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Old 26 May 19, 07:58 PM  
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Elodie
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Hidden / unavoidable costs of a Disney cruise?

Thinking about doing a Disney cruise at some point, either alongside our WDW trip next year, or as a separate trip in 2021. If next year, it would be a 3 night Bahamas cruise including Castaway Cay.

What hidden or unavoidable costs would we need to budget for? I’m guessing our annual travel insurance might not include cruises (I’ll check) so I’d have to factor this in.

What about food and drink? I see meals are included, but would we need to pay for water throughout the day, for example? The details say that gratuities and port adventures are not included. How much should we budget for gratuities? And would we need to add on port adventures? Any other costs we should be aware of before making a decision on when / what to book?
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Old 27 May 19, 09:47 AM  
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gismo1554
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So there are a few things to think about that aren't really hidden but definitely things to factor in.

Tips - you have four people that are tipped as course on a Disney cruise. Its roughly $12 per person per night to cover the four people (room steward and 3 wait staff that you have through the cruise). You also will have gratuity added onto alcoholic drinks or drinks purchased from a bar/coffee shop

Drinks - soft drinks are free with meals and there is a drinks station on the pool deck where you can get free soda and coffee. All alcohol is charged and if you ask for a soft drink at a bar or venue such as the theatre then this will have a charge

Port Adventures - I would look at the ports you are looking to go to and check the available port adventures in advance so you can decide if this is something you would want to include. You don't by any means have to do any port adventures (I'm not in September when I cruise). In some ports you also are able to book excursions seperately to the cruise line but again all down to you so worth researching. On Castaway Cay (Disneys private island) only Disney excursions can be booked but again there is plenty to do without booking an excursions.

Speciality Dining - so dining works that you rotate around the main dining rooms with your waiters. This is all included in the price but there are adult only speciality restaurants (Remy and Palo) that may be an option. Dining in these incurs additional costs

Childcare - so nursary use has fees attached. The kids clubs are free of charge but may have additional fees for certain activities (sorry no kids so not 100% sure one this)

Food - the main restaurants and the fast food type places plus the buffett are all included. Room service is also free of charge although you should tip the server who brings it. Food on Castaway Cay is also included.

Snacks - any snacks onboard are charged. There are some things such as cookies etc that you can get for free from fast food locations as well as on room service. Drinks from the coffee shop are also charged although the cakes they have in there are free and you don't have to order a coffee to go and get them. There is also on a few ships an ice cream/sweet shop and these are charged

Shop - obviously souvenirs etc are all chargeable

Activities - most activities are free. All I can think of that is charged are the alcohol tastings and the childs princess tea.

I'm sure I've missed a few other things here too but can't remember.
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Old 27 May 19, 10:16 AM  
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Gizmo1554 sums it up really well. For us the biggest amount of money went on tips for sure and that is the major cost you will have to factor in. We don’t drink alcohol so that wasn’t an issue but we had a coffee each day at the coffee shop which we had to pay for (you can get a loyalty card). You might want to include the cost of lunch, ice cream, coffee etc on your days off ship although you are welcome to go back to the ship for lunch. We just found it a bit of a faff and preferred to eat off ship.

We didn’t do any additional excursions but we did get a boat to Atlantis which we paid for.

It was an amazing experience and I’d love to do a Disney Cruise again in the future. I’d definitely recommend you do it!
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Old 27 May 19, 10:22 AM  
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BevS97
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We’ve done the 3 night cruise twice and spent very little extra. We bought some photos and had a couple of cocktails. But we made good use of the free ice cream and free soft drinks on the deck. You can eat at any time of day or night. Nor did we do any specialty dining as with only 3 nights we wanted to try the full rotation dining.
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Old 27 May 19, 10:27 AM  
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minnie29
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I think all has been covered by the previous 2 posters. We used to get our coffee from the free machine (I loved their coffee!). We done a 3 night Bahamas cruise on the Dream and it was truly amazing
We had to budget very carefully though - we’d previously just stayed at AKL and they’d put about $400 worth of holds on our card - so most of our spends for the cruise was unavailable for us to use :/
Our bill was about $400 and that was included tips ($150 I think) souvenirs and alcohol (not much alcohol, (4 in total for the 2 of us). Never spent anything off the ship, other than a bucket and spade at castaway Cay that was about $6. We just ate at the free BBQ on the island and they had the free ice cream machine and drinks station there too. We didn’t get off at Nassau as we have been there before and didn’t think much of it. We decided to use that day to explore the ship
Also, if you get off the ship early on castaway Cay day and then retunt to the ship early afternoon, the pool area and aquaduck slide is empty

Edited at 10:29 AM.
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Old 27 May 19, 01:54 PM  
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gismo1554
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Ohh yes as other posters mentioned I forgot PHOTOS! The professional photos also add up quickly if you like photos - I'm never bothered so just buy one or two but I think they are like $15 each
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Old 27 May 19, 02:39 PM  
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Gill H
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We prepaid our gratuities so we knew we didn’t have to budget for that onboard.
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Old 27 May 19, 02:45 PM  
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dee slack
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wi fi is very expensive IMO, IF you need it
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Old 27 May 19, 02:59 PM  
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Gill H
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We got the small free amount you get at the beginning, and kept it until we needed it to do online check in for our plane.

There is a desk where they check you have turned everything off so you won’t incur charges.

You can use the onboard app for free and contact others on board for free.
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Old 28 May 19, 09:15 AM  
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gismo1554
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Originally Posted by Gill H View Post
We got the small free amount you get at the beginning, and kept it until we needed it to do online check in for our plane.

There is a desk where they check you have turned everything off so you won’t incur charges.

You can use the onboard app for free and contact others on board for free.
This is what I do too - hence I'd forgotten Wi-Fi charges too!
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