Advice please - realistic shipboard credit for 7 day

[LiserAnn]

Y'all are so great with information, I'm hoping someone can offer some advice. We've never cruised Disney before and we're doing the Mexican Riviera on 7/30/05 (7 days). I'm trying to figure out how much money we'll need for our on board credit.

Few assumptions: 1) we're a family of four me, DH, DS3 and DS7, 2) we're only doing two excursions and we've already PAID for those (they're non-DCL excursions) and 3) we're not big drinkers (maybe a specialty drink here and there). Keeping in mind the above assumptions, we're planning on putting $900 onto on shipboard credit...does that sounds like enough, for your experience?

Thanks in advance!!

Lisa

 

[disneylover5]

9 of us...one excursion each ....5 golfers.....4 swim with the dolphins.

We do not drink...but we do love disney pins. Our bill was $3,000 including tips.

Lisa

 

[DisneyLovingMama]

On our 7-day, we spent way more than we expected. We spent about $1500. It was DH, DD(4) and me. We didn't drink hard alcohol, but did do quite a few non-alcoholic drinks - the BBCs did me in. Our biggest expense was the Spa - we both got suckered into buying extra spa products. Next biggest expense was souvenirs for friends, family and DD. If you don't plan on spending in these areas, your $900 budget seems to be in the ballpark.

Have fun!

 

[1princessesmom]

We did a 7 night Eastern cruise last month. Me, DH, 4 yo DD and 2 yo DS. My husband played golf in St. Thomas. He had some drinks with our friends. Our bill was $987........and we could have EASILY spent more!!!!

 

[aprilgail2]

2 people, me and my 4 year old daughter on the 7 day...no Disney excursions except the banana boat and that was like 10 bucks I think......I spent around 1200 on the ship.
On the 4 Day Wonder with 3 people we spent just under 1,000 and that was with one DIsney excursion.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I honestly cannot remember what our bill was on any of our three 7-day cruises. Maybe it's better that way.

 

[mommasita]

On three 7nighters we have managed to spend (or I have... ) between 1100-1600$ This is with tips for a family of four.

Every time we vow we will not buy so many pictures...blah blah.. It is just almost impossible to resist this shiny colorful disney pictures with your children in them... My husband takes his own, but these are really addictive things.... For me anyway....

Now I think I will go and look at some....

 

[oybolshoi]

7-night Western in October, just me and the DH....

we spent about $2,000 - a couple of shore excursions, lots of time in the spa, one very expensive bottle of champagne, some tasty dining at Palo along with some generous tipping, pictures at Shutters, waaaaay more alcohol in a week than we usually drink in a couple of months, souveniers, and a $500 deposit to cover the reservation for our next cruise!!

Spendy, that's what we are (can't wait to do it again!).

I'd suggest budgeting more than you would typically think you'd spend just to be on the safe side. It's awfully easy to let the dollars get away from you when all you have to do is give a CM your room card.

BTW - I saw that someone else mentioned tips. We set aside cash for our tips in advaance and then added to them as we thought merited; we did not charge tips to the room.

 

[Belle1997]

Ok reading these posts put me into kind of a shock. It will be my DH and Me. We do not drink and plan not to do the Spa. We will already have our tips saved in envelops. So what would bring the cost up so high. We are planning on do Nassua not the tours just shopping and the casino though on a budget. So nothing expensive on the excursions. And if we get the pictures it will be a small package. So what am i missing. I thought @400.00 would be safe. Am i wrong. Please let me know what I am missing. Thanks for your help.

 

[LiserAnn]

Ok reading these posts put me into kind of a shock.

Me too! I think everyone has different spending habits...we're doing the REAS and that will be our only spa visit and we're not into tons of souveniers...of course, it does sound like it's easy to go crazy since you're dealing in with a KTTW card vs actual cash in hand. Based on what a few people said it sounds like I'm in the ballpark for our 7 day...I might bump it up to $1000. I have to say, I so APPRECIATE everyone's input. You guys are great!

 

[tvguy]

$1100 for 4 (2 adults, a 12 and 16 year old) on a 7 day. $800 of that was excursions, $125 for wine and 2 $18 bottles of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider for the kids (it's $2 at home!!), the rest was various junk...but no tips, add $250 for that which we paid in cash, not on the credit card.

 

[oybolshoi]

Ok reading these posts put me into kind of a shock. It will be my DH and Me. We do not drink and plan not to do the Spa. We will already have our tips saved in envelops. So what would bring the cost up so high. We are planning on do Nassua not the tours just shopping and the casino though on a budget. So nothing expensive on the excursions. And if we get the pictures it will be a small package. So what am i missing. I thought @400.00 would be safe. Am i wrong. Please let me know what I am missing. Thanks for your help.

Well, for one thing it sounds as though you are going to be on a 3 or 4 night cruise rather than a 7 night, is that correct? I can't speak for anyone else but those extra days on board ship, especially at sea, can offer a world of temptation.

Shore excursions can add up quickly - for the two of us to parasail at Castaway Cay it was $150. Add another $90 for an excursion we took in Cozumel and you begin to see how easy it is, even before you board the ship, to start racking up the onboard fees. One night we celebrated our anniversary at Palo and DH ordered a very nice bottle of champagne - we had wine with dinner every night and tried some of the specialty drinks of the day as well - and I developed a seemingly incurable addiction to the ice cream coffee drinks served in the Cove Cafe.

DH and I like to spend $$$ when we take a vacation - we typically work 50-60 hour weeks and we are pretty frugal during the 49 other weeks of the year so that we can be extravagant on our trips if we choose to be. But we also know going in just how much we're comfortable spending.

I wouldn't be worried by what you read here - everyone's budgets and habits are different. Budget for you and then give yourself some wiggle room in case you want to go overboard on something (maybe I shouldn't use the word overboard? ).

As for pictures on board - the package at Shutters was $90 for 10 pictures...I can't remember what the price was per picture if you purchased them individually but I remember thinking that this package (which is the smallest offered) seemed like a good deal.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Belle1997]

Thanks for your post. DH and I are frugal most of the time and I can see how easy it adds up. Good to know so I can be aware of how easy it is to spend spend spend. Guess I will be carrying around my Pocket PC with a running total. Last thing I want after a great 4 day cruise is a big bill afterwards wondering were it all went. That would take all the fun away. So thanks for asking the question. It was very helpful.

 

[mommasita]

Hi, I just wanted to add that you can request at any time, and as often as you like, and up to date bill at guest services.

I believe I did this mid way through the week, so that my heart and dh heart would not have too much of a shocker.....

Seriously though, we did budget most of what we spent, and with our tips included it was more or less what we anticipated for the four of us...

 

[oybolshoi]

Oh! One other thing and I'm sure other people have mentioned it in other posts, but be sure to go over your room bill very carefully before you leave the ship.

DH and I were charged for something at the spa that was supposed to be included with our REAS package and if I had not taken the time to go over the shipboard account that gets slipped under the stateroom door at 5AM we would have been overcharged by about $200.

Luckily I caught it and called guest services - they took care of it in about 15 minutes after tracking down the spa manager.

The spa is another area where we dropped a chunk of change... the rainforest room, the surial bath, the couples massage...

 

[anlashokna]

Something I was thinking about doing is putting enough on my account as credit to pay for the excursions up front. That way it wouldn't figure into the funds I take on the trip itself. I was figuring no more than $500 for the week myself. Only me travelling on this part of the trip

I managed to do 6 nights at WDW last year and only spend that much as everything including meals were payed up front. Bad thing is I should have flown this time, think it helps keep down the buying (not a lot of carry room).

Where is everyone spending the most money? I already have a spa under the REAS and was told I have to go to the spa see how they comp the second treatment according to DCL. So I might have two treatments already taken care of. Palo was part of the Reas, $10 for the brunch.

I figure biggest expediture would be photos and pins for me. And of course a picture from the Regatta excursion. Is there a lot of buys in port that are to good to be true? Are there a lot of activities other than bingo that cost? Just trying to see if I'm not thinking of something.

I know I continuelly forget the parking fee Would think of leaving the vehicle at the hotel but just don't feel secure in doing so. $150 for parking and tips right off the bat.

Help...

Glad this thread was started

 

[lovesgrumpy]

The anount of money you spend really depends on how much you want to spend. My DH and I went on a 4-day cruise in January; we each had one drink when it was a 2 for 1 special. We didn't do any excursions or the spa and we didn't feel at all deprived. All we spent money on besides the 2 drinks was tips and a fleece top each. Oh, yes, we bought my husband a watch. We had a great time just enjoying each others company and the wonderful weather. We enjoyed the hot tub and our verandah. We didn't feel the need to do any thing else.

 

[scrapperjill]

I think what you spend will really depend on what you feel like once your on board...from the sounds of your post..your shore excursions are already paid for. and your not "Big" drinkers. So I would think your budget of $900 would be good for your cruise...

There are always temptations...and it is easy to spend alot of money...with the KTTW card since you don't actually see the cash leaving your hand at purchase time. The biggie for us was photos..at Shutters, followed by mixed drinks...then souvivers. We didn't book any excursions....and had a wonderful time on our own at ports...I also had our tips seperate and ready before we got onboad....so they also weren't included in our ship board account

 

[tink11]

My family of 7 cruised the 4 day Wonder then spent 3 days at Disney. We spent less than I budgeted THAT was a surprise. We didn't scrimp and bought what we wanted. All our extra side trips were paid for in advance. The extra we came home with is "seed" money for the next cruise.

 

[jacobatt1]

Just don't go into the gift shop after buying the 2 for 1 drinks!