7 day Mediterranean cruise- how much did you pay?

[littlemoonrabbit]

Hey guys,

 

So, I have a pretty explosive thread going on at the Carnival board. I essentially asked if we should save for a house or take a Mediterranean cruise. I don't want this thread to at all discuss my decision either way... if you want to do that, feel free to comment on the other thread.

 

However, many people on that thread seemed to think that we were WAY over-estimating the cost of a 7-day Mediterranean cruise. We estimated about 6500, broken down the following way:

 

Cruise (quoted: Carnival Magic) $1,658

Cruise taxes $200

Airfare $2,000

Baggage Fees $140

Pet Costs (boarding) $180

Hotel $170

Transportation $100

Cruise insurance $128

Gratuities $140

Travel day food $50

Casino $100

Drinks $48

Excursions (quoted carnival excursions and averaged them over all port days) $1,250

Spending money $300

 

Total: $6,464

 

We are flying from Bradley Airport in Hartford.

 

Have you been on a Mediterranean cruise? How much did you pay? Are we WAY off in our estimates somewhere? Hotel, cruise price, and airfare were all quotes gotten from online (carnival's website for the magic and Travelocity for the flight and hotel).

 

I understand that we can cut some costs here and there between the excursions and the spending money. But, honestly, I don't want to watch every nickel and dime either. We are on vacation.

 

Thoughts? Please share.

[kitty9]

There is absolutely no way to compare costs from one person to the next as there are too many variables. Some persons spend in the five figures for their cruises and some will go rock bottom. My cousins did a 7 day Med cruise, shared an inside cabin with two other adults, and their entire cruise came to less than $2200, total. There are many ways to save money, if that's what you're interested in doing. You really don't need to take the expensive ship's tours and if you do your research you can find cheaper tours, or in many places you can see things totally on your own, using local transportation.

[fann1sh]

I think you're being realistic. A lot of people don't look beyond the cruise fare, and don't do the math. They just wonder why their credit card balance is so high.

 

Is the hotel expense one night in your European port, post-flight/pre-cruise? That's a basic minimum you should plan on.

 

My drink expenses would be higher than yours - but that's immaterial. People here could debate endlessly the $$ number which should get plugged into each item on your list. The list itself looks good to me. I think you're on the right track to make realistic decisions.

[JLC@SD]

Hey guys,

 

So, I have a pretty explosive thread going on at the Carnival board. I essentially asked if we should save for a house or take a Mediterranean cruise. I don't want this thread to at all discuss my decision either way... if you want to do that, feel free to comment on the other thread.

 

However, many people on that thread seemed to think that we were WAY over-estimating the cost of a 7-day Mediterranean cruise. We estimated about 6500, broken down the following way:

 

Cruise (quoted: Carnival Magic) $1,658

Cruise taxes $200

Airfare $2,000

Baggage Fees $140

Pet Costs (boarding) $180

Hotel $170

Transportation $100

Cruise insurance $128

Gratuities $140

Travel day food $50

Casino $100

Drinks $48

Excursions (quoted carnival excursions and averaged them over all port days) $1,250

Spending money $300

 

Total: $6,464

 

We are flying from Bradley Airport in Hartford.

 

Have you been on a Mediterranean cruise? How much did you pay? Are we WAY off in our estimates somewhere? Hotel, cruise price, and airfare were all quotes gotten from online (carnival's website for the magic and Travelocity for the flight and hotel).

 

I understand that we can cut some costs here and there between the excursions and the spending money. But, honestly, I don't want to watch every nickel and dime either. We are on vacation.

 

Thoughts? Please share.

 

I think you have a reasonable budget outlined for your trip. Keep checking to see if you can save a little on the air fare.

[Essiesmom]

Is your cruise fare for one or both? I think you can save on excursions if you join the roll call for your cruise (after you book). There will be fellow passengers there arranging groups for independent tours. Plus, there will be ports where you can see as much by doing your own thing. I also think you might be a little high with airfare. It also would not surprise me to see prices come down a bit after a few months...EM

[boulders]

To me, some of the budgeted expenses seem a little low. The airfare might be too low - depending on which month you are traveling and which port you are traveling to. Airfare for a cruise leaving out of Rome in August for a Med cruise I was looking at was running $1300 pp. Airfare for a cruise leaving out of BCN for a Med cruise in May is running $1000 pp. It may be difficult to stick to the $170 for a hotel in an European port as well. You can spend $50 in snacks at an airport, LOL. Don't forget dinner and breakfast for before the cruise.

[Roz]

I think your estimate is on the low side, but not unrealistic. I'm not good at math, but I don't get $6,000 when I add everything up. The people being critical of your figures probably have never done anything but el cheapo Caribbean cruises which are a different cruise animal.

 

Roz

[cruisemom42]

I went and read through most of your thread on Carnival -- whew!

 

Long story short, you seem to have thought things through and are not reckless spenders. Your costs look pretty accurate (perhaps I'd add in another couple hundred for unexpected expenses -- your hotel and transportation costs may be a little low).

 

If you are intent on wanting to do this and are looking for some tips to shave the costs down further, I'd suggest:

 

1) Look for a cruise in the "shoulder" season -- April to early May or October/November. Cruise rates are cheaper and airfare is cheaper.

 

2) Don't just look at Carnival. You may find a deal on another line that would let you cruise 10 or 12 days for about the same cost as the 7 day figure you list.

 

3) Try to figure out what airline you'd use to fly to Europe. Get a frequent flier account set up with them and open an affinity credit card. If you use that card for most of your normal expenses (of course, paying it off each month), you should be able to acquire enough frequent flier miles to pay for at least one of your air tickets by 2011.

[GlendaleCruiser]

 

Cruise (quoted: Carnival Magic) $1,658 --I paid around $1100 pp

Cruise taxes $200 --about the same

Airfare $2,000 --I paid $1200 pp from Phoenix to Rome to Phoenix

Baggage Fees $140--No baggage fees for international on AAirlines.

Pet Costs (boarding) $180 --n/a

Hotel $170 --I paid $220 pp per night in Rome

Transportation $100 --about the same

Cruise insurance $128 --the same

Gratuities $140 --around $200

Travel day food $50 --the same

Casino $100 --$20

Drinks $48 --the same

Excursions (quoted carnival excursions and averaged them over all port days) $1,250 -- $650 pp person

Spending money $300 varied according to port and excursion

 

Total: $6,464

 

We are flying from Bradley Airport in Hartford.

 

Have you been on a Mediterranean cruise? How much did you pay? Are we WAY off in our estimates somewhere? Hotel, cruise price, and airfare were all quotes gotten from online (carnival's website for the magic and Travelocity for the flight and hotel).

 

I understand that we can cut some costs here and there between the excursions and the spending money. But, honestly, I don't want to watch every nickel and dime either. We are on vacation.

 

Thoughts? Please share.

 

This was my experience. Hope it helps a little. Mine was a 12-day Med cruise with 3 days in Rome at the beginning, but still came around to $4500 per person for the cruise.

[imru12]

I just booked my 7 day cruise but with ncl in November. With airfare,car service, hotels and 3 nights after cruise in Paris right now it's 4500.00 for two. This doesn't include any shore excursions or odd spending :cool:

[scottamemnon]

As funny as it sounds I have been pondering almost this exact thing, in the same area. The closest airport to me would be Bradley as well. I have looked around at airfare and would suggest that you look at the New York airports. There was a significant difference for the timetables I was looking at... enough to make it worth getting a bus ticket or train ticket to New York.

[pris993]

Hey guys,

 

So, I have a pretty explosive thread going on at the Carnival board. I essentially asked if we should save for a house or take a Mediterranean cruise. I don't want this thread to at all discuss my decision either way... if you want to do that, feel free to comment on the other thread.

 

However, many people on that thread seemed to think that we were WAY over-estimating the cost of a 7-day Mediterranean cruise. We estimated about 6500, broken down the following way:

 

Cruise (quoted: Carnival Magic) $1,658

Cruise taxes $200

Airfare $2,000

Baggage Fees $140

Pet Costs (boarding) $180

Hotel $170

Transportation $100

Cruise insurance $128

Gratuities $140

Travel day food $50

Casino $100

Drinks $48

Excursions (quoted carnival excursions and averaged them over all port days) $1,250

Spending money $300

 

Total: $6,464

 

We are flying from Bradley Airport in Hartford.

 

Have you been on a Mediterranean cruise? How much did you pay? Are we WAY off in our estimates somewhere? Hotel, cruise price, and airfare were all quotes gotten from online (carnival's website for the magic and Travelocity for the flight and hotel).

 

I understand that we can cut some costs here and there between the excursions and the spending money. But, honestly, I don't want to watch every nickel and dime either. We are on vacation.

 

Thoughts? Please share.

 

Overall your estimate looks pretty good.

 

The key variable is what you spending on a daily basis on the ship and ashore. I generally estimate we will spend $30 a day on the ship and $30 a day ashore. That is actually pretty low. Keep in mind in Europe you are dealing with euros and the dollar has a low value; i.e., each euro is worth about $1.40 presently, meaning any thing you buy in port will cost you more because each dollar is not worth much .40-.50 cents.

 

We also buy wine in port and only pay corking fees on board. That saves us and we get better quality wine. We also do our own tours, so that is why I can figure $30 a day expenses on board. We generally get off the ship and walk to explore cities as much as possible.

 

Costs on cruises over seas also depend on ports of call. Some are more expensive to get to relative to transportation. For example, Rome and Southampton are quite expensive. Barcelona is much cheaper.

 

Airport hotel are cheaper than hotel in the city too.

 

Another way to look at your over all costs is to divide your total by the number of travel days, in your case take your total divided by 9 days, including your travel days.

[chipmaster]

Hey guys,

 

So, I have a pretty explosive thread going on at the Carnival board. I essentially asked if we should save for a house or take a Mediterranean cruise. I don't want this thread to at all discuss my decision either way... if you want to do that, feel free to comment on the other thread.

 

However, many people on that thread seemed to think that we were WAY over-estimating the cost of a 7-day Mediterranean cruise. We estimated about 6500, broken down the following way:

 

Cruise (quoted: Carnival Magic) $1,658

Cruise taxes $200

Airfare $2,000

Baggage Fees $140

Pet Costs (boarding) $180

Hotel $170

Transportation $100

Cruise insurance $128

Gratuities $140

Travel day food $50

Casino $100

Drinks $48

Excursions (quoted carnival excursions and averaged them over all port days) $1,250

Spending money $300

 

Total: $6,464

 

We are flying from Bradley Airport in Hartford.

 

Have you been on a Mediterranean cruise? How much did you pay? Are we WAY off in our estimates somewhere? Hotel, cruise price, and airfare were all quotes gotten from online (carnival's website for the magic and Travelocity for the flight and hotel).

 

I understand that we can cut some costs here and there between the excursions and the spending money. But, honestly, I don't want to watch every nickel and dime either. We are on vacation.

 

Thoughts? Please share.

 

On the high side but depending on how expensive your tastes are and your travel style you might spend that much, but my guess you can get buy for a lot less. We spent less then that in 2008 flying from west coast during the summer for a 12 day/10 port. We did all private tours in 6 of the ports. The euro then was really strong then something like 1.6 to 1. Also included for us was one night in Venice and one in Barcelona for hotel and respective transportation. So if you got that budgeted go find the cheapest direct airfare and get our tours lined up!

 

Airfare appears a bit high even for summer even with a connect. Of course a long drive down the turnpike to JFK might easily save you another 200-300 ? My guess is you could get roundtrip into most major european ports for about 1K/person

 

You can do inside cabin, on a Med tour its all about the ports. On a tight budget I'd spend on a private tour then a fancy cabin.

 

AVOID the ship cruise tours if you can. Go to rollcalls and join some nice private tour or DIY. In some ports DIY is easy, and even in the more difficult you can still DIY and stave easily 100/day/person if it becomes that important.

 

IMHO if you are really on a budget lose the insurance, drinks, casino those aren't going to be what make or break your trip... and they add up to enough to fund another private tour in some city.

good luck

[Bamagal in FL]

I think you are on track. We (DH and I) are doing 12 day out of BCN in a few weeks.

I have been price shopping and know we have gotten great deals. We are at about $6500.00 for all the pre paid stuff (cruise, airfare, pre and post cruise hotel, excursions, DSC, ect). That does not include our "spending" cash.......

We don't want to have to penny pinch (we are on vacation) but we don't spend it just because we have it. We have always came home with some of the cash we had allotted....goes straight to the credit card bill or into our Cruise Fund savings for the next time.

[cruisemom42]

Airfare appears a bit high even for summer even with a connect. Of course a long drive down the turnpike to JFK might easily save you another 200-300 ? My guess is you could get roundtrip into most major european ports for about 1K/person

 

 

I think the poster is only budgeting 1K per person now. He/she is giving total costs, not per person costs. (At least it looks that way to me....)

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

In my opinion you are much too high. My DW and I have been to Europe four times and on three cruises. So I do have some idea of the costs involved.

 

Here are some ideas for you...

 

Look at transatlantic cruises that sail from Europe to the USA. These are usually cheaper and you may even save on airfare.

 

Have you considered flying out of a major airport such as JFK or Newark or even Logan? Have you considered flying through Dublin or Zurich or even Frankfort and then on to Barcelona.

 

You do not need to go on expensive excursions as most of Europe can be seen on your own...the exceptions are Rome and Florence. I am not knocking excursions but you can have a truly great timeon your own...my DW and I have done this so why can't you?

[agabbymama]

We did a 12 day cruise in a balcony cabin, but we added 3 days pre-cruise in Rome, 2 days post cruise in Venice, then another 2 days in Paris. So our total trip was 21 days.

 

Without going into detail, we had planned $4500 pp, but the trip actually cost us $6500 pp.

 

So whatever you plan, be prepared for a lot more actual cost. Hotels in Europe are very pricey. Food is also another real expense. Taxi's are also not cheap. Everything we went to do was always more costly than we had estimated.

 

Someone has posted on this board to take half the clothes you think you will need and twice the money! I would suggest also, to have a Plan "A", but also a Plan "B" for when Plan A falls apart, which it did a lot for us.

[John Bull]

Drinks $48

Excursions $1,250

 

Did you mix up these two entries? :D

[littlemoonrabbit]

Thank you everyone for the insight. It sounds like, for the most part, we are on track. However, I am thankful for the cost cutting tips. I really hadn't considered driving to a closer airport. We live in Albany, so driving to NYC would be a good drive... but not a total burden.

[littlemoonrabbit]

p.s. Our cruise fare and airfare was combined for the both of us

[EGG]

I have another suggestion. 7 days is just not enough for the time and money you are spending getting to the cruise. I would research doing a longer cruise. Although it will cost more, your transportation cost is the same. At the same time research on the Med boards which ports you can do on your own. You may pay more for a longer cruise, but if you go to more ports that you can do on your own you won't raise the total significantly. For example, your day in Rome is almost wasted since the ship docks 1.5 hours from the port. Excursions are expensive. The same with Florence. However Venice, Dubrovnik, Santorini, Athens, Villefance, and I am sure there are others you can do on your own and spend a minimum amount.

 

I also agree with the poster who suggested looking into a repositioning cruise.

 

As far as your budget, it seems more than adequate. I could do that cruise for $1,000 less and have a great time, but that is me. No casino, no baggage fees (Continental credit card holder), no pets, less spending money except for the money I spend in port in lieu of excursions. So I would also probably cut the excursion price in half by taking the ships shuttle or the local bus, joining independent tours with our cruise cruitic roll call friends, walking and enjoying the ambiance and eating a minimum off the ship.

[Tiggertastic]

We're from the UK and if we look at what we've spent for 7 nights out of NOLA its comparable. Flights etc - all adds up.

 

There are a lot of variables - depends on the cruise line, the airline and how much you spend on excursions. We recommend getting a good book on where you are going as many places can be done on your own in the Med.

 

x

[Johnthed0g]

Drinks $48

Excursions $1,250

 

Did you mix up these two entries? :D

Typical 'ampsher 'og