Average on board cost of a 14 day cruise?

[Naturalnerd]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking here for a while but I have a specific question I need to ask.

The fiance and I are going to be going on our honeymoon cruise in September through the Panama canal. We were wondering what an average couple might spend over the course of the cruise for drinks/activities (not including any shore excursions). Any information would really help us out with our budgeting.

Thanks so much!

 

[neg58]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking here for a while but I have a specific question I need to ask.

The fiance and I are going to be going on our honeymoon cruise in September through the Panama canal. We were wondering what an average couple might spend over the course of the cruise for drinks/activities (not including any shore excursions). Any information would really help us out with our budgeting.

Thanks so much!

You can figure out how much you'd normally spend in a day and just multiply it by 14. If you want to have a drink every day at dinner, figure about $20 a day for them. Two drinks in the bar? $30-40 extra.

I just finished the 14 day PC cruise and for my mother and me the onboard charges were about $900, which included my mother's $200 shopping trip, $170 in excursions, $336 in tips, $55 for the internet (don't bother, it never worked!), a few drinks (very few), some laundry charges, Palo. We didn't play bingo or have spa charges and we didn't buy any pictures.

It just depends on what you want to do. I went on a 7 day trip with my kids and our charges were about the same but less in tips and more in excursions.

Nancy

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking here for a while but I have a specific question I need to ask.

The fiance and I are going to be going on our honeymoon cruise in September through the Panama canal. We were wondering what an average couple might spend over the course of the cruise for drinks/activities (not including any shore excursions). Any information would really help us out with our budgeting.

Thanks so much!

Wow, that's a toughy. It's possible to take a cruise and not have any onboard charges. And you could have charges in the thousands. It all depends on what you want to buy (if anything).

You will have your tips added to your onboard account (that's $12.00 per day for each of you). Photos cost anywhere from $12.95 to $500. Alcoholic drinks run $5.00-$10.00 per drink (plus 15% tip). Tastings/Mixology cost $15.00-$20.00 each. Specialty coffee has an extra cost, sorry don't know how much. There are also gift shops onboard. Prices there are consistent with what you might find at WDW. Depending on how many and what kind of souvenirs you buy, you can have a little large cost there. Tips for porters at the port, generally $5.00-$20.00, depending on how many bags you have. Room service tips - $1 or $2 for small orders, maybe up to $5 for large orders.

And don't forget about possible tips for shore excursion providers.

 

[lanejudy]

I don't know if anyone can come up with an average - it really depends on what you like to do, what you want to do, and what you can afford. Items that will be charged to your onboard stateroom account include:

tips ($12/night per passenger)
port excursions
spa services
adult dining
alcoholic beverages
specialty drinks (coffees at Cove Cafe, smoothies, etc.)
sodas at the bars or room service
snacks and beverages at the theaters
wine/alcohol tastings
photos from Shutters
souvenirs
game arcade
nursery time (this likely won't apply to you, but maybe others reading this thread)

You'll want cash for the following:
additional tips above the recommended (can also be charged to the stateroom account)
room service tips - unless there is a charge for the item(s) ordered there may not be a slip to sign
porters
bus/limo drivers
tips for port excursions
souvenirs in port
food in port

I'm sure I've missed a few things. How much you spend really will depend upon how much you choose to participate in the above activities. It's entirely possible to have no additional charges (assuming you pay cash for tips or pre-pay), or a few thousand dollars in onboard charges.

Congrats and enjoy your honeymoon cruise!

 

[OKW Lover]

We just did the WBPC 14-nighter and overall spent ~$1,500. That included about $200 in shore excursions (2 each in 2 ports, none in a 3rd port), $330 in gratuities for the two of us, Palo Brunch and Dinner twice (with wine) about $400, the rest was for drinks in lounges (but we did bring 2 boxes of wine on board) and gift shop purchases.

 

[twopeasonepod]

As already mentioned, this is very tough. It truly depends on the people involved. We just finished the EBTA for 14 days and our onboard charges were $3100 (me, DH, and two kids), and that wasn't even including the $650+ my mom paid for us in prepaid tips and the $1000 in cash I took.

We went on excursions, bought stuff in the stores, played Bingo (got a $120 refund for when our electronic device went wonky), went to Palo, had room service, did Champagne Girls and a martini tasting, DH had personal training, spent $50 at the arcade, and drank alcohol (probably the equivalent of 3-4 drinks per day).

The range can be huge. I'm sure you can spend much less. But I choose to spend more freely on vacation and skimp at home (don't go out to fancy dinners, never go to Starbucks, etc.) It's more fun for me that way!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

OK, did a little research -

15 night PC cruise we spent (including excursions) $823.64

14 night WBTA - $614.17

14 night Hawaii - $882.77

Now, we didn't do any tastings, or buy many photos. And we don't drink much (alcoholic variety).

 

[kiford]

I think we spent about $4K for the two of us for the 10-day Med Cruise. That included:
. tips
. pre-dinner drink, wine with entrée, after dinner drink every night
. speciality coffees in the Cove Café
. port adventures at every port some of which were fairly expensive and extensive
. Palo's for both brunch and dinner
. two or more expensive spa trips plus some products
. several shirts and some perfume from the store
. internet
. bottle of champagne last night for dinner
. occasional drinks by the pool or in the bar when we weren't out at port.

Basically, other than the standard gratuities, it's pretty much fully under your control and only you can define what is average for you. For us, open spending is pretty much the norm when we go on a cruise because usually we restrict how much we eat and drink when at home because we both control our diets and work out quite regularly. This is our indulgence and this level of spending per day is pretty much normal for us on a cruise and is part of our vacation planning.

Set yourself a budget and a plan for what you will and won't spend on and you'll be fine. Know what costs extra and how much and make your decisions in advance then you won't be surprised at the end.

 

[Naturalnerd]

Thank you all for the insights on costs, we are working on the budget in the next few weeks. Can't wait to depart!!!

 

[debbierudd1]

I was told that you can buy Disney gift cards to use on the ships. If that's true I have bought $75.00 worth so far for our cruise next May. Any truth?

 

[braysmommy]

I was told that you can buy Disney gift cards to use on the ships. If that's true I have bought $75.00 worth so far for our cruise next May. Any truth?

Yes you can use gift cards. Take them to guest services and they will apply them to your account. We just used over $1000.00 gift cards during our last trip. Make sure to keep the cards since if you don't use all of them they will apply the credit back to the gift cards.

 

[debbierudd1]

Yes you can use gift cards. Take them to guest services and they will apply them to your account. We just used over $1000.00 gift cards during our last trip. Make sure to keep the cards since if you don't use all of them they will apply the credit back to the gift cards.

Thanks for your info!