This Disney Cruise Training article was written by my friend Amanda who blogs at Memories are Priceless. She is a Disney Cruise veteran!
Day 1- Choosing a Disney Cruise and What is Included In Your Price
As someone who is currently in the process of planning my fifth Disney Cruise, I have many people who are thinking about cruising for the first time ask me what the big deal is? Are there a lot of hidden charges that will surprise me on board? Is there really enough to do on a cruise to avoid going stir crazy? Hopefully through these next few posts, I can share a little of what Disney Cruise Line offers travelers, and what makes it all completely worth it in my opinion.
To start off, I want to break down exactly what is and isn’t included in your cruise fare. When you book your cruise, you will be quoted a price that will include your cruise, taxes, and port fees. These are all non-negotiable. Then you will have the option to add transfers and vacation insurance. While helpful, neither of these are required, nor do they have to be done through Disney if you do not choose to. I will discuss transfer options in another post, and vacation insurance, if purchased, can be bought through several different companies. * When you price shop on the official cruise line website, your initial price shown may include the transfers and insurance, just deselect those options to see your base price.*
Now, on to what is included in your cruise price:
- Food- For the most part, ALL food is included! All 3 meals, snacks, desserts, even room service! If you choose to go, there is an adults only restaurant on board, Palo, that charges per person, but this is optional. Free food also includes the meal served on Castaway Cay during your beach day. You should be prepared to tip if you order room service, but the food itself is free. There is a little snack bar outside the theatre that sells popcorn and candy that you have to pay for. However, this is pointless because you can go up to any of the snack places on Deck 9 and get free food and drinks to carry in with you.
- Drinks- In the dining rooms all non- alcoholic drinks are free. On deck 9 there is a 24 hour self serve soda station that is also free. Anything ordered from a waiter roaming around the decks has a charge regardless of whether it is alcoholic or not. The same is true for any drinks ordered in any of the adult clubs. On Castaway Cay, non-alcoholic drinks from the soda station are free, but anything ordered from a waiter or at the bar has a charge.
- Activities- Almost all organized activities on board are included in the price. It is also free to use the fitness center, but not the spa. There are small fees for things like wine or beer tastings as well as most of the bingo sessions. There is however, usually at least one free bingo session.
What is NOT included in the price of your cruise:
- Excursions off of the boat.
- Any Spa or Laundry services.
- Childcare for Children under 3. All activities for potty trained children 3 and over are completely free, but there is a charge if you want to take your child under 3 to Flounder’s Reef nursery.
- Alcoholic beverages and activities such as wine or beer tastings.
- Bingo and the Arcade
- Photos
- The per person charge for adults who choose to dine at Palo.
- Tips for servers, room service, room stewards, etc.
Be sure to learn how to make the most of your trip by reading the Disney Cruise Training series. And if you are ready to book your trip, be sure to read about the perks of using an authorized Disney vacation planner (plus it’s FREE!).
i went on disney cruise 2 years ago saving my money for a big cruise.
My husband and I got married on the Disney Dream last April. It was a wonderful way for our newly blended 6 person family to create a memory the best way we could think of– with Disney!!! Anyway, we had a fabulous time, but it was only a Thurs-Sun cruise so we are now scheduled for a WEEK cruise on the Fantasy this September. We have a cruise jar where our kids donate pocket change and portions of the “gift” money from special occasions, so everyone knows when we are on that ship that we all worked together to get to that point. I am excited to try this program to see if it will help us fill our “cruise jar” faster! :-)
Cruising on the Dream March 4…the countdown has been going a long time (15 months to be exact). Can’t wait! We just got the 2012 cruise DVD and the kids are so stoked!
I’m going on my first Disney Cruise in December-I can’t wait to read more of this series.
Thanks, was just thinking of taking one of their crusises!
I have been on 14 cruises and one of them was with Disney. I will warn you that if you book a room, make sure that it is NOT by a service elevator. We were woken up at 5:30 each morning. I won’t go into details of what happened when we asked to get moved to a different room.
I will say that the boat is geared towards kids and they do have an awesome program for the kids.
My family and I enjoyed our first Disney Cruise last October. One word can sun it up nicely…WOW! It was fantastic and worth every penny paid. I thought my kids would want to return to DisneyWorld next year but no, they say they would rather do a Disney Cruise again (they are 9 and 6). So…I am working on applying all of my savings toward our next cruise!
Thanks for the great post!
thanks so much for starting this one. We head to DW today for 8 days, next year we are gonna do a CRUISe :) gonna follow this new training to the book :)
We went on the Disney Cruise for my daughter’s wish from Make-A-Wish. We had a fabulous time, and we are hoping to go again once we live on the East Coast again!
If all goes well and get pay off my debt, I am using my Disney Vacation Club points to go on a Mexican Riviera cruise in January of next year. I know that Disney Cruises are a tad bit more than other cruises (even more since I am using points) but the activities for younger kids just cannot be beat.
Can’t wait to go on the Disney boats again soon :-)
Marsha
Now this I like! I am going to be watching for these posts!
The Disney Park is not for me, but a Disney Cruise is meant to be! :)
Thanks! Looking forward to this b/c we have been wanting to take the kids on one in a couple of years.
We did the Disney Cruise for our honeymoon, and it was awesome! We did the land/sea version, and were able to enjoy the parks for nonstop fun, then went on the cruise, and got to relax. We loved it! I agree, not a lot we had to pay for other then tips! We can’t wait to go on another and take our son with us.
What is the land/sea version? We are wanting to go on a cruise and take our kids to disney world.
They no longer offer the land/sea vacations on the Disney Cruise website. It is cheaper to book them separate rather than together. Hope this helps Katie.