What did your kids spend money on?

[MaiTaiMary]

My kids are saving for their own "extra" expenses onboard the ship. We are trying to figure out a reasonable amount to bring.

 

What "extras" did your kids purchase on board?

 

How much are the arcade games?

 

They are 8, 10, and 11 years old and probably won't want to do the "build a bear".

 

I'm trying to think what other "fun" expenses they would have.

 

Cherry on top and the arcade are the only two I can think of.

 

Thanks. :)

[redeagle79]

On a seven day cruise my 9 year son spend 32 on the ship model and 6 on the candy store on the ship. In the ports he spent about another 30 on small items.

[SadieN]

We got our DD's the soda sticker.

 

Last time I checked the arcade was around $1/game.

 

Cherry on Top was around $3 for 1/4lb. Not much different than the comparable store in the mall.

 

You can limit the amount they spend onboard.

Edited October 25, 2015 by SadieN

[E&B]

We gave ours an allowance of $15 per day for arcade and soda/smoothies when they were 14 and 17. They each only spent about $5 total. It depends on the kid I think.

[MaiTaiMary]

For those who limit the amount of $ your kids spend a day, how do you do this?

 

You can put cash on their cards everyday and not have "charging privileges" after that, correct?

 

This is done at those kiosks? Or at Guest Services?

[springs741]

When setting up your accounts you simple place a daily limit on the charge amount. Our girls were a little older than your kids on their first sailing. They spent money at the coffee shop for ice cream and "fancy" desserts. They also enjoyed purchasing jewelry in the gift shop and T-shirts. Both girls are frugal and we just set a limit for the week. Again ours were older. You know your kids best.

[cruizinisthebest]

We gave ours an allowance of $15 per day for arcade and soda/smoothies when they were 14 and 17. They each only spent about $5 total. It depends on the kid I think.

 

That's what we did, but it was a lesson learned the hard way after my son went a little crazy in the arcade the first night:eek:! Note to parents: make sure your kids know not to choose the multi game button on the games in there. There are two buttons -single play and multi play. Just go in there with them and have a quick review. Lol.

 

He's the older one so while we wound up settled on $15 a day, but our daughter never reached her max. Things they spent money on - arcade, shakes, smoothies (they usually got one or the other each day). That's really it daily. They were allowed one gift from the shops and they went to cherry on top twice. Candy really isn't that expensive in there.

[MaiTaiMary]

When setting up your accounts you simple place a daily limit on the charge amount.

 

 

How?

[pooksma]

My son has enjoying buying a souvenir keychain at the ports we visited. A nice reminder :)

[maeormaenot]

My son was 12 the first time and he had $10/day to spend. He never spent his limit.

13 the second time- swiper loves to swipe. Gave him a $15/day limit. He hit it every day! Funny how much difference a year makes. He will probably remain at that limit in Feb-he will be 14.

 

We had to go to the kiosk every morning and add to his total limit. There was no way to set an actual daily limit. You just add to the toatal the amount he can spend.

 

Most if his $ is spent in the"kid casino" (arcade) he did win a G-shock watch for $12. We buy him the soda card. He sometimes buys a trinket for girlfriends or whatever in the gift shop.

 

In port...he's a trading fool. First trip to mexico, he traded everything he was wearing except his shoes and shorts. Came home with a ton of stuff!

[denas]

We don't do the soda cards. My youngest doesn't drink sodas and my oldest likes the smoothies and other options as well as sodas and with the card he would feel limited to just sodas. We just tell them how much they can spend for the week and tell them what that equates to per day. Then we just check their account balances pretty regularly. Never had a problem - even with the arcades! My kids sort of take it as a challenge! Mine buy ice cream, arcade games, maybe some souvenirs. It puts them in control of their vacation a bit. But they are also used to getting a weekly allowance so the first time we are expecting them to budget/keep track of money is NOT on a cruise!!

[Drazil65]

DS is 12 (for last 2 cruises) and will be 13 by time we leave Jan 2nd, he gets $150 to spend for the week onboard, limit is $25 a day, he spends on arcade mostly or the candy store once in a while (he does not drink soda so that is no an issue). Works great for all of us...:D

 

Note: we have him pick his "arcade" time before we get on cruise, last 2 cruises he picked right after dinner (we do early seating) so after dinner we head up there. That way everyone knows when we will stop by arcade and he is not asking constantly about it. We manage expectations that way {as he does not run the ship without supervision} so we allow him to pick his time, once he hits his $25 dollars for the day he is done.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Drazil65

[sarmat1]

What did your kids spend money on?

What "extras" did your kids purchase on board?

 

I'll be the one to go "off the board" here and give our truthful answer - nothing, as in zero. Their food is already taken care of with all the MDR meals (including dessert at every meal) and unlimited pizza and ice cream on Lido. Entertainment consists of going to all the family comedy and main theater shows each night and additionally deck parties when they exist. Ports are the excursions we've already planned (i.e. forts in San Juan, stingrays in Cayman, beaches almost anywhere, etc). Our kids have been on cruises each of the past 3 summers and haven't spent a dime. Really no need to.

[trvlgirlmq]

Our cruise this past summer was the first where the kids got their own "money". They were told it was for soda, cherry on top and the gift shop. They asked if they could spend some in the arcade and we did say yes but to be mindful of how much. They spent it all on the second day trying to win an iPad from the claw machine. They will not have any "money" on our cruise next year.

[sweenbean21]

My son is 11 and been on 8 cruises, we have always made his card so he can't spend any money. We take him to the arcade one time during the cruise and spend maybe $10. I also agree there is no need for him to have anything else on the ship.

[Naomi John]

How?

 

At Guest services. You can set a limit on their card. They will help you as Shore Excursions purchased through Carnival are placed on the S&S card.

 

FYI the arcade is a mini "Chucky Cheese". The swipe does not always work, they get tickets, and worthless trinkets. It's one area I try not to find.

[ladygal4.4]

At Guest services. You can set a limit on their card. They will help you as Shore Excursions purchased through Carnival are placed on the S&S card.

 

 

 

FYI the arcade is a mini "Chucky Cheese". The swipe does not always work, they get tickets, and worthless trinkets. It's one area I try not to find.

 

 

Agreed. Can't stand the arcade. It's just too expensive for just a game. At least with Chuckey Cheese the games are 1-2 tokens, not 1-2 dollars

 

 

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[ladygal4.4]

My kids are saving for their own "extra" expenses onboard the ship. We are trying to figure out a reasonable amount to bring.

 

 

 

What "extras" did your kids purchase on board?

 

 

 

How much are the arcade games?

 

 

 

They are 8, 10, and 11 years old and probably won't want to do the "build a bear".

 

 

 

I'm trying to think what other "fun" expenses they would have.

 

 

 

Cherry on top and the arcade are the only two I can think of.

 

 

 

Thanks. :)

 

 

Nothing. With the all you can eat ice cream my kids have been fine.

 

I might let them get a frozen virgin drink or 2, but that's about it. They're not one for sitting quietly by the pool and sipping their drink. They'd rather be in the pool or doing the slides.

 

Now off the ship is another matter. Tshirts and little souvenirs they would love!

 

 

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[ohcruise3]

My kids didn't spend hardly anything on the ship. They saved up their allowance to spend while on the cruise. My daughter was 11 at the time and she really liked buying cheap jewelry at the different ports. My son spent $10 in the arcade and that was about it.

[ptcounselor]

My kids got the bottomless bubbles and never charged anything the entire cruise. They joined camp Carnival and Club O2, and did free things.

[Landlocked_N_Texas]

My son is 12 and pays for his own arcade. Our first cruise he had bottomless bubbles. Last time I gave him a "1 drink a day" allowance - he never had that many. He shopped at Cherry on Top his first cruise but never after that. He is like others have mentioned - he shops at ports. He likes carvings best.

 

Now, if they let kids book the steakhouse or Italian, I could totally see him spending his allowance there. He's a bit of a foodie.

[momof3cruisers]

I'll be the one to go "off the board" here and give our truthful answer - nothing, as in zero. Their food is already taken care of with all the MDR meals (including dessert at every meal) and unlimited pizza and ice cream on Lido. Entertainment consists of going to all the family comedy and main theater shows each night and additionally deck parties when they exist. Ports are the excursions we've already planned (i.e. forts in San Juan, stingrays in Cayman, beaches almost anywhere, etc). Our kids have been on cruises each of the past 3 summers and haven't spent a dime. Really no need to.

 

Our kids don't spend much if any money onboard either. They don't want to waste their money in the arcade, we do get the soda card and we make a trip to the candy store as a family.

 

They do like to have money for the ports though. Tshirts are generally the most popular item. Or DD gets jewelry.

[KatPem]

Our kids, ages 9-11-12-15 first cruise and 2 years later were given a $50 limit with the intention of adding another $25 the last 3 days of a 7 day cruise. None spent over $25 the whole week...one got food from the dessert place, the rest was spent in the arcade. I think it was less than $50 total for all of them. When we first got on, we went to guest services and had these limits set and discussed it prior with the kids. They are all mature for their ages but since it was new and kids can do dumb stuff, the was the way we chose to handle it and will do so again next time. We did purchase them the bottomless bubbles..

Edited October 26, 2015 by KatPem

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

My daughter came on cruises with us at 11, 13, 15, and 16. For the first 3 cruises it was just she and us so she was with us whenever she would need to spend money. For the last cruise she brought a couple friends along and we didn't give her a limit and allowed charges. We knew she was very responsible with money and she didn't buy much. Some frozen drinks, a bit of shopping at the $10 sales, there was a laser game they joined in on, just a few things like that.

[KatieCharlotte]

My kids like to have spending money for the ports, to buy little mementos and t-shirts. That's where my kids would go crazy with spending if they could. We don't give them charging privileges and it has never occurred to them to ask for anything on board because so much is included. Not having to plead for ice cream or another round of mini-golf is a huge luxury to them. They also like lemonade much better than soda, so that helps, and they know how I feel about arcades. :D