Whats included in your fare - Part 1
That depends upon what you have purchased.
If you buy "everything" you will get:
1) the cruise (including taxes and port charges),
2) travel insurance,
3) transfers from the Orlando airport to the port and back and
4) air fare. (
5) for those booking a package from Europe sometimes gratituities are included)
Some TA's will quote you a price that doesn't include taxes and port charges - so the price looks really good up front - so when you get a quote, make sure that you are comparing the same items. Airfare is optional. Like a prior post said, you usually can get cheeper and more convienient times on your own.
Travel Insurance is always optional. It sounds like if you want it you can find better (more inclusive) AND less expensive options than
DCL.
You need to travel between the airport and port. There are many options here. The DCL transfers let you start experiencing the "Magic" or "Wonerder" a little earlier - they have a video of what you can expect on the cruise. Renting your own car gives you as much flexibilty as you want. And finally there are many "limo" services that can move you from place to place.
Whats included in your fare - Part 2
Once on the ship all of your food is included in the price with one, small, very good exception-Palo.
Palo is an adults only restaurant that serves less than 150 dinners per night. On sea days (4 and 7 night cruises) there is also a wonderful brunch. There is a cost of $10 per person per meal here. And you should add an additional tip for your server.
Food is included in the cost of your cruise, "drinks" are not. Which Drinks are not: Adult beverages, speciality drinks (smoothies), speciality coffees and bottled water. Sodas present a special set of rules - at meals in the restaurants soda is free, at bars and lounges you have to pay for them. There is also soda available for free during the day at the beverage station.
For your regular dinners, you will be assigned a seating (main, late), dinning rotation (which dinning room to eat in - it changes every evening) and a table number and a serving team (server, assistant server). The dinning room changes, your tablemates and serving team don't. DCL serves a 4 course dinner (appetizer, salad/soup, entree and desert). Like the looks of a couple of items out of any category - order both - they'll bring them. Oh, and if you don't like either, order a third and they will gladly bring you another. So here is the place to be adventurous - try some things you would never try - because they are expensive at home - this is realitivly "risk free".
For breakfast and lunch there are a couple of restaurants open along with the buffet up on deck 9 (Topsiders/Beach Blanket). The times they are open are listed in the daily navigator. For lunches there usually is a theme (italian, seafood, asian, ...)
Room Service is free for most items - just remember to tip
Personal Navigators - the most important documents on the cruise. They list off the days activities, times and places. So much to do, not enough time to do it all - hard choices to be made!
Entertainment - Lots of it and all of it included in the price. In the evenings there are the main theatrical productions in the Walt Disney Theater. Main dinner seating sees the shows after dinner at 8:30, Late dinner see the shows at 6:30. Inbetween these shows/dinners is the family shows. These are about 30 minutes in length and are a LOT of fun for everyone.
The pools are included: theres the Mickey pool for the younger children (up to about age 12 I think), the Goofy family pool and then there is paradise - the adult pool call quiet cove.
The kids clubs are included in the fare (Except for Flounder Reef Nursery for children up to 3 yo). Once you board the ship you can register the kids for the clubs and get their navigators for the cruise (it's seperate from the Personal Navigator (PN) and this info is NOT included in the PN). You can drop them off and pick them up at will. The clubs generally are open from 8am to 2am
Adult "Education Series" (on the Magic)
Most activities listed in the PM throughout the day
Movies
OK, but what's NOT included
First of all its the "manditory" gratuities (tips). They are NOT included in the price of the cruise. The are not manditory because no one will make you pay them but...the dirty little secret of the cruise industry is that they pay the folks in tipped positions about $50 per MONTH, so their income comes mostly from tips. DCL has a recommended tipping guide (most of us look at is a the starting point, it is per guest for the length of the trip). Tips work out to a little less than $11 per day per guest. There is a lot of confusion on how tipping works - search for prior thread or just ask!
(you don't tip for each meal, who to tip, when, etc)
Second: Shore excursions are not included. You'll have to pay for these. You may just want to go to beaches on your own until the youngest is a little older.
Third: Speciality drinks...Adult beverages (even the "virgin" variety), bottled water, smoothies, speciality coffees and soda outside of the dinning rooms during breakfast, lunch and dinner times.
Other:
Video Game Arcade
Wine Tasting Class
Spa treatments
Bingo
Shutters Pictures (unfortunatly - this is our weak spot
)
Just keep reading these board and you will learn lots
