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How much money do you spend?

cruisentn

By cruisentn,
in First Time Cruisers

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kruuuuznutt

kruuuuznutt

Posted
Posted

I haven't done photos since the 2006 cruise. If memory serves me right I think they were about $10 a piece. Usually 8x10s. I bought a handful back then and haven't looked at them since.

As for smoke filled rooms... I know the casino gets a little smoky though I seem to recall non smoking sections. For the life of me I can't recall if they smoked in the clubs or not.

 

Room service tipping...I usually give $2 - $3 depending on how much was delivered. Coffee (or tea) and danishes, $2, sandwiches or dinner & drinks $3.

 

And even though gratuities for room attendant are already taken care of, I leave a dollar a day per room occupant at end of trip. Maybe $15 for 7 day cruise. They work so hard and I'm sure they're not paid enough. I work for tips also. I try to be a bit more generous.

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alowderphoto

alowderphoto

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I haven't done photos since the 2006 cruise. If memory serves me right I think they were about $10 a piece. Usually 8x10s. I bought a handful back then and haven't looked at them since.

As for smoke filled rooms... I know the casino gets a little smoky though I seem to recall non smoking sections. For the life of me I can't recall if they smoked in the clubs or not.

 

Room service tipping...I usually give $2 - $3 depending on how much was delivered. Coffee (or tea) and danishes, $2, sandwiches or dinner & drinks $3.

 

And even though gratuities for room attendant are already taken care of, I leave a dollar a day per room occupant at end of trip. Maybe $15 for 7 day cruise. They work so hard and I'm sure they're not paid enough. I work for tips also. I try to be a bit more generous.

 

Thanks so much! That really helps a lot!

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

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aussielozzie18 Great Review Rare

aussielozzie18

Posted
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Haha greetings! Weirdos unite! ;) we likely will get some souvenirs and maybe a cute something for our daughters back home. I'm a photographer so I've got s weak spot for photos. I can't see myself buying more than one though. How much are they? Oh and what is an appropriate tip for room service?

 

Also - I've never been to a club and really wanted to go on the ship. Are they usually smoking zones? I'm asthmatic so I may have to avoid it. :/

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

I only bought one photo 5 x 7 and it was $16.95 USD.

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kitty9

kitty9

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Haha greetings! Weirdos unite! ;) we likely will get some souvenirs and maybe a cute something for our daughters back home. I'm a photographer so I've got s weak spot for photos. I can't see myself buying more than one though. How much are they? Oh and what is an appropriate tip for room service?

 

Also - I've never been to a club and really wanted to go on the ship. Are they usually smoking zones? I'm asthmatic so I may have to avoid it. :/

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

The smoking thing depends on the cruise line. Some, like Celebrity, are very restrictive and don't allow smoking anywhere inside the ship and even on balconies. Other lines aren't too restrictive. Even if there's a room/club/disco that might only allow smoking in part of that room, you'll still going to smell it in the non smoking area.

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smalltownmomwa

smalltownmomwa

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We prepaid our tips & had $100 of nonrefundable OBC. We barely spent that. Wouldn't have come close if DH hadn't insisted on going to specialty restaurants twice. If you don't drink, gamble, buy photos, etc, you can easily easily spend nothing or next-to-nothing onboard.

We went to Alaska and the sum total of all our touring around, souvenirs, coffee/snacks in port, was less than $300 for a family of 4.

 

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peety3

peety3

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In 2010, I think our excursions were booked to the room key that booked them. In 2012, I think our excursions were booked to the participant, regardless of who booked them. As a result, our spending appeared to swing a lot but was probably closer to an average of $1000/person the first time (partly due to a helicopter tour) and $700/person ("thanks" in part to a boat+floatplane excursion that we started but the planes couldn't fly, so the boat turned around halfway to Misty Fjords and the entire excursion was free) the second time. I'm anticipating $1100/person on our next cruise, but we tend to choose excursions based on their photographic opportunities rather than their price tag.

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Koali

Koali

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We went a little crazy on our first cruise. We spent $3000 for two of us, this included about $1000 in shore excursions. We spent quite a bit at the spa, and I definitely regretted that, it wasn't worth the price. We ate at the Pinnacle Grill 3 times, bought a few souvenirs on board, drank happy hour specials every night (buy 1 get second for $1) and bought some cruise photos.

 

On our next cruise, we'll probably cut out the cruise photos unless there are good ones, no spa and the shore excursions seem to be cheaper. I enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill, so we will probably eat at least once there.

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paul929207

paul929207

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Okay so here's A question - how do I tell if I got OBC with my booking? Just curious. I won't be surprised if there is nothing. Sailing on RCCL in May.

 

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I am not sure about RCCL, but Princess shows it on their website with your booking info. It also shows on the confirmation I get from my TA. However, the TA info is usually before I submit application for the Shareholder OBC.

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PattyG12

PattyG12

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We normally budget $100 per day for the 2 of us. Incidental charges like extra tips, cabs and refreshments (soda, water) while we're in port add up. Some places we will go have lunch. Whatever we don't spent goes into the fund for our next cruise. We pre pay as much as we can too.

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Onessa

Onessa

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On-board we spend very little - we pre-pay tips and any ship's sponsored excursions. None of us drink soda any longer, DH will have an occassional beer, but that is generally at a local micro-brew or brew pub when we are in port. We may buy a bottle of wine for dinner, but it generally takes two to three dinners to finish it off. So pp/pd on-board (exclusive of tips) <$10.

 

On-shore, we will often do excursions as DIY (or DI"O" :)). Generally $10-20 pp/pd for public transportation or taxi. And a similar amount for lunch and/or snacks. We will spluge on one "big" excursion (private tour in Ephasis or private group in St. Petersburg, or driver in Amalfi, etc.) which will be $200pp (+ or -). Our souvenier shopping is generally low-key as well - gravitating toward locally made fine crafts.

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RikkuCat

RikkuCat

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Wow, some of you don't spend much!

 

I think our final bill for our first cruise was around $1200. It was a little confusing because we were credited for excursions that were cancelled (that we had signed up for before the cruise, and thus had to prepay) and then signed up for replacement excursions. I don't remember what the difference was between the original and replacement excursions, nor do I remember what we had for OBC.

 

The big unexpected expense was when our camera broke on the second day. I wanted photos and didn't want to waste time trying to find a camera shop in Bermuda, so we bought a new camera on board for $400 or so. We also went to the spa on board, which was TOTALLY worth it for us. Prices at the spa were similar to spas in our area and I thought we got a great deal for a massage/facial combo. It's all relative - we're used to higher prices because we live in a major metropolitan area, so everything on the ship seemed average price or cheap to us. Other than that, we went to speciality restaurants a couple times and drank a few buckets of beer and the odd martini here and there. Also, we did not prepay service charges, so they were included - and we always tipped extra at the bars and speciality restaurants.

 

I'm expecting our bill to be a little lower this cruise, since our spending patterns will be similar, just (hopefully) without the camera expense. I'm definitely planning to use the spa again, but will look for a deal like we did last time. We rarely get any type of spa service at home, so it's an indulgence that we enjoy on vacation. If we do ship excursions, we'll probably book them in advance to make sure we get a seat, so we'll have to pay in advance for them - unless plans need to change like they did last time. I'm not planning to prepay the service charges. It's the same amount of money whether or not you prepay it, so I'm not going to do it just to have a smaller bill at the end of the cruise. Other than not having to pay it later, is there any advantage to prepaying them?

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chipmaster

chipmaster

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As you said very very personal and how one vacations.

 

Some like to just walk around and stroll local beach than it'll be cheap.

 

Or if you have family in tow and want to do Dolphin excursion you can be looking at several hundred/person/port.

 

Every port and offering is different and availability of private versus ship and what is best depends on the local conditions, are you tendering, how far you are going, how robust is the local economy, very very port specifice. The key to success is have budget and research research and research.

 

There is no such thing as a "ballpark" as my figure might be your budget or crazy figure.

 

Again, probably a stupid question.

But, TYPICALLY, on a 7 night cruise, how much extra do you spend? Above what you've already prepaid?

I know there is a wide variety of people, habits, indulgences, preferences, etc.

Buying excursions onboard or just taking a taxi and being on your own.

Buying a pair of sandals at Nassau or buying an expensive piece of art.

Eating at the buffet the whole time, or room service with tips.

As I get ready, I was just wondering a, as we say here, 'ballpark' figure.

Thanks.

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dorisis

dorisis

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On our last 11 day cruise we came home with over $600. We spent almost $500 of our OBCs. We are not big drinkers and had about 6 bottlesof wine gifted to us plus our Suite and Elite perk of the bar set up.No ship excursions, which is a big savings. We also spent about $200 on extra tips.

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psbtrvlr

psbtrvlr

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I'm getting a better idea of how much to budget for based on what we'll do. One question. What is "tendering? "

 

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It's where your ship doesn't dock at a dock. You get to the port via small boats (tenders).

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psbtrvlr

psbtrvlr

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Huh had no idea. How do I find out if my ports do that and what does it cost to the shore normally?

 

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It's included. I usually look at my cruise docs to find out which ports are tenders. Which cruise line? And itinerary?

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glomarrone

glomarrone

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Yes, this is hard to estimate because sometime we get a generous OBC and shareholders credit - other times not. Generally speaking we spend over and above Shore Excursions which are usually pre-paid about $300 - $400 which we pay with a credit card. On our last Allure trip we actually got a refund because the cruiseline gave us all extra OBC because of mechanical problems that delayed our docking in a port. Our onboard spending center mostly on wine bottles at dinner and shopping in the gift shops. To that, I would add tips on Shore Excursions between $5 - $10 per tour depending on length for both of us and shopping purchases onshore which can range from $0 to up to $200 - $300 more. I think that $500 would be a safe total estimate. We do not generally order drinks, visit the spa or specialty restaurants unless treated by our TA - usually not for a 7-night cruise. Hope this helps. :) Gloria

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