Damn Those Extra Charges!

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