Onboard Spending - How much should I bring

[Cruzin2paradise09]

I have read in my cruise booklet that items such as drinks etc are charged to your on board account. Will I actally need physical dollars to spend on board?

 

No, you do not need physical dollars to spend onboard.

[OhioDogLover]

Of course, if you are going to use ship excursions, you can book them in advance on the Princess website.

 

Ohiodoglover

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Of course, if you are going to use ship excursions, you can book them in advance on the Princess website.

 

Ohiodoglover

 

Yes, but you are not charged for them until you get on the cruise, then they are applied to your shipboard account. RCI allows you to book and prepay for excursions before the cruise -- if you choose to cancel after onboard, the credit actually goes to your onboard account.

[iancal]

It may be relatively easy to cut down on your costs.

 

-arrange your own air-Princess domestic air is usually much more expensive and the routings/layovers can often be less than satisfactory

 

-if you need hotel rooms, book them yourself on the web or Priceline. Princess hotels are expensive

 

-consider private excursions. Get on the web and check out recommended tour operators. With six people you will be able to get private tours at half or less than half of the ship tours per person rate.....and they will be much better tours

 

-don't use Princess transfers to and from the port. Hire 2 cabs or a van. It will be faster and cheaper than taking the Princess bus with the other 65 or so people.

 

-forget the spa treatments. Their primary goal is a hard sell to unload you with about $300. worth of personal care items that could buy on shore for $100. or less (equivialants) Not worth the hassle in our opinion.

 

-forget the soda card unless you drink more than two soft drinks a day. And even then, just remember that the soda card is a fountain drink, not a can drink. As I recall, my spouse paid $27. in Dec. for a card-7 day cruise. She says she won't do it next time.

 

-forget on board internet unless you really need it. It is a very slow, very expensive service. We use it on the last evening to print our our boarding passes for the next day's flight..thats it. We use the internet cafe's in port. Three times as fast, a third of the price or better

 

-be careful about shopping at 'recommended' on shore stores. These stores get 'recommend' by paying the cruiselines a large monthly sum. The costs are reflected in the retail prices.

 

-bring you own sun lotion etc.

[sacway]

What a great question and for such a generous reason.

 

For us one of the few things that can spoil a vacation memory is regret about what we did (or didn't) and what we spent. So I think having a good "ball park" figure on spending is useful and reassuring for first time cruisers. We are fans of the "half the clothes twice the money" strategy though it's harder for me to take out clothes than to put in more money. We spend about $50 a day per person on top of tips onboard. (me $105, DH -$5)

 

Everyone's different, and nobody's perfect, so it is reasonable to expect your companions to react differently to shipboard life with its "cashless" system. Every time you want something on board you hand over your room key and sign the receipt. Our personal strategy is to check our room charges at least once prior to the last night. I don't think you can check other people's accounts. Also, if you put all the rooms on your credit card, and then (god forbid) someone loses it at, say, the art auction, will you (they) be sorry later? If not, fine. Otherwise, if each adult establishes a shipboard account using a personal credit card, there might be the tiniest bit of restraint at work. You can pay off their accounts at the Pursor's desk anytime before the end of the cruise.

 

My DH is big on the "spend less" strategy, it's more fun-and-games for him than the actual $$ saved. So he'll eat ice cream for free at lunch and dinner in the dining room, rather than pay at other times, look for freebies on the ship, and shop for sundries at the supermarkets in ports of call, for local color. Me, I "coupon clip" the Patters, and spa specials are my favorites. I might splurge on one mega-excursion, deliberately looking for the most expensive to see why it costs more. One tip that I didn't get for my first cruise, you can book almost any excursion in existence either by special arrangement with the cruiseline or through a private party, and so if it's a "once in a lifetime" journey with someone who may not be around for the next cruise, pull out all the stops. Alternatively, our fondest memory of cruising with my FIL is of him spending most of each day visiting at a sizable table in the buffet with the steady stream of sons and grandkids stopping for breakfast, snacks and lunches.

 

Have a fantastic holiday.

[sungirl]

For two of us, our onboard charge is usually between $800-$1,500, depending on excursions ( for a 7 day cruise). I usually give them cash at the beginning, of course, it's never enough (I'm not really a budget person!) so I give in and give them my credit card. It seems we always end up with at least one expensive (>$70) excursion - like jets ski's or bobs or something- but we also are pretty good at booking private, inexpensive tours. I would think that the excursions with a mom and grandma would be much less expensive than our snorkeling/kayak/jet ski adventures. You can find the cost, or at least a reasonable estimate, on the princess website - just look for excursions, and if yours arent posted yet, look at a similar sailing going out sooner just to get an idea. I also budget about $100/day for in port expenses - food, drinks, trinkets. Sometimes we use it, sometimes we don't. Everything you purchase onboard - excursions, beverages, toothpaste - is charged to your account. Oh, and the photos, I think others have given the price, but you can't purchase one and go home and scan it to share with everyone else in the group. They have a watermark that makes this impossible, which I tried to tell the aunt and mother, last cruise, but they didn't believe me until they got home, voila!, I was right.

 

I do expect the onboard expense to go up this next cruise, as the boy is now 21 and loving it.;)

[seacuracao]

A good rule of thumb that will always work.

 

"When you are finished packing remove half the clothes; and take twice the money and you will be all set."

 

Mike:D

 

PRICELESS...TKS FOR THE LAUGH!:D ;) :p