First time cruiser

Sailing on an old ship first. The sensation. I don't have a lot of money to take. I did the drink package with my friends. Would $400 be enough? $200 on ship and maybe $200 on an excursion and maybe bring a bottle of liquor back???????

I am not sure the exact amount for gratuities on Carnival, but probably $12 to 15 per person per day.

Everything else is optional. Check out the choices and decide which is best for you. Have a great cruise.

I prepaid quatuities except tips So question is would a person spend more than $200 the ship???

I don't see how. I mean, YE, you could. But you don't need to, to enjoy yourself.

My wife is a souvenir buyer. I am not. There is plenty of enjoyable food that you will not be missing out if you skip the specialty restaurants. On the 5 cruises Ive been on, Ive only purchased a murder mystery dinner.

as for excursions, they are much cheaper booked off of the boat. And when they dock, you are in a marketplace usually, so no need to venture too far off.

The prepaid gratuities go to the workers who provide services to all passengers: your cabin steward and dining stewards, plus many behind the scenes whom you will probably never meet. You tip separately for services that not every passenger uses, but most of these are extra-cost services to begin with and not necessary for a good experience.

That said, it has been reported that many first-time cruise passengers find themselves with much larger bills at the end than they expected. It is no problem at all to skip any and all specialty restaurants, art auctions, and shops aboard the ship. Personally, I cannot imagine going on a cruise in order to buy art or jewelry.

Shore excursions can run into a lot of money, but at least you know before you go what the cost is. In some ports the ship docks close enough to the central area that local transportation isn't even necessary. There are others where the places that people usually want to see are at some distance from the port: Civitavecchia for Rome, or Livorno for Florence and Pisa. If you're comfortable about sightseeing on your own, it's possible to use local transportation and forego the tours. Keep in mind that lunch on shore is at your expense, unless it's included and paid for in the price of a tour.

I do suggest finding out whether the price of the drinks package includes gratuities and, if not, whether they will be added at disembarkation.

Since your gratuities are pre-paid and you have the drink package you should get off with out much of a bill at the end of your cruise. You can if desired tip individuals at the end of the cruise in cash as an extra if you like but it is your choice. Be careful in the casino and with souvenirs. As for shore excursions if on a tight budget you can always just get off the ship and do your own thing in port. Explore the ports online before your cruise to have an idea of what there is to do. My wife and I do this often in ports. It is easy to spend money especially in port.

Enjoy and have fun

Happy Cruising

Sensation does not have any specialty restaurants, so no expense there. Pictures can cost. The gratuities are included in the price of the beverage package. Don't forget to put cellphone into airplane mode and turn on wifi so you can use the Carnival hub app. EM

I prepaid quatuities except tips So question is would a person spend more than $200 the ship???

Yes, it can be done. On my last cruise, with only the soda package, the bill for my husband and me at the end of the cruise was around $120 because we bought a few drinks here and there. We did have pre-paid excursions, but excursions aren't necessary. You can have fun at the ports doing your own thing. We always took about $150 cash with us at each port and would get back on the ship with most of it.

As long as you stay away from the casino, bingo, and any large store purchases, you can easily do it.

If I’m correctly understanding you, you have the drinks package and gratuities already paid and want to know if $400 in additional spending is enough? I would say absolutely. You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg while onboard. You have your major expenses out of the way. I would plan on spending a bulk of the $400 in port do research your ports and find things you would like to do in your budget. Can take a taxi to a Publix beach or a private (sometimes with an all inclusive option). Can do a snorkeling trip with a private vendor relatively inexpensively too.

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Look up the excursions you might be interested in and the cost. $400 sounds plenty to me though, but I'm not a big spender on excursions. Plus, at most ports, if you've got a lot of time, it tends to be a good bit cheaper to book stuff on your own instead of through the ship.

There are a few things that can run up a bill, but they are easily avoided. #1: Specialty Restaurants. We have never found it necessary to spend additional money on specialty restaurants. #2: Photos. When we began cruising, we bought LOTS of photos...so many that we have a big box of them. We stopped buying them. We found we loved the candid shots we take ourselves and we do a Shutterbug book for each cruise after we return. #3: Liquor - We find that the price of the liquor is so cheap that we are tempted to buy too much. We have learned over the years to avoid a lot of liquor purchases #5: Avoid bingo. It's very expensive on a cruise ship. #6: Set a daily limit for the casino. #6: Read and research the ports. Many of the ports can be done on your own and don't require an excursion. If you want to go snorkeling or have a specific desire on one of the islands book that excursion and don't try to book an excursion for every port. #7: Spas. They are twice as expensive on a cruise ship as the are on land. You can easily spend more than $200 at the spa. Just don't do it.

I would bring the max you can. It can always come home with you.

We aren't souvenir people either I do a spreadsheet for any excursions or port expenses. You can easily look up prices for things in ports.

Don't play bingo or hit the casino too hard. Avoid buying pictures. DIY excursions in the ports.

I too would bring as much as you can and then just keep to a budget. If in doubt don't sign up for something you can't afford.

One area you do not have to do is a formal shore excursion. With good planning this is unnecessary in the places that Sensation will be visiting.

Keith

Personally, I would never bring $400 in cash on a vacation and especially not "as much as I can". You get no rewards, you have no recourse for fraudulent purchases, and if it gets lost or stolen, you are out of luck. Everything on the boat you can pay for with your sign and sail card (credit card on file). Depending on how much you want to spend at the ports, I would bring maybe $100-$200. Even then, most places will accept credit cards.

$200 on board and $200 for excursions is more than enough, as long as you resist all or most of the extra cost things; casino, photos, spa, specialty dining, etc. and don't drink a lot.

We rarely spend much on board except gratuities and sometimes a photo or two. But, we don't drink, so that helps. Often we have money left over from our obc.

We practically never take over-priced ship tours--I think the last one was 10 years ago, and that was just transportation to a site. Some ports you can easily do things without a tour, some we pick up a tour on dock and some we book ahead with recommended private tour operators.

So, most of our money gets spent on tours and maybe a meal or drink at the ports. We have plenty of fun doing what we want without spending tons on things we don't need or enjoy.