Nov.2017 cruise on Fantasy, ???????????

[connie1042]

Have cruised many times, never with Disney. I am a little concerned. It will be my daughter and family 2 adults, 4 kids and me. I am now retired and on a limited budget. What extras other than special restaurants and excursions will I have to pay for? Food on CC? When using room service, do you tip them right than? I have problems walking long distances. Is there a way to get from ship to CC beaches without the long walk? I thought of ordering and ECV for the trip, but don't know if it will help with getting to places, without a hassle. Any help is appreciated.

 

[dragynally]

Have cruised many times, never with Disney. I am a little concerned. It will be my daughter and family 2 adults, 4 kids and me. I am now retired and on a limited budget. What extras other than special restaurants and excursions will I have to pay for? Food on CC? When using room service, do you tip them right than? I have problems walking long distances. Is there a way to get from ship to CC beaches without the long walk? I thought of ordering and ECV for the trip, but don't know if it will help with getting to places, without a hassle. Any help is appreciated.

First take a deep breath. Second YAY trip! 3rd go to disneycruiselineblog.com and look up tip calculator to see how much and how you can pay tips ahead. Now you don't have to pay for much besides special adult dining, souvenirs, alcohol, bingo (if you play). Beware of snacks near the theaters they cost. Also don't get bottled water or canned soda or snacks from room service. They cost. Room service only needs $1 or 2 per plate.

 

[Quellman]

Hi! Welcome abaord to the Cruiseline board! If you feel comfortable, the overall trip cost would be lower for the group if atleast one other person shared the cabin with you.

This thread HERE has a list of the items that cost extra. Most all are optional. So if you don't use you don't pay. You normally do tip right away for room service.
On castaway cay there is a tram that takes you from near the ship to the family beach and the other family beach (where you can transfer to another tram which takes you to the adults only beach). They do have beach accessible wheelchairs on the island that are good for use in the sand.

One way to save some money is to buy Disney gift cards with a discount (see the budget board). Places like target (5%) or Costco/Sams clubs can save money on things from booking with them (costco travel) or buying gift cards, which can be used to pay for the cruise. Many people use them on board to pay all of their stateroom charges by going to guest services and having them added to their account. It even works with tips! If you are really savvy you can also do the Disney Vacation Account where for every $1,000 Disney gives you like an additional $20. Just another way tosave on the cost of things you do end up purchasing.


Luckily, you have some time before you are sailing so you can spend time reading these boards to get an idea, and plenty of time to spread the cost out! .

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Have cruised many times, never with Disney. I am a little concerned. It will be my daughter and family 2 adults, 4 kids and me. I am now retired and on a limited budget. What extras other than special restaurants and excursions will I have to pay for? Food on CC? When using room service, do you tip them right than? I have problems walking long distances. Is there a way to get from ship to CC beaches without the long walk? I thought of ordering and ECV for the trip, but don't know if it will help with getting to places, without a hassle. Any help is appreciated.

1. Since the specialty restaurants on Disney are adult only (+18) and I'm assuming this is a trip for the extended family to spend time together, you don't have to plan those. MDR is included in your cruise fare so no need to spend extra for any dining.

2. Food on CC is included.

3. Yes - either you tip cash or you can sign the receipt (the receipt will be for $0 unless you order soda, alcohol or pre-packaged snacks like M&Ms).

4. Yes - there is a tram. You will need to walk from the ship to the tram station (not too bad but be prepared with good shoes).

For mobility devices, you could go with an ECV, a wheelchair (and have someone push you) or a walker with a seat (so you can rest and have something to give you support). Whatever you go with, please ensure that it will fit in your stateroom.

 

[connie1042]

Since my daughters family is a family of 6, they needed 2 rooms. I am taking one of the rooms with 2 of the kids. I use Disney gift cards all the time for our Disney trips. Starting to buy them now. Buying stuff for gift baskets now. Keep the ideas and information coming. I am the disney planner in our family, but this is all new.

 

[DisneySunPrincess]

Have cruised many times, never with Disney. I am a little concerned. It will be my daughter and family 2 adults, 4 kids and me. I am now retired and on a limited budget. What extras other than special restaurants and excursions will I have to pay for? Food on CC? When using room service, do you tip them right than? I have problems walking long distances. Is there a way to get from ship to CC beaches without the long walk? I thought of ordering and ECV for the trip, but don't know if it will help with getting to places, without a hassle. Any help is appreciated.

You have gotten some great advice here already, so I am just going to add my 2 cents, FWIW.

DCL is great line and in many ways I truly feel like it is worth the expense. I have never had a more wonderful vacation. The kids will have the time of their lives and you will love every minute living through their joy. Now....with that said, to address some of your questions.

1. There are some things that cost extra on DCL, but the truth is, there are less things that cost extra on DCL than there are on any other cruise line. For example, your soda, milk, juice, tea, at meals, as well as from the station on the pool deck are included in your fare. That is a cool bonus from other lines where a beverage package is required to get those things. BUT, that being said, Speciality drinks, fancy coffee drinks from the Cove Cafe, alcohol (except for the wine or beer you are allowed to bring aboard or the complementary cocktails on Captains Gala night at the reception), smoothies (on ship or CC), pre-packaged snacks from room service or from outside of the theater, and then as previous posters have mentioned, the obvious....spa, arcade, Palo/Remy, gift shops, Vanellope's Sweets and Treats (if one is aboard the Fantasy by then), Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique/Pirate's League, port adventures. I think that just about covers it. I am sure I am missing something but the great thing about the DISboards is that someone will catch it and let you know. LOL

2. Food on CC is included as previously mentioned with the exception of Smoothies and Alcohol.

3. As PP mentioned, you do tip room service when the arrive with your food. $1-2 per plate is about right.

4. PP also mentioned the trams on CC.

Just a little something to add about ways to save money on the cruise itself. I agree with what PP said. Utilize Sam's Club/BJs to get Disney Gift Cards for about 5% off. If you happen to have a Chase Freedom CC, they are currently offering 5% cash back on purchases up to $1500 per quarter at Wholesale clubs, so that doubles you up to 10% off. (Next years calendar is not out yet so we will have to see if that continues). And the Disney Vacation Account is another great free way to get that extra $20 in Disney Gift Cards for every $1000 spent. You have to have the account open a minimum of 120 days before you make payments from it. You can also check the rewards programs for any of your existing credit cards to see if your reward points are eligible for Disney Gift Cards or if you can simply get it the points in cash to help with your vacation expenses. My husband is the king of finding ways to save money. He has even gone to opening new credit cards with 50,000 bonus points if you spend a certain amount in the first 3 months. He will just charge our general bills and pay it off right away, but 50,000 bonus points equates to $500 which he will use to help pay for the cruise. With all of these tricks, we are looking to save about $1600 on our cruise next September.

Another thing to consider is booking through a TA, like Dreams Unlimited. The offer Onboard Credit offers based on the amount of your cruise. That is a great bonus that truly costs you nothing. The price of the cruise is exactly the same as with DCL, but then you get this extra onboard credit and a cool gift basket. And, just like we did, you can lump it all together. If I add the onboard credit from Dreams Unlimited to my total "savings", we will save a total of $1850.

Please feel free to let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Have a magical cruise!