budgeting onboard account

[Lisa F]

This is more to have a discussion than it is really for advice, since I do understand the concept of figuring out what you think you might spend, adding it up and budgeting.

But I was wondering in general how people budget for their onboard spending, and how well you do to sticking to that when you get on board.

Last time I cruised I cruised with my parents and there was no budget, lol, so I didn't really pay attention to anything. They paid for onboard expenses while we paid for the rest of our cruise/transport/trip and were insistent I not think about it, so I didn't! it was only a 4 day cruise and we didn't do any specialty dining, I had the rainforest in advance, Meme bought all of the souveniers and we had a drink or two with dinner every night.

I would like to be able to have a drink when I want it (but traveling as a single mom, I am not planning to walk around the cruise in a drunken stupor either), I would like to do Remy brunch and palo either brunch or dinner and a couple of tastings, I plan to do the rainforest room but I will be buying individual days ahead of time so that will be paid for. I will do port excursions but may not necessarily do them through Disney. I will more than likely say "yes" to popcorn refills and smoothies and premium ice cream treats - I am thinking of making a "coupon book" for this stuff for the kiddo because it will help him with the concept of budgeting as well... one premium sundae for the trip and a bucket of popcorn and a smoothie a day if he wants it. And then of course souvenirs... when we go to WDW I usually give him a budget of $100 that he has to earn before the trip that he can spend on anything (it really quiets down the constant "I wants" when I tell him he can have it if he spends HIS money on it) and then I will buy him one or two nice things for the trip out of my budget (last time we were there at festival of the arts and he got a wall hanging of his name written out graphically like star wars characters... we look for something special like that for his "big" souvenir).

Do people find that they budget and then end up spending wildly above it because it's a cruise and it's vacation? I hate to feel constrained on vacation (I budget pretty tightly the rest of the year) but I also do not have endless funds for a ridiculous onboard bill. How do people balance the two? I have gotten pretty good at budgeting for my WDW vacations so I don't feel deprived but don't have any nasty surprises at the end of the trip either. Cruising is a bit different as I feel like there is a lot more free time for impulse spending vs. at the parks where once I budget for food and souvenirs there's not a lot of extra stuff I end up spending anything on.

 

[Disney_Life84]

We have always gone over what we plan, because it is very easy to just scan your KTTW card and not think about the total until after the trip. We are going next month, and this time we are playing it smart. We have been buying Disney gift cards each week at the grocery store. We are going to apply all of the those to our onboard account. This trip it's just DH and me, so we don't have to worry about the "I wants" from DS. When we go again next year with DS, we are going to do the same thing. We will have him keep track of the balance from his gift cards that have been applied to the account. Once he's used up his amount, it's gone. It also works as a teaching method about budgeting and spending, since most kids don't understand that money is not limitless. I wish we would have thought about doing the gift cards before...we would have saved a lot of money lol.

 

[cvjw]

We always know in advance what our big ticket items will be - excursions, wine package, palo, and tastings. We don’t ever shop onboard, so the only expense left over is drinks by the pool. We aren’t big drinkers, so that expense is pretty low. We add a few hundred dollars onto our known expenses and we are good!

 

[MouseinMelbourne]

I kind of keep in mind a ballpark of $1000 for extras on a 7 day. It’s easy to go over, especially if I score a coveted cabana. Otherwise, we aren’t big drinkers and don’t enjoy shopping for the sake of shopping. My big souvenir on our last cruise was a Christmas ornament of the ship. (And quite honestly, it makes me incredibly happy every year when I hang it on the tree!) Our splurge is Bingo. My husband and I enjoy going to almost every session. By expecting $1000 in onboard expenses, it allows us to do that without too much worry of breaking the bank.

That said, our next cruise is a 7 day Christmas cruise with my daughter (who is now an adult and not a 13 year old like our last cruise) and her boyfriend. I am sure our budget will have to expand this time.

 

[Chirple]

I create a spreadsheet outlining our excursion costs, tips, a second meal in Palo plus tips for brunch and dinner, a shave plus tip for my husband if he schedules one (and I always pad because he tips over 18%), popcorn refills, and expected laundry costs. I buy discounted Disney GCs at BJ's during the year, combine them, and add them to our onboard account.

We then bring cash to add to our onboard account if we start to go over. I also bring my own money if there's something I want to purchase for myself (which has become infrequent over the years). We usually walk off the ship with a 0.00 balance.

 

[cadien]

Our first cruise we ended up spending wildly on fun extras. The second one, we didn't because we'd already tried it all the first time and very little was worth a second time to us. But we also hadn't pre-planned any sort of budget on that first trip. Because you're already thinking about it, that will make a difference. Also, you're already used to visiting the parks and having a budget. So you've built up a certain immunity to Disney merchandising that we had not.

 

[Quellman]

I create a spreadsheet outlining our excursion costs, tips, a second meal in Palo plus tips for brunch and dinner, a shave plus tip for my husband if he schedules one (and I always pad because he tips over 18%), popcorn refills, and expected laundry costs. I buy discounted Disney GCs at BJ's during the year, combine them, and add them to our onboard account..

This is me. I figure out what my known costs are, Palo, nursery, bottle of wine at Palo, any spa services etc. Then I guess some of the other tangibles, drinks of the day etc. We will almost always go over depending if we find something amazing in one of the shops, or they run 1/2 price mimosas before 10 on the adult pool deck.

Thankful that we manage our finances well enough that we don't need to track every onboard purchase to make sure we can cover it at the end of the trip. Understand that there are many that do. At the same time, we don't necessarily go extravagant on board with impulse purchases either, like adding in a bunch of spa services or excursions last minute.

 

[dprincessmom]

As other posters have said, that first cruise (that you tell yourself is likely the only) we went a little crazy. The second longer cruise - we didn't spend as much as I had budgeted. We did a spa day, formal night hair, a boot camp offering for teens, an excursion, a ride up the gondola in St. Thomas, CC excursions were cancelled so there was some savings there, but we also didn't come home with a bunch of stuff. We also didn't play BINGO every day, but found other trivias and activities that are included. The second cruise we also did Fish Extenders, so that was fun and "getting" a new something each day cut back on the store roving.

My thought is budget for everything you might do/want and add a few hundred dollars on to that. Then you should be fairly covered.

 

[ahain]

We don't set a budget for on-board spending. Rather, we just use "moderation" as our guide. There are 3 of us (all adults), and our on-board spending rarely exceeds $200 (beyond excursions).... but we don't play bingo, don't purchase alcohol or specialty coffee, don't purchase spa or specialty dining, etc. Besides excursions & gratuities, our only onboard expenses are 1-2 souvenirs each and DD's popcorn & root beer during the evening shows.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I treat myself to a special coffee every day and I might have the special ice cream a few times. I also figure in a few souvenirs. One will likely be over $100, but the others will be well under that, although the total at the end might be in the few hundreds. A mug here, a t-shirt there, a gift for my mom, a blanket, maybe, a few pins (boy do they add up fast!) etc. Also, we buy a 24 pack of water, because we've paid a fortune for the cruise, what's another $40 instead of squirreling bottles away in an already overpacked carry-on?

Any of the other things, like tips, Palo, spa or excursions would be knowns, as I would have booked them before the trip. I expect those charges.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Another spreadsheet connoisseur here. All the known costs (excursions, wine package, gratuities, tastings, etc) have been determined. All the receipts are accounted for at the end of the day (drink of the day, bingo) and tallied up. Thank goodness for the large envelopes located in the desk drawer. After 7 cruises, we have everything we want but the newest T-shirt. Yes we over did it on the first cruise also. Not big on trinkets and shopping at the ports. Seeing Alcatraz Island a week from now. Don't thing there will be much to purchase there (other than a T-shirt).
If you have a budget system at home, and stick to it, chances are you will always and anywhere be in that mode.

Why would you feel constrained on spending (budgeting) on a vacation if you budget the rest of the year? Make a "vacation budget" and stick to it.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Since we do DCL excursions, we know that cost in advance. Add in speciality dining cost and tips, beverage tastings for me, possibly a photo package for DW depending on the itinerary (yes on the Panama Canal, probably no on a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise), a 4-bottle wine package (DW doesn’t drink; I drink a bottle of wine over two nights in the MDRs, and sometimes choose a mug of beer rather than wine with dinner, so only purchase the 4-bottle package even on long cruises). We prepay gratuities and take cash in anticipation of adding to the tip envelopes as appropriate based on service. Add it all up and make a deposit to the stateroom account in advance of the trip. Since we usually have a stateroom credit from onboard booking, we use that for our miscellaneous expenses like onboard shopping, popcorn, Cove Cafe, beer in the MDRs, etc. Our balance at the end of the cruise is usually pretty small.

 

[ryankski]

For us a budget isn't a constraint, but permission to spend. I creat a budget in a spreadsheet (about 12-18 months in advance) and we discuss what we have to save to hit this goal without it affecting our other life goals (e.g. retirement savings, extra to mortgage, etc.) And then have that amount saved. We then have given ourselves permission to spend that amount on food, souvenirs, etc. if we want. We tend not do be extravagant with things on vacation as we don't live that way at home. So with the money saved and we budgeted have given ourselves permission to go to that fancier dinner, drinks, etc.

We have always been under budget on trips with the exception of our RCCL AK cruise last summer, however, I figured out quickly that hotels before the cruise and excursions we're going to be significantly higher then a Caribbean cruise and we saved the difference of about $700 before the trip.

I think most people get in trouble with the "once in a lifetime" thought process and trying to do everything and buy everything with no thought of the cost. I'll never use that phrase and always tell my wife that if it's a once in a lifetime trip then our saving/spending priorities are screwed up or we have died young.

 

[mevelandry]

Spreadsheets are your best friends.

My two cents: On my two first cruises I would sometimes get back home with 600$ on my credit card but not anymore.

I discovered the frugal and minimalist lifestyle in between and never went back! So... A word of advice: you will hear a lot of people say: "YOLO! It's not a vacation if you count your money all the time"... But I couldn't disagree more. Stick to what you need to get a nice vacation...

I would recommend not to try to do it all. There is so much to do on the ship that you might not go to the Rainforest room as much as you think and then feel forced to go just because you paid for it.

And ... Pick your priorities but take into consideration that you could sail with DCL again in the future and will want to experiment new things at that moment.

One last piece of advice: know that cast members hanging out with the photographers can also take your picture with the characters (instead of buying the DCL pricey ones). It's very personal but now I focus more on "free" souvenirs (instead of pricey ones) and pictures. Those usually last longer than t-shirts and other gadgets anyway.

p.s.: By the way, you already have excellent ideas!

 

[bcwife76]

The DCL Navigator app now allows you to look at your onboard account in real time (sometimes it takes an hour or two to update your latest spending,but it's usually pretty good at updating quickly). We love this feature now! If we're getting to the end of a cruise and feel like "oops, perhaps we should reign it in a bit now" then we adjust our spending the rest of the cruise. I do try to make a rough budget, however, before we leave as I know certain expenses can be accounted for before we board (if we're doing DCL excursions, if there are Palo reservations or spa, if the girls are going to BBB, etc).

 

[daisyx3]

I already prepaid my tips. We will bring cash in case we tip more. I know what the excursions, Palo, and our mixology class cost. We may have a few drinks but we don't drink to excess. I do go a little nuts on souvenirs sometimes but usually it's shirts and maybe a pandora bead or alex & ani bracelet.
Right now I have enough in the trip kitty to cover all of that. I will take the cash to Target, buy gift cards at 5% off, then go right to guest services and pay off my bill.
It's funny because I know we will be spending all this, but if DH wants popcorn for a show I get irritated because it isn't free.
I am saving my Disney visa dollars for our 7 night next year!

 

[lilmc]

We try to keep it simple. I prepay for the pictures, those are my biggest souvenirs. No speciality coffee. An occasional Drink of the Day doesn’t add up too much. We know Palo and excursions ahead of time. No spa treatment, they’re just way to expensive and the Rainforest room for a day or two is much more reasonable. Each family member gets “reasonable” sourvenirs: maybe a shirt and a pin per person-ish. No popcorn (I bring my own as we don’t like to eat artificial ingredients and Trader Joe’s Kettle Corn is a huge guilty pleasure for me). It still does add up, especially adding on the gratuity. Next time I’m going to prepay those.....

 

[hcox31]

We worked it out this way and it seemed to work well: made a spreadsheet with...
-one column with known expenses like excursions, palo, tips, onboard fun that we knew charges for
-one column with "budgets"for on the spot expenses...

• $100 cash USD for port/excursions,
• tips for porters, taxis etc
• I"m not a huge drinker (like most 2 per day), hubby doesn't drink, but likes specialty coffees, so threw that into every day as well.
• And budgeted $100 PP for souvenirs (the kids spend most of this!)...

I slightly over budgeted on the daily on the spot expenses and ended up with cash left over so I just applied it to our stateroom account.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I agree with preparing a spreadsheet (I'm sure someone out there has already created a nice list) if you're into that sort of budgeting. Another idea would be to budget using cash - set aside something like $100 per day, so put $700 into your safe for a 7 day cruise, then each day tally up what you have spent, and either go put that $100 on your onboard account, or do it all at the end. Using cash at least stops the credit card bill shock after the cruise.

 

[diznymom]

I use a spreadsheet and list everything I might want to spend. And I mean everything. I start out w/ the initial cost of the cruise, insurance, transportation to cruise (usually DCL bus), tips, excursions, photo pkg, rainforest room, drinks, souvenirs, etc. I also list motels, meals, transportation before / after the cruise. I start on the budget as soon as I know I will be cruising. I also keep track of payments on the same spreadsheet. I try to pay off as much as soon as possible and the spreadsheet helps me keep up with it all. I also add the cost of excursions, souvenirs, etc to my On Board Account. Once on the ship, most everything is already paid for and I don't have to worry about it. Sometimes I have gone over a little, but usually not.