Money. How Much?!

[tron3737]

My wife & I are taking a Crown on Feb 23 to the Eastern Carribean. . . 1st timerers!! I was curious as to roughly how much money we can expect to spend ONBOARD the ship (drinks, meals, extras, etc). One alcohol drinker, one coffee, one formal dining(sabatini's), traditional dining other wise. I know it's a pretty abstract and varied question but any would be welcomed and appreciated. . . thanks!:confused::D

[j!m]

you dont actually need any cash on the ship.everything can be settled with your credit card. as for how much you might spend on and off the ship thats up to you. you of course will need some cash for incidentles.

 

jim

[bhopal21]

General rule of thumb, pack half the clothes you expect and twice the money and you will be fine.

 

Mike:D

[cruzinchris]

DH and I usually spend $500-1,000 per cruise - sometimes a little more, sometimes a bit less. This would include a few gift shop purchases but not gratuities or shore excursions.

 

If you plan to use the ship's internet cafe, this can add up quickly at .50 per minute. Bingo cards, wine tastings, the casino, specialty ice cream, photos, salon/spa, etc. - really depends on what your interests are.

Chris

[kosmo]

We just returned yesterday and our final bill was around $1000 for 2 of us. This included: $100 pictures, $140 daily tips, $30 boutique items, $200 bingo, $200 casino, $12 room service (chips & salsa) and one Coke stamp ($23 or $27?). The rest was on alcohol, an occasional Pellegrino and specialty coffee. Based on what you might spend $$ on, this might help you. Have a great trip!

[dforeigner]

Don't forget to add the cost of the excursions if you book them throught the ship.

[NorcalGuy]

Actually, I wouldn't count entirely on the onboard account:

• Room service: $1-5 dollars depending on what is ordered. (not manditory, but customary. If you "write it in" on the ticket, it all goes into the tip pool and your individual server doesn't recieve it.)
  
• excursion guides: usually $1-2 for a half day tour, although that is commonly overlooked (or sometimes undeserved).
  
• Laundry machines: Don't count on always being able to get change from the change machines, as they are often broken/out of change. Saves a trip down to the desk.
  
• Small purchases onshore: Try to have exactly what the price is (assuming they even take American). Change is not always offered back in US currency.
  
• Probably a few other things I'm not thinking of I always take at least 50-100 in dollar bills, plus some 5's and 20's.
  
• Cash is best if you intend to gamble, otherwise 3% surcharge when charging you your onboard account.

Others will probably have other reasons to bring some cash.

[waterbound]

With excursions, tips, souvenirs, alcohol.. we usually spend $500-$1000.. Thats part cash and part on the credit card. I know thats a big window but it really depends on what you buy.. We dont always buy alot of pictures.. but if you do the 8 x 10's are typically $20 and smaller ones can range from $7-15 each.. Tips run $10 per person per day.. We dont generally do bingo.. we usually bring maybe $100 total for the casino.. We do bring about $20 for room service as we use them occassionally, we dont buy many souvenirs anymore as we have cruised so much there isnt much I want to buy anymore.. I always buy my ship ornament thats $10 and DF buys a ship coffee mug and sometimes a ship tshirt.. he buys cigarettes onboard that is usually around $75 and a few bottles of alcohol to bring home which runs about $20.. We dont do the specialty coffee places.. We dont do the spa..

We do usually spend a few hundred on onboard alcohol.. We are going to be on Grand this coming Saturday and doing one of the specialty restaurants so that will be $30 total for that..

 

Its really hard to say.. but I guess the highest $$ things for us is typically the shore excursions and the onboard alcohol..

 

Now I will say on our first cruise we did spend quite a bit of money.. I think around $200 just on pictures.. a few hundred in the casino.. we did bingo, bought alcohol, I had my hair done.. and we spent bunches on souvenirs.. but we dont do that anymore.. We like lay back and relax now..

[Pickland]

Is cash accepted at the casino or is it charge only?

[Toto2Kansas]

Cash is great. Charge will cost you another 3% when placed on your shipboard account. Bring $$$$$$$$$$$! :)

[ilovetocruisetoo]

It really varies, but here is an ROUGH estimate for 2 adults:

 

Excursions $475 (3 each @ $79 pp)

Tips $140

Drinks $300 (this is estimated about 3 drinks a day x 2 ppl x 7 days @ $7 each)

Boutique, t-shirts, etc $100

Bingo $80

Casino $300

Photos $100 (they aren't cheap, so this is only about 4-5 pics)

Misc tips for porter, tour guides, extra for cabin attendant $100

Total $1595

Obviously, it can be a lot less or a lot more depending on if you do excursions, play a lot at the casino, drink excessivley, etc. but this is about what we usually spend. Hope this helps you.

[willysgrandma]

Our onboard account ran us a little under $800 for two.

 

We had about 4 drinks each, 1 bottle of wine, ate at Sabatini's, bought one coffee card and one soda card, a bottle of perfume and bought a couple of things like bandaids at the store. The rest was excursions and gratuities. No pictures, bingo, casino. I think our excursions were about $500 out of that total amount. We aren't big drinkers, so that really does save a lot of money.

 

I did an excursion in Barbados, DH fished in St. Marten, we both did excursions in St. Lucia and St. Thomas.

[TCF]

On our first cruise we spent way more than we expected!:eek:

When we got home we realized that we did not need to spend nearly that much.

Now we budget the cost of one pp cruise for everything. So that is usually $500 travelers checks for tipping and shopping on shore. And all expenditures on the card on board.:D

So far we are generally under budget now. But we have also learned a huge number of money saving tips from others on these boards! That really helps!:)

Tom&Deb:)

[ilovetocruisetoo]

It really varies, but here is an ROUGH estimate for 2 adults:

 

Excursions $475 (3 each @ $79 pp)

Tips $140

Drinks $300 (this is estimated about 3 drinks a day x 2 ppl x 7 days @ $7 each)

Boutique, t-shirts, etc $100

Bingo $80

Casino $300

Photos $100 (they aren't cheap, so this is only about 4-5 pics)

Misc tips for porter, tour guides, extra for cabin attendant $100

Total $1595

Obviously, it can be a lot less or a lot more depending on if you do excursions, play a lot at the casino, drink excessivley, etc. but this is about what we usually spend. Hope this helps you.

 

Also, you could spend a couple hundred at the spa too if you like that type of thing. I usually get a massage one time and spend about $60-$100 on that. If both of you go, it could be around $200

[JLC@SD]

Also, you could spend a couple hundred at the spa too if you like that type of thing. I usually get a massage one time and spend about $60-$100 on that. If both of you go, it could be around $200

......and if you buy the stuff they sell......that could be another $200.00....:)