Excursion Budget for Family of 4

[Castillo Mom]

I have a few questions regarding shore excursions. We're a family of 4 which includes myself, eldest DS who will be 18 when we cruise, middle DS who will be 16 and youngest DS who will be 14. How many excursions does the average family take? What is your usual budget for them? Can they be paid for before you leave?

I like to pay off as much as I can before we vacation. I plan on having our cruise and WDW resort paid off a year in advance. Theme park tickets will come after that, so if I can pay for the excursions before we leave, that will be another chunk I won't have to worry about. Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[my3kids]

I understand liking to pay a bit along the way so nothing ever feels like a real hit. I don't think excursions can be booked more than a few months in advance though, and they used to not allow you to pay in advance anyway....it all went on the shipboard charge. I bet that part has changed, but I still think excursions are not open to book until pretty close to sailing.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I plan on booking through Costco and they told me they only take two payments, the initial deposit then final payment for the cruise which is due 90 (I believe) days prior to sail date. I forgot to ask them about shore excursions though.

 

[Jsme]

Well our first DCL was a 3 day Wonder cruise in October 2003. We did two excursions, one in Nassau and the seond at CC. I think we spend about $250 totaly. Our 7 day Cruise on the Magic was a special intinerary to Antigua. We did four escursions and we did one once we were on the island of St Thomas on our own. I think we spend around $450. DH parasailed at CC I think that was the most expense excursion. This September we only have one thing booked and that is at CC~the banana boat ride. We have been to Nassau so many times. If we even get off the ship it will be because we are bored. Our 4 day Wonder in 11/06 we will do something at CC not sure about Nassau. The kids will be with us then so we might have to entertain them off of the ship at Nassau. We are thinking about doing the eco tour at CC. You really spend money when on a 7 day cruise. Not so much on a 3-4 day cruise.

 

[DisneyBill]

I think you can find the prices for excursions that Disney endorses on the DCL website so you can determine exactly what costs you will have. We have always done some sort of excursion at every port, with the possible "renting of floats & bikes" at CC. Our oldest are about the same age as yours, and we pretty much adopted the attitude that big all-together vacations will likely be less & less in the future. Therefore we schedule whatever we wish. This past February, the policy of all DCL booked excursions being charged to the stateroom was still in place.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I agree, kids are getting older and will leave the nest soon. I'm not really limiting myself to a specific dollar amount, I just want to have a rough estimate of what I'll be spending. I'm on the Disney Cruiseline site right now trying to make a list. As you can see, I'm a planning addict.