How much do you spend once onboard?

[Garyjames220]

Hi

Just trying to budget how much onboard spending to take for our 4 night Spain cruise next year, we are two adults and two 3 year old girls

we plan on doing polo dinner, getting 2 Disney magic plus bands, the odd coffee, cocktail class, one day in the rainforest room and probably 6-7 cocktails through out the day for me and my wife ( might seem a lot but I’m thinking 2 in the afternoon 2 at dinner, 1 at the show and 2 in the adult only areas at night)

how much would people recommend taking for all off this, I was thinking 1000 dollars, anyone think that’s about right?

also just out of interest what do you spend onboard? Interesting to know how different we May all be

 

[soniam]

I am embarrassed to say about our last cruise, Alaska this summer. We got a certificate of appreciation from the bar staff. I suspect it was due to how much we spent, ok my husband, spent in the bar.

Usually, we just charge back to the room, which gets paid on the credit card. I only bring money for extra staff gratuities.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Hi

Just trying to budget how much onboard spending to take for our 4 night Spain cruise next year, we are two adults and two 3 year old girls

we plan on doing polo dinner, getting 2 Disney magic plus bands, the odd coffee, cocktail class, one day in the rainforest room and probably 6-7 cocktails through out the day for me and my wife ( might seem a lot but I’m thinking 2 in the afternoon 2 at dinner, 1 at the show and 2 in the adult only areas at night)

how much would people recommend taking for all off this, I was thinking 1000 dollars, anyone think that’s about right?

also just out of interest what do you spend onboard? Interesting to know how different we May all be

I'm a ...bit...obsessive about our cruises. In my spreadsheet for each sailing, I break down ahead of time our onboard (prepaid server tips, alcohol tastings, Palo/Remy/Enchante...) and ashore excursions. That's a separate bucket for me where I know the amount ahead of time and load our onboard account with prepaid Disney Gift Cards. Gotta love the Target Red Card discount.

For other onboard spending, I do a rule of thumb of $50 per day for internet access for both of us plus a $30 per day wedge for coffee, booze etc.

Breaking down our cruise last month from the downloaded onboard folio, I was Very Surprised at how big of a tipper I am!

Tips	$131.15​
Booze	$137.00​
Coffee	$14.00​
Total	$282.15​
Daily	$94.05​

The tips listed excluded the prepaid server tips. We're not big shoppers in the shops and whatnot. Of note the tips line includes the autogratuity and any we add on top. We had a refund of $73.27 from the onboard account preloaded, so it worked out in the end.

ETA: this was a 3 night cruise

 

[AquaDame]

Our last cruise was an eight night Bermuda and we ended up spending $1650 over the week. That included dinner at Palo, dessert at Remy, gratuities & excursions which was the lions share. I had expected to spend about $1500.

Full disclosure though I'm lucky if I have a single drink in a day as it can trigger a migraine... if I drank the way my husband does the bar bill would have been a couple hundred higher. He averages 2-3 a day when we're on vacation.

 

[Flcruising]

Zero if it's the 2 of us. If kids are along maybe $25-$50 each. It's usually a shirt and kids jewelry. Tips are prepaid and we don't drink so our onboard bill is low.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I did the 4 night Spain cruise to Bilbao in 2023 you can read my trip report here Solo Disney Dream 4 Night Southampton To Bilbao Spain Cruise 2023

** edit** Solo cruiser, so all costs are for one person

I download my cruise folio so I have the exact breakdown of what I spent

I had $100 On Board Credit from Dreams Unlimited Travel and then had a cash account, which meant that I added cash to my account during the cruise and then at the end, if I had any money left over I would a cash refund. This works for me as I can keep a check on my spending and I don't have a big credit card bill after my cruise.

The total spending , including the $100 OBC was $608.81

1. Automatic Tips = $58
2. Extra Tip to Cove Cafe Bartender -$10
3. Length of Cruise Rainforest Pass = $99
4. Martini Tasting =$50
5. Chocolate and Liquoir Tasting =$60
6. Palo Brunch $50 plus $10 tip
7. Shopping at Mickeys Main Sail = $167.95
8. Drink of the Day $8.56 x 4 = $34.24
9. Glass of Sparkling Wine at Dinner $10.62 x 4 = $42.48
10. Coffee at Cove Cafe $7.38 x 3 = $22.14
11. Room Service Tip = $5

 

[rainbowredpanda]

We've spent anything from $500 to $2500. Usually we're somewhere in the middle. Palo, merchandise, coffee, cocktails, tastings. We pre pay tips and add more once on board.

 

[Garyjames220]

We've spent anything from $500 to $2500. Usually we're somewhere in the middle. Palo, merchandise, coffee, cocktails, tastings. We pre pay tips and add more once on board.

Im guessing that’s for a 7 day cruise though and not a 4 day

 

[randumb0]

For those of you that are stating how much you paid please include the number of people in your cabin. My last cruise was 7 nights and 4 of us in our cabin. With gratuities we spent about $1400

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

For those of you that are stating how much you paid please include the number of people in your cabin. My last cruise was 7 nights and 4 of us in our cabin. With gratuities we spent about $1400

I was solo, so thats the cost for one person

 

[Garyjames220]

I actually thought 1000 dollars was crazy for a 4 night cruise and to much but it actually soon goes if you like cocktails, a bit of shopping and a palo dinner and cocktail class, more less gone

 

[Geomom]

I think budgeting $1000 is a great plan, and if you come in less than that you'll be happy!

Will your kids be 3 next year or 4? You're planning some couple time, if they will be 3, you might want to pay for the nursery for times you know you don't want to be called to pick them up (Palo, spa, etc). Just an idea and something else to budget for.

 

[sadiecatie]

On our Alaska sailing this year, I believe we were right around or just over $1000 - that's for 3 people, 7 nights (not including pre-paid gratuities). We did Palo brunch, a tasting class, enjoy a couple cocktails daily, did some shopping, and we like to play bingo. We also add extra tips for our stateroom attendant and serving team. We could certainly spend less, but like to indulge on vacation. I will be budgeting about that much for onboard spending for our upcoming sailing out of San Juan.

 

[BStieers]

Most of the items you have on your wish list there have preset prices, you should be able to add them up and get an idea based on your personal desired list of items.

 

[CamColt]

Our on board account can vary greatly, based on many variables. For example our last cruise was 7 nights, 3 adults and we did 2 excursions. Excursions are rare for us. Occasionally DH and I will do a couples massage so that will add a lot to the total if we do that.

Some things that are constants for us are tips, Palo Brunch tip, 4-6 drinks each (2 adults) per day (2-3 at the pool bar during the day 2-3 at night in the clubs), usually a few loads of laundry, internet, a few odd purchases and gifts for family.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

For us, it just matters on how much we play Bingo. Otherwise, my wife will have a specialty coffee a day to every other day, and we end up trying to get something shirt or jacket wise for each of us at the gift shops. But otherwise, that is about it for our onboard spending (not counting excursions), since neither of us drink alcohol (though my wife will have a glass of wine at dinner one night), it really cuts down on what we end up spending while onboard.

Psy

 

[Garyjames220]

Our on board account can vary greatly, based on many variables. For example our last cruise was 7 nights, 3 adults and we did 2 excursions. Excursions are rare for us. Occasionally DH and I will do a couples massage so that will add a lot to the total if we do that.

Some things that are constants for us are tips, Palo Brunch tip, 4-6 drinks each (2 adults) per day (2-3 at the pool bar during the day 2-3 at night in the clubs), usually a few loads of laundry, internet, a few odd purchases and gifts for family.

that’s roughly the things we would do plus cocktail class, how much roughly were you for what u mentioned above

 

[lanejudy]

we plan on doing polo dinner, getting 2 Disney magic plus bands, the odd coffee, cocktail class, one day in the rainforest room and probably 6-7 cocktails through out the day for me and my wife ( might seem a lot but I’m thinking 2 in the afternoon 2 at dinner, 1 at the show and 2 in the adult only areas at night)

This may not be 100% accurate but should be a decent starting point for you to the math:

• Palo dinner = $50.00 per guest plus trip
• Disney+ bands = $24.99-$34.99
• specialty coffee = $3.25-$15.50 plus 18% gratuity
• tastings = $45.00-$70.00
• Rain Forest Room = $99.00 per guest length of cruise (4 night)
• cocktails = $11.00-$15.00 plus 18% gratutity
• Auto-Gratuities = $14.50 per guest per night (includes children) for stateroom host and dining team

Budgeting $1000 may be fine, especially if you have already pre-paid the auto-gratuities for the stateroom host and dining team. If you need to count those into your onboard account then you may want to plan at least $1200 or so. It really depends how many drinks per day as that really adds up quickly -- easily $80-$100+ per day for two of you to buy 6-7 adult beverages per day.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

This may not be 100% accurate but should be a decent starting point for you to the math:

• Palo dinner = $50.00 per guest plus trip
• Disney+ bands = $24.99-$34.99
• specialty coffee = $3.25-$15.50 plus 18% gratuity
• tastings = $45.00-$70.00
• Rain Forest Room = $99.00 per guest length of cruise (4 night)
• cocktails = $11.00-$15.00 plus 18% gratutity
• Auto-Gratuities = $14.50 per guest per night (includes children) for stateroom host and dining team

Budgeting $1000 may be fine, especially if you have already pre-paid the auto-gratuities for the stateroom host and dining team. If you need to count those into your onboard account then you may want to plan at least $1200 or so. It really depends how many drinks per day as that really adds up quickly -- easily $80-$100+ per day for two of you to buy 6-7 adult beverages per day.

I listed out exact prices from my cruise folio as I did the same cruise in 2023 that GaryJames220 is asking about, the 4 night Spain cruise on The Dream. Can you copy and paste my post into a new post, as it seems he has not read it or can't see it for some reason.

1. Automatic Tips = $58
2. Extra Tip to Cove Cafe Bartender -$10
3. Length of Cruise Rainforest Pass = $99
4. Martini Tasting =$50
5. Chocolate and Liquoir Tasting =$60
6. Palo Brunch $50 plus $10 tip
7. Shopping at Mickeys Main Sail = $167.95
8. Drink of the Day $8.56 x 4 = $34.24
9. Glass of Sparkling Wine at Dinner $10.62 x 4 = $42.48
10. Coffee at Cove Cafe $7.38 x 3 = $22.14
11. Room Service Tip = $5

 

[Garyjames220]

This may not be 100% accurate but should be a decent starting point for you to the math:

• Palo dinner = $50.00 per guest plus trip
• Disney+ bands = $24.99-$34.99
• specialty coffee = $3.25-$15.50 plus 18% gratuity
• tastings = $45.00-$70.00
• Rain Forest Room = $99.00 per guest length of cruise (4 night)
• cocktails = $11.00-$15.00 plus 18% gratutity
• Auto-Gratuities = $14.50 per guest per night (includes children) for stateroom host and dining team

Budgeting $1000 may be fine, especially if you have already pre-paid the auto-gratuities for the stateroom host and dining team. If you need to count those into your onboard account then you may want to plan at least $1200 or so. It really depends how many drinks per day as that really adds up quickly -- easily $80-$100+ per day for two of you to buy 6-7 adult beverages per day.

That’s helpful thanks

do you know if they do single day rainforest room passes

also have you or anyone else ever done the remy desert experience, was thinking about doing that too