While your cruise vacation is all inclusive (about 85% is covered in your cruise fare) for the most part, there are other activities to participate in off the ship, things to buy on the ship and just basic miscellaneous expenses that you’ll want to plan on…or not. You can indeed go on a cruise and spend absolutely nothing extra other than what you paid for your cruise fare except for tips for the crew. But if you want alcoholic beverages, gift shop items, spa treatments, group shore excursions or money to play a slot machine or gamble with, you’ll need to bring it along in some form or another.
For an adult who drinks booze moderately, will want to go on a shore excursion, gambles a little bit and wants to basically take advantage of some of the other premium services onboard I would budget $100 per day.
Heavy drinkers, Spa fanatics, heavy internet users, etc should budget more.
Those who do not drink, like to spend the day relaxing on deck or on a beach within walking distance of the pier when in port, don’t have a lot of need for refrigerator magnets (you are sick if you don’t- just my opinion as a magnaholic) those people could plan on $50 per day.
A common rule of thumb is “take twice as much money and half the clothes you planned on”
That can be very true and if money is of no concern to you then it is nothing more than a humorous saying.
But if you’re on a budget, there are a lot of areas you can worry about or come up short on without too much work. There are also a few key areas that have a dramatic effect on how much you spend. Control of these areas can make a big difference
The Casino is an obvious choice to watch no matter what your budget is. Savvy cruise ship gamblers have a system that is always a winner. Somehow they have a certain amount of money that they will gamble with every day. No matter what happens, that is the amount they will spend and that is it. Most use cash and a many put it in envelopes marked for each day they will gamble them store them securely in the cabin safe.Others have can just stop when they reach their limit.
You don’t have to avoid the casino, just budget for it. A lot of entertainment can be had on penny-slots for about the average price of a drink.
Alcoholic beverages too be big budget busters. But here too there are ways to save and stretch your money.
Go to all the art auctions featuing free champagne. Besides the complementary bubby you’ll very quickly find a wealth of knowledge and art information in the gallery staff that hold the auctions. If you go into it in the right (pardon the pun) “frame” of mind it can be quite entertaining
Don’t miss formal night. Still popular is the Captains Cocktail Party before formal night which all guests are invited to. I understand the current trend away from dressing up on a cruise but I still feel that you’re throwing away the best of what the ship has to offer and a real expeerience of a lifetime..plus that cocktail party is not called a “cocktail” party for nothing- the drinks are on the house
Past Guest Parties are a similar free cocktail party honoring past guests sailing with the cruise line again. Don’t miss that one either.
Wine/Liquor tastings- watch your ship’s daily newspaper for wine and/or liquor tastings, most commonly flavored rums. Like with the art auction, you can lean and experience something you had not known about before your cruise. That is a big part of the whole cruise thing.
Bring some wine with you. Check with your specific cruise line but most will let you bring along some “fine wine” to celebrate with in your cabin. Bring it to the dining room and they charge a crazy “corkage fee” which is often more than the price of a bottle of wine.
Notice I didn’t even touch on the topic of smuggling your own booze on the ship and how you are better off bringing it in your checked luggage, carefully concealed because the cruise lines DO check these things and if you’re bringing it in your carry-on luggage you might as well just hand it to the security people because they will often find it.
