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Unexpected Cruise Costs

Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

There really is no such thing as an "all-inclusive vacation", because no one could include everything. However, some vacations claim to have everything, and then sneak some charges in the package. Cruise vacations are one of them. Cruises are great family getaways and a chance to see multiple countries in one trip, but while your trip is paid for before you leave, you'll be paying much more by the end of it. Know what to expect so the end of your trip is as pleasant as the beginning.

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What's Not Included

Cruises do include many things in their total package price, including all meals and snacks. What they don't include are drinks. Whether you like to visit the bar or your kids just want a soda, you'll be paying top dollar for both. A kid's soda card which allows unlimited sodas or juices will cost $5 a day; an adult card is more like $7.50. Without paying extra, you'll be limited to water, coffee, and a lemonade/fruit punch option all week.

While the advertised cruise states that tipping is not allowed, don't misunderstand. You will be tipping all of your service staff, but it won't be done throughout the week. You'll be billed a per day service gratuity for each passenger on the cruise, and that bill will come at the end of the trip. The average is $10 per day.

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This fee applies to children as well, requiring children to give a full tip the dining room staff who may or may not have served them depending on their age. At a time, the cruise lines allowed guests to alter these amounts, but the trend is turning towards a flat fee applied to the account with little say from the traveler.

Whether it's the ride from the hotel to the ship, the airport to the ship, or from the ship to shopping in ports of call, you're on your own when it comes to transportation. While in port, you most likely will book an excursion which takes you sightseeing and shopping, but some leave you in town to shop and ask that you pay your own way back to the ship. Take some extra money for cab fares on islands as well as at the airport. Your best bet is to work with a hotel that offers transfers to and from the boat and/or airport; their rates are usually much less if at all.

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Required Options

You're not obligated to do anything while cruising. You can sit in your room for eight days if you like. However, most people like to get up and move around the ship. Entertainment is free and fabulous, but there are some things that will cost you extra, all being billed to your account due at the end of the trip.

If you're looking to do anything more than walk off the boat and cross the dock to visit a few shops, you'll have to purchase excursions. Some come in under $30, but most sit around $65-$150. They're once in a lifetime opportunities, and the cruise lines guarantee them to be what they advertise. However, if you want everything paid before you go, budget another $500 for excursions for the entire family and pre-book them online.

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On board shopping is hard to resist. You walk past the same shops day after day, and they advertise specials in ways that even a hard core budget shopper can't resist. Jewelry, liquor, and cigarettes are all duty free, meaning there is no tax. They are also sold at nearly 60% of their normal cost. It's a great deal if you've been eying up a new watch or planned to invest in some gemstones. There are reasonably priced luxury items and jewelry on board as well, and you're fooling yourself if you think that you're not going to purchase something.

Bingo, raffles, lottos, slot machines - cruise ships have them all, and they cost. Raffle tickets can be $5 a piece, but bingo cards promising $250-$10,000 for each winner cost $20 each. It's another temptation that's hard to resist, especially if you're feeling a little lucky.

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The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that cruises are great vacations, and these unforeseen extras aren't meant to deter anyone from going. However, the only feeling that can top the letdown of an ending vacation is a staggering account bill handed to you upon leaving. Be prepared and know what's yet to come, then sail away and have fun.by Kelly Ann Butterbaugh

Unexpected Cruise Costs
 

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Silver Post Medal for All Time! 398 Posts
August 11, 20100 found this helpful

I'm glad I read this, I had no idea!

What a ripoff!

 
August 12, 20100 found this helpful

That does not match our experience at all.

 

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August 12, 20100 found this helpful

This is a good article, but all it is meant to do is make you aware that you will be spending on other items. No one needs to buy raffle tickets or gamble, and anything that you buy as a souvenir. luxury items or a bottle of wine -- naturally you would pay for it.

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I am sure if you read the literature for your cruise, you will understand that there are costs associated with going ashore. Why wouldn't there be? Some people don't go ashore, they sit on the ship and drink and gamble! A cruise is not a ripoff.

 

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August 17, 20100 found this helpful

Cruises are not a ripoff. You just have to be aware of the extra costs. I encourage everyone to take at least one cruise in their lifetime. The food that the cruise lines serve are delicious and the best that my husband and I have even eaten. You can eat all that you want. Their chefs are trained in the best culinary schools around the world.

 
April 23, 20180 found this helpful

Great article! Thank you so much! Personally, I love cruises. One of my BFF's has been going on cruises with his parents and now his own family and kids for as long as I can remember, every year! Also remember that crime is also another possible cost encountered when going on cruises. Cruises don't report all crimes and their employees are underpaid, overworked,and abused (which encourages them to be dishonest, disloyal, and commit crimes; and many are from under-developed nations without a paper trail and so they can leave at any port and vanish without a trace). You can fall off of a cruise ship, it's not easy or feasible in most cases, but possible. And people have been thrown off by somebody else intentionally (in the 2 cases that I know of personally one was an angry spouse and the other case was an angry stranger). And when I say crime, think of what's the worst things that can happen besides murder (in one case a couple's daughter was the victim and to this day although she has received therapy and moved on they still have not forgiven themselves for taking her on that trip for her birthday). Also, the most common most extreme and worst case scenario that does occur quite common in fact is getting left behind at a foreign port (because the cruise ships don't wait for anyone who is late; captains get no benefits for waiting, and cruise company's don't suffer from a lack of customers). Food poisoning, sea sickness during hurricanes and typhoons, are actually not that uncommon aboard cruise ships. Smelly bathroom in your room is actually typical. The ship sinking is extremely uncommon, during the days of the Titanic more than 300 such cruise ships sank during the several decades that followed (civilian; during peace time, yes, nearly 50,000 deaths total, and we're not counting ferries). But with each new decade the ship industry learned and improved and today there are almost no ship sinkings anymore. One sank near Italy a few years back and many people died (the ship captain went off course for some joy riding and the Costa Concordia hit rocks, costing 32 passengers their lives). Just thought I'd mention a few costs that are usually not mentioned. Great article however, I'd recommend it to anyone who is determined to go on a cruise and worrying about how much cash to keep in the pocket for tipping or paying all of the hundreds of people and amenities involved in the cruise trip. I didn't pull out my calculator but to just go off memory this article recommended what seemed a minimum of $200 and possibly up to $700 ($500 of that paid in advance if you want to book in advance any tours and activities by way of internet before going on the cruise for all of the ports you'll be visiting; don't forget that cruise ships skip ports due to weather quite frequently and so you might've booked in vain but there's probably a refund option available if you remember to look for it and click on it in advance). Great article! Thank you!

 
 
January 14, 20190 found this helpful

Ive never had to book an excursion. You are free to do as you please when you leave the ship.

 

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