Top-of-the-line issues about cruising is which you could pay for a cruise months upfront, overlook 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 typically good to know precisely how a lot I’ve spent, all the way down to reserving a resort the night time earlier than a cruise, drinks on board the ship and purchases in port. So on certainly one of 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 info is essential, not only for me once I’m able to plan my subsequent cruise with Mickey and the gang, however so you’ll be able to finances appropriately in your subsequent Disney cruise. Let’s face it — Disney Cruise Line holidays are costly, however the recollections made on the ships are priceless.
Is it doable for households on a finances to afford a Disney cruise? The brief reply is sure, however there may be some technique concerned. This is how a lot our Disney cruise actually price 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 price, let me offer you some background.
The pricing for this cruise relies on my household of three adults. A cruise with youngsters will doubtless have a distinct steadiness of bills.
Our transportation to the embarkation port of Miami isn’t included because the expense can range drastically relying on the way you select to get to the port. We drove since we dwell in Florida, however not everyone seems to be fortunate sufficient to dwell inside driving distance of their departure port. I did embody 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 every little thing. We did deal with ourselves to a couple 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 by means of the Disney Cruise Line app made it doable for us to have a enjoyable trip with out emptying our financial institution accounts.
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Cruise reserving
Our greatest price on this journey was the cruise fare as a result of sailings on Disney Dream aren’t low-cost. Even if you happen to 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. If you happen to’re planning an extended cruise from the USA, it is going to price considerably extra, particularly throughout peak instances when youngsters are out of faculty or throughout a themed crusing.
Due to how costly Disney cruise sailings are, I all the time 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 entire price of the cruise, together with taxes and costs, was $2,497.28.
Complete for cruise reserving: $2,497.28
Pre-cruise resort lodging
I all the time recommend that folks arrive of their embarkation metropolis or a metropolis close by not less than 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 night time earlier than my Disney Dream cruise, my household and I stayed at Disney’s Vero Seashore Resort, which is slightly over midway from our house in Jacksonville, Florida, to Miami.
We used Disney Trip Membership factors to guide an “Inn-Normal View” room, which was large enough for the three of us. The room price us 16 factors, so we technically did not spend any cash on reserving a resort the night time earlier than. Except you could have factors to spend, do not forget to finances for lodging earlier than or after your cruise, as wanted.
Complete for resort: $0
Pre-cruise meals
The night time earlier than our cruise, we determined to eat out in Vero Seashore at American Icon Brewery. Everybody in my household received an area beer to attempt, then we shared an appetizer, and everybody received 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 making an attempt an area place. American Icon Brewery was enjoyable, and the meals and repair had been each nice.
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For breakfast the morning of our cruise, I introduced muffins that I made at house for my household to take pleasure in. The room included a espresso maker and Keurig espresso pods, so we drank that with our mild breakfast. Disney’s Vero Seashore Resort does serve breakfast at its onsite restaurant, however we would have liked to hit the highway early to get to our 11 a.m. port arrival time, so the muffins and occasional had been an ideal straightforward breakfast.
Complete 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 had been leaving the parking deck quite than upfront.
Complete 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 by means of 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 make sure you head straight to the hostess desk outdoors of Palo and Remy as quickly as you board the ship (even earlier than consuming lunch) as a result of any open reservations shall be snapped up rapidly.
My household all the time eats at Palo for brunch on a Disney cruise, and this time was no totally different. The meal is a high-end desk service choice that begins along with your selection of a charcuterie board or chilled seafood platter, plus a pleasant unfold of bread. The menu can also be crammed 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 price $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 had been served a welcome cocktail known as The Collette, which is known as after the feminine chef within the Pixar film, “Ratatouille.”
Then we had been offered menus that had 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 dad and mom selected the American menu. The meal general was incredible and was definitely worth the $462.50 for the three of us.
Complete for specialty eating: $644.89
Specialty drinks and alcohol
One factor that units Disney Cruise Line aside from different family-friendly cruises is that it does 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 typically 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 deliver your personal wine or beer on board at each port, whereas different cruise traces prohibit company to at least one bottle of wine at embarkation solely. Not solely does this coverage can help you doubtlessly get monetary savings on beverage prices, however you’ll be able to take pleasure in fascinating brews and vintages from the locations you go to.
Each night time, my household went to comfortable hour on the adults-only bar Meridian, which is situated between Palo and Remy. This spacious bar has massive home windows that overlook the ocean and two outside patios with seating. Cocktails for 5 nights at Meridian price my household of three $179.67.
Different locations to have a specialty cocktail or espresso on Disney Dream embody 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 discovered our cocktail preferences rapidly. By night time two, they had been shaking up off-menu cocktails that they knew we’d take pleasure in.
Complete for drinks: $301.83
Gratuities
Disney Cruise Line permits company to prepay their onboard gratuities for his or her stateroom host and their service staff within the eating room. This cost got here to $72.50 per visitor.
On high of the usual gratuities, we selected to present 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 a further $20 in money for all of their exhausting work all through the week and for making our trip particular.
Complete 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 plenty 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.
Complete 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 would like. On this cruise, our ports of name had 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 predominant 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 a substitute heading to the adults-only seaside, Serenity Bay. We additionally loved lunch on the adults-only seaside, which is included within the general cruise price.
If we had been happening a cruise to locations we had by no means been to earlier than, like a Disney cruise to the Mediterranean or Alaska, we’d doubtless choose to do Disney-sponsored excursions, which are sometimes a number of hundred {dollars} per individual 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 certainly one of its sights.
Excursions: $0
Spa providers
Certainly one of 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. The most effective half is that the lounge chairs and the new tubs are in a glass-enclosed house, so you’ll be able to see the ocean or ports whereas utilizing the services.
On this five-night crusing, my mother and I booked a “{couples} fee” to have the ability to come and go from the Rainforest Room as we needed all through the cruise. The entire price for that was $187.62. My mother additionally opted to get a therapeutic massage on the cruise, which price $209.42.
Complete 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 price got here to $4,514.06. That equals out to every individual paying $1,504.69 for the journey, or $214.95 per individual, 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 season Hull’s three-day journey to Walt Disney World.
Primarily based on our journey, this is the most important 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 could be an reasonably priced option to take a Disney trip, particularly if you happen to’re keen to forgo upcharges akin to concierge rooms and dear excursions in ports of name. On my household’s Disney cruise, we stored our day by 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, make sure you attempt as many money-saving hacks as doable to maintain the price in verify.
A Disney trip won’t ever be low-cost, however with some planning and suppleness, it’s doable to take a Disney cruise with out draining your checking account.
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