What is an realistic budget on Ship

[Buckleybunch]

I'm sure DH and I will go to the bars-
The kids are at least the oldest will want the acarde card ( is there an age min for this?)
THe internet
Excursions
and what else..

Knowing this will be our first curise I"m sure we will WANT everything..
WE are traveling Dec 11- 18 with 4 adults ( my parents ) and 4 kids 13, 8,8 & 6

THanks
Linda

 

[GenieDana]

Narrow down the variables and you might get more help.

Drinking - how much of a lush are you and the other adults?
Video Games - how much do you expect to play
Excursions - are you an "active" family or not
What about souveneirs / shopping?
etcetera

I would budget not less than $1000 for the 7-day and a group your size, but you could spend less, and you could spend more, much more. I think if you are budget strapped, begin by budgeting for individual extracurriculars, then tally in the end and you'll have it!

Most prices for activities can be found on these boards for the asking! It would help to start knowing whether you are travelling Eastern or Western?

 

[Alex]

I think a 1000 would be low for a group that size that wants to do "everything".
Our group of 3 (dd age 11) managed to spend far more than that.

 

[AnnMorin]

Our group of three (DS 10) spent almost $1300.00 two weeks ago. In the past four cruises our bill has never been under $1000.00

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

best idea for a budget is look at which excursions you want to go on. picture packages, tips,palo's if you go and of course drinks. if you drink alot go on a 4 drink per day per person. the most expensive drink would cost 6.75 the drink of the day 3.50 to 4.75. pictures packages go from 90 to 190. tips are 76.25 per person on a 7 day. unlimited drinks(sodas only) are 35. palos is now 10 per person plus tip.then if you get them souviners. we are planning to have 1900 but 750 is for our next booking. there are 3 of us and we figure to have 2 drinks a day. i hope this helps

 

[Alex]

Don't forget the Spa, internet access, the wine package if you choose it.

 

[AnnMorin]

Originally posted by KYCruiseCrazy
best idea for a budget is look at which excursions you want to go on. picture packages, tips,palo's if you go and of course drinks. if you drink alot go on a 4 drink per day per person. the most expensive drink would cost 6.75 the drink of the day 3.50 to 4.75. pictures packages go from 90 to 190. tips are 76.25 per person on a 7 day. unlimited drinks(sodas only) are 35. palos is now 10 per person plus tip.then if you get them souviners. we are planning to have 1900 but 750 is for our next booking. there are 3 of us and we figure to have 2 drinks a day. i hope this helps

FOUR DRINKS PER DAY!!! Good Lord I thought it was four drinks per hour.. no wonder our bill is so high

 

[makaylee]

We went on a 7 day in may, 2 adults and dd 5. We spent $1140. We didn't do arcade, spa or expensive drinks (just beer). We did 1 excursion at each port. $140 on pics and $200 on souviners. We also did just the recommended amount on tips.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

ann she said a budget not a drink fest LOL i just know that i dont really care to drink but thats life. im just going by what we are doing a budget by and it worked for our first cruise in july and we didnt go over what we thought. better to go high then way tooooooo low

 

[Alex]

We spent more than Ann and family so I'm not going to argue

 

[tink5697]

Originally posted by AnnMorin
FOUR DRINKS PER DAY!!! Good Lord I thought it was four drinks per hour.. no wonder our bill is so high

I agree!

 

[Buckleybunch]

Originally posted by GenieDana
Narrow down the variables and you might get more help.

Drinking - how much of a lush are you and the other adults?
Video Games - how much do you expect to play
Excursions - are you an "active" family or not
What about souveneirs / shopping?
etceter

I would budget not less than $1000 for the 7-day and a group your size, but you could spend less, and you could spend more, much more. I think if you are budget strapped, begin by budgeting for individual extracurriculars, then tally in the end and you'll have it!

Most prices for activities can be found on these boards for the asking! It would help to start knowing whether you are travelling Eastern or Western?

Drinking- I'm not a lush, Dh drinks maybe a few when we go out.. My parents don't drink at all.
Video games- what is the cost of this?? is there different packages? Is there an age limit?? Is there games in the kids club/lab
Excursions- is the kids club/lab open during the ports?? My parents probably wn't want to walk a whole lot. I can see Rob and I and maybe the kids doing some excursions. Not sure on which ones are available. We are going on the Eastern Caribbean 7 day cruise in Dec.


Thanks
Linda

 

[pippy]

the 3 of us took a 7 day and did 3 excursions bought souveniers, played bingo, cocktails and our bill was $1500, and we even brought a big bottle of rum from home!

Kim

 

[GenieDana]

OK, here's something else to help you start:

Portage (a tip) at the port: $1.5 to $2 per suitcase, both at at embarkation and debarkation. [$ Depends on # of bags]

Are you parking your own car? If so [$70]

Basic Tips: For 8 people (Stateroom Host, Server, Assistant Server, and Head Server) - Recommended amount. [$610]

Shutters Cruise Photos (10 - 8 X 6) package - [$84.95]

And so on...

 

[kcashner]

There really is no "realistic" budget. There are just too many variables. They joke about the people who can't have their ship account slipped under their door on the last night because it it too thick....but that can happen. On the other hand, you can have a great time on a relatively small amount per person.

First...do you need/want internet ($89)
Do you need/want soda/beer packages? You have to drink a lot of soda to make good on this one!

Plan on $80 per person for tips (7 day) to meet the minimum recommended

Shore excursions...booking thru Disney is the easiest, but also the most expensive. You can look at the available excursions and prices on the DCL website or Barb's site www.castawayclub.com

Photos--these can really add up in the photo shop. On the other hand, the DCL personnel will take a picture with your camera at the same time the ship's photographer is snapping the professional shot. You can spend a very lot or a relatively little.

Arcade cards...this is an item that I make DD pay for if she thinks she needs one. There are plenty of other things to do on the ship!

Alcohol....again, you can spend nothing or the sky's the limit
Drinks are about $4- $6 each...free at captain's reception, castaway club reception, and the cooking demos!

Shopping/souveniers...again...you can stick to YOUR budget.

Spa? Unlimited Rainforest is $50 (7D) See Barb's site for rates for individual services. Again, you could drop $1K per adult in the spa or nothing at all...or anywhere in between.

Palo's ....relatively small amount, but adds up....

You can EASILY spend $1000 per person if you do the most expensive everything....or have a great time on far less than that. It really is a matter of your taste and choices. Will you really miss not having internet for a week? That might make internet a necessity rather than a $89 luxury. There are places on shore that you can have internet access for $1 for 30 minutes. WOuld you rather spend your shore time on line? What is it worth to you.

It's sort of like asking what is a reasonable budget for WDW. Do you plan to stay at the Grand Floridian or the All Star? However, on board, there is far less difference between the highest and lowest spenders.

 

[GenieDana]

Video games- what is the cost of this?? is there different packages? Is there an age limit?? Is there games in the kids club/lab

We do not let our kids do video games in the arcade. Why dspend $ on something like this they can do at home for much less?

The games go on your childs' KTTY card if you allow it, and you can implement a spending limit. There are games in the Lab.

Excursions- is the kids club/lab open during the ports??

Yes

I can see Rob and I and maybe the kids doing some excursions. Not sure on which ones are available.

This is where you will spend the most. The excursions you choose depend on your tastes, and are are priced differently depending upon the market. You can do DCL arranged excursions, or venture on your own (saving a little $$, perhaps).


I highly recommend you buy a book, called "Passporter's Guide to Disney Cruise Line and It' Caribbean Ports of Call"

You can find it here from the author at: http://www.passporterboards.com/dcl/

You can also find it from several booksellers at:

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/books/compare/isbn/1587710064/isrc/b-home-search

You should also consider reviewing other sources of DCL info online, including:

http://www.dcltribute.com/

http://www.castawayclub.com/

http://www.themagicalmouse.com/dcl/

http://allearsnet.com/cruise/Dcruise.shtml

http://www.disneyclubs.com/disney_cruise/cruise_accommodations.htm

And of course:

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/disneycruiseline/index?id=DCLRoot?clk=11808&bhcp=1

 

[lbgraves]

As far as your Club question, yes the kid's clubs are open when the ship is in port. The beepers don't work in ports except for Castaway Cay. We did the Eastern this past November. You can do souvenier shopping right near the dock. In St. Thomas check out the Tram. If you dock & do not tender, that is very close to the ship & the view is beautiful.

Our kids were too young to plan on any excursions so we just walked around town for an hour or so, then they wanted to get back to the Mickey pool. That & the fact that I don't drink & DH brought his beer onboard with us saved on the bill quite a bit. We didn't even have a full page of charges. It totaled maybe 600 with tips. We got the small picture package too.

 

[MrsPete]

I think a cruise is kind of like having another baby -- you can do it really cheap (hand me down clothes, cloth diapers, homemade baby food), or you can do it expensive (luxury crib, every toy in the book, more clothes than Barbie). Either way, you raise a child.


Most of the expenses have already been discussed, so I'll just throw out these details:

We didn't buy our kiddos any arcade cards. They didn't even know that the arcade existed! My girls each have a Gameboy Advance, which they played for FREE. Also, if your children are in the Oceaneer's lab, there are FREE computer games available.

Be realistic about the "need" for the soda mugs. I had only TWO Diet Cokes (between meals, that is) on our cruise. You can get free lemonade, fruit punch, etc. I suspect that if the average person counted the sodas he actually drank, the $35 mugs wouldn't really be a very good deal. Individual sodas are about $2, or you can bring your own on board.

 

[WIcruizer]

This is sort of like asking how mush is reasonable to spend on a house or car. Everyone has their own perception of reasonable. I know families that have gone on a 7 night cruise and spent less than $200. I know others that have spent over $3,000.

All the fees are pretty well known, just figure out how much each item is and determine for yourself if it's worth the money or not.

 

[kcashner]

I love the analogy of raising a baby!!!!

And, along those lines...just as there are some ways to save money with the baby, perhaps considering what is more important in the long run, there are similar considerations to saving $ on the cruise. Is it better to wear all new clothes at age 6 months or to save the $ for music or dance lessons later. Is ti better to spend megabucks on the cruise or to add a couple days at WDW?