Silly Cruise Question

[bailey5697]

I am hearing different reports regarding what drinks you pay for. What I THOUGHT, (And originally told) that all drinks on the ship needed to be paid for and were NOT included with the cruise price.
Now someone has told me that the soft drinks you get when you are sitting down for a meal are included, but of course alcohol, or specialty drinks are extra. In between meals you have to pay for? And soft drinks are NOT included with the buffet? LOL
I know it sounds so petty in the grand scheme of things, but we are going with a heck of a lot of people and I would love to have my facts straight regarding what's included and what's not.
I am a huge Diet Coke drinker. I could drink 3 glasses with my meal. My husband and I could definitely rack up a nice charge in sodas alone.
I know about the $20 refillable mug. Is that for everywhere? Restaurants? Castaway Cay?
I appreciate any answers someone might have! Thanks in advance! :veryconfu

 

[BRER STITCH]

At risk of incurring the wrath of the Soda Zealots.....

We're bringing our Resort mug from our last stay, along with our own private stash of booze to drink in the cabins.

I can see paying for alcoholic drinks at the bar, but our soft drink tab would be HUGE! The mugs are a MUST!

We'll mix a mug full of diaquiris in the room and bring it to the pool deck with us!

:slurp:

 

[westie]

You are correct, my wife has a diet coke I.V. I had to ask the doc if it was ok cause it was worrying me, its ok! Just have a great time, eat and eat! I musta had 5 chicken sandwiches a day and about 20 lemonades! All free!

Now heres a catch, our first cruise was full, dinner was dinner and thats all you got. Nice tablemates too. On our second cruise many people didn't go because of weather concerns. i.e. no tablemates and our wait staff was pouring food on top of us! Have fun!

 

[cindy_k]

From my cruise experience this past Oct.
You got Soda/Juice for free at Meals (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)

If you wanted something to drink in between, you could:

1. Buy a Refillable Mug (Now switched to Drink Plan with a Sticker on your Room Card) Which will allow you to get Soda at any of the snack counters during the day.

2. Go to the Free Drink Station on Deck 9 and get your self some, Ice Tea, Lemonade, Coffee or Tea. (This is completely free and always available at all hours)

3. Purchase the Drink from the snack bars. (Really it goes on your Tab that you have to pay for at the end of the cruise)


I hope this helps with any confusion. The food at the afore mentioned snack bars is free by the way. I really liked the Pizza's.

During the cruise I would get a free drink from the Drink Station then go to the Snack bar for the food.

Have a fun Cruise!!

Cindy in NY

 

[bailey5697]

[Have a fun Cruise!!

Cindy in NY [/B][/QUOTE]

:sohappy: Thanks so much Cindy! I am from NY also, Long Island to be exact. Thank you for the information, that eliminates a lot of confusion. I am so excited I can't stand it!:sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[cindy_k]

Another Tip I picked up from my last cruise regarding breakfast.

I was on a four day cruise (Wonder).

Eat breakfast at Parrot Cay instead of the buffet on the top deck. The atmosphere is nicer. Eating in Beach Blanket, (or whatever it's called on Magic) is like eating in a Cafeteria. Eating in Parrot Cay is like eating in a Restaurant with a buffet.

I only ate at Parrot Cay the second to last morning, and I immediately regretted all my other breakfast's at the Beach Blanket. What a waste... Plus Characters walked around Parrot Cay at breakfast. I never saw a Character at Beach Blanket. It's too tight in there for them to move.

Again Have a fun trip!!
I live on LI too, in Suffolk County.
I'm going to back Disney at the end of the month for 5 days. I'm a DVC member with an Annual Pass this year. Always a dangerous combination for my budget.

Cindy in NY

 

[bailey5697]

Again Have a fun trip!!
I live on LI too, in Suffolk County.
I'm going to back Disney at the end of the month for 5 days. I'm a DVC member with an Annual Pass this year. Always a dangerous combination for my budget.

Cindy in NY

Me too, Holtsville to be exact!
I wish I was going this month! In May we rented time from someone at OKW for 6 days, then the 3 day cruise. May cannot get here fast enough!
I really think that after this trip, if I don't have another WDW trip in the planning stages I will crash into a depression! Right now whenever anything in my day seems bad I think of Cinderella's castle! :sohappy:

 

[Katherine]

Have a ton of fun!!!

I was wondering if it cost more to go down for 3dys land and 4dys sea then to do a week at WDW alone?

 

[crazygirley]

Originally posted by BRER STITCH
At risk of incurring the wrath of the Soda Zealots.....

We're bringing our Resort mug from our last stay, along with our own private stash of booze to drink in the cabins.

I can see paying for alcoholic drinks at the bar, but our soft drink tab would be HUGE! The mugs are a MUST!

We'll mix a mug full of diaquiris in the room and bring it to the pool deck with us!

:slurp:

Is it hard to get the booze onto the boat? It seems like it would be hard, like they check bags and confiscate it or something?

 

[bailey5697]

Originally posted by Katherine
Have a ton of fun!!!

I was wondering if it cost more to go down for 3dys land and 4dys sea then to do a week at WDW alone?

We looked into the land and sea, and what they offered just wasn't for us. We have a large group, and we wanted the big spacious room like at OKW. The land and sea only offers specific rooms in their pkgs.
I found someone on Ebay that sells his DVC time share. It was SO inexpensive compared to the rates Disney had. So we booked through him for OKW, and booked completely separate the cruise.

But, to answer your question, I think that a week in WDW is a heck of a lot cheaper than the Land and Sea. The cruise is expensive, there is no way around it. Staying in a hotel at WDW, there are all sorts of cheats to save money.
Good Luck! :sohappy:

 

[DisneyNut24]

When we went on land and sea package three years ago, we had to pay for all soft drinks, with or without sit down meals. But that could have changed since then.

I have also read in the boards, that you can purchase a mug at a resort and it will be honored on board ship. The cost of the refillable mugs at the resorts are less expensive than the mug on board.

We are doing land and sea package again at the end of March and will be putting those mugs to good use.

We are doing 4 days on land and 3 days aboard Wonder. Jen was correct about Beach Blanket it is crowded. Thanks for the heads up about Parrot Cay for breakfast, we will give it a try!

Once you get back from your trip, post for us cruisers how it went and if you have any tips!!

 

[DisneyWonders07]

yeah I hope you have a good time on the cruise! I had such a great time I didn't want to leave! You will enjoy it VERY much, I went on the Wonder in November, it was my first cruise ever, and lemme say, Disney is not a good ship, it is THE best ship. Oh yeah by the way, not giving anything away, but make sure you never call the Disney Cruise a "boat", it's a "ship". Our bus host on the way to port Canaveral told us that:animwink:

 

[PecosBill]

Hey-
What about the booze?
My favourite $9 bottle of wine sells for $27 at Lumiere's...
Can you smuggle it onboard with you?
Can you buy it onboard at duty free prices and bring it back to your cabin?
Can you buy it while in port?
Let me know!
Thanks!

 

[mickeyfanatics]

To settle everyone's concerns about the Disney Cruise Line (since I just came back 2 weeks ago) here is the following information.

1. Disney does cruising for "family" type people better than anyone else in the market!

2. All food on the ship and Castaway Cay is included in the price you paid (including almost 24 hour pizza and room service).

3. There is a 5.00 "convenience" fee to eat in Palo, the adult only restaurant.

4. All soft drinks (sodas) are free in the 4 dining rooms (Tritons/Lumieres, Parrot Cay, Animators Palate, Palo).

5. You may purchase a sticker for your room key allowing you unlimited sodas (not cans) at any bar on the ship or Castaway Cay for $5.00 per day (3 day cruise 15.00, 4 day 20.00, 7 day 35.00). Trust me on this, if you are a family of four with kids under 10, buy only 2 and share sodas like we did, or go back to the bar several times.

6. Most of all, these cruises go way too fast so enjoy yourself. You can sneak alcohol on in your luggage, and there is a small refridgerator in every cabin.

 

[celticdog]

Originally posted by PecosBill
Hey-
What about the booze?
My favourite $9 bottle of wine sells for $27 at Lumiere's...
Can you smuggle it onboard with you?
Can you buy it onboard at duty free prices and bring it back to your cabin?
Can you buy it while in port?
Let me know!
Thanks!

You can buy alcohol at the duty free shop on-board, however, they hold the bottles until the night before you disembark.

You cannot buy anything from the on-board shops while it's in U.S. waters. They would then have to charge taxes.

You can buy anything you want in the islands, however be aware of import/export laws, they keep changing.

You can try to smuggle food and drink onboard, but i'd advise against it. It may slow down your ability to board. Plus if you have any leftover, it would be very difficult to get it off. You are not allow to bring any opened food packages back into the U.S.

We did not have a refrigerator in our room, just an ice bucket. The larger rooms did have refrigerators.