Budget ??s

[Certifiable WDW Nut]

I'm trying to figure out how much spending money we will need on our cruise. We are on the 4 day Wonder, leaving 4/4. The cruise is paid for, we are driving down and I know what the Radisson charges and maybe parking will be. What I'm not of is how much "walking around" money we will need. I'm not sure we are going to get off the boat in Nassau and even if we do, we will probably just go to the Atlantis aquarim.

How much do people budget for miscellaneous (drinks, souvenirs, excusions, rentals on CC, etc)??

BTW we are me (39) DH (39) DD (11) and DD (4). DH and I cruised on our honeymoon, but that was over 13 years ago!! I can't even remember what we spent.

Thanks for your help.

 

[musicgirl]

Well, I'll get this started with what we did.

Everyone has to check your luggage with a porter when you arrive at the port. This does not include carry ons. The porter is tipped $1/2 a bag.

You won't need much cash since it is a cashless system.

Excursions per person are about $25 and up if you want to do this.

This kids may want to get arcade cards. This is charged to the KTTW card. We got our ds one $10.

We had a few alcoholic drinks ($4-6 each) I think for the two of us we had 1-2 each night. We did the 3-night by the way.

We did the soda program the first time, but not the second time. I really didn't feel like any of us were deprived by not buying it or single sodas. We were so busy, we basically only had drinks with dinner. Sodas are free at dinner.

Smoothies at the theater are around $3.50. These are non-alcoholic.

Snacks at the theater are extra. But we didn't need them, we were always waiting for dinner! DS was always full from pizza and hamburgers and ice cream to even ask for any snacks.

At CC, we bring our own snorkel equipment. The vest are free. Rafts run about $6 each. I think snorkel equipment is $25, but remember that you can share with your family.

Souvenirs-we spent around $200 for shirts, pens, at the gift shop.

Don't forget the tips for the servers, room host, etc. It's around $27 for the 3-night. Obviously, it is a little more for the 4. And that is of course per person for all of them for the entire trip.

At Nassau, we spent about $40 for shirts, an ornamentand a hat.

If I think of what else we spent, I'll add on.

have fun!

 

[LuvTigger]

If you go to Atlantis, you'll need to either catch a boat or limo/taxi. We caught a boat over for $3 per person, and a limo back for $4 per person. Having experienced the two, I'd much prefer the limo! While we were on the boat (packed like sardines), my friend commented, "how do we know they're not going to ship us somewhere to sell us off as slaves?" With the limo, they still tried to get as many people as they could, but fortunately we were the only takers (6 of us).

Also, you can see quite a bit of Atlantis in the common areas, but if you want to see the whole aquarium and the pool area, it will cost you. I'm not sure how much though.

I believe parking at the Port is $7 per day.

We walked around Nassau a bit but thought it was pretty touristy. I just bought things like postcards and small items, so that didn't cost much. One kind of neat thing is that I got the change in Bahamian dollars, so I saved those as souvenirs.

Oh, and at Castaway Cay (I assume they still do this, it's been a couple years for me) they sell special postage stamps at the post office. I bought a few postcards and stamps and wrote to my friends while we were on the beach. I also bought a sheet of stamps as a souvenir for myself.

I would think for your family you would only need maybe $200-$300 in cash and just make sure your available credit on your credit card is more than enough to cover the on-board expenses, shore excursions, and CC rental stuff. Your souvenirs, drinks, snacks, etc. on-board can all be put towards your room.

 

[kcashner]

Parking at the port is $10 per day. If you are staying at the Radisson, you can leave your car there and take their free shuttle.

You can spend a fortune on pictures/souveniers, etc...or very little. The Disney people will happily take pictures with your camera in the same setting the dis photographers are using. We found the soda package to be overpriced. Sodas are free in the dining rooms, and how many do your kids really need in one day? Juice, milk, punch, and iced tea are always free. If you need theater snacks, consider bringing some candy or whatever from home. We just didn't buy or eat it.

You can look up the shore excursions on the web...each is individually priced. We bring our own snorkeling equipment. Rental is like $25 per person, an we purchased it on sale for about $50 per person. I know it fits and is clean!

You do need tip money--some $1s for room service, baggage porters...you can charge your on board tips.

You can easily spend a LOT or a very little...and still have a great time.

 

[SandraLee]

I had to laugh at the 'You can spend a LOT or a little ... ' comment.

The other night at dinner we were all discussing our cruise. One couple (and 2 children) spent over $1,600 on room charges. Their BIG indulgence was the spa. The DH and DW nearly lived there. They are also known to have a few beers around the pool.

The other couple spend nearly nothing -- I think they said their room charges were just over the amount of the tips -- somewhere around $400. They don't drink and really don't care about any souveniers.

My family was pretty much in the middle -- My DH does the spa a bit and I get the $150 picture package. We probably came in around $1,000 including the tips.

An inexpensive trip can be done.

I can honestly say that EVERYONE had a great time on the cruise.

 

[lbgraves]

Yes, you can have fun with a little. We laughed about it at breakfast the last morning. Both our tablemates & us got half page print outs for our ship charges but both of our families had a blast on the cruise!

 

[Certifiable WDW Nut]

Thanks for all your help. I figure I will have between $1500 and $2000 for everything not included in the cruise price. Looks like we'll be alright.

 

[jcfinnicum]

I was a little shocked at the "tip suggestions" that we got in our cruise docs. For our 4-night cruise Disney's recommended tips amounted to $175.00 (for the Restaurant, Assistant and head servers and the Stateroom host) for four of us (including kids). Is this really necessary? Are all their services that deserving? Then reading other posts see that the Oceaneer staff can't accept tips in cash. (I have purchased phone cards for them.)

 

[markmyboy]

In my experience they are very deserving of tips. I have also cruised on Carnival & NCL. Carnival's service was actually quite similar to DCL's & we tipped a little more than recommended on both cruise lines. NCL has a automatic tipping policy, $10 was taken from each person's account each day & we found the service less than satisfactory. The tips on NCL are pooled & handed out as a certain percentage to each crew member. We did find good service on NCL & tipped accordingly.

I would say to prepare to pay the recommened amount & tip accordingly, you may run into someone who does not seem deserving, but you are more likely to have someone who you may feel deserves a little more!!

 

[kcashner]

A comment on the tip suggestions. The people who have tips suggested are on a very minimal stipend from the cruise line, and depend on tips for their salary. How much would you spend eating every meal in a restaurant? How much would a 15% tip amount to? How much is it worth to have your stateroom cleaned twice a day and to have the steward available for additional "emergencies" as needed.

I calculated on one cruise that if everyone tipped the recommended amount (and not everyone does), a server would make about $4000 per month in tips...figuring a full ship each time. That's serious money, but our server was supporting a family in his home country. Realizing that not everyone tips the suggested amount, he maybe sees 3/4 of that.....a big difference. My take is that, yes, they are "worth it." If you can afford the cruise, you have already taken care of DCL, the counsellors, the travel agent, etc. It's not fair or right to stiff the guys who cared for you for the trip.

Example...my daughter spilled something in the room. I was cleaning it up when the steward appeared and took over totally. They truly care that you have something you like in the dining room...sometimes to a point of being silly. DD told the server she liked steamed broccoli--no matter what she ordered, he'd also bring a side of broccoli for the entire time!

The counsellors in the club and lab are paid a normal salary for their job. They do not work for tips. A phone card or other small gift is a wonderful remembrance, but is not expected or required.

Personal opinions...but I feel that the servers/assistants really work hard!

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Kcashner........I've been on 3 DCL cruises, most recently 11/29/03 Magic. Myself, DW and DD's 13 and 11 all have had full charging privilages; and me, well, I ALWAYS have my ESPN mug with me. Other than LARGE purchaces we spend around 300.00 per day on an average. 3 days at WDW and 7 day cruise, about 3000.00 spent. That included souvineers, beer and spending $$. Now, large purchases WILL be more. That included tips and all. Believe me, DD's and DW tried to spend more but it all averaged out. On our last cruise (7night Eastern) We took a snorkeling excursion one day and shopped the other. We did the full snorkle, float and bike ride pkg at CC. I gave the recomended tip plus 60.00 for our server, asst. server, and room steward.

 

[jcfinnicum]

I sure don't have a problem tipping anyone that is deserving. This being our first cruise just didn't expect that the tip recommendations would be that high.