Princess Gathering AND Royal Court Tea?

[smiths02]

Are both necessary? We are doing the Royal Court Tea, and yes, I realize it is a very expensive addition. I'm just wondering if we can skip the Princess Gathering (albeit the Gathering is free)? Would we just be meeting the same princesses again? (The only tickets we could get for the gathering are the day before the tea).
(We are sailing on the Disney Dream, if that makes a difference).

And why is there a Frozen and Princess Gathering Day 2 (CC), Day 3 (Nassau), but not Day 4 (CC)?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

They're really different insofar as photo opportunities go, so I would consider that. If you get the photo package, the photos at the Princess Gathering with individual princesses will be included, and better. Even taking your own, it will be easier to frame up photos with your child and an individual princess.

At the Royal Court Tea, save for initial presentation to Lady Chamomile, and departure photo with the princesses in front of the RCT backdrop you're on your own for pictures, and it can be quite chaotic in terms of the background, movement, other girls at table, kids wandering about, etc. There is less control than at the Gathering.

On our sailing, there were 4 princesses at the Gathering, but only 3 (+Lady Chamomile and Chef Brûlée) at tea.

 

[xQuizx]

As Aurora stated there were only 3 princesses at the tea compared to 4 at the gathering.

I've been able to schedule the princess gathering and frozen gathering back to back, and yes the gatherings are ticketed free events.

You also get through the gatherings rather quickly.

You will get opportunities to do some 1 on 1 time during the tea and take individual pictures with the princesses.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

As Aurora stated there were only 3 princesses at the tea compared to 4 at the gathering.

I've been able to schedule the princess gathering and frozen gathering back to back, and yes the gatherings are ticketed free events.

You also get through the gatherings rather quickly.

You will get opportunities to do some 1 on 1 time during the tea and take individual pictures with the princesses.

Can anyone who has done both on the same cruise verify that they are the "same" princesses? In addition to a photo op, you do get a minute or two to talk to each one, so during the gathering, your kids might say something like, "See you at the Tea tomorrow!" which could be great when they remember them the next day, or awkward if the Princesses have "forgotten seeing you and your kids the day before. As long as it is the "same" princess, they might even start a little conversation about some topic or other and then continue talking about it the next day, which your kids might get a real kick out of.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Can anyone who has done both on the same cruise verify that they are the "same" princesses?

Yes. Given the limitations of a cruise staff, they aren't bringing surplus of any given face character. We had a pretty distinctive Belle.

 

[SonyaShay]

Can anyone who has done both on the same cruise verify that they are the "same" princesses? In addition to a photo op, you do get a minute or two to talk to each one, so during the gathering, your kids might say something like, "See you at the Tea tomorrow!" which could be great when they remember them the next day, or awkward if the Princesses have "forgotten seeing you and your kids the day before. As long as it is the "same" princess, they might even start a little conversation about some topic or other and then continue talking about it the next day, which your kids might get a real kick out of.

On our Fantasy cruise in 2015 we had booked the tea for my daughter (7) and niece (8). The tea was on day 6 of the cruise and we had already met the Princesses MANY times. On the morning of day 5 we were hanging out in the Atrium as the Princess Gathering was ending and managed to catch each Princess as she was leaving for impromptu photos and selfies.

The girls struck up a conversation with Tiana and mentioned going to the tea the next day. She went on and on about how wonderful her tea was and how it was going to be so much fun with them there. She then started asking if everyone was going to be wearing dresses so the girls started getting excited about their wardrobe. When I told her I wasn't sure if I was going to wear a dress or not she informed me that it was a very formal event and I should dress the part and told my sister that she needed to make sure I was in a dress. When she came around to our table during the tea she made me stand to make sure I had dressed up and was so happy to see me in a dress that she hugged me.

And for clarity- they wouldn't turn you away if you weren't dressed nice. Our table mates showed up late and obviously came straight from the pool with wet hair and wearing swimsuit cover-ups.

 

[hanscarlet]

Both aren't necessary but we went to both because we found we got better pics and more time at the Princess Gathering. At tea it's kind of like the Character breakfast where there are a number of tables they have to visit and therefore try and not spend too much time at any one table. The princess gathering goes really fast so it's not a big disruption to the trip imo. However if you're on a CC day I would find it a bit annoying to give up CC for just the princess gathering, especially if you are investing in Royal Tea. If I was you I'd skip the gathering only because it's a CC day. You're going on a rare double dip cruise, typically that's a sea for most Dream cruisers and that's why the gatherings are on that day. If it was a sea day then I'd say to go to both.

 

[hcox31]

We did both in January. The same princesses were at the tea (minus 1, there was 4 at the gathering). Same CM playing the princesses. They remembered my daughter.

 

[darnheather]

Do both. At the tea the princesses are focused on the children. At the gathering you will also get a chance to talk and pose with them.

 

[tlprice]

Both times we've done the tea, we've also done the princess gathering. My daughter really loved that the princesses remembered her. It just made it all that much more special.

 

[smiths02]

Sounds like we should do both. We have the Frozen one scheduled right after the princesses. It's just starting to feel busy like a WDW vacation instead of a cruise. Oh well.

 

[Trera]

We have done both numerous times and would recommend both as the experiences if you can make the time.

 

[darnheather]

Sounds like we should do both. We have the Frozen one scheduled right after the princesses. It's just starting to feel busy like a WDW vacation instead of a cruise. Oh well.

There will be times that you feel busy. But there will be so much time relaxing. It's really so much better for my family.