I'm taking a cruise this year, and was wondering what is a good amount to budget for on-board expenses, (pictures, drinks, spa, etc.) Also, as a rule, how much should I expect to spend , or budget, per day while on-board?
Thanks
2007-07-05 08:54:25 · 8 answers · asked by skill_not_luck 1 in Travel ➔ Cruise Travel
There is so many options that you can chose that it completely depends on you. And how long a cruise you are talking about. There is 3-4 day, 7 day, 10 day. There is so much to do on a ship that you can range any price on--like spa and gambling.
$10 a day per person should be budgeted for tips and usually charged automatically on your card.
If you attend the spa--that price can range all over the board. Most weeks have a half day pkg. I buy my spa pkg at the art auction for about $60 for massage and facial. Every day the spa has some sort of special--so you could spend $50-$2000 at the spa. Then again, if a person goes several times... I'd budget about $100 per person per visit
Gambling can be anything. I usually spend about $50 and play the slots all week. However, like any casino they have the high rollers table as well. $1 poker, $5 poker, and $10 poker. I only go to the 25 cent slot machines.
As far as drinks, each drink is roughly $6-7 dollars. Each day has a drink of the day that is about $4. On Carnival, if you keep the hurricane glass you can get refills for less than $5 of any of the drinks of the day. If you drink beer, you can get a bucket of beer on ice at a cheaper rate than buying each. I am not a heavy drinker but we have wine at dinner and I spend about $100-200 on alcohol. Some single guys at the other table spent about $600 each. Soda costs you. If you want soda, it is cheaper to buy the soda card--which most cruise lines offer for about $20-30 for a week long cruise.
Each shore excursion you should expect to spend about $100-150 per person. Some are cheaper some are more but thats about average. You can do a shore excursion at each port if you wanted. Or you can not take any of them. Most ports have plenty to do just wandering around at the pier. On a week long cruise, I usually do 2 shore excursions, especially if I'm going to poorer countries like Latin America.
I always attend the art auction and they have great prices. I always see the guy spending $2000 there bidding on most pieces. I just buy 1-2 pieces and spend about $200.
On-board shopping. There is amazing amounts of on-board shopping. From jewelry to perfume (The Caribbean has the best prices in the world on both), to the $10 tshirts. On-board you can often get liquor for the same amazing low prices as in the port itself. My husband always stocks up on liquor so that we don't have to buy it the rest of the year. He spends about $300--but then we have to factor in customs. Customs charges next to nothing but if you buy too many bottles of alcohol (varies depending on what purchased) you'll have to wake up early to talk to Customs.
How much shopping do you normally do on vacation? You'll end up with twice as much stuff for the same price.
For my husband and I--we usually budget about--$1500 for a cruise excluding ticket fare and airplane. That includes 2 shore excursions, drinking everyday, and lots of liquor and jewelry purchases. However it is more than possible to take a cruise for less than $500--with no shore excursions and few souvenirs other than tshirts.
As a general rule--I'd average $125-150 a day.
2007-07-05 09:30:23 · answer #1 · answered by phantom_of_valkyrie 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
when i took my Royal Caribbean cruise a couple years back, I ended up spending about $1200 for 7 days. That included excursions at each stop. But that included the casino also. Drinks are super expensive on ship, between $6-$10 each. There is so much to do on the ship, you may want to plan on bringing extra money. Cruise ships also sell products duty-free, which means you wont pay taxes on what you buy on the ship.
2007-07-05 09:03:26 · answer #2 · answered by bodybuilder_in_training 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is what we spend, but we are frugal. We do not drink or gamble, so nothing for that. We occasionally get espresso or cappucino, and that is about five dollars for two. But that is free in the dining room. We have never found a picture that they have taken that we want. We do not use the spa. The prices are outrageous. We knew someone who paid over $100 for a massage. We pick up a few things on board. Our last cruise, our sail and sign account came up to about $250 for five days, but $200 of that was for gratuities.
2007-07-05 10:08:57 · answer #3 · answered by Southern Apostolic 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the most i ever spent on drinking (and i mean when i was 21-22 aka college times) was about 250-300 on a 6 day cruise. if you really must drink they give out free champaine at the art auctions and captains diner. my hubby and i only brought 500$ for both of us on our last cruise ( we booked it late and it was a last minute wedding gift) and we gambled and bought stuff at ports and spent the night in miami the night before. we also did buy a bottle of wine and a some rum at the duty free.. so you can have all kinds of fun on a budget.. we have also brought 2,000 dollars and spent money outragously and came home with over 1,000.
2007-07-05 11:46:34 · answer #4 · answered by stephanie s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as far as spending money I would rather spend my money at the ports than on the ship, I don't drink or gamble, and I am not into the spa thing, so as much as I am in the shops I still buy what I want (for less) at ports. I just enjoy what the ship offer already and it is a lot. not that I do not spend, some day they will take a picture that looks good, and on my next I will probably have them do my hair for the formal night, maybe. any way you can spend as much or as little as you want.
just consider what you want most and how much you have to spend, then where you want to spend it.
2007-07-05 10:21:41 · answer #5 · answered by Noble Angel 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My husband and I will normally spend $2000 for a 7 night cruise for our on board expenses. We do spend alot of time getting spa treatments, and I LOVE the slot machines in the casino.
Pictures are expensive - $20 for one 8x10. SO wait until the end of the cruise to pick the ones you want to buy.
2007-07-05 09:03:09 · answer #6 · answered by kimmer727 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
depends on how much you drink (soft or hard drinks), they all cost you,
Alcohol - plan on $6.50 US per drink
Soft Drink - $3.00 US per drink
then you have any excursions those can be from free to quite expensive, depending.
Do you gamble? they all have casinos (small ones),..
I would plan $1000 per person for a 7 day cruise, and this would be having fun, but not doing alot.
2007-07-05 08:59:52 · answer #7 · answered by teamlessbear 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well to answer the question, As much as you like!
2007-07-09 01:19:54 · answer #8 · answered by Jacques B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋