5 Tips to Take A No-Spend Vacation, Disney Cruise Line Style: How to avoid extra upgrades and enjoy the included benefits of your cruise

(*excluding gratuity)

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5 Tips to Take A No-Spend Vacation: Disney Cruise Style (*excluding gratuity). How to avoid extra upgrades and enjoy the included benefits of your cruise

The No-Spend Vacation: Disney Cruise Style

Dream with me for a moment- a beautiful all-inclusive vacation with no bill at the end… does that sound amazing? It does to me! Disney Cruise Line is a luxury cruise line vacation, but you may ask, so after paying top dollar for an extra-special cruise, why would you want to spend $0 onboard? I did it because I felt like any experience on a Disney Cruise Line ship would be amazing. As long I was onboard, I could experience the same beautiful private islands, character meet and greets, Broadway-style shows, and beautifully prepared dinners.

So if all the food and entertainment is included on the ship, why would I bother to pay extra for more/different food when all the calories I need for the day could easily be found with no additional price tag attached?  

So when I saw that Disney advertised their cruises as “all inclusive”, I decided to take them at their word and spent $0 onboard my first Disney Cruise.  How did I do it? Read on and I’ll share some ways that I maximized the included amenities of a Disney Cruise and carefully avoid the cash-snatching traps of all the little “extras” that (to me) weren’t necessary to have a great vacation.

A "No-Spend Vacation" is taking an inclusive vacation and adding on no additional costs when at the destination.

But First: Why Would You Want To Spend $0 Onboard Disney Cruise Line?

Would releasing the worry of a several hundred to a thousand dollar bill allow you to relax more on your vacation? If the answer is yes, then you may want to try out your cruise as your next spend-nothing holiday.  When I did this, I had a great time, and ended with no significant bill at the end- just the gratuity. And if you want to pre-pay the gratuity, you can also choose to do that ahead of boarding to completely eliminate your end-of-cruise bill.

And if you are considering booking or you are currently planning for your upcoming Disney Cruise, I’ve included a list of the top 5 temptations I faced onboard Disney Cruise Line and my best solutions to navigate around them.

Top 5 Temptations to Spend Money Onboard Disney Cruise Line

1. Popcorn

Question: What’s better than paying $10 for a bucket of popcorn?

Answer: Keeping your $10, and getting a free room service cheese tray.

I love popcorn as much as the next girl, especially at movies and shows, but in the world of Disney cruising, I am going to make the most of my stomach space on a cruise.

My free workaround: Before you head out to the Walt Disney theater for your show, order a room service appetizer and enjoy your snack of choice, such as a free cheese plate, fruit bowl, or other whatever else sounds tasty and will fill you up just enough so you aren’t hungry enough to pull out your Key To The World Card as you walk past the popcorn stands.

2. Princess Experiences

If you are a parent of a small child, there will be a lot of advertising for the premium experiences for children onboard, specifically the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and the Royal Court Royal Tea Gathering. So let’s break them down individually:

Royal Court Royal Tea/Olaf's Picnic: 

I would just like to say that there is nothing in the world that would make me spend an additional $279 per person on tea, snacks, princess meet-and-greets, and pre-selected souvenirs on a cruise that already comes with free tea, snacks, princess meet-and-greets and where I can choose my own souvenirs.  

My free workaround: 30 days prior to sailing, stay up until midnight to try to book the Royal Gathering, which is a free booked-timeslot event to meet several Disney Princesses in a row. If that happens to be sold out (as it sells out quickly even if you are online at midnight), then just watch in the Navigator app for times to meet and greet characters throughout your cruise. There are plenty of opportunities, they are just sprinkled throughout the cruise instead of served up to you all at once on a (tea) platter.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique:

First, I will share that I have actually gone to this salon as an adult during a Magic Kingdom Halloween party, where I was attending the party in a a custom princess costume that I had created and sewn myself, and additionally, my college roommate was a Fairy-Godmother-In-Training (which is what they call the hair stylists at the Boutique). So from my experience, it wasn't worth the money for me, because I felt the hairstyles were not very comfortable, the dresses sold to the children are overpriced (even above Disney’s gift shop prices) and overall I felt the experience wasn’t worth the money spent. They are also very strict on the fact that you have to be 3 years old to participate, much to the annoyance of my two-and-a-half year old.  I will add, there are girls for whom this experience is a once-in-a-lifetime treat and it may be worth the price, as it is pretty magical to dress up as a princess within the Disney parks or on a Disney Cruise ship. 

My free workaround: Come prepared. Find a princess outfit ahead of time, bring some glitter hair spray (I am bringing this on my next cruise!), and a new crown (I recommend these, as the little combs are easy to clip into the hair and hold them in place!). Ta-da! Your little princess is waiting for a fraction of the cost and won't feel left out when she sees everyone else dressed up at dinner.

3. Adult Beverages

If you are one of the people who wouldn’t consider it to be vacation without an alcoholic drink, but you are on a budget and not in the mood to pay for drinks onboard, then I have two options for you. And no, different from other cruise lines, there are no all-inclusive drink packages onboard any Disney Cruise Line ship at the time of this blog.

Bring your own alcohol with you.

Adults can bring up to 2 bottles of wine or a 6 packs of beer with them onto a cruise. However, just watch out that if you bring them into the dining room with you in their sealed container, you may be charged a $25 corking fee. However, if you order up glasses via room service and open up your drinks in your room, you can bring an open glass of wine with you into the dining room at no charge, just like you can bring in a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage that you purchased from a bar on the way to dinner.

Attend the "Til We Meet Again" Farewell

The only time you may be able to find free alcohol on board the Disney Cruise Line is on the final night of your cruise at the champagne toast, called the “Til We Meet Again” farewell, which is held in the atrium before the last dinner of your cruise. Yes, for all the rest of the cruise, even the drinks brought to you on a tray on the pool deck will be charged to your stateroom account if you choose to accept the drink.  This is current to the best of my knowledge, but Disney does change their policies frequently, so if this has changed, please comment below and I’ll update it!

4. Premium Adult Restaurants

My husband understood perfectly why I didn’t want to pay extra to go to a premium adults-only dining experience when I related this decision to whether he could tell the difference between the Ultra High Definition televisions of two years ago and today. There is a difference in the technology, but from what my eyes can differentiate, they are both high definition displays.

There are plenty of reasons to want to go Palo, Remy, and any of the premium adult dining experiences on Disney Cruise Line. Those restaurants boast some of the best chefs in the world. However, dining in those restaurants requires missing one of the rotational dinners, with the wait staff that have gotten to know you since you first boarded the ship, not to mention that if you are traveling with anyone under the age of 18, that you would be leaving them behind to dine there.  So there is also an opportunity cost.

I decided not to dine there because I didn’t want to forfeit one of the fantastic meals in my rotational dining plan for the privilege of paying extra to enjoy only slightly different food. I will say, I later tried Palo and it was a wonderful dinner, but I personally consider the food in the dining rooms on the Disney Cruise Ships I’ve been on to be so wonderful that it wasn’t worth the upgrade for my palette. Your palette may be different, but my palette thoroughly enjoyed the food wherever I dined on the cruise ship, and my wallet enjoyed the extra savings.

5. Port Excursions

Just remember: These are not required.

I will say, now, as a seasoned Disney Cruise fan, that port adventures are nice, but are not required costs of the cruise. In some ports, if you’ve never been to the location and you want to plan ahead and pay for the adventure, then absolutely, go for it! It’s your vacation! You’ve earned it! And since you know the cost before you get onboard, you can pay for it ahead of time and it won’t surprise you at the end of your cruise. A few years ago I sailed on one of the European Disney Cruises and it was spectacular, and the port excursions helped me reach areas of the countries that I would not have seen voyaging independently.

However, for Disney-owned ports of call, specifically Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, if it is your first cruise, I wouldn’t spend money on a port excursion when you only have one day and there is so much that is already included on the island. I’ve been to Castaway Cay three times in the past and I am always able to find something new to explore. So unless there is an excursion that feels like it was made just for you- it’s not required if your goal is a no-spend-vacation.

Taking this a step further, you don’t have to leave the ship at the port. As an example, let’s talk Nassau, Bahamas. This may not be a popular opinion, but for me, Nassau, Bahamas, is one port that I don’t always feel like I need to leave the ship. I am happy staying on the ship and having the space to myself to enjoy the pools and other activities in their less-crowded atmosphere. So ff you find yourself with one port of call that you’re not super excited about, try staying onboard. It might just be wonderful.

Enjoy all the Included Value of Your Disney Cruise

Whether you decide to spend nothing on your next Disney Cruise, or just found some peace of mind knowing that it is ok to enjoy the included amenities and relieved some pressure to upgrade every one of your experiences onboard, I hope you have a wonderful time!

If you’re looking for other fun tips on how to make the most of your family vacation budget, please consider subscribing below and check out my related blog posts:

• Travel Documentation for Your Little One: Passports vs Passport Card vs Birth Certificate

• Visiting Disney’s Castaway Cay with Little Ones: What’s In My Bag?