Ahoy, Megan!
Thanks for cruising on over to planDisney as you prepare to set sail on the
Disney Fantasy! The Fantasy was the first ship I ever sailed on and is where I fell in love with Disney Cruise Line vacations. I’m sure you’re excited to experience everything the ship has to offer! We just returned from our most recent family vacation on the
Disney Dream, and one of the highlights was meeting so many of our Disney character friends at sea.
Megan, each night you'll be able to enjoy Disney's
rotational dining experience for dinner. Even though it's technically not a character dining experience, my family's favorite restaurant on both the Dream and the Fantasy is
Animator's Palate, as Crush and other friends from Finding Nemo visit the dining room via animated screens that magically come to life. While you currently won’t find character dining on the Disney Fantasy other than the
Royal Court Royal Tea Party, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to collect those character hugs, autographs, and photos during your trip.
If you haven’t already, you'll want to download the
Disney Cruise Line Navigator App. During your cruise, you'll be able to view all the activities available at sea, including character greetings, by using the app. In fact, you can easily filter to see what characters are meeting each day by scrolling to the right on the top menu and selecting "Characters." The app will also allow you to "favorite" those activities and meetings that you don't want to miss, and, if you have push notifications enabled, you'll receive friendly reminders 15 minutes before each activity. While characters are subject to change, we were able to meet a lot of our favorite friends during our time on the ship, including Captain Mickey, Captain Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and many, many more! If your cruise includes stops at
Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point and/or
Disney Castaway Cay, you'll also find characters meeting on the islands. Just like on the ship, those schedules can be found in the app.
If your daughter is a Disney Princess fan, you can also check availability for the
Royal Gathering as well. This is a free event where you can expect to meet several princesses, but it does require a reservation. Once your Onboard Activities booking window opens, you should be able to see when the Royal Gathering will be offered during your cruise. This event does not follow the typical Onboard Activity booking schedule, though, and usually opens 30 days before sailing for ALL Guests. Reservations for this event are very popular, and I would suggest being ready to book when they open at 12:00 AM ET for the best chance of securing your spot.
Megan, while I know this may not be the answer you were looking for, I'm hopeful that this information will help you and your daughter meet many characters during your vacation! If you have any other questions, please stop by to see us again at planDisney!
SEA ya real soon!
Kristi