Spending money dilemma

[Mikew0805]

Sorry about your unexpected financial issue. We have all been there before. There is so much you can do without spending money. Enjoy the experiences, and forget about the "stuff."

[Ourusualbeach]

5 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

If going to CocoCay the food and non-alcohol drinks are free. Most trinkets usually end up in a corner somewhere. Buy a cheap t-shirt or a postcard to send to a friend or family member.

Just so there is no confusion, the drinks that were free on the ship are still free on CocoCay.  Soda and virgin drinks are charged for just as they are on the ship. 

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, livinthedream99 said:

We started a tradition years ago, where we pick up a magnet on each new stop, on all vacations. They are inexpensive and always bring a happy memory when I see them. However, I agree that your pictures make a great souvenirs! Just enjoy yourself and try not to stress on your vacation. Best wishes~

Actually one can take pictures and later on turn them into magnets if they want to so that is an option, too.

[Iamcruzin]

17 hours ago, Tntt said:

Okay so we are about a week out before I cruise and unfortunately we had a unexpected Financial issue and we had to make adjustments to our spending money amounts that we were going to take on the cruise as far as cash is concerned. I'm really starting to stress out because I'm not sure if we're going to have enough spending money when we get on the islands to buy souvenirs Etc. Our cruise is only four nights and I was hoping some of you can give me some advice to kind of gauge what should be okay as far as cash to take on the cruise we would not be doing any excursions nothing extra just Cruising  we might buy a couple of souvenirs but that's about it just trying to get some advice

Please do not stress about buying souvenirs. There is nothing on those islands that you can't get at Walmart or Amazon. Most of the stuff is made in China just like everything else.  I say this because we were on an island and my wife saw a cheap bracelet that matched her outfit. It was $5 dollars. When we got home we saw it in Walmart for $3.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[Paulette3028]

16 hours ago, awestover89 said:

Basically, you can spend nothing extra or thousands extra, all up to you and honestly I don't think limiting your budget will limit your enjoyment unless you dwell on thoughts of "I wish I could afford this"

This is the BEST advice.....as said by awestover89 --- DON'T dwell on thoughts of "I wish I could afford this" that will make the cruise a bummer.  

 

Typically we spend on an excursion that would be preplanned, but pocket money for souvenirs (to us are worthless anyway) not at all.  We stopped getting Royal souvenirs, since we collect plenty from participating in games on the ship -- sometimes an inexpensive t-shirt with the ships name on it....and not often any more.  

 

Just go and ENJOY!

[KeywestK]

When my husband and I took our first big trip, it was early in our marriage and we didn't have a lot of money to spend on souvenirs.  I saw a magnet and bought it.  I didn't know it then, but that was the beginning of our travel magnet collection.   We now have over 250 magnets hot glued onto several shadow boxes in our den.  I treasure that collection.  

[CasinoCruzGirl]

I buy one shot glass per cruise ($5?)

[shipgeeks]

I don't think either of us has ever bought a souvenir on a ship or ashore.  And we've never said "I wish I had...."

However, I do see them in thrift shops, so apparently people buy things and then realize they don't really want them.

IMO, just enjoy the cruise and the ports without feeling that you have to buy anything beyond what you've already paid for.  Cruising is special!

[awestover89]

2 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

I don't think either of us has ever bought a souvenir on a ship or ashore.  And we've never said "I wish I had...."

However, I do see them in thrift shops, so apparently people buy things and then realize they don't really want them.

IMO, just enjoy the cruise and the ports without feeling that you have to buy anything beyond what you've already paid for.  Cruising is special!

 

The one thing that I always say "I wish I had..." are the small ship models they sell on board.

Every cruise I say I want to start collecting them. Every cruise I go into the shop and see the price. Every cruise I say "it's too expensive and I don't even know where I'd put it". Every cruise I get home and say "I kinda wish I had bought it..."

 

It's a vicious cycle.

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, awestover89 said:

 

The one thing that I always say "I wish I had..." are the small ship models they sell on board.

Every cruise I say I want to start collecting them. Every cruise I go into the shop and see the price. Every cruise I say "it's too expensive and I don't even know where I'd put it". Every cruise I get home and say "I kinda wish I had bought it..."

 

It's a vicious cycle.

That’s really the only thing that we buy but we’ve limited it to one ship per class.

[Bee Guy]

On 5/21/2019 at 11:07 PM, livinthedream99 said:

We started a tradition years ago, where we pick up a magnet on each new stop, on all vacations. They are inexpensive and always bring a happy memory when I see them. However, I agree that your pictures make a great souvenirs! Just enjoy yourself and try not to stress on your vacation. Best wishes~

 

This is basically what we do also.  The magnets are usually about +/- $3.  Other inexpensive options are shot glasses and coasters.  My wife feels that we need to have something, but frankly, I never even look at the hundreds of pictures we take.

[grandgeezer]

We don't buy any souvenirs on the ship, we call our Seapass card that. We were saving up enough to make an accent wall in our computer area, but we've cut way back on our cruising. 96 cards between the two of us doesn't quite make it. 

[Sugar67]

We started buying a Christmas ornament in each new port when we first started cruising.  All those ornaments go into one box and we reminisce each year when we decorate the tree.  Most of them were around $5 each, the odd one was a bit more.

[CruiseWendy]

I have found through out the years the souvenirs I used to buy would collect dust or be ignored. Don't stress about it. As others have suggested we started buying a simple magnet from the places we visited or a single Christmas ornament to commemorate the trip. Relax and enjoy your vacation. The memories are truly the best souvenir you can buy.

[vacationlover_mn]

We bring $100 a day for off-ship food, souvenirs, etc.  we never spend it all.  However, if we do an independent excursion, we add that in.

 

i think it would be possible to make it work for like$25, if you ate only on the ship, and didn’t do any independent excursions.

[shippmates]

We spend very little if any on our cruises.  Years ago we started purchasing a Christmas ornament in each port on our first visit.  It is not very often we have new ports so do not need to buy anything and we also eat on the ship.

 

[mek]

As others have mentioned, make sure you have cash for tips.  But other than that you don't need to spend anything extra to have a fun cruise. When we first started cruising we were on a tight budget so I know from experience it is possible.  If I were in your situation I would probably take $100 on a four night cruise and plan to spend as little of it as possible.

 

The last thing I would do is follow the advice of some who have said to put it on a credit card.  Really?  

[maureencruiser]

I agree on the magnet or Christmas ornament idea, but, if you can't walk into a store without wanting to buy more, then don't tempt yourself, just go to the beach or whatever is in the port.  You don't mention if you are drinkers, but, those cruisy cocktails are expensive, so watch those.  Hubby going to casino twice on a  4 night cruise?  That's just throwing money away and if he's the type to get excited and think he's gonna solve your money problem, yikes.  I've heard enough arguments through the walls because grooms blew all the wedding money at the casino.  Take lots of pictures, post them to social media to make your friends jealous. 😂  Just be together, walking around deck at night can be so romantic.  One nice thing is the Embarkation Photo, it shows the name of the ship, the date, and the ports you'll be visiting, those are nice souvenirs that actually help you remember.  Enjoy!  I go with the theory that the less I spend on each cruise, the more cruises I can go on. 😁

[shopaholic6]

4 hours ago, mek said:

As others have mentioned, make sure you have cash for tips.  But other than that you don't need to spend anything extra to have a fun cruise. When we first started cruising we were on a tight budget so I know from experience it is possible.  If I were in your situation I would probably take $100 on a four night cruise and plan to spend as little of it as possible.

 

The last thing I would do is follow the advice of some who have said to put it on a credit card.  Really?  

I agree!  Once I limited myself to the equivalent of £5 per port and tried to find the best souvenir I could within that budget! I certainly wouldn’t be putting it on a credit card if I didn’t have the money in the first place!

[SRV FAN]

On 5/21/2019 at 1:05 PM, Tntt said:

Okay so we are about a week out before I cruise and unfortunately we had a unexpected Financial issue and we had to make adjustments to our spending money amounts that we were going to take on the cruise as far as cash is concerned. I'm really starting to stress out because I'm not sure if we're going to have enough spending money when we get on the islands to buy souvenirs Etc. Our cruise is only four nights and I was hoping some of you can give me some advice to kind of gauge what should be okay as far as cash to take on the cruise we would not be doing any excursions nothing extra just Cruising  we might buy a couple of souvenirs but that's about it just trying to get some advice

 

You can (if you have a credit card) get cash on it at guest services or at the ATM if you want to take cash ashore. 

[Mr. Candyman]

27 minutes ago, SRV FAN said:

 

You can (if you have a credit card) get cash on it at guest services or at the ATM if you want to take cash ashore. 

Although it is an option dont ever take out cash on a credit card. You'll pay the cash advance fee, plus you accrue more fees UNTIL you've completely paid the statement balance in full for 2 consecutive months.  Not a good option if you're on a budget and unable to do that.

Edited May 27, 2019 by Mr. Candyman

[vacationlover_mn]

One fun free thing you can do is walk on the beach in Nassau.  Or lay on the beach for free, if you have a towel.  Junkanoo beach is to the right of the ship as you walk off.  Also, as others have said, straw market is also cool to do at least once.  If you are ok doing a hard barter (give a price and walk away if they don’t take it), you can often get stuff for half off.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

5 hours ago, maureencruiser said:

I agree on the magnet or Christmas ornament idea, but, if you can't walk into a store without wanting to buy more, then don't tempt yourself, just go to the beach or whatever is in the port.  You don't mention if you are drinkers, but, those cruisy cocktails are expensive, so watch those.  Hubby going to casino twice on a  4 night cruise?  That's just throwing money away and if he's the type to get excited and think he's gonna solve your money problem, yikes.  I've heard enough arguments through the walls because grooms blew all the wedding money at the casino.  Take lots of pictures, post them to social media to make your friends jealous. 😂  Just be together, walking around deck at night can be so romantic.  One nice thing is the Embarkation Photo, it shows the name of the ship, the date, and the ports you'll be visiting, those are nice souvenirs that actually help you remember.  Enjoy!  I go with the theory that the less I spend on each cruise, the more cruises I can go on. 😁

my husband did just that on our honeymoon. Divorced now🤣