How LITTLE we actually spent!

[CruisingChristians]

When we (my husband and I) read the horror stories of people telling us how cruises actually end up costing double and triple the cruise cost, we wondered if we had made a mistake and should have booked an all-inclusive! In another thread, someone kept a line by line budget of every penny they spent on their cruise and I thought it would be neat to do the same....just to give first time cruisers (like us) on a budget ( like us) some peace of mind.

 

First off all, read the thread "tight-wad cruising - what do you do?" It is FULL of great tips for having a great time without spending a great deal of money.

 

We took a 5-day cruise out of Miami to the Western Caribbean...we brought an additional $500 for extra and came home with enough money to shop!

 

We had a great time and did not deprive ourselves of what we wanted or wanted to do.

 

So what did we actually spend?

 

CRUISE EXPENSES

 

Cruise Costs: balcony stateroom @ $399 per person - $798.00

Taxes and port charges @ $90 per person - $180.00

Flights to Miami from Buffalo @ $181.00 per person- $362

Parking at Buffalo airport - $ 45.00

Travel insurance - $9.77

Suitcase charges - $40

Taxi to port - $26

Taxi from port - $25

Service charges ($75 onboard credit given) - $47

Excursions - $29

Finer Dining - $20

Tips - $10

Gas to Buffalo - $50

Taco Bell lunch in Buffalo (for two) - $8.98

Subway dinner in Buffalo (for one) - $6.53

Bo Jangles dinner in airport (for one) - $11.54

Morning tea - $2.09

replacement suitcase lock (TSA cut it off) - $5.34

Souvenirs (hats/ maracas/ tequila) - $17

Sprite in Cozumel - $2

Mexican vanilla & postcards - $3.50

Mexican sauces and spices - $ 6.00

 

Total: $1707.75 or $853.00 each.

 

We spent $853 per person FOR EVERYTHING/ALL EXPENSES from our driveway back to our driveway.An all inclusive plus taxes would have cost us much more and we would have visited another island!

 

You cannot beat the airfare cost flying from Buffalo! Flying out of Toronto was going to cost $700 more!

 

Please note:

 

[What we spent onboard the ship: $67[/color]

 

We do not drink, so there were no alcohol bills. We brought our own sodas. We ate at one of the specialty restaurants and did not find it better than the specialty restaurant that was included....so we spent no more on "specialty food". (They served lobster and seafood at the included restaurant). We did not tip a lot...the service was just OK.

 

[The cost of our Grand Cayman excursion of the island tour and Seven-Mile beach: $29[/color]

 

We did not book through the cruise company...we went with a local guide at the pier for MUCH less.

 

We did not do a tour in Cozumel. It was raining and a trip to the beach seemed silly, so we walked around town, perusing the shops, etc.

 

And the Mexican groceries were so we can make an authentic Mexican meal back home. Ole!

 

The ship makes their money off of alcohol sales, the casino, the spa and bingo. So if you are not into these things, then cruises are 10 TIMES BETTER than all-inclusives for people like us.

 

On the last day, the man in front of us paid a onboard bill of $946. Two girls in front paid $623. We paid $67! And walked off the ship, just as happy.....if not happier!!!

 

Have a great time!

[notentirelynormal]

When you say "tips $10" - you mean that is your total for the cruise? For both of you for 5 days - or per person each day?

[klfrodo]

When you say "tips $10" - you mean that is your total for the cruise? For both of you for 5 days - or per person each day?

 

That was going to be my question :eek:

[Cruise Junky]

When you say "tips $10" - you mean that is your total for the cruise? For both of you for 5 days - or per person each day?

 

The OP listed Service Charges as a line item in her list.

[travelntreats]

$9.77 for trip insurance ??? What did that cover... the luggage handles ?

[Freem06]

I could not find the tight wad thread. Could you give me a link to it?

[EGG]

Here is the link to a thread called Welcome to tightwad cruising http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=785229

[NMLady]

We take cruises of longer than a week so our fare and gratuities are more. Also, our insurance covers medical and emergency evaucation as well as cancellation and interuption so is also costlier. We don't even book a cruise unless we already have enough money saved to cover cruise fare, airfare, insurance, and gratuities.

Then I write down every expense I can think of including tips (room service, tour guides/drivers, porters, taxi driver). We always have pre and post flight motel costs since we live at a distance from the airport, always have a connecting flight so have early morning flights departing and late arrival at home again.

We include meals on those nights as well as airport snacks. All of this can add up. We buy a beer in most ports as well as a drink a day onboard. No spa, one shipboard photo, souvenirs in port, perhaps some tours. I play Bingo once, the end of the cruise when they're doing the jackpot. I allot some for casino if we can afford it. I figure all these expenses before the cruise and if they add up to more than I feel we can afford, then I start eliminating, starting with drinks.

By the time we board the ship I know what we can afford to spend and we stick to it as close as possible.

[grandmato4]

Congratulations on spending so little on additional expenses beyond your cruise fare and transportation. Much of those additional cost really are dependant upon individual choices.

 

Do have to ask what the $9.77 in travel insurance covered as that's a really low number ? And can't help but comment that it looks like you chose to fly to your port the same as day as your cruise sailed. That was extremely risky for any time of year, but especially flying out of Buffalo in Jan. Glad to hear you made it to your cruise without any problems. We always consider a precruise night in a hotel at our port city as a requirement of flying out of BUF for a cruise. You did well with your airfare from Buffalo for $201 pp (including luggage charge). We normally find we can find airfare from BUF to FLL for abt $250 pp as long as we're not flying during peak vacation flying days. There are often cheaper flights but we're picky about which flights we will book wishing to take the flights with the best odds of actually getting us where we need to go without problems.

 

Since you came home with much of the $500 you took you should have a nice pot of money to put towards your next cruise!:)

[jnc411]

I also have to ask $ 9.77 for insurance , ????

Cori

[Kalleen]

I really hope that $10 for tips for the whole trip is a mistake... I am personally shaking my head in disgust if it is :mad:

[travelntreats]

inerestingly the OP has not been back to answer any of others members questions.....

[chrispb]

I really hope that $10 for tips for the whole trip is a mistake... I am personally shaking my head in disgust if it is :mad:

 

Why?? OP says they don't drink so no tips there. Service was only "OK". I don't think they mentioned which cruiseline they were with but remember some lines are inclusive of tips. They were only on a 5 day cruise, too.

[Cruise Junky]

I really hope that $10 for tips for the whole trip is a mistake... I am personally shaking my head in disgust if it is :mad:

 

Why? as I posted above, they broke out Services Charges as a line item, that would be the daily tipping. Jeeze you guys jump to conclusions.

[travelntreats]

Why?? OP says they don't drink so no tips there. Service was only "OK". I don't think they mentioned which cruiseline they were with but remember some lines are inclusive of tips. They were only on a 5 day cruise, too.

Please tell me a cruiseline that is INCLUSIVE of tips that does a 5 night itinerary ? They don't exist my friend

 

In general, gratuities if following cruiseline guidelines, WOULD HAVE BEEN about $100.00 for the couple, but in the OP's breakdown they list "service charges" which I suspect was the gratuity portion.

[PrincessNancy]

This is how I read the service charges-They had a $75 obc that was applied...their out of pocket was $47. Total $122.

[CruisingChristians]

OK...so first off:

 

We have an annual travel policy that we pay monthly: $9.77 each month because of our age and health through our insurance company..we are covered for trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical, weather, loss of luggage and all of the added bonuses. Look into this...it can save you much.

 

Second:Thank you to the Service charges person who defended us :) Our service/ charges (which according to the cruise brochure fine print in) were $12 each pp/ per day. We had a $75 credit....which brought it down to $47 at the end of our trip.

 

"The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports.

 

"Guests should not feel obliged to offer a gratuity for good service. However, all of our staff are encouraged to "go the extra mile," and so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities entirely at the discretion of our guests who wish to acknowledge particular staff members for exceptional or outstanding service. In other words, there is genuinely no need to tip but you should feel free to do so if you have a desire to acknowledge particular individuals."

 

Also, certain staff positions provide service on an individual basis to only some guests. We encourage those guests to acknowledge good service from these staff members with appropriate gratuities. For example, for guests purchasing bar drinks the recommended gratuity is 15 percent. For guests purchasing spa treatments the recommended gratuity is 18 percent. Similarly, for guests using concierge and butler services, we recommend they consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

 

We purchased none of these services.

 

Third, to the disgusted one at our tips, let me explain because your comment is harsh. It was a 5 day cruise. We do not drink alcohol, so no need to tip bar staff. We got our own water and teas and even cleared our own tables because the buffet was so busy and people were always waiting for tables. We only had the cleaning staff in our room about twice all trip...not daily- because we can clean up after ourselves and just ask for towels in the hallway if we need them. We don't have cleaning staff at home....so to me, to ask a very busy person to come make my bed when I can do it in two minutes is not always the best use of their time and energy. And they seemed a little relieved not to have to clean one more room everyday. Otherwise, the service was not that great...and we served ourselves a majority of the time. We do not tip because it has become an automatic expectation...we tip when people serve us and do so well.

 

We have family in Florida: can help with avoiding overnight hotel costs.

 

We were with NCL.

 

I think the comment that we have not been on to answer questions was most interesting...don't people come on these forums when they have the time? Been busy the last couple of days....

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

I would suggest that you calculation for your travel insurance policy. If you pay $9.77/month, that is $117/year. So you are only counting the month in which you travelled???

[CruisingChristians]

Yes. We would not count it as an $117 expense for this trip.

 

We use our policy several times for several trips throughout the year. It is valid for unlimited travel for trips of up to 60 days in duration or less at a time.

 

To calculate the insurance cost of this trip in days would involve me knowing how many other trips we plan to take this year using our policy...then divide the number of days into the cost of the policy...who has that time?

And we don't know how many times we will use the policy this year....and we travel frequently.

 

It's easier to calculate in months...

 

Hope this helps.

[cobra46]

I know it's just splitting hairs but a closer estimate would be to take the 117 and divide it by the approximate number of trips.

[diane.in.ny]

I'd like some info on that annual travel policy. Definitely could save us a bunch.

[broberts]

I'd like some info on that annual travel policy. Definitely could save us a bunch.

 

While the OP hasn't been explicit I suspect that they live in Canada. It would explain the relatively low cost annual travel / travel medical insurance.

[Kalleen]

To clarify my post... Like I said: I hope its a mistake that you only tipped $10... and I'm glad it was a mistake. Didn't realize that you had a separate service fees category.

 

Sorry if there was a misunderstanding but after reading the way some people treat wait staff/room stewards/employees on these boards its easy for me to jump to conclusions because some people equate cutting cruise costs with cutting hard working people's salary.

[Mikayla's Mom]

To clarify my post... Like I said: I hope its a mistake that you only tipped $10... and I'm glad it was a mistake. Didn't realize that you had a separate service fees category.

 

Sorry if there was a misunderstanding but after reading the way some people treat wait staff/room stewards/employees on these boards its easy for me to jump to conclusions because some people equate cutting cruise costs with cutting hard working people's salary.

 

I keep hearing about how little they make... What do they make? Watched a show on CNN I think called cruise Inc. They said head Stewarts make very good money!!! Just curious if anyone knew the real numbers.

[Teala]

im surprised how ppl seem to be jumping all over the OP, nitpicking their post! no need to critique everything!