What do things cost on a cruise?

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rockbandingchick

ROOM SERVICE IS FREE!!!!! All the drinks (alchohol) you have to buy but the rest are free. All food is free. And if you wat to buy any souveneirs on the cruise, wait untill the last day because everything will go 50% off on the last day of the cruise. Have fun. Cruises are a blast. Just a warning, in the morning and night, room service takes soooo long but it is so much fun! hahaha. And the movies aren't that great, they only have like 3 options a day. You should definately go mini golfing on the wayy top deckk of the ship, it is so much funn. they also have basketball, swimming (huge slide), ping pong, clubs, dancing, gambling and more. Take a bathing suit!!!

TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

Regardless of which cruise line you select the things that are included are pretty much the same. The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service), free admissions to all shows and entertainment, and free use of all facilities on ship except spa services. The things that you will have to pay for are:

GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day; about $70 each for a 7 day cruise. When you check in at the pier they will set up an on-board charge account for you to cover any and everything you may buy on ship. They will issue you a "cruise card" which will also serve as your room key and pass to get on and off the ship. At the end of the cruise they will add the gratuity to your tab and you can pay with a credit card or cash, your choice. So everything on ship except the casino is cashless; everything you buy goes on your account.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided FREE but you must pay for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and they will add a 15 percent gratuity to each drink and soft drink order. Drinks of cruise ships are generally in the range of $7 to $9 including the 15 percent gratuity that is included in each tab. Beer and wine are slightly less, maybe $6 to $7.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise ship employees will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, like $15 to $25 for most. You can save yourself a lot of money by taking your own photos and asking other passengers to take photos of you; they generally always will.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and can get off and on in the ports as much as you want. But the cruise line will offer a lot of tours and these are expensive.

SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.

CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.

OTHER: Your cruise ship will likely have what they call "specialty" restaurants where there IS a gratuity/service charge of between $10 and $20. All other food on board is free and its not really necessary to budget for food; you cannot eat all of the FREE FOOD that will be available (so why pay to go eat).

SPA SERVICES: If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.

INTERNET SVCS: Ships now have internet cafe and some have WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (like about $50 an hour). Skip the high priced internet and ship and wait for port stops where you can usually find an internet cafe where the charges are about $5. to $7 an hour. Just ask the cabin steward and/or your wait staff where the internet is at the port. They know because they use them when they can get off the ship.

ROOM SERVICE/MINI-BAR: You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for anything you take out of the mini-bar. But the room service (24/7) is always free. However, you should tip the person who brings your order at least a couple dollars, more if you order a full meal for several people.

Julie T

/Room service is included but has a limited menu. However, you can't use a soda fountain card to order soda from room service. You pay by the can if you order a soda from room service.

On board entertainment except gaming (casino, bingo, arcade) is included.

Use a cash account if you want to manage to a budget while on a cruise. You put down a cash instead of a credit card for your on-board account. Notable...Carnival charges your account for the tips ($10 per day per guest) to your on-board account the moment you step on-board, so if you use a cash account, be sure to deposit enough cash to cover your tips ($70x2=$140 plus whatever your on-board spending budget is).

Carnival has a drink of the day special. Drinks run from about $4-12 each plus a 15% gratuity.

Sodas are $1.75 plus 15% gratuity per can or you can purchase the soda fountain card for $38.50 plus 15% gratuity for unlimited by the glass soda (Coke products).

Most of the Carnival ships now allow you to view your tab view the TV in your room. If the Pride does not offer this, you can drop by the purser's office and get a quick print-out.

You pay a premimum for booking shore excursions through Carnival but you get the insurance that if your excursion is running late, they will hold the ship for you. If you book on your own, your on your own while in port.

Be sure to take along a good supply of $1, 5 and 10 in US dollars to use in port for taxis, shopping and tips to the local guides.

You will get a newletter each day in your cabin describing the next day's events. There will be more going on the ship than you can do...don't try to overdo...pick the things you really like and stick to those.

We just returned from our 7th cruise and we spent many days just sitting in lounge chairs and enjoying the ride. Best vacation ever!

To help you budget...here are a few of the "extra costs"-
- Bar drinks - $4-12 each plus 15% gratuity
- Soda - by the can - $1.75 plus 15% gratuity
- Soda fountain card - $38.50 plus 15% gratuity
- Photos - $7.99 to $21.99 (depending on size and style)
- Shore excursions - $50-200 per person per excursion.
- Spa treatments - $50-200 per treatment (but there were many specials on this last trip as many people were skipping the spa...)
- Casino. Use cash in the casino to avoid 3% fee for using card.
- Bingo cards - $5-20...depending on day and games
- Goument coffee - $3.75 and up
- Internet - 75 cents per minute
- Ship to shore phone - $7.99 per minute
- Parking at the port
- Tips for luggage porters - $1 per bag
- Tips - $10 per day per guest

With the exception of tips and parking at the cruise terminal, all of the above is optional.

cossette_maria

Room service, food and drinks are free, except for the alcoholic drinks, they do costs a lot. There are also other services that you are going to pay, yoga, pilates sessions, if you are going to get one and also spa treatments..

emily_irish129

Rooms Service- free
Entertainment- free
Drinks- not free
All Food- free
Stuff in Shops- not free
I know this looks very plain and simple but its an easy way to explain it. I hope this helps!

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