Cost of lunch in ports

Hello all,

I'm an experienced cruiser, currently volunteering on behalf of a non-profit that is sending 3 families on cruises in the coming months. All of these families have children under 18, and a parent with a life-threatening illness. All 3 families will be going on Carnival cruises.

I hope that CC admins will give me a little leeway here, as this question is more port specific, but since there are so many ports in question I thought it would be easiest to have the post here.

Each family will get to choose one excursion in one of their ports. The other two days will be on their own to either explore the port or stay on the ship. We are trying to determine an average of what would be needed for lunch should they choose to explore the port.

Ports in question are Freeport, Nassau, Port Canaveral, San Juan, Grand Turk and St Thomas.

Keeping in mind that we don't pay for alcohol, what do you experienced Carnival cruises who have been to these ports think is a reasonable amount per day? We are thinking an average of $15. Does that seem sufficient for lunch in these ports? Of these I've only been to St. Thomas, and it was so long ago I cannot recall what we spent for lunch. I know some locations like Bermuda are significantly more expensive.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you in advance!

$15 is a safe estimate. I have been to all those ports and ate there, you would be definitely fine with that.

$15 is probably a decent average. I would maybe even say $20 is fair given some of the tourist places such as Margaritaville, Senor Frogs, etc. tend to be higher in price than some of the local joints.

$15 is fair. It's only lunch, you can easily get a sandwich or street food for less. Or even better, somewhere like Nassau they can quickly pop back on the ship for a bite or get some conch on the beach.

$15 is fair. It's only lunch, you can easily get a sandwich or street food for less. Or even better, somewhere like Nassau they can quickly pop back on the ship for a bite or get some conch on the beach.

We usually just go back to the ship for lunch, even if it's a late lunch. Some of the prices on the islands are quite high.

When we go into ports, we try to limit what we spend on food since some can be quite expensive. But I would say $15-$20 would be sufficient.

I would go with just giving them $25 each at the ports without the paid excursions and allow them to choose how to spend it.

I think $25 per person per day is reasonable. But if they are going to an all-inclusive beach, then it will cost more. Here's an example from port of Nassau - The Blue Lagoon - a popular tourist spot:

http://www.bahamasbluelagoon.com/beach-day.php

As you can see, drinks are extra, even soda, juice and bottled water. I would plan on about $5- 10 per person for a non-alcoholic drink.

If they go to Atlantis for the water park, food and drinks are even more. $7 for a slice of pizza or $35 for a whole plain cheese pizza, $9 for 3 scoops of ice cream, average restaurant entree $50. Marketplace buffet $20 kids, $47 adults. Drinks $10.

The smart thing to do is bring a case of bottled water onboard the ship and put it in the refrigerator and then take it with you on shore excursions.

We very often have lunch off the ship in ports and $15 - $20 should be sufficient for each to have a nice selection of what they would enjoy ordering. A soft drink or lemonade and maybe an ice cream.

What a lovely thing you are doing. Hope the families all have a wonderful time. They must be so excited.

I would go with just giving them $25 each at the ports without the paid excursions and allow them to choose how to spend it.

$25 each "walking around money" would be very nice. :)

LuLu

$20-$25 should cover lunch/drinks.

Maybe it is obvious but I've learned to not 'assume'.......

When I said $20-$25 I meant per person. :)

Look for familiar chain restaurants...Subway, McDonald's, Burger King, etc. where the pricing will be similar to your home cities. Menus will be pretty much the same as at home.

Or you could look for a Chinese restaurant and share some lunch specials. Same goes for some local places.

MARAPRINCE

I think $15-$20 pp would be an ample amount to cover food and beverages while in port.

Please send the families my best wishes. I'm sure they'll have a blast! :D

$15-$20pp is a good lunch per diem. In St Thomas we ate at Cuzzins and the meals were about $15/entree.

Given that they can have a big breakfast before they leave the ship and something when they return to the ship I think $15 is plenty.

Basically I never eat lunch in port, maybe just a cuppa and/or an ice cream.

Wow, that's a lot. If you're talking 3 families of four and lunch for 5 days, times $25, that's $1500 for just lunches.

Unless the port time is especially long, we usually will eat a large breakfast, and only get snacks (and alcohol) in port. We can usually get by with about $25 for our entire family of 4.

Wow, that's a lot. If you're talking 3 families of four and lunch for 5 days, times $25, that's $1500 for just lunches.

 

Unless the port time is especially long, we usually will eat a large breakfast, and only get snacks (and alcohol) in port. We can usually get by with about $25 for our entire family of 4.

Yes but OP is talking about 2 days so 2 days at $15 is $30 ea x4 = $120 per family by three families is $360.00

Evan at $25 it's a much lower $600

We have always felt having local food is an important facet of travel. We liked trying new food, eating with locals, learning a little of their culture. Eating isn't always just about putting food in your stomach.... at least for me. I find it a very pleasant part of our shore day.

I hope these families aren't pushed off to Burger King unless that is what they want. If they are a bit more interested in 'eating local', I hope it is possible for them to do so.