How much damage did you do?

[Rosethorn40]

It wasn't on Carnival, but on the Emerald Princess. We just got back last Sunday and our bill was over $2300! No photos, less than $50 in the gift shop, and we don't gamble. Where did it all go? ShoreX (On Princess you don't have to pay in advance), one massage in the spa, Thermal suite passes, two 10-day passes in the Sanctuary (Princess Spa like adult only area), a few drinks (Maybe 12 all together) and 2 dinners in specialty restaurants. Also the $11.50 pp per day gratuity. And that doesn't include the cash gratuities that I gave to our room steward, the Sanctuary Stewards, and our waiters in the specialty restaurants. I nearly passed out when I saw the bill. My DH has said he doesn't even want to know. The good news is that we had a great time so I guess it was money well spent (But I can't afford to splurge like this very often).

[mek]

I often wonder if customs thinks I'm lying when I say I bought nothing or just $20 in trinkets. I will buy bottles of Bailey's Coffee Flavored because I use it in a cake I bake and it's the bigger bottle and better price than on land, but I had pretty good stock so haven't bought any recently.

 

We had $0 to claim after our cruise three weeks ago! Spent money on board and in the ports, just didn't bring anything home.

[christyran1228]

Our cruise was only 4 days ... so we put $300 cash in our account (tips ppd). Since our kids were with us we didn't drink much, and we spent maybe $50 total on slots (DD turned 18 on the trip .. had to let he see how quickly you can lose! lol). Bought a couple pictures, a few souvenirs ...not much. Donated our $2.55 to St. Jude.

 

In Cozumel we spent waaaaaaay more than I'd planned, though. Lol

 

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[gamma5]

We probably vary according to ship. If there is a spa pkg avail (thallasotherapy pool) that's $249 for the both of us for the wk, then a few drinks a day for me, wine at dinner, (DH rarely drinks on board for some strange reason?), specialty restaurant maybe one night if available, a few pics on some trips, a few trinkets sometimes, we rarely gamble. DH does buy his Royal Crown to take home, and usually some Jack for friends. So, we can run between $500-$700. We pre-pay all excursions and gratuities. We sometimes have OBC and the rest goes on the credit card. We pay it off from pre-planned vacation savings account when we get home. I think almost everyone will be somewhat different depending upon what they like to do. Only you know what you like and what you can afford.

[sfpen66]

Our last cruise, DH got sick and we had to use the medical center. We normally purchase a few souvenirs onboard and have a few drinks. We go to the casino on the no smoking nights. We pre-pay our gratuities before the cruise. So we had a balance of $468. We did have a $100 OBC, otherwise it would have been more.

[JustCruiseMe]

12.00 but other half lost a bit gambling but he had cash. Not drinking and bringing own soda's helps.

[Faith Girl]

Just curious....what game or games did your wife win the money playing?

[TXFATGUY]

My last bill on the Magic was $5700.00. Wife was not happy with the entertainment charges on the bill.

[PDXJAS]

First cruise Disney 2000 4 day first honeymoon $ 800+ Lots of drinks, Liquor brought home, sweatshirt (still wear it), Fancy champagne glasses ( long broken) Tips paid in cash those days.

 

Second cruise 3 day family reunion. RC $398 Lots of drinks, Oh I got the round. Liquor brought home, Pictures, Bus x2 to LAX. Mama $76 soda package, bingo and tips

 

Third cruise Valor 2011 Second honeymoon 7 day $542. Tips, Wine package, 4 cartons of cigs , picture, a few trinkets, a few dinks. The big difference I FOUND CC. Learned the tricks.

 

Fourth Cruise in 8 days~ tips pre paid. No OBC but got $480 refunded. $50 cruise cash. 4 day cruise 3 adults 1 child on account. We will see how we do. Hopefully $200. Bringing on soda, wine. MIL will want cigs. I think that is were the $50 will go.

[Out to sea!]

$6.19. But I took out $70 in the casino so in reality it was -$63.81. Had $740 in OBC! :D

[pita2]

I am truly glad my husband doesnt read these boards....LOL...I gamble, well i really wouldnt call it gambling, more like donating, on 7 day my cruse has never been under 1k and husband doesnt drink....

[mrsd912]

We prepay tips and excursions, so our bill is fairly minimal. Last time we started out with $260 in OBC (close to what we have now), and we ended up with a $215 dollar bill at the end, which I thought was high because we don't drink, but we were newbies too.

We Bought some pictures, and specialty frames to put them in, steak house dinner, DH spent some money at Cherry on Top, we got hooked with water bottles and carriers getting off the ship once (at $18 a piece :eek:), and I got stuck buying cold medicine on the ship. We also bought some sodas instead of bringing our own on board, and I bought coffee at the coffee shop a few times.

This cruise I expect our bill to be under $100, because we're not totally green anymore and know better.

[rushwater7710]

Always prepay excursions and grats then put 1000 in cash on SS card. Family vacation every year. 4 of us on same account. Last cruise got lucky won 600. Did not spend it. First time we ever came home with money. 1000 is are normal damage.

[bjd2]

We usually spend at least $1000 on board between drinks, pics, gambling, jewelry, dining. Our excursions are booked and paid for ahead of time. For our cruise coming up in 2 weeks, we have $950 in cruise cash applied and will be buying Cheers. We also have a $700 Carnival gift card as we are planning on booking an 8 night sailing while on the ship. This should leave us with about 350 left and gratuities will come out of that.

 

We plan on eating at JiJi's and Bonsai for dinner at least one night. We always buy a few pictures. We'll probably be adding a bit more money. This would be more than plenty if $600 wasn't being spent on a deposit :-)

 

So in summary, I'm expecting to spend at least $1700 on the Sunshine in 2 weeks! :D

[CruiseHealing]

One cruise we had a $350 OBC. I told the family have fun, because after tips and a ceramic ship, the rest was theirs. Well, on the last day of the cruise I checked to see the balance, it was over $140 still remaining. DW bought some earrings and that left less then $8. I bought a drink and we left the ship owing $0.30. I left smiling all the way through customs.

 

Typically, after credits and tips our bill for a 4 day cruise is around $150 and 7 day cruises are $450. The most we have ever spent was close to $1k. But that is because I surprised DW with a ring that she wears every day. Money well spent.

[bluejay555]

When my husband goes, we spend over 1,000 on drinks and excursions, etc. Last summer I cruised with my mom and my two girls, and it was more like $800 for me and my two girls...I get them soda cards plus buy them virgin daiquiris, let them buy souvenirs in the gift shop, plus I drink my fair share of cocktails ;)

[Thom Cruise]

My sail and sign card was over $200+ thanks to the tips, and having to get on the slow internet in the cafe, due to some personal business I had to take care of for a couple of nights. They comped us a couple of nights due to our room smelling like vomit for a short period of time, but after the dust settled, it was around $200.

[305diva]

6 day on the Breeze... spent about $575. I purchased $300 cruise cash ahead of time. I prepaid my gratuities.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Edited March 16, 2014 by 305diva

[bluejay555]

My sail and sign card was over $200+ thanks to the tips, and having to get on the slow internet in the cafe, due to some personal business I had to take care of for a couple of nights. They comped us a couple of nights due to our room smelling like vomit for a short period of time, but after the dust settled, it was around $200.

 

Ew! That sounds unpleasant :eek: Yeah, I forgot about internet cafe...that racked up some charges on the card. When we have our girls' cruise, I keep in touch with the husband through email.

[Thom Cruise]

Ew! That sounds unpleasant :eek: Yeah, I forgot about internet cafe...that racked up some charges on the card. When we have our girls' cruise, I keep in touch with the husband through email.

 

It was bad, but Carnival took care of the situation rather quickly. There was a group of people in the hallway right outside our room (it was elegant night), and we just assumed one got drunk and threw up. It wound up being something else (we were on the 1st floor). The free nights helped out!

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

Wow, I"m surprised at all the folks who have such low bills.

We always prepay gratuities and don't book our excursions through Carnival, but if we do we prepay and we still average about 100 per day. We like to have a couple drinks, get a few bottles on boards to take home, always buy at least one or two pics and voila - 700.00 for the week.

[clackey]

We normally have $150-$200 on our S&S but I make up for it at the buffet.;)

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

My last bill on the Magic was $5700.00. Wife was not happy with the entertainment charges on the bill.

 

Holy crap!! 5700.00? What kind of entertainment was this??

[Thom Cruise]

Holy crap!! 5700.00? What kind of entertainment was this??

 

LOL! I was thinking the same thing!

[ericndeb]

Just off glory. Sitting in airport for flight home. Our "damage" was $1127. Ouch :) but it was a amazing weekend. That was a night at the steak house, chef table, pictures and 2 different snorkeling shore excursions. Expensive week but wouldn't change a thing :)