What can I expect to spend on board for 7 days with 2 kids?

[wework2play]

Me, my DH, and my our two boys. I'm trying to decide if I'm planning a large enough budget. I'm sure we'll do at least one family excursion.

 

Here's a few things:Kids will want to visit the arcade. We'll probably give a hundred to the casino. I'll shop a little (Not a big shopper). Kids will want to buy stuff. Pictures. Drinks, of course. Soda cards. What's an average amount you would expect to spend?

 

TIA!

[PINEVIEW01]

Right off $280 for tips. I don't shop on the ship so, can't help. You can spend as little as $8 to hundreds on photos:eek:.

[shortstop95]

Me, my DH, and my our two boys. I'm trying to decide if I'm planning a large enough budget. I'm sure we'll do at least one family excursion.

 

Here's a few things:Kids will want to visit the arcade. We'll probably give a hundred to the casino. I'll shop a little (Not a big shopper). Kids will want to buy stuff. Pictures. Drinks, of course. Soda cards. What's an average amount you would expect to spend?

 

TIA!

 

my wife and I have cruised about 15 times... we experience the full cruise experience.. shore excursions... pictures.... bingo cards.. a little casino.. a little shopping....and plenty of drinks... we typically spend between the two of us about $100 per day.. so for a week $700 or more depending upon the shore excursions which can really run up there..

[chitown cruisers]

my kids are Arcade/video game junkies....and to be honest we kept them out of there....the machine says there is a kids limit of $20/day that can be adjusted.

 

 

I started to do a breakdown of what I thought we spent....but there are just too many things to take into consideration. And it is all based on priorities for your family......what worked for us probably wouldn't work for you, but could for the next guy.

 

I will say that we spent extra on pictures....but looking back at the boys in their tux's....priceless!

 

Good luck

[CalifCruiser1]

:) It is hard to say, but after 9 cruises with the kids on 7 day cruises you have the tip amount automatic. then depends on the number of shore excursions and how old the kids are-the bigger and more expensive the excursions. As my kids have gotten older they now want to play bingo with mom so that adds but no more into the arcade each excursion seems to add at least $400 to the bill ($100 per person or more). They also have given up on the soda cards they seem to perfer the free drinks now -- (who would know).My husband enjoys his buckets of beer and me the foo foo drinks and maybe a bottle of wine at dinner. The photos they are pretty awesome how many times does the family dress up? I probably spend about $180 if I love them- buy only if you love them! so we spend on avenge $1800-$2000 every 7 day cruise remember thats with the kids. we did Alaska last year and spent $700 but booked all excursions before we left. And it depends on your ports, some you spend more at than others. Karon:)

[emmysmommy]

$1,489.75! :D That's what I would spend for the items you mentioned. :p But I would also add extra because we do the supper club, bingo, coffee bars, and a shore excursion for each port.

 

As many here can attest, you know your budget and spending habits so it could be far less or far more depending on your style!!

[CruiseFever]

Darn good question, and one not asked enough.

 

While a cruise is or can be a great value, the stuff not included in the price you pay for the cruise can be as much as the cruise or more.

 

Wow, did I say that? Well yes, it's true.

 

One time we did a cruise and swore not to spend anything on the cruise. This was on a Carnival Cruise and we had pre-paid our gratuities (not all cruise lines allow that) so there was really nothing we HAD to pay on the ship. We had a great time and our Sign and Sail account bill was less than $30 but that took a lot of work. On the Glory last month, our onboard charges were more than the cruise fare. That was not a problem as we had gotten a great price on the cruise and had a fabulous time on the ship.

 

There are certain items that, just to be fair, shouldn't be counted when answering this question. Buying money in the casino for one. That's an unusual transaction that not all people might have, especially if they don't gamble. But wait, what about alcoholic beverages?

 

I bet that is the single highest category of stuff on the average Sign and Sail account. But then if someone doesn't drink, then they have none of that. I guess my point is that what you spend on the ship can be a lot or little, depends on you. My best advice: if this is important, make a budget. A fairly common practice for gamblers is to set an amount to spend each day. I know cruisers who have 7 envelopes, one for each day of the cruise, which has their gambling money. When they've lost that, they're done each day.

 

I'm not sure I want to get into the whole "how to save money on booze" topic except to say, if possible, book into a group cruise where it can be a set amount each day for unlimited booze..if you drink a lot. Smuggling your own is another way but really not all that convenient and hey, it's your vacation; have a good time, pamper yourself! We go the first night to the gift shop and that is when we buy whatever it is we will buy. The selection is greatest and we spend whatever it is we decided to spend right then and get it over with. Giving in to the lure of daily sales and special pricing promotions nearly always costs more in the end.

 

Bon Voyage gifts are a good way to budget stuff too. FunShip Dollars can be bought at any time and be spent as you wish. I like to buy them between final payment and sailing. I've probably been making payments on the cruise anyway between deposit time and final payment so I just continue the practice between final payment and sailing. We'll skip Friday night at the Olive Garden and some other optional stuff then put that money into our cruise in one way or another. It is often as though we cruise for free.

[teanbean16]

We usually spend around $1400. There are four of us. That price includes arcade for the boys, soda card, bingo, drinks, and tips. We book our own excursions and that is included in the $1400. :) :)

[MaryZ]

Me, my DH, and my our two boys. I'm trying to decide if I'm planning a large enough budget. I'm sure we'll do at least one family excursion.

 

Here's a few things:Kids will want to visit the arcade. We'll probably give a hundred to the casino. I'll shop a little (Not a big shopper). Kids will want to buy stuff. Pictures. Drinks, of course. Soda cards. What's an average amount you would expect to spend?

 

TIA!

 

Just limit what the kids are allowed to spend. Buy them a soda card if they drink soda. And tell them how much a day they are allowed. If they want to spend over that, they need to come and ask.

Everyone's financial picture is different. What someone else can afford to spend, may not be what I can afford to spend and vice versa.

Just stick to whatever your budget is for your family. A lot depends on what you are planning to do in the ports. When we went to alaska, our shore excursions came to thousands of dollars. When we go to the caribbean, we go to the beach usually so it costs practically nothing, or if we do something like snorkling we book that privately.

Pictures, I always buy a few. Sometimes one or two, sometimes 10. Depends on how much I like them.

Shopping on the ship consists of cigarettes, some liquor and a christmas ornament of the ship. That's pretty much it for us. Shopping off the ship is usually a few small souveniors and some liquor. I don't go on vacation to shop, but that's me. Other people absolutely love to shop in the ports.

enjoy your vacation.

[karenh1127]

Our first cruise was on the Ecstasy when she had problems and made no ports.:mad: It was dh, myself, and 2 boys, age 8 then. They spent $200 in the arcade since that is pretty much where they spent their time. It was a 5 night cruise. We are going on the conquest in march and hope to not spend so much time in the arcade. I know one son will fight me on this!;)

I am thinking we will spend about $1,000 including excursions. We will do one booked thing in a port and the other ports just do the beach thing. We are not big drinkers or gamblers but will partake in a bit of both. Good luck and have fun!

[TennisLover]

Told my kids (14 and 11) that they could spend $10 per day (each) in the video arcade. That worked for them. They were very good not going over board on spending. We were on RCI -- they actually came and asked us if they could buy a cone at Ben & Jerry's. Asked if they could get a tattoo, etc.

 

This was the first time we let them have charging priveleges on their card and they were very good about it (their 5th cruise).

[pink roses]

From my statement last Oct. 2 adults and 2 kids

$280 for tips

$69.02 for 2 kids coke cards

$271.71 for photos

$87.43 a few misc. gift shop items

 

We felt this was the very basics besides of course the photos.

[cali-croozer]

Are your boys old enough to have some $$ of their own (allowance, birthday $$ ,etc)? Maybe I'm a mean mom, but I have my boys bring their own $$$ for the arcade. There's so much to do on board, they've never spent much time in there, if at all.:) I do buy them a soda card and a t-shirt from the gift shop. If they want something on shore, they have their own $$ for that. They tend to spend a lot less if it's their own money.;)

 

As far as staying on a budget for pictures, the picture they take when you board is a must for me as I use it for the first picture of my scrapbook. I also like to buy at least one of the pictures when getting off the ship at each port (I make sure they don't separate our family; they like to take individuals or couples, but I know I would only buy it if my entire family is in it --- 4 of us). Finally, I buy one formal night picture (and 8X10 and some reprints---although some people scan and print reprints at home). I make sure we hit all of the picture stations the first night so we have a good chance of getting a picture where we all look ok. If successful, we don't take pictures on the 2nd formal night (kids appreciate that!) So, for me, less than $100 for pictures.

 

Drinks and casino are up to you and easy to budget if you just keep track. Also, you can turn off your kids charging priveleges if you want (upon check in, they'll ask you if you want the kids cards activated). Their tips will go on your account anyway and you can buy them a soda card with your sail and sign, if you want-----there are a lot of free beverages (juices, punch, lemonade) so if they don't drink a lot of soda, a soda card isn't worth it.

 

Happy cruising!

[JerseyHorseLover]

My niece has a Nintendo ds, so she isn't interested in the arcade, thank goodness. We are both Iced Tea and lemonade drinkers so that is free. I always bring a 12 pack of diet soda if we want a can of soda for a change. So, I don't spend much on extras........

[cruisinbuddy]

When my family of 5 were on the Disney Magic our room bill was @ $2000.00. 1/2 of that was the bar bill, and there was one excursion in there, we missed an Island so it would have been $300.00 more. The best thing to do is talk to them about "spending money", and they just can't buy anything they want. You didn't say how old the young'ins are so this part might not apply. I told my kids, 12,14,17, that they had to bring their own spending $$. Now before the flame throwers come out, I wasn't going to say no to a "proper" purchase, but they did use their $$ first so they're was a little more $$ respect. We ended up having a great time and don't regret the final tally of $16,500.00 + they're spending $$. Hell I could have bought a car.

[river_sand_bar2]

On the last cruise... our Final S&S card account was $180 including tips and excursions.... YUP!!! This is how I did it... when the wife was getting ready for dinner... which takes about 2 hours, I would go to the casino and gamble... I would win about $200 a day, thus on our way to dinner, I would stop by the pursers desk and pay cash from my winnings on the S&S card... it worked out perfectly!!!

[ruskatab]

On my Conquest cruise in April DH and I spent 700 on the sign and sail account, that was with the tips and we bought pictures and a few souvenirs and some drinks. We brought along 1200.00 and came home with 500 because I won 400 dollars in the casino the last night. I payed my credit card bill with it. If we hadnt smuggled the case of booze it would of been alot more...ha ha ...just kidding.

[MamaParrotHead]

For DH and I, our last S&S was about $700 (the good news is we prepaid aoubt $500 on our S&S ahead of time and had about $200 of price-drop OBC and only ended up owing $45, LOL).

 

That's with us spending however we wanted...a few gift shop purchases, foo-foo drinks, 2 soda cards and Carnival insulated cups, one 5 minute ship-to-shore phone call and LOTS of pictures. We also booked all private excursions, so add another $350 on to that for 3 excursions for 2 people).

 

I agree with (again, depending on how old your kids are) having them bring their birthday/Christmas/allowance/tooth fairy money for purchases you don't deem "necessary" (such as arcades, trinkets in port, etc.).

 

Good luck!