How much cash?

[ejpumpkin]

We (DH and I) leave tomorrow morning to fly to Miami :D!! On Sunday we will board the FOS for 7 days in the caribbean! We are only doing one excursion and that has already been pre-paid with a CC. We will only buy a few drinks and a few souvineirs/trinkets. We aren't going to gamble, go to the specialty restaurants, etc.

 

I am thinking I will bring $500 cash. That sounds good right? If we NEED anything else, our CC is already registered for all our sea pass expenses.

 

My question is with $1 bills. I know we will need these for tips for room service etc. Is $50 in $1 bills okay? Or should I get even more $1 bills? Also - should I then get a lot of $5's and $10's and not too many $20's, $50's, and $100 bills??

 

THANKS!

[njmomof2]

If you are securing your seapass card with a CC, then you won't need much in the way of cash, other than to tip at the airport, cabs and at the port to the luggage people. You don't really use cash on the ship...everything goes against your sea pass account. Of course, I believe you can secure that with cash if you prefer.

 

I like to have singles for the people who handle my luggage (the guy getting us from the parking lot to the terminal at the airport, the guy at curbside check in, the port luggage handlers). Other tips on the ship will go against your sea pass account.

 

Not sure if that helps you in deciding how much to bring.

[marci22]

I usually bring 50 1's and that should be enough for one week onboard (meaning singles, not the whole amount you might need).

 

If you are going to be shopping in little shops in ports, then I would bring more singles and 5's so you have exact change if you are bargaining.

 

You can always break bills at the customer service desk.

[san4u2]

The only big bills we bring are for gambling and if you are planning on buying jewlery at a port and you did say you weren't doing any of these so I would bring $50 in ones and $100 in fives and tens then everything else you can exchange as you need it.

[Joyce From Yardley]

We (DH and I) leave tomorrow morning to fly to Miami :D!! On Sunday we will board the FOS for 7 days in the caribbean! We are only doing one excursion and that has already been pre-paid with a CC. We will only buy a few drinks and a few souvineirs/trinkets. We aren't going to gamble, go to the specialty restaurants, etc.

 

I am thinking I will bring $500 cash. That sounds good right? If we NEED anything else, our CC is already registered for all our sea pass expenses.

 

My question is with $1 bills. I know we will need these for tips for room service etc. Is $50 in $1 bills okay? Or should I get even more $1 bills? Also - should I then get a lot of $5's and $10's and not too many $20's, $50's, and $100 bills??

 

THANKS!

 

Hello,

 

We usually take $100 a day per port not pp. That is for excursions + anything else that we might want to buy. Since we've been to many of the same islands several times these days we seem to spend less & less each time.

Depending on the port of calls we would take somewhere between $50 & $100 in ones. I find that smaller bills seem to work out better.

Do you expect to pay off your seapass in cash at the end of the cruise?

The $500 that you are planning to bring sounds like it should be enough for what you plan on doing.

Like the old saying goes...bring more cash than clothes. You can always bring the extra unspent cash home & start a new cruise fund.

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Joyce & Of Course Harvey

[Papa T]

You can usually take larger bills and get change (ie dollar bills) on board. At my bank, the teller (a former flight attendant) suggested taking $2 bills for tipping - it's unusual and the service people tend to remember you. I thought it was a neat idea.

[MIcruiser99]

We planned on a set amount of cash and were we glad that we could cash a check on board. We went through the cash and didn't want to pay the ATM fee so I cashed a personal check at guest relations.

 

We used alot of singles and I agree-have more of the smaller bills. I don't like carrying the bulk of all the 5's and 10's so I went to guest relations and exchanged the 100's for the smaller bills.

 

The only time you need cash onboard is for tipping room service. It is all the other parts that add up quickly - cabs, tipping porters, shopping.....the money goes fast!

[Allaboutsailingrc]

I start to save $1 bills (and $5's) as soon as I get home from a cruise. I cruise quite often, however, when time to pack, etc., I usually have about $100 or so in small bills. I then get additional 10's and 20's for the trip. I like to have correct change for taxi's, tipping, etc. and those small bills go very fast. Painless saving. Royal rocks.:)

[cb at sea]

Bring more than you think you'll need--you can always take it home with you again!!!

[ejpumpkin]

We planned on a set amount of cash and were we glad that we could cash a check on board. We went through the cash and didn't want to pay the ATM fee so I cashed a personal check at guest relations.

 

We used alot of singles and I agree-have more of the smaller bills. I don't like carrying the bulk of all the 5's and 10's so I went to guest relations and exchanged the 100's for the smaller bills.

 

The only time you need cash onboard is for tipping room service. It is all the other parts that add up quickly - cabs, tipping porters, shopping.....the money goes fast!

 

I didn't know that!! So if I bring my checkbook and need more cash - the ship will cash it for me for free? Cool!!

[amybeth4]

I would NOT bring so many singles. I don't see the point. Even if you do use cash to pay your tips, if you figure $3.50 per day times seven days, that's about $25 to your cabin steward. Why would you want to give him twenty-five singles?

[cruiseguy1016]

You can usually take larger bills and get change (ie dollar bills) on board. At my bank, the teller (a former flight attendant) suggested taking $2 bills for tipping - it's unusual and the service people tend to remember you. I thought it was a neat idea.

 

While $2 bills are certainly legal tender, they are not widely recognized in places outside of the U.S. I have heard stories of people having trouble using them. I would just stick to $1 bills.

[DGNY]

I would NOT bring so many singles. I don't see the point. Even if you do use cash to pay your tips, if you figure $3.50 per day times seven days, that's about $25 to your cabin steward. Why would you want to give him twenty-five singles?

 

I agree. I took a lot of $1s on my first cruise and thought it was more trouble than it was worth. It gets way too bulky.

 

Really, all you need are enough to get from your home to your cabin...tips at the airport, porters at the ship (perhaps for the hotel if you are staying pre-cruise). After that you can always exchange larger bills for more singles for room service and then for the trip home.

[nellydean]

You are lucky to only have to worry about how many dollars to take - we are going on a 12-night Med cruise and will need sterling for the taxi to the airport, Swiss dollars for our few hours in Zurich on the way, euros for Spain, France, Italy and Greece (or is it still drachmas?!) Kuna for Croatia and US dollars for the ship - still, all part of the fun :)

 

we take lots of $ for the bar staff and for the casino, everything else gets charged to our sea pass account

[kruznmike]

I would NOT bring so many singles. I don't see the point. Even if you do use cash to pay your tips, if you figure $3.50 per day times seven days, that's about $25 to your cabin steward. Why would you want to give him twenty-five singles?

 

 

$50 in ones is about right. Tips for porters, taxi drivers, excursions,ect.

[BalconyBumz]

You can always change your bills at the front desk on the ship. You don't need to be so detailed.