Realistically... the *extras*

[sjn911]

You really can go all ways..and not feel skimped on because of the free ice cream, tea, coffee, lemonade, free family games and entertainment, beaches at ports...study safe beach options at the ports and ease and cost of getting there and having a flexible water bottle is wonderful...of course watch drinking water in some areas.

 

My niece on the last 12 year old to have a special trip with granny and papa spent 300 dollars in the Disney arcade on the Wonder... to a shocked but "Oh Well" grandpa.....( (78 is not 30 LOL)...that may be a limit and watch thing if your kids like these things..she loves those games she plays with her dad at home on computer...soooo....LOL.

Edited May 16, 2014 by sjn911

[travelinggrands]

Have you checked out the roll call for your cruise? Quite frequently people have booked a private tour & are looking for others to share the expense & fun. Usually, they are experienced cruisers & know their way around. Check out the comments in the ports section & read comments on private tours, shopping, etc.

Have fun!

[RuthlessBoss]

Thanks! From what I have read it sounded like you really do control what you spend once the cruise is booked! I was hoping that would be the case and there aren't any hidden expenses once we get on board!

 

Some here would call it nickel and diming. I call it control of your expenses.

[bunchesofun]

My niece on the last 12 year old to have a special trip with granny and papa spent 300 dollars in the Disney arcade on the Wonder... to a shocked but "Oh Well" grandpa.....( (78 is not 30 LOL)...that may be a limit and watch thing if your kids like these things..she loves those games she plays with her dad at home on computer...soooo....LOL.

 

You can specify with guest services exactly how much you want to allow your children. We set it at $70 per child. That's $10 a day. The arcade games are over $1 each so that's not a lot but kept them from going hog wild. I told them if they wanted anything from the shops they better do that first so they didn't run out of money. Of course the shirts are cheaper at the end of the cruise, but I don't think they had any money left by then.

[wigglit]

My family of 4 will be going on a Western Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Dream for MG2015, our first cruise!

 

Besides the expenses of the ship and gratuities (that we will pre pay). How much should I plan on spending onboard and on excursions? We won't need a soda card or the bubbles card. We drink tea and water. So what else would be an expense on board that we would end up spending money on?

 

For excursions, we've looked at doing the dolphin swim tours so I know that pricing. Just curious about what others have spent and what I can realistically plan to spend on food and fun.

 

Thanks!

 

 

My Family of four has cruised 3 times, this July will make # 4. Normally we buy the soda cards for my Hubby and the kids. I don’t drink soda so it would be wasted on me. The lemonade is good but the tea is gross! I'm a southern girl and tea does not come out a can! Sorry…..Rant!

 

My son likes to play in the arcade, normally he saves money prior to the trip and that is what he uses. We don’t do the specialty restaurants or the overpriced coffee stand. I do like a family picture every year, but only one. We also like to play in the casino a little if the mood strikes. I buy t-shirts if I see on that I like. We normally go to the candy store at least once.

 

We don’t book excursions with the ship, in my opinion they are overpriced and I don’t like being on someone else’s schedule. I like to do my own thing. We own our own snorkeling gear and I normally research and find the best spots to enter on your own. We take a cab, snorkel for a while then find a restaurant to eat at then shop for a while prior to getting back on the ship. Again, we like doing our own thing!

 

Like others have mentioned, we take cash with us for tips. The cabin steward is really good! We always leave him/her something extra daily. We also have it for the cab fares and tips for servers if we order a drink. My husband and I are not big drinkers but I do LOVE that first day sail away drink! YUM, YUM, YUM!

 

My husband normally takes $300.00 or so in cash, small bills and our sign and sail account is never over $300.00.

 

We are not being cheap, that’s just what we spend. :cool:

 

Where we normally overspend depends on where we are porting out of! We always go to the sail away port a few days early and that can get pricy!

 

Hope you have fun!:)

[mzloolue]

Some here would call it nickel and diming. I call it control of your expenses.

 

Exactly.

[mzloolue]

There are no hidden fees, anything that is extra is clearly noted as such.

A good idea is to set a budget and stick to it.

I know people who have gone on cruises and spent under $50 extra. Others can spend tens of thousands.

Since you have children, also make it clear to them what they can and can not buy. You will be able to monitor their S&S cards.

 

We would only have charging privileges on one card.

If the kids needed to buy something they would ask their dad.

 

There is a pool, mini-golf, basketball, ping pong, television, ice cream and lemonade on tap.

What else could a kid actually need?

A few dollars for room service maybe.

[sjn911]

You can specify with guest services exactly how much you want to allow your children. We set it at $70 per child. That's $10 a day. The arcade games are over $1 each so that's not a lot but kept them from going hog wild. I told them if they wanted anything from the shops they better do that first so they didn't run out of money. Of course the shirts are cheaper at the end of the cruise, but I don't think they had any money left by then.

 

Lovely ideas thank you...I think for all of us..any tips like this are great....if this auntie or her mom go on a cruise...or even her grandparents could again..dad may be able...it would not happen on round two...

 

She is a good young lady...and a couple years older now too...that is fabulous for anyone and they can apply...if you don't plan and kind of frugal in life..you are just in shock...and cruising is sooo wonderful because with all the help here and good planning..well I learn new fun affordable ideas all the time...

 

My first cruise at 20...I think the bill was 74 dollars in 1980 and all in drinks, mostly pop!!..I was very fortunate to be on 3 back to back budget Europe tours after studying abroad..I just died when i got that bill...good thing I had a meal plan and was on continental breakfast the next week...LOL...Sarah

Edited May 16, 2014 by sjn911

[brittknee]

Wow! Thanks everyone. Very useful information! I, too, think that we will do our own thing and not book with Carnival for excursions this time around. Since it is our first cruise, and it's 7 days, I don't know how the kids (6 and 3) are going to handle it. I would rather just wing it and they would probably be just as happy playing in the sand somewhere. The only excursion that caught my attention is the dolphin swim, I think my 6 year old would LOVE it! Also a newbie question... while in port.. does the ship stay by to where you can get on and off throughout the day, while in port?

[NavarreCruiser]

The good news are there are no HAVE TO's. It is absolutely possible to walk off the ship with a zero balance.

 

We have walked off the ship with a check because we didn't use all our refundable obc.

[jmcancruise]

Here is what we do. We budget about $100 day per person. We divide our money up per day and move it forward from day to day whatever is left over. We always have left over, but it means later in the cruise you can feel more comfortable spending on what you said no to earlier in the cruise. It actually seems to save us money since we like to see how much we can come home with to start saving for another cruise.

 

On our first cruise we were unaware of just how much extra you could spend on so didn't take nearly as much with us. We still had an amazing time. One other cruise we decided to really do it on the cheap and spent very little. Taxis to a cheap (or free) beach and not much else. One of the most relaxing vacations ever. Decide what you are comfortable with and plan around that. Just be sure you have emergency money and insurance in case of trouble.

[MissCruiseAddict]

The good news are there are no HAVE TO's. It is absolutely possible to walk off the ship with a zero balance.

 

Yup. I went on a cruise last year with a cousin. It was a party cruise that had to be purchased through a travel agency so our gratuities were prepaid. I ended up owing about 30 bucks on my sign and sail card for drinks (I love Kiss on the Lips) and my cousin owed nothing (she doesn't drink and we didn't do the casino or any excursions)

 

 

Just like everyone else has said just budget. Research the pay extra stuff ahead of time to see if it is something you want to do. Also you can check your account daily on your TV or most ships have those kiosk things to check so you can see what you are spending as you go along.

[sjb.illinois]

Also a newbie question... while in port.. does the ship stay by to where you can get on and off throughout the day, while in port?

 

This depends on the specific port. Some yes, some no. Best to research and know what to expect. We always took the mini cereal boxes from the buffet in the morning to snack on (some may say take sandwiches but there are regulations against anything that's not sealed/packaged). There are also great tips on the family and ports of call boards to help you plan for kid-friendly snacks or places to eat.

 

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