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Hi, I'm nervous and excited at the same time. My children surprised me with this cruise for my 50th and my mom's Mother's Day May 12-19th to the Bahamas out of New York and I don't know what to do once docked. They did the heavy lift as far as paying for the cruise but what should I expect to spend once there. I don't have much time to sock away a whole lot of extra cash, so please share what would be able to do in this short time. I don't want leave bills not taken care of before I go.:confused:

Hi, I'm nervous and excited at the same time. My children surprised me with this cruise for my 50th and my mom's Mother's Day May 12-19th to the Bahamas out of New York and I don't know what to do once docked. They did the heavy lift as far as paying for the cruise but what should I expect to spend once there. I don't have much time to sock away a whole lot of extra cash, so please share what would be able to do in this short time. I don't want leave bills not taken care of before I go.:confused:

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

All necessities, including food (except specialty restaurants), are part of the cruse fare which means you only need cash on board for tips and any expenses you choose while in the Bahamas. All on board charges are made to your registered credit card. Most cruises include free coffee, tea, water, and milk with sodas and alcohol being extra.

Others may disagree but bring $2 per day in dollar bills for Room Service tips, $40 tip for your Room Steward if they prove to be amazing, and souvenir cash for the Bahamas which translates to $100 cash needed for a minimalist cruise experience.

Enjoy your cruise.....they do become additive.

I'll go ahead and disagree. Buffet is open nearly all waking hours, and food is NOT a problem on cruise ships. It's a common joke that people gain 10+ pounds on a cruise... in part because there's a lot of truth behind it. Room service isn't necessary unless you REALLY enjoy staying in your room or have some physical/emotional problem that leads you to not want to venture out. Most people hardly ever order room service. Tipping an extra $40 for a room steward is also wildly out of the norm IMO. Tipping anything on top of the daily gratuity is already out of the norm, but anything beyond $20 extra I would say is WILDLY out of the norm. There's not a ton the room steward can do anyways to really stand out from his normal duties unless you have some really out of the ordinary requests.

Now, tipping a dollar or two for bar service (or waiters getting you drinks from the bar) on TOP of the automatically added gratuity isn't totally bizarre. But you generally only do that to get extra prompt attention (trust me, the auto gratuity already makes them very attentive) in a super crowded event.

Bringing NO extra dollars for extra tips is very much the norm IMO. Bringing any extra will absolutely make you stand out, but that's because most people don't. Don't feel you have to, because you're going to get fabulous service regardless.

If you're already needing to budget for any extra expenses, just find out how much the standard daily gratuity is and budget for that. That info will easily be found on the website, or just ask here. Tell us what line, ship, and how long the cruise is, and we can tell you how much it will be. That gets added to your room bill at the end of the cruise. It can be a big number if you aren't expecting it.

Otherwise, try and guess how much you'll drink. What kind do you drink? Then we can give you an estimate on the average price of the drink, then add 20% on top of that for the auto gratuity.

Some minor spending cash for souvenirs and stuff would be nice to have, but plenty of people don't buy any of that.

I've done plenty of cruises where I've only just had the daily gratuity to pay at the end. I physically cannot drink alcohol, so that makes things easier to do for me than many other people. Lately, I add the soda package if the line has one.

.... which means you only need cash on board for tips... $40 tip for your Room Steward if they prove to be amazing....

Wow, I will also disagree with both of these comments. Any gratuities/tips are handled not in cash anymore but by adding a service charge/hotel charge/daily gratuity to your on board account. You do not have to tip anyone in cash, ever. The $40 extra for the cabin steward? Wow, way above and beyond if you ask me. IF our steward helped us in some extraordinary way we may tip $20 but no more. Having said that, tipping is unique and individual to each guest but to suggest to a new cruiser that they need to do this is not what I would do.

OP, you are in the right place to ask questions, but also these message boards are full or information and tips to help you have a great cruise. Each line has its own dedicated board, and you don't necessarily have to post here with your questions. Trust me, the info is here and you just have to spend some time researching and making notes. Go to your cruise line's official website for other tips and such.

Have fun.

Thank you all for the info and just these few post have relieved a lot of my anxiety about tipping. I am usually a moderate tipper but I wasn't sure what cruising protocol would be. I am sailing the Norwegian Gem Stirrup Bay and Nassua the week of Mothers's Day. Also I asked my daughter if she had gotten insurance and I believe she went through Expedia and she was informed it was too late to get it. Can I get insurance through another entity?

Also my mom and I do not drink.

Since you are sailing NCL, here is the link to that specific board. You can read down the board for the subjects and titles of threads, read them, make your notes, etc. It's a better place than here, in my opinion, as it is specific to Norwegian Cruise Line.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107 <---click here

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I agree with the others. There is no need to tip extra to the cabin steward or wait staff. The autotip charged to you account each day will fairly compensate them.

Some people feel that these people have provided excellent service and deserve extra tips. That is their option. I do not tip extra unless I feel that someone has gone above and beyond for me.

...I asked my daughter if she had gotten insurance and I believe she went through Expedia and she was informed it was too late to get it. Can I get insurance through another entity?

Thank you all for the info and just these few post have relieved a lot of my anxiety about tipping. I am usually a moderate tipper but I wasn't sure what cruising protocol would be. I am sailing the Norwegian Gem Stirrup Bay and Nassua the week of Mothers's Day. Also I asked my daughter if she had gotten insurance and I believe she went through Expedia and she was informed it was too late to get it. Can I get insurance through another entity?

Also my mom and I do not drink.

Got it. It's $13.99 per day per person. For you and mom, it's $13.99 x 2 x 7 = $195.86.

Plan on that much. Don't need to tip anyone else extra if you don't want. This covers your cabin steward, dining room wait staff, and behind the scenes crew. Anyone else you encounter will generally have an automatic tip to whatever you buy. If you don't drink and don't go to the specialty restaurants (they have an upcharge; main dining rooms, buffets, and O'Sheehan's are free), you won't pay anything on top of that $196. If you drink soda, there's a soda package that's an extra cost. Otherwise, it's basically water and tea for you (coffee gets too complicated as it can be free some times, but charged others).

If you are parking at the pier, it’s $40 a day. Expect to hand over $2 per bag to the porter, and if you want to go through customs quicker at disembarkment, grab a porter to grab your luggage after exiting the ship (I think we tip about $20 after he brings our bags to our vehicle). Check out the Nassau port of call board, it’s not the best spot to just wing it.

Originally posted by Crew News

For your ports, get a guidebook at your local library... things are EASY to do on your own without spending a ton! Ship's excursions are expensive and usually not needed....but you MUST do research before you get there! The more you know about your ports the better time you can have "on the cheap"! Also, realize that you don't have to stay off the ship, or even get off at all!

The cruise lines nowadays add the suggested gratuities to your bill, if it's not paid in advance. NCL calls the "DSC" or daily service charge. As long as that is paid, you're good to go. No additional is needed or expected. Any drink you purchase will have the "tip" added to the cost, so you're covered there, too!

If you have assigned dining a moderate tipper would probably also tip your main dining staff the last day. I don't know much about Norweigen's island but if you look on your cruise itinerary on line, I suspect you can prepurchase excursions. I would recommend an excursion in Nassau if it is just you and your mom. I was there recently with my tween son and we felt very threatened and overwhelmed around the port by aggressive people standing way too close trying to get you to buy their good and services. And we did have a ship excursion booked, this was just returning to the boat from the excursion.

Also I asked my daughter if she had gotten insurance and I believe she went through Expedia and she was informed it was too late to get it. Can I get insurance through another entity?

Check here for a third-party insurer. It'll be less than through that online travel agent.

https://www.insuremytrip.com/?linkId=13046&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkKPVBRDtARIsAA2CG6GXFpTySNuHcBqt68WZbfIDoQGNLOcowEr-wHa8eG15ZFTF6fRQmUIaAmEREALw_wcB

Awesome!!! Thank you all so much for peace of mind especially about the insurance and the link to NCL. I see this is a very supportive place so grateful!! Cruises may get bad reviews but you all are top notch!!

Awesome!!! Thank you all so much for peace of mind especially about the insurance and the link to NCL. I see this is a very supportive place so grateful!! Cruises may get bad reviews but you all are top notch!!��

Before you come to any conclusions about your budget, verify with your children whether or not they pre-paid the gratuities. It is possible to do so (and if they didn't you may want to do so yourself) and then other than the porters at the dock and room service there is no expectation of a tip. Some people do tip extra for room stewards and wait staff, but there is no such obligation. If you decide you DO want to tip extra, do what YOU choose and ignore what people say here as to amount. Some folks think that only wealthy folks should give an extra $20, and some folks think that someone only giving an extra $40 is a cheap bat rastard. Doesn't matter, do or don't do whatever YOU choose.

Cruises are great if you know what they're good at.

Ideally, they're great at pampering, hence all the tipping. You go there to relax, eat a ton, get entertained, and come back refreshed.

It's not ideal for exploring a destination, living like a local, etc.

There was a recent Disney cruise review where the reporter completely sandbagged it. He went in trying to hate everything because he already decided he hated cruises and it wasn't for him. Except he had to admit there were some good points and his kid absolutely loved it. It was completely garbage and should never have been published. It served no purpose. No critiques, just a bunch of complaining and no real highlights of the good stuff.

Cruises don't stop long enough in one spot to really immerse yourself in that local culture, etc. It's there for highlights. You don't have to worry about food much, because you have the options on the ship. Evening entertainment (and generally throughout the day except for port days) is also provided. You're never far from your hotel room.

The newer ships do have a lot of stuff for more active people. Water slides, sport parks, ice rinks, walk climbing, zip lining, and now go karts and laser tag. Also a lot build big shopping/dining areas a bit like Vegas in the middle of their giant ships. It's just more choices, but it still falls back to the basics. You get highlights of the areas you cruise through and you don't have enough time to really immerse yourself wherever you travel.

Just sit back and relax. The point is to relax and enjoy yourself. All the basics are covered and thought of for you. If you read some of the other new posts, you see things like clothes hangers, hair dryers, soap and shampoo (but not toothpaste, although they have a store on board in case you forget), and a lot of little stuff is provided, just like a nicer hotel. It's like 4-5 star hotel/restaurant luxury at 2-3 star prices. Just relax and enjoy.

I left my $20. cash on the bed with a short note saying thank you to my room steward for taking good care of me at the end of the cruise.

I did leave the service charge on, but he did a nice job and they don't make much money

Find out how much excursions will cost if you want to take any of them.

Do check with insuremytrip dot com for insurance. It is very important, especially if either of you are over 65 and on Medicare. While it may not cover pre-existing conditions, it is possible to cover many other things that could occur.

Any tips over and above the auto-gratuities is not necessary. Some people tip above this amount. Some tip the auto-amount. Up to the individual.

Just off the Norwegian Dawn, the only extra tips we gave were to our bar servers. Our package included drinks and we really received exceptional service.

Since you don't drink alcohol I would recommend that you bring an insulated cup such as a Yeti to keep your drinks cold. You can fill it yourself at the buffet or near the pool with ice water. You can also take it with you on your excursions and you won't have to pay for water. Norwegian does charge for bottled water.

:cool:

Relax and enjoy yourself!:cool:

The $40 extra for the cabin steward? Wow, way above and beyond if you ask me. IF our steward helped us in some extraordinary way we may tip $20 but no more. Having said that, tipping is unique and individual to each guest but to suggest to a new cruiser that they need to do this is not what I would do.