New to Princess - need help making budget

[cs]

We're new to Princess and I'm trying to make some type of budget for our trip. Can somebody help me come up with prices so I can finish the budget? We're going on a 9 day Caribbean Princess cruise in June.

 

These are the things I still need details/prices on -

-Specialty coffee cards

-Ice Cream card

-Internet

-Parking in Brooklyn (price is going up on 4/1)

-I heard there's a pottery class with a fee (that would be fun)

 

We already have our budget worked out for these things:

-Spa

-Casino

-Onboard shops

-Shore excursions

-Tips

-Specialty dining

-Gym classes

-Photos & developing digital pictures

 

Is there anything else we missed that has a fee attached? Any other classes that are awesome that we should try?

 

Thanks in advance for your help :)

[paul929207]

The only thing I can help with is the internet. In the internet cafe your choices are:

 

Pay by the minute - $0.75/minute

150 minutes for $75

250 minutes for $100

 

Note with the packages, there is no refund for unused minutes.

 

If yuo have your own laptop with a wireless card, you can get the internet in the reception area for $0.50/minute

[willysgrandma]

Brooklyn parking is going up to $22 for the first day and $19 for each

additional day.

 

The coffee card was somewhere around $27.

 

The ceramic class fees are dependent are what you are making - the fee is for the item you choose to make. I think they ran from $17 or $18 and up depending on what you chose.

 

I wasn't even aware of an ice cream card. There is free ice cream in the buffet area each day for about an hour.

[Luckyroot]

I didn't see anything in the budget for beverages, which is always the biggest chunk of our budget (adult beverages and soda card).

 

Only included drinks are coffee, tea and iced tea (and juice in the morning).

[cs]

Thanks for the fast reponses.

 

I answered some of my own questions - they have an internet package of 100 minutes for $58.95, which should be enough for us.

 

The ice cream card is $17.50 and gets you either five Mega "Sundae Kreations" or ten Regular ones.

 

I didn't forget the budget for drinks, I just forgot to mention it. We don't drink soda so that's not in our budget but we do have a budget for foo-foo drinks (which is a definate necessity - lol).

 

Thanks again for your help!

[blueclawfan]

in regards to the internet i have always i repeat always found that the internet on the ships is very very slow. Last cruise when we hoped off at grenada and aruba we used the internet on shore. It was $ 6.00 for 30 minutes. We didn't look elsewhere when we got off the ship in other ports but this beat the high and slow prices on the ship. The ice cream card was well worth it for us. They told us couldn't be used for milkshakes when we bought it but found out they were same price as sundaes $ 3.50 and no one ever said anything. Was only $ 1.75 each with the card. It is true they serve ice cream in the buffet i think it was between 3-3:30.

They don't tell you about that. We played some bingo on the ship was a bit expensive $ 30 but got lucky and won $ 400 so that off set anything we had to pay. Watch the pictures you buy as do get a hefty price for them. Have people take your pictures with your own camera and buy only the ones you really really want. Happy Sailing !!!

[Pam in CA]

Yes, the Internet is slow but then we're all so used to broadband that when you're on a ship using a certain bandwidth to access a satellite and the more users, the slower the Internet will be. It can be very frustrating but as long as you stick with text-based email or websites without a lot of graphics, it's fine.

 

As for the ice cream, there's FREE ice cream in the dining room at lunch and again at dinner plus there's an ice cream bar set up in the buffet in the afternoon that's free. Plenty of free ice cream. The specialty ice cream really isn't any better -- you're paying for the convenience of it being near the pool.

[cs]

Hmmm, the buffet has ice cream in the afternoon? Would you know the approximate times it's open? Maybe I'd be better off skipping the ice cream card.

 

I'm okay with the slow internet on cruises. My sister and I go together (sans dhs and kids) and we like to do a quick email home daily just to say hello and see how things are going at home. Other than that, we don't really use the itnernet while cruising.

 

Does Princess have pay per view movies in the staterooms? Sometimes I like to take it easy and watch a movie. If so, would you have a rough idea of the cost?

 

I'm getting closer to finalizing my budget. It's not looking as bad as I thought. Maybe I can spend a little more on shopping in port - lol.

[Coral]

 

Does Princess have pay per view movies in the staterooms? Sometimes I like to take it easy and watch a movie. If so, would you have a rough idea of the cost?

 

They have free movies in the stateroom. No pay per view movies.

[Pam in CA]

Hmmm, the buffet has ice cream in the afternoon? Would you know the approximate times it's open? Maybe I'd be better off skipping the ice cream card. -- it's usually between 3:30 - 4:30PM

 

Does Princess have pay per view movies in the staterooms? Sometimes I like to take it easy and watch a movie. If so, would you have a rough idea of the cost?

As Coral says, no pay-per-view movies. Also, cruiselines do not have U.S. TV network programming. You'll find CNN (usually the International version), Discovery Channel, and a few more channels dedicated to movies and/or ship's programming (such as shore excursion talks, etc.) Anything shown on the TV is free. Also, on the CB, there is "MUTS" -- movies under the stars -- which shows movies and events during the day and movies at night. You can lie on a lounger and eat popcorn while watching a movie. :) All movies on the cruise are free.

[negn]

Served in Horizon and think its 2-3

[regnig]

Horizon ice cream is, I believe 3p to 4p. Lots of "sunday" toppings along with at least two choices of really really good home (ship) made ice cream.

[penkitten86]

I would highly recommend the scholarship @ sea wine tasteing class. You pay a fee yes. But you get 5 glasses of wine plus a dessert wine glass and you get to take it home.

Happy Sailing!!!

edie

[cs]

I would highly recommend the scholarship @ sea wine tasteing class. You pay a fee yes. But you get 5 glasses of wine plus a dessert wine glass and you get to take it home.

Happy Sailing!!!

edie

 

Oh, this sounds like something I would love to do! Thank you so much.

[KKB]

It was HORRIBLY slow on our first Star cruise...but we found it remarkably speedy on this last cruise! Don't know if they updated in 2 1/2 years or what...(now, I don't think it is as fast as DSL at home...but it was ALOT faster than the first cruise, so we had low expectations!:rolleyes: )

[StitchesToo]

Coffee card on my 7 day cruise was 27.60. Maybe it is the same for 9 days because it is for a certain number of punches.

 

By the way, there is 15% gratuity added to every beverage. I expected this for drinks served by waiters and bartenders, but I thought it was pretty ridiculous for bottled water. They sell bottles of water as you are getting off the ship and the sign says $2.00. But you get your statement and find it was $2.30. Why not just say so? (Pet peeve)