Overall Cost

Petals & Pixie Dust

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
Hi Everyone!
I'm working on putting together an overall cost of our 5 day cruise in December. So far I have the following;
Cruise
Airfare
Tips
Ground Transportation (all legs)
Hotel the night before
Excursions

Is there anything I am missing?

What is the total tips per person for a 5 day cruise (they have on the website 4 and 7 but no 5)

This list does not reflect spending money-I'm not even there yet.

I know there could be other things like drinks, spa, etc. I'm not there yet either.

Thank you in advance for your help!
 
Tips are $13.50 per person, per day. For a 5 night, it'd be $13.50*5*5=$337.50

I always budget funds for our onboard account to cover drinks, cove cafe coffee, onboard shopping and general purchases (popcorn...). You mentioned that you're not there yet, totally understandable. But using that Key to the World Card can add up quickly. It's like Monopoly money :)

I also budget for the onboard booking placeholder ($250). Even if you're unsure as to whether you'll continue cruising with DCL, I highly encourage purchasing the placeholder. You have 2 years from the date of purchase to start your next cruise adn should you decide not to use it, the funds are refunded to you. In using the OBB PH, you get the 10% off the price of the next cruise, only required 10% down payment (as opposed to 20%) and you get an oboard credit ($100 for less than 7 days, $200 for longer than 7 days). Totally a no brainer.

ETA: Also, I budget for adult dining (Remy/Palo). As Platinum, we get our first Palo free, but those restaurants are too good to do just once (in our experience)
 
Last time I calculated it, the tips were $13.50 per person per day. They may have gone up since the first of the year.
 
Last time I calculated it, the tips were $13.50 per person per day. They may have gone up since the first of the year.
That’s the current price, after a recent increase. The previous amount was in place for years. They do not modify them very often.
 


Hotel on the night before your cruise (if you're flying in early) and after, if you're flying out later.
 
Specialty dining?
Do you plan on buying pictures or a picture package?
Do you plan on participating to $ activities? (Like Bingo or Alcohol tastings)
Meals during transportation or during excursions? (if they are not included)
 


Do you like Bingo? There are several games per cruise, and pricing ranges from $30 - $80 per game based on which type of cards you buy. The final game per cruise usually costs a little more.

You'll also want to bring cash to tip porters and excursion guides.
 
Which ship? The Dream and Fantasy also have for-pay ice cream/candy shops.
 
Don't forget cash tips for room service, the luggage handlers at the port, and private transportation drivers if that is your choice.
 
Since it looks like you are staying in a hotel the night before, money for supper and some drinks, soda, water, etc for in the hotel room. We always try to find a hotel near a grocery store, best case, or a gas station to get drinks cheaper then can be bought at the hotel. For us we also try to find a hotel with the type of food you want for supper within walking distance from the hotel, that way we don't need to do more tips to a shuttle driver. When we sailed out of PC, we found a great spot that had a place near it that we could get amazing fresh squeezed OJ in the morning before we left for port:)
 
Spa, Bingo, Coffee, Souvenirs, pictures, bibbity boppity boutique, princess tea, parking fees. All of these cost extra.
 
Hi Everyone!
I'm working on putting together an overall cost of our 5 day cruise in December. So far I have the following;
Cruise
Airfare
Tips
Ground Transportation (all legs)
Hotel the night before
Excursions

Is there anything I am missing?

What is the total tips per person for a 5 day cruise (they have on the website 4 and 7 but no 5)

This list does not reflect spending money-I'm not even there yet.

I know there could be other things like drinks, spa, etc. I'm not there yet either.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Onboard drinks
Souvenirs
Souvenir Photos onboard and taken by ship photographers in port
Tips for excursions or ground transportation drivers and guides
Food off the ship (either during excursions -- if not included -- or while in port on own)
 
The photo package has a discount if you book it in advance. So that’s a good line item to decide in advance whether you want it. And the optional royal princess tea is over $300 if you may consider that.

I think everything else falls under your “not there yet.”
 
Here are the items I budgeted for our trip in May:
  • Cruise
  • Air fare
  • Airport parking
  • Hotel (pre-cruise)
  • Excursions
  • Palo Brunch
  • Laundry
  • Pictures from Shutters
  • Airline baggage fees (both ways)
  • Tips
    • DCL crew members
    • Excursion guides
    • Airport baggage handlers (both ways)
    • Driver (from airport to hotel/port & from port to airport)
We're using Disney gift cards for most of the expenses. Non-DCL tips will be cash. We'll be using a Visa gift card for the pictures and airline baggage fees.

We're also getting a separate DCL gift card for on-ship purchases. As was previously mentioned, the KTTW card is very easy to use, so it's also very easy to run up expenses.
 
I know you said you haven't gotten to drinks yet, but for your future planning: we really under-estimated the cost of alcoholic beverages on board and almost immediately wrecked our budget with the soft cooler + beer special that was offered upon embarkation. (The cooler is awesome though!). Didn't really ruin the trip, per se, but since DH had a surprise dinner at V&A planned for after the cruise :love:, I know he was a little nervous about how much we spent right off the bat. In the future, we will never embark without our allotment of carried-on alcohol because nothing ruins the magic for us quite like having to spend $7 for a domestic beer! haha. So if that's your jam, maybe budget for a stop at a liquor store at some point in time between the airport and the terminal?
 

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