It is possible? Dream or nightmare?

[KSHowards]

Good for you @WishingStar78, I was in your shoes last year. If I read everything correctly, you have basically an $8500 budget for the vacation? $6,000 for the cruise, $2,500 to get you there, passports, transfers...and fun...don't forget cruise ship fun.

Last year we paid roughly $120 per passport. We decided to do the real deal passports because we like to travel and we want our kids to see the world even at a young age (4,6) We decided to fly in a day early, stay the night, they hotel had a free transfer (basically, we tipped him $10 bucks to drive us a short distance) Hotels in the ports are used to us "newbie travelers" so they take good care of you. That probably added around $200 more. I don't honestly remember flights, b but those change on a regular basis. Always check on tuesdays. Airlines project and estimate what flights will be full early in the week for months out. So if the trend is going down, they tend to lower flight costs to minimize they're risk of losing money on a flight that isn't full. But for 4 to be traveling from Colorado to Miami..is it? I'd budget 400 per ticket. That should be more than enough. Also if you plan far enough out ahead...get a Capital One Venture card. (only if you are very strict with money) Start putting all your monthly budgeted bills on the card and pay them off like regular. You get double points per dollar (means 2c for ever 1$ spent) You can use these points to purchase your flight. If you plan far enough out...you should have plenty of points to buy your tickets. (I.E. our monthly expenses, not including our random eating out, stupid purchases is around $1800 per month. So every month we are saving about $36 towards our flights..not including what we saved back each month.

Now for us where it got tricky because we did have a very tight budget and didn't have much wiggle room at the time was once we got on the ship. Everything on DCL costs money. (Certain restaurants, Beer/Wine/Mixed Drinks, Plenty of cool shops...etc) There are ways around some of these...and I will go into further detail if you want. But it is not cheap to be on a Disney Cruise Line. You can do it, but it get very hard at least it was for us and our two kids.

 

[wilkeliza]

I would think your luggage is fine. I used hand me down luggage for years and it always survived. I'm talking old luggage of my grandpas form like the 60s. It was all woven material and not like hefty well made stuff either. I moved into college and traveled to and from Texas to NYC with that luggage for years. I still have a piece of it that is in good enough shape that I only held on to because it reminds me of my papa.

Sounds like you will be flying form the US to Canada so with that being the case passports are a necessity not a if we can afford them or not situation. So budget for them.

With a camera unless you are buying a mirrorless digital camera with changeable lenses or DSLR your cell camera will be just as good if not better then any standard point and click. Also unless you know how to use a great camera again the photos are going to be the exact same quality as cell phone cameras if you have updated at least in the last 2 years.

I would say you can have a perfectly amazing Disney Cruise experience while spending 0 extra. You will have to pay about 12 per a person (including children) per a day of the cruise as tip so budget for that. However, besides that excursions aren't a requirement. You can always get off for free and walk around. Sure Disney offers these crazy expensive excursions like helicopter trips and dog sledding but none of that is a requirement to ensure enjoyment.

You can get free cookies and milk each night form room service, you can order as much or as little as you want in the dinning rooms (your kid wants 2 desserts say yes! It doesn't cost any more if you order everything on the regular menu or if you order nothing) and there are free snacks on the deck. You can save a lot by eating on the ship even when at port. We do that sometimes. Eat breakfast, get off explore, come back for lunch, then if we have time go out again.

There is free soda and ice cream on the pool deck. As long as lunch is being served you can also always go into Cabanas (or whatever it is called on the classics) to grab snacks as well.

There is something to do on board every night and many activities during the day.

Have a wonderful trip.

 

[tink1970]

I would say you can have a perfectly amazing Disney Cruise experience while spending 0 extra. You will have to pay about 12 per a person (including children) per a day of the cruise as tip so budget for that. However, besides that excursions aren't a requirement. You can always get off for free and walk around. Sure Disney offers these crazy expensive excursions like helicopter trips and dog sledding but none of that is a requirement to ensure enjoyment.

You can get free cookies and milk each night form room service, you can order as much or as little as you want in the dinning rooms (your kid wants 2 desserts say yes! It doesn't cost any more if you order everything on the regular menu or if you order nothing) and there are free snacks on the deck. You can save a lot by eating on the ship even when at port. We do that sometimes. Eat breakfast, get off explore, come back for lunch, then if we have time go out again.

There is free soda and ice cream on the pool deck. As long as lunch is being served you can also always go into Cabanas (or whatever it is called on the classics) to grab snacks as well.

Exactly that! I've challenged myself to see if I could cruise for under $200 by just paying cash/gift cards upon boarding. It's definitely doable- I think we only had charges for gratuities and spa (me, Rainforest Room, guilty pleasure) on our last cruise. It sounds like you avoid the "keeping up the Jones game" in real life...you can do it on the ship, too. If you read the Budget Board you might get more helpful hints on ways to save or earn (swagbucks, etc) for the cruise, especially if you have another year to do so. And I was in a thrift shop Weds and looking at luggage thinking "I know someone one the boards who could use this piece..." It's available at much reduced prices if you look.

 

[kiford]

We could use the money to go to the cruise, but the outside costs are staggering, can it be done?

As many have pointed out, you can manage a lot of the outside costs within the budget you have for DL. Flights are actually the biggest cost outside of the cruise itself.

Food costs (outside of the cruise) and transportation everywhere

If you don't do excursions, the only transportation once (other than flights) are from airport to hotel if you're coming in the day before, hotel to port, port to airport.

Food costs outside of the cruise if you don't do excursions (or if excursions don't include food) are meals if you come in the night before.

we don't even own a camera better than the one on my phone, so I'd really like to get a decent cheap one and that's about $100 so we can have pictures to remember

DH takes hundreds of photos every trip (last trip of 2 weeks he took 1500 pictures). We own probably 6 cameras between the two of us and he takes probably 1/3 of those photos on his phone. I take probably 80% on my phone. We both own iPhones and the camera is pretty good not to mention convenient as we always have it on us. So unless you have a phone with a camera that takes really fuzzy and bad pictures, you'll be fine with it - no need for a new camera just for this trip.

The three absolutely biggest costs if you don't spend like drunken sailor (we do but not everyone needs to or wants to on a cruise) are - in order: cruise, flights, excursions. I can't speak to US passport costs as I'm Canadian and I've had one since I was an adult so having one is just part of everyday requirements as both DH and I had to travel for business as well as pleasure.

If your cruise and flights are paid for and you are careful about your excursions, you should be able to do quite a bit on your budget. If the kids like the characters, they will get far more exposure on a cruise than at DL. There's first-run Disney movies, live shows, pools, time spent on deck just looking at the scenery, and lots of other activities for kids and adults that don't require you to run around madly as at DL or WDW so IMO, the cruise has a lot of bang for buck.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP I'm still hearing stress at the costs but I'm not adding up enough costs for you to be overly worried about, given what you already have saved.

The taxes you're paying...does that means taxes on the cruise or taxes you'll pay the IRS with your return?

Haha, we went out to dinner with that, it's long gone (we certainly didn't expect more). Have you read/used that book?

Guidebooks are good. Libraries have them. Always get the most recent guidebook. Unless you like writing in books, libraries are great.

Keep in mind in Canada your American money stretches a lot farther. So your hotel and food and travel while in Canada should seem a lot cheaper.

Yep.

Very true...this hurts me so much

It hurts now but someday it'll flip flop back to when we slowed our Canada visits because it was so expensive for Americans!

I work at our local hospital and I can tell you for a fact that you have to pay before you would get any type scan. We have a large number of Americans in our area and they can not be checked in until they pay the bill. It might be different in an emergency situation, but you should expect a bill. I think in the past it may have been easy for an American to slip in, but all provinces now require your health card to get healthcare.

Dh did not have a scan and he was in England. I was asking the questions about Canada not stating facts about Canada.

Some services or treatments carried out in an NHS hospital are exempt from charges, so that they are free to all. These include:

• accident and emergency services – not including emergency treatment if admitted to hospital

Yep just found that.

Dh has insurance through his company for work travel so he doesn't look into it. He was stunned when he had no bill in England and no need to show his travel insurance info. He figured it was like what people are saying for Canada, but then there was some super secret exemption. So I was asking for the experiences of visitors to Canada rather than what was written.

Healthcare works differenty in every country, so it makes sense to check out the rules that apply to you when you travel to the specific country.

Exactly what I was encouraging people to do.

. Are you saying the airlines would have put us on another flight for free?

When DH flat out missed his flight by 24 hours they put him on a flight the next day, with a different routing because his was sold out, at no extra cost.

But for 4 to be traveling from Colorado to Miami..is it?

Vancouver. Alaska cruise.

 

[KSHowards]

OP I'm still hearing stress at the costs but I'm not adding up enough costs for you to be overly worried about, given what you already have saved.

The taxes you're paying...does that means taxes on the cruise or taxes you'll pay the IRS with your return?



Guidebooks are good. Libraries have them. Always get the most recent guidebook. Unless you like writing in books, libraries are great.



Yep.



It hurts now but someday it'll flip flop back to when we slowed our Canada visits because it was so expensive for Americans!



Dh did not have a scan and he was in England. I was asking the questions about Canada not stating facts about Canada.



Yep just found that.

Dh has insurance through his company for work travel so he doesn't look into it. He was stunned when he had no bill in England and no need to show his travel insurance info. He figured it was like what people are saying for Canada, but then there was some super secret exemption. So I was asking for the experiences of visitors to Canada rather than what was written.




Exactly what I was encouraging people to do.



When DH flat out missed his flight by 24 hours they put him on a flight the next day, with a different routing because his was sold out, at no extra cost.



Vancouver. Alaska cruise.

I stand corrected

 

[WishingStar78]

LOL you guys are great, with the advice I've gotten I definitely think it is possible now , now I just need to figure out how to make the most of what I have. Our luggage may make it...

My husband and I both have phones from Republic Wireless, it's cheaper and more convenient than a land line, but we bought them almost 4 years ago and got the cheapest one's then. (we felt really fancy though because they were (at the time) big screened smart phones) unfortunately our main cameras are less powerful then the self facing cameras of current phones.

But..... recently my DH had an incident where he got his phone wet and it seemed to be working fine again, but it still annoys him. A new phone with them is only about $20-30 more than a camera with has the same quality, so perhaps we will upgrade his phone...

Taxes after the cruise are what we worry about, we are really good about withholdings so we don't get much back, and we don't know what the extra "income" will do (and cannot afford to pay someone to ask them)

Our library doesn't have the book, but it's less than $10 with shipping for a used copy online, so I'll probably make that work out. (have I mentioned that I love to plan LOL)

and yeah, passports, ouch! oh well...

I recently heard about something called Mturk, I've looked into it and it seems to work, sortof, I earned a dollar yesterday for a 20 minute survey, I think, 9 more days and I can buy the book!

 

[aggiedog]

Everything on DCL costs money.

I would hotly contest this. You could embark, spend 7 days cruising and walk off again without spending a cent. Now, you ought should spend the money on tips for any CM's you thought did a good job, since I believe they rely on those tips to supplement their income and they work hard.

Other than tips, you could spend 24/7 doing/eating/enjoying free stuff. That is the nice part about DCL. There are really no extra costs unless you want there to be - the spa, excursions, fancy Palo/Remy food, alcohol, fancy coffee, bingo, etc.

All the food in the dining rooms, buffet, snack bars, and most (all?) room service is free. Movies are free. Deck parties are free. Family games are free. Sodas, tea, regular coffee is free. Walking around the ports is free. The bus into the port, if needed, is free.

 

[RedSox68]

I would hotly contest this. You could embark, spend 7 days cruising and walk off again without spending a cent. Now, you ought should spend the money on tips for any CM's you thought did a good job, since I believe they rely on those tips to supplement their income and they work hard.

Other than tips, you could spend 24/7 doing/eating/enjoying free stuff. That is the nice part about DCL. There are really no extra costs unless you want there to be - the spa, excursions, fancy Palo/Remy food, alcohol, fancy coffee, bingo, etc.

All the food in the dining rooms, buffet, snack bars, and most (all?) room service is free. Movies are free. Deck parties are free. Family games are free. Sodas, tea, regular coffee is free. Walking around the ports is free. The bus into the port, if needed, is free.

The one big plus with Disney cruises vs. others is that their sodas are free. Also, they do not hassle you about removing or lowering gratuities if you do not feel you got good service like some other lines. The more it is discussed on this thread, the more it seems like this should work out for you all without too much hardship.

Best of luck -- it will be the experience of your lives (not only for being on a Disney ship - but seeing Alaska which is a wonderful venture).

I don't remember if anyone mentioned it, but keep in mind that they take an embarkation photo -- which is actually a very nice souvenir the way they frame it with dates, etc. -- and port pictures. Photos are not cheap, and average about $19.95 each. So if you can budget for that, you may be able to buy one or two photos for memory. Also, if your kids get in line for the character photos, let them take the pictures (even if you don't plan on buying them) and then tell them you also want one with your camera. That way you have them free.

Not to burden you with another bill, but if you can apply for one of the credit cards that gives you a cash reward and has a 12 or 18 month no interest introductory rate, you can not only use it to pay for the extras, but have time to pay it off and use the rewards for maybe credit back onto the bill.

Again, good luck and don't stress. I didn't notice -- what month are you sailing?

 

[FigmentSpark]

To add to the credit card... if you have the Disney Visa, I think you get a discount on purchases on the ship. At least, they kept asking me if I had one, and I assume that's why.

 

[wilkeliza]

To add to the credit card... if you have the Disney Visa, I think you get a discount on purchases on the ship. At least, they kept asking me if I had one, and I assume that's why.

Only if the purchases go over 50 at the time. Only works at places considered merchandise locations. So if buying the more affordable iteams and only 1 for each kid then it is possible to not reach the 50 for the discount.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

To add to the credit card... if you have the Disney Visa, I think you get a discount on purchases on the ship. At least, they kept asking me if I had one, and I assume that's why.

You only get a 10% discount on purchases of $50 or more in the gift shops (not on most "big ticket" items, though). But we love and have used the Disney Premiere Visa for years bc of the Disney Reward Dollars we earn, thousands and thousands over the 6 years we've had ours.

 

[Figee17]

When we went on our cruise to Alaska (not DCL) back in 2009, we were not in a position to do pricey excursions. We had a fantastic time taking hikes, walking around the towns, and just taking in the scenery and always returned to the ship for meals to save money.

On our last DCL cruise (Eastern Carribean), we never got off the ship (I don't recommend that if you've never seen the ports, especially in Alaska), never ate at specialty restaurants, and didn't do any on board activities that required an additional payment and we had a FANTASTIC time.

Another point, I have 2 - 3 cameras (point and shoot) and I still always end up using my cell phone and get great quality. And "luggage" can be almost anything that will hold your belongings - backpacks, duffel bags, etc.

 

[hanscarlet]

Congrats OP! This will be an experience of a lifetime so happy for you! I would love to cruise to Alaska! You'll fit right in, everyone is treated equally on DCL (well except for concierge - they get extras but they aren't walking around wearing a concierge sign).

 

[RedSox68]

When we went on our cruise to Alaska (not DCL) back in 2009, we were not in a position to do pricey excursions. We had a fantastic time taking hikes, walking around the towns, and just taking in the scenery and always returned to the ship for meals to save money.

On our last DCL cruise (Eastern Carribean), we never got off the ship (I don't recommend that if you've never seen the ports, especially in Alaska), never ate at specialty restaurants, and didn't do any on board activities that required an additional payment and we had a FANTASTIC time.

Another point, I have 2 - 3 cameras (point and shoot) and I still always end up using my cell phone and get great quality. And "luggage" can be almost anything that will hold your belongings - backpacks, duffel bags, etc.

I agree about Alaska -- just being there is the trip itself. Sometimes the excursion descriptions make you feel like you might miss something, but keep in mind the ports themselves are wilderness -- we saw bald eagles and seals in Ketchikan and hadn't even left the town LOL.

We are port hogs -- even if we have sailed to that port before, we never miss a chance to get off and do something else -- or just get off and walk around for a while. After all, some of your cruise costs are port fees. That being said, I can honestly say there is one port that if we ever sail back to it I would not get off -- Acapulco. Filthiest port we've ever been to (smelled like a giant urinal). The cliff divers and fort were amazing though.

 

[joycsk]

I would hotly contest this. You could embark, spend 7 days cruising and walk off again without spending a cent. Now, you ought should spend the money on tips for any CM's you thought did a good job, since I believe they rely on those tips to supplement their income and they work hard.

Other than tips, you could spend 24/7 doing/eating/enjoying free stuff. That is the nice part about DCL. There are really no extra costs unless you want there to be - the spa, excursions, fancy Palo/Remy food, alcohol, fancy coffee, bingo, etc.

Al.

I know this gets said all the time, but please know the tips really are NOT optional, Especially for your stateroom host and dinner servers. Most cruise lines do not salary those positions, merely provide room/board (which is NOTHING like what the guests get, nor it is even like what the officers get.)