What should I budget for 4 day?

[DVCPAM]

I am trying to convince my husband that we should set aside money from our tax return for a 4 day Disney cruise. Some people he works with said that they spent A LOT of money on the cruise for excursions, etc.

I didn't think we would really need many excusions since we would be crusing for such a short time. Our kids will be 5 and 7, and will love the kids clubs I am sure.

How much does the average family of 4 spend on just the 4 day? I am talking above and beyond the price of the cruise and airfare.

Any and all experiences and numbers would be great!
Thanks!

~Pam

 

[alexandrew]

You can have an absolutely great time without taking excursions - while they are popular with many on this board, I dont particularly care for them, as most are wildly expensive....On the 4 day, you can take your own excursion to Atlantis, which is just a quick taxi ride away...

For my family of 4, we usually spend about $600 on the 4 day....this includes the obligatory shopping at Mickeys Mates and Treasure Ketch (HINT:shop at those stores first night of cruise...they have great clearance merchandise that sells out fast)...also, a few drinks , shopping in port,a few pics from Shutters, and of course tips...

 

[b&j's_mom]

We are a family of four. We spent an incredible amount at Shutters - too much! Even the lady working there who was helping us on the last night said "wow, you must really like our pictures!" The tips were also a big part of our wonderful bill that arrived early on our last morning - I thought I had an idea of how much we had spent, but I was off by a lot! It sneaks up on you!! We ended up with an $800+ bill and that was without excursions!

 

[kikipug]

You can have a great cruise while spending very little $ over and above your fare. Excursions are fun, but you can have a great time without them. My sister and I did a last minute "low-budget" cruise a few years ago, and spent next to nothing for 'extras', except our bar tab, a few pictures, a $10 cab fare to the beach, and some great buys on silver jewelry. (We were in Cozumel). We had a fabulous time, took advantage of all the fun things happening on board, and just relaxed. The things your kids remember will most likely NOT be what you spent the most $ on.

 

[TJHutch]

On our first cruise we spent way too much money. Shutters was definately our down fall. However, after finding the disboard and learning all of the tricks of the trade we spent about $475 on our second cruise and we had 3 in our family. We took the advise of fellow disers and bought a photo package from Shutters which I think was around $80.00 and a whole lot cheaper than our first go round. We also prepaid our tips before we cruised which helped. We did do 1 excursion and that was a carriage ride when we were diverted to Charleston, SC because of the hurricanes last fall but other than that we did not feel like we missed out on anything. There are so many things to do on board that is free. Hope this helps.

 

[tchoney]

You can spend as much or as little as you want. The excursions, alcohol, shutters and gift shops are where they get you! For our family, we spent $500. And, that included everything; i.e., tips, excursions, and gift shop. We put a lock on my sons KTTW card account so that he could not charge anything. I didn't want a $100 in arcade charges! At the time you had to purchse soft drinks, so we bought 1 refillable mug. Now, soft drinks are free. We planned our excursions carefully and didn't use shutters, they were too expensive. I bought everyone in my family disposable cameras. That way they could all take pictures of whatever was important to them and it made for really fun, interesting scrapbook stories. Anyway, sorry to ramble on....

 

[chasbos]

All depends on the excursions you book! We did the Dolphin Encounter and the parasailing. Our kids are 13, 11, 9, & 6 and they loved the Dolphins. So for 6 of us our account was $2000 - but $1000 was for excursions. We did not even go to the arcade (they never saw it either). We also paid about $80/person in tips.

 

[rejobako]

If I lived up north, it might make sense to go on some of the water/sun-based excursions to maximize the tropical fun setting. As it is, I live on Florida's west coast, and I can go diving/snorkeling/parasailing etc. any time I like. Seems crazy to spend a lot of money to do something fun off of a ship that I'm still paying for, when there's plenty of things to do onboard (or in the alternative, plenty of free/inexpensive things to do while in port).

 

[jrabbit]

First - Budget about $175 for tipping the 4 tipped positions - check the gratuity guide that DCL has on their web site - search for "Gratuity" NOT "Tip"
Second - Stay away from Shutters It's been our downfall too. If you do get pictures from then remember that they are 6x8 and NOT 5x7. Once you get home, frames are a problem.
Third - Drinks - they can add up fast. If you mostly stick to the drink of the day you will pay less (very resonably prices)
Fourth - Shore excursions add to the price very quickly. Don't know what you like to do but the Dig at the Atlantis hotel is very nice (and you can do it on your own for much less $$$ than through DCL)
Fifth - The Spa - you can spend a lot of money here but on a 4 nighter there is limited time. Not everyone does the spa (we haven't and don't think that we've missed anything)
Sixth - Palo - Some people say its a must do. We've not been to dinner there, just brunch (and brunch is GREAT!). There is a $10 per person charge for going to Palo. You must plan on additional $$$ for a tip.
Seventh - If you like wine with dinner, consider purchasing a wine package the first day on board.
Eighth - Turn OFF charging Privileges for the children (sometime they like to "buy" friends by buying others smoothies and arcade cards) Or set ground rules for them to follow. If you have an infant or toddler turn their card off too - heard here that someones DD spent a lot on her card and the parents turned it off, she then took her younger siblings card and racked up the charges again - wow!
Ninth - Souvenirs - you can spend a lot on all sorts of DCL branded items.

Bottom line - you really only need to spend money on gratuities. Everything else is optional and you really won't be missing out on anything if you don't spend a dime on anything else. All of these things can help you enjoy your cruise/vacation more but ..You can get off the ship in ports and wander around for free. You don't really need the adult drinks and the smoothies, you can take pretty good pictures on your own, etc.

The food from all restaurants is free (except for Palo). Room service is mostly free - items have a charge. Tons of entertainment on board - live broadway shows, movies, game shows and many more activities. There are the swimming pools and sports court for other activities.

Go and have a great trip!

Oh yea, someone else is doing the cooking, cleaning and picking up your room for you and you will be in the tropics It doesn't get much better than that!