how much money do i need to take?

[noobie]

i know how to allow for the excursions, since i pretty much know the prices. but how much do i need for the boat? i have read in some places on CC that people were spending like $500 and stuff. now i realize that probably a lot of that was for alcoholic beverages, but i don't drink. i know spa treatments and massages cost extra and eating at a specialty restaurant is extra. obviously money spent in the casino is a big factor. so other than that, where will i spend money? and how much? btw, i have also prepaid my tipping.

 

can anyone give me some ideas?

[98Charlie]

Possible expenses on the ship:

• Beverages - Alcoholic or Soda
  
• Gambling - Casino, Bingo
  
• Room Service Tips (not required but we do)
  
• Excursions purchased through the ship
  
• Shops On Board - Souveniers, clothing, jewelry, tobacco, liquor.
  
• Spa Services
  
• Specialty Restaurants
  

You have to decide how much you might spend in these areas. Cruisers are like snowflakes - no 2 are alike. (Yes, and some are flakier than others :rolleyes: )

[catmand]

I have noted before, everything you NEEDis taken care of in the price of your cruise while the things you may WANT are extra. Your tips are taken care of, you could get away with spending nothing while on the ship, although you may want to buy a photo?

[basketlover]

I realize no two cruisers are alike but I'm trying to budget my money also and we do drink so what does an average cruiser spend??? Do I really want a picture of us at dinner every night? How much will I drink? and how much will it cost? What about souviener in port I'm so confused any light you can shed would be great

[CaptData]

Drinks depend on you but figure anywhere from $4.95 (drink of day) - $6.95 for mixed drinks (not preimum brands). Wine by glass $5.00-$9.00, by bottle $28.00 up to $200.00. Beer is about $3.75-$5.75. Coke if you buy the card (various on length of cruise but avg is 46.00/day of cruise) fountain drink only. Bottle water about $2.00, pop by can about $1.75 All drinks have a 15% gratuidity that is added on top of these prices.

 

 

Shore Ex by ship is anywhere from $30/pp on up depending on where you are going, how long the tour is, if food or drinks are included. The more exotic ie dolphin encounters/swims are in the $100.00 range. Most ships have a shop that is around the $10 mark, gold by the inche and cruiseline logo stores. There is also a jewerly store and purfume/liquor store.

[Cotton]

Basket - :DYou're asking US how much you will drink?:D

 

Noobie - As said above, how much you spend ON the ship will be up to you. You CAN get away without spending a penny, actually, but would be nice to tip the delivery person if you order from room service....$1 or $2.

 

The numerous photos they take of you may be tempting, but I don't ever buy but one - maybe two - at $7 each.

 

Take your own soft drinks, wine, and bottled water on board with you. I don't know about all lines, but Carnival allows you to bring a 'reasonable amount'.

[sueinphilly]

If you don't gamble (casino or bingo), drink soda or alcohol, buy pictures, go to the spa, eat at specialty restaurants (incl coffee, ice cream), play video games or buy souveniers, you can spend nothing on board.

 

Last summer, all I bought was a shot glass (without any alcohol in it) on board. Literally had a $3.00 bill for the week. Tips were paid in cash. I had a great time. 3 days were in Bermuda.

 

It is possible, not probable for most though.....

[rnmhaexec]

$46/day for a soda card??? did I miss something?

[Sheffie]

One thing to know it that you can go to the casino and charge your tokens (or they may give you cash) to your account. You can then turn around and cash them in. That is what we did to get more cash on our cruise.

[bluehorizonlover123]

I always bring $1000 cash in small bills and hope to come home with half of it.

[Sweetness]

$46/day for a soda card??? did I miss something?

 

heheh no. more like $46 for the whole cruise ;). course it depends what line and exactly how long, but 20something to 40something depending on the length of the cruise is average.

 

Cheers

[Happy ks]

My husband and I are moderate drinkers (a bottle of wine at dinner, perhaps one or two other drinks during the day), we usually purchase only one formal night photo, don't shop onboard, maybe spend $10 each in the casino, enjoy an ice cream or two during the week, will get a specialty coffee a few times. If you don't go to the spa, with moderate habits as above you will probably spend around $50-100 per day. If you plan a spa visit (pure delight!) add around $100 per visit.

 

Only buy the soft drink card if you drink more than 3 sodas a day, otherwise it's a waste of money.

 

There is absolutely no way to know how much you will be spending onboard. If you have a budget to stick to, check your onboard account on the TV daily, save all your receipts and pay attention to what you are spending. Vacation is also not the time to be pinching every penny, make sure you budget enough so you won't be worrying about it all week.

 

The more we cruise, the less we spend. We have found that we really don't need any souvenirs, we know what to pack and we are getting too old to tolerate hangovers. We can now resist all the pressure to buy, buy, buy when we cruise. So for us the cruise is all about the relaxation, not the shopping and partying.

 

First time cruisers can really get nailed by the photos, they are taking pictures of you everywhere. Force yourself to wait a few days, gather all the photos together and choose which ones you like best. Also, beware of the "free souvenir drink of the day glass". All the ones I've ever purchased usually go into the trash when we get home, either broken enroute, or just plain too ugly to keep once I put it in the kitchen cupboard. The art auctions are probably the biggest ripoff onboard, either stay away or just enjoy the free champagne. The art they sell is not an investment, only buy it if you truly love it. The "gold by the inch" is gold plated, it means the gold will wear off the metal, sooner than later.

 

The best buys for us onboard a ship are actually liquor and duty free makeup, stuff we can actually use. I don't shop for jewelry while on vacation, I always end up regretting it (spending the $$). Cigarettes are pretty cheap, I guess, we don't smoke so never pay much attention to it.

 

I just recently read where a young woman had a fairly deep cut on her finger, went to the infirmary for a bandaid, they put antibiotic ointment on it, gauze and tape. Her onboard charge was $64, so take along a small first aid kit. With that same thought, make sure you pack enough toiletries and more suncreen than you think you need for the week, the onboard shop is pricey.

 

Gambling is all up to you, we find it easy to stay away from the casino, it's so smelly in there from cigarettes, you can't breathe.

 

So....an absolute answer is impossible to give, you know your spending habits better than anyone.

[balconyview]

we didn't bring enough money with us on our first cruise, because we didn't think about extra spending in ports, like taxis pre and post cruise, snacks and drinks off the boat, not only the cost of excursions but the expected tipping (our tour guides were great and we were happy to tip, but it all adds up) not to mention a few souvenirs each port, beach charges in ports if you skip an excursion, and more i'm forgetting! anyway, at the end of the cruise we got a credit card advance so we'd have money for a extra tip for our waiter and a few extra bucks for us and we paid a hefty service charge !! this time we're setting an estimated budget but bringing a cushion!!

[serene56]

I prepay as much of my cruise as possible. I buy drink coupons coz I want to have the frozen foo foo drinks. (4 for 20 bucks) I buy photo coupons since I want to buy the embarkation photo. $7 bucks plus one formal picture $20 bucks. (I dont buy the dinner table photos) I get funship dollars to pay for tips and onboard stuff. Last cruise we had 400 in onboard credit and had a check the last day for 137.00

We carried tips for taxis-- porters -- room service. (50 in one dollar bills)

 

So it all depends on your spending habits. From reading the boards I see that first time cruisers tend to go "overboard" on the photos.

[lovemylab]

We are going on our first cruise this fall and plan on taking $500 cash for both of us. Neither one of us are big drinkers and don't plan on buying souvenirs. We will also have our credit cards as well.

[herewego]

The drinks really add up fast and don't forget they are adding 15% PER drink! When we sailed with our kids we sat at a table with another family - we had bought the soda tickets for ours and they had not. They were more than shocked to learn they were paying about $3.00 per pop which their kids even drank at dinner! I would not liked to have had that bill!

 

As for those pictures - I insist that the whole family dress up and pose on just ONE night so I can get a new picture with everyone looking so nice! Other than that, we use our own cameras A LOT (digital so you can shoot until you get one to keep) and seldom buy more than one or two other pictures. We HAD to buy one in Mexico when the donkey "kissed" my daughter all on his own and the photographer happened to catch it. So just check out the shots and maybe you'll find one you can't live without :o

 

We have bought magnets from every trip (cruise or not) that we have taken and put them on the fridge - they range from Paris to Jamacia to Disney etc. and always remind us of the great places we have gone. All for a couple dollars each!

[captainron]

Autumn,

We've been on numerous cruises.

You'll only need a credit card to settle your stateroom bill at the end of the cruise and for what you want to purchase in ports of call.

We take small bills in local currency for taxis, guides etc, but even tho' Canadian, will use US Dollars in most Caribbean and Mexican ports. That way you're not carrying four or five different currencies.

 

Most ports of call you will be able to use ATMs to obtain local currency. The service charge is considerably less than getting USD from the ATM onboard. The other option is take Traveller's Cheques but if you're cashing them ashore, you'll probably need your passport for ID (depending on destination) and remember that is held on the ship until the end of your cruise.

USD$500 is probably good enough.

 

Ciao for now

[mg93901]

go to the casino and charge your tokens (or they may give you cash) to your account. You can then turn around and cash them in. That is what we did to get more cash on our cruise.

 

If that's possible on my cruise, I'll earn air miles on CASH! :D

[KruznKel]

Captain Ron are you saying that you are not allowed to take your passport off the ship or did I misread your post?

 

Autumn3 I am doing as you,, taking $500 cash per person,, even tho I am the spender I will have the extra from the BF if i go over heheh.. also I do drink and the BF does not so I am planning on buying the prepaid drink coupons,, since I only drink beer and not the foo-foo drinks,, but again I am thinking beer costs less I dunno have to still get some info on that@!

[DDR582]

We are going on our first cruise this fall and plan on taking $500 cash for both of us. Neither one of us are big drinkers and don't plan on buying souvenirs. We will also have our credit cards as well.

 

I just got back from AOS 4/24 and our Seapass account was 497.00 for two people. I think that was pretty good. We booked 1 excursion (2 ppl-$60) 3 photos (20 each) a watch ($70), 2 soda cards (48), twenty dollars in tips (rooms service, bar, etc.) alots of mixed drinks, speciality restaurant, 2 cartons of Cig (30). The tips for our stateroom attendant, Head waiter, Waiter, and Assistant Waiter were given in cash. We took a total of 1300 and came home with Four Hundred.

 

Now next time, I know I am taking less, because I don't have to buy any souvenirs.

[NJcruiser21]

I plan on bringing $250 and hoping to come home with 50.

[boltnut55]

We're going on a 12 night cruise. I'm thinking of bringing $500 and spending all of it. We'll prepare ahead of time w/the tips in envelopes. Aren't we supposed to have a credit card or some card with us for incidentals instead of using cash? I remember always having issues w/not getting my card and then the inability to spend money afterwards.

[KruznKel]

A credit card is always handy to have.. I have just paid off one of mine specifically for the purpose to take on the cruise.. even tho its next march no surprise bills to worry about LOL

[Without Tessa]

One tip for managing photo purchasing frenzy:

 

Wait until the end of the week before buying photos - we checked the gallery every day and had fun looking for the shots of us. However, we waited until the day before disembarkation to purchase the photos we wanted to come home with. It gave us a chance to look at all of them and realize that some were definite keepers and others were just funny to look at.

 

It also reminded us the amount of waste involved with the photos and we made a comment on our survey about the unnecessary photo ops (we had started to feel like we were hounded by the paparrazi by the end of the week!).