general idea of on board charges

[linnied]

Hello, I am going on the Magic in July and unfortunately dealing with a tight budget. What are some of the general cost for things like wine, soda, pina coladas, washer/dryer, the stuff you know your going to spend money on or charge to the room?

Also what is the general rule for the tiping? What if you have to tip less?

Are those tips automatic like the bar tip?

Thanks for any help you can give

Cant wait to go

[Ginamarie]

Your biggest expense is going to be for tips. Disney does not tip automatically.. you can either tip in cash or have it added to your onboard account.

 

I would try to plan so that you don't need to do laundry on the trip (we were able to make it through the 7 day cruise without doing laundry).

 

Soda is free if you get it from the dining room or the drink station near the pool. Alcoholic beverages are something like $4-8, depending on what you order.

[linnied]

ginamarie,

thanks for all your info. You are just a world of info and help. From you comment about Jones beach, we are both L.I.ers. Howdy

[Host Mick]

Ahoy,

Please don't skimp on the tips. The crew members rely on tips as a part of their wages for working those long, hard days.

You can save a few bucks, and in my case quite a few bucks by bringing your own wine and liquor on board. Disney is one of the few lines that allows it. You can't however bring wine bottles to the dining rooms. They will charge a corkage fee of $25 at last check if you do. You can carry a glass full in but not the bottle. They also don't allow hard-sided coolers on board. You can take a collapsible cooler aboard to chill your wine.

 

Hello, I am going on the Magic in July and unfortunately dealing with a tight budget. What are some of the general cost for things like wine, soda, pina coladas, washer/dryer, the stuff you know your going to spend money on or charge to the room?

Also what is the general rule for the tiping? What if you have to tip less?

Are those tips automatic like the bar tip?

Thanks for any help you can give

Cant wait to go

[SunFunCruiser]

Tips are about $80.00 per person for the 7 day. Please don't skimp on this, they work hard for their tips. Just think of it as part of the cost of the trip.

Don't buy pictures, try the drink of the day, it's usually much cheaper.

[linnied]

I dont want to skimp on the tips, I know it its the bulk of their salary this is why I am asking now, so I can budget for it. Just trying to get a general idea. This cruise is a gift from my parents and brother for me and my girls. I would never be able to afford a trip like this and even the exersions and onboard expences are going to put a dent in the budget. We will get sodas from the free stands by the pools and I will definately limit my bar tab. I am not a drinker, but a pina colada by the pool sounds so nice and "cruise like" that I have to splurge at least once or twice. Wine with dinner and maybe 1 before and after dinner is about all I would be looking for. My girls are under 18 so soda is all they will have along with water and juice. I just dont want to be caught short in the end.

 

Also will they accept a "debit-gift" card with a visa logo on it, but no persons name? I do not have a credit card, do not want to have get one, and already have a large $$ debit-gift card and want to get another to use for my expences/charges, if they will take that in the beginning of the cruise for initial expences and at the end to pay everything off.

[SunFunCruiser]

I dont want to skimp on the tips, I know it its the bulk of their salary this is why I am asking now, so I can budget for it.

 

 

Just responding to *your* original post where you asked "what if you have to tip less?"

[jodifla]

Tips are about $80.00 per person for the 7 day. Please don't skimp on this, they work hard for their tips. Just think of it as part of the cost of the trip.

Don't buy pictures, try the drink of the day, it's usually much cheaper.

 

 

Yes, don't skimp on the tips. That's the main way those folks make a living!

[linnied]

Hey Sunfuncruiser,

I understand you were just responding to my statement ;) . I dont want to skimp at all. I was just wondering if the cruise line automaticlly takes a certain amount per person and charges you account, or is it up to the individual cruiser to decide what to tip. The bar tab automaticlly has a 15% gratuity added so I wasnt sure about the rest.

 

Does any one have an answer to the debit gift card question?:confused:

[Arwenmark]

I am not sure at all about the gift card thing, they normally take your charge card at the beginning and test to see if it is ok, then as you progress through the week they put holds on various amounts, at the end they submit the final bill for the full amount. This is one reason why regular debit cards sometimes run into trouble because of the holds which take various times to expire and if you don't have enough in account to cover final charges with the holds you can get declined.

I don't want to use credit card either this time but don't trust debit so I am putting down Travelers checks. I would not rely on them taking your gift cards without absolute knowledge they will or a back up plan.

[SunFunCruiser]

Maybe you can cash in your gift card for cash or a Traver's check. Buy Disney Dollars with it at a Disney store then give them to Guest services when you arrive.

[escrowdaddy]

Cashing in the debit card to buy Disney Dollars is a great idea and probably the easiest. You can buy them at any mall location Disney Store or at Downtown Disney in Orlando. Make sure though you buy Disney Dollars and not a Disney gift card from the store. The cruise line and parks do not accept disney gift cards any longer. The Disney Stores are no longer owned by the Disney Corporation. I ran into that problem once.

Aboard ship, you will still have to use your ship-card to make all purchases, but at the end of the week you can take your Disney Dollars to guest relations and they will accept them as cash and deduct the amount from your final bill.

We are going on a Western cruise aboard the Magic in 13 days!!!. Have a great time.

 

Michael

[SunFunCruiser]

Michael,

She will probably have to take them to GS first. they won't let you charge anything w/o a credit card or cash up front.

[escrowdaddy]

Sun Fun:

 

Excellent point, I am so used to other cruise lines ways. This is only my 2nd with Disney.

[cruisinbuddy]

Tipping. I forget what the recomended amount is. I do remember tipping the cabin steward the proper amount because he was great. However for a family of 5 , I know for sure we did not tip the 'recomended' amt. for our dining room servers. They were not good. Now remember you might have the best servers in the world, this was my experience. We would order more than 1 appetizer. She would bring all at the same time and make you move things on the table, table chess I would call it, to make room. Um, bring 1 at a time please. The ass't waiter missed a couple drinks. Make sure they're not on your bill. Yes we did talk to the Head Waitor on the 3rd night, but nothing changed.So on the last night we did not tip the rcommended amt. We only gave them $80.00 EACH. OMG.:eek: Now you have the same servers for breakfast on the last morning. No word of a lie, may God strike me down if I am lieing, she placed the food infront of everyone and literally, yes literally, threw my plate infront of me. I'm sorry but if you're a professional you don't do this. Funny thing is, they knew I was a chef and I know how service is suppoed to be.

So the moral of the story is; if you're not going to tip the recomended amt. wait til the last breakfast, but put the envelopes on the table 1st so they can see something is coming.Heck load them down with $1.00's to make envelope thicker. Now that I think of it the tip should have been $125.00. Now this was the only time I did this, everyone usually gets more than the 'recomended' amt.

[Indea88]

We also had less than steller service on the Magic a few weeks ago. We tipped less then the recommended amount. It would take too long to go into the details of the service that week but we were so very disappointed after hearing all the rave reviews about Disney service.I did watch other tables receive the service that we had heard about. We charged our tips on our CC at Guest services, then were told by the stateroom attendent that she might "never see the tip":rolleyes: . You had the choice of envelopes or Charging at Guest services. The envelopes are what is preferred, and we were reminded of that....!!

[39Scuba]

So what you're saying is do the envelopes and that way they see the cash and enjoy that? I know I would. Can we still do the CC at the front end for other things and just tip in cash? I'm going on my 1st cruise here in about 3 weeks. I'm looking for all the advice I can get.

[cruisinsuzie]

Bar tips are included already. I realized this after a day of being more than generous with my bar tips. No need to double tip.

 

Our last cruise we over tipped our dinner wait staff because they were extroidinary - this year they worked hard but were just okay. perhaps they had lots of demanding customers to attend to, who knows.

 

Bring your own liquor on board, ask for buckets of ice and make the drinks in your room. We ask for a wine bucket, and wine glasses. They were happy to accomodate - you are allowed to bring alcohol on board for enjoyment in your own room - though we never had an issue taking it out of our room.

[metrowon]

So what you're saying is do the envelopes and that way they see the cash and enjoy that? I know I would. Can we still do the CC at the front end for other things and just tip in cash? I'm going on my 1st cruise here in about 3 weeks. I'm looking for all the advice I can get.

IF YOU RECIEVE DECENT SERVICE FOLLOW RECCOMENDED AMOUNT, AT THE BARE MINIMUM. CASH IS ALWAYS NICE, JUST LIKE IN YOUR WALLET, BUT EVERYTHING CAN BE CHARGED. mOST OF THE TIME WE HAVE TIPPED MORE, BUT NOT ALWAYS. pAY FOR WHAT YOU GET! yOUR CABIN STEWARD SHOULD SURPRIZE YOU WITH THEIR EFFORT! aND SINCE YOUR GOING IN jULY, YOU ARE ALREADY SPENDING BIG MONEY! I'D BE SURPRIZED IF YOUR NOT TREATED LIKE KINGS AND QUEENS. i'VE YET TO SEE ANY SLACKERS WORKING FOR DISNEY CRUISE LINES. METROWON

[CJC]

IF YOU RECIEVE DECENT SERVICE FOLLOW RECCOMENDED AMOUNT, AT THE BARE MINIMUM. CASH IS ALWAYS NICE, JUST LIKE IN YOUR WALLET, BUT EVERYTHING CAN BE CHARGED. mOST OF THE TIME WE HAVE TIPPED MORE, BUT NOT ALWAYS. pAY FOR WHAT YOU GET! yOUR CABIN STEWARD SHOULD SURPRIZE YOU WITH THEIR EFFORT! aND SINCE YOUR GOING IN jULY, YOU ARE ALREADY SPENDING BIG MONEY! I'D BE SURPRIZED IF YOUR NOT TREATED LIKE KINGS AND QUEENS. i'VE YET TO SEE ANY SLACKERS WORKING FOR DISNEY CRUISE LINES. METROWON

Could you please do not type in CAPS. It is the equivalent of shouting in the the computer world. Thanks.:)

[pppiglet]

I did laundry 1/2 way thru our 7 day cruise. It's about $2-3$ a load to wash and dry. I took a roll of quarters with me and did 3 loads. Was nice to bring some clean clothes home. If you have the time and are close to the laundry, I'd do it.

[cruisin_mom]

Our last Disney Cruise, we opened up a cash account on board. This way I set my spending limit. I did not have a CC on account so I had no backup in case I went over and was careful and didn't go over. As a matter of fact, they gave me back $26 at the end of the cruise and told me that the "hardly ever give money back...!". To open up a cash account, at checkin time at the terminal tell them you only want a cash account. Onboard go straight to guest services and that's where you open the cash account. You can place a CC in case of overage but don't have to. DCL can be done on a budget!

[cruisecastle]

Hello, I am going on the Magic in July and unfortunately dealing with a tight budget. What are some of the general cost for things like wine, soda, pina coladas, washer/dryer, the stuff you know your going to spend money on or charge to the room?

Also what is the general rule for the tiping? What if you have to tip less?

Are those tips automatic like the bar tip?

Thanks for any help you can give

Cant wait to go

 

First don't stiff the crew as they work very had. Second figure $1,000 per person per week. Family of 3 figure $3k that's what it cost us 2 years ago and I'm planning on my two back to back Magic cruises later this summer

[pppiglet]

First don't stiff the crew as they work very had. Second figure $1,000 per person per week. Family of 3 figure $3k that's what it cost us 2 years ago and I'm planning on my two back to back Magic cruises later this summer

 

Wow, that's crazy! We were a family of three and we only spent $1000 total on board. (but we are not drinkers). It was for pictures,internet, souvenirs, & excursions. In fact only had to pay $500 because $500 was disney visa rewards dollars credit. This doesn't include tipping. We had put that aside separate.

[sunny_medford]

We have not cruised disney before, however we cruised RCCL a few years back. (Looking forward to Disney Jan 07) We set aside the recommended $'s for tips plus about 30%more. We kept up on our charges by checking our account on the room tv. Don't know if Disney offers this. We had great service, tipped more than the recommended amount(not the 30% extra though) and had a few $'s in our pocket when we got home. Which ended up as a payment on our credit card we used for our ship charges. It is very easy to let the bar tab creep on you even if you are not a "drinker." Excursions are quite expensive, many times people stay on the ship during port days and get to enjoy a less crowded atmosphere and look forward to that part of the cruise. There will be so much to do on the ship that you can't fit it all in. (my RCCL experience...I'm sure Disney is even more so)

 

Good Luck, and remember it's the little things that make vacation special, not the $'s spent on it.