how to lessen the amount of $$ spent

[skiingfast]

Then you are the ONLY family that has ever been automatically charged for gratuities!

(ie that info. is wrong! something is MESSED UP!)

I agree, I'm wondering if the OP was on DCL.

 

[bumblebeeRN]

I was on the DCL disney wonder.

 

[diane648]

Now that I think about it ... is there a way that someone else's gratuities could have been added to OP's account by accident? I remember filling out the form to have ours added to our account -- what if someone mis-typed the entry & applied the charge to the wrong shipboard account???

O/P -- if you still have a copy of your receipt, might be worth checking with DCL on. Maybe you could get a refund of that amount (and save it for your next cruise, of course!)

 

[danfromca]

Now that I think about it ... is there a way that someone else's gratuities could have been added to OP's account by accident? I remember filling out the form to have ours added to our account -- what if someone mis-typed the entry & applied the charge to the wrong shipboard account???

O/P -- if you still have a copy of your receipt, might be worth checking with DCL on. Maybe you could get a refund of that amount (and save it for your next cruise, of course!)

Good point - it's important to always review the statement. Though come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've had a problem, I do remember my first cruise discovering a number of mystery charges that had to be researched. But that was the first year and they had periodic computer outages as I recall.

 

[nfowife]

we just did the Baltic cruise (12 nights). First we booked with DU so had a $300 OBC + $25 from Disney. I am pregnant so no drinking for me. DH had maybe 3 drinks and bought a bottle of wine for our table one night. We did 2 brunches at Palo. No spa services for us and we did no ship excursions. We did all the ports on our own except St. Petersburg when we did a privately booked tour with a group of 2 other families. Our total bill was almost $770 (including the tips for our family of 4 which were $596) so after our OBC we owed about $450. Not bad for a cruise that only cost our family of 4 $3900 for 12 nights (with our military discount).

 

[makaylee]

we just did the Baltic cruise (12 nights). First we booked with DU so had a $300 OBC + $25 from Disney. I am pregnant so no drinking for me. DH had maybe 3 drinks and bought a bottle of wine for our table one night. We did 2 brunches at Palo. No spa services for us and we did no ship excursions. We did all the ports on our own except St. Petersburg when we did a privately booked tour with a group of 2 other families. Our total bill was almost $770 (including the tips for our family of 4 which were $596) so after our OBC we owed about $450. Not bad for a cruise that only cost our family of 4 $3900 for 12 nights (with our military discount).

Wow, how did you swing 2 Palo brunches?

 

[dizney-cruiser]

More than one Palo Brunch or Dinner
You can get a reservation for one before cruising and then when you get on the ship sign up for a second one or get put on the wait list in case one opens up

Paying someone else's gratuities
To avoid this, we go the desk each morning to get a print out of what we have charged so far - you can even do this on the last day to make sure you only pay for what you charge

 

[BealsRwe]

In reading everyone's posts, I have to say we do so many of the same things. We bring our own bottles water onboard for our excursions, otherwise, we just drink the water from the ship.

It is so great that DCL has the 24 hour beverage station up by the Mickey pool now. When I 1st started cruising with DCL, we would buy the soda pass. We even make sure we leave for the shows or movies at least 10 minutes earlier to hit to beverage station and grab our drinks instead of buying at the show.

My hubby and I do enjoy beer while at sea, and we generally purchase the beer mug program. We have even packed our mugs and taken on repeat trips. In looking at the gifts/ammenities page for our upcoming cruise, I discovered they have added a beer token to the beer mug package so you don't have to take your mug everywhere to enjoy the savings.

Another thing we do, is I pack for some 'fun drinks'. We take various small bottles of alcohol-generally flavored vodka, to add to our free soda from the beverage station. We don't drink a lot, but when on a cruise, we enjoy the extra.

I take cash with me when we go. We ask family for cash for holidays and then we save it for upcoming cruises. I put the cash down on the room as we need it, so that our vacation doesn't follow us home for months on a credit card. We also utilize Disney Visa Reward dollars for onboard credit. We use this card for everything year round, and then pay off every month.

It is hard for a parent to say no when their little princess, or pirate wants that new outfit from onboard. I usually bring princess dresses onboard, and I get those from www.disneyshopping.com around Halloween, or after, for a very nice discount.

As for excursions, we have taken quite a few DCL vacations, and we book our excursions throough the cruise line. Even though they can be a bit more expensive, there is some added benefit-such as if something happens during your excursion-bus flat tire or something, they won't be pulling out of port without you (ie Mayan ruins tours in Mexico where the tour is over an hour from the ship). Many of the ports we have gone to, we have been to before, so we end up just walking around and enjoying the sights. We also make sure to eat our meals on the ship vs spending money on them off the ship.

We have booked all typs of rooms- verandah, oceanview, and inside. There are advantages to each. Verandah are great-especially on the longer cruises as the ocean sounds are incredible. Allthough keep in mind people smoke out there, so if you are near a stateroom with a smoker you may not be out on the verandah as much. Inside staterooms are great as you can nap in the middle of the afternooon, and it feels like nighttime-perfect for rooms with kids! The deluxe inside stateroom still have the split bathroom! This next cruise we are enjoying an oceanview-a great stateroom!

I remember the mother-daughter cruise my mom and I went on in Dec 2000...our statreoom charges were greater than what we paid for the cruise fare. That sure was a fun cruise!

 

[makaylee]

More than one Palo Brunch or Dinner
You can get a reservation for one before cruising and then when you get on the ship sign up for a second one or get put on the wait list in case one opens up

Paying someone else's gratuities
To avoid this, we go the desk each morning to get a print out of what we have charged so far - you can even do this on the last day to make sure you only pay for what you charge

I booked my cruise too late and Palo brunches were already taken, now I have to be at the port really early just to make sure I get one Even though I couldn't book one in advance do you think they would still let me book 2 on board for our 11 nighter (Or book 1 and get on a wait list for another)? My mom is coming with us this time so I wanted to bring her, but I also enjoy going with just my DH and myself.

 

[armyferret]

oh, i can beat that - i forgot you can do a brunch and a dinner -w hen i booked, there were still brunches avail (end of june)- and i DID NOT book one, because i thought i wanted dinner more - DUH!!! DUMB ME!