CRUISES in general...how much do u spend total?

[Gigi22]

How much a cruise costs depends on a lot of things, most of which are not in the cruise passenger's ability to control, including the economy and how many cruise ships a cruise line has to fill. Not that many years ago we got a 10 day cruise for $1000 (cruise fare only) each, which was a good deal. This year a 13 day repositioning cruise is going to set us back around three times that, cruise fare only.

Our major added expenditures include: airfare to and from the port; one night in a hotel prior to the cruise; one night in a hotel after the cruise; tips; shore excursions--we are quite selective about these; travel insurance; pre-trip travel medicine costs--we always get the oral Dukoral vaccine when we go on a cruise to avoid getting 'tourista' and to try to avoid the worst effects of norovirus, should we encounter it, we also get whatever vaccines are recommended for our travel destination; our liquor bill; restaurants including the onboard specialty restaurants and meals on land before, during and after the cruise; souvenirs; and gambling.

We save money on our total costs by: travelling off season; switching to annual travel insurance; using frequent flyer points for air travel; staying at hotels where we can earn/use points during our stay; being choosy about shore excursions, and limiting purchases of souvenirs, and setting ourselves a strict budget limit in the casino. We also like to spread out payments for the different components of vacations as much as possible, so we are not faced with paying a huge bill all at once.

 

[Disney-Kim]

We have been on 4 cruises and for 2 adults no kids we usually spend about:

cruise $1800-2000 (in jun suites)
airfare to florida $700-800
one night hotel before cruise: free - use points

on the boat:
1st cruise we did excursions in all ports, so with tips, drinks, and specialty restaurants we spent about $700-800

excursions we realized are not for us...we would rather get off in port and do our own thing...which is usually shopping and lunch..and sightseeing so....

rest of the cruises: no excursions, tips, drinks, and specialty restaurants we spent about $300-400 per cruise...SERIOUSLY !!! and we drank when we wanted and eated whatever we wanted.
now don't ask how much I spent on jewelry in the ports

 

[louey]

seems many are posting about different cruise lines..i am travelling on RCCL this summer - our 1st family cruise...seems to me this will be the most expensive vacation my family has ever taken.

Well be going on:

RCCL -Explorer of the Seas - 9 night from NJ - so no airfare..

- going to cost our family of 4 about 4,700 - just to get on.

Of course we want to do the most expensive excursions - swimming w/the sea lions in St. Thomas and Zip-lining in Puerto Rico

Including excursions, gambling money - etc etc i'm thinking this vacation will cost us about $8,500! how much will or did u spend on ur cruise?

Will you post how your trip was when you get back, I would love to know. We would like to do a cruise from NJ also and have never cruised RCCL. Have a great time

 

[WheelCEO]

My last cruise for (2) was $900 on carnival/7 days, $350 in shore excursions (excursion at every stop).. $140 in tips

 

[gracie1]

My last cruise for (2) was $900 on carnival/7 days, $350 in shore excursions (excursion at every stop).. $140 in tips

That's a great deal! Was that for an inside cabin?

 

[toddlerhouse]

We leave in a month for a 7 night on RCCL Allure of the Seas. This is our 6th cruise but first in a balcony. Total for the 4 of us is just over $5000 including tax and gratuities. We'll probably spend another 1000 on excursions and extras.

 

[lisaross]

just looked at my receipt...we are paying $1000 just in the taxes, port fees for the 4 of us....

 

[Vijoge]

RCCL -Explorer of the Seas - 9 night from NJ - so no airfare..

- going to cost our family of 4 about 4,700 - just to get on.

That's an awful lot for an inside cabin with four people in the cabin.
I've cruised in inside cabins before but I only paid $399 pp for a seven night cruise.

how much will or did u spend on ur cruise?

Our last cruise was on the Golden Princess 14 nights r/t from Los Angeles to Hawaii. We paid just over $1800 pp for the two of us in a balcony cabin. We paid about $3000 total for seven nights when we went to Alaska, but we had a suite with a butler!

I love RCCL but I just can't see myself paying that much for an inside cabin.

 

[Disneybabe84]

I'm a supervisor for the Pier at Bayonne. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me

seems many are posting about different cruise lines..i am travelling on RCCL this summer - our 1st family cruise...seems to me this will be the most expensive vacation my family has ever taken.

Well be going on:

RCCL -Explorer of the Seas - 9 night from NJ - so no airfare..

- going to cost our family of 4 about 4,700 - just to get on.

Of course we want to do the most expensive excursions - swimming w/the sea lions in St. Thomas and Zip-lining in Puerto Rico

Including excursions, gambling money - etc etc i'm thinking this vacation will cost us about $8,500! how much will or did u spend on ur cruise?

 

[WheelCEO]

My last cruise for (2) was $900 on carnival/7 days, $350 in shore excursions (excursion at every stop).. $140 in tips

it had a porthole but i guess still ocnsidered inside cabin (cruising is new to me).. we didn't spend much time in the room so it wasn't bad. Wished the shower was bigger lol

I just got some offers from holland for 7 days for $449/person so I figure around $1200 with taxes for 2

 

[OhMari]

I think you are being totally realistic.
RCCL isn't cheap, yet it is not as expensive as Disney.

You can pay ahead for some of the excursions on the RCCL website's.
The only reason they don't want you to pay for an excursion by yourself is because then you have to get your own transportation.
If you book with RCCL, they will get you to your destination. Also, if the ship doesn't make port for some reason-you are out of your money. If you book with RCCL, they will reimburse you.

It is low season in the summer. I heard during winter up to 18 ships can be down in the area. When we did a cruise in August, we found some great deals on the islands for shopping.

We zipped lined for $112 a piece in Jamaica and swam with the dolphins in Cozumel. We shopped in St. George-Cayman Islands. It was so hot that day, I wish we would of went snorkeling.

Bring tons of sunscreen-the temps are really hot and the sun is very intense. I burned my lips, and it took over a month for them to heal. I completely forgot to put sunscreen on them.

 

[MissBritt]

We have done 2, both Carnival, both only DH and myself, both in Oceanview rooms. First was over NYE on a larger, newer ship for 6 nights... over $3000. Second was the week before Christmas on a smaller, older ship for 4 nights... about $1200.

 

[jackie101]

We're a family of 6 and cruise frequently. We've done some really inexpensive cruises and others cost more.

Generally, cruising out of the northern ports (Boston, New York, New Jersey, Maryland) is more expensive than cruising out of Florida. We price out our cruises to include airfare to Florida when comparing them with a cruise port that we can drive to. So far, we've found its always been less expensive to cruise out of Florida.

Our first cruise with all the kids was a four day from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas on an older ship. The cruise/airfare for the six of us ran about $3000. We spent another $2,000 in on-board charges (tips, soda cards for the kids, adult beverages, shore excursions -we all went parasailing and snorkeling at Coco Cay and we all swam with the dolphins in the Bahamas and we rented jet skis at the beach we spent the rest of the day at, photos, bingo, spa, and souvenirs) and probably another $250 on the island in buying extra food, drinks and souvenirs.

The second cruise we did a bit differently. We booked a 7 night on an older ship. Total cruise cost/airfare was still about $3000. This time we didn't get the soda cards - the kids drank ice tea and lemonade and we bought the occasional soda. Secondly, rather than book our excursions through the cruise line, we booked through independent companies on the islands we were visiting. We swam with the stingrays in Grand Cayman for $25/pp, we did a snorkeling excursion in Cozumel for $35/pp, we did an all-inclusive beach day in Costa Maya for $60/pp and we went cave tubing in Belize for $65/pp. We saved about half of what it would have cost to book those excursions through the ship, and we were in a much smaller group so we had more personalized service. We didn't buy much in souvenirs and we didn't get sucked into all the on-board photos. Our on-board charges that trip were around $700. We maybe spent a total of another $200-$300 in the ports.

great prices . We are also a family of 6 and I cannor find good deals . Do you get 2 rooms? Help

 

[shelwoj]

We've got a cruise scheduled in October for our 25th anniversary. We're taking an 8 day Carnival from Ft. Lauderdale, inside room with an obstructed view window (very front of ship), airfare, trip insurance, cab fare to and from port, planning on excursions at each port, steakhouse on our anniversary, chef's table one night, spa, bar, souvies and tips we'll probably top out at around $3400 (this is the deluxe estimate!). That doesn't include our hotel the night before and after the cruise. Right now that would be around $200 but we'll probably use our points and get it for free.

We've got another cruise scheduled for January 2012. Right now all I've got planned is the cruise itself which is a Carnival 7 night out of Miami a balcony room and it's $1600 for two of us. We'll do an excursion in St. Thomas that we do every time we go there and that's around $500 for the two of us (it's a private sail/snorkel trip). Don't know what we'll do in Grand Turk. We'll do a self walking tour in San Juan (love the forts there). We'll just relax on the beach in Half Moon Cay. So again with everything included we'll be under $4000.

Cruising is my absolute favorite vacation EVER! Have fun.

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

We love cruising too! The last cruise we did was a 4 day with RCCL and it was $900 for 4 for an oceanview cabin. We only spent $40 onboard on photos and a few drinks. No soda cards, no excursions. We did everything on our own.

Check the hotels of the ports you are going to! For example, we went to the Hilton at Nassau and paid $100 for the day. Access to the pool, the beach, and $60 in credits for the restaurant/bar. It was our favorite day in Nassau so far (this was our 4th stop there). We found that through Island Marketing, Ltd. They have excursions for Eastern, Western, and Bahamas.

We don't typically buy much else after we book the cruise. With Disney the soda is included but everyone else you need the soda card. We just drank the lemonade and water. Coffee and tea and hot chocolate were also included so we were fine. A few little presents to bring home and that was it!

 

[bored]

5 night cruise to the bahamas out of charleston, sc coming up in may. Myself, DW, and DD in an ocean view cabin. Total with excursions and tips should be just under $2000.00

 

[sdoll]

I was really proud of the cost of our last cruise. we did 7 night out of Miami. It was the first vacation my husband I took alone since we had our boys. We booked the cheapest cabin. (think going down with the Titanic) we were luckily upgraded. I think we paid about $1069. We did very little at the ports. We usually got off walked through town, took an island tour. Nothing to exciting. I think total we spent less than $500 extra. My favorite!! minus tips which we prepaid our ship bill was $136. And guess what it was the best trip ever. We were so relaxed, we read a ton, napped every day (not including falling asleep while reading on deck) and just enjoyed ourselves. I missed the boys like crazy. But it was so nice just being with my husband.

 

[muffyn]

we have been on over 20 cruises, & in the last 15 years pricing has gone up & down. we have traveled with over 7 different cruise lines & each has good & bad points.
we started cruising with groups, which is where you can get great deals & perks. our start was with rec.travel.cruises ( which now has been taken over by spammers, what a loss) & lucky to have found a great TA through there to get great group pricing each year.
also cruisecritic has listings of group cruises & you can also find great pricing through other cruises that they have booked. we found a neat one for a 14 night transatlantic for a balcony for $800 pp,,(airfare is a killer though)
our recent years cruises for a balcony has been from $800-$1100pp for the cruise fare. others have told you about excursions, etc & 0f course you would know your own air to look up.
one thing , as another poster has said do not skip insurance!!! it is not really for the loss of cruise fare, that is the least of your worries! it is for the medical stuff you may encounter. on the cruises we have been on, we have personally known people who have broken limbs, with HUGE medical bills, & one person even died of a heart attack onboard.
just a trip to the doc is over $100.

 

[Trinity524]

Well DCL doesn't have a casino, so that could save you some money!

 

[lisaross]

reallY? then my husband would not go.

We are very budget concious year round - he just wants to go and enjoy without worrying this time.. i can understand!

Well DCL doesn't have a casino, so that could save you some money!