How do you keep track of your spending on board

[pooky_uk]

Hi All - I understand that you don't use cash on the ship adn that your purchases are charged to your room key....

This scares me!! Knowing how I spend *gulp*!

Can you keep track of your bill?? (so I can see on a daily basis how much I am spending!!)

Also (probably a dumb question, but I have never been outside of the UK before!) - we are taking our $ in travellers cheques - can I use this in Nassau or will I need real $$??

Thanks

 

[TheWog]

YOu can get a printout each night of your purchases. This will show you the total you have outstanding on your account. It will even break it down to who's KTTW card it was charged to.

We brought some American Express traveler checks and they cashed some for us at GS. We also used some in St. Maarten and ST. Thomas, not sure about Nassau.

 

[rjones69]

Guest Services is open all the time and can pull it up for you.

 

[ohMom]

you are very smart! I will do this our next cruise -- first one I didn't and had an axiety attack when I saw our settling up statment!

 

[traycie2201]

Pooky , you can also choose to put down cash instead of credit card , i.e you put down a couple of hundred $ at guest services and they call you when you've spent it so you can put more down, again you can also get daily tallys, you will need $ in nassau unless you want to go to the hassle of changing travellers cheques , don't forget you can use them in shops but street vendors won't accept them. Have a great time

 

[pooky_uk]

Thanks Traycie - I think I will put travellers cheques down rather than my Credit card!

Will I be able to cash travellers cheques into $$ on the ship?

Thanks

Goodness knows how I'm going to contain my excitement until Feb!!!

I have become sooo addicted to these boards

 

[markºoº]

Remember that any excursions through DCL will be charged to account immediately at the start of the cruise - NOT when you actually take the excursion.

Also, if you use a credit card, DCL will periodically charge what ever your balance is to your credit card instead of saving it all up and having one charge on your last day. DCL will credit your credit card back if you bring cash later or have an excursion canceled and refunded. Not a big deal on a 3 night cruise but you might have several charges to your credit card on a 7 night cruise.

 

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

I love to budget and found the best way to keep up on our spending was to get a print out 1-2 times a day. It only takes a few seconds and the CM's are happy to do it. I also had a copy of my budget in the room (and calculator) to compare. This worked out really well for us and we were able to do everything we wanted and we kept to the budget.

 

[seaulater]

I do the same thing. Get a printout each day and look through each item and make sure it is something we did....and it helps me keep track of the money we are spending.

IF DISNEY would use their resources wisely, they could save all that paper, time and energy and buy the software that you could just bring it up on your tv screen in your room....just like at a hotel.....I mean, we are really part of just one big floating resort!

Linda

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We go in with a budget for the following per person:

(1) Tips (including extra bartender tips)
(2) Extra drinks (wine, beer, mixed drinks, coffees, etc.)
(3) Spa treatments including tips
(4) Excursions
(5) Souvenirs
(6) Shutters

Luckily, you can estimate most of the above because the costs are available on various websites including disneycruise.com.

Then we get a printout every day of our stateroom account and a quick add of various categories helps to keep us back on track. It is very easy to overspend.

Another recommendation I have is to estimate your costs pre-cruise and get that cash together. When you get onboard, put it down on your account so that you start out on the plus side. That also makes it easier and less stressful.

 

[SandraLee]

Wouldn't it be so nice if you could just pull up your account on the tv in your room -- nearly all hotels provide this service now.

As an alternative, I would be thrilled to see a computer outside Guest Services that I could 'self service' looking at your acccount. A little printer would be a bonus.

Drives me crazy to wait in line (or walk to guest services) just to see how many $$$ I am spending!

 

[tvguy]

I was kind of shocked to see my bill, never checked it, just got the statement under the door the last day.
$1100 for 4 people on a 7 day on the Magic. But it wasn't shopping or drinking the did us in. It was the shore excursions. That made up $950 of the bill. 2 in St. Martin, 2 in St. Thomas and the everything (bike rental/and snorkel) package on Castaway Cay.
What shocks me more is a lot of folks on this board will think I spent NOTHING!!!!
I had the cash (travelers checks) with me to pay it off, but left it on the credit card until we got home. I am always concerned about delays on a cross country trip in winter, where weather can ground you for a day in a strange town, so I wanted lots of spare money. And of course, airlines don't compensate you for weather delays.

 

[sweet angel]

$1100 for 4 people on a 7 day

Our friends had about a $1400 tab for 2 people for a week on their honeymoon...mostly bar receipts.

 

[dobelover]

yikes tvguy, I'm glad we usually just go to the beach

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by sweet angel
Our friends had about a $1400 tab for 2 people for a week on their honeymoon...mostly bar receipts.

Yes, I know how that feels. We didn't monitor anything for our first 7-night cruise (also our honeymoon). We learned from that experience and now practice the monitoring I mentioned in my above post.

 

[jrabbit]

How do you keep track of your spending on board

By gauging how loud the "thud" is from your bill falling into your room on the last morning of the cruise. The louder the thud, the more you spent

 

[TheWog]

you know its a lot when it doesn't slide under the door .... knock knock, here's your bill

 

[disneysooz]

LOL The Wog.... you are hilarious! but...I wouldn't be surprised if that actually has happened.