No "nickle and diming" on Disney?

I keep hearing how Disney doesn't charge for a lot of the little things that other cruise lines do. Anybody know what kind off things?? I've only ever been on Carnival.

Thanks :)

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Disney doesn't charge for self-serve soda or soda in restaurants. There are 24-hour soda and juice fountains on the pool deck, as well as self-serve soda in the buffet. You can also have soda at no charge in the dining room. However, if you order from a bar, then there is a charge.

Disney doesn't make you check-out pool towels. They issue plain white towels (with no Mickeys on them... if there were Mickeys, I'm sure they'd have issues with theft) for use at the pool or in ports of call. They even have carts of towels and hand them to you as you exit the cruise ship, and they will take your wet towels when you return. Also, on the pool deck, towels are self-serve, and you can pick a clean one up at your leisure.

Disney does not add a service charge for room service after a certain hour. However, tipping is still customary.

Disney does not charge for on demand movies and television. There are hundreds of selections available for free on the stateroom television.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more if it comes to me!

They also do not charge a fee if you bring more than an allotted amount of wine on board with you. In fact, you can bring all the wine, soda, water, liquor (yes, any type of liquor) with you as long as it is in your carry-on. No limits to how much or what kind.

Of course, the flip side is Disney operates at a generally much higher price point, so part of it becomes how you prefer to pay.

They don't charge a fee for the kids clubs after a certain hour of night either.

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Oh, alcohol is a good point -

With Disney, you can bring on as much hard liquor (as well as wine, beer, etc.) so long as you are of 21 years of age and it fits in your carry-on bag. Not only that, but they do not collect liquor when you return from ports of call. So you may purchase alcohol at a port of call and enjoy it on the ship. I will note that it is only for stateroom consumption; you are not supposed to walk around the ship with a bottle of liquor, and there is a corkage fee if you bring it to the dining room.

Of course, the flip side is Disney operates at a generally much higher price point, so part of it becomes how you prefer to pay.

This is true. For example, a 7 day Alaska cruise on Disney is $1350 per person more than the same week on NCL/Princess/Carnival.

It's a balancing act - higher cruise fee and lower on board revenue or lower cruise and higher on board revenue.

and the food does not compare imo to the rest of the cruises. Best meals ijn non specialty restaurants I've had on Disney (well I should prolly put Murano on Solstice here as well) as well as best entertainment

They also do not charge a fee if you bring more than an allotted amount of wine on board with you. In fact, you can bring all the wine, soda, water, liquor (yes, any type of liquor) with you as long as it is in your carry-on. No limits to how much or what kind.

I'm not aware of other cruise lines charging a fee if you bring too much liquor onboard. However, they will confiscate it and hold it until the cruise ends.

I shudder when I read the words "Nickel and Dime" in reference to the other cruise lines.

You are NEVER forced to pay for any of those extra things. The "soda fountain" on Disney....the is ONE (other than the buffet) located on the pool deck, and if you're in a club or at a show or playing Bingo, you're not likely to run all the way up to the pool deck to get a soda. Instead, you'll be paying for one.

Towels? Provided on pool decks on all lines. For excursions, we bring our own inexpensive pool towels and toss them afterwards.

In other words, again I'll say, you don't HAVE TO PAY for anything extra on another line if you don't want to.

Most of the time, Disney charges so much more, that even bringing your own alcohol onboard doesn't make up for the extra cost.

You'll still be asked on Disney, repeatedly the first day, if you want to buy a wine package or a water package....so they're out there, just like every other cruise line, trying to squeeze that extra buck.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

THAT ALCOHOL THAT DISNEY ALLOWS YOU TO BRING ONBOARD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CRUISE......THEY ASK THAT YOU DRINK IT IN YOUR OWN STATEROOM ONLY.

So, they're letting you bring it, but when you're out and about, they still want you to pay for drinks at the bar.

and the food does not compare imo to the rest of the cruises. Best meals ijn non specialty restaurants I've had on Disney (well I should prolly put Murano on Solstice here as well) as well as best entertainment

That's subjective. I much prefer the food on a couple of other lines over Disney's. A lot of ships have far more "included" dining choices than Disney does, and more choices on the main menus.

I'm not aware of other cruise lines charging a fee if you bring too much liquor onboard. However, they will confiscate it and hold it until the cruise ends.

Holland America now only allows one bottle of wine per person to be brought onboard (no corkage fee). However, you can bring additional bottles (as many as you wish), but you must pay a corkage fee on each additional bottle, regardless if you drink in the dining room, or in your stateroom.

You are NEVER forced to pay for any of those extra things. The "soda fountain" on Disney....the is ONE (other than the buffet) located on the pool deck, and if you're in a club or at a show or playing Bingo, you're not likely to run all the way up to the pool deck to get a soda. Instead, you'll be paying for one.

But you can get soda in the dining room (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) at no charge - as many refills as you'd like.

Don't get me wrong - I by no means believe that soda makes up the difference in price between Disney and other cruise lines, but the OP asked what you do not have to pay for on Disney that you usually do on other lines.

Towels? Provided on pool decks on all lines. For excursions, we bring our own inexpensive pool towels and toss them afterwards.

Towels are provided on all lines, but cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival will charge guests $20-25 if they do not return their towel. I don't hate the lost towel charge on those ships because I believe it helps prevent "chair hogging" on their ships. However, I'll note that I have never seen more available deck chairs at any hour of the day than I have on the Disney Fantasy. I believe it was because everyone was in the pool or inside the ship doing other activities, but chair hogging was not a problem.

In other words, again I'll say, you don't HAVE TO PAY for anything extra on another line if you don't want to.

 

Most of the time, Disney charges so much more, that even bringing your own alcohol onboard doesn't make up for the extra cost.

I agree with you 100%. I also hate the phrase "Nickel and Diming." You aren't forced to purchase anything you don't want to, but if you don't want to have all of these optional additional costs, look into all-inclusive resorts or luxury cruise lines. Your cruise is as affordable or as inclusive as you want it to be.

This is true. For example, a 7 day Alaska cruise on Disney is $1350 per person more than the same week on NCL/Princess/Carnival.

 

It's a balancing act - higher cruise fee and lower on board revenue or lower cruise and higher on board revenue.

But, aside from things you might pay for on other cruise ships, DCL does seem to have some high caliber family entertainment that is harder to find on other lines. I was looking into another and realized most of their show offerings would not be appropriate for my children, and there was no movie theater. So different cruise lines offer different things and appeal to different people. It just depends on what you value!

But, aside from things you might pay for on other cruise ships, DCL does seem to have some high caliber family entertainment that is harder to find on other lines. I was looking into another and realized most of their show offerings would not be appropriate for my children, and there was no movie theater. So different cruise lines offer different things and appeal to different people. It just depends on what you value!

I agree with this to an extent. If you have kids, the shows are great for them, but after seeing the same shows for one or more cruises, it's boring.

I fully believe that if you can afford it and have kids who want to cruise, everyone should go at least once or twice. After that, no. There are plenty of things for kids on other lines... except the ones obviously geared toward older adults.

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I agree with this to an extent. If you have kids, the shows are great for them, but after seeing the same shows for one or more cruises, it's boring.

 

I fully believe that if you can afford it and have kids who want to cruise, everyone should go at least once or twice. After that, no. There are plenty of things for kids on other lines... except the ones obviously geared toward older adults.

 

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Your opinion. And judging by the number of repeat cruisers on DCL (including our family), not an opinion shared by many Disney loyalists.

I'm not aware of other cruise lines charging a fee if you bring too much liquor onboard. However, they will confiscate it and hold it until the cruise ends.

Princess charges $15/bottle for any over the one per person allotted. It's considered a corkage fee, and you pay as you enter security.

Holland America now only allows one bottle of wine per person to be brought onboard (no corkage fee). However, you can bring additional bottles (as many as you wish), but you must pay a corkage fee on each additional bottle, regardless if you drink in the dining room, or in your stateroom.

Princess charges $15/bottle for any over the one per person allotted. It's considered a corkage fee, and you pay as you enter security.

Thanks, ladies. I haven't cruised with either HAL or Princess since 2011, and I don't drink! At least those cruise lines are making money off the people who bring excess wine onboard, whereas RCI and Celebrity confiscate it! According to the latter's fine print, they could toss it.

Thinking about the original topic - I will say that while Disney gives you (other than a casino) plenty of ways to part with your money on board, I do think they SELL a bit less aggressively than some of the other lines do. Of course, they operate on a much higher price point so they don't have to.

That's not the same thing as Nickle and Diming, but the harder sell can lead to the perception of that quite easily.

Oh, and DCL doesn't charge for things like the waterslides at castaway cay. Apparently other lines do at their private islands, I had no idea! (they do charge for float rentals, though)

As a PP poster stated, there is a charge on most lines if you leave your kids in the kids club after a certain time (like 10pm). With Disney the kids clubs are open until midnight and also, very important for me, through lunch.

My younger son doesn't want to leave the kids clubs and often doesn't want to go on what he considers "boring" excursions with us. There were a lot of positives about HAL, but on HAL I couldn't leave him on the ship even one day while we went on an excursion because they close down their kids clubs at weird hours - like right in the middle of the day :confused:. And if the adults wanted to stay out past 10pm I had to pay for the kids club. Well, uh yeah, I would like to go have a drink past 10pm, I'm on freaking vacation!! Or, if I didn't, I would just get milk from room service from breakfast, leave it in the fridge provided in my room, and mix it with my Kahlua that I brought and sit on the balcony.

I liked Carnival, but I still remember being stressed on excursions that I would lose that lovely purple Carnival towel and get zinged for it.

Wave phone is provided free (with deposit). Character photo ops, character breakfasts (on the smaller ships, longer cruises). Also on the smaller ships, longer cruises, they have sleepovers in the kids clubs and they get a little sports bag to take home, and when they have Friendship rocks all the kids get free t-shirts.

On a lot of DCL cruises I have been on I have gotten a lithograph as a gift - I think they do that on longer or special cruises - I got one on the TA and the Pixar cruise.

Oh, and I love going to see first run, still in theater Disney movies on my cruise!! I never have time to do that at home!

Little things I know, and they don't in and of themselves make up for the BIG price difference. Disney is expensive, but it is all the little touches that, for me, help make a cruise a true vacation.

Your opinion. And judging by the number of repeat cruisers on DCL (including our family), not an opinion shared by many Disney loyalists.

I agree with you 100%. I prefer Disney over other lines. I prefer their food, service, entertainment and I have never felt like I was being pushed to buy any package. On our last disney cruise we were asked to buy a water and drink package only once and were not asked again. On other lines, it's like they track you down and you want to hide, especially on NCL. If you like disney go as many times as you want.

Your opinion. And judging by the number of repeat cruisers on DCL (including our family), not an opinion shared by many Disney loyalists.

Yes, but there are lots of families who does a Disney cruise once and then return to other lines.

I think all cruise lines have their positives and negatives (including DCL).

And I think it's cute that people are concerned about losing a $25 towel but not a wave phone where the charge is $250 if lost. :p

I agree with you 100%. I prefer Disney over other lines. I prefer their food, service, entertainment and I have never felt like I was being pushed to buy any package. On our last disney cruise we were asked to buy a water and drink package only once and were not asked again. On other lines, it's like they track you down and you want to hide, especially on NCL. If you like disney go as many times as you want.

On our last Disney cruise:

We were asked no less than 5 times on embarkation day about buying a water package.

Our servers came around and tried to sell us light up cups at dinner on Pirate night.

Our servers tried to get us to order a wine package at our first 2 nights of dinner.

Before every movie was 4-5 Disney ads - adventures by disney, BBB / Piratees league ad, book another cruise, etc

The evening hypnotist spent a good 10-15 minutes during his show hawking his CD / package about how to use hypnotism to improve your life.

When we did the Palo brunch, we were asked by 3 people (the person who seated us, our server and the manager) if we wanted them to make dinner reservations for Palo for us.

When in the theatre for the evening show, we were asked 2-3 times before each performance by a server if we wanted to order a drink.

In the adult area by Sateillite falls, there seemed to be 2 or 3 bar servers always there asking if you wanted a drink.