Top-of-the-line issues about cruising is that you could pay for a cruise months upfront, neglect how a lot it prices, after which board the ship on embarkation day blissfully blind to how a lot you paid to get there and prepared for trip spending.
Whereas I am not one to maintain a tally of each greenback I spend on journeys, it is generally good to know precisely how a lot I’ve spent, right down to reserving a resort the evening earlier than a cruise, drinks on board the ship and purchases in port. So on one in all my current Disney Cruise Line sailings on the Disney Dream cruise ship, I saved each receipt to determine how a lot my household and I really paid for the holiday.
Having that data is vital, not only for me after I’m able to plan my subsequent cruise with Mickey and the gang, however so you possibly can finances appropriately in your subsequent Disney cruise. Let’s face it — Disney Cruise Line holidays are costly, however the reminiscences made on the ships are priceless.
Is it potential for households on a finances to afford a Disney cruise? The brief reply is sure, however there may be some technique concerned. Here is how a lot our Disney cruise actually value for a household of three.
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How a lot it prices to go on a Disney cruise
Earlier than I dive into simply how a lot my journey value, let me provide you with some background.
The pricing for this cruise relies on my household of three adults. A cruise with youngsters will probably have a unique stability of bills.
Our transportation to the embarkation port of Miami isn’t included for the reason that expense can fluctuate drastically relying on the way you select to get to the port. We drove since we stay in Florida, however not everyone seems to be fortunate sufficient to stay inside driving distance of their departure port. I did embrace all the opposite prices from our journey, together with a pre-cruise resort keep, the precise cruise fare and eating at specialty eating places on board.
My household and I weren’t tremendous strict with our finances, however we additionally did not splurge on all the pieces. We did deal with ourselves to some meals on the adults-only eating places on Disney Dream and some cocktails every day, however we by no means went overboard with extras within the ports of name. Checking our onboard account every morning via the Disney Cruise Line app made it potential for us to have a enjoyable trip with out emptying our financial institution accounts.
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Cruise reserving
Our greatest value on this journey was the cruise fare as a result of sailings on Disney Dream are usually not low-cost. Even in case you keep away from the specialty eating places, skip excursions in every port and keep in one of many cheaper cabins, you will nonetheless spend a number of thousand {dollars} simply to get on board.
For 3 adults sharing a cabin, Disney Cruise Line holidays begin at $1,298, together with taxes and costs, and that is for a fast two-night crusing on Disney Surprise in Australia in 2024. In the event you’re planning an extended cruise from america, it would value considerably extra, particularly throughout peak occasions when youngsters are out of college or throughout a themed crusing.
Due to how costly Disney cruise sailings are, I at all times search for offers, both a Florida resident supply or a reduction on a choose sail date.
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Our Disney Dream cruise was a five-night Halloween on the Excessive Seas crusing, with a Florida resident low cost for 3 folks booked in a balcony cabin (which Disney calls a verandah stateroom). The overall value of the cruise, together with taxes and costs, was $2,497.28.
Whole for cruise reserving: $2,497.28
Pre-cruise resort lodging
I at all times counsel that individuals arrive of their embarkation metropolis or a metropolis close by a minimum of the day earlier than a cruise. This relieves the stress of getting to get to the ship on time in case of flight delays or blocked roadways.
The evening earlier than my Disney Dream cruise, my household and I stayed at Disney’s Vero Seashore Resort, which is a bit over midway from our residence in Jacksonville, Florida, to Miami.
We used Disney Trip Membership factors to guide an “Inn-Commonplace View” room, which was sufficiently big for the three of us. The room value us 16 factors, so we technically did not spend any cash on reserving a resort the evening earlier than. Until you may have factors to spend, remember to finances for lodging earlier than or after your cruise, as wanted.
Whole for resort: $0
Pre-cruise meals
The evening earlier than our cruise, we determined to eat out in Vero Seashore at American Icon Brewery. Everybody in my household acquired an area beer to strive, then we shared an appetizer, and everybody acquired their very own entree. The meal set us again $106.55.
Whereas Disney’s Vero Seashore does have an on-site restaurant, we take pleasure in getting out within the metropolis and attempting an area place. American Icon Brewery was enjoyable, and the meals and repair have been each nice.
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For breakfast the morning of our cruise, I introduced muffins that I made at residence for my household to take pleasure in. The room included a espresso maker and Keurig espresso pods, so we drank that with our gentle breakfast. Disney’s Vero Seashore Resort does serve breakfast at its onsite restaurant, however we wanted to hit the highway early to get to our 11 a.m. port arrival time, so the muffins and occasional have been an ideal straightforward breakfast.
Whole for dinner: $106.55
Parking on the port
Parking at any cruise port can add a big quantity to a cruise trip. For 5 nights, parking at PortMiami was $110. We paid for this as we have been leaving the parking deck relatively than upfront.
Whole for parking: $110
Specialty eating on board
Disney Dream has two adults-only specialty eating eating places onboard, Palo and Remy. To dine at both restaurant, cruisers ought to get a reservation upfront via the Disney Cruise Line Navigator app. If you cannot safe a reservation earlier than the crusing, ask about walk-up availability for both restaurant as soon as on board. Simply remember to head straight to the hostess desk exterior of Palo and Remy as quickly as you board the ship (even earlier than consuming lunch) as a result of any open reservations will likely be snapped up shortly.
My household at all times eats at Palo for brunch on a Disney cruise, and this time was no totally different. The meal is a high-end desk service possibility that begins along with your alternative of a charcuterie board or chilled seafood platter, plus a pleasant unfold of bread. The menu can also be stuffed with entrees like house-made pizzas, plate-size Mickey waffles, made-to-order pasta and elevated egg dishes like frittatas.
The meal for the three of us value $170. My dad additionally ordered Palo’s signature bloody Mary, which tacked on one other $12.39 to our meal.
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On this cruise, for the primary time ever, my household and I dined at Remy, a French-inspired restaurant that was price each penny. To start out, we have been served a welcome cocktail referred to as The Collette, which is called after the feminine chef within the Pixar film, “Ratatouille.”
Then we have been offered menus that have been divided into two prix-fixe choices, one which leaned extra French and one which leaned extra high-end American. I selected the French menu, whereas my mother and father selected the American menu. The meal total was unbelievable and was definitely worth the $462.50 for the three of us.
Whole for specialty eating: $644.89
Specialty drinks and alcohol
One factor that units Disney Cruise Line other than different family-friendly cruises is that it would not supply all-inclusive drink packages. Passengers should buy all drinks on board on the per-drink value, although drink costs on Disney ships can generally be barely cheaper than comparable libations on different big-ship traces. Plus, soda is included in your cruise fare.
Disney Cruise Line additionally permits passengers to convey your individual wine or beer on board at each port, whereas different cruise traces limit visitors to 1 bottle of wine at embarkation solely. Not solely does this coverage help you probably lower your expenses on beverage prices, however you possibly can take pleasure in attention-grabbing brews and vintages from the locations you go to.
Each evening, my household went to completely satisfied hour on the adults-only bar Meridian, which is situated between Palo and Remy. This spacious bar has giant home windows that overlook the ocean and two outside patios with seating. Cocktails for 5 nights at Meridian value my household of three $179.67.
Different locations to have a specialty cocktail or espresso on Disney Dream embrace the Cove Cafe, Skyline, Pink and 687. At these different bars, my household spent $122.16.
Whereas we loved the entire bars and lounges on the ship, Meridian was simply our favourite and never simply due to the view. The Solid Members who work on this bar are top-notch and realized our cocktail preferences shortly. By evening two, they have been shaking up off-menu cocktails that they knew we’d take pleasure in.
Whole for drinks: $301.83
Gratuities
Disney Cruise Line permits visitors to prepay their onboard gratuities for his or her stateroom host and their service crew within the eating room. This cost got here to $72.50 per visitor.
On prime of the usual gratuities, we selected to provide an additional $20 to our eating room server, assistant server and head server, plus our stateroom host, all of whom get a portion of the pay as you go gratuities. On the finish of our cruise, we additionally gave the 2 bartenders in Meridian an extra $20 in money for all of their exhausting work all through the week and for making our trip particular.
Whole for gratuities: $337.50
Souvenirs
Whereas I am not usually one to get a memento from a cruise ship, I could not resist making a number of purchases on Disney Dream.
My favourite Disney character, Sorcerer Mickey, is the strict character on the ship, so a variety of the Dream-branded merchandise has this variation of Mickey on it. And since this was a Halloween cruise, I discovered some spooky souvenirs within the shops, too. I dropped $118.97 on merchandise.
Whole for souvenirs: $118.97
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Excursions
On most cruises, my household and I choose to discover the port on our personal versus shopping for excursions. It saves us cash, and we are able to head again to the ship each time we wish. On this cruise, our ports of name have been Grand Cayman and Disney’s personal island, Castaway Cay.
As a result of we have visited Grand Cayman beforehand and it isn’t our favourite cruise port, we stayed on the ship that day to benefit from the much less crowded pool decks and a pleasant lunch inside one of many principal eating rooms.
On our Castaway Cay port day, we did get off the ship however did not go for any of the island’s excursions, as an alternative heading to the adults-only seashore, Serenity Bay. We additionally loved lunch on the adults-only seashore, which is included within the total cruise value.
If we have been occurring a cruise to locations we had by no means been to earlier than, like a Disney cruise to the Mediterranean or Alaska, we’d probably choose to do Disney-sponsored excursions, which are sometimes a number of hundred {dollars} per particular person per tour. And if your loved ones has by no means been to Grand Cayman, you may wish to guide a tour to discover the island or one in all its points of interest.
Excursions: $0
Spa providers
One in all my favourite areas on any Disney cruise is the Senses Spa and its Rainforest Room. This space of the spa options a number of bathe experiences, saunas, a row of heated lounge chairs and two personal sizzling tubs. One of the best half is that the lounge chairs and the recent tubs are in a glass-enclosed area, so you possibly can see the ocean or ports whereas utilizing the amenities.
On this five-night crusing, my mother and I booked a “{couples} charge” to have the ability to come and go from the Rainforest Room as we wished all through the cruise. The overall value for that was $187.62. My mother additionally opted to get a therapeutic massage on the cruise, which value $209.42.
Whole for spa providers: $397.04
What it actually prices to go on a Disney cruise
For 3 adults sharing one cabin on a five-night Halloween-themed crusing on Disney Dream, the entire value got here to $4,514.06. That equals out to every particular person paying $1,504.69 for the journey, or $214.95 per particular person, per day.
To place that in perspective, our five-night Disney cruise was cheaper on a per-person, per-day foundation than TPG’s Summer time Hull’s three-day journey to Walt Disney World.
Primarily based on our journey, here is the key breakdown of Disney Cruise Line journey bills:
- 55.3% cruise fare
- 2.4% pre-cruise resort and meal
- 2.4 % parking
- 14.3% onboard eating
- 6.7% drinks
- 7.5% gratuities
- 2.6% souvenirs
- 0% excursions
- 8.8% spa providers
A Disney cruise may be an reasonably priced technique to take a Disney trip, particularly in case you’re keen to forgo upcharges similar to concierge rooms and expensive excursions in ports of name. On my household’s Disney cruise, we stored our every day bills to simply over $900, although it’s totally straightforward to rack up a folio invoice for 1000’s of {dollars} a day extra. If you wish to keep inside a sure finances, remember to strive as many money-saving hacks as potential to maintain the price in test.
A Disney trip won’t ever be low-cost, however with some planning and suppleness, it’s potential to take a Disney cruise with out draining your checking account.
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