leats and most you have put on your cruise credit card

[ckr31]

A guy was telling me he and his wife have been on many cruise like 50 in all he says every cruise they see how least amount of money they can put on their ships credit card..I was wondering after a 7 or 14 day cruise what is the least amount and most you have spent on your ship credit card I am sure they have been some surprises.I know a couple did a 14 day and at the end of the cruise on spent $300 on their card.On our last 14 day cruse we spent $2,400

[chrysalis]

Lots of times zero, because I pay the account in cash.

 

...but it is a bit of a personal question, don't ya think?...and has little to do with Princess....

[Pam in CA]

After my 17-day cruise a year ago on the Star, I had a $42 credit. Of course, I had a lot of OBC from various sources, which helped and I took all independent tours.

[Working 2 Cruise]

I am with Chrysalis and think this is very personal. The amount anyone puts on their card or spends onboard is pretty much their own business... But having said that, I put enough to pay the auto-tip, and various expenses...

[Loonbeam]

If you don't mind, I will use that as exhibit A why elite level cruisers aren't as profitable for the line as some may think :)

 

After my 17-day cruise a year ago on the Star, I had a $42 credit. Of course, I had a lot of OBC from various sources, which helped and I took all independent tours.

[cattolica]

$11

[sjmbruce]

if you think the question is too personal, don't answer. now isn't that easy?

 

 

my husband and i put about $350 on our princess card on our first cruise. it was 10 days long. a few drinks, a few photographs, and two princess excursions. we didn't use any cash and had a small amount of OBC. i can definitely see how easy it would be to run that tab up in a short amount of time!

[Times Prince]

A guy was telling me he and his wife have been on many cruise like 50 in all he says every cruise they see how least amount of money they can put on their ships credit card..I was wondering after a 7 or 14 day cruise what is the least amount and most you have spent on your ship credit card I am sure they have been some surprises.I know a couple did a 14 day and at the end of the cruise on spent $300 on their card.On our last 14 day cruse we spent $2,400

This is not a simple question. Like Pam's example, most experienced cruisers have multiple sources of OBC, and use these credits (real money) to pay for tips, excursions, onboard shops, drinks, and other things.

 

What is the average amount one spends on the cruise is the better question - that would count independent excursions, food, drinks, plus all the aforementioned items, plus gambling if that is your thing.

 

Princess obviously has a business model which includes FCC OBC, cabin rate discounts, and OBC that they offer directly. However my TA's OBC comes out of her profit margin, and Carnival Corporation CCL stockholder benefits come out of their operating expenses, so Princess Cruises is making money from these sources.

 

We have had a cruise where we max'ed out our credit card, and one where we walked away at the end of the cruise with cash after a great OBC from a move-over offer. Princess definitely makes money on the average, so the "how cheaply can you cruise?" question is moot.

 

 

If you want an inexpensive cruise then Don't drink anything that costs money, Don't eat anything that costs money, Don't gamble, Don't buy anything, Use up available sources of OBC, Don't take any of the interesting excursions available.

When retired and on a very limited income, these may sense, and that may be the motivation of the couple in the anecdote.

 

However does that really fit your cruise style and enjoyment of your vacation time and money?

[Nebr.cruiser]

We've come back with extra cash at the end of a cruise because we didn't use up all the OBC.

 

Normally, besides the gratuities that are charged daily, we spend $100 or less extra, usually for a couple of pictures. We don't spend much on the ship; we hardly ever drink, even at home, don't gamble, have never gone to a specialty restaurant and don't buy much else.

 

We do spend money for private excursions sometimes in ports, but very, very rarely for ship excursions.

 

We have a great time doing exactly what we want to do. Everyone has their own priorities, wants and needs, so I try not to judge. I am very surprised sometimes at how much others spend on a cruise, though, sometimes more than we have spent for everything.

[caribill]

If you don't mind, I will use that as exhibit A why elite level cruisers aren't as profitable for the line as some may think :)

 

One does not have to be elite or even platinum to have a bunch of OBC on a Princess cruise.

 

A person on a second Princess cruise of 17 days (the length of Pam's cruise) could have:

a) Military OBC of $250

b) Stockholder OBC (one per cabin) of $250

c) FCC OBC of up to $150 depending on cabin type

d) Travel agent OBC of $xxx

e) OBC from Princess based on a special promotion when booking

 

So two people in a cabin who are eligible for all of the above could have over $1050 of OBC.

 

(I used 2nd cruise as an example as FCCs would would have to have been purchased, either on a first Princess cruise or by doing a BVE).

[fishywood]

If you don't mind, I will use that as exhibit A why elite level cruisers aren't as profitable for the line as some may think :)

 

One does not have to be elite or even platinum to have a bunch of OBC on a Princess cruise.

 

A person on a second Princess cruise of 17 days (the length of Pam's cruise) could have:

a) Military OBC of $250

b) Stockholder OBC (one per cabin) of $250

c) FCC OBC of up to $150 depending on cabin type

d) Travel agent OBC of $xxx

e) OBC from Princess based on a special promotion when booking

 

So two people in a cabin who are eligible for all of the above could have over $1050 of OBC.

 

None of the incentives cited above would exist if they did not help, rather than hurt, the bottom line.

 

From an accounting standpoint every person signing a charge slip on board constitutes an increase in revenue for that ship, no matter how much ahead one's account may be with OBCs.

 

Example: the FCC program. For the number of open FCCs on the books, the accountants calculate the present value of total OBCs to eventually be paid out based on the ratios of cruise length, cabin class and average time between FCC purchase and actual booking. The value of this Contingent Liability will actually be less than the value of the Prepaid Revenue Asset--the account holding everyone's $100 deposit until it is used for a booking. So you are still theoretically spending your own money.

 

Similarly, for the shareholder credit: the present value of the aniticpated OBCs based on analysis of what percentage of bookings are eligible for what amount of credit will certainly be less than the economic impact of ending the program--an unknown decrease in bookings coupled with a significant selloff of CCL stock. So one could say that the expense of this program actually results in an increase (or at least a steadying effect) of the book value of company equity.

 

(I could go on but I am sure at this hour all this jargon must be mind-numbing :D)

 

(Oh, and the answer to the OPs question can only be an emphatic MYOB :rolleyes:)

[pablo222]

I am with Chrysalis and think this is very personal.

 

...but...people are posting under fake names. SO, what difference

does it make if it's personal?

[dmwnc1959]

...but...people are posting under fake names. SO, what difference

does it make if it's personal?

 

Even though quite a few of us post under made up 'screen names', or with avatars of kittens, Darth Vader, or moon beams, the 'difference' you alluded to comes in the fact that many of us actually get to meet each other face to face. Quite a few of us engage in lengthy, year long conversations with fellow shipmates on our Roll Calls and chat it up socially, but our personal finances may be a topic we don't choose to reveal. So, even though I am dmwnc1959 to you... Andrea, Steve, and the rest of the good folks on my Roll Call got to know me as David, meet me face to face, and even see the inside of my cabin during the Cabin Crawl. And we had some tasty bourbon balls in the process. So, you see, the discussion of personal finances is personal, fake screen names and kitten avatars and all.

 

Last year when I embarked on Ruby Princess the prior guests in my cabin left their end-of-cruise final bill in the door jam. It listed over $1600 in spa charges. I knew of one couple on a Princess cruise to Alaska I was on spent over $1000 in alcohol alone. If you choose to participate in revealing your personal finances, know that it's not just Cruise Critic members that read this forum. Princess Cruises reads it too. And they probably read our Roll Calls.

 

Me? I can take a week-long cruise and if I spend more than $300 I am blowing my budget. What helps is that I have pre-paid my gratuities, drink package, and anything else I can prior to embarkation. That keeps my bill low, and I always deal in cash accounts so nothing ever gets charged to my debit card.

 

But I do agree that if you don't like the topic, or you think it's personal, don't reply.

 

I look forward to meeting everyone on my Dec. 8th Royal Princess Roll Call, them already knowing in advance I am a 'cheap date'. ;)

 

.

[pablo222]

...but our personal finances may be a topic we don't choose to reveal.

 

...so don't reply?

 

And, I'm pretty sure princess doesn't need to read this forum

for information on how much people charge.

[dmwnc1959]

...so don't reply?

 

And, I'm pretty sure princess doesn't need to read this forum

for information on how much people charge.

 

The 'don't reply' part was for those folks who deem conversations about their personal finances personal. If you bothered to read on, the rest in plain English, I did mention my onboard expense habits.

 

And yes, Princess does read this forum. Just like RCI and Celebrity read those forums too, regardless of what information they glean from it. Their spreadsheets don't tell the whole story. ;)

 

.

[pablo222]

The 'don't reply' part was for those folks who deem conversations about their personal finances personal. If you bothered to read on, the rest in plain English, I did mention my onboard expense habits.

 

I only bother to read things that are interesting.

[DanJ]

I agree that how much you actually spend (and considering OBC as part of your spend) is more interesting than simply what your sign and sail bill was at the end. On the Carnival Dream, our onboard bill somehow made it up to $1200 for the 4 of us, and I came home with about $200 of the $700 in US cash I took. Granted, a chunk of the cash was spent over the 2 nights in hotels prior to the cruise too. For sure, the casino wasn't very good to me at all this time around though.

 

And really, if you don't want to participate in discussions like this, feel free to not lecture about it.

[sail7seas]

If you don't mind, I will use that as exhibit A why elite level cruisers aren't as profitable for the line as some may think :)

 

 

DH and I cancel out your theory of 'elite level' cruisers not being profitable. HAL has made a great deal of money from us on our over 80 cruises with them.

 

We ALWAYS have a bill at the end of our cruise. We enjoy wine with dinner, I might have a manicure/pedicure, if there is something we like in the shops etc etc etc

 

Generalization rarely work. ;)

 

[Davechipp74]

my last cruise was 17 days, total ship board account at end of cruise was $4,700. yes my wife and i could have paid for anther cruise, but we had a great time, tons of shopping, shore excursions, up-sell dining, drinking, gambling. paid it off with a debt card at end of cruise. we only get to go away maybe 3 times a year if were lucky, live it up i say

[Hlitner]

If you don't mind, I will use that as exhibit A why elite level cruisers aren't as profitable for the line as some may think :)

 

Not sure what this has to do with being Elite. We have also taken a few cruises where our on board account is zero (or within a few dollars of zero) because of OBCs we got when we booked combined with other OBCs such as the Stockholder credit. None of this had anything to do with our level (we have been Elite with Princess for many years) but is simply one reason why we always shop around for the best deals when we book any cruise. The reality is that frequent cruisers (we are certainly in that class having spend several years on various cruise ships) are indeed profitable because we cruise a lot. The cruise lines, just like the airlines, do understand that repeat customers are a very important market. In our case we cruised 101 days in 2012 and chose our cruises based on itinerary, quality, and cost. It is a very competitive cruise market for those of us who cruise on multiple lines. But not as competitive to cruisers that will stick with a single cruise line no matter what (we meet a lot of these type of travelers).

 

By the way, we have a Celebrity cruise booked for later this year where our onboard account should be zero at the end of the 2 week cruise. Why? Because we got a drink package promotion (which covers all of our onboard drinks) and also pre-paid gratuities. So it is unlikely we will spend one penny of additional money onboard since we seldom to ever book the overpriced cattle drives (called Excursions).

 

Hank

[Loonbeam]

I didn't say 'profitable' I specifically said AS profitable. Experienced, elite cruisers are generally much more adept at maximizing benefits and reducing costs. Most first time cruisers would be hard pressed to pull of a bill of $40 after 17 days because they are not likely to know many of the options exist.

 

DH and I cancel out your theory of 'elite level' cruisers not being profitable. HAL has made a great deal of money from us on our over 80 cruises with them.

 

We ALWAYS have a bill at the end of our cruise. We enjoy wine with dinner, I might have a manicure/pedicure, if there is something we like in the shops etc etc etc

 

Generalization rarely work. ;)

 

[NoobCruise]

We did a 7 day in Alaska last Sept and left with $115 on our credit card. We pre-paid a bundle before sailing though between booking ship excursions, specialty restaurant, booze for our room, gifts etc. We got 21 cruise days credited for a 7 day cruise, but it was almost all pre-paid. We had a few drinks over the week and autogratuities at the end, but we also had an expensive pre-paid excursion cancelled that was credited back to our account or it would have been closer to $300.

[NoobCruise]

I am with Chrysalis and think this is very personal. The amount anyone puts on their card or spends onboard is pretty much their own business... But having said that, I put enough to pay the auto-tip, and various expenses...

 

I think, if it feels too personal, then don't answer it. I think a lot of people, particularly new cruiser will be interested. Many on their first cruise aren't aware of how all those charges can add up. I've seen people shocked at their bills at the end. Others may be interested in HOW people keep that last bill low.

[sail7seas]

I didn't say 'profitable' I specifically said AS profitable. Experienced, elite cruisers are generally much more adept at maximizing benefits and reducing costs. Most first time cruisers would be hard pressed to pull of a bill of $40 after 17 days because they are not likely to know many of the options exist.

 

 

I commend you for your thrift and applaud your will power, however, that is not a goal of ours on vacation. We don't spend ridiculously but we do purchase the things that we enjoy.

 

Each to their own.

I wouldn't dream of suggesting to anyone what they should or should not spend. Not any business of mine. :)

 

[sail7seas]

I think, if it feels too personal, then don't answer it. I think a lot of people, particularly new cruiser will be interested. Many on their first cruise aren't aware of how all those charges can add up. I've seen people shocked at their bills at the end. Others may be interested in HOW people keep that last bill low.

 

 

If new cruiser, or anyone for that matter, is concerned they will run up a larger bill than they can comfortably afford, they should check the balance regularly during the cruise. If they think they are charging too much, it's better to put on the brakes before you are totally shocked at the end of the cruise. Got to Front Office and request a print out or if your cruise line/ship offers it, check you bill on the tv.