Cruising on the Cheap

[bebelle]

Okay, if you are determined to do a 7-day cruise for three--what can you expect to spend NOT including airfare? Is there a way to do it inexpensively?

 

[kcashner]

It depends on what you want. I recently booked a cat 12 for 3 for $599 for the first 2 passengers and $499 for the third! Yup, it was a matter of being on line at the right time.....You can bring your own alcohol if you drink. You can take your own photos rather than purchasing them. Book excursions on your own or just enjoy the ship. Bring your own snorkel equipment. Book with a Disney Visa and use a TA who gives an onboard credit. If they book on line as well for you, you can get an additional $25 onboard credit.

So...I guess the other question is what do you want? If you want to sail in a suite, you won't get this! I consider that I'm going great if I can get it for about $100 per person per day. I don't often get it quite that low, but there are deals if you keep your eyes open.

 

[cyndik1111]

we just did the magic western 7 night (jan24) we reserved a secret verandah room (holds 3 people- cat 7) me, dh dd5. cost without transportation/ins was almost $3800 (we booked 1 year ahead of time). Then we spent about $350 in tips. we rented a car one way each time (under $100 each) stayed overnight precruise at radisson ($149).
We ended up spending $1000 on board- but we didn't have to (my husband is a sucker for pics of DD, forgot sunscreen, bought presents for family, broke my sunglasses, did wine tasting, bought a few drinks of the day, had a message)
We spent about $100 at the ports.

but it can be done cheaper- get an inside room, don't buy anything on boat, bring your own alcohol, don't get a message, don't even go into Shutters!, don't go on shore, etc. Book with an online TA and get on board credit etc.

Good luck. This trip cost us a small fortune. Next will be the parks- it will be cheap comparably.

 

[iloveokw]

We have cruised and only had onboard charges for the tips. We did do our own transportation to the port and used hotel points for the night before. If you don't do excursions,etc. you can just pay the tips. We also have a Disney Visa so those points helped us with the tips.

 

[dreamin_disney]

i would also like to know. Do they ever offer codes? This would be our first cruise for myself, dh,dd(10). We did wdwfor the 1st time in Nov so a cruise wouold be nice for late 2009 or 2010. I'm in so. Calif and airfare was a lot so i need to find a good deal on a cruise to balance it out

 

[kcashner]

The only "code" I've ever seen is the Disney Visa discount code. You do need to watch prices though--especially recently, there have been some great deals (like the kids free with parents, $99 bounce back, etc). Keep watching prices and deals till you find one you love! Right now, they have the $25 OBC for booking on line which can be combined with other deals!

of course, the best deal is rebooking while on board!

 

[lbgraves]

The current discounts are listed under the DISCOUNT heading in the DIS DCL FAQ thread at the top of this forum. This is has been a very unusual year with lots of military and FL rates released along with the kids free on the 3 day and a few deals on the cat 12s on 7 day cruises.

 

[becky23]

sorry I did not mean to reply

 

[jrabbit]

You cruise fees are just a portion of your cruise trip costs. There are a LOT of things that you can spend a lot of money on.

One item that we agree is a part of the cost of the cruise but you don't pay it up front is Gratuities (Tips) to your waitstaff (Servers, Assistant Server, Head Server) and your room Steward. The recommended tipping guide costs you $12 per night per guest. So a 7 night cruise for 3 people would work out to $12 x 7 nights x 3 people = $252. Then there are the baggage porters at the beginning and end of your cruise. Tip them a couple of bucks per bag each time.

After that all spending is Discretionary! But there are a lot of things that you can (and will want to) spend money on. Here is a very incomplete list of things you can spend money on while onboard.


Room service is free for most items on the menu (sodas and some items you have to pay for). Be sure to tip your "server" or is it runner in this case . DCL has reciently made it possible to tip your server on your KTTW card.

Room service There are items on the menu that Do carry a charge -soda and the other chargable beverages along with several food items.

You can purchase snacks at Preludes (outside of the Walt Disney Theater). There is candy and popcorn to buy.

Baskets and Cruise Gifts I don't know if you can order these once you are on board but you can most definately order them before your cruise. DCL includes a brochure with your cruise documents.

Depending upon the ages of your children (or if your DW is gosh darn beautiful ) Shutters may be a big ticket item. The 6x8 (small) photos are around $10 each. I don't remember how much the formal (large) photos are (maybe $20 each).

If you have a child that is not yet potty trained (and 3 or younger) you can "hire a babysitter" at Flounders. You are able to initally reserve 3 time slots for your child. Later in the cruise you can see if you can get any additional times (if you need more mommy and daddy private time ) This is different than the Club, Lab or the Stack / Aloft - which are included in your cruise fees for kids from age 3 to 17.

If you stick to the drink of the day, they will run you $4.50 each (which isn't too bad). Otherwise the prices go up from there (but still are not outrageous!!) Speciality Drinks - like coffees, smoothies etc carry a charge. Smoothies run about $5.00 each with manditory tip.

If you buy the wine package for dinner the cost is $185 to $250 (this info is several years old - probaby costs more now) depending upon the package purchased. If you buy wine by the bottle I believe you can count on $50 per bottle (but if you each only drink 1 glass each, it will last for two nights and your waiters will take care of it for you!)

There is also a "water package" that you can purchase for dinners. Why , I don't know, the water that the ship "makes" is wonderful.

Shore excursions really add up. Even if you do a "cheep" $50 excursion that's at least $150 for a family.

If you do the wine tasting class onboard there's a cost and I really don't know how much it is because I don't like wine that much. Same for the Mixology and Martini and beer tasting "classes"

Spa treatments run from $90 to well over $200 per person per treatment (count on at least $100 ).

Arcade cards for the kids. Denominations start at $10 and go up from there.

Now for the souvineers: you can get some small plastic figurine for $5. If you want a tee shirt, think at least $35, polo shirts are well over $50. A DCL frame for one of your 6x8 pictures will run you $18 to $20. Lots of fun stuff to buy for the whole family at Mickey's Mates. Then across the hall is the Treasure Ketch and that stuff is generally way more expensive!!

Then there's the "store" that's between Rock'n Bar D and Diversions on the Magic (its in the same location on the Wonder-just different Club Names) that sells tobaco and alcohol products. I believe that any alcohol you purchase CAN NOT be consumed onboard. They will deliver it to you close to disembarkation time.

Some people have a Bingo habit that costs them a ton of $$$$. There are 5 games played each session. There are different "pacakage" for purchase. (I have never played so I don't know the costs)

Hairbrading onboard has a per braid charge.

Landry: You’ll need money if you plan on using the Self Service Landry’s on the ship. You'll need even more money if you use the onboard Landry and Pressing service that DCL offers!

remember this is an incomplete list.

BUT ALSO REMEMBER THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEND ANY EXTRA MONEY TO HAVE A WONDERFULLY MAGICAL CRUISE!!! ::YES::

The reality is that you will spend some money while on the cruise - you will get off the ship in the ports and want to do something - even if you don't do a DCL excursion.

 

[MagicMe]

Actually, I've done a 4-day and my bill only came to about $35. I paid my tips in cash (which I brought and put aside separately) and the $35 was a small souvenir and one DOD on sail-away. I grabbed a soda from Deck 9 to take to the shows (if I felt I needed it) and grabbed chicken fingers and a soda from Deck 9 when I took in a movie. I didn't do any excursions and just got off at Nassau and walked around a bit.

Now, my last 7-day, I spent a bit more since it was my oldest son's first cruise and I planned on doing a scrapbook for him and his fiance. So, I spent $$ on photos, thoroughly enjoyed all the DOD's, had Konk Koolers on CC, did a tequila testing, and enjoyed a bottle of wine one night. All in all, my bill (over and above the tips) still wasn't that bad (probably in the range of $250). But then, I did stay away from the spa!!!

 

[Kwalters]

It also depends on when you want to go. We wanted around our 10 year anniversary and the cheapest we found for a Cat 12 for the three of us was $4200 in July!