How much do u spend on a cruise?

[MrsPete]

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

Try cruisecritics.com to get specifics for your ship.

General thoughts:
Plan for your tips. They'll be around $100/person.
Look into private excursions. Not only are they significantly less expensive than ship's excursions, you'll also be in a smaller group and you'll have more control over your day.
Gambling -- that could be only a few dollars or it could be large amounts.
Soda cards for kids are something like $4.50/day. You can bring your own sodas onboard. The ship's water is purified just like bottled water. Bring a couple empty bottles onboard, and you'll save both money and weight in your suitcase.
I say no to arcades. They're very expensive, and the kids will have plenty of other things to do: swimming, surf simulator, climbing wall, movies, kids' club activities, sports deck.
Beer runs about $4. It's slightly less expensive at Johnny Rocket's; you can walk in and get a take-out without paying the cover charge. If you like fru-fru drinks, the drink of the day is less expensive. Always order your drink in a plain glass (rather than the souvenier glass, which you probably don't want anyway).
Shopping is rather expensive on some islands, cheaper on other islands. I haven't found much onboard that I'm interested in buying.

Other things that people tend to spend upon:
Specialty restaurants are $20-25/person. They're for ages 13 up.
Wine package.
Workout classes at the gym (some of the more popular classes charge a fee).
Photographs.
Pre-cruise hotel stay in your port city (cheap insurance against missing your ship).
Room service is free, but you need to bring some cash for tips.

 

[okeydokey]

We did a Disney cruise in 2004 (ages ago I know) and the cruise was $2800 for 4 of us in an inside cabin. You can't do it that cheaply anymore I don't think. Our on board bill was about 800-900 including tips. We explored shore on our own, went to the beach and shopping and took a cab to the aquarium and beech in St. Thomas. We did a lot of on ship activities and totally enjoyed ourselves.

 

[Darcy03231]

The general rule of thumb when cruising is plan on $100/pp per day.

A lot depends on how much of a spender you are, what type of excursions you do, how much you drink, etc.


We cruise frequently. Some cruises we haven't had any onboard charges other than tips and a drink or two. Others we've booked a lot of excursions, I've bought jewelry, we spent some time in the casino.....

 

[djbleach]

Sometimes the "more money you spend/have" the more fun you can have?
Not always true....
If you've got $4000 to spend/splurge on the cruise....go for It.
I'm like other posters. We are "cheap" when we crusie. But I'm also the one that "looks at the price on a menue, before I order. Some just order regardless of the price"
We've booked with the cruise line our first cruise. Then we found cruise critic dot com and learned alot!!!!
Tips are a big expense for us.
No drinking and no soda card. They have tea, so I usually drink that. When we are in the ports, I get a few soda's for $1 and take them back to the room. On our first day, I ask the room steward to empty the fridge. This way there's no charge and we have a fridge to put drinks.
We have done the spa....massage....wife had some "Europe thingy"...
So anyway.
What I've found Is It saves money to be informed. Crusie critic can answer any questions you have. From ship secrets, to best excursions.
In St.Martian we did the wave runner stingray excursion thru fat fish or something like that and it was great. $200 for 3 people to ride one jetski. It was crazy fun.
I can't say I've felt like we didn't do anything that we wanted to do because of money on any cruise.
have fun.

 

[lisaross]

Thanks everyone for great tips..

 

[MM27]

I've spent $3000 a piece for just myself on two different cruises. One was a cruisetour though (Alaska) and the other was for a Med. cruise and it included the airfare. I'm worth it though

 

[Cindy B]

Our family of four went on a Disney cruise and our "extras" were less than 200 (I want to say even less than 100 )

We didn't do excursions, soda was included, did one or two drinks, one or two specialty coffees and Palo charges. We paid for tips ahead of time.

This year we are doing a Carnival cruise.. we are allowed to bring a reasonable amount of soda on board plus two bottles of wine. We may do a drink or two and no set excursions just yet.

I don't anticipate any huge bill.

 

[tazdeb]

When we go on our cruises we put a prepaid amount on each kids seapass cards (usually $200) then we tell them to spend it however they want but when it's gone , it's gone. Also they got to take home the cash they didn't use. You won't believe how frugal kids can be when they know its their money and that the well can run dry. Also, we found that the soda card is a waste of money. If you do the math the kids would have to drink 4 pops a day to get there moneys worth. To me thats too many. Plus there is free lemonaide, ice tea etc... in many venues onboard. The first cruise the kids used the soda card for a drink, took 2 sips and did'nt finish em, plus they said that sometimes the bartenders ignored them because they knew that there is no tip from the kids with the soda card. If you use the $200 method the kids will only buy what they really want and will use plus you will know going in your budget. As for excursions do them on your own and save more than 50%. Just make sure you get back to the ship on time. I assume you are going on the Explorer of the seas. Its a great ship with lots to do so I wouldn't plan on seeing your kids too much. They will be too busy Ice skating, rock climbing, swimming etc.......Have fun.

 

[maslex]

We've been on 3 cruises so far. Taking our 4th this coming July.

Can't really remember the dollar amount that we spend but we're another one of the "cheap or frugal" cruisers.

We are a family of four (DS13 and DS14). We usually don't get a soda card (we did for the boys last year, probably won't this year), we don't gamble, we don't buy stuff in the ship's stores (except for the magnet that I NEED to get no matter where I vacation LOL), etc

What we do spend our money on is one or two excursions, tips, 2-3 drinks for me throughout the week and pictures. I WILL spend anywhere between $80-$150 on pictures. I am a scrapbooker and cannot fathom leaving the ship without my pictures (and no I do not buy all of them)

But other than that, we don't see any reason to spend extra money when there is so much to do on the ship. But since everyone is different, spend what you feel you want to spend. There's really no "ideal" amount that is standard.

 

[lisaross]

Do the kids wear the seapass cards on a lanyard? i would love to give them a certain amount of money to spend as they like..just worried what if they loose the card? also if they want to get a soda at dinner - can they pay for it w/their seapass card or will it get billed to the room?

Yes, Explorer of the sea is what we'll be going on - now my kids will be 9 and 11 then - do u let ur kids go to the differnet activities alone or does the camp take them?

When we go on our cruises we put a prepaid amount on each kids seapass cards (usually $200) then we tell them to spend it however they want but when it's gone , it's gone. Also they got to take home the cash they didn't use. You won't believe how frugal kids can be when they know its their money and that the well can run dry. Also, we found that the soda card is a waste of money. If you do the math the kids would have to drink 4 pops a day to get there moneys worth. To me thats too many. Plus there is free lemonaide, ice tea etc... in many venues onboard. The first cruise the kids used the soda card for a drink, took 2 sips and did'nt finish em, plus they said that sometimes the bartenders ignored them because they knew that there is no tip from the kids with the soda card. If you use the $200 method the kids will only buy what they really want and will use plus you will know going in your budget. As for excursions do them on your own and save more than 50%. Just make sure you get back to the ship on time. I assume you are going on the Explorer of the seas. Its a great ship with lots to do so I wouldn't plan on seeing your kids too much. They will be too busy Ice skating, rock climbing, swimming etc.......Have fun.

 

[MrsPete]

Responding rather randomly to a number of comments:

I totally agree that more money spent does not equal more fun. For example, if you don't choose to go to the specialty restaurants (with an added fee), you're still going to have a great meal in the dining room. If you don't pay extra for a fancy cabana on the beach, you're still going to be at the beach.

Yes, many kids wear their SeaPasses on lanyards around their necks. It keeps them from losing them. I have mine leave their lanyards hanging on the inside doorknob so they can't help seeing them when the leave. They've never locked themselves out of the room. I cannot say that myself!

If you want them to have a spending limit, do it like this: When you fill out your boarding documents online, you can specify that Mom will be charging to Credit Card A . . . Dad will be charging to Credit Card A . . . and Kiddo will not have charging privledges. BUT THEN overpay your kids' room by X amount. This will give them an "onboard credit" and will allow them to charge that amount.

I've already done this for our upcoming cruise. We're in one room, the kids are in a connecting room. I purposefully overpaid the kids' room by $60 so that they each have $30 to spend onboard. That's plenty for them to buy sodas, the occasional milkshake, etc. The only drawback is that they each have access to the $60 equally . . . so if one child charges $50 in the arcade on the first day, there's really no recourse.

Definitely make sure that the kids understand that anything they sign for is NOT FREE. Kids aren't as accustomed to spending as we are, and they genuinely don't know.

Also, keep in mind that you can view everyone's charges from your stateroom TV. Do check every day or so to see that no one's charged to your account by mistake. The only thing I've ever been charged for erroneously was a single soda (I chose not to stand in line to contest it), but I've heard of some people who've had bad situations. Recently I read a thread on cruisecritics.com about a man whose son broke the stateroom TV, signed for a replacement, and then didn't tell his dad about it . . . but his dad sure noticed it on his bill on the last day when it was time to check out.

Two last tips: On the first day, board as early as possible, go to the top of the ship and work your way downward, seeing EVERYTHING as you go. If you're aware of all the stuff that's available WITHOUT COST (the game room, the mini-golf, the ping-pong tables), you're less likely to look to the more expensive options. And -- a similar tip -- read, read, read before you go. The more you know, the more wisely you'll spend.

 

[HeatherC]

Lisa: I JUST got off the Explorer yesterday. Did a 5 night cruise to Bermuda. If you have any specific ?'s, I'd be happy to try to answer them.

To answer your original question, we are a family of 5 and usually pay around 3500 - $4000 for the cruise and then bring about $1500 with us for spending.

We have been on 7 cruises...not all with the kids, and find that we do not like to do the excursions through the ship. We prefer to go off on our own and explore.

In St. Maarten and St. Thomas, we either rent a car or take a cab to the beach. Since we travel a lot in February, we like just going to the beach since we live in New England. In St. Thomas we did a day sail that was fabulous. For about $100 a person, we chartered our own sailboat. They included a welcome appetizer, open bar, lunch and afternoon snacks. They sailed us where we wanted to and stopped to let us swim or snorkel when we wanted to. Best money we have ever spent on a cruise. Can't recommend that enough. And we weren't like herded cattle with a 1,000 other people.

You will have a wonderful time!

 

[lisaross]

ok regarding the Seapasses, i cannot put a separate amount on each kids card - they are kind of sharing 1 amount that i put...and also can they use that "seacard" at dinner to buy a soda? How old are ur kids that u let them go around the ship alone? or do they also have stuff for them to buy in the kidsclubs - like a shake or icecream?

Great advice everyone..also if u don't book the excersion thru the cruise do u just get off the trip and their are people their to book them with? are all these people, tourplaces safe?

 

[tommya60]

I highly recommend spending some time on cruisecritic.com You can learn a lot about each port, recommended excursions, costs, etc. I tend to book excursions with the cruise only if we are going a significant distance from the port--then it's their problem if there are any delays. If it's a see the town or go the beach thing we strike out on our own.
We bought DD a soda card on the last trip--she was old enough to be "on her own" for certain portions of the day (that means in my line of sight with new ship friends at the pool) and overall it was easier. She's not a huge soda drinker, but they are very pricey on the ship (RCCL). She loved the rock wall by the way. She gets a set amount of money, when it's gone, it's gone.

Check into whatever they are calling the fitness program--a certain number of laps around the top deck, a dance class, whatever and they stamp your fitness card (I forget what it's actually called). At the end of the cruise you trade in your points for "stuff". She got a water bottle that she loves, and it didn't cost us anything. A lot of folks aren't aware of the program until mid-cruise or later, then they don't have as many points to turn in. We've done this program with both RCCL and HAL.

 

[lisaross]

yes, i am signed up on cruisecritic...i just love this board!!!

i will have to make friends on their as well....

Also do the kidsclubs take the kids around the ship at all??

 

[minniebeth]

You all are inspirational that cruising can be done much cheaper than I just looked at. I just looked for the heck of it at a 5 nt. DCL douple dip cruise this summer (2 stops at Castaway Cay) and it was $9,000 for a family of 5! Wowie...

 

[lisaross]

9000 is crazy.....

You all are inspirational that cruising can be done much cheaper than I just looked at. I just looked to the heck of it at a 5 nt. DCL douple dip cruise this summer (2 stops at Castaway Cay) and it was $9,000 for a family of 5! Wowie...

 

[HeatherC]

You should be able to put a certain amount on each of their seapass cards. They will have to have them with them during the day anyway. You can actually give them cash when you embark to be put on each card. When that runs out, they won't be able to charge anymore. You will be able to see what they spend each day on the tv. It will break it out by each card.

Adventure Ocean does take the kids around. They have different activities....like one day they do a talent show and have it in the Viking Crown Lounge. On formal night I think they take the kids to Johnny Rocket's if they don't want to do formal night. They also do a kids parade at night on the promenade. Very fun. They face paint the little ones faces in a pirate theme and then they "take over" the ship that night.

They will also schedule family activities like karaoke one night if you want to go as a family.

There isn't any food in Adventure Ocean. They have free frozen yogurt near the main pool area and you can buy Ben and Jerry's at the Cafe Promenade. My kids are happy with the free stuff....just cones. I believe Adventure Ocean is open 9-12 and then 1-4. Closes for lunch and the opens again around 5 for the evening.

Hope that helps!