$100/day??

[boomerSexyK]

I have been reading these boards for awhile now and this "dollar target" seems to keep popping up occassionally. So I looked at our last (and first ) cruise and realized we paid $480pp/day for cruise and airfare from Toronto!!! Granted we had a Sky Suite on Celebrity, and since it was our 1st cruise AND our Anniversary, we paid out the bucks. Might as well go for the gusto 1st time out. Not just that but I had conversed with my sister about her cruise in an inside "downstairs" cabin and how horrible it was, so wasn't going to do that route.

Our next cruise is in an SY on Zuiderdam this Nov/06. A lot better deal IMO. $290pp/day!! But still seems to be WAY above a hundred bucks per day!!! Now I'm assuming that there is a difference in the exchange US vs CDN $ and that $100 probably doesn't include airfare nor a balcony, but triple the money ?? Or am I missing some huge "deal fairy" that we don't know about. I'm in a wheelchair "for distance" although I can usually double cane around the cabin (if the seas aren't too rough), so I realize I pay extra for the "luxury" of some extra space. And also I'm not including booze, excursions or spa treatments in these figures. They are always going to be a personal choice for people.

As long as we come up with $$'s, we'll continue to cruise...We love it. Trying to rearrange the budget to do 2 cruises a year. I was just wondering what our fellow CC'ers think a good deal is for balcony cabins, or what they try to "target" for their per person per day costs

[Scrumpy]

That's a great question. We have yet to get that $100/day p.p. deal ourselves for a balcony and I wouldn't have even thought it was possible. Hmmm... we barely got that kind of a deal for an outside when we used FF miles for the airfare. Obviously doing something wrong at my house (as usual)! Our upcoming Alaskan cruise, without airfare, is roughly $200/day p.p. for an aft VA. And...I thought that was pretty good. Prices jumped back up at the last minute (or we picked the wrong TA...again). Now, I'm going to have to see if I can remember what we paid for the SS last year and see how they compare. I think it was about the same as this VA, maybe less.

 

On land, we discount the hotel price entirely and hope for about $150/day for both of us for normal food and entertainment. Anything special is above and beyond that, but usually booked and paid for in advance. And, in some cities/countries, that guideline goes out the window, too. It could be a lot more or a little less. Never seems to be a lot less, though...

[Jeano222]

On our 15 night Hawaii cruise on Serenade of the Seas, 10/5/07 our balcony cabin is 1670.20 per person with port charges and tax included. Which works out to 111.35 day, we think that is an awesome price for a balcony with that itinerary. We had a sky suite on Infinity fro that sailing a year and a half ago and it was 186.67 per day per person.

[obriendan]

For 10 cruises over the last eight years, we have averaged $218/pp-pd, including airfare and insurance. Most (8 of 10) have been in balcony cabins. The range has been $183 to $258. The highest one was due mainly to very high airfare to South America. So your numbers are not that unusual. Oh how I wish there was a great deal Fairy!

[Randyk47]

I'd say our range is around $225 to $270 per person. I can't imagine, though it wouldn't hurt my feelings or pocketbook, to get down to $100 per person. We won't book an inside or even a cabin without a verandah so our chances of getting that low are slim to virtually zero.

[CateW]

We are considering the 11/4 Noordam Cruise out of NY to the Caribbean - 11 days. Our TA quoted us a price that is about $118 pp per day and we won't need Airfare since we can just drive into the City. We don't have a rate like this for any of our other cruises. I suspect the time of year has something to do with the great price on this one.

[HERKIMER417]

I don't know what the $100 includes. But I'd love to have what I've experienced and hold it at $100.

 

After reading this thread, I added up to cost for DW and myself on our last two cruises. Both were 7 night Caribbean trips, HAL ships out of FL ( one with balcony but a great deal and one oceanview ), 2 people to a cabin, air from NY, hotel, excursions, and bar bill :eek: .

 

I averaged $220 per night per person or $ 192 per day

 

I think the math makes it sound less. If you divide the total bill by the number of nights rather than the number of days - you can see it is substantially higher. Marketing.. isn't it wonderful.

 

J

[whogo]

We paid $72 per person per day for an inside quad on the Zuiderdam in March, 2006. Oh, wait, that was just the cruise (with tips). Add further per person per day for:

Cruise taxes and port charges: $29

Air and transfers: $71

Air taxes: $7

Travel agency fee: $1

HAL shore excursions (dolphin swim for two and rent on two clamshells): $17

Motel: $3

Insurance: $10

Soda/beer (six beers, 1 soda card for twenty drinks): $2

Parking: $1

Other (Visiting St. Thomas, Tortola & Nassau on own and misc. expenses.): $18

Total per person per day: $231

 

We were pretty frugal.

[dlbutler5]

We normally stay under the $100/day. We take the cheapest inside cabin, or nearly so, and ALWAYS drive to the port. We have had balcony cabins and didn't use the balcony enough to warrant he cost. We are in the cabin so seldom the no window doesn't matter. Our upcoming cruise in November is out of Norfolk so even the drive is nil. Our inside cabin is the same as an exterior but no window. That is how we stay under $100/day.

[kelmac]

We usually use the $100 per day mark as a guide. Remember this is per person, cruise only, including all charges and taxes. This amount does not include airfare, tips or shore excursions. Just after 9/11 we were getting deals from $60 pp/pd, to $85 pp/pd. Every year since then it is coming back to "normal" amounts.

Since we cruise three or four times a year, we look for inside cabins with great locations, or we will even do inside guarantees if the price is right.

Since my wife is a teacher, we cruise during winter break, spring break and summer months. Not many deals during that time period, but for people who can cruise Sept, Oct, Nov, early Dec, Jan, and May, there are many >$100 pp/pd deals to be had!:)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[debjo]

For the purpose of comparing "apples to apples" (rather than "apples to oranges"), I just use our cruise fare (cabin + port charges + taxes) when I make my comparisons. Our schedule deems that we only take the 7 night cruises (actually 8 days). We always shoot for a balcony cabin as close to the $1000 cruise fare as we can. That works out to just under $150 pp for the 7 night cruise.

 

Since airfare, pre/post cruise hotel accommodations, shore excursions, tips, souvenirs, etc. are all "add-on" charges and may or may not be things we do on a cruise, we don't "add" them into our "formula" for picking a cruise fare.

 

Of course, if we are celebrating a "special event" on our cruise, we usually get a more expensive cabin. We like to have a balcony cabin or better. The only way I'd sail in an "inside" cabin is when the square footage of that cabin nears 180 ft. Even then, I'd probably only sail "inside" once...just to say I've done it and can compare the experience to our other cabins. The only times we've sailed without a "balcony" is when the ship didn't have any balconies! Our "best" cruise deal was in an "oceanview" (but a mere 107 sq. ft. and very cramped) for 7 nights at just over $800 per person. Our "best" deal, which is our upcoming cruise with HAL in one of those luxurious corner "wake" Verandah Suites is just under $1500 per person for 7 nights. This will be our first "suite" experience!

 

In short, I'd love to partake of a $100/day/person deal someday, which probably would put me in that "inside" cabin. In the meantime, as long as I'm able to save up some extra dollars, I'll stick with the added balcony space.

 

Debjo