Real price of cruising

[tj_shopper]

2 hours ago, binro01 said:

We have so many kiddo's in our neighborhood, that our puppy care comes from them and it usually only costs us 200.00 for the whole week, and our pups are well taken care of the whole week.

They come in the morning and let them out, and feed them their breakfast. Give them a bunch of love for an hour before they head off to school.

The pups are use to being alone during the work hours, and when the kids get back from school, they come over again and let out the dogs and play with them for another hour, and return one final time at the end of the day to feed dinner and play another couple of hours before they place them in their crate for their evening sleep. (Dogs have been crate trained since pups)

Overall, they put in about 32 hours of time. They come out with 200.00 bucks for the week (a fortune to a 14 year old 🙂 ) We love and trust them, their parents are a backup in case anything goes wrong. The kids also get a nice souvenir from our trip, and we stock the fridge full of snacks and drinks for them when they are over our house.

That's fantastic!  I wish we could do the same but our two are so spoiled.  My husband is retired and I work from home so we are home all the time.  The most we leave them is about 3-4 hours to go out to dinner or a friend's house.  They are 2 years old.  We adopted them when they were one years old last year.  They have never been crate trained but are fine in the house alone.  They are great dogs but I feel they would be so lonely without someone in the house most of the time.  I am looking for someone to stay at our home but haven't found someone I trust yet.

[vacationlover_mn]

3 hours ago, CBCDWV said:

I am curious - what do you all give as tips to your cabin steward and to the dining room staff, in addition to the standard 18% that is put on your bill?

It generally depends on the level of service.  If we get the UDP, we usually do at least $20 per dinner, $10 per lunch.  Usually we don’t ask much extra from room steward (just distilled water for cpap), and tip $20.  We get the boozy package, and tip $1 per drink.  However, since they were all laid off for a long period of time, we’ll probably tip more on our first pandemic cruise.

Edited January 31, 2022 by vacationlover_mn

[vacationlover_mn]

On 1/26/2022 at 9:36 AM, lwuest said:

On some of our vacations the doggies  boarding price per nite is more than our hotel stay!!  We have two siberian huskies and they are our babies so yep, their care has to be considered in the cost of our vacations.

We are very blessed to have my mom as a puppy sitter!  She often pleads to watch them, even if we aren’t going anywhere!!! I always make sure to give her cash and a card, but she would do it for free 🙂

[lovescats5]

We just book a Star Class suite and everything is included.  Makes it easier than trying to figure out what we do or don't want.  But then it is a little more for the suite.  Plus we have to fly across the country so the cruise is our treat for being on an airplane for 8 hours.

 

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

But then it is a little more for the suite. 

For most, the Star class upcharge is a bit more than little. 

[livingonthebeach]

On 1/25/2022 at 1:41 PM, LB_NJ said:

I did not see travel insurance that covers medical.  Remember, even if you are young and healthy you could have an accident or break a leg.  You might have insurance that covers this however I would check.

 

There are also the tips for the porter at the port. 

 

I also saw this very nice list on another forum page (under Celebrity) about onboard costs 

 

*Acupuncture

*Airport transfers

*Alcove Rental (some ships)

*Apple products etc. and Ilounge classes

*Art Auctions

*Babysitting

*Barber Shop services 

*Beverages -- Alcoholic, carbonated soft drinks, specialty coffees and teas, bottled water if not in your package, also drinks above your package limit

*Bingo

*Bottles of wine

*Casino

*Chef’s Table

*Corkage charged if you bring your own wine to the MDR

*Duty free liquor and cigarettes

*Extra cost entrees and other items in Main Dining Room and specialty restaurants

*Extend Your Stay program

*Fitness classes

*Flowers

*Gelato

*Gift shop souvenirs, purses, watches, cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, etc.

*Gratuities, and extra gratuities

*Guests dining with you in Luminae (applies to Suite Passengers only)

*Guest entertainers' CD's and DVD's

*Hair and nail salon

*Hollywood hot glass experiences (some ships)

*Internet if not in your package, also Internet upcharge

*Laundry/pressing/drycleaning

*Liquor tasting events

*Luggage Valet

*Martini Flights

*Medical Center purchases (but not treatments)

*Mini bar

*Portrait photo sessions

*Pay-per-view movies

*Persian Gardens passes

*Personal Training Sessions

*Photos & cameras

*Room service up charge items, and late night delivery fee

*Shore Excursions

*Shuttle to town (some ports)

*Spa -- massages and treatments

*Specialty restaurants

*Teeth Whitening

*Telephone calls using ship's system

*Transfer to another passenger's account

*Voyage in Review DVD

*Wine and liquor tastings

*Zumba

 

This is insane.  Add all that up and it will easily tack on $15,000 to your $289 cruise.  

[SRF]

22 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

That's why over the past few years, outside of pandemic years, we've been booking more All-Inclusive land resorts, with air, food, drinks/alcohol, & gratuities, all included in ONE all upfront price.

No more nickle & diming spend while there...

 

We have done a couple of those.  And they are nice.

 

Although again, you pay for all inclusive, even if you do not partake of some of the items.

 

So, if you don't drink alcohol, you pay to drink "for free" without drinking.

[SRF]

20 hours ago, CBCDWV said:

I am curious - what do you all give as tips to your cabin steward and to the dining room staff, in addition to the standard 18% that is put on your bill?

 

I will tip those who go above and beyond.

 

Like the bartender who sees me walking to the bar and starts preparing the drinks.

 

But for "standard" service, I don't tip extra.

 

You have to decide what YOUR definition is "standard" service.

[Joebucks]

This is actually a great question. What trap you don't want to fall for is "this is free, this is included". Your bank account doesn't care what kind of deal you felt like you got (whether or not it truly was a deal). It's about the price you pay.

 

I'd say there's a bare minimum: travel to the cruise, the fare itself, gratuities, and travel back. You absolutely can have a great trip with just those things. Then you get into the whole weeds of what level of all of those things you want, other conveniences, alcohol, excursions, etc. That's where it gets subjective where one person's choice may cost 5x more than the next person.