What is Included in the Price?

[beksy]

I am thinking about taking a cruise for the first time in the next year or so and I have to admit that I am totally lost! :confused: Planning 2 weeks to WDW is no problem but 3 days on a cruise is full of unanswered questions! We would most likely do the plan where you go to WDW for a few days and then the cruise so any help with pricing or any advice is appreciated! Specifically, do we need to pay for transportation if we use Disney? What is included on the cruise price other than the room? I've heard its all you can eat but is that 3 meals a day or like the dining plan? Also, I don't drink alcohol so is there anything like the refillable mug? Thanks for your help! :mickey:

[NJDad]

Transportation free? Nope.

What's included? Meals pretty much whenever you want them, including room service, but they charge you for sodas.

Mugs? No mugs, but soda/tea/coffee station open 24 hours.

[Ed]

Transportation free? Nope.

What's included? Meals pretty much whenever you want them, including room service, but they charge you for sodas.

Mugs? No mugs, but soda/tea/coffee station open 24 hours.

Let's expand a bit on this.

You would have to pay for transportation from the resort to the port, which can be arranged through DCL. I'm a 'local' so I've never used that service; not sure what the cost is.

As far as "what's included", all meals - whether in the restaurants or the counter service places on the upper decks - are included except the specialty restaurants Palo ($20 pp) or Remy ($75 pp). All entertainment is included. There is a 24 hr beverage center on the 11th deck of Dream/9th deck of Magic. It has sodas, coffee, milk, tea and hot water at no charge. You will pay for soda if ordered at a bar or from room service.

What you can expect to pay extra for would include shopping onboard and on Castaway Cay , all alcoholic beverages, photos taken by the pros, snacks outside the theaters, bingo, shore excursions, and gratuities. (Not an all-inclusive list; these are just the ones that popped to mind.)

[joonyer]

And by the way, you are not limited to three meals per day. You'll get only one dinner seating, but you can eat at the Counter Service or buffets as many times as you want. It's easy to eat way too much.

We loved getting breakfast room service and enjoying it on our veranda. Very nice.

[goofyfan4466]

Let's expand a bit on this.

You would have to pay for transportation from the resort to the port, which can be arranged through DCL. I'm a 'local' so I've never used that service; not sure what the cost is.

As far as "what's included", all meals - whether in the restaurants or the counter service places on the upper decks - are included except the specialty restaurants Palo ($20 pp) or Remy ($75 pp). All entertainment is included. There is a 24 hr beverage center on the 11th deck of Dream/9th deck of Magic. It has sodas, coffee, milk, tea and hot water at no charge. You will pay for soda if ordered at a bar or from room service.

What you can expect to pay extra for would include shopping onboard and on Castaway Cay , all alcoholic beverages, photos taken by the pros, snacks outside the theaters, bingo, shore excursions, and gratuities. (Not an all-inclusive list; these are just the ones that popped to mind.)

where on the 11th deck of the dream is the beverage center ?

[MarkC]

You can also look into a one-way car rental, which if there are 3-4 of you is a lot cheaper than Disney transportation. All the major carriers will shuttle you right to the terminal for no charge and pick you up as well. We just used Hertz this week.

Also, if you have the money, please consider going to a 4 or even a 7 day cruise if you can. We've been to WDW 20+ times and love it, but the cruise is almost impossible to top. There were a lot of couples (like us) without kids, and we talked to several veteran cruisers who said Disney topped everyone else. You can basically spend no money on the ship except for souvenirs and excursions. The other reason to take a longer cruise-- the shorter ones go to the Bahamas and I've not heard one good word about the stops there. Our western Caribbean cruise had great stops at Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Castaway Cay (Disney's private island). However, if you can only go 3 days please go and enjoy. It will just go way, way too fast.

[Ed]

where on the 11th deck of the dream is the beverage center ?

Port side, just forward of Cabanas.

[Donald_Quackers]

I thought that there were fountains on both port and starboard sides of Deck 11?

68 days till I board the Fantasy!

[NJDad]

There are indeed beverage dispensers on both sides.

You can go without spending money as long as you bring your own alcohol or don't drink alcohol.

[Ed]

I thought that there were fountains on both port and starboard sides of Deck 11?


There are indeed beverage dispensers on both sides.

You are absolutely correct; chalk it up to a "senior moment". :old:

On the classic ships (Magic/Wonder), the drink station is only on the port side. And for some reason, on both of our Dream cruises we only used the port side one. Creatures of habit, I suppose. :shrug:

[goofyfan4466]

Port side, just forward of Cabanas.

THANKS ED ! one more question. do they provide cups or souvenir cups or do we bring our wdw souvenir cups ? wow that was more like 3 questions.

thanks in advance

[forever a child]

Great post. I have been wondering about these things too. WDW planning, no problem. Cruise planning - clueless :confused:

[Ed]

THANKS ED ! one more question. do they provide cups or souvenir cups or do we bring our wdw souvenir cups ? wow that was more like 3 questions.

thanks in advance

They supply disposable cups for both hot and cold drinks; however, they are on the small side. Lots of folks bring larger insulated cups and fill them using several fills of the disposable cups; DCL prefers that you not fill your personal cups/mugs directly from the dispensers due to the possibility of transferring germs back and forth.

[LebelJD]

Thanks for all the great info! We're going on our first cruise in March.

Good tip about bringing a large cup. I am guessing they might have some for sale in the gift shop, so you could get a DCL souvenier and a cup to use at the same time. Can anyone confirm?