How much money to save for spending money

[sarah_in_townsville]

On a 7 day cruise, whats the average amount you all spend (drinks, souvo's, tips etc)

[Croozin']

We did a 11 day cruise:

Tips - $5.50 per person per day comes out of your account automatically unless you stop it. We kept it on so we didn't have to worry about cash at the end of the day, although we did leave about $20 for our room stewards.

Souveniers - didn't actually buy much. Maybe spent $30. We had planned to buy jewellery and stuff on the ship towards the end of the trip, but I got sick and we never got around to it!

Drinks - this is what kills you :) We spent hundreds on drinks! I think it was the novelty of being able to order a cocktail at 11.30am on a weekday :)

We took about $800 cash and used that in about 5-7 days, and then an extra $400 was on a credit card. I think it really was the novelty factor that pushed us over the edge of our original budget - but we didn't mind because we were having heaps of fun.

[cheznandy]

It really depends on the person, you could go on there and not have to spend much at all, if you didnt drink alcohol, book shore excursions, play bingo:p buy photos, play the pokies, have a massage or go to the hairdressers.........plus all those lovely things they have daily on special in the duty free shops on board, there are ways to spend lots of money!!

I think $100 p/p per day would give you a good cruise, if you were to have 5 drinks and a bottle of wine with dinner, theres about $50:rolleyes:

Chez
xx

[MsMinx]

We don't really plan our spendings, we just save as much as we can before we go :p On average though i'd guess that we spend approx $50 each per day. That includes everything: shore tours, souvieners, drinks, pizzas, tips, meals & shopping at ports, pro photos and duty free. Geez i'd better start saving now lol ;) One thing that saves us money each cruise is shore tours. If we've been to the island before and nothing much stands out apart from the tours we've already done, we save the cash and do our own thing. No point doing a tour for the sake of it.

[howsthis]

I would say $100 per day is plenty. If you are a big drinker then you might want more than that. I had 2 or 3 cocktails per day and with souveniers, tips, bingo etc it soon adds up. Shore tours can get expensive but it depends on what you want to do. If you are happy snorkelling etc then that won't cost you anything in most places except the gear. I heard a lady say that she knew someone who went on the cruise and managed to spend $0. She stopped the tips and just stayed onboard and had a great holiday.

[chaz cruiser]

Hi Sarah,

Did I just read on another thread that you have been on 3 other cruises? If so, who with? And how much do you normally spend?

Cheers,
Charmain:)

[sarah_in_townsville]

Yea that is correct, but i didnt pay for anything on those cruises except for some photos as i have a very very generous aunty who paid for it all, even shore tours!!

[sarah_in_townsville]

Yea that is correct, but i didnt pay for anything on those cruises except for some photos as i have a very very generous aunty who paid for it all, even shore tours!!

[karmac]

Yea that is correct, but i didnt pay for anything on those cruises except for some photos as i have a very very generous aunty who paid for it all, even shore tours!!

You're not taking your aunty with you;) ?
Just kidding.

Karen

[i_love_cruising]

This is a great question! I haven't quite worked out how much to budget for each day. DH doesn't drink so does that leave his share to me?? :D It is his first cruise so I think we will make sure we have as much saved as we can. Thank goodness for leave loading and, hopefully, end of year bonuses from our very generous work!!

[Luxy 1]

How much cash would people recommend to take on a seven day cruise???

[cruisemum]

Hi,
With regard to spending money in port. Do most ports deal in Aussie dollars or should we be taking currency for the port with us. Do they have currency exchange on board the Pacific star.

[Skyrules]

Hi,
With regard to spending money in port. Do most ports deal in Aussie dollars or should we be taking currency for the port with us. Do they have currency exchange on board the Pacific star.

Depends on your ports. If you are going to Noumea, you'll need Central Pacific Francs, which are available on board the ship.

Most shops in Port Vila will take Aussie Dollars at a fair exchange rate, or you can get local currency (Vatu) from the ATMs in the main street (ANZ and I think Westpac), provided you have Maestro or Cirrus or equivalent access on your cards.

Most of the islands will take small denomination Australian dollars.

[Perthie]

First, can I borrow your auntie please karen?
It seems crazy but when we travel we end up spending about $200 a day for the two of us. It doesn't matter if we go to Asia, America or Europe. If in Asia we buy more and if in Europe the money goes on fuel (car and us) and sight seeing. When cruising it is booze and the shops. We spent $900 onboard during our last cruise which was 12 days on Diamond Princess plus what we spent onshore. Our shore excursions are usually arranged before setting sail by using the CC boards and sharing costs.
Has anyone else found their costs work out similar?