Drinking on a Disney Cruise

One of my favorite spots on the ship: the swim-up bar!

Currently Disney does not offer alcoholic drinking packages with their cruises and they recently updated their alcohol policy.  The new policy allows each adult to bring two bottles of wine OR a six-pack of beer on board with them.  At each port, you are allowed to bring on an additional six-pack or two more bottles of wine. (Side note: I could not find bottles of wine or bottled beer for sale anywhere on Castaway Cay).

You can purchase bottles of liquor in the sundries shop where you can purchase sunscreen, Dramamine, and other medications.  I was very surprised at the prices - and not in a bad way!  You could purchase a standard-sized bottle of vodka or rum to take to your room for $13.95+ tax each. They had a decent selection of full-sized bottles of liquors and wine and cordials.

You could also purchase a fun drink
 in a souvenir glass for about $11.

They offered drinks at breakfast such as a Bloody Mary or Mimosa for $4.  You could also order a glass or bottle of wine with dinner.  And anywhere you wander around, you can get the drink of the day for about $6-7 dollars.  Not bad for mixed drinks.

There is a bar district on the ship, where you can drink in any number of cool environments.  And some of the bars host trivia or fun adult activities.

We went to a Mixology class on our Bahamas day and for $20/person got to make and sample 6 mixed drinks.  That was fun!

We spent our day at Castaway Cay on the adult-only beach since we were travelling without children on this cruise.  Don't worry - the only "adult" thing about it is the lack of children.  Everyone is in a bathing suit and being decent - it's still Disney!  Bartenders did wander around on the beach to ensure anyone who wanted a drink had one. Laying in the sun all day, we were careful not to overdo it.

Disney Dining Plan Tips

You can eat in a car at the drive-in at the Sci-Fi Diner!

One of my favorite parts of a Disney trip is eating.  Seriously, I love food.  And the food there is fantastic.  From the snacks to the drinks and most especially the meat, Disney offers a wide variety that will please even the pickiest of eaters.  Although the dining plans have been available for years, many people still have a lot of questions about them.  Hopefully this will help you decide if there is a dining plan for you and also help you identify which one best fits your trip.

Which dining plan will work best for you?

Option 1: If you plan to run around and do not want to spend any time sitting down to eat, you will probably benefit from having the Quick-Service Dining Plan.  It is also great for families who only want to do one character meal, but are trying to stick to a strict budget.

Option 2: If you want to have one sit-down meal each day, you will greatly benefit from the Plus Dining Plan. You can save quite a bit of money with this dining plan.  For example, dinner at Chef Mickey's is $50/adult $23/child, but the total cost of the dining plan per night is $62/adult and $21/child.

Option 3: If you want to enjoy several of Disney's signature restaurants or more than one sit-down meal per day, the Deluxe Dining Plan will be a great fit for you.  It has the most flexibility (you can use your 3 credits allotted per night in any combination of quick-service or table-service meals).  Disney's signature restaurants offer some of the best food in the country and many are highly-rated.  This is also great if you want to try out one or more of Disney's amazing dinner shows!

To look more in-depth, these are links to the official Disney PDFs describing the dining plans:

Quick Service Dining Plan

Plus Dining Plan

Deluxe Dining Plan

How to keep track of used credits:

Whenever you use credits to pay for a meal or snack, you will receive a receipt that lists your remaining credits available.  If you lose track and want to check, you can head to pretty much any gift shop and they can scan your band and print a receipt that will list your remaining available credits.

A few dining FAQs:

Q: When can I use my credits?

A: They are available from the morning you check in until midnight on the day you check out from your Disney resort.

Q: Is the Disney dining plan available to visitors who are not staying in a Disney resort?

A: Nope.  It's a perk available only to Disney resort guests.

Q: Do you have to have theme park admission to add the dining plan to your resort stay?
A: No.  You can book a package with just a resort room and the dining plan, but you will need valid theme park admission for any restaurants that are inside of Disney parks.

Q: How many credits do character dining meals use?

A: Cinderella's Royal Table requires two credits per person, but all of the other character dining meals use just one credit per person.

Q: What should I do if I have leftover credits when I'm ready to head home?
A: You can downgrade your leftover credits as snack credits and use them to purchase food or snack items at your resort's gift shop.  Goofy's Candy makes a great souvenir for kids' friends. ;)