How much am I going to spend?

[MtBiker]

My wife and I have our first cruise booked, NCL Sun 3/26-4/2. We're curious how much we can expect to spend in addition to our air fare and cruise?

[Big Al B.]

Most of that is up to you. First you will have $20/day for the two of you for gratuities. Then there are the excursions - if you use ship's the cost will be added to your onboard account. Then there are drinks (alcoholic $5-7 and sodas) and the extra fee restaurants if you choose. You could actually never spend more than what you have paid along with the gratuity money. The last Dawn cruise we took, my DW and I charged $675 which included 3 excursions, two bottles of gin to take home, gratuities, a soda card, and bar charges.

[MamaParrotHead]

and based on the info I've gathered on these boards, we're bringing $800 for our shipboard account (in addition to having all of our excursions paid for ahead of time). taking into consideration I'm a light-moderate drinker, DH is a moderate drinker and we don't plan on setting foot inside the casino or purchasing art or anything of the like while onboard. the only things we're planning on buying are 2 soda cards, a few souvenirs and a few pictures on the ship. We're also budgeting about $100 cash per port for shopping and lunches.

I think the people around here say the rule of thumb is $100/per person/per day.

[kitty9]

What you spend is all up to you, and there's no absolute amount as each end-of-cruise bill varies for everyone. But, here's a list of extras that you can spend: photos, shore excursions, casino gambling, specialty coffees, soda, alcohol including wine, purchases from the gift shops, bottled water, alternate restaurants, tips for crew members, purchases on shore excursions, and tips for guides or personal transportation on the islands. Some have gotten off the ship with a final bill of under $200 and some have bills as high as $1000. It all depends on your spending habits.

[geoherb]

Our accounts are usually fairly modest--tips and a few drinks and a couple of bottles of wine. We splurged on our last cruise in the spa. We usually don't. We take cash/travelers checks for shore excursions and usually don't purchase them through the cruise line. We don't buy many souvenirs.

[Cathy p]

will let you know. This is our 1st cruise and I already have my $100 for the slots. Other than that we are pretty boring and our main money will be for junk for the grandkids. Will try to list it seperately on our review. We go on 3/5 Zuiderdam Yippie almost here as we fly out of Va. Beach on Fri so our vacation starts a day early.:p

[wwinfl91]

There have been a couple of threads on this subject and I think that the average that seems to always come up is around $800 for a weeks cruise. That includes tips, drinks, shore excursions, a few souvenirs and very very little time in the ships casino.

When I go back and look at our cruises that number is probably about right.

Have a great next cruise and try not to worry TOO much about how much it is costing.

[erby2283]

Our bill for 2 people (7 day cruise) was $770. This included the $10 pp per day NCL charge, a total of 6 excursions (1 at each port of the two of us) and a couple pictures and drinks. This did not included the $$ we spent in the casino (about $100). Hope this helps!

[Nitemare]

$623.81.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Our shipboard account for 2 of us is usually around $1000, BUT we like to indulge in cocktails every day and we also put our shore excursions on our room bill. We also usually take another $1000 in cash for the shore time, BUT realize that we don't scrimp and save on vacations at all. We eat where we want no matter the price and we tend to do a LOT! Sometimes we come home with cash, sometimes we don't. It varys a lot for us as to how many ports there are. We spent a lot more on shore than we do on the ships. We don't buy any ship souviners and very few photos, but on shore we buy a lot of hand made crafts and local art.

You can go onboard a ship and spend as little as just your gratuities, OR you can blow a bundle. Just depends on your spending. We try to make the most of our trips and do as much as we can. - Gambling, cocktails, spa services, sailing trips, scuba or snorkeling, eating on shore, parasailing, etc - which means we blow the bundle.

Mrsfuzzmo

[MtBiker]

I appreciate all the answers. We're really excited and taking in all the tips from the Cruise Critics board. With this being our first cruise I was a little nervous about being a "captive customer." But it sounds like I'll probably be spending what I would on land, perhaps even less.

So, as it was suggested on another post that I try to learn some common language: Mucho gracias! Who would have thought preparing for a vaction would be this much fun?!:D

[megr1125]

$350....about half of which was gratuities.........for 2 for a week. we came home with money........probably had about 800 in cash.......probably came home with 500. Had 2 days pre and 3 post in San Juan so that's where a lot of cash was spent.

[fatmorticia]

I read on one of the threads about the man that liked to drink aaallllooottt!
He was furious when his bill was $ 2300.00 Helloooo! They gave him a free bottle of wine to shut him up.:D

[Wennfred]

Last week my bill was 750.00 for 2, and out of that included a watch of like 269.00 I had to get lol.

I like to Prepay my Tips up front, thats 160.00 on Carnival and also prepay for my excursions because when you get on the ship, sometimes the excursions you want are sold out. So I wont have to worry about those charges once Im on board.

750.00 spending on a 8 Day cruise
160.00 Tips at the end of the cruise
500.00 on Excursions
------
1410. Total

750.00 was Drinks, Gifts, lots of Gallery Pictures, toiletries, my Cool Watch
Casino, Bingo and 2 Hair Do up for the Formal nights, each Hair do-up
ran 60.00
So as you see if you lay off the Casino, Bingo, Their Photos and Drinks, u will be ok.

Most Cruiselines give you a bill during the middle of the cruise, but now they dont, it takes 3 days to justify a problem on that bill, so now they hand them out at 5am last day.

Good Luck.:)