Total cost - question

[bizzylady]

Hi - Can someone tell me, if I found a cruise at a special price and the total with gov't fees & taxes says - $539.46.... then how much more can I expect my REAL total to be? First let me say, that we will only be doing one excursion, and probably no alcohol, (may bring our own). And no bingo, maybe a little gambling, but no more than $50, and definitely a soft drink card (I heard they are worth it, and I drink diet coke a lot!). And what about tips? Can someone let me know a fair guess to what my ACTUAL TOTAL would be? I need to present this to hubby to see if we can really afford to go, and I don't want to tell him $539.46, if it will be $1,000 in the end! Also, HOW do you know which room area(back/front/middle) to choose and which deck? I just know I want an ocean view room. any help appreciated.

[royd1968]

Hi - Can someone tell me, if I found a cruise at a special price and the total with gov't fees & taxes says - $539.46.... then how much more can I expect my REAL total to be? First let me say, that we will only be doing one excursion, and probably no alcohol, (may bring our own). And no bingo, maybe a little gambling, but no more than $50, and definitely a soft drink card (I heard they are worth it, and I drink diet coke a lot!). And what about tips? Can someone let me know a fair guess to what my ACTUAL TOTAL would be? I need to present this to hubby to see if we can really afford to go, and I don't want to tell him $539.46, if it will be $1,000 in the end! Also, HOW do you know which room area(back/front/middle) to choose and which deck? I just know I want an ocean view room. any help appreciated.

 

that price has to be per person for an ocean view....so hubby is gonna be real shocked to hear that your cruise is now well over $1000.00....but after that price, and your auto tips, what you spend is your call...so it will be very easy to budget for it....I personally just use a rough number of $1500.00, but I always have money left over...keep in mind though...I drink alot, and play bingo every session I can.....

[bizzylady]

Actually, no, that price is for two people. I got an email from Carnival about a 72-hr. sale, and I put two people, and clicked ocean view, and that is the price. Must be a good sale. sooo... any more help on the total, with what I mentioned in my original post? And can someone explain about the tips? I heard they automatically take tips or something? How much (approx) does that run for a 4-day cruise? and does anyone have tips on the choosing of the room?

[royd1968]

Actually, no, that price is for two people. I got an email from Carnival about a 72-hr. sale, and I put two people, and clicked ocean view, and that is the price. Must be a good sale. sooo... any more help on the total, with what I mentioned in my original post? And can someone explain about the tips? I heard they automatically take tips or something? How much (approx) does that run for a 4-day cruise? and does anyone have tips on the choosing of the room?

 

 

ok, you didnt mention it was a 4 day cruise in your first post, that would have been useful info...tips are $10 per person per day... so it will be $80 for two of you....picking a room is different for every person...are you prone to motion sickness, do you hate or prefer to walk long distances? some prefer the extra hike to burn off some calories....I just wanna be pretty much at a central point to my favorite spots on the ship....there are several other factors, and everyones opinion will differ from yours....

[bizzylady]

Thanks so much for the reply. and Sorry that I left out the 4-day cruise info. Which areas of the ship should I avoid IF I am prone to motion sickness, which I probably will be? Other than that, I have heard that in some rooms you can hear a LOT of noise. I wouldn't like that. And what about the decks? does it matter which one? thanks

[BigDogCruiser]

Tips work two ways:

 

1) Prepaid when you book your cruise. $10 per day per person = $80

 

2) Charged to your Sign and Sail account upon boarding. $10 per day per person = $80.

 

If you opt to have the $80 put on your Sign and Sail account then you can adujst the amount up or down depending on the service received...but I would not recommend it as that accounts for 90-95% of the salary received by those that are tipped (romm steward, dining room servers).

 

If you pre pay the tips then you can add additional tip if warranted by the service received by placing aditional money in an envelope that will be provided during the cruise.

 

As far as budgeting, I use a 2x the cost of the cruise for a total estimate rule of thumb. It has worked out fairly well for me. However, this is all based on what you spend money on during the cruise (drinks, bingo, shopping, pictures, excursions, etc.) Many have been able to cruise and walk off the ship with a charge of $0 on their Sign and Sail Account.

[time4u2go]

Thanks so much for the reply. and Sorry that I left out the 4-day cruise info. Which areas of the ship should I avoid IF I am prone to motion sickness, which I probably will be? Other than that, I have heard that in some rooms you can hear a LOT of noise. I wouldn't like that. And what about the decks? does it matter which one? thanks

In general, the lower down and closer to the center of the ship you are, the less motion you will experience.

[bizzylady]

Thanks to all you nice people, for the wonderful info!

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

As for location, I always pick a deck that is between other cabins decks so there is a cabin above and below you to avoid any excess noise from clubs, bars etc. Above a dining room is okay but pay close attention to what is above & below you. Other than that, I don't care where. I don't get seasick so I care more about noise levels. Midship costs extra but if you are prone to seasickness, they are worth every penny more. I like being nearby the place I will hang the most.

 

As for money, you will pay extra for any pictures you want to buy from the photography onboard - pictures are always awesome and surely you will want some. Budget for it & you'll be fine. I've paid anywhere from $20 to $90 total for pictures. Tips you already read will be $80. I always bring a little cash to tip extra to those that do exceptional service like my room steward or dining room staff or my bar waiter/waitress in the karaoke lounge that always keeps my drinks coming. Add your excursion in it & any additional costs that might come with that such as lunch in port or souveniers etc. Alcohol is always my biggest expense onboard & since you don't drink, it will be pretty easy to keep track of your spending. You can check your sail & sign account daily to see what your total onboard account it and cut back as necessary. Based on what you said, I would guess your total extra money would be $200 plus excursion (since excursion prices range from $25/pp to $200+.) Add to that pictures, souveniers etc. My s&s account on y 3 day cruise was about $450 but me & dh drank at the karaoke bar every night and had no excursions.

[Megnolia]

As others have said, your tips will be $80 for two, your soda card for a 4 day will probably be around $24 each (sorry, only sailed 7-days, so trying to estimate). Excursion could be $50 - $100 pp give or take, depending what you want to do. If you budget very strictly you can do it for an additional $300 or so for the things you want to include. If you decide to cut back even more, you'd only have the tips to pay.

 

I think your price sounds good, and if you don't have a big trip to get to the pier, then you've got a lovely, affordable little vacation planned!

[rednose83]

Our extra total is usually about 1 persons fare or 1/2 what we spent to get on the ship. In your case, $300 (we round up!)

[firefly333]

You can save by doing beachs by taxi in the ports, rather than carnival excursions. We never know with my sister's health if we can plan, so we do a lot of last minute planning and shopping or I go to the internet cafe for a hour and play around.

[Star1]

How will you get to the port? Fly? Drive? Park the car for 4 days? Hotel needed? Also remember to tip the porters($1 or $2 per bag) Tipping after the excursion. Someone to watch the house needed?

My extras:

Car parked at airport

shuttle driver tips

Plane ride

Taxi to port plus tip

Porter at port for putting bags on ship

Cruise

Tip on cruise

Excursion plus tips

Food, drinks or gifts we buy in port

Taxi to hotel after cruise

Tip to taxi driver

Hotel cost

Money to enjoy city for one night

Taxi to airpot

Tip for taxi

Porter at airport(if needed)

Food because we stayed another day at port(3 meals)

Tipping shuttle guy for ride back to my car

House sitter-I have two dogs

 

Extra on ship: This can be from $0 to lots of money.

I do not play bingo, or use the casino,buy drinks or soda cards or buy gifts on the ship. My S & S bill is for the tips if I do not prepay.

I do get a balcony room, bring my own vodka.

I even prebuy gifts for my loved ones. A few gifts for them makes them smile so much. We also bring a card game and a book to read.

 

The cruise does not cost much -it is all the extras that add up.

Now I just have to move closer to a cruise port.

Am I missing anything that I forgot as far as expensives?

 

We cruise often, have a wonderful time with each other and relax.

Enjoy and save now for your next cruise.

[bizzylady]

Wow, again, thanks for all the great replies!! Everyone here is so nice and helpful, and I appreciate it!! Someone said "since you don't drink"... well we DO drink, but not too much, and I plan to bring vodka, if possible (should I put it in a different bottle?) do they check? And to the person who asked about hotel, taxis, etc... I live right outside of New Orleans, so I will be getting a ride with family straight to the ship. No taxi, no hotel, no money spent in N.O. necessary. I can go to N.O. anytime. lol. But I have a lot of answers now and can go present all of this to hubby (he wanted a total cost), and we will discuss, and hopefully be going sometime soon! Thanks again, everyone! Whenever I do go, I will come back and post about my experience!!

[Earthworm Jim]

As far as budgeting, I use a 2x the cost of the cruise for a total estimate rule of thumb. It has worked out fairly well for me.

 

For me that would be excessively huge, unless I had a really cheap cabin. Or if you are including airfare in that price. I don't think my wife and I have ever even been close to $500 for our sign and sail bill for two people, though if you include what we spent in ports it's probably been up in that range.

 

As BigDogCruiser says, everyone is different on how much they spend. But, if you are not big drinkers or gamblers, and you are only doing one moderately priced shore excursion, for me $300-ish wouldn't be an unreasonable estimate. My wife and I usually only spend a little bit more than that on our sign and sail card for a 7 day cruise, so $300 might actually be high in my case.

 

The only other big ticket items I can think of is if you are big shoppers or use the spa services. If you are buying a lot of jewelry and art onboard, who knows what you could end up spending? But $300 or so would probably be enough for tips, a couple of drinks a day, an 8x10 picture, a few inexpensive souveniers, $50 gambling, and a cheaper shore excusion. Adjust that number accordingly based on whether you think you'll do compared to what I said.

 

Of course, that's just your on the ship expenditures. You might be spending a fair amount, or even a large amount, off the ship at your ports of call too. Or not. You might decide to spend nothing in the ports at all.