how much extra cash do we need?

[Martini Mom]

We are now just a little over 4 months until our big WDW trip and cruise. I am reviewing our budget and feel pretty good about being on track. The one thing that I feel unsure about though is money we will need on our cruise. I have figured out what we need for excursions. My husband and I enjoy the odd beverage (wine or beer) with a meal but on a 4 night cruise I don't imagine that being significant.

I seem to recall that gratuities can add up on a cruise. How much should I be planning to set aside? We are a family of 5.

Also, I think I remember reading something about photos that are taken of your family while on the cruise. I imagine that packages are quite pricey but I love photos so I can see adding this expense.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks.

[GusMan]

For tipping, from what I recall, the recommended for a 4 day cruise is around $48 per person. You will get a worksheet in your stateroom that will help you calculate the exact amount as you can give each person a different amount. (Stateroom host/hostess, and the different servers.) The guideline above is just that - a guideline. You should think about bumping it up some, especially if someone gives you extra-special service.

Alco-beverages are pricey, so plan on about $8 or so per drink, which includes gratuity. (Conch Cooler - remember that - and give it a try!)

Photos are not cheap. A typical 8x10 will run you $20. They have packages, but they are also pricey, but do provide a discount if you have many good pics taken of you and your family that you want to keep.

Keep in mind that the ship is cashless, so you need not carry cash. Everything gets charged to your room. When you check in, you will have a chance to put a credit card down for your on-board purchases. If you want to settle with cash, another debit card, etc, you may do so at guest services at any time during your trip.

[Drince88]

I was just looking at what I spent money on, for my 4 night cruise about a year and a half ago and was kind of shocked at how much I'd drank! BUT, I wasn't there with kids, so I would pop into one of the bars after dinner and have a drink, plus wine at dinner, and sometimes one during the day, so that's my excuse!

I spent $150 on food & drink (Palo, plus drinks at dinner and at other times), $266 on excursions, rental snorkle equipment, and a massage (and that included a partial refund on one excursion), and another 150 on 'stuff' - which was only 3 pictures from Shutters. For a 4 night cruise, tips are recommended at 16/person for restaurant server, 12/person for assistant server, 4/person for head server, and 16/person for stateroom steward. I bumped up a couple of those.

So since there are two adults, your alcohol might be around that if you only have wine with dinner or just a beer or fruity drink during the day. You've already figured your excursions, your 'stuff' is likely to be more. I got a t-shirt, postcards (don't forget to send yourself one!), totebag, Christmas ornament, pin, and the 3 pictures (probably something else, but it was a year and a half ago!). And then just multiply the tips above for your group.

Also, don't forget tips for your excursion leaders, since most of them are not Disney employees.

[Drince88]

If you want to settle with cash, another debit card, etc, you may do so at guest services at any time during your trip.
The lines the last evening were REALLY long for this, especially since a lot of people get vouchers for the tip envelopes, and you have to do that at guest services. So be prepared for a bit of a wait for that.

Also, I think they charge it to your credit card after $X are charged, so you want to find that out so they don't charge your credit card just before you go to pay in cash!

[GusMan]

Good point, Drince. The key to doing the gratuities is do it basically as soon as you get the sheet and not wait the last minute, the night before you disembark.

I think they charge your credit card after either $1000 or $1500 in charges.

[momof three]

On our last cruise I went ahead and charged my gratuities (suggest amount by DCL) before we left. I had my T.A. do this about a week before we left home. For me this was so worth not having to worry or hassle with this the last night. The last afternoon I was given receipts with my tip envelopes. I just placed these in the tip out envelopes. I did bring some extra cash which I slipped in as well. Our service was incredible. In my opinion all of our servers and state room host deserved more then the suggest tip. Also, bring $1.00 bills and keep them in your cabin for when you order room service. Gratuities are not added here so you should tip if you use this service.

I'm currently trying to figure out a workable budget for my family to get on The Dream. Just this morning I looked up suggested tips for a family of five. The total is $240.00. The break down is per person, per day and is: $4.00 for dining room server, $3.00 for assistant server, $1.00 for head server and $4.00 for state room host/hostess.

One thing I completely over looked on my first cruise was that I forgot to call my credit card company and let them know we were cruising and leaving the country. The first day I had a freak out moment when we received a notice that are bank had denied our charges thus far and we had to get cash to guest services now to open an account. Yeah, this was real fun news to get when you are on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s not like I could pop out to the nearest ATM to handle this. I learned the hard way how expensive a ship to shore call was. As soon as I explained the situation to my bank and was able to prove it was me the hold they placed on my credit card was lifted and all was well. Talk about feeling like a moron. The cast member at guest services helping me told me that this happens all the time. Lesson learned I always call my visa card company now before we leave home and let them know where we are traveling.

I just looked over my notes for our four day cruise in 08. Our family of five spent an extra $585.00. We bought a few photos. I had one spa treatment. My husband and son did a wave runner tour and my other son and I did the sting ray adventure excursion. We only bought two drinks the whole time and we had an adult night and Palo’s for Jim and I. We also charged our tips on this cruise.

Have a "wonderful" time.

Mily

[Two Bears]

I have to agree with everyone who has posted here. Keep small amounts of cash for Room Service. If you order from any of the bars (alcohol or soda) the gratuity is automatically added to the bill and will be put onto your stateroom account. Prepaying gratuities is a great way to handle things and, if you want to adjust the gratuity in any way (up or down) you just need to speak to the Purser. We usually prepay all of our gratuities and usually leave an extra tip for our room steward since that is the person, other then dining, that we have the most contact with and usually does the most for us.....we are slightly picky about our stateroom.

[Martini Mom]

Thanks everyone, I love the idea of prepaying gratuities before we leave and adding to them once we are there.

[GusMan]

You can add room service tips to your room as well.
Which is great for me, since I carry very little cash to begin with.

[tinkmom2]

For our four day we spent nearly $700 including tips for a family of 4. We didn't do any excursions that time and had one night at Palos for $15.00 a person. We bought pics from Shutters and bought them singularly rather than in a package. Larger pictures are $20.00 the 6x8's are $9.99.

We recently did our bounceback cruise November 17th and spent $450.00 including tips and the glass bottom boat tour. I prepaid our ship board account by calling DCL directly and throughout my cruise got a print out from guest services to see where we were. We also got rainforest room passes at $15.00/pp (which was a waste of money) and I had a nail polish change for $16.00. This time we bought no pics from Shutters.
http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac226/tinkmom2/VMCP385.jpg

[Martini Mom]

Hey Tinkmom2, what is a rainforest room pass?

Thanks for the info. Less than 3 months to go!!!

Lara

[tinkmom2]

Hey Tinkmom2, what is a rainforest room pass?

Thanks for the info. Less than 3 months to go!!!

Lara

The Rainforest room is a series of steam rooms in the Vista Spa. You buy a pass for $15.00 for the day at the spa desk and are led to a locker room where you get a complimentary robe. There is one big room with lounge chairs and several different scented rooms with steam in them. I went in for about 5 minutes and then got called for my appointment:crying: So for us it was a waste of money. I should have spent my time better by going to the adult pool!

[WdwGurl4life]

Ok so this is a HUGE deal for me and handsome! Handsome is a server for a living and he is HUGEEEEEE (let me stress HUGEEE) on tipping* Now you say 48$ for a #1 server.. what about the second server?? What about the maitre d' ? Someone said 20$..for doing what? Now the room attendant, for 3 nights? what would you suggest? and the luggage handlers.. is there an envelope for them or is it cash into hand?

I KNOW I sound DUMB but can someone please help me understand... At the end of your trip, you get envelopes that you can fill with cash for tips... OR you can pre-pay them? But if you pay in cash* you have to wait in a long line to turn them in? What if you prepay, like some of you mentioned, but feel that your server deserves more (or less?) DO you leave extra cash and STILL wait in line?

[WdwGurl4life]

I know that you can prepay for your tip section ( just found that out- thanks mouseplanet : ) but I was also told that you can call DCL anytime before your cruise and pay ahead of time? Almost like a credit on your account. I would find this AMAZINGLY great because we are doing 3 excursions and I would rather not carry that extra cash with me. Is this true? Can you place money on your account as credit before you leave?

[GusMan]

To reiterate some of the comments above...
If you don't want to pre-pay your gratuities...
- You will get a worksheet that helps you figure out what you would like to give each person who has been serving you. This includes your waitstaff at dinner and your stateroom host/hostess. The sheet will provide recommendations as to what to tip, but you should feel free to adjust up or down as necessary.

- You take that worksheet to guest services and they will print out little tickets for each person showing the amount of your tip.

- Put said slips in the appropriate envelopes that will be left in your stateroom.

- It is customary that during dinner on your last night, you present the appropriate envelope to the appropriate wait person. In the case of your stateroom host/hostess, you will surely see them around during the last evening as well.

While on the ship - the only real tipped positions you have to be concerned about is your wait staff and stateroom host/hostess.

If you prepay, I am sure you can add-on to what you have already prepaid if you feel like the person is deserving.

[GusMan]

I know that you can prepay for your tip section ( just found that out- thanks mouseplanet : ) but I was also told that you can call DCL anytime before your cruise and pay ahead of time? Almost like a credit on your account. I would find this AMAZINGLY great because we are doing 3 excursions and I would rather not carry that extra cash with me. Is this true? Can you place money on your account as credit before you leave?
I merged your thread with this one, which is very similar.

As mentioned above, the ship is cashless. Most people leave a credit card on their account so that they can use their room key to charge incidentals such as alcoholic drinks, shopping, gratuities, and shore excursions set up while on board. At the end of your trip, if you want to settle your account in cash, just go to Guest Services to do so or just leave it on your card.

If you sign up for shore excursions through DCL before your trip, the cost of those excursions will be applied to your stateroom account, to be settled at the end of your trip. (At least that is what I recall from our last trip.)

[mom22gls]

We had our kids with us on our cruise, and were not doing late nights or bars, so we did not drink that much. They offer a wine package, which basically gets you a bottle of wine per night. You don't have to drink a bottle a day, it just equals the number of nights of your cruise. In fact, on our last night, one of the kids got sick, and I stayed in the cabin with her, so we did not even open that last bottle, but it was ours, and we took it with us. If you are mostly planning your drinking at dinner, or in your cabin, the wine package is a way to limit your booze budget. While you are sitting on deck, they often walk around with trays of drinks, and those add up quickly-I think we only bought one each on the cruise. Photos were a big expense, and we only went on one excursion, but bought a photo package on that too.

[mom22gls]

Ok so this is a HUGE deal for me and handsome! Handsome is a server for a living and he is HUGEEEEEE (let me stress HUGEEE) on tipping* Now you say 48$ for a #1 server.. what about the second server?? What about the maitre d' ? Someone said 20$..for doing what? Now the room attendant, for 3 nights? what would you suggest? and the luggage handlers.. is there an envelope for them or is it cash into hand?

I KNOW I sound DUMB but can someone please help me understand... At the end of your trip, you get envelopes that you can fill with cash for tips... OR you can pre-pay them? But if you pay in cash* you have to wait in a long line to turn them in? What if you prepay, like some of you mentioned, but feel that your server deserves more (or less?) DO you leave extra cash and STILL wait in line?

My husband was chatting with our waiter, and he acknowledged that his stint in the Serbian army was easier than working on a cruise ship. I believe it. On our last night, I did not go to dinner, because one of the kids got sick. Nothing on the room service menu appealed to her. I called my husband at the restaurant, and asked if he could bring us some food from the dinner menu. Minutes later, a waiter brought us dinner, right to our stateroom, during the dinner rush. This wasn't room service, it was from the restaurant. You bet they got good tips.

[WdwGurl4life]

Thanks for all the input

My main question is: can you pay ahead of time to have on board credit before you leave.. I do not want to carry a ton of cash ( over 400$ EACH in activities.)

[GusMan]

Im not sure you can establish an on-board credit before you get there. Someone more experienced can correct me if need be.

But this is a case where I would leave the cash at home, or bring a minimal amount, and just use a credit card to establish an onboard credit line.

[Tony]

Thanks for all the input

My main question is: can you pay ahead of time to have on board credit before you leave.. I do not want to carry a ton of cash ( over 400$ EACH in activities.)

Yes, you can prepay your tips before you ever board. We usually do so about a week or two before sailing. Then, instead of getting the tip form at the end of the cruise, you just get vouchers to slip into the tip envelopes. If you use the Disney Visa, prepaying the tips means that the charge goes onto the 6-month no interest vacation offer. If you use the card on board to pay the tips, it is treated like a normal charge.

We usually will increase the tip above the recommended amount in cash once we've been on board, and know what the service was like.

If you want to prepay your tips, just talk to your travel agent, and they can take care of it for you.

[AVP]

My main question is: can you pay ahead of time to have on board credit before you leave.. I do not want to carry a ton of cash ( over 400$ EACH in activities.)I think the answer depends on how you're wanting to pay for your onboard expenses.

Remember that the ship is entirely cashless. You can NOT pay for food, drink, merchandise, services, shore excursions, etc. in cash. Everything you buy goes on your stateroom account.

If you wish to pay for these by credit card, you provide that number during the check in process, and Disney then pre-authorizes some amount (I've been told $500 for 3- and 4-night cruises, more for longer cruises), which establishes your "spending limit." As you near or exceed that limit, the ship does another authorization for more funds. At the end of the cruise, you receive a final statement of your charges. (You can ask for a copy of these charges from guest services at any time during your cruise, which is a REALLY good way to make sure your kids aren't abusing their charging privileges.)

If you want to pay in CASH (actual physical paper money) then yes, you take that to guest services after you board and they apply it as a "stateroom credit" to your room. That amount serves as your spending limit. If you reach that limit, you will either need to put down another cash deposit, or give them a credit card.

There is also a way to have a "shipboard credit" applied to your account before you sail - we see this most often when a travel agent is providing a credit, or when friends/family want to send you a gift of cash to use on your trip. As far as I know, this can only be done using a credit card - you can't mail cash to Disney.

Bottom line - if you need to use paper money instead of credit cards (remember, the ships don't accept checks), you need to bring it with you and put it as a deposit with guest services when you board. You can get any unused funds as a cash refund when you leave.

Personally, I would avoid the hassle of cash and use a credit (NOT DEBIT) card for my shipboard purchases, but some people prefer to use paper money as a way to restrict their spending.

AVP

[GusMan]

Personally, I would avoid the hassle of cash and use a credit (NOT DEBIT) card for my shipboard purchases, ...
Agreed.
Back in August, I saw a person get into a real pickle by using a debit card. In short, they made some purchases before they left on vacation and something got messed up, and they did not have the funds to pay for things. I know that people want to stay away from credit cards and the like, but they do have their place - and this is one of those situations.

[WdwGurl4life]

So best suggestion: Pay everything with Credit card- pay the bill later. Avoid cash :) thankss

[mom22gls]

I would also use a credit card, but, as an option, you could get a Visa debit card, in an amount that should, more than cover your on-board expenses. We got one from AAA for an international trip last summer, because many hotels have stopped cashing traveler's cheques. The card has the same protections against loss or theft. We used the card in ATM machines, and as a debit card, and it worked great. I would have a credit card as an emergency back-up, but, if you really wanted to avoid spending more than a certain amount, or don't or can't use a credit card, it is an option to carrying a lot of cash.