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Average Amount of Spending Cash


travelling_txgal
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I like to research extensively so I ask a lot of questions. My question for the experienced cruisers is: On average how much cash do you bring?

 

Specifics:

  • 5 day Carnival cruise for two to Cozumel/Progresso in May
  • We are not big drinkers but partake occasionally
  • We have researched our excursions so that is already budgeted for but I understand there may be extra expenses during the excursions
  • Our spending cash will mainly be for extras (souvenirs, shopping, tips and food while in ports, etc.)

So how much would you recommend taking in spending cash?

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i like to research extensively so i ask a lot of questions. My question for the experienced cruisers is: On average how much cash do you bring?

 

Specifics:

  • 5 day carnival cruise for two to cozumel/progresso in may
  • we are not big drinkers but partake occasionally
  • we have researched our excursions so that is already budgeted for but i understand there may be extra expenses during the excursions
  • our spending cash will mainly be for extras (souvenirs, shopping, tips and food while in ports, etc.)

so how much would you recommend taking in spending cash?

 

:) 1k

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I'm just off a 7 day on OASIS

 

we had the drink pak and our tips were waived under the 'deal' we booked

 

We took a few hundred cash with us but on leaving the ship, other than the 'extra cash tips' we gave, the out of pocket expense was ZIP ship wize .... our on board account was ZERO ..... NO charge to the CC. Extra tip to our servers (traditional dining) and bar tenders at the spot we frequented amounted to a couple of hun' but I consider this EXTRA ....... not required

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We bring about $1500 for a weeklong cruise...but all of our shipboard charges go to a credit card. I like to have more cash than I need...cash IS king, after all! I redeposit it when I get home.

Cash is best for the casino. And for small purchases ashore and tips for cabs, etc..... On the ship, you don't need to carry cash around...you can sign for everything...and you can't buy anything with cash...except gambling. and tips to room service.

 

If you're paying your bill in cash, figure out how much you'll owe (as best you can) and bring about $500 more, just to be safe.

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2 adults and a child. Our 3 excursions will come out to less than $350 total. Our gas around $150. Our hotel we already paid for. We don’t own credit cards and will bring cash to pay for those excursions and everything else. We budgeted $1500 total so $1000 for extra tips, souvenirs, alcohol, fun stuff for our kid, thrill theater, food on the way down and back, etc. I expect to use less than $500 of it. Maybe $300?

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We've been on around 40 cruises and we take $600 cash ( or Euros or pounds depending on which country we are in). With ship costs on credit card and credit for hotels etc as needed the only cash we need is for taxis tips food and the odd excursion. For every thing else there's MC.

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I like to research extensively so I ask a lot of questions. My question for the experienced cruisers is: On average how much cash do you bring?

 

Specifics:

  • 5 day Carnival cruise for two to Cozumel/Progresso in May
  • We are not big drinkers but partake occasionally
  • We have researched our excursions so that is already budgeted for but I understand there may be extra expenses during the excursions
  • Our spending cash will mainly be for extras (souvenirs, shopping, tips and food while in ports, etc.)

So how much would you recommend taking in spending cash?

I am doubling what I an spending on excursions. I check out the ports and found out the costs of taxi fares, which I included in the excursion budget.

 

Though I register a credit card, I usually pay this off the last day of cruise.

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Forums mobile app

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We take $200-$300 in cash. Everything on the ship goes on our onboard account and then to my charge card except for tips to room service, extra tips to a few staff, and a little for the slot machines. We don't spend much ashore. I can't imagine having $1,000 in cash on me.

 

I also can't imagine not having a credit card. If I did not, though, I would prepay the onboard gratuities and shore excursions and prepurchase on-board credit so that I did not need as much cash to pay on my account.

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Your question was cash, my answer very little. 99.9% use credit card when linking on board spending. On shore at larger tourist traps, plastic always accepted. Off the beaten path in foreign country cash is king, but don't expect them to be money changers. Take small denominations. By the way, rule of thumb for first timers, take twice the money and half the clothes

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I typically never carry cash. I don't use it in everyday life but on my upcoming cruise I have it figured up to take $1,000. That includes tips for my hotel to airport since we're taking the hotel shuttle then the airport to the hotel in Orlando since we're using hotel shuttle there also. Porters, room steward extra tip, then tipping our excursion operators, wait staff at the AIs we're going to, lunch in ports, and then a little extra cash for shopping in ports. That's for an 8 day.

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5 day cruise, 2 people very much like you. A little drinking , already paid for excursions. We do a cash account, we never use our credit card except for gas and before the cruise hotel. I always take 1k but bring home around 300 to 500 of it back with me. Its always nice to have a little extra just in case we find something we want but have never spent it all.

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If I'm cruising in the Caribbean, I budget $1K per each week of cruising. In Europe, I bring a couple of hundred dollars cash, but use my debit card in the numerous ATM's available, withdrawing euros based on my needs. On our last trip, for two weeks, I spent around $2300 buying Euros.;)

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I also can't imagine not having a credit card. If I did not, though, I would prepay the onboard gratuities and shore excursions and prepurchase on-board credit so that I did not need as much cash to pay on my account.

 

We follow Dave Ramsey which is why we don’t do credit cards. We’ve been married 11 years and we’ve never had one. In fact the only one I ever had in my life was a small student $500 limit student one from my credit union when I was 18.

 

We do prepay gratuities and our shore excursions will be paid in cash to the vendors when we arrive. We hardly spend any money on the ship so buying onboard credit would be silly. We put the money we plan to spend in each port in an envelope with that port name and an envelope for travel expenses, one for ship expenses, extra tips, and and then an extra funds to spend wherever we decide to splurge. This trip we’ll add an envelope for our almost 5 year old son to spend some money, half of it is money he saved from Christmas and half we will match. We only take the envelope that pertains to that day’s needs. This keeps us on track and in budget.

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I usually bring about $200 in bills of various denominations for a week-long cruise. If I'm going on a non-cruiseline excursion that needs to be paid in cash, I add that on top. I find that's plenty for miscellaneous small souvenirs, maybe a restaurant at a port, and any various small-bill tipping I'm inclined to do (room service or whatever). Anything that's an unexpected big expense would go on a credit card. I can see if someone is really into souvenir shopping or likes to drink a lot while at the ports may find that inadequate, so use your judgment accordingly.

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We are also going on a 5 day and have wondered how much to bring. Typically when we do land vacations, we prepay for as much as possible and rarely purchase souvenirs. Also, we are light drinkers. This is our first cruise, so we are treating this first one as a learning opportunity. We have prepaid for tips and excursions. We also know that we will eat in the stekhouse, play Bingo, maybe get a drink of the day in the afternoons, and the big splurge possibility: a spa treatment. Keeping all that in mind, $1000 is probably a good amount to budget for. I doubt we will spend it all, but it will be nice to know that it's there if we want something. ETA: Also we only do cash on vacation...no credit cards unless there is an emergency.

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We are also going on a 5 day and have wondered how much to bring. Typically when we do land vacations, we prepay for as much as possible and rarely purchase souvenirs. Also, we are light drinkers. This is our first cruise, so we are treating this first one as a learning opportunity. We have prepaid for tips and excursions. We also know that we will eat in the stekhouse, play Bingo, maybe get a drink of the day in the afternoons, and the big splurge possibility: a spa treatment. Keeping all that in mind, $1000 is probably a good amount to budget for. I doubt we will spend it all, but it will be nice to know that it's there if we want something. ETA: Also we only do cash on vacation...no credit cards unless there is an emergency.

 

Thanks for the reply. We have very similar travel practices (prepay for most, try to avoid credit cards, etc.) so I think $1000 is a good amount to stick with.

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We follow Dave Ramsey which is why we don’t do credit cards. We’ve been married 11 years and we’ve never had one........

 

A little off topic, but using a CC's as far as cruising makes things a bit easier. No need to post cash at check-in.

A word from someone who went through that nightmare. Get ONE (1) credit card, linked to your bank so that it's free. Use it twice a year and pay off in full. Comes in very handy in case of emergency and helps credit score

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