How much cash to take???

[emt9898]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

[cuyahoga11]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

 

I take no more than that. Everything goes on my card except tips for room service, cabs,tour tips and a little shopping in port.

[dtsquared]

Well it depends on what you're going to do. We budget $100/day for pictures, food off the ship, souveniers, taxi's, tips and misc. Usually we put our excursions, soda card and the spa on a credit card. Now the casino is a different story. That's a seperate budget...LOL!!

 

Have a great time!!!

[Rockee4055]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

 

We usually take $1000 with us. This gets used for tipping (othern than cruise) gifts on the island, etc. Of course some of that is definatelt budgeted for the good ole' casino

[mcfam5]

:) We take about $1600 ($1000 of which is in travelers checks) for a 7 day cruise. The last night of the cruise we go to the Purser's Desk and pay our S&S cards off so it doesn't wind up on our credit cards.

 

One thing we have learned ~ we pretty much spend EVERY penny we take on ANY vacation. If we take less, we spend less.

 

Have a great trip!

[jessemon]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

I take $100 dollars per port. When I was married I took $150 per port. Everything else goes on the ships S&S card on board....;)

[bakechef]

I don't buy gifts for people anymore on my vacations, unless I see the perfect thing that I can give for a birthday or christmas. I also don't buy souvenirs, t-shirts etc (t-shirts look bad on me). I always end up spending very little in ports, just tips and an occasional drink. I think that I took $200 in cash on my last cruise(didn't gamble), and put everything else on my credit card, and make one big payment when I got home.

 

MAC

[Guppie45]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

 

We are leaving Saturday for a eight day cruise. We are taking $2000.00 with us. We are not big drinkers.

[zqvol]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

 

This is really a hard question to answer. You have indicated that you are going to use a credit card on board so I am taking that out of the equation.

 

The only time you will need cash on the ship will be for any gratuities over and above what you put on your S&S card and the casino. The gratuities are usually less than $50 (if you want to leave your waiters or stewards extra tips you can add those to the auto tips at the purser's desk).

 

On shore the smart way to purchase large items is with a credit card to create a layer of protection. Yes there are exchange rate issues that you might want to avoid, but if that is the case figure them in.

 

Usually $100 - $150 per port is enough cash to cover snack, soft drinks, cabs and gratuities.

 

I think to be safe I would take about $750, but you should be OK with $500 if you stay out of the casino.

[zqvol]

We are leaving Saturday for a eight day cruise. We are taking $2000.00 with us. We are not big drinkers.

 

That is a huge amount of cash, unless you are not doing what the OP is doing and using a CC for shipboard expenses, or unless you are planning on spending a fortune in the casino.

[Safetyal]

I think it depends on what you plan on doing. You need a general plan on how you are going to spend time in the ports. If you are doing excursions booked independently or spending the day in town etc, you need to add that to your equation.

[bonnys]

You will need cash for room service tips, porter tips and any taxi's you may take while in port. Other than that it really depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend. For our upcoming cruise we have set a budget and will plan our activities accordingly. If I can't pay it off in full when I get the credit card bill I do not spend it.

[Marie51]

I take $500 for a 7 day cruise. I leave all ship charges on my credit card. You will need to figure out how much you will spend in each port on shore trips, food, souveniers, etc. The one thing I would advise is to bring lots of $1 bills for tipping baggage handlers, porters, room service, cab drivers.

[Wennfred]

What you guys failed to understand is that this is the OP First Cruise. Everyone spend over their limit big time on their first cruise. I would bump the cash up to 1000.00 for starters.

 

It took me 15 cruises to get the cash under 500.00

 

 

 

Fred

[Cathy p]

We can't seem to get our bill under $1,000 for a 7 day cruise. We buy junk, tee shirts, pina coladas and beer. Yep our bar bill is several pages long. It is a good thing that we don't drink like that at home. Whew! I really think we have brought more than $500 in cash and about $1200 in Travelers checks to pay off the S & S.

Enjoy the cruise. Nothing quite like the first one!!!:D

[PapaBear67]

If you book your own excursions or rent cars, that will add up fast. I'm doing the math on my cruise, and for 7 days, I don't see us taking less than $1,000 (and that includes 1 excursion paid by credit card). We're including tips at the airport, the port, cab rides/shuttle from port to airport...

 

Also, make sure you bring lots of small bills - we've seen posts on this board of people who paid for rental cars with cash (after their debit card was "denied"), but didn't go with exact change. "Amazingly", the car rental place couldn't make change for a twenty, so they were in a bit of a pickle.

 

FYI - If you do plan on paying for anything with a credit or debit card in a foreign country, alert your bank so your card doesn't get denied - otherwise, you'll need more cash than you originally anticipated (it doesn't happen always, but some banks are really cautious about foreign transactions, and have been known to decline them).

[zillabe]

It's really hard to give someone else a figure to go by. Our first cruise we brought 1200 (just DH and I) and didn't spend it all. Second cruise we paid for our excursions in advance and had 1500 to spend. But this time we had to worry about food at the airport/hotel then we do quite a bit of drinking...and we couldn't pass up the massages and the other junk to buy. So we would put about 1200 on the sail and sign and then leave 300 for when we went into port. Needless to say we only came home with about 100 dollars. It's always stressful for me to try and figure out the money situation. We always bring a back up credit card just incase...

[hogtyde88]

I asked the same question before our first cruise...here is the reply.

 

"John - great question about how many small bills to bring. I don't know exactly (I usually bring as much as I've put aside) but probably something like 5 $10 bills, 10 $5 bills, 40-50 $1 bills.

 

Here are all the places you would use them:

- room service ($1 or $2 each time. This year we'll probably order coffee every morning)

- tips to the porters (be sure to tip when you drop off your bags at the port and then again leaving if you use a porter)

- taxis in the ports (just like home - they don't like to give change)

- tips to tour guides or bus drivers (somethings - depending on what they do)

- souvineer shopping at the small stands (and maybe everywhere in Roatan and Belize)

- extra tips to the waiters and room steward at the end of the trip (not necessary, but we usually do)"

[RSW]

If it is just DW and I we take between $750-$1000. If we are taking the family (5 of us) I take between $1000-$1250 depending on number of days and the potrs we are going to.

[zillabe]

Like everyone else said...make sure to bring small bills!!!

[*CruiseFan*]

:) We take about $1600 ($1000 of which is in travelers checks) for a 7 day cruise. The last night of the cruise we go to the Purser's Desk and pay our S&S cards off so it doesn't wind up on our credit cards.

 

One thing we have learned ~ we pretty much spend EVERY penny we take on ANY vacation. If we take less, we spend less.

 

Have a great trip!

 

That's how we are. $1000 in travelers checks and then roughly $600 cash between the two of us. All tips go on our cards, but shopping in port and tips for cabs, etc. is done via traveler's checks or cash :)

[dlbutler5]

We are taking about $500 for a 16 day cruise. We put everything on plastic and then pay that off when we get home. (earns lots of points) Many place don't like Travlers Checks either.

[mprucha]

I asked the same question before our first cruise...here is the reply.

 

"John - great question about how many small bills to bring. I don't know exactly (I usually bring as much as I've put aside) but probably something like 5 $10 bills, 10 $5 bills, 40-50 $1 bills.

 

Here are all the places you would use them:

- room service ($1 or $2 each time. This year we'll probably order coffee every morning)

- tips to the porters (be sure to tip when you drop off your bags at the port and then again leaving if you use a porter)

- taxis in the ports (just like home - they don't like to give change)

- tips to tour guides or bus drivers (somethings - depending on what they do)

- souvineer shopping at the small stands (and maybe everywhere in Roatan and Belize)

- extra tips to the waiters and room steward at the end of the trip (not necessary, but we usually do)"

 

Here are a few more things to add to possible needs for cash. LIke another person said, we dont' know the total plan the OP has for the trip.

 

1. tips for luggage at airports if you are flying

2. cash for the casino IF you want to do it that way and IF you plan to gamble

3. extra cash for food in ports unless you're planning on using a credit card for that too. If so, we usually make it a different card than the one attached to our s&s account onboard

4. the specialty coffee shop onboard you have to pay for.....it has starbucks type coffees and special pastries

 

Here is what we do. We usually have the money set aside in an account at home to pay off whatever we place on our s&s card while on the ship. We budget ourselves about $2500 for an 8 night cruise and that's much higher than we need really. We put everything on our credit card that's attached to our s&s card and we leave it on there until we get home so we get the rewards attached to our card. Then when I get home, we pay the whole credit card balance off with the money we had put aside.

 

Then, we take a separate credit card for things like food, drinks, souvenoirs we buy while in port. For us, this is a safety issue for our credit cards. This way, if we use the card in a port and someone in a shop or something got our card info it wouldn't affect our cruise account (this is never happened, just a precaution, we all know stealing credit card info anywhere these days is a concern).

 

We actually take about 300 in small bills broken down as $100 in 20's, $100 in 5's & 10's and the rest in ones. It sounds like alot but you do use ALOT of small tips throughout the cruise.

 

Just whatever you decide, watch your account while on the ship by using your tv personal folio to make sure the charges are correct as you go along AND more importantly, so you don't end up with culture shock when you see the final total you used on the s&s card. If you're intended to use ONLY cash for the s&s card then you need to decide what you're going to spend overall and then set aside your "extra" cash needs. They will notify you if you need to add more money as the cruise going along.

[djwood24]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

 

 

cash should only be small bills for tipping and ports of call

Everything else goes on the credit card

When trip is over pay off credit card as financing vacations gets you in trouble JMHO

[Theresa522]

We are taking our 1st cruise in July. I was wondering how much cash to take. I already have cash saved so as soon as we get home and can make 1 large payment to the credit card. But i was wondering if $500.00 would be enough cash for the 8 days. Anyone that has any info please let me know.

Thanks

 

 

We are taking $1500 cash for our cruise. We like to gamble and shop when at ports. Would hate not to have enough, so it is always better to take more.