Save A Little... Spend A Lot...

bbaltes

5th Cruise - can't wait!
Joined
Feb 18, 2006
Once you're on board... what is your best money-SAVING tip?

Ben, Jenny and Lily (3.5)
9/2 Magic Eastern
 
Keep track of what you are spending/charging to your card. You can get a print out of your account balance from GS at any time. I also wait before buying anything in the shops...no impulse buying.
 
bbaltes said:
Once you're on board... what is your best money-SAVING tip?

Ben, Jenny and Lily (3.5)
9/2 Magic Eastern

Don't take any.

Seriously? If your purchasing desires are Disney branded , you will do better in Orlando at the Disney Character Warehouses and other discount places.

Also have the young kids cards punched so they can't charge. My 6 year old was getting talked into letting older kids use his card to buy arcade tokens until we put a stop to it. Disney, by the way, removed the charges from our bill.

Don't use you Disney credit key card as a book mark by the pool. Mine was never disturbed but a constant stream of well meaning cruisers and staff kept pointing out how foolish I was. So for peace and quiet if for no other reason keep your's hidden.

Oh and don't drink and bid on art. As another cruiser pointed out. $25,000?

You won't win at bingo so keep your money unless you really love the play of the game.

Pretend there is Rum in your coke. Seriously, on our cruise there was a guy I came to know that always had a rum and coke beside him. Turns out it was only coke in a bar glass to keep from getting asked so often by friends and staff if he would like a drink.

Bet that is a trick you hadn't heard before.
 


Stick to a daily budget. We take travelers checks and budget no more than 200.00 a day (if its a day at sea, just 100.00). I go to guest services almost every night and pay up. I love having a zero balance at the end of every day.

My other tip is don't buy the 6x8 photo package. They just don't take enough of this size anymore, so its not worth it.

If this is your first cruise, don't be tempted to buy everything in the gift stores. We were on our first 4 day cruise last year, and I spent over 1000.00 that cruise! And it was all because "I thought we would never be back". Oh was I wrong. We booked a 7 day very soon after that. I spent much less on the 7 day.

The quality of the clothes they sell are excellent. Even if its expensive, buy at least one casual top, you'll live in it the whole Summer. Love my DCL clothes. I guess thats not a savings tip, but don't be afraid to spend that money, its well worth the cost.
 
Don't spend any money on food-like outside the theaters, or the stateroom celebrations you can pre-order. There is so much to eat on board I can't imagine ever being hungry. You can always get food and bring it in to watch a movie. The same goes for soda-get it at the deck 9 drink station (I think it costs $ at the bars?).

Give your kids a pre-determined spending limit, and when it's gone, it's gone. We do this with our kids. They have to pay for everything they want (we pay for the excursions and major tips). It's amazing how smoothies are less desirable when they have to pay for them, and they really think about what souveniers they want before they get them.

We also ckeck our stateroom account each night. Sometimes if you know how much you are spending, it's easier to slow down.
 


I'm going to try to stay away from the "froo-froo" drinks. I probably on had may be 10-12 the entire trip, but there really isn't that much alcohol in them anyway with tons more calories!!! They are actually reasonably priced compared to restaruants.

When you are in port, we always find a way to eat on board rather than somewhere in the port. Of course if it is an all day outing....and even then an excursion will probably include some kind of food. Why pay in port when the food on the ship is "free"!!! :rotfl2:

Look for the clearance items, especially on the first night! Usually they are on a rack, but sometimes they put them in the regular sections. I got a sweatshirt jacket last time for $20 and sweatpants for $20 this time. Both are normally around $50+++.

I agree with Lisa, don't buy on the spur of the moment. Come back later, you'll find that you probably don't want it as much later. I do that in stores all the time.
 
I have to agree with the food and the stateroom celebrations....we ordered dessert platter with champagne and it really went to waste - well the food anyway - we were stuffed from lunch and couldn't eat any more!!
 
Watch excursions. I think that is where the money adds up really fast. Entertain yourself in port - walk around town, find things to do that are cheap or free. Consider bringing your own snorkle equipment to cc - definately bring your own airmattress and sandpail!
 
1. Bring your own beer/alcohol.

2. Give your kids Disney Dollars for Christmas/Birthdays. My kids knew any extras (arcade games, toys, smoothies, etc.) had to by paid for with "their" money. They were a lot more thrifty with their own money than with mine!

3. Don't buy the picture package at first. Set aside all of your pictures and look at them the last night. You couldn't buy a package that was a combination of 8x10's AND 6x8's. I didn't have enough of each size that I wanted to buy a package of either size. I just bought one 8x10 and two 6x8's. If I would have bought the package at first like they encourage you to do, I would have spent money on pictures I didn't really need!
 
KimK2006 said:
3. Don't buy the picture package at first. Set aside all of your pictures and look at them the last night. You couldn't buy a package that was a combination of 8x10's AND 6x8's. I didn't have enough of each size that I wanted to buy a package of either size. I just bought one 8x10 and two 6x8's. If I would have bought the package at first like they encourage you to do, I would have spent money on pictures I didn't really need!

If you end up not using a package, they will give you a refund at the end of the cruise. :)
 
I went with a group of 14 so there were many "group" pictures I wanted along with the "kid" pictures. I went in halfsies with my aunt of the pictures. Try to get with somebody in your group to do this.

I limited myself to only a few (3) virgin pina coladas.

We did spend on excursions for GC and Cozumel. We bought our own snorkel gear for cc. We spend the day on the ship at Key West. I figured I might get back to KW, but not the other ports.

We mailed our snorkels and snacks down. Although adults are usually full, you'll see how quickly kids get hungry when they see the candy and popcorn concessions on the way in to see a show. The prices make AMC and Loews seem like a bargain.
 
mattmommy said:
.....We mailed our snorkels and snacks down. ......

Please tell me how you did this. I'd love to take care of some bigger stuff this way.

What is the address?

How do you label your package?

Thanks!
 
We are bringing our own liquior. All I need is a bottle of rum and while at St. maarten I will buy a bottle of guavaberry. Add it to lemonade or coke what ever you like.

I agree about the picture packages. Wait until the end of the cruise to decide. Many of my digital pictures look as good if not better than the professional ones.

The gift shops can get you so I would go in and look the first night to decide what you really want and then go back later in the cruise to see if you still really want it. They typically don't run out of things.

Now CC is a different matter all together. We did buy shirts there because that is the only place you can get CC items.
 
Jillpie said:
My other tip is don't buy the 6x8 photo package. They just don't take enough of this size anymore, so its not worth it.

When did this happen? When we last went (last year, in June), they were still taking primarily 6x8 candids and only the formal pics were 8x10 or whatever.

Can someone who has been on the cruise recently post the current package prices?
 
Kissimmee said:
Pretend there is Rum in your coke. Seriously, on our cruise there was a guy I came to know that always had a rum and coke beside him. Turns out it was only coke in a bar glass to keep from getting asked so often by friends and staff if he would like a drink.

Or you could always bring your own bottle of rum to liven up that Coke....would even add to the pirate costume!! ;)
 
Trixiezzz said:
Please tell me how you did this. I'd love to take care of some bigger stuff this way.

What is the address?

How do you label your package?

Thanks!

The shipping info is listed under the FAQ thread at the top of the page....that thread should be able to answer all your questions.
 
Pre pay a bit at a time, pre order yourself a wine or two so it feels free when you get there, You doent want ot worry about money and staeroom bills so put a credit on your account before you go, then it all seems to be FREE!
 

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