Welcome aboard, Judy! Your grandson is one lucky little guy to be able to set sail on a magical Disney cruise with his grandparents. The two of you are in for a lot of fun as well!
Late dining is wonderful on Disney Cruise Line. You won't miss a thing because there are always at least two performance of the show each evening, one around 6:15 for those who have late dining and a second show around 8:30 for those who ate during Main dining. Some nights, there will be a matinee performance earlier in the afternoon as well.
On
Pirate Night, plan to wear your pirate best to dinner, where you'll be served a pirate-themed menu by your swashbuckling servers who will be wearing their scallywag best that night too. Each guest will receive a Pirates IN the Caribbean bandana to wear, but I promise that you'll see many guests who go way beyond that, wearing whole costumes! If you'd like to bring your own from home, go ahead! Of course, there will be lots of pirate gear for sale on the ship as well.
On the Disney Fantasy, pirate events will be going on all day in the Youth Clubs and D Lounge, and around 7:30 or 7:45 there will be pirate games starting up on Decks 11 and 12. However, the Pirate Buccaneer Blast Fireworks don't begin until 10:30, with fireworks at sea and Club Pirate dance party time after that. If you think your grandson might not make it that late, you can always opt to dine early in Cabanas for dinner that night and head off to the early pirate games if you'd prefer. Feel it out that day and see how he's doing. A good nap in the late afternoon always helps my kiddos get ready for even more fun on the high seas late at night during our cruises, Judy.
I hope that helps as you continue to plan. I'm happy to help with any other questions you might have, so please feel free to stop back!