How much did your trip cost?

[WDBRDWLK]

If you love to travel and really love all things Disney I would highly recommend looking into taking that $20k and buying DVC points with some of it. You could do Disney and the cruise for the next 50 years! We bought into DVC 10 yrs ago and have used our points for all but one Disney cruise and many, many trips to WDW and DL. When you don't have the expense of the cabin or the rooms at WDW your $$ goes along way. You do have to pay yearly real estate taxes and fees, which is pretty low all considering. We have kept a spreadsheet over the years of what all our trips would have cost ($70k) out of pocket and there is no way we would have done it with cash. Now we dont have to even worry about how much a resort or cruise will cost us in cash, we just call up DVC and use our points and let the magic begin!

We spend about $400 on each 3 night cruise which includes excursions for 2 adults (we dont drink so that is not an expense) and if you are lucky enough to win a stateroom credit for attending the DVC meeting onboard then that helps too! I won $300 in Feb. so at the end of the cruise we paid about $100 for everything.

If you take a vacation at least once a year and spend $5000 then that is really wasted money...DVC has been the best vacation option for us!

We just booked our trip to Disneyland yesterday, and we are staying in the new DVC resort which would cost out of pocket $2800 for the week. We are using our DVC points so the resort is not costing us a dime...and our DVC properties are all paid for.

We have had several people ask how we did it and basically we said if we do not eat out at least once a month we can take that $$ and put towards the DVC financing...we added to that and had it paid off in just over three years...now we have 47 years to enjoy it without a mortgage payment.

 

[kcashner]

Here's my budget

Cruise Western in Aug.

Parking at port $250
Tips $500
Drinks $30 a day =$200

Driving to Fl from MI- 3 hotel nights at $100 each =$300

Food on the road $300

I forgot to add gas. Add another $500

I'm going to guess that you can't get airfare from Michigan for $300 each ($300 food + $500 gas + $300 hotels).

However, I do have one suggestion if you are budget minded. Stay at one of the hotels (Radisson, Quality Suites, Country Inn and Suites, Residence Inn) that offers free cruise parking if you stay with them the night before your cruise. We stayed at the Quality Suites. For $107, we got a night at the hotel, breakfast in the morning (nothing to write home about, but it was included), parking while we cruised, and shuttle to/from the port. The port parking for the week would have been $105. Obviously we had to stay somewhere, so it made sense to choose one of the free parking places.

 

[tamman]

We are from Michigan and we are going on a Western cruise on Aug 22nd. Our airfare for four was $660 total and that includes $160 in baggages fees ($20 X 4 bags each way). That is on Spirit. I booked in December 08.

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

Thanks for all these great ideas- you have my head spinning LOL!
Here is my breakdown:

Daycare employees - $2000
Airfare at Southwest rt from Ca- $1700
Cruise $8,000
Hotel- $1500
Rental Car- $600
Tix for Disney World and Universal- $2000
Food- $1500
Mics (tips, tax, pics, souv) -$1,000
Clothes $2,000
Equals- $20,300- LOL i went over my budget- and I have to get my hair colored hehehe!

I am thinking of telling my mom lets forget the week of Disneyworld and Universal- which would lower our costs all across the board. My original idea was to do the Sea/Land cruise- getting a little bit of everything in- but Mom wants the 7 day to Mexico- she wants to get swine flu! j/k
We live in Ca- and have been to Disneyland alot! In fact, DH and I just went 2 weeks ago to celebrate our 5 year ann. It was only 3 days- which wasnt long enough which is the reason I thought of a cruise hehe.
We work 24/7 seriously with Daycare with hardly ever a day off - we usually do a family trip at least once a year for a weekend- and once every 2 years for a week.
We really wanted to go to Islands of Adventure- we are huge comic fans as well. But- we wanted to go when Harry Potter was done too!
Which wont be till next year.
And I have to have new clothes- and shoes! I could easily spend $1000 on myself. All my clothes have bleach stains from cleaning with daycare
the others just need a few things- and rentals for tux, etc.
Now I am rambling.
I should look into DVC, airline points, and OBC- how do you get OBC?
Soo much to think of! ~Tinksdreamwishes!

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

Ok I played around some more with the cruise stuff- and your right I would save $395 by putting another person in with my mom- giving us the cat 12 option! And here I thought they was all sold out!
I also took off the ground trans- and so the new total would be $6528 instead of $7268.
I wonder how much it would cost to stay in a very dark cave for a week! ~Tinksdreamwishes!

 

[hgon76]

$2,000 for clothes? I think we shop at different places! My opinion....save the $$$ you would spend on a tux. I had my husband where a jacket and tie and he was one of the "more dressed-up" men at dinner. In fact, he's gonna do away with the jacket next cruise because he doesn't like to where them & so many men weren't even wearing a tie. Lots of them just a nice pair of khakis and dress shirt for formal night. Keep reading these boards. You'll find a lot of helpful tips on saving some $$$$. If no one else has mentioned it yet.... BYOB! It saves a lot even if you don't drink much . Doing laundry on the ship is really a great thing. It helps cut down on the amount of luggage! With the fees airlines are charging now for checked bags it's a helpful tip!

 

[disneycrazzzy]

Our budget for the August 8th Western for six of us including two nights pre-cruise and a visit to Disney Quest as well as two days and one night at Universal post-cruise:

Airfare SEA-MCO: $1500
Pre-cruise van rental: $172
Pre-cruise hotel: $220 (2 rooms at Hyatt)
Pre-cruise hotel: $122 (2 rooms Hilton, 1 on points)
Disney Quest: $234
Pre-cruise food: $400
Cruise: $8012 (2 category 4 cabins)
Tips: $504 (7 x 12 x 6)
Excursions: $1675 (all DCL, in each port)
Souveniers/Extra Food/Extra Drinks/Palo/Shutters: $600 <-- this will be hard
Post-cruise van rental: $140
Universal Hotel: $500 (2 rooms)
Universal Tickets: $600
Post-cruise food: $400
----
Total $15,079

If we include our second cruise add:

Cruise: $7936 (2 GTY 7 cabins)
Tips: $504
Souveniers, etc. $0 (hope to not spend more than the $600 we allotted)
Excursions: $1170
----
$9,610

It is really hard to acknowledge the cost of this vacation in this post....but this is what it is. Luckily I've squirrelled away the funds since our last cruise in 2006. I can't imagine if we hadn't gotten the AAA prices on our cabins...

This does not include any of the following which we may or may not incur:

Trip insurance
Gas for rental cars
Alcohol
Bingo
Laundry
Spa
Room Service Tips
Excursion Tips
Extra Tips
Other Tips to porters, bellperson, etc.
Fish Exchange Gifts

 

[martinezfamily1126]

6 people, 7 day western- Cruise, Airfare, hotel, trans, tips = $5420

we are in 2 cat 12's

 

[disneycrazzzy]

6 people, 7 day western- Cruise, Airfare, hotel, trans, tips = $5420

we are in 2 cat 12's

Wow that makes me feel even more foolish...so I thought I should break things down and see why we are paying so much:

If I just include the same airfare, hotel, trans, tips

$1500 airfare
$150 before/after transportation
$200 hotel before (1 night)
$8012 cruise
$504 tips
----
$10,366

So the only thing I could reduce from here would be the cruise itself.
My original reservation for two category 12s was $7292 (I thought I did great upgrading to two 4s for only $720). So I think the factor here that must be considered is the time of year of the cruise. I never saw the 8/8/2009 cruise discounted so low. For us to have paid the same as the martinezfamily1126 we would have had to pay only $5240 less airfare, trans, hotel, tip or $3066 or $1533 per cabin. I've never seen any fares that low...

disneycrazzzzy

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

wow Martinez family! Sounds like you guys got a great deal! when is your cruise? I guess the month depends on prices tremendously!

The $700 upgrade does sound like a good deal for 2 cabins!

I guess Dh wont be needing that Tux after all! He will be happy.

I saw a site that said I could ship a box to my room on board if it did not exceed 20 pounds. Maybe I could send the formal wear in that box? I hate lugging around extra luggage!

Thank you everyone- its been real interesting reading this thread!
~Tinksdreeamwishes!

 

[disneylove69]

Thanks for all these great ideas- you have my head spinning LOL!
Here is my breakdown:

Daycare employees - $2000 (not sure what this is for since the kids on the cruise attend clubs for free and flounder is I think $10 an hour w/10 hr max. I think I got it. Since you run a daycare this is for employees. Can't help you there.)
Airfare at Southwest rt from Ca- $1700 (Keep checking since they usually offer $99 one way fares from CA-MCO and back.)Cruise $8,000
Hotel- $1500 (You can get a condo or home for $100-$150 a night..Value hotel at Disney is about $82 a night. Also check for deals)Rental Car- $600 (Thrifty offers great deals. I got car for $150 for the week)
Tix for Disney World and Universal- $2000 (Special for 2 days at Universal $99)Food- $1500 (Cheaper if you eat in at least breakfast)
Mics (tips, tax, pics, souv) -$1,000(Take your own camera. You can use them to take pics or Cast members will help you take them and save by maybe buying one or two. Tax is included in total cruise price. Excursions can be done on your own)
Clothes $2,000 (if you must have new close shop Marshalls, TJmaxx, Target, for after summer sales. You are wearing shorts and T's. You only need do wear formal if you want. Nice top and and slacks for you, slacks and shirt for DH not many seen wearing tux)
Equals- $20,300- LOL i went over my budget- and I have to get my hair colored hehehe! (Land/sea actually cost more since you are getting less time and if you do the math you are paying something like 3 times the normal room rate)
how do you get OBC? (Travel agents offer as an incentive to give them your business. For example Dreams U. offers up to $600 depending upon the room. Sam's club offers giftcards to be used later at their stores.)

 

[Hockey Mom KQ]

I agree. Stay on Disney. The time you will save will be worth way more than the money you will spend. Especially if you have your mom with you. This way, if someone needs a break, you can easily come and go to and from the hotel. Renting DVC points is a great option. Enjoy your trip.

 

[stsomewhere]

I'm going to guess that you can't get airfare from Michigan for $300 each ($300 food + $500 gas + $300 hotels).

However, I do have one suggestion if you are budget minded. Stay at one of the hotels (Radisson, Quality Suites, Country Inn and Suites, Residence Inn) that offers free cruise parking if you stay with them the night before your cruise. We stayed at the Quality Suites. For $107, we got a night at the hotel, breakfast in the morning (nothing to write home about, but it was included), parking while we cruised, and shuttle to/from the port. The port parking for the week would have been $105. Obviously we had to stay somewhere, so it made sense to choose one of the free parking places.

We prefer to drive. Dh likes to stop in Kentucky on the way home and stock up on bourbon. We will be stopping in Atlanta to visit the American girl store (budget breaker), Downtown Disney for the lego store, we like the convience of having our own car. We are arriving on Thursday, so we will have a few days in FL. ( The kids just want to go to the beach and swim in the pool)

We prefer to have our car at port, that way we can get off the ship and go home. IMO, it is worth the $ for parking, not have to deal with the shuttle.

 

[byejou]

Here what my damages are for Me, DH, DS8, DS5:

Airfare: Philly to MCO, Southwest $480
Car Rental $200 7 days
WDW - CBR 9/24-9/27, 1 day pass with free dining: $600
MNNSSHP $200
4 night Wonder 9/27-10/1 Cat 12 GTY $1200
Disney Dollars +/- $600

Total +/- $2700 for 7 days of MAGIC

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

yeah my $2,000 for daycare expenses is for my daycare employees at my house to keep the daycare going while we are gone!

I was thinking of calling a TA once I had all the money ready- to see if they have cabins at a lower price- wondering if they bought some but they have not yet filled em up.

Also, do you have to have a TA to book a cruise? Or can I do it myself? just wondering!

Everyone has been so wonderful with responses and tips! I hope to meet some of you on a cruise someday! Thank you! ~Tinksdreamwishes!

 

[NancyIL]

Also, do you have to have a TA to book a cruise? Or can I do it myself? just wondering!

Go to www.disneycruise.com and you can book the cruise yourself.

 

[marchdreamer]

We borrowed our pirate costumes from a friend and will supplement what doesn't fit us with misc items.

We used millage points for our airline tickets.

Formal wear is something that we always have since we have had many weddings and bar mitzvah's that we have gone to. I find that if I don't have a size for one of my daughter's, I can always borrow something in their size from a friend.

 

[Rogillio]

I'm probably gonna regret calculating this but we're booked on a 2010 Baltic cruise. Here is an estimate of what this trip is gonna end up costing;

Cat 4 Cruise for 4: $15,500
RT air to London for 4
(business class using FF miles for upgrade): $8,000
Hotel in London for 2 nights: $500
RT Trans from London to Dover, cabs to/from airport: $200
Meals and entrace fees and such while in London: $500
Shore excursions for 4 at various ports: $3000
Tips, bingo, photos, misc on-board charges: $1500
Gifts, suvenuers, tee-shirts, food while in port: $1000

Total: $30,200 ugh

I think our Med cruise cost us about $25,000 but we flew coach on that trip.

I figure the cost of these trips is sorta the cost of our kid's education. Our kids are very well traveled and have seen much of this big blue planet we live on!

~Mike

 

[shaylahc1]

I'm budgeting $10,000 for the 6 of us to go on the Eastern Transatlantic. That does NOT include any expeditions or souveniers which I am guessing will run another $1500 or so. The cruise itself is $6600, we bought airfare from NC to MCO for $500 for the 6 of us. I am budgeting $3000 to get us home from Spain....it may end up being a hair more.

For us this is a trip of a lifetime. We definitely don't spend this kind of money to vacation---like, ever

ETA that does not include tips or transfers.