What hidden charges can I expect to pay on a cruise?

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TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

When you pay your cruise fare all taxes and port charges are included in that fare. Once you get on the ship everything is cashless. Regardless of the cruise line 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 like the pools, hot tubs, gym, and recreation activities, except spa services. The things that you will have to pay for are:

GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 to $11.50 per person in your cabin per day, depending upon the cruise line. 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 alcoholic 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. The cruise line does sell a soft drink card that allow you unlimited soft drinks for the duration of your cruise. These you must buy the first day of the cruise and they generally cost about $6.00 a day for adults; $4.00 a day for kids. The cost of the soft drink card also goes on your on-board tab.

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 and the cost of them goes on your on-board tab. 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 you 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 NOT included and 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: All ships 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. Spa fees start at about $70 to $80 and they go on your on-board tab if you use the spa services. 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). I always recommend that you skip the high priced internet on 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.

My favorite cruise line is Royal Caribbean; have been on about 8 cruises with them. They have great ships, food, service, and they go just about anywhere you could want to cruise to. My favorite cruise destinations are the Western Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

Jimmy B

1. Tips for your room attendant, waiter etc. Any alcoholic beverages. All off ship excursions. Most charge for soft drinks. Any money you use in the casino. All food, entertainment and anything else should be included.
2. Eastern Caribbean.
3. Royal Caribbean.

Julie T

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
- Gourmet 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

Most of the items above are optional...also not included in your fare...tips, usually $10 per day per guest

We love all areas of the Caribbean

We sail Carnival...it is budget and teen/tween friendly!

Kevin L

Hidden charge? By that do you mean charges you were not informed about. If you read what you are given, there are no hidden charges.

They let you know about charges for:

Gratuities, Shore Excursions, drinks, spa/salon treatments, casino, shops on board, specialty restaurants, bingo, photo shop, art auction, pay per view movies, child care, etc...

There is nothing where they come to you and go surprise you have to pay us money for this now.

So it's not so much a hidden charge as it is a laziness on your part for not seeing what extra charges might be incurred once onboard.

Europe

RCCL

mischa

My favorite cruise was when my husband and I went up the Mississippi in a paddle river boat, it was a blast. We left from New Orleans. It was very unique, and there was something to look at the whole time. We left the boat everyday and went to explore the cities, and we took tours to antebellum homes, it was really cool. We went on the Mississippi Queen. This was my favorite cruise line and cruise. I would recommend it to anyone.

Hidden fees- alcohol, tours, and the tips that you pay- cabin maid, cabin attendants, waiters, head waiter- these they expect on the last day of the cruise, and of course the bartenders every time you get a drink and each tour guide and bus drivers. By the time we paid the tips to everyone, I figure it was close to $200.

The Club Soda Diet

Most cruises are pretty upfront about all the fees, even tips are usually included in the bill. The only things that are usually extra are alcohol, gambling, and shore excursions. I've only been on one cruise, and I didn't spend any extra money on those things. It was a little LA-San Diego-Ensenada cruise. It wasn't great, but it was pretty cheap. I would go on an Alaskan cruise, if you can afford it. Everyone I know that did the Alaskan cruise just loved it.

Lew

Unless you have prepaid your gratuities, you will have approx $10 per day, per person, added to you on board account
You also pay for Speciality Restaurants, Shore excursions, photographs, anything you have at the bar, whatever you purchase at the on board shops, and any laundry you have done on board.
Everything except food at the normal restaurants, entertainment and your stateroom are included in your ticket price.

Favourite cruise destination is the Mediterranean. We have sailed from Palma many times but the best cruise started with an overnight on board in Venice, then along the Grand Canal to the sea the next morning. Unbeatable.

Princess Cruise Line although Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and NCL are close.

Jojo

1. room service, tips on some cruise lines, alcoholic beverages, casino
2. Mexico
3. Carnival

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