First Cruise - $0 on S&S!!

[TwoSue]

We just returned from our first cruise. I had found a bargain on the cruise and booked all of our excursions independently. We don't drink, so I didn't think the S & S would be too much of a problem. Sure enough, when we got our statement at the end of the week, the only charge was the gratuities, which I could have easily pre-paid. We also had $17 each (four of us) onboard credit, which I have no idea where it came from. But $0 certainly can be done! No purchased drinks, no professional photos, no souvenirs. We let the kids each buy one thing when we were at port and took lots of our own pictures. Perfect!

[starryeyedcruzer]

Congrats! I was a little worried when I read some of the comments on the boards. $1000 bar bill is just not in my budget! I'm glad to hear that a good time can be had for next to no extras! Thanks for the tip.:D

[cb at sea]

We do enjoy several drinks a day, but we don't do souvenirs, or photos, or excursions (that we don't do on our own!)....so our bill, while not $0, isn't too bad, considering the alcohol we enjoy consuming!

[debshomespun]

Our bill at the end of our cruise is always very minimal. We don't drink much, and usually take independent excursions. I check out the ports of call here before we go. We do alot of the local buses, so we can experience life with the islanders. Usually, we will do one big excursion for the whole cruise. On many of the stops, we will hop a taxi, or the bus to the local beach area. When we do our shopping, we don't pick up much. We prefer to cruise several times a year, and not stock up on a bunch of stuff we don't need.

[Deb in Cali]

While I haven't achieved a $0 S&S bill we do keep it under control.

 

My parents went on several cruises prior to my dad passing away. On one of their Mexico cruises they were sitting out on the deck people watching. There was a young man sitting near them when his wife showed up with their S & S bill. Turns out that the young couple had a huge S & S account that was in the thousands range. :eek: They obviously didn't track their spending. My parents remembered them as the couple that was buying a round of drinks in one of the bars one night.

 

The couple were hotly discussing how they were going to cover this expense. The wife was in tears and the husband was enraged. When my parents were disembarking they saw the couple standing at the front desk on the phone. I wonder which set of parents bailed them out of that mess?

[ladyjane]

Our first cruise we were extra careful about all of the extras. Only had a couple drinks and didn't purchase any of the extras. Our neighbors in the next cabin about had a heart attack when he woke up in the morning and saw his S&S bill. It was in the thousands as well, and they couldn't understand why. They thought you only had to pay for the first drink to get the fun glass and then the rest were free. Whoops!

[Wavesprite]

We don't buy the photo's and purposely don't let them take pictures of us. It is the biggest waste of photo products and paper that I have ever seen!!! They need to go digital and become a little more green.

[Scotoco]

We don't buy the photo's and purposely don't let them take pictures of us. It is the biggest waste of photo products and paper that I have ever seen!!! They need to go digital and become a little more green.

ummm, those are digital photos. No one uses film anymore.

[Mom2B&Z]

ummm, those are digital photos. No one uses film anymore.

Once they are printed it doen't make much of a difference, while there's no negatives to throw out there are thousands of prints that must be disposed.

I never understood why they didn't have viewing terminals where you could see all of your photos, then just have the ones you wanted printed. This way they could reduce their waste and potentially reduce the price of the prints.

[Keith1010]

Glad to hear that you spent very little money on your cruise.

 

Keith

[bernadette klicin]

wow great job was soda and water included or juice

[TwoSue]

wow great job was soda and water included or juice

 

We drank water or lemonade during the day for free. At dinner we usually had milk and at breakfast we had juice. I didn't need high-calorie sodas to add to the warm chocolate melting cakes I was eating every night!

[EGG]

We just returned from our first cruise. I had found a bargain on the cruise and booked all of our excursions independently. We don't drink, so I didn't think the S & S would be too much of a problem. Sure enough, when we got our statement at the end of the week, the only charge was the gratuities, which I could have easily pre-paid. We also had $17 each (four of us) onboard credit, which I have no idea where it came from. But $0 certainly can be done! No purchased drinks, no professional photos, no souvenirs. We let the kids each buy one thing when we were at port and took lots of our own pictures. Perfect!

 

Did they skip a port? It could have been port fees.

[TwoSue]

Nope, we went to every port as planned. Good thought, though.

[thescot123]

Just got off the Elation and managed to get a $1.35 check from Carnival. Not too sure why I got credited since I did buy a $10 St.Judes T-Shirt. On this cruise, I didn't buy any alcohol which will save about $8 per drink. In Calica, you could drink Corona for the price of 2 for $5 just off the boat. This was about 1/2 what the boat charges. Also too advantage of the free drinks at the farewell party. They didn't care if we ordered more than one free drink. I did see people at guest services with big bills. You can easily double your cruise cost if you buy stuff on the boat. I guess we need these generous peole so that the cruise ship can make money. Being from Scotland has made me very frugal with my money.

[Haoie]

Nice job! We got a refund as well of about $20 for the 2 of us [we prepaid tips] last Dec.

 

I'd rather not be that stingy next time though.

[jclinard]

My last cruise on the Oosterdam I had no room charges, just gratuities, and that was chopped to about $22 by a $50 stateroom credit. Part of this was me protesting their lack of an unlimited soda card; I simply bought nothing on board and brought a few in from each port. I've been to the Mexican Riveria often enough that shore trips were not on my agenda. Even then, I only bought diet coke and postcards.

 

We just returned from our first cruise. I had found a bargain on the cruise and booked all of our excursions independently. We don't drink, so I didn't think the S & S would be too much of a problem. Sure enough, when we got our statement at the end of the week, the only charge was the gratuities, which I could have easily pre-paid. We also had $17 each (four of us) onboard credit, which I have no idea where it came from. But $0 certainly can be done! No purchased drinks, no professional photos, no souvenirs. We let the kids each buy one thing when we were at port and took lots of our own pictures. Perfect!

[Del306]

We just returned from our first cruise. I had found a bargain on the cruise and booked all of our excursions independently. We don't drink, so I didn't think the S & S would be too much of a problem. Sure enough, when we got our statement at the end of the week, the only charge was the gratuities, which I could have easily pre-paid. We also had $17 each (four of us) onboard credit, which I have no idea where it came from. But $0 certainly can be done! No purchased drinks, no professional photos, no souvenirs. We let the kids each buy one thing when we were at port and took lots of our own pictures. Perfect!

 

We were the same way on our first cruise.

 

We don't gamble at all and we don't book excursions through the cruise line. We don't purchase a lot of alcohol, but we do prefer the upgraded coffee available in the coffee shops on board (for a fee).

 

I think most of those souvenirs are junk. I love taking photos and using them as our mementos. We have tons of framed photos from our travels and we share our pics online with friends and family.

 

We normally budget $200 for S&S (including gratuities) per cruise. It's enough that we can have a little fun, but still save our budgets. We also carry some extra cash for activities in port, but in general we're just happy laying on the beach or riding the local bus to see the sights.

 

Then again, we don't have kids yet.

[drmomto3kids]

Did they skip a port? It could have been port fees.

 

Do you money credited back if you skip a port? We may only get off the ship at Labadee since our goal is to just enjoy the ship. With 6 of us, if we get credits that would really add up!

[cruisintwinsmom]

We also had $17 each (four of us) onboard credit, which I have no idea where it came from.

 

Maybe your TA had given you some OBC or if the cruiseline had a fuel surcharge in your payment, then decided to refund it.

 

I have not heard of a ship refunding port charges because you decided not to get off the ship. (Don't know if they refund the port fee if they must skip the port due to weather or some other unforeseen event.)

[parrothead brian]

Do you money credited back if you skip a port? We may only get off the ship at Labadee since our goal is to just enjoy the ship. With 6 of us, if we get credits that would really add up!

You only get credit if the ship or cruise line cancels a port. Whether you get off or stay onboard at a port is irrelevant.

[hkolln]

Once they are printed it doen't make much of a difference' date=' while there's no negatives to throw out there are thousands of prints that must be disposed.

I never understood why they didn't have viewing terminals where you could see all of your photos, then just have the ones you wanted printed. This way they could reduce their waste and potentially reduce the price of the prints.[/quote']

 

We asked this same question during our tour on Carnival Liberty in March. I mean if Disney can do this, why can't Carnival? They give each person a card (or put it on their S&S card?) and when they take a photo they scan the S&S card. The person can either use a terminal onboard or go to an internet site to buy the photos. No wasting of photo paper, nothing. Just doesn't make sense. They said they were looking into that but couldn't really say if they would go that way. Just makes sense.

[emtb12]

Wow. Our family of 5 is cruising in February. I can only hope that we have such a bill:D, and not the kind that I am calling someone to bail us out of:eek:. One expense we do splurge on is just one family photo.

[Happy ks]

We have a minimal bill at the end of a cruise in comparison to some. I'm not about to deny having a couple cocktails, nor skip wine with dinner. We don't gamble, shop, visit the spa etc... But we do purchase one photo per cruise.

 

Our tab usually comes to around $100 per day. Most of it is for wine with dinner, that we will not skimp on. The cheaper wines are just not worth it to us. Perhaps if we drank a lot, we'd buy the 3rd bottle cheap, by then you can't tell the difference.

 

Our last cruise I wasn't well, won't go into details but it was nothing I could have spread to others. We had hardly any drinks and we cruised Princess, so took our own wine. With only a photo, corkage fees and a couple cocktails for my husband, it was our lowest bill ever, $230 for the week.

[leo22]

I won't spend.....

 

$180 for a massage when we can get one at home for $110.

 

$90 for a manicure & pedicure when I can get one at home for $50.

 

Sometimes it's not about the money as much as it is about feeling like you're being ripped off.

 

One time I saw a beautiful ring on a cruise priced $950.00. Second last day of the cruise everything was 50% off so, of course, I bought it. A month after the cruise I was in NY and saw the exact same ring for $485, regular price. The first thing came to mind was that I got con into thinking that I got a deal. However, I wansn't at all angry about that, but rather very disappointed that a reputable cruise line could be so hishonest in pricing their merchandises.

 

My husband said to me it's not the cruise line's fault, I'm just too gullible :mad: