining rooms twice and an additional time to one of the three. Your dining rotation will be indicated on your key card. You don’t just show up where you want to. Your servers will be the same every evening.

5- You need to call DCL if you wish to request a private table. It is not guaranteed but they try to accommodate every request. You need to make sure both reservations are linked. If they are, all five of you will be at the same table, but you could also share it with 3-5 other guests if you do not call. If you neglect to do so, you could also change it once onboard but, obviously, it will be harder to find you a private table.

 

[Geomom]

Kids clubs: When you do your online check-in (first cruise that would be at 75 days before your cruise), you can register your son for the oceaneer's club and lab. The next step has changed a bit...I believe that when you check-in at the port now, they will put an 'oceaneer' band on your son...it used to be you had to go to a different location at port or do it once you're on the ship. The oceaneer band is a 'magicband' with an RFID chip that allows the kids' club staff to know where your son is IN the kids club--there are multiple rooms for the kids clubs--so if you were to go pick him up, they'd know where to find him! It only works in the clubs though! All the kids' clubs are in 'open house' mode before 6PM the first night, after that there are occasional open house times--they'll be listed in the navigator.

Frozen party--pretty much only a few girls will wear Elsa/Anna dresses--so no need to bring anything for it!

Formal/semi formal--on DCL it is optional. You will feel most comfortable being at least slightly dressed up--a cocktail dress/skirt/slacks for the women and at least a buttoned up shirt/khakis for the guys. DH had a sportcoat he wore on formal night, I wore a long fancy dress. For semi formal night, DH just had the buttoned up shirt and khakis and I had a summery dress on. For cruise casual nights there will be lots of people in jeans/t-shirts--especially after long port days. Do not feel like you need a tuxedo and ball gown! (But if your parents would like to wear them, they can! There will be people in all ranges of clothing!)

 

[kiford]

I think mainly they're trying to track how many different rooms are using that service.

They're also tracking allergies. The chit that gets printed out notes that there are food allergies so that it's not forgotten because you won't have your regular dinner servers who would know about it.

How do other character meetings work? Do you have to queue for ages like in the parks? Also who will be on the cruise as my little boys also asking about toy story and Spider-Man.

As PP has stated, there are set times but there are also random character appearances both around the ship and in the kid's clubs. It's not always possible to know in advance which characters will be there. Typically there will be Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Chip & Dale, Pluto, Daisy and some princesses. Quite often there is Captain Hook and Mr. Smee (it is a ship after all). I've also seen Alice, Cap'n Jack Sparrow, Stitch. At various times, I've seen Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, Tiana, Jasmine. On our Baltic cruise there was Anna and Elsa, and Christophe. I'm sure there have been others too. They may also be dressed in different outfits. I've seen Mickey in traditional Greek clothing, Minnie & Mickey in traditional peasant Italian clothes, Goofy in a flamenco outfit and a sailor's outfit, etc. - it's often complementary to the location or type of cruise (e.g., Christmas). Spider-Man isn't a Disney property so you won't see him (there is a joint agreement to use the character in movies but while it's a Marvel character, it's not independently owned by Disney).

 

[Dug720]

Also with the characters, they know how many people they can reasonably see during the time a character is out. Once they reach that number in line or the time is up, they will station a CM at the end of the line to let people know that. If another character is coming out (say Mickey is out first, then Donald), the CM will say "The line for Mickey is closed. This starts the line for Donald."

Depending on the character, the line can close out early. The last DCL cruise I was on, the line for Captain Jack was closed to capacity before he even arrived from the Black Pearl. So if it's a popular character with limited appearances, you'll want to be sure to line up early.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Just to chime in on your question about the kids clubs. They will hold "open house" times in the kids clubs so parents can accompany their children in the clubs and participate in activities. Open house times are the only times parents and other adults can be in the clubs. When the clubs are not in "open house", the kids clubs are secured and only children can go inside unless you have given your password and you are there to pick up your child. At that point, they will tell you exactly which room your child is in in the club because their magic bands will be able to indicate where they are inside the club.

 

[torres_fan]

Wow these threads move so quickly. Thank you all so much for the helpful information. I’m sure I will have so many more questions to ask along the way.

The cruise says it departs at 4pm does anyone have any idea being last to be able to check in due to being our first cruise what time we will likely be able to embark?

Just wondering if we drive down that day or get a hotel in Dover the night before?

Thanks again everyone for all your help.

 

[Marc D]

The cruise says it departs at 4pm does anyone have any idea being last to be able to check in due to being our first cruise what time we will likely be able to embark?

When you check-in online, you pick a Port Arrival Time, not an embarkation time. They distribute PATs to help stagger guests in the first few hours after the terminal opens. Guests can start checking-in at 10:30 (sometimes 11) and board around 11:30 (sometimes 12). They call people by the boarding group numbers distributed when guests checked-in at the terminal. By 12:30, all groups have been called and they move to open boarding. By then, you’ll be able to walk on the ship at your leisure.

To summarize, in the worst case scenario, if you show up at 12:30, you’ll be onboard by 1PM.

 

[torres_fan]

Thank you Marc D. That’s really helpful. I think we will go down the night before so we are able to spend as much time on the ship as we are able.

Again thank you to everyone on that’s helped me. I have no doubt I will have many more questions. Thank you