1'st time cruiser- worried about $

[4169ab]

My soon-to-be husband and I will be traveling on Carnival Glory on May 30. We have paid for the cruise, gratuities and shore excursion in full already. However, we are depending on our wedding for cash to use onboard, which makes me nervous. We like to drink ( in our 20's) and play poker and want to visit the Steakhouse onboard. Can anyone make a reccommendation about how much $ to take? What would be considered a "safe" amount for a couple like us?

[paul929207]

It is diffeicult to come up with even a wild guess. Drinks are $4 to $8 and up. How much might you lose playing poker? Steakhouse is $25 of so per person. Set a budget and stick to it.

[cb at sea]

The gambling is what will get you....once you know how much $$ you'll have to spend, then you can decide about the gambling! NEVER gamble money you can't afford to lose!

 

Drinks are about what they cost on land, in most bars....frozen "foo-foo" drinks cost more and pack less punch, so stick to beer or regular mixed drinks, like vodka tonic or rum and coke....they will give you more "bang" for you buck. Stay away from wine...it's overpriced!

 

You can check you balance occassionally, so you know where you stand! It's really easy to spend more than you think, when all you're doing is "signing" for your purchases...they add up quickly!

[Essiesmom]

Unless you plan to back your Sign & Sail account with cash, everything you spend will be billed to your credit card(s). You would only need cash for tipping room service, tips for entertainers, such as at the piano bar, extra tips you might want to give to dining room team or cabin steward; Tips for tour guides. You can bank most of the wedding money and use it to pay on the credit card bill when you get home. EM

[RUBBER DUCK]

You've already taken a big step by paying for most everything else in advance, that's great. Like said, figure regular bar prices, Long Islands were the best bet for cost vs punch when I was last drinking hard liquor. Definately pay attention to your bill so it doesn't surprise you at the end. We normally rack up @ $400 for a 4-5 day with only a couple small souveniers. We usually drink light the evenings before shore days, but the nights before sea days are fuzzy, and sea days seem to be pretty steady slowing down near dinner.

[4169ab]

Wow, lots of good info, thank you! We were planning on using cash to put on the sail and sign card. Once we have our budget, I guess I could divide that $ up and put only the allotted $ for the day on the card? Has anyone been to the casinos on the Carnival ships? Are the buy-ins for poker high stakes as if being in a real casino? Rubber Duck, that's a pretty good bill for the end of a cruise. Our goal is to take $1000, I'm hoping that will be enough?

[Rusty Aligator]

I can't resist this one. Do you know how the Rubber Duck saves money on the cruise..........He puts it on his bill. Sorry Rubber Duck.

 

What's a thousand dollars? Mere chicken feed. A poultry matter. (Groucho Marx)

[GORDONCHICK]

Wow, lots of good info, thank you! We were planning on using cash to put on the sail and sign card. Once we have our budget, I guess I could divide that $ up and put only the allotted $ for the day on the card? Has anyone been to the casinos on the Carnival ships? Are the buy-ins for poker high stakes as if being in a real casino? Rubber Duck, that's a pretty good bill for the end of a cruise. Our goal is to take $1000, I'm hoping that will be enough?

 

Everything on board is charged to your card, and if you are using cash, you will be required to put a certain amount of cash per person on each account before you board the ship. You will need to settle up with the "bank" the last night of the cruise, and it will be a long line. It's hard to say how much will work for you guys. There are taxis, porters, skycaps, bellmen, etc, besides your drinks. And drinking to one person might be mixed drinks but to another it could mean a bucket of longnecks. The amount will vary widely. If you really are on a budget, you might give yourselves a daily allowance but not go over it. You daily allowance should be less than the cash you take, in case you go over.

[grandmato4]

My suggestion for playing poker is that you decide on an amount you are willing to loose each day and mutiply that by the number of days for your cruise. If you loose your days gambling money NO going back in the casino until the next day;) How much are you willing to risk loosing? $50 per day (total for each of you?) would mean for 7 nights needing $350 or $100 per day times 7 would mean needing $700.

 

For my drink budget I use $7 per alcoholic drink as an average times the number of drinks I wish to have each day times the number of days of my cruise. In your case don't forget to do that for EACH of you. 5 drinks a day per person for two people on a 7 night cruise would mean needing $490. If you do enjoy drinking it is very easy on a cruise to enjoy more than 5 drinks per day even if that's not normal at home so I would suggest you REALLY give this some thought before you pick your number of drinks per day and do your multiplication.;) You could easily spend $1000 in this category if you don't pay attention to how many drinks you are ordering each day.

 

Add the cost of the streak house, buying a picture or two, and purchasing something in the gift shops as that is hard to completely resist. I'd budget at least $100 for this category if I were you.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!:)

[Marie51]

I usually tip room service and also the porters that take my luggage at the pier at check in.

[MDSue]

I think you can check your balances regularly right from your tv screen- this should help you keep track of your spending. Without drinks and gambling or excursions, I can usually keep my sign and sail bill between $100 and $200 per/person for a seven day cruise. Extras will add up quickly. My highest bill rounded up to around $250 per person and that included only one or two drinks a day and we paid cash for our gambling expense above the sign and sail account.

You can pretty much make your cruise either budget friendly or budget busting. $100 dollars per day for everything would be a reasonable budget if affordable. On port days- you can quite often save money by just grabbing a cab to a beach rather than doing a ship excursion- but that still costs cab fare, chair and umbrella rentals, drinks and tips. Enjoy!

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

You have $1,000 to spend on a 6 day cruise? Hopefully I do not come across as your wise old uncle (which frankly I happen to look like). You need to get real and get real in a hurry.

 

First, drinks are expensive on cruise ships so do you really need to drink a lot on this cruise? I would check with the cruise line to see how many bottles of wine you are allowed to bring on board.

 

Secondly, and this is my opinion, cruise ships have casinos for those who have the money to lose, not newly marrieds. Nothing wrong with liking to play poker but I would save the money for places like Atlantic City, Las Vegas or Native American casinos. You can find yourself at a table in the ship's casino with very sophisticated poker players.

 

A cruise is not about food or excursions or how much you like to drink. It is about being together, to see the sea and the sky and moonbeams, and love and laughter.

 

$100 a day for 6 days will be more than enough.

[read52]

Don't forget about pictures, bingo,jewelry or the spa.

[room010]

Hello,

 

You have $1,000 to spend on a 6 day cruise? Hopefully I do not come across as your wise old uncle (which frankly I happen to look like). You need to get real and get real in a hurry.

 

First, drinks are expensive on cruise ships so do you really need to drink a lot on this cruise? I would check with the cruise line to see how many bottles of wine you are allowed to bring on board.

 

Secondly, and this is my opinion, cruise ships have casinos for those who have the money to lose, not newly marrieds. Nothing wrong with liking to play poker but I would save the money for places like Atlantic City, Las Vegas or Native American casinos. You can find yourself at a table in the ship's casino with very sophisticated poker players.

 

A cruise is not about food or excursions or how much you like to drink. It is about being together, to see the sea and the sky and moonbeams, and love and laughter.

 

$100 a day for 6 days will be more than enough.

 

THIS ! Listen to Uncle Fred :) At the risk of further flaming I would also add that people who give you $$$ as wedding presents might not be thrilled to learn you blew it in the casino or on your bar tab. If I was lucky enough to be on honeymoon on a fab cruise then putting the Do Not Disturb sign on the cabin door would be my main priority ;)

[MoYerclan]

Wow, lots of good info, thank you! We were planning on using cash to put on the sail and sign card. Once we have our budget, I guess I could divide that $ up and put only the allotted $ for the day on the card? Has anyone been to the casinos on the Carnival ships? Are the buy-ins for poker high stakes as if being in a real casino? Rubber Duck, that's a pretty good bill for the end of a cruise. Our goal is to take $1000, I'm hoping that will be enough?

 

First off, who wants to travel with that wad of cash in their wallet? Too risky, not to mention a nuisance time wasting step having to go to the pursers desk to deposit it. Use your credit card on file and save the effort. Leave the cash in the bank to pay the bill when you return.

If you think $1000.00 is what you can afford to spend, then spend that and no more. You're a big girl. You can limit your drink bill if you find it creeping up too close to your limit.

[arlodog]

I don't know where you are cruising to, but in the Caribbean we generally find that we can drink much cheaper on land than on the ship. In many ports in Mexico you can get beer for $1. Just don't forget to get back on board because you are having so much fun in the local bars!

 

We generally budget $100 per person/day. Seems to be a safe number and haven't gone over it-- ever. We don't spend lots on board but do enjoy bingo, casino and cocktails by the pool. Know that the ship staff is designed to sell you everything from the drink of the day to the art on board. You can spend as much or as little as you want.

 

You can either check your balance on the TV or by stopping by the purser's desk. Use this to monitor your spending as it can be very easy to just hand over your card to purchase items. We call it the magic card in our house. You want something and it magically appears! :rolleyes:

[4169ab]

Thanks everyone again for the great info. "Uncle" Fred, I loved your advice. And you're right, it is all about being on a great cruise and enjoying the sights and each other's company. But we've never really been on a "real" vacation together and want to make sure we have the $ to have a good time. I don't mean to sound like a lush with the alcohol and poker. We do enjoy having a few cocktails every week and playing locally on poker leagues, so that is something we know we'll want to try on the cruise, but obiviously we'll have to limit it- because we don't have alot of money to lose! Either way, I know we'll have a great time and y'all have been most helpful.

[RetireeWannabee]

THIS ! Listen to Uncle Fred :) At the risk of further flaming I would also add that people who give you $$$ as wedding presents might not be thrilled to learn you blew it in the casino or on your bar tab. If I was lucky enough to be on honeymoon on a fab cruise then putting the Do Not Disturb sign on the cabin door would be my main priority ;)

I'm with UF and roomie on this.

 

if your onboard budget depends on what cash people give you for your wedding, you are going about this all wrong.

 

You already know what you can afford, budget that. I also would not want to receive a thank you card detailing how you blew the $100 I gave you in 2 minutes. I would far rather hear how you purchased lovely boudoir lamps or a beautiful hand made throw rug. (yes, I do tell the people that gift me cash what I did with it, and I am always honest about it)

 

Having a real vacation has never meant breaking the bank to us and the more I travel the world the more firmly held my view that many of the best things in life are free.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and enjoy your cruise no matter what you spend on whatever you spend it on!

[infoprof56]

Carnival ships do not have real live poker tables. Hold-em is played on a table where each player has monitor to see his/her electronic cards. The machine play did not have the same appeal as live cards for me. You could just as well stay at home and play online. Didn't want you to go expecting a land based casino type of game.

[4169ab]

Oh by the way, I did forget to mention that we're registered on a honemoon website. We have "registered" for things like poker night, celebration drinks, etc. on that site. We've been together for 8 years and have told people ( when they ask) that what we really wanted most was a nice honeymoon in lieu of dishes, lamps, sheets etc. since we already have those things. I realized from reading some of your posts that I probably came off as sounding rude with the money. We did just buy a house and are paying for much of the wedidng ourselves. That is why we're short on cash for the trip. Sorry, should have geiven a little background. Thanks again for all the well wishes and advice. This will be my first vacation without the family so I guess I am just a little nervous!

[chipmaster]

Congrats!

 

The list of things that one can spend money quickly ON the ship is looong

 

Speciality resturant is easy to plan and budget: Schedule it and bake it in

Gambling/poker: Dangerous as how do you control. I'd suggest do it by cash and only spend what you got

Drinks: Dangerious as they are charged to your cruise card. From the moment you step on their will be people walking around with drinks in cool looking commerative cups for too expensive. If you like to drink and its your special vacation all I got to say be CAREFUL

Pictures: Dangerous, at every port and on formal nights photographers will be everywhere taking pictures. Then you walk by the photo center and see those wonderful picture all printed out on nice 5x7 or 8x10. Very hard to resist. Easily can part with with some money here.

Port: have you considered your excursion and port spending. In every port there are souveniors to buy for the special vacation, excursions, sights to see, transportation possible, and of course food/drink.

 

My only suggestion is if this is your first cruise set a tight budget and stick to it. BTW whatever budget you set, make sure you can cover 150% of it ;) I've never been able to stay within my mental budget. When I was younger some of the best things I did with DW were free. The ship is beautfiul, scenery will be beautfiul, ports likely beautiful, pool with DH, meals in traditional dining nice, and all free. Even if you don't spend a dollar above the inclusive stuff, buy a photo or drink one non complimentary drink or gamble I think you will still have a great time!

 

Congrats again on your special vacation!

 

My soon-to-be husband and I will be traveling on Carnival Glory on May 30. We have paid for the cruise, gratuities and shore excursion in full already. However, we are depending on our wedding for cash to use onboard, which makes me nervous. We like to drink ( in our 20's) and play poker and want to visit the Steakhouse onboard. Can anyone make a reccommendation about how much $ to take? What would be considered a "safe" amount for a couple like us?

[trish1c]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! A cruise will be a lovely HM.

You mentioned something in one of your posts about putting just that day's budgeted "cash" on the sign & sail card. You can't do that. They want a larger lump sum up front. You also will need to check your balance periodically throughout the cruise to make sure you will have enough.

My concern is that you want to use the wedding cash. We got a lot more checks than actual cash. You know your friends / family. If checks vs cash is going to be an issue b/c you can't get to a bank between your reception & your cruise you may need a plan B.

My recommendation would be that you back your sign & sail card with a credit card & then use the wedding money to pay off the balance when the bill comes in. This is also safer then carrying cash.

[RetireeWannabee]

Oh by the way, I did forget to mention that we're registered on a honemoon website. We have "registered" for things like poker night, celebration drinks, etc. on that site. We've been together for 8 years and have told people ( when they ask) that what we really wanted most was a nice honeymoon in lieu of dishes, lamps, sheets etc. since we already have those things. I realized from reading some of your posts that I probably came off as sounding rude with the money. We did just buy a house and are paying for much of the wedidng ourselves. That is why we're short on cash for the trip. Sorry, should have geiven a little background. Thanks again for all the well wishes and advice. This will be my first vacation without the family so I guess I am just a little nervous!

THANK YOU - I had not realized that you were, um, "Mature Married" vs kids looking to blow whatever came your way.

 

I do repeat my congratulations and best wishes!

[poobears]

I for one don't care how the newly married couple spends their gift money. It's a gift, once I give it, I cut all ties to it. Spend it as you please IMO

 

Our bill varies from about $50-$200 per day depending on how much we hit the casino, play bingo etc. We dont' drink so that helps a lot. No worries about drinking our money away. I think that will be your biggest issue, it's very easy to run up a huge bar tab if you aren't careful. Since this is your first trip I would personally skip the specialty resturaunt and the spa, you'll have just as much fun exploring the new to you things that don't cost money and I bet you enjoy the dining room enough you won't miss the pay dining.

 

For the poker I'd probably just keep the cash out I planned on gambling. Then you can't go over your limit. You can use cash at the tables and at the slots, you don't have to charge it to your S&S card.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Now that the money is better understood, let's move on to your "being a little nervous". About what? You will be with your husband, who is there to protect and defend you (you are marrying a fine Southern gentleman, aren't you?).

 

You will be on a ship with a crew who can read, write and speak 40 languages and this is being conservative. And that they are trained (or should be) to help you have a great time.

 

And...here are some additional ideas to help you be, well, less nervous.

 

A smile is truly the international language and especially so on a cruise ship. Smile often, at the cruise staff from the ship's officers, to the workers who will be painting and cleaning the ship.

 

Do not hesitate to ask questions, that is , don't let anything fester. If something needs fixing, get it fixed. The Purser's desk is where they can really help you...this may have another name like Customer Relations.

 

Make sure that you have a backup credit card, glasses, hearing aid batteries,

swim suits and at least one extra t -shirt.