approximate cost 1 week

[Brewyourown2001]

First time cruiser; going this may on Norwegian Jewel for a 7 day cruise bahamas and florida. Trying to budget an approximation of what i will spend on the ship and shore excursions. Wife and I will likely be drinking wine and beer. Kids are 4 and 6.

 

I realize this is an amount that is subject to individual choices, but I am looking for a approximation or an average amount spent by an average family vacationer on the extra's like eating at Cagneys, drinking wine, shore excursions, tips, etc....

 

$1,000? $700? $2,000?

[Frenchsnowhite]

I don't know how much you drink or how much you will spend in the shops on board or going to the restaurant that cost extra, but my vote would be 1000$ for your week.

 

What week are you looking for? We are cruising May 1st to May 8th;)

[newmexicoNita]

First time cruiser; going this may on Norwegian Jewel for a 7 day cruise bahamas and florida. Trying to budget an approximation of what i will spend on the ship and shore excursions. Wife and I will likely be drinking wine and beer. Kids are 4 and 6.

 

I realize this is an amount that is subject to individual choices, but I am looking for a approximation or an average amount spent by an average family vacationer on the extra's like eating at Cagneys, drinking wine, shore excursions, tips, etc....

 

$1,000? $700? $2,000?

 

yes, it is hard to budget for someone else, but including tips, wine, etc and a few excursions (especially if you do them privately) $1000 should be plenty. Of course if you are going to do the casino every night which is unlikely with 2 little ones or you plan on several meals in places like Cagney's that would be different.

 

Nita

[bakerintn]

A good rule of thumb as a starting point is 50% of the full cruise cost.

[flashdog_1]

Prices you may not know about to budget for are a helmet of beer (buy 5 get 1 free) at about $4.50 per beer plus the automatic 15% gratuity added. There is a $5 deposit on the helmet, so you turn it in and pay no deposit on the 2nd one etc. At the end of the cruise give it back (they'll scan your card and the credit will appear). Any beers not drunk at the venue where you buy them may be taken to your cabin and drunk there, or put in the fridge and taken out for walking around later etc. say 4 helmets = $200 roughly. Prices will vary depending on the beer.

 

The $12 per person daily service charge is going to add up x4 =$48 per day x 7 = $336 which will be on your room charge.

 

Most, not all, souvenirs will be cheaper in port. There will be a sale toward the end of the week but stock will have been picked over and you may not be able to find your size. If you are looking for NCL or Jewel logo shirts, you'll have to get them on board, unless you find them on eBay. But for names of the ports on the shirt, probably cheaper in town. Say $40.

 

Shore excursions from trusted vendors will be less on land, and probably done in smaller groups, too. Some of these you can prepay before you go. Others will want cash at the beginning or end of the tour. Check NCL.com for their prices on the shore excursions of your choice to make better comparisons. Always be sure to know if there is pick up at the pier. If you have to take a taxi to a meeting point you may lose your savings. Don't know what you are planning to do, but say a $35 pp excursion x 4 = $140. Other excursions may be more money. Also, a gratuity is expected for the driver/tour director, say $1 each person.

 

Some people like to rent a car in port so they can avoid the cost of shore excursions and taxis. Just be sure you book before you go, and know where the pickup place is in relation to your pier. Also, research maps of your destinations so you'll know where you are going.

 

One night at Cagneys at $25 x 4 = $100 minimum, plus any wine or the extra menu surcharge of $10. if your kids eat from the standard children's menu, no charge, though.

 

You can take juice (the only time it is offered free is at breakfast) to your cabin's fridge for drinking later for the kids. Bring insulated mugs for this purpose. Cokes etc. run around $2 a can on board, so if your family consumes many, think about bringing some aboard, or buying a 12 pack in the first port.

 

If your kids are going to the kids crew activities be sure to budget for a big tip for the staff there. Also, if you use them as a babysitting service in the evening, there is a charge.

 

Read all the reviews of your ship's itinerary and get ideas about what there is to do, and how others saved $.

 

You are not allowed to take food off the ship due to local laws, so the only thing allowed would be a carton of yogurt, breakfast cereal in individual boxes, any snacks brought from home. But no fruits & vegetables for sure. But I think if you ordered peanut butter sandwiches from room service the night before, and you brought your own baggies from home, you could take that for the kids at least, for a snack on land. Tip the steward who brings the order. That's the only cash tip you'll need on board.

 

If you avoid bingo and the casino and spa you may get by for less.

[F5Loar]

I will say this to any first time cruiser about shore excursions. Unless you have "been there and done that" I would never take the high risk factor of doing one on your own. Booking through the ship is safe. Nothing worse then trying to save $50 on your excrusion only to find our your taxi/bus had a flat tire on those rough unkept roads on the way back or ran out of gas, or boat ride blew an engine(the list goes on) and then getting back to the dock to find your ship is long gone. They will not wait for you. If you book throught he ship they will wait for you. Plus you are in a strange country doing something you've never done before. Why not leave the details to someone who has done it. Counting your auto tip on the bill if you can come back from a 7 day with less then $1000 bill you've done pretty good but it is possible to only have a bill with only $336 on it and still have a great cruise.

[Arwenmark]

Honestly it really makes no sense whatever to expect anyone here to give you an answer that means anything with regard to you.

You have two children that will be in the kids club, you will be expected to tip those people, if you want to use kids club at night you pay for that hourly. You want wine and beer, How much wine and beer? is it $30 a bottle wine or $100 a bottle wine?

You will have $12. pp per day service charge added to your bill, the cost of excursions you can find on the cruiseline website. the cost of alternate dining is one here in several threads so you can figure who is eating at them and how much that will cost you.

 

Do you plan to buy any photo's? all drinks have tips added to them, you will tip a dollar or two for room service if you order it. If you buy any items on board you must add that cost, any specialty coffee? sodas you know cost $2 plus tip. or you can get soda cards which give you fountain soda.

 

The list goes on, are you going to use the SPA? big bucks there plus added tip.

 

I buy artwork and sometimes jewlery, my last cruise for 2 of us was $1500 for the cruise and $4200 for my on board account and we don't drink alcohol.

 

Only you can work up a budget for yourself, what the average family spends means nothing at all.

[blindrid]

First time cruiser; going this may on Norwegian Jewel for a 7 day cruise bahamas and florida. Trying to budget an approximation of what i will spend on the ship and shore excursions. Wife and I will likely be drinking wine and beer. Kids are 4 and 6.

 

I realize this is an amount that is subject to individual choices, but I am looking for a approximation or an average amount spent by an average family vacationer on the extra's like eating at Cagneys, drinking wine, shore excursions, tips, etc....

 

$1,000? $700? $2,000?

 

Tips=mentioned above = $336

Buckets Beer = 6 for price of 5 + 17% tip = Bud Light was $4.50 (26.32), Coors Light was $4.25 (24.86) Red Stripe was $5.75 (33.63).

Drinks = $6-$8

Excursions = look on their website

Spa = whichever you or wife want to do.

Kids club staff = tip what you feel is appropriate (don't think PP's comment regarding leaving a BIG tip was appropriate)

Sodas = $2 each or all you can drink for $6 (+/-) a day, each

Wine: we bought some wine on board the Jewel from Gavin Singh (upstairs bar) and he guided us pretty right, averaged about $30-$35 a bottle, there are obviously higher prices to be paid but we are not wine snobs and took Gavin's advice.

 

In December on the Jewel, we did one excursion (about $100) for the both of us, wine, Cagney's one night, Spa (wife = $400 --- don't ask.). No pic's we liked, few drinks by the pool per day, several buckets of beer (certainly wasn't me....), tips (for 2) = just shy of $1,200.

[garycarla]

If you are trying to budget, asking for an average is probably the last thing you should do. I think some of the people above gave some good feedback on costs.

 

In our case, the vast majority of spending is casino, drinks, some more drinks and maybe one excursion. And any excursion we do via NCL is the cheaper more basic ones, if at all. Within most ports you can find some from $30 up to hundreds of dollars.

 

Photos are a wide, wide range in what people spend.

[terrymtex01]

OP I think it is great that you came on here to get an idea of what to budget for. You have been given very good examples.

 

Prices you may not know about to budget for are a helmet of beer (buy 5 get 1 free) at about $4.50 per beer plus the automatic 15% gratuity added. There is a $5 deposit on the helmet, so you turn it in and pay no deposit on the 2nd one etc. At the end of the cruise give it back (they'll scan your card and the credit will appear). Any beers not drunk at the venue where you buy them may be taken to your cabin and drunk there, or put in the fridge and taken out for walking around later etc. say 4 helmets = $200 roughly. Prices will vary depending on the beer.

 

The $12 per person daily service charge is going to add up x4 =$48 per day x 7 = $336 which will be on your room charge.

 

Most, not all, souvenirs will be cheaper in port. There will be a sale toward the end of the week but stock will have been picked over and you may not be able to find your size. If you are looking for NCL or Jewel logo shirts, you'll have to get them on board, unless you find them on eBay. But for names of the ports on the shirt, probably cheaper in town. Say $40.

 

Shore excursions from trusted vendors will be less on land, and probably done in smaller groups, too. Some of these you can prepay before you go. Others will want cash at the beginning or end of the tour. Check NCL.com for their prices on the shore excursions of your choice to make better comparisons. Always be sure to know if there is pick up at the pier. If you have to take a taxi to a meeting point you may lose your savings. Don't know what you are planning to do, but say a $35 pp excursion x 4 = $140. Other excursions may be more money. Also, a gratuity is expected for the driver/tour director, say $1 each person.

 

Some people like to rent a car in port so they can avoid the cost of shore excursions and taxis. Just be sure you book before you go, and know where the pickup place is in relation to your pier. Also, research maps of your destinations so you'll know where you are going.

 

One night at Cagneys at $25 x 4 = $100 minimum, plus any wine or the extra menu surcharge of $10. if your kids eat from the standard children's menu, no charge, though.

 

You can take juice (the only time it is offered free is at breakfast) to your cabin's fridge for drinking later for the kids. Bring insulated mugs for this purpose. Cokes etc. run around $2 a can on board, so if your family consumes many, think about bringing some aboard, or buying a 12 pack in the first port.

 

If your kids are going to the kids crew activities be sure to budget for a big tip for the staff there. Also, if you use them as a babysitting service in the evening, there is a charge.

 

Read all the reviews of your ship's itinerary and get ideas about what there is to do, and how others saved $.

 

You are not allowed to take food off the ship due to local laws, so the only thing allowed would be a carton of yogurt, breakfast cereal in individual boxes, any snacks brought from home. But no fruits & vegetables for sure. But I think if you ordered peanut butter sandwiches from room service the night before, and you brought your own baggies from home, you could take that for the kids at least, for a snack on land. Tip the steward who brings the order. That's the only cash tip you'll need on board.

 

If you avoid bingo and the casino and spa you may get by for less.

 

Great info.. good posting.. 8-)

 

I will say this to any first time cruiser about shore excursions. Unless you have "been there and done that" I would never take the high risk factor of doing one on your own. Booking through the ship is safe. Nothing worse then trying to save $50 on your excrusion only to find our your taxi/bus had a flat tire on those rough unkept roads on the way back or ran out of gas, or boat ride blew an engine(the list goes on) and then getting back to the dock to find your ship is long gone. They will not wait for you. If you book throught he ship they will wait for you. Plus you are in a strange country doing something you've never done before. Why not leave the details to someone who has done it. Counting your auto tip on the bill if you can come back from a 7 day with less then $1000 bill you've done pretty good but it is possible to only have a bill with only $336 on it and still have a great cruise.

 

I agree 100% with your posting, especially about the excursions. But I also agree you could, if you really tried, make it on $1000 or less with a family of four.

[BruceMuzz]

According to NCL's Revenue Budget Forecast, the average passenger on your cruise will spend just over $67 per day onboard the ship. That includes the kids too.

[mzche1999]

We sailed last summer with our 3 and 6 year old and spent aprox $900. That included the $280 that was tips. If you can't pass up on cute pictures, limit exposure to the photographers! My first cruise I spent over $400 on pictures. I was a lot more careful with this one. We did end up with some great family pics on the formal night (I bought little tuxedos for my sons). Have fun!

 

Hugs,

Chelle

 

PS...Be sure to budget in a spa experience for mom!

[Hockey19]

I would agree with the 1 K estimates assuming you are not indulging in high priced items- $100 wine or over priced art. You can get a decent budget idea by first figuring your fixed costs- daily tip, scheduled trips, etc. Budget in $8-10 per drink. Some are beers and some are umbrella drinks. Enjoy both, they help the whole experience. How many do you really think you will have per day? 3? 4? Add in fun stuff. On board there will be fun to do events, Beer tastings, Martini tastings, taste everything tastings- can you tell what I have done? What trips are you thinking about? Budget those in. At 1k, you have about $140 a day total. Departure day and arrival day will not impact much (except for foo-foo sail away drink which DW will mandate forever). Kids are a wild card which I have not had to figure in as much. Mine are older and we took DS on 1 cruise and he was expensive.

[realcindylouwho]

2009 was the year for our first cruise! I found C.C and spent many hours reading through all of the tips, advice and suggestions given by fellow cruisers. By using the search feature, I was able to find answers about specific questions I had. Costs associated with cruising was the biggest question I had. I was able to take other's posts of prices for excursions, alcohol, specialty restaurants, tips for butler and conceirge, daily service fees and other misc. items and put together a budget for our trip. I was confident that we would not surpass the budget I had estimated. We were completely surprised to find that we spent around 15 percent less than expected! So my time on here really paid off in a positive way for us.

 

 

C.C. has excellent posters who are willing to answer nearly any question you may have, and boy, there have been some really good ones!;) However, it would be difficult for us to arrive at a cost for your family vacation. So, grab a pen and paper and start researching away!

 

*best wishes for an excellent cruise :)

[GamecockAl]

We went on the Jewel 3 years ago and are going again on April 2nd. I agree $1000 is a pretty good ballpark number. My wife and I drank a good bit, used the kids late night babysitting for our 8 and 3 year old (free until 10 PM and then $10/hr per kid as I recall), gambled in the casino (probably $200 cash advances) and ate in specialty restaurants about half the nights (not with the kids as we had them eat early those nights and then head to the kids club). Plus some pictures and a few other minor things as I recall. I don't think it was over $1000 but that may not have included the tips as I'm not sure NCL added them to the bill then. We didn't pay for spa or shore excursions through the ship. Also, remember it will all be on a credit card so make sure you have a good limit and don't worry about carrying a lot of cash - you can always get cash on board against your account if you need it.

[GamecockAl]

Meant to say we were sailing April 4th - got confused on the date. Sorry

[mzche1999]

Meant to say we were sailing April 4th - got confused on the date. Sorry

 

My mom and I will be on that ship! Join the roll call.

 

Hugs,

Chelle

[GamecockAl]

Just joined the roll call Chelle - looking forward to the cruise!