How much cash to bring?

Hello! My friends and I are taking a 9 day RC cruise this summer to celebrate our 30th birthdays (first time cruisers). My husband and I tried to prepay as much in advance as we could: gratuities, taxes and port fees, an ultimate beverage package, 3 excursions etc.. How much would you recommend we take in cash? I've read some sites that said $500 and some said $100 per day but no one specified if they prepaid anything. Thanks so much!:)

Hello! My friends and I are taking a 9 day RC cruise this summer to celebrate our 30th birthdays (first time cruisers). My husband and I tried to prepay as much in advance as we could: gratuities, taxes and port fees, an ultimate beverage package, 3 excursions etc.. How much would you recommend we take in cash? I've read some sites that said $500 and some said $100 per day but no one specified if they prepaid anything. Thanks so much!:)

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I'd take a minimum of $100 per port day. I would also make sure I have credit cards and an ATM card that I could use out of the country. I'd use the credit cards where I coud, before I use the cash. There are several cards offered now that have no foreign transaction fees, and even reimburse you for ATM fees.

It depends on what you like to do. As you have your excursion and drink paid I think $100 a day would be plenty. I personally would only spend $200 for the entire cruise ☺

For us the expensive stuff was always on board & tied to a CC. Cash needed was minimal. We usually brought about $200 in cash each in small bills for tipping various people. We rarely buy souvenirs so don't spend a lot of cash in the ports. Most of the timeI only bring $20 - $40 with me into port. If we were to make a large purchase we'd use a credit card.

You have most of the basics covered and then some. On the ship you will only need cash for any additional tips that you may want to leave for the crew. The casino is the only other place that you can spend cash. Even that can be put on your room card for a fee. The amount could $0 up to a few thousand a day, but that is all up to you.

In port your excursions are covered, so you will only need money to cover items that are not included. I would say bring a few hundred for each port day and you will probably come back with most of that. The good thing about cash on shore is that you can usually negotiate a better deal with cash. So I would bring a few hundred for the first port day and if I went through it, you could always get more from the ATM on the ship(usually $3-6).

So total could be say $500 for the trip in which case you will may come home with alot of it.

I would bring between $500 and $750.00

I error on the high side just in case some emergency came up.

You can charge most things.

Cash for taxis, tips for porters and maybe tips if you order room service and also for some trinkets that you can't charge.

Keith

Take more than you think you'll need...you can put it back in the bank if you don't need it!

Thank you everyone!

Best rule of thumb someone told me: Lay out all the clothes you intend to bring. Put half the clothes back, and take twice the money you estimated.

For what will you personally need cash? Here's a possible list:

Transit day -- you might pay some of these with a credit card:

- Taxi to/from the airport

- Parking at the airport or at the cruise terminal

- Tolls

- Meals on the road, at the airport or at your night-before hotel

- Gas on the road

- Tip for the baggage porters

Once onboard:

- Tips for room service

- Tips for staff members who go above and beyond

- Money for the casino

- Money (and tips) for your planned excursions; we like to count this out ahead of time and place each excursion's needed cash in an envelope -- and on the outside of the envelope we write the tour provider /his phone number /the excursion's meeting place -- the envelopes stay in our safe until the day we need them. We typically take about $10 apiece in addition to our excursions in case we want to buy a drink or snack (we typically return to the ship in time for a late lunch). And in addition to that we carry about $100 in case of an emergency; for example, if we needed to take a taxi. We don't buy souvenirs, so this is gracious plenty for us.

Honestly, since we pre-pay most items, the two of us typically don't go through $100 cash in a week's cruise; however, as someone else said, you can always deposit it again at the end of your vacation. Having said that, I'll give you a couple tips for managing whatever you decide to take along:

- Bring along plenty of small bills for tipping. If you want to tip $5 after a shore tour, but you only have a $20, you're in the uncomfortable position of being forced to ask for change ... or over tipping. If you have small bills, you're prepared for whatever you want to pay. Similarly, I promise you the guy who's selling cold Diet Cokes on the pier for $2 will tell you he can't change a $20.

- Don't keep all your money in one spot. Let husband and wife each carry half on the way to the cruise; if someone loses a wallet or is pick pocketed, everything isn't lost.

- Unless you have a specific purpose, don't carry money around on the ship. You won't need it, and it just gives you a chance to lose it.

If you mean actual cash, not much we use our card.

If you mean available money, depends on the itinerary and what your interests are.

Should be fine with your budget. However, it is always good to have more than you need, than to run out!

For us the expensive stuff was always on board & tied to a CC. Cash needed was minimal. We usually brought about $200 in cash each in small bills for tipping various people. We rarely buy souvenirs so don't spend a lot of cash in the ports. Most of the timeI only bring $20 - $40 with me into port. If we were to make a large purchase we'd use a credit card.

This is what we do as well.

I always make sure I get $50 in $1 bills whenever I travel. Lots of people to tip - porters, shuttle drivers, waiters, etc. You go thru them quickly. Also, in ports, if you buy with American dollars, any change you get will be in the local currency. I've never spent even close to $100 per port, but YMMV.

Roz

Hello! My friends and I are taking a 9 day RC cruise this summer to celebrate our 30th birthdays (first time cruisers). My husband and I tried to prepay as much in advance as we could: gratuities, taxes and port fees, an ultimate beverage package, 3 excursions etc.. How much would you recommend we take in cash? I've read some sites that said $500 and some said $100 per day but no one specified if they prepaid anything. Thanks so much!:)

Welcome to Cruise critic and to cruising. If you have prepaid most things in advance, then it is just things like photos and such and they can always be charged to your Credit card. As for spending on shore, that would depend on if you plan on eating (if not in your excursion), drinks and souvenirs, etc. Perhaps allow $100 for each port day to cover any contingencies.:D

Hello! My friends and I are taking a 9 day RC cruise this summer to celebrate our 30th birthdays (first time cruisers). My husband and I tried to prepay as much in advance as we could: gratuities, taxes and port fees, an ultimate beverage package, 3 excursions etc.. How much would you recommend we take in cash? I've read some sites that said $500 and some said $100 per day but no one specified if they prepaid anything. Thanks so much!:)

Considering what you are prepaying, I can not imagine how you would spend $100 per day. I can't even imagine $20 per day if you prepay. That said, if you do take more, you can always bring it home unspent.

DON

Realistically you'll only need some in port spending money. Unless you intend to spend up big.

Next cruise for us is 7 days, three Port days, We have drinks organized a car booked in one Port (or will have before we go).

Now Mrs Gut wants to visit the markets for some Chrissy shopping and has money aside for that.

One Port day will mainly be the markets, so we'll need about $50 (over her shopping money) for lunch and a drink or two.

One Port we have a hire car, so about $50 for petrol (gas) and the same for lunch.

One Port is an excursion (covered) but Mrs Gut is planning on meeting some historians so I will probably be in my own, so maybe $20.

On board we won't spend much at all, we will have a bit of OBC (about $225) I expect Mrs Gut will have to do a bit of shopping to use it up.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

DH and I live in a world where dinosaurs still exist, so we take travelers checks instead of cash - no fees when gotten through AAA.

We usually get more travelers checks than we think we might need and we cash them at Guest Services as we need more cash.

Rather than start with a lot of ones and fives, we take a few larger bills and get smaller bills at Guest Services. I also put together shore excursion envelopes with small bills for tipping - kept in the stateroom safe until the appropriate day.

If you use small bills for purchases on shore you have less of a chance of getting back local currency in change.

We know our vacation has ended when we use our travelers checks for groceries on the night we get back home. :(

Have a great birthday celebration and a wonderful cruise.

A Credit card will cover any of the bigger purchases.

if I never leave the ship do I need cash ?

if I never leave the ship do I need cash ?

No cash needed if not leaving ship. If you have prepaid your tips. No need to tip extra, but there are some people not covered by general tip e.g. Dock porters, kids club worker's, room-service.

If you find you want to tip someone extra you can go down to service desk and add extra on your account.

Why aren't you getting off the ship? Part of the fun of cruising is visiting new places. If it is a budget concern you do not have to do ship excursion, or any excursions to enjoy the ports.

When in the Caribbean we do the ports ourselves, there's often very cheap public transport which will take you to a nice beach. You can bring your pool towels from ship & lay on a beach. There's always a convenience store close to port where you can buy drink & snacks at regular prices.

If you are worried about missing the ship , i would recommend exploring in the morning and head back for lunch. You'll be back in plenty of time. I only warn you to check phone or watch is set to ships time , I check with security when leaving ship.

On this site in the Port section they have very good suggestions on how to do ports yourself.

Have fun.

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My wife and i brought about $400 total for a 7-day cruise and it was more than enough. This was on the Carnival Breeze.

With everything you pre-paid you won't need much. Transportation to and from the airport/port, spending money for lunches/shopping in port, misc small bills for tips. Anything you purchase on the ship can be settled in cash or via credit card. Will need cash if you plan on gambling. It's hard to guess what your spending habits are, we took a 10 day cruise and brought $1,000, which we spent most of. But a. That was for 2 people, and b. That included about $700 for excursions that gave us a discount for paying in cash. Think in your situation $200-$300 will be more than enough.

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Hello! My friends and I are taking a 9 day RC cruise this summer to celebrate our 30th birthdays (first time cruisers). My husband and I tried to prepay as much in advance as we could: gratuities, taxes and port fees, an ultimate beverage package, 3 excursions etc.. How much would you recommend we take in cash? I've read some sites that said $500 and some said $100 per day but no one specified if they prepaid anything. Thanks so much!:)

You'll need $100 to $150 for tips for your steward and waiter(s) (in addition to the prepaid gratuities) assuming they deserve them. Plus a couple of hundred for expenses once you leave the ship. While on board leave your cash in the room safe.

I tip people extra for service above and beyond but never that much.

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