Spending money question

Whats the minimum amount of spending money you suggest to take for a 12 night cruise?

Depends on how many you are taking (read earlier you've just finished VCE so I guess you won't be taking a family) and how much you drink, if you want to eat something else other than your paid for already meals and tours you might want to take and souveigners you may want to purchase. Some kind person may been able to help you with the cost of tours and there is an earlier chat regarding cost of alcohol as well as a menu of cocktails.

take 1800 maybe? better taking more than less:)

Whats the minimum amount of spending money you suggest to take for a 12 night cruise?

Hi jock_ryan,

The belief from Carnival is that each passenger over 18 will spend $100 per day on a cruise. As others have suggested think about how much you are likely to spend and work it out that way. If you don't drink or gamble you can probably get away with taking much less.

Don't forget that the automatic tip you are charged each day is $4.50 if you are trying to work out a budget. Depending on where you are going and what sort of tours you want to do they range from about $30 to over $100 but the average per adult is I think about $40.

Both the Sun & Star have free water, tea & coffee at the Lido Buffets 24/7 and there is no real need to buy extra food as I am sure most people would agree there is more than enough on offer. It is nice however to indulge and have a pizza or go to the steakhouse.

Also if you intend to take souvenirs home these will add to the amount of money you will need especially if you don't go to Vila (cheap gifts & duty free!).

One final piece of advice remember that you can only use a credit card or cash on board the ship and EFT is not available.

Cheers,

Chaz:)

I will not be gambling or going to eat much else other than the already paid for meals. However I probably will be drinking. Unfortunantly for me other people have been constantly borrowing money off of me (coughparentscough) so money is quite tight. So depending on how much money I make over the weekend I might only have about $600 (minimum). So how much would this limit me as to how much I can do? Also are there EFTPOS facilities available on the islands?

Hi jock_ryan,

Drinks are around $5.50 for a spirit, cocktails between $7.50 and $10.00

It really depends on how much you drink. We drank a lot. and it showed in the bar tab. Dont forget that cause your on holidays and dont have to drive you may indulge in a fair bit of alcohol during the day. That said if you have a budget stick to it. Maybe dont drink everyday. Or only after dinner or what ever.

We tended to drink when ever we wanted and sometimes started before morning trivia and went all day.... and night... That tends to hurt the bar tab.

There are no facilities of any kind on the islands (Divine, Wala, Mystery).

Cheers,

dan

Also are there EFTPOS facilities available on the islands?

There are some ATM meachines in Noumea & Vila but they issue the local currency. I had to withdraw money from the bank in Vila (only paid monthly and it went through half way through the cruise, needed some more cash!). I have to be honest and say I am not sure how much this cost me but it was relatively easy. I bank with the ANZ who had an ATM right next to a foreign exchange centre (which was open on a Saturday!).

Was able to determine how much I wanted to withdraw by asking the teller, took it out in Vatu and then the teller converted it to AUD for me. All up it cost me about A$42 to withdraw A$507 (a $5 ATM charge, $6 foreign exchange translation fee & $31 foreign exchange loss). This was the first time I have done this. Not sure how it works in Noumea.

Cheers,

Chaz:)

Thanks for the help