Cruise “fun” money

[clh2]

Yeah…booked our cruise (4 night) for the Wish for DH and me, as well as our daughter, husband and 3 boys!

Trying to figure out if we should “gift” to our daughter’s family some money for excursions/souveniers/adult beverages etc. is $500 a reasonable amount? In my head, I’m thinking $100 for each person, and then daughter and son-in-law can figure out how best to divide it up amongst themselves? We could also consider more ($750 or $1000), just need to figure this amount into our budget.

We are picking up flights, transportation to the port, and hotel rooms before the cruise, gratuities, photo package, and probably internet access as well. Probably all costs except parking at the airport.

If it matters in your response, their family is financially in a good spot, so if there is ‘more” they want to do, I do not feel guilty about them paying for stuff.

 

[bakerworld]

Yeah…booked our cruise (4 night) for the Wish for DH and me, as well as our daughter, husband and 3 boys!

Trying to figure out if we should “gift” to our daughter’s family some money for excursions/souveniers/adult beverages etc. is $500 a reasonable amount? In my head, I’m thinking $100 for each person, and then daughter and son-in-law can figure out how best to divide it up amongst themselves? We could also consider more ($750 or $1000), just need to figure this amount into our budget.

We are picking up flights, transportation to the port, and hotel rooms before the cruise, photo package, and probably internet access as well. Probably all costs except parking at the airport.

If it matters in your response, their family is financially in a good spot, so if there is ‘more” they want to do, I do not feel guilty about them paying for stuff.

Thinking you've done enough with just the bolded area. Our kids get a bit sensitive if we give too much. I always have to tell DH to let them have their moment of respect whether it's buying him a drink or buying their own souvs.

 

[happycamper47]

Our kids get a bit sensitive if we give too much.

We have done similar and when they balk we tell them, "You get it now or you get it later and we'd rather enjoy it with you".

 

[clh2]

Both are great points! Our daughter is our “only”, so, literally she would be the beneficiary of anything leftover! And, I’ll be retiring next year, DH and I want this trip to be great! Not to say we won’t do other things with them in other years, but we want “this trip” to be great!

 

[Mommb]

$500 for 5 people on a 4-night cruise would be $25 per person per day. That would cover souvenirs and adult beverages easily. A dinner at Palo would be at least $100 for 2 people, and Enchante or spa treatments would be more than that, with most excursions even more for 5 people.

If you know your daughter and son-in-law want to do Palo/Enchante or excursions, you could simply pay for those and then give some amount for the kids to spend themselves (or parents to spend for them). If I had an amount given to me for my family, I would be reluctant to spend more than “my” share to conserve it for my kids, but your daughter may not think that way.

 

[CamColt]

All I know is I am not showing my DCL addicted son and daughter in law this thread!

Seriously though, you are quite generous with all you are doing already. I can't imagine if you gave 500.00, they would feel they want more. I would be very grateful with the 500.00 and look at anymore that I might need to add in as a very cheap price for a cruise.

Enjoy your cruise and make memories!

 

[cvjw]

When we take our kids, we pick up everything. The cost of their connecting cabin, their flights, their Ubers, their excursions, their drinks, everything. I have their cabin linked to my credit card, so everything is charged to us.

I say do as much as you can. Vacation time with family is priceless. We are just happy our grown sons will still travel with us!

 

[tvguy]

In the last 10 years of her life my mom treated us to two cruises and a trip to Canada. She paid the fare, any excursions or alcohol or extras we wanted were on us. So the money is a nice addition. As my mom put it, she wanted to see us enjoy a little bit of our inheritance.

 

[clh2]

OP here, our grandsons will be 6, 4, and 2 at the time of the cruise. I think it would be much easier (for me!!!) if our daughter figured out how souvenirs expense become equal. Obviously, their interests will be different, and while the oldest may understand that something costs more money, the 4 year old will look at the quantity of souvenirs (as opposed to the cost, while simpler things will be of interest to apthe 2 year old!

 

[auntlynne]

From what you have said, my response is just put all charges in your credit card. No limit.

And I am being serious. Unless you know differently, having a cap seems to induce spending. (And yes, you get any leftover returned to form of payment).

Tell the kids that Grandma and Grandpa said you could have a souvenir of their choice.

That, or the lump sum $500. Honestly, my onboard expenses don’t hit $100, even on a 7-night (or longer) cruise.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Thinking you've done enough with just the bolded area. Our kids get a bit sensitive if we give too much. I always have to tell DH to let them have their moment of respect whether it's buying him a drink or buying their own souvs.

I just want to first say… I want your kids!

Second, I agree the OP has done a LOT already.

 

[Lucien Franciosa]

Yeah…booked our cruise (4 night) for the Wish for DH and me, as well as our daughter, husband and 3 boys!

Trying to figure out if we should “gift” to our daughter’s family some money for excursions/souveniers/adult beverages etc. is $500 a reasonable amount? In my head, I’m thinking $100 for each person, and then daughter and son-in-law can figure out how best to divide it up amongst themselves? We could also consider more ($750 or $1000), just need to figure this amount into our budget.

We are picking up flights, transportation to the port, and hotel rooms before the cruise, gratuities, photo package, and probably internet access as well. Probably all costs except parking at the airport.

If it matters in your response, their family is financially in a good spot, so if there is ‘more” they want to do, I do not feel guilty about them paying for stuff.

A lot of great answers already…I took my adult children cruising last Christmas. Paid all costs getting there. I did not give them credits to spend but instead I paid for memories for all of us together that they let me plan and schedule … brunch at palo for all of us, the shore excursions, a mixology class, the champagne class, and the picture service for all…and in return they bought me the souvenirs because it’s well known I’m the big Disney kid. Love my popcorn buckets.

I honestly don’t know what group experiences you can do with that age range but I bet people here can help. And at the end of the cruise, they gave me all the Disney pictures and I made a photo book for them that they still enjoy. Buy memories is my advice.

 

[kiford]

It depends on a lot of things. If they've never been to the Bahamas, they may want to do an excursion so that will cost. We've been on several cruises and been to the Bahamas so we don't even bother to get off. We've been to Castaway Cay several times and done some excursions (parasailing, stingrays, kayak) but don't normally do much there anymore. So what we spend for a 4-day is: alcohol on ship, maybe Palo or Enchante (although the menu doesn't appeal to me the way Remy does on the Fantasy), and that's pretty much it. We need to have some drinks, some snacks in Keg & Compass, beignets in the Bayou and that's about it. Maybe a little bit in the store.

 

[Cheburashka]

Excursions for a family of 5 can really add up. If the adults drink alcohol and will drink on the cruise, that will add up. If they're getting Rainforest Room passes or any spa treatments, those aren't cheap. Bingo isn't cheap. The adult restaurants aren't cheap. The gift shops aren't cheap. The pictures aren't cheap- a basic stateroom photo package can easily cost $200.

Your call as to whether to give them more, less or nothing (a free cruise is itself a massive gift), but $500 onboard credit for a family of 5 is pretty lean. I sometimes spend more than that when traveling on a short cruise as a party of 2, and I'm not wealthy or extravagant.

 

[cvjw]

Your call as to whether to give them more, less or nothing (a free cruise is itself a massive gift), but $500 onboard credit for a family of 5 is pretty lean. I sometimes spend more than that when traveling on a short cruise as a party of 2, and I'm not wealthy or extravagant.

Same. We will routinely spend over $1000 for 2 people on the fantasy with no excursions, no photos, no extra dining, no rainforest passes. When we took our 2 sons and did all of the above, our onboard charges were over $3000. Charges can really add up.

 

[Calantha]

I'm putting $1500 in cruise credit for our 5 night at the end of the month (2 adults/1 child): Atlantis excursion (although pricier than I usually go), 2 tastings for me, full photo package, shopping, and tips...but only $250 for the 2nd leg of our B2B - basically tips for 2 and a visit to Palo for me.

 

[unrequited23]

Honestly, as a parent the best treat I've had from the grandparents was to watch my kids for a couple of hours on a sea day so DH & I could spend some time in the adult area together. (Our kids weren't huge fans of the kids club, but would go if we asked. I felt guilty that they didn't love it.)

 

[pearljammer]

Yeah…booked our cruise (4 night) for the Wish for DH and me, as well as our daughter, husband and 3 boys!

Trying to figure out if we should “gift” to our daughter’s family some money for excursions/souveniers/adult beverages etc. is $500 a reasonable amount? In my head, I’m thinking $100 for each person, and then daughter and son-in-law can figure out how best to divide it up amongst themselves? We could also consider more ($750 or $1000), just need to figure this amount into our budget.

We are picking up flights, transportation to the port, and hotel rooms before the cruise, gratuities, photo package, and probably internet access as well. Probably all costs except parking at the airport.

If it matters in your response, their family is financially in a good spot, so if there is ‘more” they want to do, I do not feel guilty about them paying for stuff.

Love your generosity if everyone was so fortunate!! I’ll say this as I think it depends on how you look at it. Given you paid for everything else, I think it’s very reasonable. Trying to figure out if it’s enough? Do you have DAYS to chat? LOL. Keep in mind, excursions alone can be pricey. Souvenirs can be pricey but depends on what they get. Remember if you were to place a $500 credit to their room with each person allowed to spend $100, if one person doesn’t spend their “100”, the credit will still be applied towards the room as a whole. I don’t know the age of the kids but 100 for a 5 yr old is a LOT vs perhaps a 12 yo. Know what I mean? You could just do the credit to their room and have a card placed in their room as a “gift” with a message stating something like “So glad we could all be together! Enjoy this gift which should allow each of you to get yourselves a little something” (you know what to say). They can then decide how to spend it but agreed, $500 on a 4 night should cover a LOT given gratuities are paid for. Good for you guys! At the end of the day, that amount will cover quite a bit of onboard charges!!! What a great start for them!!