Spending Money

[amber381]

I know this is a pretty "generic" question with a ton of different variables and answers, but I'm looking for a little advice. We are sailing on The Pride on 11/16 for 7 days (Western Caribbean). I'm wondering how much to budget for spending money? 2 Adults, 1 eleven year old. We are not drinkers at all (but we might do the soda package), we might spend a little in the casino, but that is not big deal either & we hope to have all of our excursions prepaid prior to sailing. This is our first cruise & we want to make it memorable without breaking the bank. Our gratuities are prepaid, also but I know I will need $ for excursion tips & some other tips onboard. We are mostly cash people and plan on putting cash on our SS account (and hopefully some OBC from pricedrops, fingers crossed!). Any input or advise will be appreciated!! :D

[N7786W Flyer]

You're going to get a lot of different responses here, but from the frugal side of the fence, here's my input.

 

My wife and I just got off a 5 day cruise on the Fascination. We don't drink or gamble...or take any excursions. We do tip the recommended amounts.

 

Long story short, after tips, buying one soda package, and several pictures, we spent a grand total of $212.01. Of course, you'll find a lot of people who will spend a lot more than us...and to each his own, but after 20+ cruises, we've never spend over $400 while on board.

 

Your mileage may vary...

 

Garnett

[Vitality08]

What I've discovered is, you can spend as little or as much as you want. Since this is your first cruise, the excitement might cause you to buy, buy, buy. The most I've ever spent was on my first cruise and that was on pictures. There were about 11 of us on board and the teenagers took a bunch of pictures just for fun and bought just about all of them! Since then, I've purchased maybe 5 pictures.

[092306]

Since you are pre-paying most things, you will probably not spend more than $500 based on what you said you might buy. May want to bring more just in case. You can also pre-pay for the soda packages so that you spend even less on board.

[bunchesofun]

If you want internet to check email etc., budget for that. We usually buy the 240 minute package for $89. I usually put a $70 limit on the children's s&s cards. Arcade games are over $1 each. Most we've spent on a 7 day cruise (2 adults 2 children, soda package for 2) was $800. Least (2 adults 1 child) $400. But we drink 1-3 drinks each per day.

[earthchild618]

How do you put money on your sign and sail in advance?

[OCruisers]

The only ACTUALLY CA$H ($US) you will need will be for extra tips and for what you're doing on port stops.

LuLu

[kona_wahine]

I always try to pre pay as much as possible, like the gratuities, and also plan the excursions before we leave and pay for them. Then I figure out how much I'm willing to spend in the casino. I usually budget $100 per day for the 2 of us. Then I figure out how much I will budget for each port based on taxis, souvenirs, food, drinks, tips, etc we might want and stick to that. I have a separate envelope for each. Also an envelope for pre and post cruise items, such as taxi, tips, food. The system works out pretty well. As for our S&S card, I let the charges go on our visa so I can get air miles for our next trip. ;)

[fireofficer5]

I bring $1000 cash.

Everything on the ship is on the S/S card.

[cec311]

We're not drinkers either and spent $300 on our last 7 day cruise for two of is and 9 year old. This included one soda card and a couple pictures. You could easily spend more or pretty easily spend less.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

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[BattyL]

You're going to get a lot of different responses here, but from the frugal side of the fence, here's my input.

 

My wife and I just got off a 5 day cruise on the Fascination. We don't drink or gamble...or take any excursions. We do tip the recommended amounts.

 

Long story short, after tips, buying one soda package, and several pictures, we spent a grand total of $212.01. Of course, you'll find a lot of people who will spend a lot more than us...and to each his own, but after 20+ cruises, we've never spend over $400 while on board.

 

Your mileage may vary...

 

Garnett[/quote

 

 

Same here! We sailed on the Pride in April. Our sail & sign card was linked to our Carnival visa. Our final bill for the whole 7 days was $605.00, that included a few pictures, excursions, misc.junk and 10 cartons of Marlboro ( $256.00) for my son! I guess that means we only spent $349.00 for ourselves. Of course customs got us in Baltimore for $80.00 over the allotted 1 Carton each. Had to pay by cash or check- who carries a checkbook on a cruise? We were surprised when we bought the first packaged 5 cartons of cigs. if you bought those, they gave you 2 bottles of Bacardi rum free, so we bought another package of 5. Don't drink, but I can't pass up free!!! :D. ( still have the 4 unopened bottles in my trunk! Lol

[keystonemama]

Just to give you a perspective on spending...we also put cash on our account, we usually bring $1200, I put $200 in our safe to bring with us in port. We are drinkers and usually spend on average about $100 a day between us or buying a drink for others. I usually buy one or two pics and 3 or 4 gift shop items (t-shirts, purse, bag, hat) and a couple bottles of liquor and some cigarettes, a couple of cokes and one or two souvenier cups and spend less than $100 in the casino, $20 on bingo and a CD they do of the cruise because we are usually in it. :p

My tips come out of our account and we over tip everyone with cash, well, because they deserve it, but it's not required. The longest sailing we have done so far is a 6 day and we brought back $69 with us. :)

 

I think you will probably be fine with $500 or $600.

Edited May 21, 2014 by keystonemama

[amber381]

Thanks for all the input! I was thinking maybe $300-400 for stuff we buy on the ship & $200 for things in port. I'll probably have a credit card as a back up, but that is what I was estimating.

 

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