Cruise Budget

[dthogue]

Since we are new to cruising I really have no idea how much money to budget for a 4-night cruise. My DH and I are traveling with our three children (13,10 and 4). As of now we don't plan on doing any excursions in Nassau. I am also planning on taking our own snorkeling gear for castaway cay.

What types of things are there on board that we will need money for. Any suggestions or ideas will be appreciated. I would rather budget high and have money left over, then be short.

Thanks,

tammy

[din]

Off the top of my mind here some items that you may to consider:

- tips ship staff. See the various websites for guidelines
- tips for porters, limo drivers (if you take one),
- tips for room service - food is include in the price, but the person delivering your food works for tips.
- drinks - soda and beer on ship and castaway cay
- dinner wine
- Palo
- Spa - again look into the websites for type of treatments
- gifts
- pictures - they will walk around taking pictures on the ship, during dinner, on castawy cay etc... Then there are portraits to be taken..character pictures ...
- excursion if you decide on them :D

Have fun planning... you probaly get various response on this but it can easily be from $0 to $2000 or more for all of the above.

[ExecuMom]

:p I agree. Our first cruise on the Magic back in 8/2000 ran us about $2,000 across two cabins.

This time (8/3 Magic) with the pre-booking of excursions and on-line tipping info, I've done a pretty good estimate of expenses, but plan to mark that up by about 15%.

[dthogue]

I apologize if this is a dumb question - but when you order room service do you tip the delivery person when they deliver your food?

Thanks,

Tammy

[imgoingtodisney]

yes you do tip the room service person
Ive read its about $2-3

[westjones]

We travel on a tight budget and have done the 3 and 4 day cruise. We have never done an excursion and never felt we needed to (there is so much to do on your own!).

We spent more on our first cruise than our second because:
1. I went a little crazy with pictures. The second time we didn't buy any and just took our own.
2. I didn't know there was a fridge (well a beverage cooler) in the room for pop, and we bought it on board instead. (I also didn't know I could get it for free for lunch and dinner, I needed my diet coke fix!)

Now I have never done the spa, at Castaway Cay we just hung out at the beach (take a bucket and shovel for playing in the sand). We planned on tips based on the suggested amount (but did tip over for a couple of CM that were outstanding). We gave our daughters a budget of $25 each to spend in the shops. That was enough. The only thing I bought is a photo album for our pictures.

You don't have to spend much while on board. It depends on you, and what you want to do. We had the time of our lives and didn't spend more than $100 total (beside tips). This year, we are doing the 7 day cruise and we are going to do excursions this time, so I know this is going to be a LOT. But we see this as a one time thing. After this year we will go back to 3 or 4 day cruises (depending on which one is on our twin daughters' birthday).

Have fun! You are going to love it!
DJ