How much money? daft question!

[spanner14]

Morning all,

 

I'm having a last minute panic about our forthcoming cruise on FOS (western) and just can't work out how many dollars we'll need!

 

I know we'll need cash for dinner on the first night on I drive,

snacks and drinks at Seaworld,

toll roads from I-drive to Port Canaveral (and back again)

tips at Port Canaveral??????

occasional room service tips? (we've pre-paid gratuities)

drinks on Labadee

and taxi, lunch, drinks at Royal Palms at Grand Cayman

 

and anything else I have missed off.

 

Can anyone help with a rough amount of dollars for all this? Tipping in dollars is a mystery to me, being from the UK, so if anyone can help me with how much I might need, that would be great.

 

My apologies if this is a silly question....:o

Thanks everyone!

 

Very excited but really panicky now.....! :)

[emdia43]

Well you won't need any money on Labadee, it's still cashless, using your seapass.

How many people are cruising? :)

[spanner14]

Well you won't need any money on Labadee, it's still cashless, using your seapass.

How many people are cruising? :)

 

Thanks emdia43, I forgot that bit! There are three of us; me, DH and DD aged 10. We've prebooked and prepaid our excursions as well.

 

I didn't know you used your Seapass for drinks on labadee, that's handy :)

[Happy ks]

It just depends on your own personal spending habits, where you eat, what you drink, how your auto does on gas. No one can answer the question but you.

 

Figure out what you think is enough, double it, you can always redeposit it into your bank account when you get home. Then...hope you brought enough along. If not, there are always ATM machines in every town.

[Chester & Brewster]

Spanner, can't really help with the amount of dollars, just wanted to say have a fabulous time & I can't wait to hear all about it - we are doing the same trip next year.

If you end up taking too much $ cash, you could always pay it off your on board bill at guest services on the last day, so you will end up being charged less on your credit card. Swings & Roundabouts!

I'd allow $2-3 for a room service tip, depending on how much food they have to bring. On our Med cruise last month I took a load of 1 euro coins just to use for tipping, and plan to do the same with $1 bills next time. It was loads easier than scrabbling round for change when the knock on the door came (especially at 7am!). Similarly I wouldn't leave it in the safe either - takes too long to get at it. If we ordered room service breakfast we got the tip out ready the night before.

[JudyM]

The porters at the pier (both departing and returning) will expect tips if they touch your luggage, and on departure you have to hand over everything to them but your carry-on because the bags are loaded separately.

 

Also, just about the best advice I ever read here was to carry LOTS of small bills ($1 and $5) specifically for tipping. This is also true if you're in a country with different currency. The US$ will be accepted almost anywhere, but a vendor can always pretend not to have any change for a large bill.

 

Do you have a credit card that can be used abroad? That will take care of most expenses, and I think you get a good conversion rate too.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time!

[spanner14]

Thanks guys, I know it's a difficult question. It's the toll roads and tips I'm most unsure of.

 

I wish there was a book called "tipping for dummies"!

 

So how much should I tip the room service person, and does anyone know about the toll roads? Are $1 bills ok or do I need coins as well?

 

Thank you! :o

[EVALUATOR]

Well you won't need any money on Labadee, it's still cashless, using your seapass.

How many people are cruising? :)

They do have a straw market there that does need cash. Your seapass card won't work there.

 

You don't need money on Labadee. But there are places you can spend money. The vendors in the market will be glad to assist in this endeavor.:D

[BroncosFan2010]

For a 7 day cruise with 1 sea day, we budget $500 in cash, and usually come home with about $200 in our pocket. We use cash in the casino, but are not at all big spenders. We like to be prepared. I think the rule of thumb is to take half as many clothes as you think you will need, and twice as much cash!

[JudyM]

So how much should I tip the room service person, and does anyone know about the toll roads? Are $1 bills ok or do I need coins as well?

 

Thank you! :o

 

Two good questions, Spanner. Most toll plazas have manual booths where an attendant can make change, but the 'exact change only' stations move faster. So it will be convenient to have a stash of quarters, dimes and nickles, and a passenger assigned to dig out the correct amount as you're pulling up. (Last year my family went to London, and I'll always remember how long it took me to count out the unfamiliar coins!)

 

Tipping for room service is harder, and I too would love to have the "Tipping for Dummies" book handy. Let's hope that lots of experienced cruisers jump in here, but I'd start here:

 

- Light breakfast (coffee, rolls, juice) $1/person

- Full breakfast (sorry, no beans!) $5 for the three of you

- Lunch or snack $5+ depending on amount

- Full dinner $10 for the three of you

 

Bear in mind that I don't live in an especially heavy-tipping area, others may find these amounts offensively low. I've only ever used room service for breakfast, and the waiter seemed OK with my amount.

[Desert Cruizers]

We ourselved take $500-700 and most is used in the Casino. We still come home with half of what we take. We pre tip also but always give our Room Steward, Waiter and Assist Waiter extra at the end of the cruise

[fridaythe13th]

Thanks guys, I know it's a difficult question. It's the toll roads and tips I'm most unsure of.

 

I wish there was a book called "tipping for dummies"!

 

So how much should I tip the room service person, and does anyone know about the toll roads? Are $1 bills ok or do I need coins as well?

 

Thank you! :o

 

When we use room service it is in the morning and consists of coffee, juice and pastries. We tip $2.

 

The tolls from Orlando total less than $4 but it is an odd amount (for some reason I'm remembering about $1.60 or so at two tolls). We had a rental car with an E-Z pass scanner so we were able to drive through the Fast Pass or E-Z pass booth and it was then billed to the credit card we used to rent the car.

 

Seaworld is not cheap to eat or snack. An ice cream on a stick is $2 as is a soft drink (soda, cola, etc). You can expect to spend about $10 per person on lunch.

 

Grand Cayman is expensive also. I would plan on spending at least $75 for lunch and drinks. Not sure about a taxi but they do have buses (minivans) that would be cheaper but I'm not sure how close the bus stop is to Royal Palms.

[cb at sea]

Toll roads have "exact change" lanes and lanes where they'll give you change, if you don't have anything but bills.

Be prepared for HIGH prices for drinks and snacks at any place like "Seaworld" or Disney....they jack up the prices BIG time!

Since you've already paid for excursions, I'd bring about 1/3 of what the cruise cost....just to be safe. You can always take the unspent amount home and put it back in your bank!

GC's beaches are all public, and they have restrooms, restaurants, etc....up and down the beach. I think it cost us about $8 to ride to the beach, where there were chair rentals, watersport rentals, etc....we didn't pay a hotel for the use of their property---as it wasn't needed. Lunch was pricey, but good!

[uksimonusa]

Thanks guys, I know it's a difficult question. It's the toll roads and tips I'm most unsure of.

 

I wish there was a book called "tipping for dummies"!

 

So how much should I tip the room service person, and does anyone know about the toll roads? Are $1 bills ok or do I need coins as well?

 

Thank you! :o

 

The tolls from I drive to PC have recently increased, from memory they are now 75c, $1.00 and $1.50, so a total of $3.25, dollar bills will be ok, all toll plazas have attendents to take the money and give change.

 

For tips, I would work on $1 a bag for the porters, $2-$5 for a room service delivery, depending on the amount ordered. You can always purchase dollar travellers cheques at the post office or your bank, they will cash these on the ship!!

[dappledumpling]

I don't know the exact amount for tolls from Orlando to Port canaveral but i don't remember them being more that 5 dollars are so each way.. Don't worry about exact change as they are booth collectors along the route and they are pretty quick. Most Floridians use a "Sun Pass" where we pre pay our tolls so there will be a few lanes that you see cars flying through that really helps hold down congestion on the toll plazas. Hopefully someone from orlando area can give an exact amount for you(I live an hour north and normally just take back roads)

 

If you are traveling during non traffic times you should be the port within an hour or so.

[romnan]

Let me see if I can help I live in florida and am somewhat familiar with the area

(1) as far as toll road are concerned Single dollar bills are fine,but it would not hurt to have some pocket change as some of the toll road have collection trays that are unattended by a real person. depending where in orlando you are staying will dictate what roads you are using:confused:

 

(2)You can save youeself a lot of trouble and converting when you land in orlando you will be converting pound sterling to us dollar which means you will get $1.50 US for every pound(estimate) I assume you are using a credit card for entry fees in Sea world etc..

 

(3) everything on ship inclusing tips for the cruise goes on you Sea Pass with the esception of Room Service I generally keep an envelope with about 25/30 dollars to start you can always get more at the front desk or in the casino. With the exception of the Market in labadee lunch is provided and everything else including drinks can be charged to your sea pass

 

(4) As an American I am somewhat embarassed about tipping as a whole In my opinion most establishments do not deserve to get what they expect. rule of thumb 10% or less for less than expected service 15% for average service and for well deserved or exceptional service give whatever you feel comforatbe above 15%

 

(5) as far as baggage handlers estimate a few dollare per bag. above all else The info you have received from all others is right on enjoy your holiday as I hope to enjoy your country soon as well:D

[spanner14]

Thanks so much everyone, you've been brilliant. I didn't realise they will cash dollar travellers cheques on board (I'm guessing at Guest Services?) so I think I'll take more than I think we need and we can always cash some more dollars that way.

 

We may go to the Casino but the one and only time we went before, my DH limited himself to a small budget and stuck to it, so I'm not to worried on that account.

 

Seaworld entrance fees already covered as we are at Discovery Cove the day before, so it's just drinks & snacks there.

 

I think GC will probably be the most expensive day, but as long as I know that in advance that's fine.

 

So I'm going to write everything down that you've told me now and then do some calculations but it's hugely helpful to have those figures.

 

Thanks so much again - Chester & Brewster I will let you know what the trip is like, we are very excited, and Mokaheena, loved the idea of take twice as much cash and half as many clothes!

 

Cheers everyone, :)

[LadyRose]

Thanks guys, I know it's a difficult question. It's the toll roads and tips I'm most unsure of.

 

I wish there was a book called "tipping for dummies"!

 

So how much should I tip the room service person, and does anyone know about the toll roads? Are $1 bills ok or do I need coins as well?

 

Thank you! :o

 

One of the great peeps on my M&M had this site. It's really good!

 

http://www.tipping.org/

[rageous]

http://www.expresswayauthority.com/Corporate/travel/TollCalculator.aspx

 

Tolls form I-Drive to the last toll plaza = $3.25

[Beowulfpk]

On the ship you shouldn't need to tip anyone with cash. Your either pre-pay the tips or have them charged to your account.

 

The only thing you will need cash for any porters if you use them, the tolls and the Caymen Taxi.

 

Seaworld, restaurants and even the ice cream stands will accept Visa/Mastercard.

 

I don't use cash much, but I would take $100 for tolls, porters, and the Caymen taxi, expecting to put everything else on my credit card. I would of course bring my ATM card in case I needed more cash.

[Guzmania]

Hi all, Luis here.

 

Spanner, I live and work in the Orlando area. Tolls from I-Drive to Port Canaveral are US$3.25 one way on the "Beach Line", State Road 528. From I-Drive it should take about 45 minutes to an hour to get there. Parking at the port is like $15.00 per day.

 

If you're looking for good food at reasonable prices, here's 2 suggestions:

 

First, try Earl of Sandwich at Disney Marketplace. Good lunch and light dinner fare for good prices. Sandwiches and salads and sides. 2 can eat for about $20. It's in a nice area to wander and shop, too.

 

If you like Dominican (Hispanic) food, try Tu Casa for stuff the local hispanic crowd can't get enough of. Take the 528 east to the SR 441 exit, follow the signs to 441. When you get to the light to turn onto 441, just go straight through into Tu Casa's parking lot. Great food, huge portions, at a very reasonable price. 2 can get stuffed for about $15.

 

Are you from the Sunderland area? Met some folks on our last cruise that were, I've been following the football team since.

 

Luis

[HOHSgunny]

for myself, DW and 2 DS's 16 & 17, I am bringing $2,000 in cash just because I do not like using plastic when traveling outside the US, I figure that should cover about anything we want to get while on our western crib on FOS in 2 weeks, I actually only expect to spend half of that but I rather have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. we are not much for drinking which is the biggest expense among our friends and we don't gamble so our outlay is really not that big - you just have to figure out what your daily limit is and if you can put at least 50% more on top of that. to the OP we will be boarding your ship when you get off - So HURRY UP and get going :)

[spanner14]

for myself, DW and 2 DS's 16 & 17, I am bringing $2,000 in cash just because I do not like using plastic when traveling outside the US, I figure that should cover about anything we want to get while on our western crib on FOS in 2 weeks, I actually only expect to spend half of that but I rather have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. we are not much for drinking which is the biggest expense among our friends and we don't gamble so our outlay is really not that big - you just have to figure out what your daily limit is and if you can put at least 50% more on top of that. to the OP we will be boarding your ship when you get off - So HURRY UP and get going :)

 

LOL at hurry up and get going! Yes, I promise not to spoil anything on FOS for you as you'll be getting on as I get off!

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone - I'll take a look at the websites as well.

 

Not from Sunderland by the way Luis, down the other end of the country, but my Uncle is from Sunderland so he'll be delighted that someone's following his footie team!

 

Thanks again everyone x

[spanner14]

On the ship you shouldn't need to tip anyone with cash. Your either pre-pay the tips or have them charged to your account.

 

 

Thanks Beowulfpk. Bit confused now, as we have prepaid tips but I don't think that covers room service. So would it be correct for me to give the room service delivery person the tip in cash?

 

Cheers!

[TheWog]

Thanks Beowulfpk. Bit confused now, as we have prepaid tips but I don't think that covers room service. So would it be correct for me to give the room service delivery person the tip in cash?

 

Cheers!

 

Yes, you can give the room service delivery person the tip in cash.