Scheduling a Disney Cruise Character Call Before Your Trip

Are you looking for ways to surprise your kids with a Disney cruise call from a character? Or maybe you just want to get your family super excited about your upcoming trip.

Either way, if you have a cruise booked with Disney Cruise Line, you definitely need to take advantage of the Disney cruise character phone call to announce you trip. This call from one of your favorite Disney characters (including Mickey) is completely free for guests who have booked a cruise.

Yes, it’s free!!

In this post, I will walk you through the simple steps of scheduling a character phone call from Disney Cruise Line. You can also view my videos of actual character call recordings so you know exactly what to expect during your own character phone calls!

What is a Disney cruise character call?

If you have a reservation with Disney Cruise Line, you are able to receive two complimentary phone calls from select Disney characters. During these calls, the character you choose talks about how excited he or she is to see you on your upcoming Disney cruise.

Depending on the character message you choose to receive, the character may also talk about your ship’s specific itinerary (ex. “Caribbean cruise”). These phone calls work for cruises on every one of the Disney cruise ships, including the Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Disney Wonder, Disney Magic, Disney Wish, and Disney Treasure.

The Disney cruise character call is a great (and free) feature for DCL guests! You can also use the phone call to surprise your kids with their favorite characters for your upcoming trip!

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Even if you don’t use the phone call to surprise your kids about your Disney Cruise Line vacation, these complimentary character calls are a great feature to use to get everyone extra excited for embarkation day.

How to Schedule the Disney Cruise Phone Call

When you are ready to schedule your character phone call, you just need to log in to your Disney Cruise Line online account. After you book your cruise, visit the My Reservations area where you’ll see the place to request your character call.

If you don’t immediately see your reservation information, click on “Already Booked” in the menu. This will pull up your cruise information and itinerary.

If you scroll all the way down, you will see a section called “Add More Magic.” One of the options under this heading is scheduling your character call. This link takes you to a page where you can choose the characters who will call you.

Normally, you would have three choices: a call from Captain Mickey, Goofy or Captain Mickey featuring Minnie Mouse. If you are cruising on a Very Merrytime cruise, you can see the special option of a holiday message from Minnie and Mickey.

It’s important to note that even though you may have three options for character calls, you are still only permitted to receive two phone calls from the beloved Disney characters.

Videos of What the Disney Cruise Character Calls Say

For our Very Merrytime cruise, my daughter chose to first receive the holiday phone call from Mickey and Minnie. On this call, you are first asked to press 1 to start the message.

Then Mickey and Minnie have a conversation about giving gifts around the holiday season. They talk about how you were “gifted” a cruise, and then they discuss some of the fun activities offered on the Disney cruise ship.

We used our second phone call to receive a message from Goofy. In this message, Goofy talks about how he’s so excited for your cruise around the Caribbean. He then does a clumsy little dance before wrapping up the phone call.

Both character messages are super cute and result in lots of excitement from those listening!

Character Call Not Working

I wanted to mention this in case someone is running into the same problem. Depending on where you reside, you may not be able to schedule an actual date and time for the Disney cruise character call.

The state where I live does not permit Disney Cruise Line to call me. If this is true of your state as well, DCL will give YOU a phone number to call instead.

You can call the special number and type in your specified code whenever you’re ready for the call to take place.

In addition, make sure you use the code that DCL sent you in your character call email confirmation. After filling out the information to receive the character call, the Disney Cruise Line website may take you to a page with a different confirmation code.

This code did NOT work for either of my calls, though. Instead, I had to use the code that was provided in the confirmation email DCL sent.

Character Meet and Greet Onboard

​As mentioned above, scheduling a Disney cruise character call is a great way to prepare for your upcoming vacation. In addition to these recorded character experiences, the Disney Cruise Line ships also offer plenty of character meet and greets during your trip.

You can check the Disney Cruise Line Navigator App or your daily personal navigator onboard the ship to determine the times and locations to meet characters on your Disney ship. (Note that if you do not receive a copy of the personal navigator in your stateroom, you can grab a paper copy at the guest services desk.)

Some of the places you’ll find character greetings or sightings on your cruise include the dining rooms, deck parties (like pirate night), live shows, and the atrium. Additionally, characters are available to meet on Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.

If you’re sailing on a special themed cruise, you’ll find characters dressed in unique outfits for Christmas, Halloween, etc. You may also experience additional character meet and greet opportunities if your sailing celebrates Marvel Day or Star Wars Day.

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The best part about meeting characters on a Disney cruise is that the lines are much shorter than those you would find at the Walt Disney World Resort. Other than the first night of the cruise, which often sees the longest character lines, you shouldn’t have to spend a ton of time in line waiting to enjoy your favorite Disney pal.

For an additional fee, you can also add-on character experiences like a character breakfast. Also, if you are sailing in a Concierge level stateroom, you’ll find one of the concierge perks is a special meet and greet with a Disney character. This is a super special experience that allows you to have extra time with a Disney friend.

For more information on characters, we highly recommend checking out our blog post on the best places to meet Disney characters on the ships.

Final Thoughts on Disney Cruise Character Calls

Overall, scheduling a Disney cruise character call is a really great way to get pumped for your upcoming Disney Cruise Line vacation. It’s fun to hear the characters talk about their excitement to see you and your family onboard the ship.

I find that Goofy’s message, in particular, is good for this. He clearly talks about going on a cruise, and he’s pretty to the point when he speaks. No matter which character call from Disney Cruise Line that you choose to schedule, we hope you have a magical cruise vacation!

I find that Goofy’s message, in particular, is good for this. He clearly talks about going on a cruise, and he’s pretty to the point when he speaks. Here are some additional ways to prepare for your upcoming cruise!