HONESTLY- How much do you spend on a cruise other than cruise fare???

For seven days, anywhere from $300-700 per person, but this usually includes a cruise credit or two. We don't go on excursions but I will buy makeup and gifts in the shop and eat at a specialty restaurant a few times. In general I spend more when I'm traveling alone or with friends than when I'm with my husband, because he's forever asking me "do you really. want/need that?" And sighs deeply when I say yes. LOL.

I have one of those husband's too. :D

On our first and only cruise this summer we spent $1000 or so onboard. That included gratuities, 2 spa passes, one specialty dinner, future cruise certificate, drinks and $450 in duty free shopping. $360 of that was cigarettes for DH that would have cost $1,100 at home. So we figure that savings paid for all our on board spending. We did spend around $100 cash in the casino but won two bottles of bubbly. $300 cash in Bermuda for taxis, ferrys, snorkeling, snack & coffee etc. and another $150 for lunches. When DH realized how he could be spending his cigarette money on vacation fun instead he said those would be his last cigarettes. I plan on holding him to that and what we save will pay for the next cruise. :D

At the end of the cruise when they jam that wad of papers under the door ,

we Average around $2K for excursions , drinks , dining ect.. ;)

First time Cruiser on the Getaway back in August. Before I boarded I purchased the UDP and UBP and prepaid my service charge.

So:

SVC: 84.00

UBP: 395.00

UDP: 119.00

Total Before Boarding - 598.00

Not including service charge - 514.00

Once I boarded

Vibe Pass - 79

Spa Pass - 199

Shore Ex - 99

Spa Treat - 150

Food not in UDP - 25

Wine - 22 (used the machines that aren't part of the UBP)

Booking Credit - 150 (really 250 but you get a immediate 100 credit on room charges)

Total - 724

So I spent a total of 1088 on extras (not including service charge)

Now I only went on 1 shore excursion while in port and decided to stay on the ship for the most part as I really wanted to explore the ship.

As for things I would purchase again on my next cruise?

Beverage Plan - I drink a lot (395)

Vibe Pass - Its nice to have a retreat from the noise of the pool with your own bar. Plus there's no towel swapping so you could get a towel from there and head to the pool I you wanted (79)

Spa Pass - Steamroom and Saunas feel great after drinking plus a nice place to lay down and relax that isn't your stateroom inside (199)

Shore Excursion - Depends on the port (99)

Total: 772

Things I wouldn't repurchase:

Ultimate Dining Plan - I think I spent more on the plan than I got out of it (119)

A La Carte Food - Only ate there because other people wanted to try the options (25)

Wine - The Wine dispenser machines are not part of UBP and they wouldn't remove the charges (22)

Booking Credit - I got a BOGO on this cruise so I am doing the Sky next then I still need to book a cruise to use this credit. I think I will save this for the new ship the ESCAPE and then I will be done with NCL for a while (150)

Total - 316

To put this into perspective...My fare with taxes and services charges which I prepaid were 1078.

I like to keep it under $1500. I try ;)

We splurge on spa passes ($400) and eat at lots of specialty restaurants. It quickly adds up.

I have one of those husband's too. :D

LOL You know the drill then! I know it's a good thing, but he drives me nuts with that behavior sometimes!

I read an article in USA Today awhile back before my first cruise in 2010 and it stated that you can expect to pay approximately 30% more than the cost of your cruise. For the most part I have found this to be true with; the specialty dining, alcohol & soda, excursions, gifts, etc.

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"My wife, on the other hand, probably purchased 3 or 4 drinks each day."

We Ontario gals know how to party:-)

It depends on how we do in the casino, but we usually do 1-2 excursions and the specialty restaurants at least 3 nights. We aren't much on the pictures or bingo but probably because we spend time in the casino. CAS gives us drink cards so we don't really purchase drinks (other than to tip the staff in the casino). Last year we spent about $1500 on our ship account but we did buy a lot at the art auctions (no flaming, it was stuff we liked and we had a new house with empty walls to fill. We know it isn't priceless art by masters.).

It does look like the all inclusive for me for 550 a person is a good deal. The more I read people's post, I am feeling better about it. I think most people spend more than they realize. A speciality dinner here,a coffee there, a few drinks here, even only 1-2 photos there. Add that up with what you purchase before hand, and even if you do excursions on your own, it adds up

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The second cruise I went on, I spent $1400 on the ship (doubled the price of the cruise), sailing solo. After that, I learned to mostly stay out of the casino. Now, I might spend a maximum of $500 between the soda package, a few alcoholic drinks, one or two future cruise rewards if I'm sailing on NCL, maybe something from the cosmetics/perfume store, and a very occasional shore excursion.

It's just me and my DH and I'm not sure how much we spend above the fare. We consider the DSC as part of the fare so we don't count that. But we buy the UDP and probably and excursion or two. DH will have a couple of drinks per day and I'll have maybe a few per week, plus a couple of soft drinks.

If the price of Scotch is good, DH might come home with a bottle or two. And we'll but a few souvenirs in port (a t-shirt or two and fridge magnets). We do not spend money in the casino or buy photos.

With the excursions and UDP paid for ahead of time, our bill usually runs maybe a couple hundred? So I'm OK with that.

We're all over the place.

We've spent as little as $6 (plus tips obviously) to over $1,500. It just depends on the trip, ship, itinerary, mood, etc.

The bill at the end really depends on the cruise. Our Med cruise on the Jade was about $900 not counting service charge. We booked private excursions and they were about $700.

Last cruise was to Caribbean and just a much needed rest so the bill was much less. No excursions (we had been to the ports before), no specialty dining so bill was $350 WITH service charge.

Next cruise is a TA for 10 days with UBP so will be much more.

Lynda

My final bill I'm august was 90 cents!

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Ours vary depending on what interests us. I always seem to find a piece of jewelry that I could have gotten cheaper off the ship. We drink so there is that. We do spa setvices every time. I think our cheapest was $1200 and our highest was 7k. I got a ring that trip. Then there is the casino but that doesn't go on the sail card.

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Current booking is cruise fare + $1,400.

Our rule of thumb for cruise vacation budget number: start w/ cruise fare, then double it.

Hm…well….we don’t spend money in the casino or buy photos. We spend very little in the ships store: less than 50 per cruise. We do use excursions, but we book and pay for them in advance. Depending on port and excursion, those go from 60 – 120 per person per excursion. We will use a specialty restaurant or two. Our bar bill has among the lowest in the land…we might have three drinks per person per cruise.

Sourveniers in port: well…we usually buy a something, but not a grand thing. Lets guess 50 per port. Post cards, stamps, sodas when you are ashore….tips for guides and shuttle drivers…maybe 20 per port.

Either airfare and ground transportation. Or driving to the port (gas and lodging on the way).

We have a family suite with balcony and an inside cabin on the same deck for our upcoming cruise. We are a party of six…and have prepaid the service charges and paid insurance. We have 475.00 in OBC

Our NCL bill, including port taxes, etc. is about 6600.00.

. We will pay parking: (104), some of us will do few excursions (1000), and we will use our OBC for whatever drinks and dining we want to enjoy. We’ll need to tip our butler and concierge, and will need spending money for the ports. Hotels on the way down, plus gas and meals. $2,500 will more than cover it.

So, no, we won’t spend 2x our cabin fare, we’ll spend just a bit more than a third of it.

It really depends on the cruise, it's length, ports, how we feel, etc....

Our final bill has been between $600 - $2K.

I think you can do it all out or very frugally depending on your desires.

Add in the airfare & any casino + the cruise fare.

I am going on a 7 day cruise in Oct. We are sailing out of Boston so no hotel or airfare. It will be my DGD and I so probably not much gambling and we will go on some excursions We will see how it compares to the past WDW vacations we stay on site and get a dining plan of course go to the parks.

Ellen

For seven days, anywhere from $300-700 per person, but this usually includes a cruise credit or two. We don't go on excursions but I will buy makeup and gifts in the shop and eat at a specialty restaurant a few times. In general I spend more when I'm traveling alone or with friends than when I'm with my husband, because he's forever asking me "do you really. want/need that?" And sighs deeply when I say yes. LOL.

xenagurl, were you in Paris or Germany in late August??? I swear I thought I saw you and your husband one day. I could not for the life of me remember you screen name so didn't ask you. But wondered...

We usually have a $800 to $1000 bill at the end of the cruise. I get the Spa pass when available, we don't gamble, drink a couple of drinks a day, purchase all excursions privately ahead of time usually, at least one specialty restaurant, less than $50 in shops on board and maybe one picture. We pay our DSC pre-cruise, and after our Epic cruise (almost didn't make the ship :eek: ) in December we purchase insurance!

That said, DH is NOT on my next cruise with my sisters, will NOT be looking over my shoulder asking if I really need that drink :rolleyes: so I know I will spend more this time.

Other than our DCS, we don't ever have a balance on our on-board account. We don't drink or gamble and we don't ever eat at the specialty restaurants, unless we have on board credit to use :) I book all of our excursions privately ahead of time. So as far as our on board spending, nothing more than the cruise fare and gratuities.

I usually budget $50 or less per person, per excursion at the ports, but that being said we usually do our own thing at most of the ports. So, I would say I spend about $200 total on excursions.

Souvenirs, I am NOT a fan of buying stuff, so we usually come home with a $3-4 t-shirt for our kids :)

We do have to fly, as we live in a land locked state, but we have tons of miles points from our credit card so that takes care of that!

Hotels, we budget about $60-80 per night for these.

Cruising for us is SO much more affordable than any land based 7 night vacation!! We are going to Universal Studio's for 3 days before our upcoming cruise and it WILL costs us more, for our family of 5 to do that than the 7 night cruise on the Getaway :)

Spending less while on the cruise allows us to cruise multiple times a year!!

I want to thank you big onboard spenders for making my cruises so cheap. Without you, I would pay a much higher fare.

Count me in the camp of those who feel you can have a great time on a cruise while spending very little on extras (especially on the ship).

Only extras I ever purchase:

- UDP (good food is important to me, especially on a cruise)

- DSC (because that's expected)

- Sometimes the internet, but not on cruises with several domestic ports

I bring my own soda and water on board. I don't drink alcohol. I don't buy any ripoff jewelry or art on board. I don't play in any of those semi-scam games like Deal or No Deal. I don't bother with the highly marked up spa. I don't gamble in the horrible-odds casino. I don't need trip insurance.

And when it comes to excursions, I arrange those myself and also save a ton of money. Or I will just rent a car at each port and make my own excursions, as I just did in Alaska.

I will spend some money on hotels before and after the cruise, though. And of course, the flights always cost money.