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Cruising During COVID: Characters

Credit: PaulaK

My family and I just returned from a seven night cruise on the Disney Fantasy. The trip was not work related and we weren’t sponsored by Disney, this was a family vacation. I thought I’d share some of our experiences with you, so that you can make your own decision on whether or not a Disney Cruise is right for you during these strange times.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Before You Board

Characters are one of my favorite parts of cruising with Disney Cruise Line. Even though there were no children in our party, the characters bring out the kid in all of us.

Credit: PaulaK

There were a lot of characters on our cruise. I lost track of how many times we saw Mickey and all of the different outfits that he wore.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Safety Onboard

The characters were often seen on Level Four above the atrium, on the stairs by the Minnie statue, and on the upper decks. General character times were listed in the Navigator App, but the specific characters weren’t usually mentioned.

Credit: PaulaK

To get a picture, you would stand on the large dot that was placed in front of the characters. In the indoor locations there was usually a Shutters photographer on hand to snap a few pictures. He or she was not allowed to take pictures with your camera or phone.

Credit: PaulaK

Since the ship wasn’t crowded, there was plenty of interaction with the characters in most spots. We played Hide and Seek with Stitch. We had a long conversation with Peter Pan, as my husband tried unsuccessfully to explain to him what baseball is.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Dining

There was rarely a line for the characters. There were several times each day when we would see a character with no line at all. There was a lot of joking in character with the Crew Members when there was no line.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Entertainment

If the pictures were indoors, face coverings needed to stay on. The Navigator App said that was at the discretion of the photographer, but with omicron numbers so high no one wanted to take a chance. If the characters were outdoors, face coverings were not required, but we still needed to stay socially distant.

Credit: PaulaK

There were a couple of dance parties that were held with the Fab Five characters (plus Daisy) up on Deck 11. Parties stood together on a dot, and the characters came out and danced on the stage. These were fun, and not crowded at all.

Related: Cruising During COVID: Ports of Call

Related: Cruising During COVID: Star Wars Day at Sea

Related: Cruising During COVID: The End of the Cruise

The characters on our cruise exceeded our expectations. Even though we could not get a hug or an autograph, we still enjoyed each meeting. It was nice to not have to wait in line or hurry through a greeting.

About PaulaK

I grew up in Western Massachusetts. When I was nine my family went to Disneyland and I was hooked. I grew up, attended New England College in Henniker, NH and eventually moved to Virginia. I worked as a disc jockey, married and became a full time mom when our daughter was born. Fast forward several years. In 2010 we moved to Central Florida and my Disney obsession grew. I now work as a freelance writer and spend my spare time in the parks. Under the name Paula Brown I penned the novels Dream Wanderers and The Coffee Cruiser. I also am a co-author of Dining at Walt Disney World: The Definitive Guide. I'm obsessed with Star Wars, so this is a good time to live in Central Florida. I've been a vegetarian for well over a decade, a choice that my daughter eventually made as well. While my husband still hasn't joined us fully he has given up most meats except for seafood. I was relieved to find that vegetarian dining is not difficult at Walt Disney World.