How much do u spend on a cruise?

[lisaross]

OK this will b our 1st family cruise. We are going July 2011 - with about 4 other families.

We are most likely going on Royal Carribean -9 night cruise - stopping at 4 ports out of Bayonne, NJ.

Seems like it will be about $4000.00 for our family now i'm thinking what about all the extra spending money we will need. Excersions, gambling, soda, shopping tips etc etc.

I'm thinking on top of the 4000 just to get on the ship, we will need about 3000.00 extra - what do u think?

We definitly want to take about 3 excersions - the kids will probably want soda cards - then they will want some arcade $ i assume. i would like a massage - play some bingo - do a litttle gambling - husband will gamble - have some beers --

please share your experiences.

thanx

 

[Schachteles]

What are the ports that you are stopping at?

I can say, my DH and I went on Carnival with friends and really didn't spend a lot, probably $1500 for 7 days. Now on the Disney Cruise Line, we typically spend $3000 for a 7 day cruise when we have our two kids with us.

So for 9 days and wanting to do 3 excursions, I would say that $3000 might be cutting it close.

Our family has a different vacation philosophy, we don't say no on the trips...so we do tend to spend more than probably the average family.

 

[bonoriffic]

The excursions can range from $29 to $200. So if you assumed 1 $50 per person and 2 $150 per person excursion, 6 beers a day for 8 days, and $100 gambling per day for 8 days, plus prepaid tips... you are already at $3000.

Soda cards, arcade money, misc. food and drink, and a massage would probably add another $500.

 

[lisaross]

We are going to St. Thomas, St. Martin, San Juan and Bermuda. We also only take "REAl BIG" Vacations every 2-3 years so we also like to splurge..OK so i guess i should up it to an add'l 4000-- so a total of 8000.00 for the four of us on a 9 night cruise...yikes that will be the most we've spent on our family vacations...last year our Disney/Universal trip cost us about $5500-6000

 

[Miss SD]

My DH, DD10 and I took our first cruise (10 days) to Alaska last July. The extras, including excursions, alcohol, soda, etc., added another $3,000 to our bill. When I saw the final bill (is it called a "manifest"?) I almost fainted. Had no idea we drank that much. My advice is to estimate on the high side.

 

[CoP Luv]

We went on a 7 night cruise a few months ago and spend about $1,000 for two adults.

That includes two bottles of wine, two excursions each (one with the ship and one we did on our own), tips on the ship, and some spending money.

We don't drink hardly, no soda, and don't gamble. I thought we hardly spent any money at all, and then we saw our bill!

 

[Schachteles]

I always laugh on the night before you debark they talk about putting your charges under your door...some just slide under gracefully, others are more of a THUMP...mine typically are THUMPS!

 

[kmvand1]

Wow! These figures are scary. We are taking our first cruise in June with Carnival. It will be a four night with two stops at Nassau and Freeport. I have paid for the cruise but not pre paid the tips or any excursions. We are going to try and pay for everything up front, not buy the soda cards and bring a case of water and soda with our carry ons, as you are allowed to bring one per person. I have only figured around $800.00 for shopping and excursions for the four of us, and that's on the high end!

 

[wdwfan16]

Don't forget the tips.

 

[MaryKLady]

How much do we spend...way too much, I'm sure When planning this year's vacation I asked DD6 what was her favorite so far and what she liked best. Her answer was. "Another Disney Cruise!!!"

Well, that's out of the budget right now but in Jan. we did a 7-day DCL Caribbean and we spent roughly: $4000 on the cruise and $1000 on our ship board account which included one diving excursion. The rest was drinks, souvineers and spa. We used cash to tip and at port but that was nominal, maybe $400 total. Hey, after $5000, $400 seems nominal Your estimations seem reasonable. Have a great time!

 

[MaryKLady]

I always laugh on the night before you debark they talk about putting your charges under your door...some just slide under gracefully, others are more of a THUMP...mine typically are THUMPS!

LMAO

 

[TiggerTails57]

RCCL......Excursions can be booked and payed for in advance via credit card online.

 

[caborst]

I usually run ~$2000 for the three of us. We do excurision and drinks but no gambling.

 

[Muushka]

What do we spend on a cruise? Around $120 for 2 adults. But we are not excursion people and don't drink much and don't gamble.

Typically on a 7 night cruise we pay for 1 soda card ($35), a few 'drink of the day' ($20), a dinner in a specialty restaurant ($50), a few coffees ($9), and that is about it. Where we book tips are always included (OP, if your tips are not included, PM me).

 

[JandJ]

DH and I have been on 3 cruises and our "extras" bill was less than $200 each time. On a few fancy drinks, one lunch and one dinner at a specialty restaurant, and I usually buy one of the zillions of pictures they take of us. The last 2 cruises we had on-board credit and that covered tips. We don't do the excursions as we prefer to rent a scooter or walk and explore the ports on our own. We always get out of the "port town" they dump you in because it's so much more expensive there. We love to find local places for lunch and souvenir shopping. On HAL, and I guess other lines, you can bring 2 bottles of wine per person so we do that, put it in the fridge, and they supply the bottle opener and wine glasses. We don't gamble and don't drink soda. Either do our own laundry (if available) or pack enough to not have to pay the outrageous laundry fees. I guess we sound like pretty boring cruisers, but I've never felt bored or that I'm missing out on anything. The day we rented a scooter ($30 + lunch) and rode all over Grand Cayman, and the day we did our own walking tour of Old San Juan (cost of entry to forts ~$20 + lunch), were two of the best vacation days of my life!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We're cheap cruisers ~ no alcohol *I -my family- don't/doesn't drink ~ well alcohol **I think that's such a funny term - yes I drink, doesn't everybody??? The only gambling I do is Bingo. We don't do many shore excursions. We don't drink much soda, I'm not gonna pay for it when water & juice are free.

 

[Justsyd2]

We plan on spending $100 per day/per person, and it averages out for us when we cruise.

 

[mjkacmom]

We're taking our 3rd cruise in November, and I have yet to book an excursion through the ship. That saves a lot of money! We will also bring soda on board - maybe soda cards for the kids only.

 

[Chelley00]

We are most likely going on Royal Carribean -9 night cruise - stopping at 4 ports out of Bayonne, NJ.

DH and I did the 9 cruise on Princess last year. We found that the Royal Caribbean 9 night follows the Princess cruise and goes to the same port (minus St Martin, we went to Grand Turk) All the RCL cruisers we met and did excursions with were having a great time! So much so that we are planning that cruise for DS's graduation next in 2011. Have fun!

 

[ekatiel]

We're cheap cruisers, too. We took a 7 night on CCL in March. For a three port cruise, we try to do one "big" excursion, and then go to the beach, or something else inexpensive for the other two ports. We didn't buy any pictures or soda. We don't gamble, and we paid for about 5 or 6 alcholic drinks for the entire cruise between DH and I. We let each of the kids have $30 for souveniers. We had a WONDERFUL time, and it didn't break the bank. So, it can be done cheaply, but if you're planning on drinking a lot or gambling a lot, it adds up REALLY quickly. It's best to budget high and then be pleasantly surprised at the end! --Katie