tbrown801

We have never taken a cruise before but we are considering one. What are the additional costs we can expect that are in addition to the advertised price of a cruise? Anything else we should now that new cruise people aren't aware of?

MJonTravel

If you drink alcohol, that will likely be the biggest expense. I plan 6.50 per beer, $10 per wine. There are inclusive drink packages at most lines that may make some sense depending on your situation. If you did not pre-pay your gratuities, plan on $12 to $15 per day per person for that depending on cruise line and stateroom category.

My personal rule of thumb is $100 per day, but that's just me. I usually dine at a specialty restaurant or two...or three during a weeklong cruise. There might be a spa visit by the Mrs. etc., so that number seems to work for me.

There are lines that include all of these things in your fare, more expensive up front, but perhaps not all that much more than the mass market lines when you add things up. Also, if you drink soda, it's usually extra except on Disney.

I wrote a primer for "beginners" with cruising on my blog. Your post reminds me that I need to add something on budgeting too. I also wrote a post on my recent decision to purchase an all inclusive-drink package and my thoughts behind it too. I'm sure others will chime in with their own thoughts. (Please note that FT rules require that I notify you that I am an author of the blog that I linked to in this post.)

Linda VH

MJon, nice reading! I've done alot of cruises and am now doing mostly Regent but.....if a Royal Carib or other line came up I'm glad I know which package to purchase. Thanks!

747FC

OP: Welcome to the world of cruising. The most signinficant extra cost of cruising are the port excursions. Unless you choose a high-end cruise that provides excursions for no extra cost, having pre-arranged ship's tours at each port can run you from $50-250 pp/per day. At the lower end are 3-hour bus or walking tours of the port city. At the mid-higher end are half-to-full-day bus or eco-tours, some with lunch included

Some try to reduce the excursion costs by arranging for independent private or group tours, but this takes time and effort on your part.

I sometimes use private guides, which costs more than ship's excursions, but gives us privacy and a personally-fashioned experience that can be changed at a moment's whim.

Now for another cost of cruising: Airfare. If you are on FT, you know that game. We have been using miles to "fund" our F-class travel to meet up with our cruise ships.

pseudoswede

Besides what has been mentioned above and other obvious ones (like casino, spa, and souvenirs), if you like something more frilly than black coffee or tea, then expect to pay extra for those.

Letitride3c

Cruisecritic's board/forum is your best friend, FT's equivalent with 99,001 FAQ and Stickies (well, maybe 88,101 but who's counting) - specific to each line and even by individual ships & itineraries/ports of call on expected/extra & hidden costs. When I'm not on here, I can sometimes be found overthere - especially as the countdown clock get closer to embarkation (boarding) - one extra costs to factor in, even if burning miles to fly to the port and/or getting a "freebies" from player's club program (casino/cruise comp's) - cruise insurance !!

Unless walking, driving or skiing to one's homeport nearby (i.e. metro NY's 3 terminals) - it's well worth the extra, checkout the fine prints of what's covered & not - the ones from independents are often better on coverage. There's a few unhappy FT's from the Northeast who's likely going to miss their MIA sailing today/tomorrow as I read them ...

Recognizing one's stateroom steward or other crew members for service excellence going beyond a nice reward (a/k/a cash tipping or extra) as a nicely written note by the pax to the hotel/guest services manager can go a long way when attached to their employee file - often, a big smile on her/his face & a heartfelt thanks from them as we disembark. And, it doesn't cost a penny more, a few minutes to scribble & drop it off at Guest Services in the "hotel" a/k/a ship's main lobby.

iluvcruising2

Additional costs:

1) gratuities (for your stateroom attendant)
2) shore excursions
3) alcohol and other drinks like speciality coffee, soda
4) speciality restaurants

For 1), you can't get away from that.

For 2), ship's tours are usually expensive. If you do it on your own, or get a private tour, it usually works out to be a better deal. But on a ship's tour, they guarantee that they will wait for you. If you are on your own, the ship will leave without you if you are not back by all aboard time.

For 3), this is a significant expense for many. Look out for drink packages if you drink a lot. Otherwise, just take the complimentary stuff (which isn't much to start with)

For 4), this is quite an enjoyable expense. Some of the speciality restaurants are really good. Some not so.

iluvcruising2

By the way, which cruise line and which cruise itinerary are you thinking of?

Need

There is also the gratuities for dining service "team". I was on the Disney cruise and I think they really over charge on the dining gratuities. First of all, they charges tips for 2 waiters (1 for drink and 1 for food). And then they charges tips for the manager of the waiters whom I met for about 10 sec on the first night. All together, the 3 of us (2 adult and a kid) pays $24 a night in tips for dinner. It would have been worth it if dinner was amazing. It was not. I have to say that most restaurants we go have better food and better service. Usually we would have pay about $50 to $70 at most restaurant which means 20% tip is about $10 to $14.

In addition to alcohol and specialty drinks, Disney cruise also charges to sell you water. I don't know how much they charge but it was not cheap. Good thing we read about it and brought our own carry on full of bottles of water (36 bottles!). I could have run a side business selling those bottles and made a fortune LOL.

YVR Cockroach

I'm too cheap to travel on the all-inclusive lines.

I think you can do quite well limiting your expenses by not using your key card as a credit card (and being socked a horrible amount at the end).

As far as drinks go, just don't (or limit yourself to complimentary beverages).

For some cruise lines, such as Holland America, the beverage packages do not include the "premium" drinks (usually designated as above a certain price limit) so wine is cheap 'n nasty stuff you won't buy to drink at home (Santa Carolina of Chile or some sort - basically they're charging $7 + 15% SC for a bottle of wine that costs US$5-6). What I did on my last cruise is buy drinks during happy hour which on Holland America is at certain bars at certain times. An extra $1 for a 2nd drink of the same so the cheap drinkers were buying two each. I stuck with something called Tanqueray 0010 as it was a martini made with something other than the cheapest spirits.

As for wine, some cheaper cruise lines still allow you to BYOB though they are charging corkage. I did the same buying wine in California as I could get much better wine for the same outlay. Holland America charges $40 + 15% SC for $5-7 wines. So for the $18 corkage, bringing onboard $20 wines was much better value. The cruise line may also sell you wine packages (certain number of bottles for $X + 15% SC of course). Slight discount but check what is available and what it would cost. The elites get a 25-50% discount on the wine packages (but SC is still calculated on the full amount) which makes it a bit more tolerable.

mikeef

Anywhere from 20-25% of a cruise line's revenue comes from the "other" category, which includes tours, on-board spend, etc. Cruise line accounting includes some adjustments for vendor costs (i.e., Spa and tours are outsourced, so they adjust for that.), but that number is reasonably accurate. All of the items in on-board are what you think they'd be: alcohol, art, jewelry, casino, spa, etc.

If your cruise costs more than a few hundred dollars per person, talk to your travel agent about throwing in an on-board credit. Travel agent commissions (which are declining) run roughly 8-12%. There are many travel agents on FT and they can probably give you more details. Also, we got a cruise credit for our most recent Disney Cruise (coincidentally, the same one Need was on, although we didn't know it at the time) because we put down a (fully refundable) deposit on our last Disney Cruise. Our travel agent also threw in pre-paid gratuities and a credit of her own.

If you are not a big spender on ancillary items, the cost of the cruise (and your profitability to the cruise line, for that matter) goes way down. We don't drink and the Disney cruise has no casinos, so we spent nothing there. We went to Caribbean islands where tours are highly unnecessary. In fact, if my wife hadn't realized on the last day that gratuities had been prepaid, we would have gone home with a credit (which the cruise line would not give to us in cash). Most cruise lines will tell you that the credit cannot be used toward gratuities, but we've never had one turn us down. Bottom line: my daughter got her overpriced Elsa dress and my son got his towel and t-shirt.

I thought the tips were pretty high-priced, also, but our travel agent threw in prepaid gratuities with the package. There's nothing that forces you to pay, though. A quick trip/call to the service desk can get the gratuities removed. That's very common among cruisers from countries that aren't traditionally tippers. They often choose to pay a gratuity on their own, instead.

Okay, totally judgment-free, fyi only statement: the vast, vast majority of the servers' income comes from tips. And I mean VAST. Should the cruise lines be asking us to subsidize their costs? I don't know. I do know that if they had to pay the staff real wages, cruise prices would go up (and we'd eventually still end up tipping people). I consider tipping to be a highly personal decision, so I have my opinions about the above, but there may be one or two (thousand) threads elsewhere on FT about tipping.

Mike

will2288

If you are interested in sneaking on alcohol, do research on Rum Runners.

lmaccaro

If you are asking about extras, you are probably concerned about cost (like most people). Limit your cruising costs by:

1. take soft drinks and bottled water onboard at debarkation (most cruise lines allow you to bring your own, I've seen some people bring what looked like a pallet load).

2. most cruise lines allow you to bring 2 bottles of wine per stateroom at debarkation. Any liquor you buy in-port will likely be "held" for you until the end of the cruise (not necessarily the case in Europe though, they dont care over there). Take advantage of happy hour booze prices on the ship, drink in port, and make sure to get any freebies the ship offers like a champagne toast at debarkation, etc.

3. Stick to the "main dining" room, they are usually very good, but not excellent.

4. Gratuities are pretty easily researched. Same with taxes and port fees, which are usually listed when you are booking.

5. Book your excursions outside the cruise line; cruisecritic.com message boards can help you with that. I've never been left behind, or even felt threatened. Or just go it alone and walk around.

6. Book a "guarantee" class room, that is your best shot at a free upgrade. Inside and outside are about the same quality, balcony is the next step up that may be worth paying for, suites are for pretty high rollers and are a step above balconies. However, you get 95% of the benefits of the cruise experience with a cheap-o inside room, and believe me, there will be tons of railings and windows outside your room where you can stare at the water.

7. Try for an room in the middle of the ship if you are prone to nausea, mid-ship moves less than the front or back.

8. What is a "good deal" cruising? Generally, if your total cost is less than $65 per-person-per-night on the cruise ship, you are getting a steal. I'd go a little higher than that for a European cruise, etc., with the more exotic being the more pricey. Itineraries around holidays, or when kids are out of school, or when you are getting to see a lot of ports will drive up the price. I recently booked a 7-night cruise that stops in 6 ports for $1200 during spring break, which I feel is a great deal.

Feeling nefarious and alcoholic? Rum runners or water bottles full of clear liquors are sneaky ways to smuggle like a prohibition-era sneak. They won't toss you overboard for that, but they will take it away and give you a lecture.

garethlewis

you don't have to pay any gratuities if you don't want to, with our cruise you delegate at the end of the itinerary when settling the drinks bill

Georgia Peach

Be careful about using your cell phone on or near the ship. If the signal bounces off the ship's system, you'll get hit with a massive bill.