Budget for DCL Med cruise spends

[Gill H]

Right, cruise paid in full, hooray!

Now drawing up a spends budget.

Anything I have missed?

Gratuities

Alcohol

Soft drinks/coffee/snacks (would love advice on where these are free/not free - eg Pete's Boiler Bites, is a snack or soft drink free or charged? Is food only free in
the restaurants?)

Port adventures (do you tip the guide?)

Souvenirs on board (hello Pandora charms!)

Photos (can't afford $300 for the package though!)

Bingo (family tradition so will probably have a go)

Thinking of doing the 3-bottle wine package with meals. Not big drinkers particularly in hot weather, but a glass of wine with dinner would be nice.

Not planning on doing spa, mixology class or other paid classes.

Not planning on room service but just in case...I gather the food/drink is free (except alcohol) but you tip - correct?

[disneymadhouse]

Hi Gill

Soda are free from the drink stations by the pool, in the MDR and cabanas. You cannot get drinks from the CS type places by the pool - you just go and get a drink from the drink station.
All food is included from the likes of Pete's boiler bites, Daisy delights, and Cabanas buffet.
Tea and coffee at dinner in the MDR has to be paid for.
Chocolate milk is included, and there are glasses of water at each place on the table.

There are waiters that wonder around the pools that have a menu with beers, cocktails etc on. You pay for these. I'm not sure if they have cans of soft drinks on offer from the pool bar as we've never ordered anything!

If you have any kind of drink, including a soft drink from an bar then you are charged.
At the theatre all drinks and pre packaged snacks ( like popcorn) are charged for. You can go upto the drink station before going to the theatre, grab a drink and take it in with you. We took bottles of water in to the theatre for DD.
If you order cans of soft drinks or alcohol through room service, then you are charged. Tea, coffee and all food are included. But as you said a tip is customary.

We now just buy a couple of photos. CM's are more than happy to take a photo with your camera with the characters. For the more formal portraits ( with a nice background etc) we didn't ask the CM to take one with our camera as it didn't seem "right" - could be just us though!
I think we tipped the guides on our port excursions a few Euros.

We haven't played bingo, but I remember seeing it on the navigators, but don't know how much it is.

HTH

[Gill H]

Thanks, that's great. Still rather surprised about coffee with meals! It's all a learning process.

I think we may bring some cans of pop on board for our stateroom. I can see us getting back from an excursion hot and thirsty, and not wanting to go up to the refill station!

Next question. I know the ship is cashless and everything is charged to your room. Is there anything at all we might need actual dollars for? We have a FairFx card so will use that.

Of course we will have Euros for spends on excursions and shopping in port. We will have just done DLP so will try to ensure we have some left!

[gismo1554]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Gratuities

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$12 per night per person is the recommended amount split into $4 for the server, $3 for the assistant server, $1 for the head server and $4 for the stateroom host

Alcohol

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So I factor in 1 a day at $7 that way I know I will be covered. Drinks of the day are around $5 I think. Also note cocktails etc have 18% gratuity automatically added to the bill.

Soft drinks/coffee/snacks (would love advice on where these are free/not free - eg Pete's Boiler Bites, is a snack or soft drink free or charged? Is food only free in
the restaurants?)
Not planning on room service but just in case...I gather the food/drink is free (except alcohol) but you tip - correct?

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So there is a soft drink station at the pool that is free and does coffee, tea and pops. There is also a soft drink station in the buffett restuarant that you can use without getting food and does fruit juices but only when this is open. All soft drinks with meals apart from speciality virgin cocktails are free. No soft drinks ordered at a bar are free. Also coffee at Cove Cafe (or tea) has a charge.

With food, all the fast foodie places are free so Pete's Boiler, Daisys Delights and Pinnochios pizzaria. Popcorn by the theatre is not free nor are any bagged snacks like pretzels. You can however often get crisps from Pete's boiler bits and I find that some cereals make nice snacks too which you can get in sealed boxes at the buffett in the morning. Also room service is technically free for the food side (apart from soft drinks and snacks which have a charge) but a tip is the usual practice for the server. I tend to give a dollar per plate.

Port adventures (do you tip the guide?)

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I only tip the guide if I have felt they've done a fantastic job. Not sure if this is right or not but that's what I do.

Souvenirs on board (hello Pandora charms!)

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There are two main shops (one with kiddie stuff and one more adult) and a duty free shop. The charms are in the one on the right as you head towards the Walt Disney Theatre.

Photos (can't afford $300 for the package though!)

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Most of the character meet and greets will have a non-shutters photo who will take a photo on your own camera. The only ones I've never had someone do this are the welcome aboard one (you may want to get anyway as it says the cruise date etc) and the "becoming Iron Man" ones. I think they were around $20 each. You can view all your photos in the Shutters area and just choose the ones you like. They also do bundle deals. As I travel solo I tend to just get one or two.

Bingo (family tradition so will probably have a go)

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Be prepared to spend a lot as I found it expensive - I thnk something like $40? Its more like traditional bingo than the ones they play in bingo clubs these days (mega fast bingo lol). They do machines or books and the books you get you "poke and fold" the numbers rather than dabbers. Each day will have a different offer and the last day is usually the highest prize but also the busiest. Some days they give away prizes and some they just have extra jackpot money.

Thinking of doing the 3-bottle wine package with meals. Not big drinkers particularly in hot weather, but a glass of wine with dinner would be nice.

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They will move the bottle with you between meals so if you can't drink it in one night you are set for the next. I would look at the winelist and preordering saves you a bit I believe (you order as a stateroom gift then package). disneycruiselineblog will have the winelist on there if you want to have a look.

Not planning on doing spa, mixology class or other paid classes.

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I would personally say you are missing out by not doing the Mixology but can understand this if you aren't big drinkers. There are some free activities that are a lot of fun though like the "learn how to cook" series on sea days where you get to try some food and see it being made (and sometimes get a drop of wine too). These are free and 18+ only. There are also a mixture of adult and family activities that are a lot of fun. I would look at previous navigators on disneycruiselineblog as this will give you a good idea of the activities onboard. I'm sure you are going to love it!

I think we may bring some cans of pop on board for our stateroom. I can see us getting back from an excursion hot and thirsty, and not wanting to go up to the refill station!

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There is a small fridge in your stateroom (well cooler) and I just put a few cups from the drinks station in there each day to cover things like this but yes you can bring on sodas if you want. You can also carry on 2 bottles of wine or 6 bottles of beer per person per port as well if you want any of that for in your room (you get charged a corkage fee if you want to use the wine in the main restaurants).

Next question. I know the ship is cashless and everything is charged to your room. Is there anything at all we might need actual dollars for? We have a FairFx card so will use that.

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Tips for room service are paid in cash usually but can be charged to the room. Everything else is charged as far as I am aware.

[Gill H]

Thanks. As there are only 2 sea days and it's our first cruise, we are trying not to fill our sea days too much!

[disneymadhouse]

I don't think you will need actual cash dollars for anything. We tipped room service in Euros.

[Bats]

Tea and coffee is FREE during meal times .. it is not charged.

If you go to Cove café for posh coffee as I call it, you'll be charged, but in the MDRs ... not charged ever (unless you order an Irish Coffee etc!)

Joa

[MissVincent]

Originally Posted by Bats

Tea and coffee is FREE during meal times .. it is not charged.

If you go to Cove café for posh coffee as I call it, you'll be charged, but in the MDRs ... not charged ever (unless you order an Irish Coffee etc!)

Joa

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Yeah regular tea and coffee is free with meals in main dining room as Joa has said but cappuccino etc are not

[disneymadhouse]

Ah, apologies, DH had a cappuccino one day after dinner, so I thought all hot drinks were charged for. Next time I'll make him have plain boring coffee!

[gismo1554]

Originally Posted by disneymadhouse

I don't think you will need actual cash dollars for anything. We tipped room service in Euros.

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This is a good point. All I would say is on the cruises just before the return to USA it may not be the best thing to give but then I wouldn't go out of my way to buy dollars just for that I would probably charge to the room. Staff don't always get time to get off and I always think its easier for them to have currency for where they are going. The Magic returns to New York on the 16th Sept cruise (I'm booked on this one ) so its just something to think about.

And I agree with only 2 sea days you don't want to sign up to too much so I wouldn't bother with the drink things that being the case.