How much money (cash) do you take?

[rkkunk]

For incidentals, things like taxi rides, tips for taxis, room service, porters, etc? We are just trying to figure out how much cash to take. I know it's all a personal thing, but a general idea for a 7 day cruise? TIA!

 

 

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[SonicShip]

For incidentals, things like taxi rides, tips for taxis, room service, porters, etc? We are just trying to figure out how much cash to take. I know it's all a personal thing, but a general idea for a 7 day cruise? TIA!

 

We make a list and then total it and add some extra in case we forget something or have something unexpected.

[BigHouseFootball]

On our latest 7 day cruise we took $200 in cash. Used it for taxis, porters, tips for Excursions, extra tip for room attendant, and little trinket souvenirs on the islands where it wasn't enough to swipe my credit card, and it was more than enough. Came back with like $50 I believe.

Edited April 28, 2016 by BigHouseFootball

[Hotel CA]

For cabs-- $40/port should be enough-- for walking around trinket buying money $100/port (lunch for 2 will usually be 25-35 $ and I hate to use credit cards unless absolutely necessary-- had a few incidences from the carribean with stolen CC #)

 

so with 3 or 4 ports I would take $600 to cover all incidentals (including extra tips) and you should have plenty left over. But as always these things tend to be personal in nature and everyone is different. You certainly do not need that much if you take trams and share cabs and are careful where you spend

[Nccruiser01]

We usually take around $2000, but always come home with some leftover. That's for two people and includes $200 per day casino allowance. But some will tell you way less and some will tell you more.

 

We try to consider what we might spend on taxis, extra tips, casino, and anything we may want to purchase on the islands we visit. We try to not use credit cards on the islands since we had our number hijacked from a very reputable shop in St. Thomas. (We know it was there because it was the only place we used it.)

Edited April 28, 2016 by Nccruiser01

[Hypbmxgurl]

On our latest 7 day cruise we took $200 in cash. Used it for taxis, porters, tips for Excursions, extra tip for room attendant, and little trinket souvenirs on the islands where it wasn't enough to swipe my credit card, and it was more than enough. Came back with like $50 I believe.

 

omg that makes me feel so much better! I wasnt sure how much to take with us. Ive been putting 25 from each paycheck from 4 paychecks to get out in ones and 5s for tips. then we have like 200 to spend at ports and such.

[Melozone]

I take about $500. Sometimes I have money left and sometimes I get more. Depends on the ports. We don't play in the casino.

[erby2283]

We usually take about $500 a piece but that also includes cash to pay for some excursions as well. Plus food at airports, etc. Pretty much everything we pay for outside of the ship is cash and don't charge anything.

[Johnamac123]

For incidentals, things like taxi rides, tips for taxis, room service, porters, etc? We are just trying to figure out how much cash to take. I know it's all a personal thing, but a general idea for a 7 day cruise? TIA!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I always bring my walking around money, which includes tipping. Then I bring an amount to cover the auto gratuities in case I feel compelled to drop them and pay in cash instead. This is only done with adequate warning to those involved, of course.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Johnamac123

[mirp]

Depends on ports. In the Caribbean I spend about $25 pp on average per port. Europe much more -- $50pp per port. Some ports I spend nothing -- but the transfers to and from beaches add up.

[womack214]

We usually take at least $1000. There is four of us. We don't buy a lot and don't spend in casino. But we usually tip at end of week in cash and use some towards tips during excursions etc. if we have any left, which we normally do, then we go ahead and pay it towards any bill we may have onboard. Least amount of cc usage the better.

[cb at sea]

We take around $1500....for ANY weeklong vacation! If we don't use it, the bank is happy for us to redeposit it! I refuse to pay ATM fees to access my own money, so this works nicely!

 

Plus, if you plan on doing gambling, cash is the way to go...set aside whatever amount you're willing to lose, and when it's gone, you're done!

[Pratique]

On another thread someone said $100 per day for two people, and that worked out well for us. But I was also thinking that if you have a medical emergency abroad you may need cash for that, so make sure your ATM card will work where you are going, just in case.

[Duke Mazer]

We had about $500. I made a list of all that we needed in ports based on what we wanted to. Don't forget transport. Then added some padding for contingency. We don't go to casino nor really drink.

[Eslader]

We each took $200 on our last cruise. I'm not sure how much cash she spent (not all that much) and I came back with $60. All of the cash was used for various tips, and to buy a $6 hat in St. Thomas to get bills smaller than $20 for tips because I was dumb and forgot to get the cash until it was too late to get it from a human teller.

[LuvBNatC]

For a week in the Caribbean, I bring $300 in small bills for taxis, tipping, meals ashore, small souvenirs, and always come home with some leftover cash. Any large purchase, like a hotel room, would go on a credit card.

[Fouremco]

We make a list and then total it and add some extra in case we forget something or have something unexpected.

It's hard to beat this answer. Everyone's list will vary, as is evident from many of the other replies, but just try to be as comprehensive as possible. Once we work out an overall estimate based on the list, we work out a daily amount and then round it up. So if we estimate an average of $185 per day, we'll round it up to $200. Although port days will always be more expensive, at least for us, we allocate the same daily amount to sea days. That gives us our cushion for unexpected expenses.

 

As our cash is generally in one foreign currency or another when cruising, we try to be fairly accurate so that we won't have too much currency to exchange. That's less of an issue with USD, as we visit the US fairly frequently and those bills never seem to collect any dust! :)

[Mapleleafforever]

Depends on where we're going but to the Caribbean usually 500 US and to the Med we're taking 2000 Euro.

[Guest maddycat]

We usually take $500 for a 10 day cruise and always bring some money home with us. That includes casino money. Guest services will cash a $200 personal check. So as a back up we always bring a blank check.

[cincicruisers]

We normally budget $150 per day.

[Virtopia]

My last cruise I brought about $600 and brought back around $150. This was used for dinners pre cruise, excursions, souvenirs, tips and incidentals. For my upcoming European cruise, I'll be bringing $1000 Euros. I've prepaid as much as I can, so this will be for souvenirs, some tours and dinners during my pre and post cruise stays.

[matj2000]

$1500 in assorted denominations...

[Zigggypup]

I usually take $1000 dollars. It's really a little more than I need, but its better to have cash than not have it and need it.

[BigHouseFootball]

omg that makes me feel so much better! I wasnt sure how much to take with us. Ive been putting 25 from each paycheck from 4 paychecks to get out in ones and 5s for tips. then we have like 200 to spend at ports and such.

 

Now keep in mind the souvenirs we bought were: a $5 magnet in Nassau, a $5 pin in St. Thomas, a $20 ankle and a $4 Xmas ornament in St. Marten. So we spent only $34 on things to bring back. If you are looking to buy more substatial souvenirs then you may want to bring a little more along. Wife and I just like to grab a small momento from each island we visit :D

[wenny101]

We bring usually $1500 and at least $200 of that in ones and fives.