cruise vs. resort

[Jake&IzzyLand]

Thanks, everyone. I'm convinced I need to plan a resort vacation and forgo the cruise. The prices seem great, now to figure how to get there the best/cheapest way.

Thanks again!!!

 

[aprilchem]

Wow. We are a family of 5. I thought all inclusive would be too expensive for us. What time of year did you travel?

We did a 7 day Disney Cruise in late August of 2014 and an 8 day stay at Beaches Turks and Caicos in late June of 2015. Both of those are considered "off season," but right at the very end/beginning of the off season. The "sticker price" of the Disney Cruise looks cheaper, until you factor in all the extras - DCL charges for tips ($60 a day for our family + any extra tip, which they push you to give), alcoholic drinks (we are not at all heavy drinkers, but did average 2 drinks each per day for DH and I), any extra excursions you want to take, any premium activities (bingo, etc.), parking at the terminal, "premium" meals (we did two of those), and a few other things. At Beaches all of that is included, and no tipping is allowed (the staff can actually get fired for accepting tips). We spent a total of $120 in our 8 day stay at Beaches - $20 of that was tipping the driver to and from the airport and $100 was on souvenirs.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Beaches is always running big sales - usually 65% off the sticker price. I caught a good sale and I think we paid about $8k for our 8 day vacation there. The Disney Cruise was $10k, but we ended up with an additional $1500+ in "extra fees" once everything was included.

And before anyone flames me, I know that is a lot to pay for vacations. We make a good income, save 40% of everything we make for the future, and are not in debt. We can afford to take nice vacations.

 

[100AcreWood]

We did a 7 day Disney Cruise in late August of 2014 and an 8 day stay at Beaches Turks and Caicos in late June of 2015. Both of those are considered "off season," but right at the very end/beginning of the off season. The "sticker price" of the Disney Cruise looks cheaper, until you factor in all the extras - DCL charges for tips ($60 a day for our family + any extra tip, which they push you to give), alcoholic drinks (we are not at all heavy drinkers, but did average 2 drinks each per day for DH and I), any extra excursions you want to take, any premium activities (bingo, etc.), parking at the terminal, "premium" meals (we did two of those), and a few other things. At Beaches all of that is included, and no tipping is allowed (the staff can actually get fired for accepting tips). We spent a total of $120 in our 8 day stay at Beaches - $20 of that was tipping the driver to and from the airport and $100 was on souvenirs.

The other thing to keep in mind is that Beaches is always running big sales - usually 65% off the sticker price. I caught a good sale and I think we paid about $8k for our 8 day vacation there. The Disney Cruise was $10k, but we ended up with an additional $1500+ in "extra fees" once everything was included.

And before anyone flames me, I know that is a lot to pay for vacations. We make a good income, save 40% of everything we make for the future, and are not in debt. We can afford to take nice vacations.

Thanks! That's great information. I loved our Disney cruises but I kept thinking how much I would love to just stay at Castaway Cay for the week instead! And honestly the Disney cruises are really getting expense. I know demand increases prices but wow.