I am both a detailed planner and someone who loves to do ALL the things on a Disney cruise! So if you’re looking for an intricate breakdown of the happenings on a Disney cruise Marvel Day at Sea, I’m you’re girl.
We sailed on a 5-night Disney Magic Western Caribbean cruise that featured a Marvel Day at Sea. On our Marvel Day, I was out and about from 8AM till after midnight. I met nearly every character, saw every extra show, and ate so much food. And I can’t wait to tell you all about it! I’ve reviewed the Disney Magic as a whole, too.
Jump to a section if there’s one aspect you want to learn more about:
- Marvel characters onboard
- Mickey and the gang
- Exclusive performances
- Marvel-themed activities
- Food
- Photo opportunities
Does Marvel Take Over the Whole Ship?
Our cruise turned into a MDAS sailing after I’d already booked the cruise, but I was not disappointed. Doing all of Disney’s themed cruises is on my bucket list! Marvel Day was scheduled for our first day at sea (our second day onboard). This might seem anticlimactic, but I was happy to be able to do these special things right away while I still had my energy.
I was a little disappointed when we later got an email stating that there would be no pirate night on the cruise. This had never been the case on a Marvel Day at Sea sailing before! However, after seeing all of the entertainment for the week, I can’t be mad about it. Those performers work hard, and they deserved one night off from putting on costumes and sweating their butts off for hours for us!
Since there was no pirate night, you might be wondering if the WHOLE cruise completely revolved around Marvel characters and theming. While I personally wouldn’t have minded, I can assure you that it does not.
The exclusive Marvel-themed shows and activities are strictly limited to MDAS, as was the Marvel dinner menu. Marvel characters did appear on other days of the cruise, but they were not walking around everywhere like they were on the MDAS. But a special Marvel Day at Sea backdrop in the atrium did stay up the entire cruise, so families could be sure to get photos in front of it!
Theme-specific merchandise was lackluster to say the least. I couldn’t find a magnet or ornament. My son and I each got overpriced t-shirts with basic Marvel Day at Sea designs, and that was it. They do have some fun Marvel toys for kids, though, like foam Captain’s shields and Spider-bots.
Marvel Characters
I’m going to be honest with you here: there were not as many Marvel characters on this cruise as I’d expected. There were a lot, don’t get me wrong, but there were so many that were left out. And many were only found in the deck shows – they weren’t available for meet-and-greets. Black Widow and Scarlet Witch were noticeable ones for me, as I definitely would’ve prioritized meeting either of them if I’d had the chance.
Reserved Meet-and-Greets
There used to be three different Marvel character meet-and-greets you could reserve ahead of a Marvel cruise, but this year that was reduced to two. The one called Heroic Encounters: Asgard was not available anymore. (But don’t worry, the characters still had many regular meet-and-greet times!)
The other two Heroic Encounters, HQ and Guardians, had time slots that could be reserved at midnight 30 days before the day of the sailing. It’s the same time the Royal Gathering is released – so you need to prioritize!
Heroic Encounters: HQ
HQ was our very first activity of the day after breakfast at Cabanas. I was extremely excited about this one, which is why I reserved such an early time slot. It is the one and ONLY time I have ever gotten to meet Iron Man! And he talked to us for quite a while – it was so cool!
Iron Man was actually the third and final hero we met at HQ. We met Spider-Man first (he saw my shirt and asked me if I’d bitten any children; I told him the day was still young).
The second hero was Black Panther, who was very calm and respectful, just as he is in the movies!
To be clear, these were three separate, back-to-back photo opportunities that could ONLY be obtained by reserving a time slot in advance. While Black Panther did have several other meeting times by himself that day, this was the ONLY opportunity to meet Spidey and Tony Stark. But please note that as with all cruise things, specific characters are never guaranteed; you are simply guaranteed to meet some heroes with this reservation!
We were not in the very first time slot so there was a small wait, but it moves quickly for each character. Within 15 minutes, we had met three heroes already! I found this reservation to be most worth the effort to secure it.
Heroic Encounters: Guardians
I scheduled HQ for 8:30 and Guardians for 9:00AM, and we had plenty of time to get from D Lounge to Animator’s Palate. In fact, we waited outside the restaurant for about 10 minutes before they’d let us in!
This meet and greet is different in a couple of ways. First, there is only one photo opportunity – you won’t be going between multiple Guardians of the Galaxy for solo photo ops.
Secondly, there’s no guarantee of who you’re actually going to see. It might be one Guardian, but it’s often two. And while Groot is usually there, even he sometimes needs a break. The other Guardian usually rotates between Star Lord and Gamora.
And don’t tell Star Lord this, but I was secretly relieved to see Gamora when it was our turn!
I even told Gamora this, and we bonded over how annoying Star Lord can sometimes be. But of ALL my Marvel meets this day, my absolute favorite was Groot. Without any expectations from me, he randomly reached out for a hug! I got to hug a tree man!! It was amazing.
We also saw both Star Lord and Gamora on the deck 4 atrium balcony at around 8:00PM. We were waiting in line for family photos when we heard “I Can’t Stop This Feeling” playing through the speakers… and I KNEW they were about to show up! They took photos with a few guests while they were up there.
Characters on the Schedule
I said it earlier, but I was a little underwhelmed by the “regular” Marvel character schedule in the Navigator app. These were the ones actually listed for meeting:
- Thor – 3 opportunities
- Loki – 2 opportunities
- Black Panther – 3 opportunities
- Captain America (Steve Rogers) – 2 opportunities
- Captain America (Sam Wilson) – only once
- Captain Marvel (long hair) – 2 opportunities
And… yeah, that was it. I’m sure you’re already naming off characters that SHOULD be on that list, right? I was too. The fact that other characters were in shows but not on the schedule really rubbed me the wrong way, too. Oh well. I chose to prioritize eating a good breakfast before meeting any characters, so I did not make it to Sam Wilson’s singular 8:00AM meet-and-greet.
Captain Marvel
We headed to Fathoms right after we met Gamora and Groot, as I assumed Steve Rogers’ line would be pretty long. To my surprise, they were still allowing people into Captain Marvel’s 9:00AM queue, so we went ahead and met her first!
Captain America
After that, we did get right back in line, as Cap’n was meeting in the same space. We were first in line for his 9:45AM meet! He loved the kids’ shields.
Loki and Thor
All we had left at that point was Thor and Loki, who happened to have back-to-back meets near Preludes at 10:00AM and 10:30AM. So we went ahead and knocked those out too. My husband and I met Loki first while my daughter went to Edge (she came back and met him by herself at his second meeting).
We had to tell him who Nightcrawler was (from my husband’s shirt). He commented on how all the heroes seemed to only wear red and blue. I mean… he’s not wrong. But guys, doesn’t this Loki look INCREDIBLE?
In no time at all Thor was in his place, and we’d collected both of our kids to meet him with us. He was excellent. Like… y’all, I think I was really talking to Thor. He LOVED Lily’s shirt, which I made to have a chibi-style Mighty Thor (Jane Foster) on it. But this poor man was literally pouring buckets of sweat out from under that metal helmet. Bless these cast members.
Randomly Spotted Characters (“Rare” Meets)
Despite what I’d seen in some vlogs from previous Marvel cruises, we did not encounter a lot of heroes or villains in the hallways. And we were out and about all day.
I heard that Black Widow and Hawkeye made extraordinarily brief appearances around the ship. And we ourselves spotted Doctor Strange walking around deck 4 – but he was on the move, and we weren’t able to get a picture. I don’t even know if any of these characters stopped for photos with anyone.
Oddly enough, the only one we randomly ran into was Loki! We decided not to hog him since we’d already met him, though.
Show-Only Appearances
There were MANY special shows on Marvel Day, and different heroes were at every single one. I’ll talk about the shows more later, but I’ll tell you the characters we saw at each here.
Avengers Training Initiative
This show was held on the pool deck at two different times before lunch. A group of heroes teach the kids how to be Avengers! We saw:
- Captain America (Sam Wilson)
- Black Widow
- Hawkeye
- Kate Bishop (from the Hawkeye series)
Warriors of Wakanda
This short show only had one warrior, Okoye, the General from Wakanda.
Star-Spangled Musical Revue
You won’t recognize the main performers of this show, but Captain America makes a special appearance at the end! He also meets guests for a little while after it ends, and this is not on the Navigator schedule.
Heroes Unite
The final deck show of the night features ALL the heroes that can be spotted on the ship – and a villain, too! Here’s who we saw, in order of appearance:
- Iron Man
- Hawkeye
- Captain America (Sam Wilson)
- Black Widow
- Loki
- Thor
- Red Skull
- Black Panther
- Okoye
- Spider-Man
- Captain Marvel
- Doctor Strange
- Star Lord
- Gamora
- Groot
Mickey Mouse and Friends
If you’re worried you won’t see Mickey and the gang on Marvel Day, oh, there’s no need for that! They’re easy to see – and if you’re in the right place at the right time, you’ll get surprise appearances. (I’ll tell you how to find them!)
The one place you’ll for sure see them is at Mickey and Minnie’s Super Hero Celebration, an evening deck show where the whole gang gets together to teach you fun super hero moves. They’re not dressed AS Marvel characters, but as Marvel hero fans:
- Mickey Mouse honors Captain America
- Minnie Mouse honors Spider-Gwen
- Donald Duck honors The Hulk
- Daisy Duck honors Black Widow
- Goofy honors Iron Man
- Chip and Dale honor Thor and Loki
- Pluto wears an Avengers neckerchief
That said, they do not have scheduled meet-and-greets on the app during Marvel Day. The lone exception was a single 9:00PM (yes, evening time) meet with Mickey Mouse in his Captain America t-shirt. And you’d better believe I caught that one!
However… If you would like a shot (not a guarantee) at getting photos with the rest in their Marvel outfits, I HIGHLY recommend you choose to attend the Marvel Costume Celebration. It was at 4:30PM on our sailing. And you’ll probably need to pick which pair is your favorite (the Mouses, the Ducks, the brothers, or the doggies).
That’s all I’ll say about that.
There’s a small chance you could catch the characters meeting on other days in their Marvel-inspired outfits. We did spot Daisy and Minnie at scheduled times in their Spider-Gwen and Black Widow outfits! But I’d say at most it was only one scheduled meet, if that, for each character.
Character Shows and Entertainment
The evening deck shows aren’t the only ones on Marvel Day at Sea! We caught every single one that was offered, and I have to say, they were pretty great. If you scroll to the end of this section (just past Heroes Unite), you’ll find a video playlist full of snippets for each and every show. I even have a full 30 minutes of uninterrupted footage from Heroes Unite at the end!
Avengers Training Initiative
This is a very cute show where some of the heroes recruit kids from the ship, teach them how to use hero weapons, and ask them to save the day! I can’t tell you if there’s a strict age cutoff, but my 11-year-old daughter was allowed to participate and she was probably one of the oldest kids there.
Kids are split into two groups on either side of the pool deck stage. When facing the screen, the left side was given Captain America’s shield (foam ones like they have in the gift shop). The right side was given bows and arrows (soft tipped) like Hawkeye and Kate. I personally thought the latter was the cooler choice, and that happened to be where my kids ended up.
When the time comes, the kids are brought up in groups of four or five to “attack” with their weapons. Please note that they do NOT get to keep their weapons. We brought our own Captain shields from Disney World anyway, but they were also selling them in the ship’s gift shops! The whole show is about 15 minutes.
Warriors of Wakanda
Oddly enough, the most underwhelming of the “extra” shows was the only one with three showtimes! Perhaps the first one was more exciting, I don’t know, but we went to the second one and it left something to be desired.
While I’d wished there were more “warriors” in the show to warrant the plural title, Okoye was FANTASTIC. She talks to the kids in the atrium about what it means to be a Wakanda warrior and teaches them some words and moves. It’s fun, but it could be SO much more. Fortunately, the whole thing is only about 10 minutes.
The video playlist below includes just the first few minutes where Okoye introduces herself and discusses what traits a Wakanda warrior must have. Afterward, she teaches the kids moves!
Star-Spangled Musical Revue
Other than the Heroes Unite deck show, this was my most anticipated event. IT DELIVERED! I love musicals, Broadway, big band music, and 1940s propaganda (kidding), so this was right up my alley. The performers were absolutely phenomenal, singers and dancers alike!
This show only happens once before dinner, and I highly recommend making sure it fits your schedule. Ours was at 2:00PM in Fathoms, and there were still plenty of seats left when it started, which honestly shocked me. I suspect word has not spread about how truly amazing this performance is. There is another performance at 6:00PM, but if you have early dining you’ll miss it.
A “married” couple perform various songs that were popular in the WWII era for lifting spirits and motivating troops. And yes, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” is included! Huge props to the three background dancers, too, because there was nothing background about them. They were nailing their choreography with full enthusiasm the entire time.
Near the end of the show, the dancers come down and pull people from the audience to dance with them. My son didn’t want to go, so a dancer took my daughter up instead and taught her the Charleston! After she sat down… another dancer asked her back up to dance! She had a blast and it was a great memory.
And of course, Captain America came out at the end to provide the ultimate inspiration. The video playlist below includes several clips including my favorite songs, Lily with the dancers, and the finale with Captain!
Mickey and Minnie’s Super Hero Celebration
This is the little-kid-friendly deck show that happens between dinner seatings, at 7:30PM. Mickey and the gang come out one by one, talking about what they think makes someone a hero. Each character has a signature “super” move they teach the kids, and then they’re all put together at the end for a fun little dance.
I’ve included several clips of all the characters in the video playlist below!
Heroes Unite
This 10:15PM deck show was the star of the night, and not to be missed if you can help it! Especially without a Pirate Night, as this will be your only chance to watch the fireworks at sea.
Before the show starts, a news anchor is reporting live on deck! If you want your shot at being interviewed on the big screen, take your spot on deck 10, starboard side, and look out for the news camera and a lady in glasses with a microphone.
Epic music plays and dancers shake their booties to amp everyone up before Iron Man comes onstage. Throughout the storyline, more and more heroes – and villains – show up, and chaos ensues! A mix of right-in-front-of-you battle choreography is paired with obviously prerecorded fight scenes broadcast on the big screen. There are some loud bangs and pyrotechnics.
Cheesy? Yes. Still cool? Most definitely! It is very, very full of action, with cool entrances from Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Captain Marvel in particular. They did such a great job, in fact, that my 8-year-old son needed repeated assurances that we were not actually in any danger!
Our show had a small hiccup when Black Panther “jumped” down from the funnel – and his line didn’t have quite enough slack. The poor kitty was clawing at the air for a bit till he made it safely to the deck.
After the fireworks and the conclusion of the conflict, the Guardians of the Galaxy finally show up to kick off the dance party portion of the evening, with other heroes demonstrating slick moves as well. But we’d been at it all day, so our booties danced their way to bed instead of joining in!
Please forgive my video. It is the FULL 30-minute show, but my son needed to tell me something about every 20 seconds, so I was constantly bending down to hear him.
Marvel-Themed Activities
While you don’t have to worry about the Marvel theme taking over your entire cruise, it absolutely takes over this entire day. Every single scheduled All-Ages activity until dinner is Marvel-related. Here were some of the offerings:
- Jack Jack’s Diaper Dash is rethemed to Little Hero Dash
- Marvel movies all day in Walt Disney Theatre
- Marvel movies all day in Buena Vista Theatre
- Disney Channel Marvel cartoons all day on the pool deck
- How to draw Groot, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man
- Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor crafts
- General, movie, TV, and comics versions of Marvel Trivia
- Marvel Super Fan Face Off
Once dinnertime hits, though, there are some adult activities in the After Hours area that don’t have anything to do with Marvel. After Heroes Unite, we went to Keys and enjoyed some Whitney Houston and Ozzy Osbourne on the piano.
Marvel Costume Celebration
While I enjoy Marvel movies, I am not an ultra-fan and had no interest in most of the day’s activities that weren’t performances. But we did attend the Marvel Costume Celebration, where guests who choose to dress up get to show off on the atrium stage!
There are so many people who dress up, they are broken down into groups based on both age and hero/villain category, then those groups are brought up one at a time and everyone is given the chance to speak if they wish.
We saw tons of different Spideys, had rather unexpected appearances from Frozone, Dr. Doom, and Wolverine, and even had THREE fat Thors! I was surprised there weren’t more Loki variants, but we did have an elderly female Loki, and that made my day.
Of course, my favorite part was the “surprise” appearance by Mickey and the gang at the very end! That alone was worth the time spent. The whole thing lasted about 30 minutes.
Dinner Menu
I was pretty excited about the Marvel dinner, as I knew this was a menu I would probably never have again! I ordered more than I normally would as a result, because I wanted to try everything that sounded good.
Drinks
Multiverse Cocktail
Ilegal Reposado Mezcal, Blueberry, Grapefruit, and Electricpops
I ordered the Multiverse, and it was very good. I didn’t really notice any “Electricpops” (Pop Rocks), though. But the flavor was great and reminded me of a mild margarita.
Wakanda Forever (Non-Alcoholic)
Strawberry, Banana, Caramel, Coke Zero, Salt
We promised Hugo he could try the Wakanda Forever at dinner after he ordered a zero-proof bourbon drink at the Musical Revue that was decidedly not for his tastebuds. I did NOT read the part where it said it comes in a “Pym-sized vessel” and thus was not prepared for the size of his drink.
Wakanda Tasting Lab
Starr Rum & Yrs | Vusa Vodka | Bayab Gin
Rum Mocha
illy Cold Brew | Bacardi | Bottega Nero | Kahlua
Creme Brulee Martini
Grey Goose | Baileys | Disaronna Amaretto | Caramel | Cream
Quantum Core (Non-Alcoholic)
Vanilla Ice Cream | Mango | Pineapple | Pop Rocks
Appetizers
Black Widow
- Sliced smoked salmon
- Cream of porcini mushroom soup
I take any opportunity to have a bit of caviar, but the smoked salmon as a whole is very good.
Black Panther
- Kachumbari salad
- Wakandan piri piri
Iron Man
- Californian strawberry and walnut salad
- Chilled Californian avocado soup
Captain America
- Crispy fried Maryland crab cake
- Farmhouse appetizer
I’m a sucker for charcuterie – I love meat and cheese! My daughter enjoyed the cheese on this platter, and my son loves berries. I do not like celery, but it was more than tolerable with the chutney.
Bread
The bread service was a marbled bread with red pepper dip. It is identical to the one served at Worlds of Marvel on Wish-class ships, and is one of my favorites across all DCL restaurants! My niece licked the dip bowl clean.
Entrees
Thor
- Roasted Scandinavian cod fillet
- Roasted breast of chicken
- Mjolnir meatballs and pasta
Hawkeye
- Grilled grain-fed sirloin steak
- Baked buttermilk corn-fed chicken
- Roasted pork tenderloin “Huntsman”
Scarlet Witch
- Gingered soba noodles
- Ricotta gnocchi
- Oven-baked filet of salmon
Incredible Hulk
- Rosemary roasted beef tenderloin
- Dr. Banner’s greens and lobster salad
Josh and I both ended up going for items from Hulk’s section of the menu! His beef tenderloin was perfect, and the celeriac mash wasn’t bad at all. It was also one of the dishes our server, Tahn, specifically recommended for the evening.
For the salad, the greens and avocado were perfectly fresh and the dressing was on point. I was just a little disappointed at the amount of lobster meat present, which was very little. But I had ordered enough appetizers (and desserts) that I did NOT go hungry.
Desserts
Collector’s Warm Apple Crisp
Served with vanilla ice cream and sugar shard.
Josh was in heaven with all the apple crisps and strudels on this cruise. He said this one was excellent.
Bounty Hunter
Pastry treasure chest filled with raspberry and custard, hidden under fresh raspberries and topped with a key lime dome.
The custard on this dessert has a very, very mild flavor, but the raspberries give it a lovely punch.
Ravagers’ Devil’s Food Cake
Layers of chocolate cake, filled with chocolate chantilly creme.
This was the highlight of my meal (after the Farmhouse appetizer). The chocolate was so rich and wonderful!
Awesome Mixed Sundae
Rocky road ice cream, red velvet meteors, and molten chocolate sauce.
“Southern Nights” (Signature)
Vanilla cheesecake on a pecan nut custard base and salted caramel sauce.
Flora Colossus Sapling (No Sugar Added)
Olive oil and pistachio brownie with chocolate soil and strawberry creme.
Photo Opportunities
We went to a couple of different photo ops in the atrium, one before dinner, and one after dinner. They are both special experiences, and while it is nice that the photographers spend so much time with each family, the lines move slowly. Get there early.
Captain America’s Shield
The first opportunity on the port side was with Captain America’s shield – truly, a big metal shield that is the real deal! While there weren’t many families ahead of us, it took eons to get to the front because these weren’t meant to be family shoots. The photographer was taking one person at a time, with multiple poses per person!
I was not particularly interested in having my own photo made with the shield, and I really wanted a family photo before dinner. Time was running out since the line was moving slower than I expected. I wasn’t sure I’d get photos after dinner with two deck shows that night. So I simply asked the photographer if we could make them family photos instead, and he happily made it work! Of course, he still took many, many shots and got some of just the kids with the shield.
Fantastic Four Magic Shots
We did manage to get back to the atrium after the deck show with Mickey and friends, and the line for Fantastic Four shots was not long, so we hopped in.
I must confess, I did not realize we were in line for Magic Shots. I thought we’d be taking the usual “Scenic Backdrop” photos based on the backdrop there! But I didn’t mind one bit, since I still got a traditional family photo. The kids also got a photo with H.E.R.B.I.E. while my husband and I took turns getting a photo with Thing.
Overall Thoughts
I truly had a blast on our Marvel Day at Sea. Would I do it again? Maybe… if there were more, or at least different, Marvel characters to meet. So many huge names were left out! Heroes Unite show has obviously not been updated since Age of Ultron, and that is likely why so many heroes and villains are not featured. But that was so long ago, there’s a lot they could do to bring it up to speed.
And I had hoped there would be more meet-and-greets to choose from. I’d rather have to narrow down my schedule choices than meet characters I’m not as enthusiastic about.
The extra shows and entertainment alone are worth trying to book this special themed cruise at least once, though. The special dinner menu was good, but nothing to put it over any other MDR menu.
Also, and I realize this is controversial… I would have liked to see the Marvel theme spread out across the entire cruise. I would not mind one bit to see Marvel characters meeting every single day (or at least both sea days), or to have more opportunities to watch the extra shows. Trying to do all the things in a single day, while mostly doable based on how it was scheduled, was exhausting.
Heck, what about having a deck show one night and a Walt Disney Theatre Broadway-style stage show on another? That would be a HUGE selling point! It would also take away the sting of no longer offering Pirate Night on this cruise.
As it stands, a Marvel Day at Sea cruise is a great choice whether or not you are a Marvel fan. If you are, there is a lot to be enjoyed. If you’re not… well, it’s just one day, and that makes it a great day for PALO and the spa.
Before You Go…
I’ve also written about the Disney Wish cruise ship! Check out a sample of the articles about it below:
- Complete Disney Wish review
- Characters found on the Wish
- Olaf’s Royal Picnic (yes, we scored it on our first-ever Disney cruise!)
- Halloween on the High Seas on the Wish
