How much cash should I carry?

[oceanfun77]

How much cash should I carry for a 7 day cruise? I have a credit card, but maybe there are some cash expenses I don't know about yet. Thanks.

[5waldos]

How much cash should I carry for a 7 day cruise? I have a credit card, but maybe there are some cash expenses I don't know about yet. Thanks.

 

I bring a pile of $1 bills (about 50) for tips. Other than that, I use my credit card for everything. I rarely come anywhere near using them all, but would rather have them than not. I also bring at least some $20's for tipping room stewards, waiters, etc, should I decide that their services warrented additional tips (I will have prepaid tips), and a bit of extra for tipping on excursions, again depending on what you are doing. So all of the cash I bring is generally for tips. And I bring about 50 pennies for the slot machines- I am a big gambler, as you can see :rolleyes:

[chipmaster]

That is like asking how much should I budget? Without knowing your spending habits its hard to say.

 

I took just enough for paying one private tour in cash and that was about it. Everything else went on the CC this last trip. Luckily in the US almost everything could be charged even the icecream you might have a fancy for. Only place maybe not would be some of the smallest street vendors of which I saw very few in port.

 

I don't understand the first responder about private tips. As I understand any tip giving must be turned in and only if the passenger at the end does the standard auto tip does the individual get to keep it. At least that was the storey I've heard.

 

How much cash should I carry for a 7 day cruise? I have a credit card, but maybe there are some cash expenses I don't know about yet. Thanks.

[MercedMike]

I don't understand the first responder about private tips. As I understand any tip giving must be turned in and only if the passenger at the end does the standard auto tip does the individual get to keep it. At least that was the storey I've heard.

 

This whole question of tipping is extremely confusing. On many ships, ALL the tips are pooled, no matter what. Any "extra" tip you give your steward is put into the pool too. On other ships, they do check that you left the "automatic" tip in place and only then can the steward keep any extra tips. Stories told us by different stewards on the same line, sometimes the same ship, have been very different. So trying to figure out where that "extra" tip goes is chancy at best.

 

Frankly, if the cruise line chooses to tell me how much it is going to charge me for "tips", then I simply consider that it has added to my cruise fare and that tipping is not needed. (I think this is a bad system, incidentally -- but it is their choice.) So I positively do NOT add anything to the "automatic" tip.

 

The reward a server gets for giving me outstanding service, far above what the other servers do, is that I mention his name with a glowing comment on my comment card. I have had many servers tell me how important this is to them and how they get things from extra time off to major promotions from having a customer mention them.

[JDinWA]

How much cash should I carry for a 7 day cruise? I have a credit card, but maybe there are some cash expenses I don't know about yet. Thanks.

 

Personally, I prefer to use cash in ports unless I make an expensive purchase. Snacks, souvenirs, that sort of thing.