Please help me meet my budget

[ryan840]

Hi, I am starting to work on next years vacation, and we would like to do a cruise/WDW combo. Here is the trick- We need to stay right around $2500 for ALL of these things : Cruise (including taxes and fees), Tips, Insurance, Airfare/ car rental or transportation, park tickets, and hotel (all taxex and tips). We have actually budgeted $3000 for the entire trip, including food and souveniers. It will be my husband and I, with our son (who will be two then) and if we are lucky, a new addition of minimum cruising age. Is this possible? I've contacted about four travel agents, and it doesn't look good going that route, but it doesnt have to be a Disney cruise, as long the port is within a couple of hours of WDW. I also would prefer to stay on-site if it is not a Disney cruise, but if it is, then off-site is fine (I just have to have a bit of that Disney luxury!) We would like to get three day park hopper passes and have atleast four days at WDW. We are open to the option of buying 10 day premium no exp. passes if our general finances would allow it. We aren't opposed to driving down ourselves, except that it would essentially eat up six days of vacation and add two more hotel stays (roundtrip). What can you suggest?

 

[d4est]

Have you looked into prices for a cruise? I can't really offer any help except to say that I am having a difficult time organizing our trip for 3 (2 adults, 1 child, age 8) for the same $2500. This is for a 5 night stay on property (value or mod), airfare, park tx, food, spending $...

I can come up with a figure near the $2500, but it leaves us little buffer for "what ifs."

Good luck with your planning. I would price things out and add them up.

To get more help, offer some specifics.

How long of a cruise?
How may days at dis?
What category resort?
Travel dates?
Discounts you might qualify for?

Again, good luck!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I think that you will have a difficult time realistically meeting your goal. I priced a Cat. 12 (the cheapest Stateroom Category), for 2 adults, a 2yo and infant, cruising in early December 2006 (the cheapest time to cruise), for 3 nights on land and 4 nights at sea. The cost was $2700+.

This did not include airfare or meals during the land portion of the vacation. It also does not take into consideration tipping and shore excursions, alcoholic beverages purchased onboard and souvenirs. It did include your resort (a moderate of your choice), MYW passes, travel insurance and all ground transportation.

You might be able to shave a few hundred off by arranging your own ground transportation (Tiffany or Florida Towncar) and booking the resort (a value instead of the moderate) and tickets (thru Ticketmania or MapleLeaf) on your own. Start with the cost of the cruise (4 nights only = $1675). Factor in the other costs to see if you can get the total to come out under $3K.

Other cruiselines are not as expensive as Disney and many of them also depart from Port Canaveral. Royal Caribbean has some beautiful ships and the food was every bit as good as that on the Disney ships. They're also more "family-oriented" than some of the others. Carnival tends to attract more singles and younger couples. But, when it comes to entertaining the kids and providing the ammenities that a family traveling with little ones needs, you cannot beat DCL.

 

[EthansMom]

I don't see that you mention when you would like to go, but September may be one of the least expensive times for both a cruise and WDW -- it is hurricane season, though. Also, Carnival is likely to be one of the least expensive cruise options (and slightly less luxurious than some of the competitors) although you may want to check out Norwegian since they charge only port taxes for very young children (no ticket fee).

I've used http://www.cruise411.com in the past and had good experiences. I was able to find a 4-day cruise on Carnival our of Port Canaveral in Sept. 2006 for $1100, including taxes but not tips and extras (like alcohol).

The WDW value resorts cost a minimum of $77 for Sept. 2005, so figuring inflation, you're probably looking at about $96/nt, including 13% tax for a WDW Value.

If you purchase WDW tickets from Ticketmania through the Mousesavers (http://www.mousesavers.com to sign up for the newsletter with savings links), 3-day Expiring tickets with no hopping are currently $181 per adult and 4-day Expiring tickets with no hopping are currently $194 per adult.

So, for cruise, tix and hotel you're looking at roughly $1850.

Personally, as a mother with two young children, I would recommend doing either a cruise or WDW. It's easier to travel to only one location with young kids and you're much more likely to meet your budget.

 

[JodyTG]

I have found great prices on cruises at www.mycruisevalue.com. We didn't get to take the trip (something came up) but we had no problem getting the refund of the deposit.

 

[kfeuer]

I second the suggestion of getting a quote for September dates. My DH and I are going on a 4-night cruise on the Wonder and we're paying $808 for the 2 of us for a Cat. 11 stateroom. I'm budgeting $100 for tips, $40 for parking (we're driving down) and $100 for misc. stuff. Skipping the excursions is a good way to keep your budget down. There's plenty to do on Castaway Cay, and frankly Nassau is not that exciting.

I'm not sure you can do everything you've listed for your budget. It would be cheaper to just do Disney for a week, or just cruise for a week. I think you're going to have to do some serious number crunching. Find a good travel agent and hopefully they can make it work for you.

 

[kkana]

I wish you luck - we are 3 going in July on the Land / Sea from Northern Ontario Canada - and our total cost (less food on land and souveniers) is $6921 - are things that much cheaper when in the states? This is the best price we were able to come up with - I even checked and got a quote from Dreams Unlimited and it was the same - actually it would have been more because we would have had to get from SSM Ontario to either Flint or Detroit.

 

[ryan840]

Thanks everyone. I did some real number crunching last night, and I'm getting closer... The only thing we want to be sure of is going in May, for our anniversary. Where we stay, how long, etc is all varialbe, as long as we get at least a week total vacation time. We are looking into Royal Carribean right now, I fell in love with their Voyager ship, so we'll see what happens. I'll post more when I have something solid, and in the mean time, I'd love to hear more tips/ ideas! Thanks again!!

 

[Forevryoung]

Thanks everyone. I did some real number crunching last night, and I'm getting closer... The only thing we want to be sure of is going in May, for our anniversary. Where we stay, how long, etc is all varialbe, as long as we get at least a week total vacation time. We are looking into Royal Carribean right now, I fell in love with their Voyager ship, so we'll see what happens. I'll post more when I have something solid, and in the mean time, I'd love to hear more tips/ ideas! Thanks again!!

My family has been on two Royal Carribean ships and we LOVED it. My family does one big vacation a year and we are definitely into pampering. We go all out for vacations because my dad can only take two weeks off a year (a week in August and a week for Christmas). Last year we did the Explorer for a week at Christmas and it was a blast. There were many kids on the boat and they had a swimming pool and a rock climbing wall and miniature golf. Definitely look into it!

 

[ryan840]

My family has been on two Royal Carribean ships and we LOVED it. My family does one big vacation a year and we are definitely into pampering. We go all out for vacations because my dad can only take two weeks off a year (a week in August and a week for Christmas). Last year we did the Explorer for a week at Christmas and it was a blast. There were many kids on the boat and they had a swimming pool and a rock climbing wall and miniature golf. Definitely look into it!

Thanks. What is there for my two year old to do there? I'm not worried about the possible new baby, he/she won't care where we are, but is there a lot for my son to do? I know he can't swim in the pools unless he's potty trained, and he should be by then, but just in case? I know people bring ring pools, so I will probably do that and I was just wondering what else he can do.

 

[Mary Anne]

I have been on a non Disney cruise with a 2 year 9 month old child and let me tell you there is not much for them to do. The ship I was on (Celebrity) did not allow them into the kids club till they were 3; kicker was mine was under 3 and toilet trained, and into day care and could easily have stayed but was not allowed in. I have to say while we enjoyed that cruise, I would not do it again with such young child, maybe a Disney cruise but not one that is not Disney.

 

[Forevryoung]

Thanks. What is there for my two year old to do there? I'm not worried about the possible new baby, he/she won't care where we are, but is there a lot for my son to do? I know he can't swim in the pools unless he's potty trained, and he should be by then, but just in case? I know people bring ring pools, so I will probably do that and I was just wondering what else he can do.

Yeah, I really dont know. Contact them and find out. The problem is that you only have x amount of room on the boat (even though it is a floating city).

 

[ryan840]

This is why I'm torn- a Disney cruise would take up our entire vacation budget for three or four days but it has so much to do, and we could get a babysitter, but we could do a RCCL cruise for at least five days and have a little leftover to spend at WDW... I think that my son will have fun just hanging out with us, spending some family time together, especially if we each take him and spend some alone time with him (which I KNOW he's going to need with a new baby- he's so clingy!) Besides, all it takes is a ball (or anything round) and he's all set no matter where he is- he walks around with a 32 oz. plastic coke cup with either a ball or a plastic Easter egg in it when we run errands and has the time of his life! I also know he'll love going to the beaches, so I think right now would be the best time to do a non Disney cruise, before he starts having expectations.

 

[EthansMom]

I've done cruises (with Royal Caribbean, before children) and WDW.

On most cruises, you'll pay as much to have your children share your cabin as if they were adults. Also, at that young, the cruise ships children's programs won't take them. So you would be paying full price for kids who won't be getting much food or entertainment for your money.

However, there are many rides/shows/attractions at WDW that are great for young kids. Plus, at two and under, you don't have to pay for tickets for the kids. They would even be free if you took them to a buffet character meal.

So, I would say that doing Disney World in May, 2006 is likely to be best for your family. (Had to go through this decision process for ourselves this year and opted to get the APs and go to WDW twice this year instead of one WDW trip and one cruise. We'll wait until the kids are at least a little older before we go on a cruise -- there will still be cruises available in 2 or 3 years and then the children's programs will take them so that I can get a little bit of a break each day too.)

If you go for your anniversary, you may want to consider hiring one of the local sitter services while you and DH have a nice dinner or go dancing or something.

I hope this helps!

 

[JodyTG]

Most of the cruise lines will charge the young child the same as if it were a 3rd or 4th adult. There are only two cruise lines that only charge the taxes for the baby. Besides Disney, the other one is either Norweigian or Holland American...I can't remember which. I'd check out these two to see if you can get a better deal.

I think it's rediculous that a young child/baby would cost the same as an adult since they won't eat even a portion of the food an adult does but it was explained to DH and I like this..."adults gamble and babies don't, if it wasn't for the baby taking up the space in the room then there'd be another adult to gamble." How thoughtful of them...

 

[ryan840]

LOL, Jody and EthansMom- I'm back to thinging about DCL for that very reason! I don't know what to do, luckily I have over a year to decide...