Thanks!
So I am trying to get the check-in out of the way and was wondering something (I know, what a surprise
). For anyone that has done a
Disney Cruise before, how much money do you usually give to each person? What do you use the money for?
Spend varies greatly. I think we're pretty middle of the road. Some people spend A LOT more than us, others spend almost nothing extra other than tips.
Here's our break-down.
For my son:
- We allocate souvenir money to him prior to the cruise, this is money that he gets to spend as he chooses.
- Some to spend on the ship (maybe for a toy and some pins) = $40
- He might kick in some of his spending money too
- some to spend at the ports (depends on the ports, usually $5-10 x number of ports) = $30
- We will usually buy him a shirt or two (port or ship) so maybe $50
- He doesn't buy the smoothies, but I see your kids are a bit older, so that may come into play for you.
I'll round that up to $100 in kid spend.
Side note: The ship's gift shops accept Disney gift cards, so if grandparents or anyone wants to gift the kids some souvenir money in cards, they can spend those directly in the shops. Everywhere else on the ship, you have to charge to the room using your 'Key to the World' card.
For adults we generally plan on the following:
- Palo brunch- $30 per person = $60 + tip = $90
- Specialty coffee - Is actually pretty reasonable on the ship so between the two of us it will be less than $10/day including tips = $50
- Alcohol - We're not big drinkers so maybe $20/day = $100 for the cruise x 2 = $200
- On ship souvenirs - on our last cruise we didn't buy anything (the merchandise doesn't change that much) but I plan on buying a shirt and maybe a christmas ornament, so that's about $100 per person = $200
- Port souvenirs - I don't see us buying much on this cruise, maybe an ornament from Key West. Super conservative guess is $30
- Tastings - I like to do a tasting (Whiskey, Mixology, Tequila, etc), that's only $20
- Popcorn - For the shows/movies for the whole family $20
Total for the adults is $580
Excursions are going to vary by what you want to do, but you'll know before hand how much that costs. Remember to factor in tips for your guides, bring cash for that.
Then we plan for our next sailing:
- OBB - We book a placeholder on board to get a discount on our next sailing $250 x 2 = $500
- x2 because we usually buy two to encourage someone else to come with us
Then there's tips @ $12/person/night = $36 x 5 = $180 we usually increase the tips for the Servers and the room host, it depends on the level of service.
So, rounding up again, the total is in the range of $1000 plus excursions, if any and then the $500 OBB towards our next vacation.
And want to remind everyone to keep an eye out for cabanas opening up in the last 3 months. Because of the way 
