The Impossible Question : How Much Spending Money?

[babs135]

I'm trying to cost out a World Cruise to see if it is at all possible and whilst some figures are obvious, ie. the fare, gratuities, etc, one stands out alone Spending Money!

 

I would be grateful if anyone could give me some sort of guidance on how much we could end up spending on a 100+ nights cruise. I realise we are all different, but is there some sort of formula that people work on?

 

Thanks

[Scrapnana]

I'm guessing my expenses were on the lower end as I don't drink much alcohol and never more than one a day. I purchased most of my excursions onboard (about 12). I purchased the soft drink package for the second half of the cruise. I ate in each of the up charge restaurants once. Bought four different internet packages. I purchased souvenirs in port and a few on the ship. I had my hair cut once and got one pedicure onboard. I had laundry done on the ship four times. I left extra tips for a number of people. I had three trips to the medical centre. I spent about $75 in the casino. Total came to about $5000 plus the $1700 onboard credit.

[CaveDiving]

I'm trying to cost out a World Cruise to see if it is at all possible and whilst some figures are obvious, ie. the fare, gratuities, etc, one stands out alone Spending Money!

 

I would be grateful if anyone could give me some sort of guidance on how much we could end up spending on a 100+ nights cruise. I realise we are all different, but is there some sort of formula that people work on?

 

We have taken 6 HAL World Cruises and 6 other HAL “Grand Cruises” (about 60 days each) so we have a bit of experience here.

 

If we exclude all excursions (which can easily be priced separately), gratuities, liquor both on board and on shore, gambling, expensive souvenirs and expensive dinners on shore, we probably average around $25 per day for spending money.

 

Of course, the items excluded can easily double or even triple this figure.

 

However, YMMV.

 

Scott & Karen

[Dcoy]

Depending on the cruise line, you could receive paid gratuities and some on board credit if you book early for a full world cruise. You can usually figure out how much Internet will cost (if you need to use it).

 

I was on a 94 day one and did not pay for a single alcoholic drink or speciality dinner. I did purchase the soda package as I'm addicted to soda. You can have a great time and be budget wise.

 

Hope you decide to go and have a good time.

 

Don

[Keith1010]

Which cruise line are you considering?

 

Keith

[babs135]

Which cruise line are you considering?

 

Keith

 

Almost certainly Cunard, unless I win the lottery and then we can go 6star!!!:D. Seriously though will look at other lines but DH favours Cunard.

[Heidi13]

We embark on the Sea Princess WC on May 22nd and have the following budget.

 

OBC - $2,000

 

Tips - Complimentary

Tours - $7,000 (we will only use ship tours)

Additional Spend - $10,000 (drinks, specialty restaurants, misc)

 

We don't tend to drink much and will have steak house dinner about every 2 weeks. Never gamble, use the photo shop or attend the myriad of extra fee stuff Princess try to flog.

 

For shore currency we have small amounts of Australian, Euro, Sterling, Iceland & US.

[wishIweretravelling]

The primary expenditures are shore excursions, spa, shopping, meals ashore, tips, alcohol and specialty restaurants. I'm planning a 2016 WC on Crystal. Thus, I haven't budgeted for alcohol and specialty restaurants, as those are included. Tips also are included, but I do plan to give some money to the crew welfare fund and likely will wind up giving at least a little something to the cabin steward(ess), so have budgeted for that.

 

So, FWIW, here's my budget:

 

$125/day for each day in a port for shore excursions. I will do a mix of ship's tours, private tours, HoHo buses, taxis, local transport, and striking out by foot. And a couple I might just stay on the ship. So some days will run much more than that, some much less. But that's an average. (I have 76 days on shore). For me, that's a total of $9500.

 

$500 for spa/salon. I have short hair, so will need at least 3 haircuts during that time. Plus, I will likely need at least one coloring treatment. And a mani/pedi and maybe massage will probably find itself into my life onboard as well.

 

$500 for shopping. I'm not a big shopper, but I like to pick up little mementos and of course there's gifts for people back home--particularly for the person taking care of my home in my absence.

 

$500 for meals ashore. I'm going places I've never been and may never see again, so I'll want to try some local cuisine. Done right, it shouldn't be too expensive. But the tabs can add up.

 

$250 for crew fund/personal tips.

 

$250 for that thing I didn't think of.

 

So that's a budget of $11,500, minus on-board credits. And, as I said, does not include alcohol, specialty restaurants, and most tips. Also, it does not include pre or post-cruise hotels or meals, luggage fees, or any extra overland trips.

 

And I'll leave to you to convert to pounds sterling.

[take us away]

We factor the following for our next world cruise:

Expected expenses

70 Indonesia visas on arrival

136 Vietnamese visas on arrival

60 Cambodia visas

70 Australian ETAs (our TA usually gets this for us)

30 Egypt visas

366 = expected total visa charges

200 specialty restaurants, T-shirts, master chef cooking class, hair cuts

250 specialty and espresso coffees (my DH's indulgence)

500 lemon drops (my 1 alcoholic indulgence)

100 4 soda cards

1500 extra tips

1200 shore excursions (we do purchase a few before we sail)

3000 shore expenses including souvenirs, transportation, admissions

7116 = expected grand total for 115 days with something like 40 ports

 

We always go to the embarkation port the day before we sail and have the luxury of driving so we add another $400 for hotel, meals, and rental cars. Then there is the insurance which is a few thousand... We budget about $10,000 over the fare for everything else.

 

We do have lots of OBC to offset the charges and our hotel daily charge and luggage shipments are part of our fare. With that said, we always come home with money. Totally agree with wishIwascruising "I will do a mix of ship's tours, private tours, HoHo buses, taxis, local transport, and striking out by foot. And a couple I might just stay on the ship."

 

The last 2 WC's we declared about $1200 in purchases which is included above as we shop for grandkids, friends, relatives. We usually bring about $5000 cash as we do not use ATM's on shore for security reasons and can exchange the cash for local currency at the front desk if needed (the exchange fee is well worth the no hassle and 'get off and go' once we are clear). We tip many people over the standard daily charges as we have awesome service; things like our laundry is included but we tip the laundry staff and delivery people as they do such a wonderful job. We also always tip at the specialty restaurant and the room service delivery people.

 

Hope this helps and have an awesome time!

Edited June 4, 2015 by take us away

[mur44]

Is it possible to do a World Cruise (for a couple) on HAL, Princess or Cunard

on a total budget of $50,000? (With Ocean view cabin).

[take us away]

Is it possible to do a World Cruise (for a couple) on HAL, Princess or Cunard

on a total budget of $50,000? (With Ocean view cabin).

 

You will have to check pricing but may not be able to do an ocean view cabin for a total of $50,000, an inside cabin more than likely. Have your TA research for you as one never knows.

[babs135]

Slightly surprised to see this thread pop up again. Thanks everyone who has taken the time to reply and apologies for not coming back sooner. As a somewhat hypothetical question I don't always remember to drop into this part of CC!!!

 

Still haven't won the lottery so the dream of a World Cruise is no nearer; however being the optimist that I am, it is also no further away :D

 

In some ways it boils down to the question of whether we can go a couple of years with no holidays at all and DH's reply to that is quite simply 'no way'. So unless we win the lottery I can't see us doing it.

 

Perhaps the answer is to do it in segments (which in its turn means more cruises rather than one long one :D) and we can then pick and choose ships and itineraries that truly suit.

 

Now where did I put the brochures?! :D

[KirkNC]

Is it possible to do a World Cruise (for a couple) on HAL, Princess or Cunard

on a total budget of $50,000? (With Ocean view cabin).

 

You can cover the cruise for that but no excursions or any other costs.

[GUT2407]

We embark on the Sea Princess WC on May 22nd and have the following budget.

 

OBC - $2,000

 

Tips - Complimentary

Tours - $7,000 (we will only use ship tours)

Additional Spend - $10,000 (drinks, specialty restaurants, misc)

 

We don't tend to drink much and will have steak house dinner about every 2 weeks. Never gamble, use the photo shop or attend the myriad of extra fee stuff Princess try to flog.

 

For shore currency we have small amounts of Australian, Euro, Sterling, Iceland & US.

 

Those numbers sound pretty reasonable the additional is only $100 a day that's what I usually budget on spending money on any holiday.