How much $ do you spend?

[SLH]

I'm sure this answer will vary, but just trying to get an idea on average. This is our first cruise, we are going on FOS, and since usually meals are one of the biggest expenses on vacation and they are included...how much do you usually spend on a 7 night cruise? I want us to enjoy ourselves but I don't want to be in shock at the end of the cruise. We are a family of 4, two adults and 2 kids.

As others have said it depends on many things. I wouldn't recommend the soda cards unless you drink a lot of soda everyday. There is iced tea and lemonade besides coffee and hot tea free available in the dining room, the cafe and buffet. Either I can on a 6pack of soda when embarking or pickup some while in port. Even if you buy a can a day on the ship it's only $1.5/can. I have learned that playing bingo adds a lot on my bill and I've not been lucky so I cutting back next year.

[amapola]

Our on board expenses were $389 on our last cruise (AOS last New Year's): 2 dinners at Portofino (including the dining fee, 2 bottles of San Pellegrino, 1 espresso & extra tip each time), laundry (sent DH's dress shirts to be pressed, and the suitcase with his suit got wet so we had his suit cleaned also), 3 photos, a bit of Internet time, gratuities for 2 people... I think that was it. Obviously, except for the gratuities everything else was optional. We don't drink, so that automatically eliminates what can be a major expense.

 

We didn't take any excursions this time, as we really wanted to do as little as possible :) , so our on-shore expenses were really low -- a taxi in St Martin to go to Marigot, the water taxi in P'burg, taxis in St. Thomas. We are not frugal people in the least, but we just didn't find anything to buy in any of the islands :rolleyes: .

 

It's interesting to read all the different answers to this question!

[FreewayFortune]

For 2 adults we usually spend around $1000 on board no soda cards, and very little alcohol. We bought a bunch of pictures (we're 2nd time cruisers) a lot of souvenirs, scrap booking kits and 2 excursions and tips. We had a spa treatment and a night at Portofino's too. I could spend more on the jewellery, but I reign myself in.

[cruislovin]

You don't say how old your children are, but one thing to watch out for: whether or not you want to let them charge on their Sea Pass cards. One cruise our DS started to get quite a tab in the arcade!!! We put a stop to that VERY quickly. You can check the amount on your TV in your cabin. Unfortunately the TV is often slow AND some things take a couple days to post. But the arcade and casino seem to post right away!;)

[gems4me]

My husband and I went on the Navigator last June for 7 days and I am a huge photo-holic!!! Our sea pass bill at the end of the week was $1,050 but out of that $450 were photos. I bought them all except 1. We are not huge drinkers, but had a drink or two during the day if we wanted to, after all we were on vacation! We also had all our shore excursions pre-paid and we paid for all our tips in cash. We are going to Hawaii for 14 days in October and we plan on spending about $3,000 on board. It will be great if we spend less and okay if we spend a little more. We keep checking our balance on the TV each day..

 

Hope this helps.

[bplazo]

On our first couple of cruises I had to buy all the pictures so my seapass card was quite a bit. However, on our last cruise is was under a $100.00 because I skipped all the extras.

 

I also had alot of shipboard credit that took care of most of the tipping and I pre-paid all of our excursions.

[KS17]

Thanks for all the responses. As I expected it varies greatly, but we were planning on $1,000 - $1500 and my children each have an additional $200 to spend as they wish. So I think it should be okay, even if it's a little more I am mentally prepared. I will definitely wait until the end of the week to purchase photos. Don't think we'll try to bring our own alcohol, we'll just watch the bar bill. My kids can definitely do some damage in the arcade...although I told them they can spend the alotted money as they wish, I will be ill if they spend it all in the arcade, so I will be monitoring that for sure.

 

Thanks again!

[lori450]

Same story as many before me. The bulk of your expenses will be alcohol, spa (manicure, massages, etc- overpriced at sea), and excursions. I, too, reserve my excursions prior to sailing (less chance of them feing sold out). I agree that the soda cards are not worth the money. Someone somewhere on the boards estimated that you had to drink something like 5 or 6 sodas a day for it to pay off. Keep in mind that the soda card sodas are fountain drinks, not cans. I take my own photos, but will usuall buy the one from formal night or have a family portrait taken. I have never had a bill over $300. I limit myself to a certain amount for the casino and agree with the above poster that I no longer play bingo due to total failure to win anything ...ever.

 

I have purchased good jewelry in St Thomas and St Martin, but that was back in 2003.

Have a great time!