How Much Cash Is Necessary for a Cruise?

I have never been on a cruise but my parents did. Tips! and a lot of them. Every meal you tip, everything you tip. I believe it adds up to quite a bit.

cruisecritic.com

The articles and bulletin boards on this website helped me immensely in preparing for our cruise. Lots of advice on ways to save money or avoid unnecessary charges. Also there are reviews for some of the excursions that may help you choose which are best for your family. Have a great trip!

how many days is the cruise and did you prepay your tips when you booked? i'll get back and answer more after you answer that :)

Each excursion is a different price, depending on what it is. The cruise line should send you information on the different excursions available so you can make reservations a head of time. I really suggest doing that. If you wait to book on the ship, you will stand in a very long line and you might not be able to do what you want because it may be full.

As for tips, some cruise lines automatically add in the gratuity. You can give more if you want, but there is a set fee that is automatically charged. Some cruise lines leave it completely up to the guest what to tip. They make suggestions, but the guest makes the decision what to tip. Ask your cruise line for their policy.

So really you need to decide what excursions you want to take and have sufficient funds set aside for that. The cruise lines prefer credit cards. Other than that, you'll only need money for souvenirs. I can't think of anything else we spent money on.

On each of our cruises (one 10-day; one 7-day) we spent about $750. That was for my hubby and myself only - no kids.

Depending on what cruise line you are using they may offer a drink pass. Norwegian offers one that covers all sodas and stuff like that for the entire cruise so i suggest buying one for each person in the family. Really should go online and book shore excursions before the cruise as they fill up quickly and you can pay for them in advance on most cruises which will limit what money u need to bring on the ship. My ex husband and i only brought $100 cash each on our 7 day cruise and when on the ship charged everything to our room (just making sure to keep track of our spending, you can get a printout from the desk of your charges at any time).

Yes for curbside porters.

Zero on the boat. All transactions will be through your sail card. I highly suggest prepay the tip before you get on the boat. Unless you designate a cc for added expenses (classes, alcohol, casino chips) which will be charged at the end of the trip, you'll be expected to pay your bill by 7am the day of disembarkation. If you put your kids in childcare at night, they may charge extra but again, it'll go on your sail card.

As for excursions, you'll want enough cash for transporation ($10 per ride), meals (plan to pay double for a meal what you'd pay here in the states) and souvenirs, unless you are going with the cruise group who will provide their own transportation and all inclusive meals.

Have fun! Eat well!

Its hard to advise a dollar amount because everyone is different. However, most of it is charged to your room and then the bill is slipped under your door on your last night. My ex and I went on a cruise with another couple. She called me first thing in the morning after a crazy night of gambling and drinking (her, not me lol). Her room bill was about 4k!!! I think ours was 1k or less. She was freaking out, rightly so! Anyway, try to keep track as you go if you are putting things on credit for your room. Good luck!

Actual cash? Not much. Any excursions you book through the cruise can be handled by credit card or put on your bill. Anything you buy on the cruise is typically billed to your account. You pay at the end. WARNING: this can really add up. We had another $1000 at the end (two adults, four teens, one baby). You might want cash for when you are off the boat, but I'd just bring what you think you'll need for meals and souvenirs and transportation.

You can go online to carnival and register your cruise a week before. Everything will be processed on a credit or debit card of your choice. There are never cash exchanges on the ship. They give you a ship card that you will use for everything! Even in the ship shops. They also have kiosks around the boat where you can swipe your card to check your spending.
As far as excursions, you can buy them beforehand, online and read customer reviews before you purchase one. If you do it early, it guarantees you a spot on the excursion you want, in case it fills up. If you do not buy them beforehand, the cost will just go on your ship card.
But anyways, the only thing you will need cash for would be when you are off the ship.
$500 maybe, just to be safe, but I'll bet we didn't even spend $100 while we were off the ship. But we did only port 2 places, and I didn't have time to shop like I wanted. ;)

P.s. water, lemonade, tea, and coffee were free on our boat!

On cruises you typically charge everything to your room and they reserve it with a credit card. You can pay your bill in cash at the end of the week if you want to, but if you were prefer to wait until you get home to pay off your credit card, than you don't need that much cash. I spent about $50 on tips on the cruise ship itself, and about another $150 at ports in actual cash. I was single, so I don't know how much with kids. Personally, I'd rather not travel with that much cash, so I paid my credit card bill when I got home. I wrote a check the day I got home to my credit card company. Since I was single and with a lot of friends, and 23, I spent a lot on drinks. So between drinks, shopping, excursions, and gambling, I spent around $700 on my room key. Check the ships website, I think they usually give prices of excursions in advance so you know what you will need to have.

If the kids will just drink juice, there is no extra charge BUT, if they want soda you have to buy the soda package which is around $50 per person, depending on what ship. Alcoholic drinks are extra. Tips are for the head of dining, his assistant, your waiter, his assistant, person who cleans your room. Sometimes the price of all these is stipulated and you have to pay, others are up to you, but you are expected to pay all these people tips. You get a card onboard ship that pays for whatever you buy on ship, this comes right off your credit card. Be sure you bring some snacks along as all this costs extra on ship. There usually is free ice cream, but no chips or candy. All the excursions need to be paid for separately. Usually you can check prices ahead. Be aware---sometimes just taking a taxi by yourself to some of these destinations is cheaper than taking the excursion. Such as in the Bahamas--going over to Atlantis is cheaper by taxi.
Grandma N. in Md.

Every day that you are in port they will offer different excursions to choose from. I usually look at all of the excursion offers and choose 2-3 that I really want to do. They are anywhere from $100-$300 depending on what you are doing, equipment required, etc. At the other ports of call I would just go ashore and walk around, shop, etc. For me, I generally did that at the safer stops. Some of the islands are not the safest (like St. Thomas) so I would do excursions with a group there. On days when you are at sea (usually 1 or 2 for a 7 day cruise) you won't have that added expense. That said, you will be on board and will possibly want to go to the casino. That will cost you. I've been on multiple cruises and I can tell you, alcohol is the single most expensive thing! People cut loose - mentally and then the wallet follows. Since you don't have that expense, you really won't have that much more to pay for outside of souveniers and excursions. You also need to have a little cash for silly things like hair braiding and, sadly, people begging when you go ashore (you think you won't give in but those little kids can really tug at your heart strings). I would avoid eating at your ports of call. I always had a big breakfast then went ashore and got a snack late in the day when I got back on board the ship. It always struck me as funny that people would get off of the ship and then go eat at a touristy restaurant. Waste of money and time in my opinion but to each their own. One other thing, photographers follow you around on the ship and take (sometimes mandatory) photos then hit you up to buy those. They are expensive but might be worth the splurge for a nice family photo. I would do as follows: family of 5 - 2 excursions each - average to $200 = $2000 + $500 for misc. (souveniers, photos, casino, cabs to/from airport, etc.) + cost of the drink wrist bands for the kids (although I would probably make them drink the free water, tea or lemonade but I'm a cheapskate!). I'd probably shoot to prepay those wrist bands (if possible) and put away $3000. Then if your parents cover part or you overshoot, you'll have extra $ when you get home and no debt from the trip! Have fun.

I forgot to talk about tipping - most cruise lines are going to set amounts b/c people were not tipping the staff. You have to tip everyone and their mother - waiter, bus boy(s), host, room steward, porters and then you have cabbies to/from airport and sometimes onshore as well. Get the cruise lines policy and "expected" or mandatory amounts and account for that total. Also, you can check and pay on your room tab at any time @ the concierge desk. That's always helpful if you have kids that might get loose with their sail cards (or you can not allow them to make charges and avoid that) and you can keep track so you know what to expect.

Rachel:

I would call the cruise line that you are signed up for and ask about the excursions and their cots. I've not been on a cruise. We will one day - but I've not personally been. My best friend has been on several. I will send her a message and ask her - this is Disney, yes? If not - let me know which one - she's done at least 4 that I know of not just Disney...

HAVE A BLAST!!!!