Under $100 per night?

[Padman]

Just wondered, when people talk about getting a good deal because it only cost them under $100 a night what is included? I assume that trip insurance and excursions are not included but what about prepaid gratuities? It seems to me that most cruises fall under $100 per night until you actually add up all that you spend.

 

Also, what is a hump cabin?

 

Thanks for any help that I get.

[Essiesmom]

Included is food at all venues except specialty restaurants, premium coffees, and soda/alcohol. Spa facilities.

Some ships are not flat along the sides, they have portions that 'bump out'. Cabins on these projections are called hump cabins. EM

[sail7seas]

Clarly that low fare is now going to get you a high category cabin....... You should not expect a veranda though on some ships, some cruises, I believe some folks actually go that sort of deal. :eek:

[vtwiggy]

Included is your room and food. No soda or alcohol. And of course transportation around the Caribbean or wherever you're going! :). As well as most entertainment on board - shows, games, etc.

 

If you think about it, you can easily, easily spend over $100 a night on just a hotel. No food, no shows, and no traveling! Even when you add up the fees I still think it's a very economical way to vacation. A trip to Disney World or any beach resort would cost you just as much.

[KKB]

but we have paid $500/wk for each of our Princess cruises. Always booked an interior cabin, but often upgraded to exterior.

It is a tremendous value...covers lodging, food, entertainment & transportation to ports.

What costs extra: transportation to port; baggage fees; parking; hotel night before (recommended if flying); meals the day before; most drinks (except water, coffee, tea, lemonade); photos; gambling; spending $ in port; shore excursions; TIPS; ship purchases; pay-per restaurants.

THIS BEING SAID--you do not HAVE to pay for all of these; obviously you must get to the port somehow and you MUST pay tips. But beyond that, everything else is optional. We rarely do shore excursions, just explore on our own. Depending on the port, this could be entirely free, or just a bit for cab.

Cruising is a great value--but things can add up fast especially in that cashless society!

[firefly333]

When I look at under $100 a night, I mean the fare plus add on taxes and fees.

 

I dont pay tips until Im on the ship and usually have OBC as most people do who cruise a lot.

 

Im cruising solo, so a 5 day under $100 a day is good to me... and Im on a inside and thats what I paid for my upcoming Triumph cruise, inside, but I got Lido deck.

[fishywood]

We paid less than $85/day for 10 day Eastern Caribbean on Princess this past April--adding up the cruise fare, taxes, insurance and the then-$10.50/day for tips. And got upgraded from obstructed view to full ocean view!

 

I always calculate the tips in when determining if a certain fare is a good bargain or not.

[Hlitner]

We actually took a 12 day Celebrity Mercury cruise last December where we kept the total cost per passenger day (including cruise, tips, on board expenses and ports) under $100 a day. This is pretty rare but it can be done. On that particular cruise we were able to grab a last minute outside cabin for about $62 per passenger day. Tips took that cost up to $74 per day. Since we are Elite on Celebrity we get free cocktail parties every day (except the first night) so we spent nearly zero on drinks. Wine cost us about $8 a day since we bought relatively inexpensive wines and manage to use one bottle for 2 nights. So all this totaled $82. Since the cruise was to typical Caribbean ports (that we kinow well) we simply made each port a beach day (except in St Thomas where we spent very little time off the ship) and used public transit and our feet in each port. I think we did this just to prove it can be done :)

 

Hank

P.S. The budget buster (not included in my calculation) was the cost of parking our car at the Balitmore cruise port.

[Cruisin' Chick]

One way a cruise can cost $100 or under per night (of course, not including anything but the fare and port taxes/government fees) is if you take a longer cruise. A 28-day cruise can often cost much less per day than a 7-day one. All else being equal.

[eh2zed]

Cruising can be great value. But don't be penny wise and pound foolish too. If you get the itinerary and/or ship you want for $20 more a day or whatever, don't scrimp too much.

[jtwanabe]

When I look at under $100 a night, I mean the fare plus add on taxes and fees.

 

I dont pay tips until Im on the ship and usually have OBC as most people do who cruise a lot.

 

Im cruising solo, so a 5 day under $100 a day is good to me... and Im on a inside and thats what I paid for my upcoming Triumph cruise, inside, but I got Lido deck.

I'm on the same cruise. Booked it back in July I think. Paid the solo fee and all. But at one point the interior type room that I got was going for about $87.60 a night. I don't understand the in's and out's of the cruise "matrix" to try to rebook or upgrade or whatever. I have this fantasy of being upgraded to a balcony at the gate. Of course that happens just after I win the lottery.

[silentbob007]

People have different measures of what a "good deal" is ... depends on the ship, company, itinerary, time of year, etc. My cheapest cruise was $250 (after taxes) for 7 days on a great ship, but it was because it was diverted from Mexico because of H1N1 and they just wanted people onboard. I went on Oasis of the Seas for $700/pp for a week in an interior balcony and thought that was a "good" deal where I would never have paid that much for about any other ship.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We look for cruises that are $100 (or less) a night in a balcony cabin, base cruise price, not including taxes and gratuities. This is just our bottom line and so far we have been able to meet this, or much less. This makes it easy to compare cruises.

 

We do this by cruising some longer cruises, especially Transatlantics, which can be very cheap, cruising at less popular times of the year (early December almost always has great deals) or sometimes waiting until a month or two out before booking.

 

We're also not picky about cruise line or ship (although we avoid the older ships) and itinerary, within reason. Since we've cruised a lot in the Caribbean we just alternate the different routes so we don't get too bored.

 

We usually use a discount TA but have booked through the cruise line. We almost always get OBC and have past cruiser, senior or (rarely)resident discounts.

 

If we didn't live so far from all cruise ports and didn't have to worry about getting air at a reasonable price (though we usually use FF miles), we'd book as late as possible.