How much money do you spend?

[psbtrvlr]

RCCL western caribbean. Falmouth, Labadee, Cozumel

 

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RCCL does show whether you dock or tender on their itineraries. It looks like they dock for those ports, but you should go to their website and check your specific sailing.

[sarafinadh]

We spent next to nothing on drinks, maybe for 3 of us together for the week on a Celebrity Alaska, maybe 200.

 

We went to one specialty dinner, 75 for the three of us and breakfasts in a specialty 5 per each time so maybe 60 total.

 

Didn't purchase any thing in the shops.

 

Spent around 150 on tips above the prepaid.

 

So on board maybe around 500.00.

 

But on shore on excursions and meals? I don't really want to add it up ; -)

 

Maybe, for the three of us, 3500.00? But we kayaked in the islands, private whale watched, ziplined, floatplaned, rented cars, ate well, shopped a very little...

 

We were off the ship the moment the doors opened and the last ones on as they closed ; -)

[mrsd912]

DH and I don't drink, so our on board spending is pretty low. The bill on our first cruise came to $215. This included a few sodas, photos and gift shop purchases, and a steak house meal for two. Oh, and DH bought a bunch of candy too. :)

[ducklite]

It really depends for us.

 

I think the highest per day average we've ever had was on our three day DCL cruise where we took no shore excursions and managed to have a $1200+ folio consisting of spa, alternate restaurants, a couple of expensive bottles of wine, and corkage fees for wine we carried on. Our stop at Castaway was cancelled due to weather, otherwise we would have had another $500 for the cabana we had reserved.

 

The lowest per day average was probably the European B2B where there was no charge for alternate dining and our wine was included, so the bar tab for two weeks was very low. Even with a laundry package, a few more expensive shore excursions and a half dozen spa treatments between us, I think our total for two weeks was only $2000 or so.

 

Our next cruise is a week in French Polynesia, and between shore excursions, spa, vow renewal, laundry, and a few other odds and ends, I expect it will work out to about $1500 for the week.

 

 

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[cruisentn]

We're not heavy alcohol or soda drinkers at all. Mostly water purists and coffee. Might get a couple of glasses of wine or a rita, but I don't expect we'll do any hard drankin. :)

Maybe a Diet Coke if we go to a movie. Which, hating to hijack my own thread, but these movies onboard. Are they current? Or You've Got Mail?

Thanks,

Mark

[CateW]

We spend about $150 a day, excluding gratuities. We have a cocktail before dinner and a bottle of wine with dinner. I also drink a lot of bottled water.

[psbtrvlr]

We're not heavy alcohol or soda drinkers at all. Mostly water purists and coffee. Might get a couple of glasses of wine or a rita, but I don't expect we'll do any hard drankin. :)

Maybe a Diet Coke if we go to a movie. Which, hating to hijack my own thread, but these movies onboard. Are they current? Or You've Got Mail?

Thanks,

Mark

 

Both....... we were on a 2 week cruise last month and I only remember these, but there were more: The Sherlock Holmes movie that came out a few years ago?, a pacific rim movie that came out in 2013?, and The Great and Powerful Oz which I think also came out in 2013. (I don't pay much attention to movies and didn't watch anything so I may be wrong on the names and dates)

This was on NCL, I really don't remember for other cruise lines.

[Navio Cruzeiro]

When I traveled aboard MSC i needed to pre-pay US$200 (i think) with my credit card before boarding the ship and it passed to my card (that opens the cabin). I bought many things at free shops and i used more than 200, so the difference was added to my credit card. If I had not used more than that, they would have refunded me automatically.

I believe that cruises are really nice because you only pay something more (than the taxes of service-that sometimes are optional) if you want. Probably you will buy drinks at dinner and lunch but the rest you can see that are only things that you want, like gifts or cassino coins, spa...

I don't know exactly how much you should embark with, it's always good to have money, but with your credit card you can do everything aboard the ship.

So, i think that you got the idea :)

I hope I've helped!

(sorry for any errors in spelling, i tried my best)

[Gunner22aa]

We plan on 300/day. Lots of times it is way less especially on sea days. The most has probably been 2500 in a day. Both bought some stuff and took a pretty expensive tour

[cruisentn]

We plan on 300/day. Lots of times it is way less especially on sea days. The most has probably been 2500 in a day. Both bought some stuff and took a pretty expensive tour

 

Good lawd... Dood... What in the world can you spend 2500 a day on?

[ducklite]

Good lawd... Dood... What in the world can you spend 2500 a day on?

 

 

A helicopter tour, nice bottle of wine with dinner, and couples massage could easily put you there plus some.

 

 

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[Gunner22aa]

Two watches as well

[ducklite]

Two watches as well

 

 

Heck, you could spend ten times that on a single time piece without trying too hard.

 

 

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[cibumcupio]

How much you want to spend is soooo different for each person. And even for each cruise. One one cruise, we might want to really splurge and do the craziest excursion at each port. And the next one we just want to relax and enjoy what we can get for as little as possible.

 

But to give some estimates for a typical 7 day cruise, on board:

 

$168 - gratuities for 2

$80 - we share one drink a day, and maybe get 1 bottle of wine at some point during the cruise. at home, we just drink water, tea, coffee, wine, and beer anyways so we don't need soda. Ship's water is fine, so don't need bottled.

$80 - one specialty restaurant

$20 - extra tips to hand around

 

Total on board spending - $348 for the week, or $50 a day for 2, including gratuities. Of course with OBC, we will pay much less than that out of pocket.

 

We don't like spas, casino, or photos. We don't buy anything on the ship unless there was something we forgot to pack. We don't use ship internet, as the cruise is our way to unplug. If we need to check something, we find internet in a port.

 

 

Now as for on shore spending, it really varies depending on where we are. But a cheap day would be get some public transportation, going to a beach, and hanging. That would be maybe $10 for the day. We don't buy food on shore since are meals are paid for on the ship, unless the area was known for something. For example, we did get king crab in Alaska. We usually just eat a really big breakfast, and eat again after we get back to the ship for dinner. For a splurge day, we've done helicopter rides, all day tours, and these can be well over $100 per person for the day.

 

Total on shore spending - depending on the ports, anywhere from $50 (Bermuda) to $1000 for the whole 7 day cruise.

 

Thanks for letting me talk this out. This was a good exercise for me too to calculate it all.

[amstelncv]

We spend on a 7 day cruise it's me and my wife

1 Prepaid grat plus about $20.00, and about $100.00 on board for a drink a day. That's about it onboard

2 inport we spend $200.00 a day. So this next cruise for us has 4 port day's so that's $800.00.

(So for 2 of us $920.00 )

 

But we do smuggle some liquor onboard, bring our own water and soda.

You could spend a lot less in port's and still have a great time most place's have a really nice beach all you have to pay is transportation. And food /drinks.

 

 

 

 

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[Mommzie]

Family of 4 (16, 15, 12 and myself) on Carnival Ecstasy Feb 3 going to Key West and Cozumel (4 days). I plan to put down $1000 cash on my Sign and Sail card. Do you think this will be enough for the trip? I only plan to have 2-3 drinks a day (wouldn't drink heavy around the children), i want to get them the soda card, i plan bringing soda/water for myself (i like pepsi) and a few dollars in the casino. Of course we'll purchase a few pictures and they'll get some souvenirs.

 

My biggest excursion (swimming with the dolphins) is already paid for and since we're docking early in Key West, i'm just gonna play it by ear. I do plan on having separate money for our port days.

 

Should i plan on putting down additional money, should the $1000 cover it?

 

Our gratuities are pre-paid

[Cruising and Free]

what is OBC mean?

[ducklite]

what is OBC mean?

 

 

On Board Credit. It's a credit automatically applied to your folio either by a travel agent or booking bonus, or various other reasons.

 

 

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[screwsmcernst]

On our first cruise, we were with our kids, and we played "Dodge Hurricane Wanda" so we didn't make all of our port stops. We did go to Key West, and got some t-shirts and stuff, but we didn't do any excursions because of churning waters, and we didn't drink on that cruise, because the kids were there, so that S & S bill only had tips and a birthday cake on it. Best bill ever. In contrast, another cruise we took with friends (adult only), Our S & S had shore excursions, bar tab, a few purchases from the shops, and a couple of photos. That bill was up near $500. Our friends bar bill alone hit $800.

We also always bring 1's and 5's for extra tipping for room service and the last night. So, if you are using cash instead of a credit card to settle your bill, plan on bringing at least $1000+ depending on your indulgences.

[kyle8824]

$500 doesn't sound so bad! It's just a little bit more painful when, in my case, I have to fly to Savannah or Florida just to board a cruise ship. :(

[ducklite]

$500 doesn't sound so bad! It's just a little bit more painful when, in my case, I have to fly to Savannah or Florida just to board a cruise ship. :(

 

 

Do you really think that people in Florida want to take ho hum vacations to the same old same old that leave from those ports? Nope. We have to get in a plane to fly to wherever as well.

 

 

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[raliandgeorge]

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.

 

We are first time cruisers ourselves, and I can tell you so far without even boarding the ship, we have spent $750. $440 for alcohol/soda package for 2 people. 2 excursions at $70 ($35pp) + 1 excursion at $170 ($85pp). We don't plan on using the spa but might end up buying something on ship or at ports and of course tipping, so it will probably end up around $1000 total. Things add up quickly if you're not paying attention. Just keep track of what you spend and decide if it's worth it to you or not. Good Luck!

[MaisonRose]

First, I have an American friend who works on contract as a tour guide on the bus that does shore excursions, official ones. She is paid very little, basically minimum wage. It has been my experience, in Europe at least, that it is appreciated to tip something to a guide, even if it is just a euro or two per person. My feeling is not to over tip, it is considered too commercial ...and ESPECIALLY not tip in bars, cafes and restaurants. Just round up..we may leave one euro pp for a Prix fixe (inexpensive) restaurant, or one euro for a group bar bill. Look your server in the eye, be very polite, say Thank You..and if they are nearby, say Goodbye..in France that is Merci! Au revoir! Over tipping is a negative message...Europeans believe that we Americans think money talks. Now where did they get that idea? LOL

On board, last TA, (not with my wine loving husband), I would have come off ship with money left over. A $500 per cabin OBC was hard to spend. I bought a $50 soda card, had 3 glasses of wine, covered the gratuity of 15 days time $12, and basically did all the included activities...oh, and one $25 supplemental dinner on my birthday.

If I hadn't seen the doc for $110 including antibiotics, I would have had an $8 credit. This is of course my half of the OBC.

I am just saying, you can be pretty thrifty and happy on a cruise.

OOPS..I tipped our Lisbon walking tour guide ten Euros.

[Koali]

Family of 4 (16, 15, 12 and myself) on Carnival Ecstasy Feb 3 going to Key West and Cozumel (4 days). I plan to put down $1000 cash on my Sign and Sail card. Do you think this will be enough for the trip? I only plan to have 2-3 drinks a day (wouldn't drink heavy around the children), i want to get them the soda card, i plan bringing soda/water for myself (i like pepsi) and a few dollars in the casino. Of course we'll purchase a few pictures and they'll get some souvenirs.

 

My biggest excursion (swimming with the dolphins) is already paid for and since we're docking early in Key West, i'm just gonna play it by ear. I do plan on having separate money for our port days.

 

Should i plan on putting down additional money, should the $1000 cover it?

 

Our gratuities are pre-paid

 

 

 

I haven't cruised on Carnival, do you get the leftover money if you don't use all of it? If so, then $1000 is probably more than enough. Can you tie your credit card to your account in case you spend all of the money? Can you purchase your soda cards ahead of time? Does carnival allow you to bring soda on board? That might be a good way to save a few bucks. Pictures are probably the most expensive item. I think my husband and I spent about 1000 for a 7 day trip for the ship activities ( drinks, extra food, souvenirs, pictures).

 

 

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[askimdog]

3 cruises so far for our family of three, besides tips, our combined s&s bill has been 0....0...and 6 dollars, had one drink on our 3rd cruise. In port, we spend 40-140 a day for meals and transport. We mostly walk, eat local foods, geocache, museums etc. We avoid shops, beaches and bars, but hit a local grocery store for a six pack.