What's your total budget for a whole cruise vacation?

[pastfacesfuture]

I just got back from a carnival cruise, ordered from expedia.com. The total amount of the cruise itself was (for two people) $1,055. Amazing.

 

We put $600 on the Sail & Sign card, and they deduct $50 a person automatically for tips. So, that left us with $500 on the card.

 

We had $150 cash also that we left out for spending money at the ports.

 

We bought 8 bottles of alcohol (tax & duty free on the ship), drank ourselves silly (more than once) and brought back small and cheap souveniers for about 10 family and friends. We also did one excursion, which was $48 a person. All of this came from our sail and sign cards.

 

We drove to the port (jacksonville) which ended up costing us about $60 in gas.

 

After all of that, we came back with about $40 dollars (from our sail and sign card) and had a great time. So, the total amount of OUR cruise was: $1865 :cool: . Considering that this cost was only for two people, I think that we did pretty good!

[momofmeg]

I just got back from a carnival cruise, ordered from expedia.com. The total amount of the cruise itself was (for two people) $1,055. Amazing.

 

We put $600 on the Sail & Sign card, and they deduct $50 a person automatically for tips. So, that left us with $500 on the card.

 

We had $150 cash also that we left out for spending money at the ports.

 

We bought 8 bottles of alcohol (tax & duty free on the ship), drank ourselves silly (more than once) and brought back small and cheap souveniers for about 10 family and friends. We also did one excursion, which was $48 a person. All of this came from our sail and sign cards.

 

We drove to the port (jacksonville) which ended up costing us about $60 in gas.

 

After all of that, we came back with about $40 dollars (from our sail and sign card) and had a great time. So, the total amount of OUR cruise was: $1865 :cool: . Considering that this cost was only for two people, I think that we did pretty good!

 

Yep but you did a cheapie mini cruise. My friends took Celebration back in December and they only paid $700 for 2 people. Ofcouse you picked a popular time of year so a little over a $1000 for 2 people was good.

 

The thing is though-the newer the ship and the longer the cruise and it is more expensive. For 7 day cruises $75 is taken out fot tips per person. But the drinks still run $5-8 depending on what you order and there is still a drink of the day less expenisve. Also some excursions are more expensive. The dophin encounter is like $110 a person-if you do the Swim with the dolphins even more-and ofcourse scuba diving is more expensive.

 

I know the beach excursions are like $35 a person but to me they are a waste of money-the cattamarran may be a nice ride-but then you only spend an hour at the beach and then it is back you go-and oh yes you do get free cokes and watery rum punches-but I much prefer to take a taxi to the beach and spend several hours there. Even if the taxi is a little pricy- it will not cost $70 for 2 people and heck-normally there is a place to buy a drink close to the beach-though usually I wait until I am back on the ship-as I don't like getting dehydrated in the sun drinking alochol.

 

By the way in Nassau guys-the Hilton is within walking distance of the ship dock and they let you use their private beach for $10 a day. So if you are not into Parasdise Island and the casino-that is a great thing to do for Nassau and you save a lot of money. We did the Paradise Island excursion-it was nice but I have been to much nicer aquarains and we do not gamble anyway. Next trip it will be the beach at the Hilton for me.

[CuseJeff44]

I guess we fall into the $2,500 to $5K category. Aside from the room itself, usually in the $2K-$3K range, we try to keep the on board expenses and other miscellaneous stuff under a grand...doesnt always happen though!

[NJcruiser21]

I definitely fall into the 0-2500 pp category. All costs for my Dawn cruise will total about 1600 (everything included)

[KruznKel]

For the 2 of us next March....

 

$3100 - Cruise

$950 - Airfare

$600 - Hotel (5 nights combined pre/post stay)

$300 - Insurance

$100 - Taxis to and from Airport/Hotel... Hotel/Port

$300 - Restaurants pre/post stay

 

Since the major things such as the cruise/airfare/hotel and insurance will be paid long before we leave.. I will have a CC with $5000 available to use on the cruise for whatever is needed..

[tinsel57]

Put me in with the people that don't budget. Hubby and I work very long hours. We work hard, we don't work hard at vacationing on a budget.

 

Instead, I try to be reasonable.

 

I search for off season cruising dates, usually get the top balcony but not suite cabin.

 

I usually book excursions privately so I do save money there, but don't chintz on the excursion experience.

 

I am not a big drinker but always order a drink at the show and occasionally have wine at dinner, and they'll cork and save the bottle for the next night. I don't drink soda and am an ice tea freak normally so I drink for free all week other than the bar drinks.

 

We don't gamble.

 

I spend my precruise day at the local spa, kind of ease myself into the moment. I get marvelous spa treatments to look great for my arrival at a fraction of what they'd cost on the ship.

 

I just moved and don't want my new house cluttered up with useless trinkets, so other than the occasional picture frame, perhaps a photo from the cruise shop IF it's awfully good, I purchase something for my grown kids and let it go at that. I do take a TON of pics myself.

 

We stay at the pre cruise hotel we like that is close to the pier and leave the car there for free. So what I would have paid for pier parking, now translates to a discounted hotel rate.

 

Flying, I do the best I can with pricing be it through the cruise line or privately.

 

I spent many young years clipping coupons like mad and eating a ton of pasta. I'd rather eat pasta again than pinch pennies when it comes to vacationing.

 

But overall I would say that budgets are relative to where you're cruising, Caribbean being the cheapest.

[imosoreal]

I try to keep the cruise vacation under $5,000 since I like to vacation 3 times a year. It doesn't always work out where it will be under 5k. This poll prompted me to check my totals for our cruise this Thanksgiving and I think the budget will be just a little over the 5k mark.

 

3200 for Cat 11 3 people

600 total airfare for 3 (haven't found it yet, but hopeful)

60 hotel (already booked through Priceline)

150 insurance

400 excursions (already secured)

 

I must have a stash for drinking and gambling and then we have tips and souveniers which all totaled will be an additional $1,000.

[hvsteve1]

Budget? :rolleyes: That takes all the fun out of it. Besides, if I know how much it's going to cost,I'll probably be depressed.

[Cancruz]

Put me in with the people that don't budget. Hubby and I work very long hours. We work hard, we don't work hard at vacationing on a budget.

 

Instead, I try to be reasonable.

 

I search for off season cruising dates, usually get the top balcony but not suite cabin.

 

I usually book excursions privately so I do save money there, but don't chintz on the excursion experience.

 

I am not a big drinker but always order a drink at the show and occasionally have wine at dinner, and they'll cork and save the bottle for the next night. I don't drink soda and am an ice tea freak normally so I drink for free all week other than the bar drinks.

 

We don't gamble.

 

I spend my precruise day at the local spa, kind of ease myself into the moment. I get marvelous spa treatments to look great for my arrival at a fraction of what they'd cost on the ship.

 

I just moved and don't want my new house cluttered up with useless trinkets, so other than the occasional picture frame, perhaps a photo from the cruise shop IF it's awfully good, I purchase something for my grown kids and let it go at that. I do take a TON of pics myself.

 

We stay at the pre cruise hotel we like that is close to the pier and leave the car there for free. So what I would have paid for pier parking, now translates to a discounted hotel rate.

 

Flying, I do the best I can with pricing be it through the cruise line or privately.

 

I spent many young years clipping coupons like mad and eating a ton of pasta. I'd rather eat pasta again than pinch pennies when it comes to vacationing.

 

But overall I would say that budgets are relative to where you're cruising, Caribbean being the cheapest.

 

 

DITTO!!! I hope we meet someday on a cruise. You sound like my kind of person. I still clip coupons and eat pasta. In fact after 32.5 years teaching teenagers - I still substitute for "Cruise money." Everyone around here thinks I'm crazy - cruise crazy. At least on CC if I'm crazy, I'm in good company.

 

 

We are practical but when we are onboard we don't distract from a great time worrying. Save ahead and enjoy - pay it forward. We met a couple on one cruise who said their goal was to get off the boat with a "zero" balance. Doesn't sound like a good cruise goal to me!

 

PS love your middle age comment - count us in...

[MSC]

Many years ago we sailed the Nieu(sp?) Amsterdam and the Big Red Boat - I don't remember what that cost. More recently we've been on the Disney Magic twice, will be sailing July 3 on the Amsterdam to Alaska and have a Costa Magica trip planned for next spring. I would estimate all the cruises cost between $3000 to $5000 each. It depends whether we fly, how far we travel and what ship we are on. No matter what ship - it's all worth every penny.:)

[atlmagic]

We don't budget a thing. What we want to do - we do.

 

Our "budget consciousness" is in purchasing the cruise. We try to find a deal on where/with whom we want to go - we look for bargains in pre/post cruise plans.

 

After we decide to go on the trip' date=' we don't think about money again. We go on whatever excursions we wish - we purchase however many drinks we please - we buy whatever we went.

 

But - we don't usually buy anything on the ship and we don't drink much - so our extras don't amount to much.[/quote']

Thats what we do. We pick a good cruise price. And everythiing else is negotiable. We try to keep excusions to under 200 bucks but we dont HAVE to do that either. We can just go local and make up our own tours.

[Bruin Steve]

Funny question...

There is no answer because there is no standard cruise...

I have spent anywhere from a high of $25,000+ to a low of under $500...

 

For less than $500, we did a 3-night Baja on the RCCL Monarch of the Seas...

Got a last minute deal on a major low season (January 9) cruise that was 3 weeks of and nowhere near selling out...Took an inside cabin for the two of us for a staggering $60 apiece plus port charges and taxes...The port charges and taxes were more than the cruise fare...so, the total cruise cost came to $320...With us living in SoCal, there was no airfare or hotels...we drove to the pier, parked ($10 a day) and got on the ship...With a shore excursion in Ensenada, bar bill and tips, the entire cost didn't even hit $500...

 

On the other end, we did a 15 night cruisetour to Alaska (6 night train/bus tour, 7 night cruise, 2 nights post cruise in Vancouver) on the Celebrity Summit last July...Took the kids and went first class all the way, booking two sky suites...ate a lot of Crab and Salmon in Alaska, took expensive excursions like Helicopter glacier landings (around $800 for the four of us just for that), whale watching, horseback riding...Did airfare LAX to Fairbanks, Vancouver to LAX through the cruise line...By the time we were done, this was a heck of an expensive vacation...

 

Obviously, most of our cruises fall somewhere inbetween...

 

Major variables are whether or not airfare is needed, how long a cruise, how many days of pre- or post-cruise we do and what category of cabin we book...

 

A typical 7-night Caribbean for us...balcony cabin, one pre-cruise hotel night, air from So Cal, excursions, etc., runs around $4000 - $4500 for two...

But, for a 7-night Mexican Riviera, we save on airfare and pre-cruise hotel, so knock that down to around $3000 ($1000 each for the cruise plus tips, shore excursions, bar bill, limo to the pier, incidentals)

 

A typical 2-3 week European cruise...like our 2003 Mediterranean - 13 nights plus four in hotels or our upcoming 14 nighter pluis 7 hotel nights...costs us around the $10,000-$11,000 range...usually saving by booking only an inside cabin for the port-intensive routes...

[Wennfred]

Coke Cards for all $45.00 x 5 = $225.00 ????

 

Ouch ! I will show my kids where the Water fountain is located and the free drinks on Lido deck LOL:cool:

[KKB]

Then our school district removed our Oct. break...and cruising in March is WAY more expensive.

I doubt I'll ever get by this cheap again...

Cruise $550 each/2

Airfare $125 each (deal--KC-FLL)

Hotels $100/ 2 nights

Drinks $700 (sticker shock on that one!)

Other spending: $1000

Gambling: we got lucky & won bingo, blackjack tourney the first day! And we were doing well at the tables! So Princess covered our gambling expenses for the week!

We got by on close to $2500--figuring $4000 is more in the actual ballpark.

Gee, airfares are running $350+ RT to pretty much everywhere! I'm not comfortable saying $350 is a good deal!

Happy cruising!

Kristin

[huskerdude]

We will spend a little more on this cruise than the last one as we are taking a friend of the DD. But we are also donig more excursions than last time and will do more shopping than last time. And we are booking 2 rooms instaed of 1.

[mspink98]

(loosely quoted)

Anything you NEED on the cruise is included. Anything you WANT is extra.

 

That's what sold me on a cruise for our next vacation. We've cruised before, and we've done land vacations before. It ws either going to be a cruise or Mexico in 2007 for our anniversary. We're traveling with a group, including both sets of our parents. The potential problem arose when we started thinking about the kinds of things to do and places to eat that one set of parents was accustomed to was very different than what the other set was. One set of parents would have no problem eating in a 5 star restaurant every night, while that would break the other set's bank. I didn't want that discrepancy in what certain members of our traveling group could do. I didn't want one set of parents to have to spend way more than they were comfortable with, nor did I want the other set to feel like that went all that way to a place with fabulous food, only to eat at taco stands for every meal. So, we decided that a cruise was the best option. Once the cruise fare is paid, everything that you NEED is covered. We can all eat in the same place at the same time, with no extra money spent by anyone. Sure, drinks aren't included, but a pre-dinner cocktail is optional; dinner itself isn't. We don't tend to be big on excursions, so that won't be a huge expense, either. Flight, car rental, and hotel will all be budgeted for ahead of time. We told each couple traveling to budget $4000 (per couple), and we expect that to be more than enough. But, we figured better to have some left over than have to come up with extra after the trip.

 

[angelia denise]

My SO and I usually take great pride in finding great cruise prices. I still think that a cruise is the BEST value for the money. I've done my homework and still can't find any all inclusive resort that allows you to be "ocean-side" and visit so many different places - really a "selling point" for a cruise.

 

Having said that.....I actually started off with three people in a room, (an inside room that was way down in the ship) my mom, my aunt, and myself. I did fly there, but had no excursions. I don't know what I spent, but it wasn't very much.

 

The next time I "graduated" to a higher inside cabin and seven days - only two of us (my so and me). We did quite a bit more excursions and drove to the ship from South Carolina - still a cheap inside room. We did really well money-wise, but spent more than before.

 

From that point on, we kept spending more and more - getting scuba certified, buying the equipment, doing a lot more excursions, getting outside rooms, newer ships - and we always seemed to keep it under or around $1300 each. (We don't ususally fly)

 

But this year, (the 5th one) we are going all out! We have booked a balcony for the first time, taking a more expensive - nicer ship, AND departing from San Juan. We have not booked any excursions YET, but I know we will end up doing something in every port, including the scuba diving. We did not go last year, so this year, I guess we feel like we can splurge a little.

 

So far here is our "budget" for two

(7 day, RCCL Adventure of the Seas, balcony D2, June sailing) all booked at the last minute:

*$2148 cruise

*$512 airfare

*$65 (plus tax) hotel

*$40 airport parking fees

*100 gas to and from Orlando

*430 or so for excursions

*$200 tips

*$200 drinks?

 

Beyond that, we will probably take some sodas with us; we don't gamble, and we don't buy a lot of stuff. I'll probably buy some clothes - not many now after thinking about this "budget".

 

I have to confess that we do think about how much we are spending, and we try hard to keep it within reason, because it's so easy to spend it all so fast. If I think about it before I go and try to plan a little, I seem to enjoy the trip more by not being "surprised" at the cost in the end.

 

Thanks for posting this question. I think it is a very valuable reference that has made me take a hard second look at my budget, which will hopefully make me enjoy my trip that much more, by being prepared!

[PlanningToCruise]

we have not planned a budget, it's vacation, but we're conservative anyway:)

So far here is what our costs look like for 2 ppl 7 day Eastern Caribbean

$ 1,430 cruise for 2, Balcony (assigned cabins)

$ 462. airfare (booked)

$ 130. hotel suite (2 nights pre-cruise) sharing w/ sis and BIL (booked)

$ 60. Meals pre-cruise

$ 300. ?? for excursions

$ 300. tips

300 ??? Drinks

$ 75. Rental /mini van/2 day's pre/1 day post cruise) split w/ sis/BIL )booked

 

that comes to almost 3100. we plan on taking traveler's checks/cash, and using CC for S&S card.

[ladycaveat]

For someone traveling alone . . . the price of the cabin alone is usually about 150% to 200% of what one pays when traveling with another. Thus, for a seven day cruise - the cruise itself is usually around $1,000 to $1,500. Everything else . . . air fare, taxi fares, excursions, drinks, "goodies and gifts" . . . total is usually somewhere around $2,500 to $3,000.

[land lover]

When I was young always cared about the price, cared seldom about the place....... now that I'm "middle-aged" never care about the price just about the place........after I decide where I want to go then I find out the going rate and deal from there....but if I am paying alot in air fare I notice I spend alot more on my trip............:)

[Chucksta63]

What's a "budget" ???

 

Oh yeah, that thing you do the rest of the year.

So true!!!!!

I splurge and pay for it later!!!!!!

For 1 week I am a King and I have what ever I want!!!

Wife does the same!!!

5k does us!!

:)

[mnk2005]

$900.00 for 3 night cruise in 4a cabin

$100.00 excursions

$300.00 Round trip airfare for 2

$500.00 spending money and tips

 

total: 1,800.00 for two people. Not bad!:)

 

 

 

Just 7 days to go!!!!!!!!

[lindajmac]

Family of Four and we usually spend aprox. $10,000.00 for our Cruises. I think your in the right ball park.

[crazy4cruisin]

We're a family of three, sailing on the NCL Sea for 7 days next week. Our tickets for a catagory C Superior ocean view room were 2025.00. We have booked 2 excursions for 410.00, 210.00 tips, est. 500.00 bar tab, 300.00 shopping money for the other 2 ports that we have no excursions for, 300.00 each for gambling etc. We live in Houston, so we don't have air fare or hotels, but the total for our cruise should be a little more than last time...somewhere around $5000 and that includes a few clothes and must haves for the trip. With us its the "must haves" that usually bust the bank.:o

[jjdmom8]

We sailed on the Glory last year and for the 4 of us (DH, myself, 11 yr old, 6 yr old) and spent around $6000. That includes everything. Of course my daughter had a HUGE wedding on the ship with 70 guests so that added another $5000.0. It was beautiful and I dont regret a thing. We are hoping to get away on upcoming cruise at about $3500 total. We will be driving in the day we sail, and heading home as soon as we are off the ship, so no hotels.