Damn Those Extra Charges!
Cruise Ships are all inclusive right?
Wrong, while cruise ships include a lot more than average
hotels and vacations, it’s a common misconception that once you’ve paid your
fare your all settled. Well this is just not the case, so allow me to educate
everyone on how much you really need to budget for your dream cruise vacation.
Pretty much every cruise ship includes with the fare: most
meals, free entertainment in the main theater and lounges and use of most all
facilities, including, the fitness center, kids drop off programs and more
depending on the cruise line. However most people never factor in port taxes,
which usually don’t’ show up on your initial charge, gratuities for all the
people that serve you, and any extras you might want such as dining in specialty
restaurants, shopping, shore excursions, spa treatments, gambling and
alcohol. I’m going to break down the
most popular extra expenses that could arise, and how much you should budget
for them if you’re interested in them.
Now before you go further know that you could simply pay your
fare, budget your gratuities and taxes, and that’s it, however your really
missing out on a lot of great products and services that are truly at good
prices, so the choices are up to you, but don’t’ say your weren’t warned in
advance.
No more last day bill shock!
Let’s start with the essentials.
Port Taxes – The cruise lines have to pay a fee for every
person they bring to every port of call, even if they don’t’ get off the ship. These
vary depending on your disembarkation port and which ports you visit on your
cruise and run anywhere between $30 – $150 per person, if your very budget
conscious, check before you book your cruise, usually on the cruise line
website it will factor in the port taxes before you make your final booking and
give you an honest idea of what the additional taxes will be. At the least just
be aware that when you see that banner ad that says 3 night cruise $199, what
they are really saying is $199 plus tax that could be anywhere between $30 -
$150 per person.
Average Total - $75 per person
Gratuities - why am I paying these in the first place? Well
there’s no real answer other than that’s’ just the way it is. Cruise lines
traditionally pay their service staff a very low salary and the rest is earned
on gratuities. Gratuities are traditionally recommended between $12 and $15 per
person, per day, depending on the cruise line, most will tell you to allocate x
amount for your waiter, x amount for your room attendant, etc. However all
cruise lines offer pre-paid gratuities once your on-board. Pre-Paid gratuities are
basically the recommended tipping amount automatically applied to your on-board
account. Norwegian Cruise Line has freestyle cruising and since you eat with
different waiters each night it automatically applies the gratuities in the
form of a service charge to each person and then divvies the charges up to each
position that is included in service charge as part of their compensation. Now
with all cruise lines even Norwegian you have the option to not tip at all or
remove the service charge, however, remember that the employees that you feel
may not deserve your gratuities, work 70 hours a week, for usually 8 months at
a time and are away from their families and usually are supporting them with
this profession. My advice is to take the automatic gratuity and or service
charge, factor it in the cost before the cruise then forget about it, your
service personnel will be happy with the recommended amount and if you feel
anyone has shone brightly above the rest, tip them extra, at your own accord.
Average Total – For a 7-day cruise $84 per person
So no matter what, plan on budgeting an extra $150 - $200
per person minimum for the cruise. You can stop here, but I recommend you
continue reading, as I give you an honest break down of the “extras”.
At your discretion:
Alcohol - while a few lines offer packages, it’s generally
not included, except for elite high-end luxury liners, and believe me you’ve
already paid for it in advance, so drink up. Alcohol is obviously totally up to
you; however there is no denying that it is part of the cruise experience for
many cruisers. Hey, people want to get away and have a drink, I’m all for it.
Depending on where you are from your perception on the cost of alcohol on a
cruise ship will differ. If you’re from a big city, you’ll think its dirt
cheap, if you’re from a small town, you’ll think its sky high. On average Beer is
usually $4 - $6, and liquor drinks are $5 - $9 depending on what you’re
drinking. Want to save, drink domestic beers, well liquor drinks and avoid the souvenir
cup! If you’re a modest drinker, you plan on drinking 5 nights of your seven
night cruise, and you’ll have 2-3 drinks per night, you should budget anywhere
between $75 - $100 per adult. Now if you’re a party animal, just prepare a much
larger budget, but I bet you already have.
Average Total – for a 7 day cruse $85
Specialty Restaurants – Nearly every cruise ship you go on
now a days has at least one specialty restaurant. You could easily avoid it,
and eat in the main dining room every night; however, these restaurants are
usually a cut above and in my opinion well worth the cover charge. Most of the restaurants
provide excellent service and cuisine and offer you a high end dining
experience that would cost you usually 3 to 5 times that amount on land. For
the planners you can usually research what your choices are and the cost on the
company website in advance.
Average Total - $20 - $75 per person, depending on how many
times you go and your potential choices.
Gambling – Nearly every cruise ship has a casino, of course
minus Disney Cruise Lines, and Pride of America, the only American Flagged
ship, where it’s not allowed. Gambling is totally at your discretion; however
remember there are other ways to gamble, such as the ever and still present
Bingo, and cruise lines are creating new ways, such as Norwegian Cruise Lines
new partnership with Deal or No Deal. So even the non-gamer might want to
budget a little discretionary money for gambling. I recommend anywhere between
$50 - $150 per person for the cruise, it can be pretty fun, again this is
totally up to you.
Shopping – Weather onboard or ashore, nearly 99% of the
time, it’s tax and duty free, which means great savings. Shopping is totally up
to you, but be prepared that the deals are great and the prices are low, so
this may just get you by surprise. I recommend for the causal shopper, to
budget anywhere between $50 - $100 on some souvenirs and fun deals that may
present themselves. Now if you are going to the Caribbean or Alaska, be aware
the amazing prices on jewelry, watches and more in the ports of call. With
those tax and duty free prices you may want to take advantage, the deals really
are that good. So take a moment to think this over for yourself and or discuss
with your partner in advance if it might be time to make a big purchase and
then budget that in as well.
Going Ashore – For most the destinations are half of the
reason to take the cruise, so you don’t’ want to just walk off the ship, go to
the souvenir store and walk back. Get out there and enjoy these destinations,
my recommendation is to take advantage of your ability to book in advance.
Every cruise line sells their excursions on-line in advance of the cruise, so
this is an easy thing to budget in before the cruise. Yes, the cruise
excursions are more expensive than going it alone, however remember you’re
getting cruise line service and guarantees with that price. If you go it alone,
you risk it alone too, if something goes wrong they’re will be no one to talk
to about it when you come back on-board. So that’s entirely up to you, but I recommend
you budget at least $50 - $100 per person per stop, for whatever adventure you
might want to take part in. Of course if your going to Europe, Alaska, Hawaii
or any other major destination cruise you may want to budget even more,
possibly $200 - $400 per person per stop, if you really want to see and do it
all.
Spa Treatments – This is obviously a totally luxury and add
on, but all cruise ships have spas and once your there, you may be enticed to
indulge; hey, it is a great way to relax and feel pampered and you do deserve
it, right. Just know that if you choose to go your not getting out of there for
less than $50 - $200 depending on what treatment you choose. If you think
you’ll be tempted more than once, better earmark your budget accordingly. For
the Spa fanatics a few newer cruise ships on Norwegian and Celebrity have Spa
Suites that come with great perks and exclusive spa access. This might be worth
it if you’re planning on making a partial spa week out of your cruise.
Now your probably doing the math in your head right now and
freaking out, however remember cruises are still great values for what you get,
and as you know, most of these are add on's to enhance your vacation. So the
choice is totally up to you, but just be prepared that these choices and
charges will come up.
So what are you waiting on, get an honest budget together
and find the cruise that right for you.
Till next time,
Andy Steinhauser
