First Cruise - $0 on S&S!!

[lady_mac]

Great job!

 

My account used to be gratuities + last day shopping. I now have a new

 

weakness...pictures. Last trip I was horrified, even though they looked

 

great. Next cruise, I'll be prepared and have someone take pictures of me

 

with my camera.

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Definitely get someone to take your picture with your camera and eliminate the ship photography costs.

[simplelife]

We eliminate the shock of the S & S bill by prepaying as much as possible - gratuities, excursions, and putting some money or drink credits on our account. I save change in the months before the cruise and cash that in before the cruise for "mad" money

[jnc411]

Wow , want a great final bill for a cruise. We do watch what we spend, we really only have a couple drinks the whole cruise , don't care to do the spa or beauty shop. If we gamble it is very minimal , as for pictures if we have one taken that looks nice we might purchase that for the memory, a couple years ago my DH was diagnosed with cancer and any cruise we are able to take now is special and the photos are special to us. We actually prefer the main dining room so we don't do the extra charge dining, don't buy art work on board, occasionally we find something in the shops we buy as a gift for family , one big one is we don't do Bingo , we just arn't the lucky type. We just love the time cruising together and enjoy that.

Cori

[JMHAM1]

Our last cruise was NCL in Europe and we did it on the cheap as well. We brought our own beverages on board both Coke and a little something to put in it. We didn't buy any of the pictures. We did do one night in a specialty restaurant but our TA gave us a coupon for that. We ended up having our OBC's covering both the gratuities and one or two very small things.

 

I would have a heart attack if I had a S&S account with a comma in it!

[Virtopia]

Wow, must be nice to see that statement!

 

On my first cruise, I was very unaware and when I got the bill, I was shocked. It was around $400 for a 7 night cruise, and my sister rarely drinks. I sucked it up and paid it.

 

Since then, I've been very good. I always round my tips off to an even amount and keep my slips. I add them up at the end of the day and figure out how much I'm able to spend the following day. But I refuse to skip out on the benefits of a cruise, so as someone mentioned about, usually 3 months before my cruise, I'll start putting away $5 - $10/week and when it comes close to cruise time, I put it on the credit card that will be connected to my account. That way I can enjoy my drinks and not think about having to work overtime when I get home to pay it off!

[deladela]

Our last cruise was NCL in Europe and we did it on the cheap as well. We brought our own beverages on board both Coke and a little something to put in it. We didn't buy any of the pictures. We did do one night in a specialty restaurant but our TA gave us a coupon for that. We ended up having our OBC's covering both the gratuities and one or two very small things.

 

I would have a heart attack if I had a S&S account with a comma in it!

Me, too!!! We enjoy our cocktails, but I haven't figured out how someone can end up with a huge bar bill...I love the heat and humidity, but I can't drink much alcohol when I'm in it. I found that I drink a LOT of water and enjoy an occasional tropical drink. I take bottled water on with me, buy a magnet for my fridge, buy a picture or two and the worst S&S bill I've had was around $600...with 4 of us on it...AND we splurged on about $250 in pictures on that cruise.

[Dorset Cruiser]

ummm, those are digital photos. No one uses film anymore.

 

But the point is, they print them out! They must dispose of thousands and thousands of unwanted prints.

[hladygirl]

i am not well off by any means but i do like to indulge on my one vacation a year. i work alot of overtime all year to afford my drinks ( as much as i want), casino (love the slots) and alot of shore excursions. i don't do credit cards. everything goes on my debit card and i bring about 1,000 dollars in cash. if i don't have the money i don't use credit cards. just my own philosophie!

[clemmarie]

My adult daughter and I had the most perfect day at Atlantis. I booked Comfort Suites online at a great discount. We got off the ship took a taxi ($10) and picked up our free complimentary voucher to Atlantis. We spent the day in the most beautiful waterpark I have ever seen. We spent most of the day riding miles in the lazy river where you can ride up conveyor belts on your inner tube and choose slides to ride down one where sharks are swimming beside you as your tube floats by in the clear slide. Also ride rapids if you want. I have not belly laughed so long and so hard in years. We brought snorkles and snorkled the lagoon too. When we were ready to go back to the ship, we went to our room, showered, change to evening clothes, had in room coffee and caught a taxi back to the ship for dinner. We have a beautiful memory forever. If you want a family adventure at a fraction of the excursion cost check out Comfort Suites.

[shortnsweet7676]

But the point is, they print them out! They must dispose of thousands and thousands of unwanted prints.

 

I went on the "Behind The Fun Tour" on the Legend in April of this year. They told us that all of the unwanted photos get "recycled". I don't exactly remember the process they said they go through, but they don't just go in the trash.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We don't drink or gamble and have been on so many cruises that the photos aren't something we want unless they are really special. I don't even like massages and wouldn't pay those prices anyway. We like the MDR meals just fine.

 

We have boxes of souvenirs from our land trips and previous cruises and only buy them now if it's someplace new and something really special.

 

We do spend money on laundry if it's a long cruise with no self-serve machines and on internet if necessary. We also do (independent) tours at some ports, go on our own at others.

 

We never skip tips and usually they are pre paid. We often get money back from our OBC; the most was $120 back.

[illusion lass]

We just returned from our first cruise. I had found a bargain on the cruise and booked all of our excursions independently. We don't drink, so I didn't think the S & S would be too much of a problem. Sure enough, when we got our statement at the end of the week, the only charge was the gratuities, which I could have easily pre-paid. We also had $17 each (four of us) onboard credit, which I have no idea where it came from. But $0 certainly can be done! No purchased drinks, no professional photos, no souvenirs. We let the kids each buy one thing when we were at port and took lots of our own pictures. Perfect!

 

We also had credit at the end of our cruise - not much but enough for a mad half hour in the Casino in the early hours of our last day on board.

 

We paid gratuities and soda packages up front prior to the trip. We had $100 OBC and confess that we wasted this on photos as a momento of our first cruise since we were originally told that our credit would be forfeit if not used. I will not do this again. Had I known about refunds I would have used this to cover preholiday expenses.

 

We do not drink much and coctails, ice creams, etc on shore excersions were a great treat and cheaper than on the ship.

[EithneMay]

I never worry about our S&S because we budget everything. Our largest expense is excursions. We are NOT, lay by the beach people. We have to be active, so we book something, either private or through the ship in each port.

[paul929207]

We rarely take ship excursions, nearly all are private. This helps keep our onboard account down and also lowers the overall cost since the private tours are almost always significantly cheaper the the ship's

[sweets2323]

My adult daughter and I had the most perfect day at Atlantis. I booked Comfort Suites online at a great discount. We got off the ship took a taxi ($10) and picked up our free complimentary voucher to Atlantis. We spent the day in the most beautiful waterpark I have ever seen. We spent most of the day riding miles in the lazy river where you can ride up conveyor belts on your inner tube and choose slides to ride down one where sharks are swimming beside you as your tube floats by in the clear slide. Also ride rapids if you want. I have not belly laughed so long and so hard in years. We brought snorkles and snorkled the lagoon too. When we were ready to go back to the ship, we went to our room, showered, change to evening clothes, had in room coffee and caught a taxi back to the ship for dinner. We have a beautiful memory forever. If you want a family adventure at a fraction of the excursion cost check out Comfort Suites.

 

 

how did you get a free complimentary voucher to Atlantis?

[sweets2323]

What is an S & S bill

 

Do we have to tip the waiter if we pre paid the gratuity?

 

I havent paid but I would like to do it in advanced

 

I would like to bring water and sodas on the cruise? how many can we bring per person. I will be on the Sky NCL.

 

If i bring items does that mean I have to walk to my cabin everytime i want a soda if i dont want to pay for it?

 

I am new please explain to me how this work.

 

I am very frugal.. (smart shopper) LOL

[sweets2323]

I called NCL and they said I can bring as many water bottles or soda as I want.

I have a family of 4 going. I want the water bottles for ports.

 

but I dont want the kids to have want soda and water while on the ship and have to walk back to the room just ot get it or have to always tug luggage with them because they want a bottle of water.

 

But wait. even with the soda package, I have to buy water right?

 

It is four of us and the gratuity will be 192. good lord! We leave tomorrow. I will have to pay that and I am going to Comfort suite, so that is an other 212 I have to come up with. Thats 404 in total. Oh my!

[Quixotic]

We're doing FOS 2/5/12 sailing date and my goal is a $500 final S&S bill (or less). We will pre-pay tips so I'm not including that. We do have a $200 OBC from booking during the WOW sale, so hopefully that will go against that total, too.

 

We don't drink alcohol (but have soda now and then), rarely gamble (for fun, we might take $20 and play until that runs out), don't go for many souvenirs.

 

I suspect the photos will be our downfall. I love getting the special keepsake photos on our trips. I also know from experience that there is always SOMETHING that pops up out of nowhere that I didn't see coming, so I am trying to be prepared.

 

The kids want to do aquapark, roller coaster, and dolphin excursion. DH wants to do zipline. I want to do Dunns Falls. Those bad boys could easily cost more in total than everything else.

[frozent]

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[Kroozen]

Nice job on the $0 balance at the end. The 2 of us usually have a bill of about $500-$600 at the end of the cruise. That comes out to less than $50 pp/per day. I'd spend FAR more than than on a land based vacation. One thing that helps me save money is the soda card. We each may have 2 cocktails a day, and drink soda/iced tea the rest of the time so the soda card is a real money saver.

[simplelife]

ummm, those are digital photos. No one uses film anymore.

They do print all those photos out and that IS a waste of paper.

[sjcruiser]

We manage to keep our bill manageable also. We use cash as the deposit on our S&S, and monitor it every couple of days or so, and add funds as we go along, if needed, but usually the deposit covers us for everything onboard, along with tips, and some left over or to use at the casino which keeps us from running back to the room for more cash. We also tend to get a little money back.

[dorisis]

We own stock in both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. This gives us an onboard credit on all the Carnival (HAL. Princess,Cunard,etc) ships and on the RC and Celebrity ships. We almost always book a future cruise while onboard. That reduces the deposit and also gives a OBC credit,

 

There have been times when our credits were more than our expenses. I wish we could get a cash refund when we don't use all the credits.

 

~Doris~

[Nebr.cruiser]

We own stock in both Carnival and Royal Caribbean. This gives us an onboard credit on all the Carnival (HAL. Princess,Cunard,etc) ships and on the RC and Celebrity ships. We almost always book a future cruise while onboard. That reduces the deposit and also gives a OBC credit,

 

There have been times when our credits were more than our expenses. I wish we could get a cash refund when we don't use all the credits.

 

~Doris~

 

We've gotten cash refunds a couple of times--just went to the Pursers Deask and asked. I know rules vary on this. Also, I think you can cash out in the casino--maybe be a 3% fee for that though.