Possible for large family???

[mom2smjn]

Hi!
I have always wanted to go on a cruise and since I heard about the Disney cruiseline I REALLY want to go!
The problem is cost and accomidations ........my husband and I have 4 children(ages now 11,10,7,4 )...........I see no way for us to cruise without breaking the bank!!!**and we have a VERY limited bank** The rooms look small and sleep so few. When we went to Wdw this year we had to get 2 rooms(connecting door) at All star Movies($49 great deal rom the Disney Insider) at the normal cost we would not have been able to afford it at all.
Also I have never cruised and have no clue what the cost would be(what is included in the price,what is extra,how it compares to staying in the "world" price and fun wise, ect)
Any advice,ideas or help would be great!

Thanks for the help

Kelly

check out my WDW page: http://pages.ivillage.com/udderlyfantastic/Disneytrips_tips.html

 

[wovenwonder]

The lowest category with connecting rooms would be a cat#10. Most everything is included once you are on board. Soda's are free at meals - and must be paid for outside of meals. But, they do have milk, punch, ice water, coffee, hot tea for free - and if you get real adventerous, you can make your own iced tea at the beverage station. You will need to budget for gratuities. The only other money you will need would be spending money. Also extra if you choose to dine at the adult only Palo or make Spa ressie's. Honestly, if you don't want to spend any more money except for tips once on board - you really do not have to.

 

[Mary Anne]

As far as tips go for a family of six you should expect it to cost you approx

Dinner Server: $3.00 per day, per person, = $18 x 7 days $126
For your room person: again about another $126

Misc Tips about $50

Plus maybe a bit more if you use the children's clubs

I would budget about $300/$350 for tips.


I'm sure others would tip more less, this is just a guideline to let you know the minimum you should expect to tip.


Cruises are not cheap, however.... they give you the best buy for your money as all is included. You are talking three full meals each day, plus all the snacks you could possible want. Room service is included for free too.

Best time to cruise is late summer before the kids go back to school, prices are usually very reasonable then. Of cause you then have to deal with hurrican season but in the 20+ years I've cruised that time of year, I've only had a problem once.

 

[wovenwonder]

Please remember that the tipping is strictly 'guidelines' but, I for one, would strongly recommend that you budget by the guidelines because your service will be premium! .

DCL's guidelines are per person, including children - and add up to around $75 per guest for the 7 day cruise, $46 per guest for the 4 night cruise, and apx $31 per guest for the 3 day. This covers your Dining Room Server and Assistant Server and your Stateroom Host/Hostess as well as a small gratuity to the Dining Room Head Server. You can find the amount broken down on the official Disney Cruise Website.

Fun Factor ---- we LOVE WDW, but have grown to LOVE DCL even more! It is a whole different kind of vacation. We love being treated like Royalty for an entire week. Also, you don't have the hustle and bustle like when visiting the parks. We feel that we get much more Quality Family Time on the cruise. Read this boards and you will obtain a wealth of info.

 

[waltjr]

I recommend you try to talk a friend or relative into going along. Preferably a couple who won't mind one of you kids bunking up with them. They pay there way and you just pay the childs fair. It is a great time for grandparents or uncle/aunt to injoy time with your family.

"when there is a will, there is a way"

 

[kshabare]

We are sailing w/11 this time. Teens had to pay their cabin share. You can get two cabins on any deck but you will have to pay double adult fare even if the 2nd person is a child. Booking a year in advance can save you $1000.00 as we have seen the rate go up over $1200.00. We have connecting 5524 & 5522 which are secret port hole rooms. We had no idea when AAA booked it for us that they would have sunlight w\inside $. And, going through AAA we now qualify for free soda mugs. Savings keep adding up. We booked w\$200/pp to reserve and pay as the year passes. You have to pay the balance 60 days before the sail date. Well worth your $$. Compare staying at a hotel and getting meals out in a restaurant for a week. You should be able to justify it then.

Lastly, you and DH will have time to yourselves when the kids beg to stay with their friends in the kidclubs.

Kim ºOº

 

[DisneyPoly]

mom ... we are also a family of six (4,8,9,12) and are going on our first cruise. We have two adjoining Catgeory 10 cabins and are sailing in May. We were able to take advantage of the early booking discount, the Spring Time Magic Discount and the Dolphin hotel deal and the cost for us will be $4,200 for a 4 night cruise. Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[mom2smjn]

land and sea or did you book the 2 seperately? I wondered also w/ the land and sea package what is included in the land part???? Meals? tickets?

Thanks

Kelly

 

[penguins_fan]

Hi, just saw your note about large family trying to cruise - My DH is usually the one on these boards, but had a rare quiet moment around here. We are a family of 7, myself, DH, DD14, DS12, DS10, DD8 (celebrating her birthday on the cruise), and DS4. We looked at doing the cruise for about 3 years, finally sat down to business. As you know, it's like taking 2 families on vacation - no one is set up for large families to travel. We started out looking at the two adjoining rooms. Eventually decided we wanted to be together for the trip. Looked into the Cat. 1 suite. Took the first available booking for Jan. 19 (this one coming). It eventually was cheaper to book this way than to book the separate rooms. We pay 2 adults, 2 junior and 3 children. We also qualified for the kids-fly-free offer so that we got 3 airfares off. Also we are going through AAA and will receive the soda mugs also. We do have to take the kids out of school, but it is a holiday week and will miss 4 days (teachers were not upset about absence). If you want we will contact you after our trip in a couple of weeks to give you the low down. From everything we hear, Disney does it up right. Also we opted for the 7-day because we have down Disney park before and I consider that more of a working vacation for us parents. I'm looking forward to a vacation myself this year.

 

[DisneyPoly]

Hi mom2 ....

The land portion includes 4 nights (2 rooms) at the Dolphin hotel. When taking part in the Disney cruise, children 9 and under eat free at the hotel. The price I gave does not include passes, as we have annuals.

On board the ship, all is included (except drinks outside of meals) gratuities and any extra spending money you wish to spend. This is our first cruise also, so I am relying on the info. I am receiving here.

Also, if you book through AAA, they will give you $100 per cabin shipboard credit and one free fillable drink mug per passenger.

Any further questions -- just ask!!

 

[Annie_has_4]

penguins_fan,

so, may I ask, since i will be in the same boat (hahaha) in June of 2004 when we do a 7 day, how much roughly will this cost you without extras. Just the rate and airfare. Can the category 1 sleep 6 or more???

 

[penguins_fan]

Hi Annie, We are travelling when the rates are a little lower - January 19th 7-day. Since we have 5 children - ranging 14-4 - we looked at both the connecting Cat. 9's and the Cat. 1. The only problem with doing the connecting rooms was we had to pay for 2 adult fares for both rooms and only three kids. Once we compared, there was only about $1,000 difference (and at the time we were still paying DIS airfare for everyone) to keep us altogether in a Cat. 1. We got a early booking discount since we booked this trip in November 2000 (January 19th was the first available week to book for the Cat. 1). With the early booking discount we are paying around $4300 per adult, two kids about $700 and three qualified for the kids-fly-free deal so they are at 350, that includes taxes, ins. and airfare. It was a big investment, but to do Disney with a large family and be all together in one place, this was the right chioce for us. Unfortunately, they did drop the price for this week as a promotion a few weeks ago, but it didn't effect the Cat. l-3 rooms, they figure they already have you. We'll give you the low down on the room when we get back. We are all very excited about it. We just told our kids on Christmas about the trip, it was a surprise. They still don't know about the room yet, though. It's a little additional surprise. You could probably get the package a little lower using your own air and skipping the insurance, but with our group we didn't want to take the chance of any problems that we would be responsible for.

 

[Boardwalk III]

Penguins_fan -

My son (12) replied to a post by your 12 year old son (he was looking for other 12 year olds going on his trip) but I don't know if he saw it. We will be on the 1/19 Magic and are on the same deck - my son would love to connect with yours if it works out! If your son is interested you can send me a private message on these boards , or my son just established his own DIS board ID (Red Sox24). Either way, hopefully we'll see you on the ship!

I plan to get the Cat 1 suite for our next cruise (Jan 2005?!) so I'll be interested in your feedback- I agree it's a good value!

 

[mac_tlc]

mom2smjn,

Let me offer one more alternative to those already listed, although you may not be able to get it with all TA's. If it is possible for you to assemble a group of staterooms, some TA's will offer you the "free berth" that comes with a group allotment. That way, you can reduce your cost, and have friends and family aboard also (assuming thats a good thing!). Min of 8 double-occupancy staterooms is requireed, but sometimes people can assemble a group that size. The effort can pay for itself by getting the free "cruise-only" berth...

Just a though of another way to address the $$$ issue.

mac_tlc