What did you spend on the ship?

[emirelli]

I am trying to get a realistic estimate of the charges we will incur as a family of three on board the cruise (Dawn 11-19-06) so that we may try to save enough money to cover those costs.

 

This includes, drinks, shore excursions, spa, tips, dinners, photos, casino and did I read somewhere that they charge for admission to certain shows?!

 

I would love a range of costs so I could get an idea of what we can do onboard for free and what we are going to have to find money for. It is alarming how quickly this all adds up!!

 

Thanks for your help!

[tinkerbelldee]

I am not aware of any show charges and there is alot that you can do on board that is free.

 

We spent alot on the Jewel a few weeks ago. Between drinks,tips, speciality restaurants, spa treatments, photos, gift shop purchases ( cigarettes and some junk I don't need) we spent $1300 for the 2 of us. I had budgeted $1000, so I figure I didn't do too badly.

 

Many people may think that is high, others may think it is low.

[JennCandi]

My husband and I usually spend about $1200, but that doesn't include all of the excursions, probably half. We spend a lot on wine and drinks. We only spend about $20 in the casino and have never gone to the spa or specialty restaurants. All the little things really add up.

[claudie]

We just got off the Jewel and spent just under $900.00 over the 7 days. My husband and I and 13 yr old daughter didn't do any NCL excursions so this was all drink, spa (3 services-took advantage of special deals), and service chg ($10.00 x 3 each day) some tips and maybe a few small-priced gift shop items. My daughter did have 12 drink cards left over from the last NCL cruise so that saved us some money. We also received an onboard credit of $250.00. Our total could have been $1100-1200.00. Whatever you budget, add another $200. or so for unexpecteds. Like extra tips, cab rides and other off-ship expenses.

[jimc_usa]

Everybody does it different - if you don't drink alcohol you will probably save yourself $400.00 per person. And if you don't go on an excursion maybe another $75-100 saved per person. Assuming you have no photographs taken another $50.00 per person saved.

The good news is; all the food, coffee, juice etc, all the shows, the pools and of course the wonderful food is FREE (well the cost of your ticket).

[redzz7062]

we were a family of 4 last year on the Crown and we spent $2300 :eek: all together. This includes drinks (alcoholic), a trip to the spa, photos, shore excursions and souvenier<sp> shopping on board the ship. We also tipped our dinner waiter and room steward in cash on so thats an additional $100.00. No charge for admission to any shows but my daughter played Bingo and we were charged for that too. We almost were charged for the beach towels and dining ashore vouchers but I turned them in late Sat nite and it was taken off also I had the yellow receipt from returning the towels so we were ok.

Hope this helps.

Linda

 

 

 

I am trying to get a realistic estimate of the charges we will incur as a family of three on board the cruise (Dawn 11-19-06) so that we may try to save enough money to cover those costs.

 

This includes, drinks, shore excursions, spa, tips, dinners, photos, casino and did I read somewhere that they charge for admission to certain shows?!

 

I would love a range of costs so I could get an idea of what we can do onboard for free and what we are going to have to find money for. It is alarming how quickly this all adds up!!

 

Thanks for your help!

[SteveK51]

We usually don;t spend as much as others on a cruise. We are notbig drinkers, only a few forzen colored drinks as we sail away.

 

We do spend on photos when the ship's photographers get a good one.

 

Usually spend about 400 in seven days. (This does not include any donations to St. Casino!) :rolleyes:

 

Souveneirs are included in a moderate amount. Buy most of thise ashore.

[mbisson]

We're also low spenders. We normally find the food in the "included" dining rooms OK but usually will do one or two of the additional pay dining rooms. We also usually try to limit ourselves to only one or two drinks a day (each), or maybe a drink each and a bottle of wine. And there is the tipping. Then we always end up buying some souvenirs on board. I think on our last cruise (Jewel last Dec) our total bill was something like $1200 BUT we had bought into the Latitudes Bonus program (or whatever it's called) and that was $500 of the total.

 

It's gonna be hard for anyone to help you out on how much to expect to spend, because that's purely up to you. Some will spend very little, some will spend thousands.

 

-Monte

[sweetpea-2]

first off you do not get charged for any shows on the Dawn....just got off a few weeks ago and found no such thing.....

Our Sign & Sail card came to about $850.00 and that included $250.00 for long distance (phone in cabin is $5.95 per minute but had to call due to my hubby running a lobster business)......not counting jewelry :D we spent about another $500.00 on tours, gifts for family,etc...

[logcabin]

We don't gamble. So, we spend on shore excursions, drinks, Le Bistro, Cagneys, spa, etc. We budget for the 2 of us, $1500. Sometimes we come home with a few bucks left, sometimes not.

[linsue1231]

We were on the Dawn last November 10, for a ten day cruise. When we checked in I gave them $900 cash and had a $100 room credit...so you can say we had $1000.

 

Out of that $1000 we went on three shore excursions ($200), our tips were taking out ($200), I played bingo everyday they had it, hubby joined once. We had a bottle of wine twice with dinner. Spent like $40 bucks in the gift shop and only drank (in the party mode, buying drinks for others, them buying drinks for us...you know) two nights...we did get a bucket of beer twice, while sitting at the pool, and had a drink or two everyday, expect those two party days when we had way way way more than two....lol. :D

 

Did not get any spa treatments this time or eat in any of the extra charge places. Oh by the way they skipped their private Island and headed home, so we each got back about $15 in port charges (this was credited to our on board acct.)

 

The day before we were to arrive home we had $100 dollars left on the acct. I went and brought my hubby a nice watch.

 

So as you see we really did not do much and right off the back with tips and excursions it was $400. I find I dont go crazy the first few days and I wait for the last half of the trip to party hardy. LOL :eek:

 

OH by the way our shore excursions were just beach runs....you can save more than half per person going on your own, via taxi. Another hint if you find yourself walking past the main desk and its not crowaded, stop and ask for a print out of your bill...this way you can dispute any charges not yours right away, instead of waiting all week long before getting your bill. This also allows you to see how much money you have left on your acct. Remember they take out the tips daily not in one shot.

 

Hope this gave you some insight on what to expect.:D

 

Linda

[iluvcruzn]

We were on the Jewel in January. I think we spent about $2000 for the two of us. This included almost $1000 in art from the art auction though. We decided not to take any of the ship sponsored shore excursions, and we really didn't drink that much. We went to the spa, each had two treatments. We booked these at a special rate on the first day of the cruise. We also ate at Cagney's twice and a few other specialty restraunts.

[emirelli]

Thank you all so much! You guys are awesome!

 

It looks like I am going to have to start picking up some extra jobs!!

 

In addition to the cost of the cruise we need airfare to NY for two from TX, Airfare for one from Germany, at least two nights hotel and transfers, whatever we spend in NY and whatever we spend on the cruise. I can't even begin to start adding it up! :eek:

 

It's a good thing we have until November!

[cmdchiefthom]

Emirelli,

 

I got back from seven days on the Sun with 6 adults and two grandsons, and our bill was a little over $5000.00. Yes I bought some jewelery, and I do tip extra for great service, but I was in shock.:eek:

 

The good news was I had a great cruise, and I guess that's all that matters!:cool: I hope you have the same experience, although cheaper!:D

[Don Haynes]

To save a lot of bucks, shore excursions are usually half the price of the ship's if you purchase ashore. Another tip is don't drink like a fish, booze is expensive onboard a ship. If you drink a lot of sodas instead, I highly recommend the soda card. I like the term of unlimited sodas. If you stick to the already paid for dining rooms and lido deck buffets, you won't be paying more for food.

 

We try to keep our onboard expenses for the two of us including the tips below $500. Yes, it can be done.

[Onessa]

Our last cruise (HI in Nov) was $1001 for three of us (DH, 10YO DD, myself). That included three excursions, a couple of drinks, one bottle of wine, three nights specialty restraunts, one photo, and a sweatshirt for my father. On shore - we spent $849 - including bike rentals on Kona, two lunches on shore, tips for the excursion folks, assorted souveneirs, and snackage.

[jodyrick]

We average a budget of about $100 per day for two for any length of cruise but this does not includes the tips we present at the end. We will stash away several hundred for tips and depending on services rendered, we'll provide that accordingly at our discretion.

 

Some ports, we choose not to do shore excursions so that works out well sometimes... but the credit cards burn sometimes if that's the case since we'll shop and buy gifts for family and friends or just go splurge on ourselves too!

[QuickieGlenn]

me & my Wife spent about $950 on the ship account on a 10 day cruise. She had about $300 in the spa, no excursions,about $200 in the gift shop, the rest was soda & alcohol & the $200 in tips. We had a blast...

[BILLP1]

10 days on the Dawn this past February , we spent $1158 . No excursions , just wine , drinks and we ate at speciality restaurants every night.

[Buford T Justiice]

How timely! I just found my old credit card statements and here are the damages to our (2 Pass.) on-board account:

 

Norwegian Sun March of 2005 Seven Day Western Caribb. $647

Norwegian Dawn January of 2006 10 Eastern Caribb. $587

 

We don't drink much (only beer and maybe a bottle or two of cheap wine Woodbridge White Zin.), we never pay additional to eat, we usually bring a 24 pack of soda on-board, usually do one NCL excursion in a tender port and book the rest over the internet with private co.'s

 

We definitely went easy on the 10- cruise especially since the beer prices went from $3.25 (2005) to $4.54 (2006) for a 12 bottle of Coors Light.

 

As some of the previous posters have indicated, quantifying how much cruisers spend on-board is highly subjective depending on needs, wants, and attitudes.

[Hikini]

It's really interesting to read what others spend. I guess we are mighty cheap!:o On the last 3 cruises we didn't spend $1,000 combined TOTAL!

 

We don't drink much at home, and haven't drank at all while cruising. That's a big part of many accounts. I usually buy a picture or three, a few souvenirs and one time we paid for a shore excursion. Maybe a soda or two on occasion. Usually around $350 or less per cruise, for 2 people.

 

Most of our vacation money while cruising is spent in port. Now THAT's a different story!

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[lhall85917]

We fall in with the last poster - very little on the shipboard account. Other than tips, we might both have a drink or 2, we arrange our own shore excursions and rarely buy souveniers onboard so our account is always under $250 - usually under $200 for 2 of us. Not trying to be cheap, but we don't drink at home - those couple of drinks on the ship are our once a year drink! We also find that booking our own excursions not only saves money, but gives us more freedom to do what we want on our own time frame.

[IMACRUZRNOW]

Our 8-day cruise bill was $1500 between 4 of us Myself, dh an 8 and 4 year old. That included:

Soda for the kids (rootbeer and roomservice soda isn't included with the soda card)

2 treatments at the spa

1 kayak excursion (for two)

Approx 2 bottles of wine with dinner each night (MIL was with us) (and the 6th bottle is free)

Upgraded dinner at le bistro (it was covered with our anniversary package)

and Dinner at Cagney's (was supposed to be $20 per person...bill was over $150 at the end of it all...$14 martinis and frangelico afterwards, an tip for superior service, etc)

And lots and lots of cocktails and extra tips (on top of the auto 15% for the super waiters that catered to us!)

 

cheers!

[sweetpea-2]

Thank you all so much! You guys are awesome!

 

It looks like I am going to have to start picking up some extra jobs!!

 

In addition to the cost of the cruise we need airfare to NY for two from TX, Airfare for one from Germany, at least two nights hotel and transfers, whatever we spend in NY and whatever we spend on the cruise. I can't even begin to start adding it up! :eek:

 

It's a good thing we have until November!

 

start saving now...it is worth it as far as I am concern....I can tell you that at least on the Dawn I found the "free" restaurants as good as the cover charge ones if not better !!! take soda with you and use that suitcase for the shopping sprees at the end of your cruise, make a list of what you need to take as if you forget anything, it is rather expensive to buy on the ship, don't drink like a fish but have a few everyday, you dont' have to go crazy and give extra tips since you do pay $10.00 per person per day....you can get sea sickness pills and ear plugs free also at the information desk.....

Have a blast and you still have lots of time to save some here & there for this...... good luck !!!!

Linda