anil099 Posted May 30, 2007 #1 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Im asking because i want to decide which credit card to use for my ss card....they do a $100 deposit..and then $10 per person per day...so i hear only coffee...and beverages cost extra....what about in room service? and what all restaurants are free...i know the main dining is free...and the buffet on the lido deck? and the 24 hour pizza....what about he seaview grill ...im talking about on the sensation ...thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runcassrun_07 Posted May 30, 2007 #2 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Im asking because i want to decide which credit card to use for my ss card....they do a $100 deposit..and then $10 per person per day...so i hear only coffee...and beverages cost extra....what about in room service? and what all restaurants are free...i know the main dining is free...and the buffet on the lido deck? and the 24 hour pizza....what about he seaview grill ...im talking about on the sensation ...thanks I don't spend to much on cruises. The coffee, tea, and other juices are free. The pop is not! Room service is free but we should give good tips. Almost all food is free on Sensation except food from small cafe where you buy chocolate covered strawberries or cakes, etc. Free at Seaview Grill. The coffee cafe does sell specials, like mocha. I heard expresso and cappucino in the dining room are free. The excursions are something else to buy on cruise if you enjoy them. The drinks are not to cheap! Hope this all helped. Cassandra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qshari Posted May 30, 2007 #3 Share Posted May 30, 2007 My husband and I usually spend between $700 and $1000 for a seven day cruise. That includes shore excursions, drinks, bingo, shopping on the ship, and money for in the casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chigirlcruzin Posted May 30, 2007 #4 Share Posted May 30, 2007 My S&S bill from my 4 day cruise was $178. This included $30 for my transfer to FLL, and $25 for the DVD since I was in it a lot! Also included the $40 for tips, $5 for batteries (my camera died...took too many pictures :) ). The rest was alcohol. I don't drink soda on the ships. They will have sodas and a bottle of water in your room - these are not included in your cruise fare; you will be charged if you consume them. On my 7 day in December, by bill was $400. This included $200 in excursions, $70 for tips, $48 for my manicure in the spa (will not do spa services in the future), $5 for batteries (seeing a pattern here...adding those to my packing list;) ), and the rest was alcohol. Being a single, blonde hair, blue eye woman helps with the alcohol thing:) The above poster is correct - all food is included (not free:) ) in your cruise fare, except for the coffee bar/pastry shop. I recommend the roast beef and brie from room service. I ordered a sandwich twice on my last cruise, and tipped the delivery person $2 each time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNtraveler Posted May 30, 2007 #5 Share Posted May 30, 2007 On a pair of 5-nighters to date, I haven't topped $100 on my S&S card. If you can live without liquor (or manage to 'import' some of your own;) ), your cruise fare is pretty much all-inclusive. Last October, on Celebration, I prepaid my tips, did shore excursions on my own, and wound up with a S&S bill under $20 (a roll of film developed, and a glass of the house wine one night with dinner). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrdood Posted May 30, 2007 #6 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand. What everyone else spends is meaningless. Set your own budget, only you know your finances and what you will have available for discretionary spending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMP1973 Posted May 30, 2007 #7 Share Posted May 30, 2007 My sister and I are buying drink coupons ahead of time that way what we drink is already paid for! We too have booked excursions separately! Last cruise S&S was $600 Have a wonderful cruise! Jackie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerdadky Posted May 30, 2007 #8 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I try to have enough money saved up to cover my expenses on the ship from my credit card. Usually around 5-600 for a 5 night cruise. I have an attachment to the DOTD so I dont let how much things are bother me. We dont purchase extravagent things from the shops and have only done one shore excursion. Have a great time and a little tip unless you wanna collect a bunch of plastic carnival glasses the drinks of the day are considerbly less in a regular cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beansatw Posted May 30, 2007 #9 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Our last "drink & sink" final tab came to about $600 for a 7 night cruise - tips, excursions, photos, a couple of small gift shop purchases, a few cocktails, and Internet access. mrdood put it really well - budget what you can afford, and have a good time! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L0204 Posted May 30, 2007 #10 Share Posted May 30, 2007 2 of us spend $700 - $1000 on a 7 night cruise. We do one bar setup of one bottle of Bacardi and 6 Coors in the room BEFORE we sail through Carnival guest services, so we save alot of $ on our drinks that way. What we spend is on shore excursions, trinkets, pay restaurant $30 each and well worth it, and the obligatory $10 per person per day gratuity. I usually spend $50 - $100 on cash tips through the course of the cruise for above average service and he uses cash in the casino. Have a great cruise!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yurita Posted May 30, 2007 #11 Share Posted May 30, 2007 We are college students, so we made sure this year we wouldn't spend as much as last one because we needed to buy our books when we came back from our cruise. Our total (Sail&Sign) came to $370.00 for both of us. Included excursions, drinks and the tips ($70 a day/per person). Also, we did a cave-tubing excursion which we paid cash $50.00 per person. So I guess it would be $470.00 total... not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Free 203 Posted May 30, 2007 #12 Share Posted May 30, 2007 we spent 400 on our 6 day but 120 was tips and then she spent 100.00 on photo's! the rest was drinks. I used cash for the casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agabbymama Posted May 30, 2007 #13 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I haven't been on the ship you are on, but from the ones I've been on, cost is about the same for everything. I booked and paid for all of our excursions on-line long before the cruise, so I knew they were paid and out of the way. Then started saving cash for the actual cruise. If you want photos, those will be extra. We got some 5x7's for $14.95 and 8x10's for $19.95. The one formal night portrait was $24.95. I think we spent $150 for all the photos on our New England/Canada cruise. Alcoholic beverages are very costly. They usually have a special drink of the day for like $5, but if you order mixed drinks they range from $7.50 to $10.50 and a 15% gatuity is automatically added, so don't tip on top of the bar tab. Sodas usually ran $2.50 to $4.50 each plus that same 15% gratuity. I don't drink beer, so I have no idea what that costs. Also didn't imbibe at the Coffee Cafe for $5 and $6 per cup. We usually tipped $1.00 each for room service for each delivery. Remember cash is not taken on any ship I've been on, everything you purchase goes on your S&S account. We purchased a couple of shirts that were on clearance, I bought a book, my friend liked the small binoculars in our room, so she ordered a pair for herself. Then we checked our account every night on the TV in the room. We were doing so good until the last sailing day. We were sitting at $450 for an 11 night cruise for two ladies. Then they had to go and put the jewelry on sale. At 50% off we just couldn't resist. I bought a diamond pendant for $200 and my friend bought a diamond pinkie ring for $250. So our total tab for everything we bought on-board was $900. We paid the account off in cash, so nothing stayed on the credit card. It's easy to get carried away, just be sure to save all your slips you sign when you purchase something and keep track of it daily. Then you won't have sticker shock at the end of the cruise. Now that's besides shopping we did when we hit port. Those costs can be astronomical, especially if you like to shop. Plus we ate lobster at almost all the ports. We won't talk about the total for shopping in Bar Harbor, Portland, Halifax, Saint Johns or Quebec. Have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fixin2cruize Posted May 30, 2007 #14 Share Posted May 30, 2007 i just got off the celebration and my total bill was 287.29 plus 100 cash that we put on the card the last day of the ship. complete total was 387.29 This was just a 4 night cruise but we drank alot. We bought 2 sets of pictures. but you have to buy the 8x10 in order to get any different sizes. the 8x10 is 21.99 i think. we spent around 50 or 60 in the casino. and that was pretty much our spending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neatokimmo Posted May 30, 2007 #15 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I agree that what you might spend might not match up with others. You can guess-timate it this way: Drinks - $8 ish Tips $10 pp per day Pictures - 8 X 10 is $22ish The smaller ones were what, 8-10$? Casino - they have everything. If you want to set a budget bring cash for your casino fun and keep it off your sail and sign. Shore excursions - those range from $40 to $200. You'll be able to look up prices in advance. Shopping - liquor to take home is very cheap on a ship (absolute liters are $10). Shopping for some things like last day tshirts are a good deal. They have a lot of jewlery but I've not found any that was a good enough deal to buy. Regular food on the ship including lemonaide type drinks are free along with coffee and tea. You'll have a lido buffet and a dining room to choose from for no additional cost. Cokes are a lot, over $2 for a can. You are allowed to bring a small quantity of your own (bottled water too). You can also buy soda in port, I've paid anywhere from $1 to $3 for a 20 ounce diet coke. I've has as little as $200 in a 5 day cruise (cash & SS) and as much as $800 in a 7 day cruise (cash & SS). For me, the 7 day had much better ports and I spent a bit on excursions. Enjoy your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribbean dreams Posted May 30, 2007 #16 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Provided we don't buy anything in the jewelry store, our S&S bill for a 7 day cruise is about $650, this incudes the tips for 3 people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah727anne Posted May 31, 2007 #17 Share Posted May 31, 2007 If you pre pay your tips does the $10 per person per day still apply on the sail and sign card? I guess i am not understanding everything correctly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southbayer Posted May 31, 2007 #18 Share Posted May 31, 2007 Just for what you spend on the ship, except gambling - I'd say its fair to say you could spend at least $250.00 tips and drinks incl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlfuzzbutt Posted May 31, 2007 #19 Share Posted May 31, 2007 When we got our bill the last day(5 day cruise).....we were shocked!!! (as were the people across from us that picked theirs up the same time we did...two passengers across the hall from each other with suprised looks on their faces. LOL) We had pre-paid our excurtions...so our bill was tip and drinks and a couple souveniers in the gift shop(sunburn gel, bracelets for DH and I, pens and kozies for the kids and a Christmas ornament) and 2 pictures. Our bill was about $850 for the 2 of us!!! See why I nearly fainted?? LOL Before we left, one of the guys that did some work with us said,"Everything is free unless you're a 'boozer'". Well, I guess we are "boozers". LOL I will be purchasing soda cards for the kids next time and putting extra monies away for our spending...so it's not such a shocker. We had budgeted a slightly higher than that amount for us though so it was all ok. DH and I don't vacation just the two of us often....this was our first ever trip without kids and not work related in 7 years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme Posted May 31, 2007 #20 Share Posted May 31, 2007 We are college students, so we made sure this year we wouldn't spend as much as last one because we needed to buy our books when we came back from our cruise. Our total (Sail&Sign) came to $370.00 for both of us. Included excursions, drinks and the tips ($70 a day/per person). Also, we did a cave-tubing excursion which we paid cash $50.00 per person. So I guess it would be $470.00 total... not too bad. :D $70 a day pp wow your a good tipper :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribbean dreams Posted May 31, 2007 #21 Share Posted May 31, 2007 If you pre pay your tips does the $10 per person per day still apply on the sail and sign card? I guess i am not understanding everything correctly! NO, if you pre pay your tips, you will not have the $10 a day taken out of your S&S card. Your tips will have already been payed so no further tipping in nessesary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wch Posted May 31, 2007 #22 Share Posted May 31, 2007 We try to spend as less as possible. Tips of course are important and well worth the great and friendly service. We spend a little on drinks but not much. Maybe splurge on one or two excursions. But other than that everything else you already paid. Our Motto - Spend less and Cruise More Often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubofhockey Posted June 1, 2007 #23 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I did the Liberty 6-day Western Carib There are four in my family and we had one big family excursion in Cayman (Sea Spi) that was $340 and worth it and the Junkanoo Beach excursion (not worth the money of $200. The excursions were more that 1/2 of our S&S tab. Add in massage and other salon stuff for my wife a few drinks and odds and ends and we were ove $1,000. :eek: Hey, it's our big vacation each year. What can you do? Next year, we'll do more excursions on our own. We did Costa Maya on our own and I got the massage, we had lunch, drinks, souvenirs, etc all for under a couple hundred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuestic66 Posted June 1, 2007 #24 Share Posted June 1, 2007 We just got back from our honeymoon cruise on the Conquest. Limited our drinks to 1 each a day bought a few shirts and the wife some dolphin stuff. Our S&S bill was $1345.00. $590.00 was shore excursions and the rest was pics and the drinks and the other stuff that I mentioned. In my opinion well worth the money we spent except for this one drink that was in a monkey head shaped coconut. You could get whatever drink you wanted in it in a glass, but it was $17.50 just for 1!!! Should of asked before we ordered it I guess :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wework2play Posted June 1, 2007 #25 Share Posted June 1, 2007 My DH and I did a 4 day cruise and our bill was 850. Spent a little in the casino, art auction, 1 excursion, drinks, pictures, little shopping- no spa stuff. We are going on the Conquest (7day) in August with our 2 kids. We will be budgeting about 2500 for this one, and I hope it will be enough. It's always more than you think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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