Does Carnival Loose Money On You?

[welldone60]

I think this is one of the reasons that they are going after the first time cruisers. They buy photos, gifts and such a lot more then after a few cruises. I know we spend less and less on the ship as we have done more cruises. They still make money on us as we do partake in the drinks and casino, but buy very little elase on board. Will dine in the steak house one night on each cruise.

[PresDuLac]

I don't think so.

 

I don't/won't book anything less than a balcony.

I don't book early saver or look for price drops - don't have time to screw with it.

I buy the 480 min internet pkg and rack up at least $600 in drinks, specialty coffees, steak house, etc.

This upcoming cruise I'll be buying 2 - 480 min internet packages and my S&S card will be seeing a lot of action on the beautiful Sunshine.

That's how I/we roll :D

[missypriss19]

It depends on the cruise if they make money off of me. On our first cruise years ago they did not make so much but seeing how it was only 7 days in our 28 day vacation I had plenty of other places to spend my money. But on my Christmas cruise our S&S card bill was pretty hefty but I knew it would be so I had bought fun dollars every week until the cruise to offset the price.

 

I never usually drink while at home but for some reason on a cruise I can drink from morning until night and I love the casino

[falkcor]

this is a good question, and one that i do not think that a lot of people think about, or when they offer their personal feedback, when they respond to other threads...

 

i 'budget' for at least 100.00 a day in onboard spending. and i always meet or exceed that.

 

that does not even include casino or bingo and such, because i consider that additional 'entertainment'.

 

we tend to book balcony cabins, so we're already paying over the 'standard fare' to get on the ship. but we like it that way. and we tend to book at least 4 of them.

 

i leave on all standard tips, and tend to spend at least $200 or more in random tips (in cash) to the room steward, a dollar per drink (not always) and tips to the piano player.

 

carnival makes a heck of a lot of money off of me... and i still love them.

 

i'm the kind of customer that they do and should want.

 

if anyone wants to laud how they spend no money onboard, book at the least expensive prices possible, then imo there is no reason to complain. it is what it is, and you should know what you're buying. and ya do. so check the 'this or that could be better'.

 

and you're welcome, shareholders. we're the bread and butter.

[carrieluvsgreg]

For us it depends upon the cruise and what we decide at the time. We've had cruises that we have spent almost zero over gratuities, and other trips where have planned spa treatments and such before we left home (not booked, but we knew we were going to partake...) most of our expense usually comes from the deposits for booking our next trip to get obc. (Although it really isn't on our sign and sail account...)

[Midwestgal]

Yes they loose on me. I spend including tip maybe $200.00 give or take a few.

[golfb4cruzing]

They make. We always do balcony and had 2 suites. Tips on S&S, a little casino, excursions, sometimes jewelry shops or $10 watches and some cocktails. I don't go on vacation to be cheap.

[kona_wahine]

Unfortunately, NO. :D

[Troy McClure]

I had 5 on the last cruise and my sail and sign was $450

we had tips, 2 bottomless bubbles, 2 photos and $40 in the casino.

 

I doubt they lose money on anyone. I have been told they budget $19 a day per person on food. I don't know how accurate that is but a friend who use to work for RCL told me that

 

I have eliminated Bingo from my cruises after about realizing it was one of my biggest line items. I don't buy drinks.

 

My next cruise I will probably eliminate Bottomless Bubbles, the last one we had only 1 sea day and I was literally just ordering coke in the MDR and in the shows to not feel I bought it for no reason.

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

The question does make one wonder what the average S&S bill is.

 

Ours is usually 7-800 for a 7 day cruise.

That is excursions, tips, spa and my dh buys cigarettes. Not a lot of drinking, but definitely the steakhouse. ( This time the chef's table.)

[ViolaSwamp]

We usually spend about $300 onboard before tips. Beverages and various sundry items and a photo or two.

 

 

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[ViolaSwamp]

For our upcoming trip I expect it to be a bit higher... DH wants to order the soda package for the first time and being in a spa cabin I expect I may want to purchase some spa services to go with the free amenities. :)

 

 

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[lady_cruiser]

If their profit money comes from alcohol sales then YES they do lose money on me.

Edited January 16, 2014 by lady_cruiser

[grumplin]

On last year's cruise our tab for the 4 bottles of liquor, a small bit of gambling, and drinks was about $250. $100 off that disappeared when hubby won $100 trying his first game of bingo. We paid around $500 or so for excursions. We prepaid tips and did additional in cash.

 

This year 2 suites, excursions for 4 in 2 ports. We ordered a bottle from Bon Voyage so the bar bill will be lower. 1 kid wants a soda card. I gave them both a $60 budget for unapproved spending after that they need to ask. If the kids want carnival gear I will buy it. I'm sure we will still buy a few drinks and I know we will buy liquor to gift to friends again. We budget enough to have plenty to spend. We came back with a chunk of our budget last year.

Edited January 16, 2014 by grumplin

[golfadj]

I made money off of Carnival on my last cruise. Sure I got a $90 massage and played Bingo twice, but I won the BIG BINGO for $1000 on the last night, so I was happy to take all that money from them. The bad thing is that the hubby won't let me play bingo again.

 

Think you actually took the 1000 from your fellow cruisers.

[joeyancho]

We spend about $200.00 per cruise. We don't drink or gamble. But we do fool around, they don't charge for that .....yet.

[golfadj]

I don't think so.

 

I don't/won't book anything less than a balcony.

I don't book early saver or look for price drops - don't have time to screw with it.

I buy the 480 min internet pkg and rack up at least $600 in drinks, specialty coffees, steak house, etc.

This upcoming cruise I'll be buying 2 - 480 min internet packages and my S&S card will be seeing a lot of action on the beautiful Sunshine.

That's how I/we roll :D

 

Wow i buy the 240 minute package and have some problem using it up.

[kcwingwalker]

We don't drink much, no excursions, don't gamble, play bingo, buy in the shops or eat in the specialty restaurants so I assume they make some money on our cruise, but not as much as they would like:)

[pbsteve]

Last cruises it was about 300 for just me. Tips were pre paid. But that first day they get you with the DOD I spent about 200 on day 1, 100 on days 2-5, but I wasn't trying to not spend, it just happened that way

 

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[kona_wahine]

I save up to gamble. I don't like going to the local Indian casino and Vegas usually ends up costing me more than a cruise. My DH's vice is the drinking. He will usually hang out at the bar while I spend a bit of time one the casino. Maybe some discount tshirts at the end of the cruise. Pictures maybe. And usually something really yummy at the coffee shop. Some of those desserts look soooooo good.

[john91498]

No...I usually spend more on booze then the cruise itself...Carnival loves drunks like myself...

[gemsm]

I wish they would loose money on me...I would be rich. However now that they have Cheers they will probably lose money on me in the future

[Rena921]

Nope, they don't lose money on us. We spend more than enough time in the Casino, donate in the fun shops (usually a new Citizen watch for me) and we give to the liquor department.

[USNUZULOOSE]

I think they made a little bit of money from the last cruise. We bought 2 soda cards. And we ate at one of the specialty restaurants. We prepaid our tips. I am not to cheap. Oh I bought a couple of key chains and some post cards.

[funinthesun1964]

S&S is usually about $400 for a 7 day cruise, this includes the tips though. I think I have only bought 1 picture in 7 cruises. We very rarely buy anything in the shops. I like to try the different drinks, get martini or wine in the evening. We spend a little time with the slots too.

 

Most of the money is spent on excursions (not through the ship) or at ports. Then there's the airfare. A cruise is not really cheap for us :o