How many of you spend nothing extra while on a cruise?

I'm wondering if I'm an anomaly when it comes to spending money on cruises. In our four cruises, we haven't spent hardly anything. $20 for a bus to the beach in Port Canaveral once, and maybe a drink or two on one cruise ($15 total?). And we will pick up some duty free liquor on occasion since it's very cheap compared to the ABC stores in our state (I don't consider that a cruise-related expense as much as a grocery/alcohol expense).

How many of you never:

• Purchase shore excursions
  
• buy alcoholic drinks or soft drinks on board
  
• dine at premium retaurants
  
• purchase photos
  
• visit the spa
  
• gamble in the casino
  

We enjoy looking out at the ocean, dining in one of the handful of free restaurant venues on board, drink mostly water or the free juices or coffee/tea, and exploring on foot or public transit in the ports where that's possible.

Anyone else spend nothing or almost nothing on a cruise other than the cost of the cruise itself plus transportation to/from the embarkation port?

I figure cruise lines make tons more profit from those who buy the extras compared to cheap bastards like me that pay $1300 or $1400 for a family of 4 for a week.

I had the idea for this thread as I watched a guy with a three page print out of all his hundreds of on board purchases, whereas my sheet had 2 cabins on it, and it only had 5 transactions (gratuities for 4 people and the $68 in duty free liquor).

Well we've only been on one cruise so far but our bill was less than $20. Our gratuities were pre-paid by the travel agency and we bought one picture from one of the formal nights. We're going on our 2nd cruise in Dec. Hopefully it will turn out the same way!

I have done it a few times. One time, I had no onboard charges except the daily gratuities...that happened because I had an unexpected bill come up the week of the cruise. The other time, my lowest spending was about $58 on a cruise with the help of having onboard credit.

First cruise I went on, money was really tight they week we left didn't spend a cent but loved every minute of it.

How many of you never:

• Purchase shore excursions
  
• buy alcoholic drinks or soft drinks on board
  
• dine at premium retaurants
  
• purchase photos
  
• visit the spa
  
• gamble in the casino
  

.

Gosh! :eek: If we didn't do the majority of those things, we had just as soon NOT cruise at all. :D

LuLu

If necessary, it would be my preference to save a bit longer before I vacationed and be able to have a few extras and treats. That is what makes a vacation special. I'd hate to have to deny myself any treats. JMO..... Each to their own.

Some get great glee out of not spending. I enjoy spending with common sense and within my 'sensible' limits. I

don't begrudge the cruise line making money...... they are a for profit business and without profit, they will cease to exist.

We spent almost nothing on our recent 3 day cruise. It was short enough that the MDR and buffet did not get boring for food and it was so hot that I would rather drink water than alcohol. We did buy a bucket of beers to split for 2 of us on the island day and that was the only thing we bought.

I can relate to your post- I spend very little on the ship during my cruises.

My income is more interior/oceanview than suite. Each decision needs pre-planning and adherence to budget.

Purchase shore excursions -rarely, and usually if I do a ship excursion it's because I have some on board credit from a TA

buy alcoholic drinks or soft drinks on board - we have BYOB wine when allowed, we have loyalty categories for happy hour so that is more than enough drinking of alcohol. We don't drink sodas or special coffees

dine at premium restaurants - only if extra OBC

purchase photos - I like my own photos better

visit the spa - too rich for my wallet

gamble - not fun to me. I've said before that when I put money in a machine I want at least some bubble gum

I love cruising for the ability to see more of the world and/or relaxing "me" time.

I buy what I feel is worth buying. I usually prepay tips. And I think my biggest end-of-cruise Bill was still under $100

Believe me I have also SPENT on a cruise, just that one we got hit with some unexpected bills the week we sailed [health costs for a family member] as some promised payments didn't arrive till a couple of days after we left.

You can really have a great time on a cruise without spending much. Personally when am on a cruise I prefer not to worry about money and just spend whatever I feel like.

While we've never had a bill of zero by the end of a cruise, we spend very little onboard. For a family of 4, we are usually under $100. (That doesn't include gratuities or money spend in port)

• Purchase shore excursions
  
• buy alcoholic drinks or soft drinks on board
  
• dine at premium retaurants
  
• purchase photos
  
• visit the spa
  
• gamble in the casino
  

QUOTE]

 

We seldom purchase a ships SHOREX, we do usually purchase a bottle of wine at dinner and the occasional beer....but I am trying to lay off both for weight reasons. We will often have 1 dinner in a premium restaurant. We don't purchase photos unless it is our TA's gift. We don't gamble and don't visit the spa.

Well... here goes. ...

Cruises are Awesome because for one price only, they provide:

Entertainment!

Food and Drink (nonalcoholic)!

Accommodation!

Dance Lessons!

Table Tennis!

Karaoke!

Music - Bands/DJ/Film clips!

Travel!

Company!...

Can we ask for Anything More??😎😎😎

On board spending makes the difference between a money losing and money earning itinerary. If everyone was as disciplined as many of the posters here then the cruise lines would have to raise fares or go out of business.

I'm wondering if I'm an anomaly when it comes to spending money on cruises. In our four cruises, we haven't spent hardly anything. $20 for a bus to the beach in Port Canaveral once, and maybe a drink or two on one cruise ($15 total?). And we will pick up some duty free liquor on occasion since it's very cheap compared to the ABC stores in our state (I don't consider that a cruise-related expense as much as a grocery/alcohol expense).

 

How many of you never:

• Purchase shore excursions
  
• buy alcoholic drinks or soft drinks on board
  
• dine at premium retaurants
  
• purchase photos
  
• visit the spa
  
• gamble in the casino
  

 

We enjoy looking out at the ocean, dining in one of the handful of free restaurant venues on board, drink mostly water or the free juices or coffee/tea, and exploring on foot or public transit in the ports where that's possible.

 

Anyone else spend nothing or almost nothing on a cruise other than the cost of the cruise itself plus transportation to/from the embarkation port?

 

I figure cruise lines make tons more profit from those who buy the extras compared to cheap bastards like me that pay $1300 or $1400 for a family of 4 for a week.

 

I had the idea for this thread as I watched a guy with a three page print out of all his hundreds of on board purchases, whereas my sheet had 2 cabins on it, and it only had 5 transactions (gratuities for 4 people and the $68 in duty free liquor).

I wouldn't consider you a "bastard" (your words). But,you are "cheap." Lightebupv- you can't take it with you.

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We have done it both ways. Our first family cruise, I think we spent money on tshirts for the kids in key west and gratuities. that was it, and we had a great time. On our last cruise, we took excursions, ate in the specialty restaurant, and had a bar bill, and we had a great time on that one also.

on one of our last cruises, I took $7 in quarters, and each night, I went to the casino and I would take 4 quarters with me. That $7 turned into enough money to give my DH a bourbon tasting one evening, and two shore excursions. :D I was really lucky.:D

The point of vacationing is to relax, have some fun, and be happy. If that means spending a ton of money then great have a good time with that. If it means not spending a lot, then that's great too. To each his own. :)

Can't say that we don't spend money on cruises -- we do buy drinks (afternoon cocktails, an occasionally latte or espresso, wine with dinner.) Of course, whenever we can, we bring our preferred alcoholic beverages on board with us, or wrangle welcome champagne -- not to mention as much OBC as possible -- from our TA. :) We also save by taking advantage of drink specials -- the kind where the beverages are actually cheaper, not just served in a fancy glass! :) We tried the specialty restaurants on two cruises (United States Restaurant on Celebrity Infinity, 2006, and Pinnacle Grill on HAL Zuiderdam, 2011) but have concluded they aren't worth the extra cost -- we are happy at the MDR. And we have purchased a few ship excursions, but we also have used private companies. In any case, so far we have paid for excursions in most ports. But we are learning how to choose ports which do not need a paid excursion to enjoy. We threw down maybe $20 or $30 in the casino on our Carnival Fascination cruise in 2009, but have not "darkened the doors" of a ship's casino otherwise.

Other than that (and, of course tips), we have not, as I recall, spent anything else on board. We do not use the spa, buy art, pay for "adults-only" lounging areas, nor purchase photos or stuff in the shops. And we don't shop in port (not that that is a ship expense, per se.) I can't say that we do not pay for these things because we are cheap, but simply because they do not interest us. Well, OK, probably some of it is because we are cheap! :rolleyes:

So we are likely somewhere in the middle ground of "extra-cost" pax, but probably typical of many with a few cruises under their belts. I imagine most folks pay for things on early cruises that they realize were not really worth it, so don't continue the practice on later cruises. I think this is why cruise lines are constantly trying to recruit new pax, and sometimes, from what I have read, seem to treat their loyal passengers as less valuable than the frequent cruisers might prefer.

We almost always have enough OBCS to totally cover all expenses and often even come home with some of the money.

We don't gamble, use the spa or take ship excursions. We do occasionaly eat at a specialty restaurant and have a drink before dinner or wine with dinner.

Just returned from a 7 night (Southern Caribbean) cruise and with our D+ perks and prepaid gratuities..my SeaPass final balance was $8.28..it just turned out that way nothing I planned for or worried about while onboard...however my in port shopping :D

Even on our first cruise -- we bought shore excursions for all the ports -- had cocktails. There were no automatic gratuities or specialty restaurants in those days.

We always have charges on all the cruises we have taken.

We don't have many charges, but we don't do anything differently on a cruise than in everyday life. We seldom drink, so usually have no bar bills. We don't drink coffee, so no specialty coffee bills. We seldom gamble, and even if we wanted to onboard, don't want even a whiff of smoke, so wouldn't go to the casino. We're very casual diners and never eat in the MDR, much less any specialty restaurants.

We do spend money on excursions, but mostly all private, not through the ship.

We never purchase ship sponsored shore excursions and typically prepay our gratuities. We usually have some amount of OBC on board and with our loyalty status on RCI have BOGO's for the specialty restaurants, have complimentary bottles of wine in our stateroom, and have access to the Concierge and Diamond Lounges for complimentary cocktails between 5:00 - 8:30 each night which covers the majority of our alcohol consumption . We gamble very little and rarely spend on board for spa's, etc., (but also have discounts for that if we do).

So as a result, our typical on board account is very low and on one cruise - as just the two of us - we actually had a credit back. But even when it is with family members our on board spending is usually pretty low.

We typically don't spend much on board and often our on board expenses are covered by OBC. Several times we have gotten money back.

We spend on internet time (need to check on elderly parents), which on one line we get free, a picture or two, if any good, and that's about it. We also leave gratuities on.

For our upcoming cruise our grats were a free perk and we have $425 OBC. We almost never take ship tours, but do a combo of private excursion and DYI in ports. We don't gamble, drink or use the spa or buy much in the shops.

So far we have never eaten in a specialty restaurant, but probably will at some point. We have a great time and have never felt deprived.

Many years ago a friend and I desperately needed some R&R so we impulsively went on a cruise to Alaska using my income tax refund. We were broke. Broke. The last thing we could afford was onboard spending. In order to have sufficient cash to tip the crew (the days before auto-tipping) we just walked around the ports. We "splurged" one night on pre-dinner drinks, and another night we each had a glass of wine with dinner. I think our bill was around $28.

We still talk about that cruise. It wasn't everyone's idea of a good time but it was exactly what we needed. We felt "indulged", not "deprived"

In my everyday life I try to be very frugal, not so much my wife, but me. However, on vacation, whether it is a cruise or something else - I relax my frugality and indulge in some (justifiable) purchases I would normally not make. I think it helps me enjoy the time even more, and I know it does my wife.

When the wife is happy.. everybody is happy!

QTPie :cool:

How many of you never:

• Purchase shore excursions
  
• buy alcoholic drinks or soft drinks on board
  
• dine at premium retaurants
  
• purchase photos
  
• visit the spa
  
• gamble in the casino
  

Gosh! :eek: If we didn't do the majority of those things, we had just as soon NOT cruise at all. :D

LuLu

If necessary, it would be my preference to save a bit longer before I vacationed and be able to have a few extras and treats. That is what makes a vacation special. I'd hate to have to deny myself any treats. JMO..... Each to their own.

 

Some get great glee out of not spending. I enjoy spending with common sense and within my 'sensible' limits. I

don't begrudge the cruise line making money...... they are a for profit business and without profit, they will cease to exist.

Have to agree with you. When we're on a vacation, that is not the time to be saving for the next one! We'll wait until we save a bit more if necessary before we go on a vacation. We want to have fun, treat ourselves better than we do at home when we're on vacation. I couldn't enjoy myself passing up all those opportunities to try something new, go somewhere interesting, do something special. We drink more, party more, eat better food, and even pay to have a knowledgeable expert show us the unique sites in the places we visit.

If we had to vacation on so tight a budget that we couldn't - or wouldn't - spend extra to have the maximum fun, we'd just stay home and try to have fun counting the money we were saving.