How much should I bring?

Hi!

I’m sailing on the breakaway in a few weeks and was wondering how much I should bring? My boyfriend and I have the ultimate beverage package, pre-paid the service fees, have the specialty dining package and booked our excursions already. I’m not sure how much money we should bring after all of that? Does anyone have any experience paying everything ahead of time? How much did you bring? I’m thinking only bringing my credit card and $300. Is that enough?? Plz help!!!! 🙂🙂🙂

I’d bring between 300 and 500. I like to spend cash in port and have some on hand for extra tips. Credit card, of course, for onboard account.

If you prepaid everything then that should be plenty

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Hi!

 

I’m sailing on the breakaway in a few weeks and was wondering how much I should bring? My boyfriend and I have the ultimate beverage package, pre-paid the service fees, have the specialty dining package and booked our excursions already. I’m not sure how much money we should bring after all of that? Does anyone have any experience paying everything ahead of time? How much did you bring? I’m thinking only bringing my credit card and $300. Is that enough?? Plz help!!!! 🙂🙂🙂

Do you like to gamble ( need cash), play bingo, shop? You have a credit card for back up so that seems reasonable since you prepaid everything. You may want cash in ports for shopping?

budget some spending money for food and drinks while you are on shore. You will have to leave your credit card number when you check in to cover any onboard expenses (when you pay the couple of buck difference for that chocolate martini that is just over the $15 max for covered drinks).

We always use cash on shore to avoid the foreign transaction fees (and many of the vendors that don't accept credit cards). The local vendors all accept US dollars.

Do you like to gamble ( need cash), play bingo, shop? You have a credit card for back up so that seems reasonable since you prepaid everything. You may want cash in ports for shopping?

I plan on bringing the $300 for shopping and gambling since I don’t gamble much.

Out of the house ... $100/person per cruise day to cover gambling, travel, tips, incidentals. $1,400 for a seven-day cruise for both of us. This covers from doorstep to doorstep. If we win at the casino, then we spend less. Often we come home with a few hundred dollars left over with some great memories and nice souvenirs.

Hi!

 

I’m sailing on the breakaway in a few weeks and was wondering how much I should bring? My boyfriend and I have the ultimate beverage package, pre-paid the service fees, have the specialty dining package and booked our excursions already. I’m not sure how much money we should bring after all of that? Does anyone have any experience paying everything ahead of time? How much did you bring? I’m thinking only bringing my credit card and $300. Is that enough?? Plz help!!!! 🙂🙂🙂

If you have already paid for everything and intend to let any additional onboard charges go to your credit card, my rule of thumb is $50/port per person plus whatever I plan to donate to the casino. 😁 I also bring $50 in ones to tip bartenders/servers and I tip my room steward at the end of the cruise in cash.

I always bring a little extra. Since we are senior citizens and there is always the possibility of a medical problem even though we get the insurance, if we had to go to a doctor in port they sometimes ask for cash. In the Bahamas it is $500 to be seen at the private hospital. So that's what I use as a guideline above and beyond our spending money. It stays in the safe along with copies of our passports.

Bring more than you think you need. If you DON'T need it..put it back in your bank when you get home. Your cabin will have a safe to store it.

I agree with the $50-100 per port day per person, plus any gambling funds. This should cover any food and incidentals that you want plus any souvenirs that you may buy. A lot of places, especially handmade crafts, won't take credit cards. Plus tipping in cash is better for most people.

Also consider where you are going, as costs may be higher and you may have to change funds to local currency.

Yes you will want to probably tip room steward

Bartenders

And porters to help with luggage getting on and off ship.

Maybe driver tips, tips for excursions . We always budget high, and put it in the bank when we get home

This last cruise we barely skimmed by

Probably won’t do this again :eek:

:cool:

Bring 1k

C.C. may get shut off with international use.

We always take about a thousand dollars. We leave most of it in the cabin safe and take as much as we think we may need each day. Make sure you bring about one hundred in fives. We use this to tip the baggage handler at the port, tip those who work on the excursions (five dollars for each member of the excursion) and we always tip the shuttle drivers five dollars each way.

Bring 1k

C.C. may get shut off with international use.

To keep that from happening, inform your credit card company that you are traveling out of the country.

As long as you have decent credit card, there should be no transaction fee. Some "starter" credit cards, that give you $400 initial credit line will have one. Plenty of cards, like Capital One, American Express, Chase, will have none. My Chase debit card has no foreign transaction fee. Keep in mind, charges are always done in local currency, at bank's exchange rage, which may be just a little bit skewed towards their end. That is offset by lack of transaction fees.

Always call your bank, add countries to the list where charges should be approved, tell them your travel dates. After these dates, they won't approve charges, eliminating chance of fraud.

As for how much to bring, it's totally up to you. With everything pretty much prepaid, you can walk off the ship without paying a single cent. Or you can splurge at shops, specialty dining, shore excursions, etc. You will need some money in the port for cabs, local entertainment, etc. Doubt there's an easy formula since everyone does things differently.

Still, make sure you have cash on hand. I am yet to see a cab on the islands that will take a card. Plus, in case of emergency, you may need few dollars on hand too. I usually bring $1000 with me. I do not spend all of it most of the time, but I know it's available, if I need it.

Bring 1k

 

C.C. may get shut off with international use.

As long as you advise your cc company of travel, there’s no reason for this to happen.

I’ve used cc’s internationally many times and only had 1 shut off the first time when I didn’t know to advise them.

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I would hesitate answering this question. There are just too many variables to consider without actually knowing the cruisers. Would you like to be accused of "ruining" someones cruise with some of the off the wall opinions offered in this and other similar threads?

Bring 1k

C.C. may get shut off with international use.

To help avoid a shut-off, contact your credit card company tell them which ports you will be visiting, and the dates when you will be there.

We bring $100/day in cash as a couple and that gets us home from the airport with a few twenties still in our wallet. This includes some very minor gambling, shopping, a few cash excursions, lunch and drinks in port, taxis and cash tips (e.g., porters, stewards, good servers). Went home with $300 leftover this time because we didn't do much shopping and came out $100 ahead gambling. If we were super tight budgeting (e.g., going back to port for lunch, no or cheap excursions, no gambling), we could do it on $50/day.

We had the UBP and SDP with some OBC, so had our lowest on board bill ever at around $400 (included a future cruise credit purchase).