How much for spending money

[Tntt]

Just need some ideas from those that frequently cruise... for a 4 nt cruise on symphony for a family of 2 adults and 2 teens what is a reasonable or ideal amount to bring for spending money. I've read where people say 100.00 per person per day.... thats 1600.00.... that kinda seems like too much... our gratuity is already prepaid so we don't have to worry about that and we dont plan to do more than 1 excursion and we wont be doing any specialty dining.....but I'm curious on what is a realistic spending money amount for a cruise... any advice?

[Clarea]

What will you do in the ports in which you are not doing an excursion?

[rncruiser]

If you plan on gambling, you will want to bring enough for that. If your teens are 18 they are allowed to gamble too. Gambling is the one place in the ship where you need cash. 

[Grandma Dazzles]

Almost impossible to answer. No one knows you or your family. 

 

Even if gratuities are prepaid you still might need cash for extra tips, cabs, baggage handlers. 

 

Do you shop?  Souvenir stuff like T-shirts or expensive jewelry?

 

Do you plan on purchasing any alcohol or soda?  You don’t say if you have a drink package. 

 

Souvenir photographs, excursions in port (things like cabs, general sightseeing, not necessarily all day excursions). 

 

Teens can can rack up bills in the arcade. 

 

Perhaps give an an idea of what you plan to do and people can give you prices. 

[Ashland]

You can probably do more like $50.00 pp per day....but it's best to bring a bit more...then just take home what you don't use...cash travels easily. You are best to know what your spending habits are, not really us.

We cruise often and each cruise differs...we sometimes spend and on other's get by very cheaply.

[steveru621]

We only take $200 actual cash for 14 nights.  All ship purchases go on your seapass.  They are paid at the end of the cruise with the assigned credit card.

 

 

[Johnamac123]

Bring 1/2 the clothes and twice the money you think you'll need....

[grandgeezer]

We took $300 for a two week cruise and brought 2/3 of it home. Just the two of us. We spend 0 on the ship, and maybe a drink or two in the ports.

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, Tntt said:

Just need some ideas from those that frequently cruise... for a 4 nt cruise on symphony for a family of 2 adults and 2 teens what is a reasonable or ideal amount to bring for spending money. I've read where people say 100.00 per person per day.... thats 1600.00.... that kinda seems like too much... our gratuity is already prepaid so we don't have to worry about that and we dont plan to do more than 1 excursion and we wont be doing any specialty dining.....but I'm curious on what is a realistic spending money amount for a cruise... any advice?

Just got off the 14 night Symphony from Barcelona to Miami.  Took 120.00 in Euros that were leftover from a previous cruise and $200.00 in cash.  Came home with 65 Euros and $60 or so in cash.  Our two biggest purchases were dinner in Barcelona and lunch in the FLL. airpot. Did not put more then a hundred or so on the CC.  OBC from TA took care of all expenses, had pre paid gats, pre paid transport from Miami to FLL.  pre paid package specialty dinning. Biggest expense was for tipping of bartenders and porters.  Someone as cheap as my brother in law gets by spending nothing, he would probably pay nothing in daily service fees if they were not pre paid by the TA we use.

[Tntt]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

What will you do in the ports in which you are not doing an excursion?

We probably only buy souvenirs not any heavy shopping 

[sprint180]

I usually travel with my 5 kids but they bring their own spending money. I bring $200 no mater how long the trip. I prepay every thing I can though

[cruiseguy1016]

With the exception of an additional cash tip to a bartender, you won't have to spend any cash on the ship. All expenses on the ship will be charged to your Seapass which can then be paid for with your credit card. For us our cash expenses are for taxis, souvenirs and a few tips here and there. We usually spend about $200 in cash for a 7 day cruise. With that being said, we usually bring $400 or $500 with us just in case.

[Trinam2]

When my teens cruise with us I always make sure they don’t have charging privelges because they racked up $100 one night in the arcade and another $100 in activities through the kids club that was extra.

[dwayneb236]

Between my wife and I we'll probably spend a couple hundred bucks extra. We've already prepaid most things. 

[LuCruise]

As others said, on the ship all expenses go to your sea pass.  At the end of your cruise, you can have those charges be put on your credit card, or an pay it out in case (so only latter you would need cash for ship expenses).

 

For getting off the ship, you'll need cash for taxi (if not doing an excursion) and any extras there...souvenirs, any extras say renting a mat at a beach, scuba gear, lunch, lounge chairs and umbrella at a beach, etc.  It totally depends on what you do.  So hard to estimate.  If you know where you are going, you can post on the port of call board to get an idea of taxi cost and cost of extras.

[vacationlover_mn]

You should think about what you are going to do each day, to plan better.  On sea days, you need 0 cash, unless you are gambling or in the arcade... on excursions you may need to buy food, or get souvenirs, and you will likely tip the tour guide... if you don’t do an excursion, and want to go to the beach, you might need to budget for chairs, umbrella, food, drinks, etc...

 

One spot where I’ve historically not brought enough cash- when we don’t do an excursion and do a beach on our own.  I never seem to bring enough cash for the chairs, umbrella, drinks, food and the souvenirs- rarely have enough left over for souvenirs :).  Next time, I’m trying to research better, and plan on bringing $200 for the two of us when we go to the beach on our own in st Kitts.  

 

We’ll still do what we normally do on cruises, and have cash left over-> charge everything before we get on the ship (ie food and hotel in Miami), then bring with $700 cash for tips, souvenirs, beaching, gambling, etc.

[Clarea]

7 hours ago, Tntt said:

We probably only buy souvenirs not any heavy shopping 

 

How much will you spend on the souvenirs?

[reallyitsmema]

7 hours ago, Tntt said:

We probably only buy souvenirs not any heavy shopping 

 

Really hard to say how much to bring since one person's idea of a souvenir is not the same as an others.  I have always found the $100 per day per person number to be too high and I have found the half the clothes and twice the money statement to be ridiculous.  Think of what you would bring for cash if you went on a land trip for a long weekend.  Would you use credit cards in port or always cash?  I would likely bring $500 just in case but would come home with most as I would likely charge most everything.  I bring one card that I only use in port and leave one card in the safe for on board charges.

[cb at sea]

Bring the cash...if you don't need it, you can redeposit it when you get home.  Better to have too much, than not enough!  

[boscobeans]

We frequent the casino as a regular part of our cruises, so that is a separate cash amount that we bring.

 

Cash needed for other ON BOARD expenses which would be for tips for service like at bars or for room service would only amount to a few dollars here and there.

 

No other cash would be needed on the ship.???

 

For just walking around IN PORTS and doing some light shopping we bring about 100 each and use plastic if we need to use more than that.  I am not saying we spend the entire 100 each day but it is what we bring and any remaining is topped off to 100 for the next port day. It is very easy to blow a few Benjamins if you see some really unique liquor or you have a list of folks at home that you might want to get something for.

 

Teens???  You know their spending habits better than members on this forum...

Edited December 30, 2018 by boscobeans

[kurtp13]

Just make sure your bank is aware of your travel.   Our debit card is hypersensitive about unusual charges and has frozen me out before.    Less trouble with the credit card but that can happen so having some extra cash isn't a bad idea.  

[boscobeans]

42 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

How much will you spend on the souvenirs?

 

Exactly…. A fridge magnet, a really good bottle of very special rum or a piece of local handcrafted art????  $1.00------$100.00++++

[boscobeans]

2 minutes ago, kurtp13 said:

  Our debit card is hypersensitive about unusual charges and has frozen me out before.   

 

Especially when the card is being used in other countries... Call them and give them your itinerary (AS WELL AS DATES OF TRAVEL)...

[kurtp13]

5 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

 

Especially when the card is being used in other countries... Call them and give them your itinerary (AS WELL AS DATES OF TRAVEL)...

And you can't call to fix it very easily when out of country.    And even if you could, who wants to spent time on that when on vacation.    

[Rickshaw, Cabs & Taxis]

It’s best to have a bit more than you think you need just in case. We tend to have an amount set aside for our whole trip (coming over from the UK) however we don’t spend too much on board as we prepay and have the drinks package as we feel the prices on board are quite steep, that is unless my better half has a few nights in the casino!