My FOS Seapass bill broken down

I know a lot of people in this forum always ask "how much money should I bring?" and of course that is completely an individual decision, but I thought I would share what we spent in hopes it may shed a bit of light for others.

We were on Freedom of the Seas May 8-15. I had planned on writing a review, but so many of the others on my roll call have done such a great job already with reviews with much of the same pictures I took, that I think I will bow out this time around. I'm still working through all the dirty laundry I brought back with us anyway and trying desperately to catch up on some sleep.

We are a family of 4. Myself, DH, DD (12), and DS (7). We had $100 OBC from our TA and I had purchased $500 OBC before we left. When I got onboard I added another $500 with traveler's checks for a total of $1100.00 to start with. Our final bill ended up being $1128.45. I didn't want to stand in the long line at guest services the night before debarkation so the day before I checked my balance and had a $48 credit. There were still a few things I wanted to purchase in the gift shop so I decided to spend that $48 and avoid the line. Unfortunately my husband had the same idea so we ended up going over our $1100.00 by $28.45 and I had to stand in line anyway to pay the balance as we had a cash account. No worries, it was pretty quick and painless.

The breakdown:

Laundry: $25.00- We did the fill-a-bag on Wednesday. It's a paper bag (not plastic- bummer!), but if you are careful and roll stuff really tight you can fit quite a few things in there. It's about as tall as a paper bag from the grocery store, but only half as wide. Laundry day is noted in the compass, but you really have to look for it as it wasn't 'advertised' very loudly.

Arcade: $100.00- My kids actually had their allowance money that they had been saving but I never carried it around with me. When they wanted money for the arcade I put it on my seapass and they paid me back in cash. This worked out quite nicely for me as I then had some extra cash to donate to the casino :p!

Casino: $124.00- This was a $99 entrance fee for my husband's Texas Hold 'Em Tournament and a $25 entrance fee for my slot tournament. Neither one of us won so we made another donation to the casino there too.

Food: $143.84- This included a few trips to the Cupcake Cupboard, Ben & Jerry's, Johnny Rockets, and $50 for Dinner for 2 at Chopps.

Excursions: $60.00- This was for 2 tickets to the AquaPark for my kids at CocoCay, which (for my kids at least) wasn't worth the money. I got the impression from pictures that the AquaPark was in sight right when you hit the beach, but it's actually quite a ways down the beach and my kids didn't even see it. Our tickets were for an hour at noon and prying them away from the area we had set up 'camp' at was difficult as they had made some friends and were having a good time. They liked the AquaPark okay, but the lifejacket was rubbing my son's skin raw and so they stopped playing after about 30 minutes and they went back to playing on the beach.

Store: $275.37- Mostly souveniers

Bar: $400.27 -I don't drink, so this was all my husband! The total may be somewhat misleading, so I will try and explain. He had a drink or 2 during the day and at dinner and the show, but the majority of it was after midnight at The Crypt with his 2 brothers. They found an awesome bartender that 'hooked them up' every night. He usually was there until 3am and the tab was only $20 each night (before tip). Out of the $400.27, about $100 or so was from tips (on top of the 15% already added), so I'm not sure if the bill technically would have been higher if he had actually paid for all he drank and not given additional tips or less because he was a generous tipper (he also tipped some in cash). Either way he got to spend some nice time with his brothers and meet some great people. He was treated wonderfully at The Crypt and he returned that in kind.

I hope that helps anyone who may be interested in one family's Seapass bill on FOS. I had purchased the soda card before we left ($48). I hemmed and hawed awhile and tryed to decide if it would be worth it and if I would really drink 6 sodas a day to make it cost efficient. Truthfully, I can't believe I ever considered not getting one- I loved the convenience of being able to go up to any of the bars on the ship or the selfserve stations on the pool deck and get a drink whenever I wanted, not to mention at dinner as well and on CocoCay. I'm sure I drank at least 6 drinks a day if not more. $48 sounded expensive before I left, but once on board it seemed like a drop in the proverbial bucket. I will never hesitate to buy the soda card again.

And in the end I hit $650 on a Wheel of Fortune machine in the casino and came home with $650. I also didn't touch the $500 I had set aside on my ATM card either, so we actually came back home with $1150 that I had earmarked for vacation, so I think we definitely came out ahead! We can't wait to go again! :)

Thanks for posting. We always have a high bill in the end, but we usually start having drinks at noon and then spend money in the casino and specialty restaurants. I hope I hit something like that in the casino....you did great!

This is a great idea!

I just went through our statement from the Oasis of the Seas last year and produced a similar summary to share for the enlightenment/amusement of others. We are also a family of four, plus a family friend who traveled with us. The charges aren't a completely accurate picture as sometimes we bought drinks/food for our friend and sometimes he paid for us.

All totaled, it's about $1,000. We had about $300 in onboard credit from Royal Caribbean ($200 from these being NextCruise bookings and $100 from the grandfathered shareholder benefit).

Anyway:

Cupcake Cupboard: $44 - Includes a class for two at $19.50 each and two cupcakes

Bar Service: $195.14 - Mostly drinks of the day which were buy-1-get-1-free with the sticker from buying the port shopping guide, glasses of wine (probably should have bought a bottle or two instead), and a few sodas

Internet Service: $135 - $150 package with a 10%-off Gold coupon

Casino: $50 - Two slot tournament entries... ended up getting second place in the win-a-cruise tournament and won $90 instead.

Restaurants: $51.31 - This would be higher but as I mentioned, our friend sometimes treated us to dinner

Souvenirs: $116.58 - Mostly t-shirts and other sundries

Arcade: $10

Laundry: $90.25 - This ended up being higher than I had anticipated. We did do the fill-a-bag special twice, but we needed to get some laundry done earlier as well.

Bingo: $110 - I wanted to try playing Bingo with the electronic devices. I've done that now and have no desire to do it again.

Spa: $148.85 - I'd never had a spa treatment before and wanted to treat myself on my birthday.

Pictures: $119.70

The kids and I had soda packages which got plenty of use. I also donated some money to Royal Caribbean via their casino, but that's not included here. I don't recall how much that was... a few hundred, I suspect. There was also money spent at the various ports for souvenirs and excursions including an expensive dolphin encounter.

I suspect that our next cruise probably won't have very much in the way of excursions or port-based souvenirs since we've been to these ports before and will instead choose to relax either on the ship or just walk around and enjoy ourselves that way.

We do typically run about $1000-1500 for our onboard account, so we were on target.

Haha, I won't say what I spent... but being a non-drinker and vegetarian (can't really eat at the steak house, lol), I came out really cheap :).

Hubby spent money on drinks and the arcade. Think that was about it...

Wow, we did good. On our last 9 night Explorer cruise our bill was only $400 for 6 people and most of our bill was for photos. We had prepaid for our excursions and that was about $400. We aren't big drinkers and don't drink soda. :)

Thanks everyone for sharing this. It does help! Especially those of us who have never been on a cruise! 28 more days til the Oasis!!

We are going on our first cruise next October on FOS and are feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information that is available. Can you answer some questions for us? Myself, husband, son (12), daughter (10), mum and dad will be sailing together.

You bought the soda package - was that $48 per week and is it the same for children? What does the soda package allow them to have? A bit confused about what you have to pay for. Does this mean that all beverages on the ship have to be paid for whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic?

Why did your husband not buy one of the drinks packages? We were thinking about doing this but maybe just for my husband/dad at $50 per day. Would they still have to pay tips on top of this? As a matter of interest, how much was the typical glass of wine or bottle of wine?

I noticed that your meal at Chops was just for 2 people. Did you take the children for their meal some place first and then they headed off to their clubs whilst you went for your meal?

And finally, what did your children wear in the evening - slightly concerned about what my son will wear as he is normally in cargo shorts and other people say that trousers/pants are required with dress shoes. :confused:

Great information by the way. Extremely helpful!

Great info guys-thanks for posting! I especially enjoyed the Oais tally,since we will be cruising on her soon. We usually spend between $1000-$1500 or so on a cruise, including excursions an sovenirs.

There's no charge for tea and coffee on cruises. Any beer,wine, fru-fru drinks and Cokes-you have to pay for. I'm not sure about juice.

On our FOS cruise we ended up spending $420 or so. We had $200 in onboard credit between our booking bonus from RCCL & TA, so we only paid $220 in the end. It was just my husband and myself. I don't have the bill so based on memory we spent approx.

$122 or so in Gratuities

$7.50 at the cupcake cupboard

$24 for 2 trips to Johnny Rockets

$35 Internet package

$115 in On Board Liquor purchases

$116 Bar Bill (my husband doesn't drink so this was just my bar bill)

You bought the soda package - was that $48 per week and is it the same for children? What does the soda package allow them to have? A bit confused about what you have to pay for. Does this mean that all beverages on the ship have to be paid for whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic?

The price is for the week. Children are cheaper. I don't recall the exact price but I think it is around half of the adult cost. The soda package allows them to have any fountain soda. If you don't have the soda package the only drinks that are included are iced tea and lemonade in the Windjammer and MDR.

Why did your husband not buy one of the drinks packages? We were thinking about doing this but maybe just for my husband/dad at $50 per day. Would they still have to pay tips on top of this? As a matter of interest, how much was the typical glass of wine or bottle of wine?

The alcohol package is not available (yet) on U.S. based ships. Where it is available the tip is included in the cost of the package.

We are going on our first cruise next October on FOS and are feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information that is available. Can you answer some questions for us? Myself, husband, son (12), daughter (10), mum and dad will be sailing together.

 

You bought the soda package - was that $48 per week and is it the same for children? What does the soda package allow them to have? A bit confused about what you have to pay for. Does this mean that all beverages on the ship have to be paid for whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic? Already answered

 

Why did your husband not buy one of the drinks packages? We were thinking about doing this but maybe just for my husband/dad at $50 per day. Would they still have to pay tips on top of this? As a matter of interest, how much was the typical glass of wine or bottle of wine? Not available in US...I believe a glass of wine is $6

I noticed that your meal at Chops was just for 2 people. Did you take the children for their meal some place first and then they headed off to their clubs whilst you went for your meal? Sometimes the kids can eat meals in the kids club...we have never done this though. Our kids always eat with us. It all depends on what type of dining you choose...my time dining, dining room or windjammer (buffet).

 

And finally, what did your children wear in the evening - slightly concerned about what my son will wear as he is normally in cargo shorts and other people say that trousers/pants are required with dress shoes. :confused: Just bring a pair of black slacks and a pair of Khakis(sometimes we only bring one pair of slacks)...you don't have to to bring a pair of slacks for each day. He will only have them on during dinnertime and photos if you choose to do them. Polo shirts are fine on most nights, and for formal nights we bring one dress shirt with tie that he wears for both formal nights. You will only need this if you choose to eat in the main dining room. You will not need this attire for the Windjammer (buffet).

Great information by the way. Extremely helpful!

Answers are in red.:)

We are going on our first cruise next October on FOS and are feeling a little overwhelmed with all the information that is available. Can you answer some questions for us? Myself, husband, son (12), daughter (10), mum and dad will be sailing together.

 

You bought the soda package - was that $48 per week and is it the same for children? It was for the whole week. Kids soda cards are cheaper- I think about $26 maybe. What does the soda package allow them to have? CocaCola based products. I didn't notice what else was available because I only wanted Coke. A bit confused about what you have to pay for. Does this mean that all beverages on the ship have to be paid for whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic? There is free coffee, tea, iced tea, lemonade, and juice for breakfast available for no charge. Any soda, fancy coffee, or alcoholic drinks (or virgin drinks) cost extra.

 

Why did your husband not buy one of the drinks packages? He wanted one but they were not available for our sailing. We were thinking about doing this but maybe just for my husband/dad at $50 per day. Would they still have to pay tips on top of this? Usually a 15% gratuity is added on top of any drink you have to purchase. Additional tips are up to you. I have also read that if one member of a stateroom purchases an alcohol package then all people in the stateroom are required to purchase one. I'm sure someone will correct me if I misunderstood that. As a matter of interest, how much was the typical glass of wine or bottle of wine? Someone else will have to field this one! I have no idea.

 

I noticed that your meal at Chops was just for 2 people. Did you take the children for their meal some place first and then they headed off to their clubs whilst you went for your meal? We were traveling with a family group of 12 and for a birthday present my parents gave us dinner at Chopps with no kids :), so my parents took them to the dining room and had dinner with the rest of the group while my husband I had a nice quiet dinner together.

 

And finally, what did your children wear in the evening - slightly concerned about what my son will wear as he is normally in cargo shorts and other people say that trousers/pants are required with dress shoes. :confused: Unfortunately dress is a hot topic here on the boards, so I can only tell you what we did and saw. My daughter (12) was happy to wear 2 very nice tea length dresses on the 2 formal nights and sundresses on the other nights. My son (7) was none too impressed with the fact he had to dress up, but he didn't get a choice. I dressed him in docker-type pants, a dress shirt, vest and tie on the formal nights and just dockers and a polo the other nights. The first night he complained so much about his shoes hurting that the other nights I just let him wear his sandals with his dress clothes (although I still made him wear the socks, much to his dismay). Truthfully I saw kids (and adults) dressed in every kind of attire, although I didn't see any shorts. It personally didn't matter to me what others were wearing, but I know it does to some. To each his own. This is us on the first formal night:

 

and on the second night (my daughter's dress is white with gold, but it's hard to tell with the white background):

Great information by the way. Extremely helpful!

I hope that helps some! Enjoy your cruise!

Ok, I'm a newer cruiser and hoping can get some help. In OP it was stated they added $500 to there OBA prior to leaving. How is this done. Do you pay to the same account that you payed on your cruise?

Ok, I'm a newer cruiser and hoping can get some help. In OP it was stated they added $500 to there OBA prior to leaving. How is this done. Do you pay to the same account that you payed on your cruise?

I did this so I wouldn't have to carry too much cash while traveling. All you do is call Royal Carribean at 1-800-722-5443 and tell them you would like to purchase some onboard credit. The max is $500 unless you fax them a copy of your credit card and driver's license (due to fraud reasons). Make sure you purchase ONBOARD CREDIT and not a gift certificate- which is a totally different thing. I wish I had done this long before I did but I never knew about it. I would have been doing it with a little money each week when I got paid.

ETA: Other people can also purchase it for you as a gift by calling that same number.