On Board Budgeting

[millertimecruising]

My wife and I along with our two kids (9 & 5) will be sailing on the Fantasy this June. Everything is now paid for except the Disney transfers which I plan on paying next month. We don't have credit cards and therefore are planning on settling up with cash at the end of the week. I'm trying to gauge/estimate how much cash to bring. We aren't planning any extravagent excursions just probably paying for taxi service to take us to beaches in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. My wife and I drink moderately and I'm sure money will be spent on souvieniers. I am open to suggestions and if you have paid cash on board what a good amount is to budget for on 7 night cruise.

[ivrier]

Your Key to the World card is linked to a credit card and all payments on the ship is based on that. Gift cards and cash are not accepted on the ship. I am not sure if debit cards are allowed. You may want to check on them. You have to remember that the tips are not inclusive of the final payment and they may require that they have a credit card on file. Final online registration should include having a credit card linked to your reservation.

[martinm]

I hide my wifes sign and sail card ;)

[DISNEY FANTASY]

My wife and I along with our two kids (9 & 5) will be sailing on the Fantasy this June. Everything is now paid for except the Disney transfers which I plan on paying next month. We don't have credit cards and therefore are planning on settling up with cash at the end of the week. I'm trying to gauge/estimate how much cash to bring. We aren't planning any extravagant excursions just probably paying for taxi service to take us to beaches in St. Maarten and St. Thomas. My wife and I drink moderately and I'm sure money will be spent on souvieniers. I am open to suggestions and if you have paid cash on board what a good amount is to budget for on 7 night cruise.

 

To be honest, for each person or family its going to be very different.

 

Things to consider.

 

Shops

Arcade cards.

If you buy booze on ship.

If you go to Remy or Palo.

Pre paid tips?

Spa?

 

You say you will not do expensive port trips, the Caribbean is generally cheaper than mainland and taxis to beaches fine, and there quite close.

 

I think the best thing is to research what you want to do, and buy a DCL cruise guide book or look online and write it down, I do that and budget quite accurately but always add a contingency for shop spending on ship.

[Gumbey]

I was just reviewing our shipboard account last night actually as we are trying to plan for the Allure in March of 2014 and compare drinks purchased on the Fantasy vs the premium beverage package.

 

I believe we spent nearly 2200$ on board.....yeah a lot I know then again it may not seem like a lot to some. But about $600 was spa for my wife, my daughter and (yeah yeah) myself. I did the hot shave. Not that bad actually, but just don't fall for the hard sell as you are getting a facial / scalp massage like I did for the skin beads....lol

 

We also spent $199 on the Bibbidi boutique for Pirate night. But that includes all make-up and hair as well as costume. We had some really fabulous pictures out of that evening as well.

 

We had pre-paid all our excusions as I booked them separately without Disney (saved a ton, especially in Cozumel with Dolphinaris going direct). The rest was Remy, wine at Palo and drinks on CC and on board. I would estimate that we probably spent about $1000 on drinks and we had tremendous restraint and we never loaded throughout the cruise.

 

On the Allure we will most definately be taking the premium package.

 

As others have said, it's all about personal tastes and wants. Nothing on board that you pay for is a need, but it sure is nice.

[LasseKjus]

Debit cards are allowed, just make sure you have enough on the card to cover the base amount, which is similar to a cash settlement. You can always settle with cash later.

 

However, it's very easy to say you won't be spending much, but harder to do.

 

We've had cruises where we've literally only had tips put on our on-board account. And there's Disney ships where we're much more. We do far more souvenirs on the Disney ships than others and we rarely spend on land regardless of the ship.

[pepsicruiser]

For starters even if you drink 2 drinks a day each at approx $9 each that's $150 with tips at least. You can bring your own small or big bottle of alcohol on board as long as it's in carry on. You can bring back to your room juices from breakfast for mixers or sodas on deck all day long. Bring tall cups with lids to put drinks in and no one will bother you as they want you to only drink your bring on alcohol in your room.

 

Another place you can tend to over spend is photos. Be careful and wait for the end of the cruise to pick out what you want. It adds up quickly.

[hackif]

Gift cards and cash are definitely accepted. You may just have to go down from time to time to top up. You can't pay directly (i.e, at a bar for example) but you can put them on your ship board account which is then settled up with credit card, cash, debit card or gift cards.

[OceanLiner]

You can absolutely put cash in your account at the guest services desk, and then use your key to charge.

 

A MAJOR source of charging might just be your kids, as their key will also charge. I saw a surprise or two from the kids on the guest charges more than once on DCL. All you need to do is tell DCL on check-in that you want the charge feature for the kids to be deactivated, even if you do not intend to give them a key to use.

 

An inexpensive excursion in St Marteen is readily available right at the dock, and our kids had a great time. You take the water taxi for a couple of bucks each and it takes you through the harbor and to the middle of the beach in the middle of the city.

[millertimecruising]

You can absolutely put cash in your account at the guest services desk, and then use your key to charge.

 

A MAJOR source of charging might just be your kids, as their key will also charge. I saw a surprise or two from the kids on the guest charges more than once on DCL. All you need to do is tell DCL on check-in that you want the charge feature for the kids to be deactivated, even if you do not intend to give them a key to use.

 

An inexpensive excursion in St Marteen is readily available right at the dock, and our kids had a great time. You take the water taxi for a couple of bucks each and it takes you through the harbor and to the middle of the beach in the middle of the city.

 

Thanks for the info! Do you remember the name of the beach that you went to in St. Marteen? Does the water taxi only go to that one beach?

[millertimecruising]

Gift cards and cash are definitely accepted. You may just have to go down from time to time to top up. You can't pay directly (i.e, at a bar for example) but you can put them on your ship board account which is then settled up with credit card, cash, debit card or gift cards.

 

Do you know if there is a minimum and maximum amount that you can have on your card/account at one time if paying by cash?

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Do you know if there is a minimum and maximum amount that you can have on your card/account at one time if paying by cash?

 

Yes there is and it depends on the cruise length, details on FAQs on DCL website, I think a seven night cruise has the maximum of $500 limit.

[ducklite]

Do you know if there is a minimum and maximum amount that you can have on your card/account at one time if paying by cash?

 

Unless something has changed, you must put a $100 "deposit" per person or $100 day per cabin (I don't recall which) on your account the day you begin your cruise if you aren't using a credit card. Any of that which you don't use will be refunded on the final day. If you prefer, you can use a debit card, keep in mind that they will place a hold on the funds in the account, and it can take a couple of weeks for that hold to be released.

[ducklite]

Yes there is and it depends on the cruise length, details on FAQs on DCL website, I think a seven night cruise has the maximum of $500 limit.

 

You can put as much down as you'd like. If you want to put $2000 down on your account, that's your choice.

[DISNEY FANTASY]

You can put as much down as you'd like. If you want to put $2000 down on your account, that's your choice.

 

You have misread the question.

 

Do you know if there is a minimum and maximum amount that you can have on your card/account at one time if paying by cash?

 

Which was a question to the post.

 

You may just have to go down from time to time to top up. You can't pay directly (i.e, at a bar for example) but you can put them on your ship board account which is then settled up with credit card, cash, debit card or gift cards.

 

So we are talking 'settling up' and not pre cruise putting an OBC onto your account.

 

The maximum amount that you can have on your KTTW card/account at one time if paying by cash is $500 on a seven night cruise, and $300 on a less than 7 night cruise, ie 3/4 nights.

 

At no point did the question say, how much can you put down or on the account.

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Unless something has changed, you must put a $100 "deposit" per person or $100 day per cabin (I don't recall which) on your account the day you begin your cruise if you aren't using a credit card. Any of that which you don't use will be refunded on the final day. If you prefer, you can use a debit card, keep in mind that they will place a hold on the funds in the account, and it can take a couple of weeks for that hold to be released.

 

No, there is a credit limit as per my posts $300 short cruises and $500 7 night cruises, you 'may' put down cash if you wish.

[OceanLiner]

Oh how nice it would be if Disney did in fact have a maximum amount that we could spend per cruise, but unfortunately they do not have a maximum credit limit. Here's how it works:

 

Cash - they will set a minimum amount for a cruise, you are to give them that amount and that will be your limit for the card. Give them more than that amount and that will be your amount for the card. Spend the first amount and add to the account, and that will be your amount. The amounts have varied over the years, but in round numbers the 3 night cruise is $300 and the 5-7 night are around $500.

 

Debit - they will again have a minimum amount, and they will "reserve" that amount on your debit card. This means that they don't actually take the money, but they have requested that the bank set aside this amount for their use, should you spend it. When you spend $250, then Disney actually charges that amount against the reserve in approximately $250 increments until the reserve is used up. Once the reserve is used, they generally ask you to authorize another amount, though sometimes they can just reserve more funds. The hazard here is that your bank might limit the single limit of a transaction, or the total dollars of transactions and not authorize the charges.

 

Credit - similar to the debit card in most regards, but Disney generally does not come back to you to keep reserving the amounts. They simply reserve the first minimum amount, then bill it when your spending reaches $250 in charges, and then they add back to the reserve. Your only limit is the limit on the credit card.

[OceanLiner]

Thanks for the info! Do you remember the name of the beach that you went to in St. Marteen? Does the water taxi only go to that one beach?

 

The water taxi moves around the harbor at Philipsburg in Saint Marteen from the cruise dock, to the marina area, and to Great Bay Beach which is in the center of town. The beach is nice and the view of the harbor is great. The beach is a bit territorial as the bars and restaurants facing the beach stake out various areas to serve their customers.......which could be you! If you tip the beach attendant and buy some snacks and drinks, you will be just fine wherever you decide to relax for the day.

 

I think the water taxi may have added a fourth stop at the new cruise ship dock.

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Oh how nice it would be if Disney did in fact have a maximum amount that we could spend per cruise, but unfortunately they do not have a maximum credit limit. Here's how it works:

 

Cash - they will set a minimum amount for a cruise, you are to give them that amount and that will be your limit for the card. Give them more than that amount and that will be your amount for the card. Spend the first amount and add to the account, and that will be your amount. The amounts have varied over the years, but in round numbers the 3 night cruise is $300 and the 5-7 night are around $500.

 

Debit - they will again have a minimum amount, and they will "reserve" that amount on your debit card. This means that they don't actually take the money, but they have requested that the bank set aside this amount for their use, should you spend it. When you spend $250, then Disney actually charges that amount against the reserve in approximately $250 increments until the reserve is used up. Once the reserve is used, they generally ask you to authorize another amount, though sometimes they can just reserve more funds. The hazard here is that your bank might limit the single limit of a transaction, or the total dollars of transactions and not authorize the charges.

 

Credit - similar to the debit card in most regards, but Disney generally does not come back to you to keep reserving the amounts. They simply reserve the first minimum amount, then bill it when your spending reaches $250 in charges, and then they add back to the reserve. Your only limit is the limit on the credit card.

 

Fully concur. :)