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Regardless of which cruise line and ship you select, the things that are included are pretty much the same. The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service)(you do pay to eat in the specialty restaurants), all shows and entertainment, and free use of all facilities on ship. On the Allure they do have several "specialty" restaurants where there IS a fee to eat but they will give you a flier when you board that lists all of the free places and those that have a fee. The zip line, rock wall, ice skating, and all of the shows are free; but you do need to reserve them and you can do that online once you have made your reservation.

The things that you will have to pay for are:

GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $11.50 per person in your cabin per day; about $80 each person for a 7 day cruise. (Royal Caribeban just raised it's gratuity fees) The gratuities cover your cabin steward, waiter, assistant waiter, and the head waiter. Those are the only people you'll need to tip. 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. Everything on the ship is cashless, except the casino. You pay at the end of the cruise with your charge card, or you can arrange to pay cash. On a 7-day cruise I typically take about $300 cash, mainly for incidental souvenirs on shore and maybe a few dollars for the casino.

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided free but you must pay for drinks (alcoholic beverages) and they will add a 15% gratuity to each drink of soft drink order.

PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise lines 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 $20 for most.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and 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 expensive. These are listed on your cruise line web site and you can reserve them well before the cruise and pay for them also. If you are going to the Caribbean, most places you can get a tour or taxi on the pier for a much lower price than on the ship.

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: most cruise lines have what they call "specialty" restaurants where there is a gratuity/service charge. 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.

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. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.

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).

You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for them (but there is free room service 24/7).

The basic cruise fare includes your room, meals in the regular dining rooms and buffets, room service, shows, and most ship facilities. Many ships also have free pizza, ice cream at various times, sushi, and hot dogs and hamburgers.

There are usually 3 choices for free dining. There is traditional dining where you are assigned a time and table for dining. They range from 2 to 10 seats and you have the same diners each time. There is anytime dining which allows you to go dine any time and you are seated with others dining at the same time. Both are held in large dining rooms with waiters. Then there is the buffet which is usually on the top deck. It is open to all and many people always use it for breakfast and lunch.

The extras are first tips. Figure about $10 per day per person for the tips to the room steward and wait staff. This is optional and some cruise lines automatically charge you. It can be adjusted or reversed at the end of the cruise. You should also tip a few dollars if you use room service. All bar drinks will have 15% added for a tip.

Many ships have alternate dining facilities that have a service charge of $15 on up. It may be a steak house or an Italian restaurant for example. There are also specialty coffee bars that have a charge. All bar drinks including sodas have a charge. The only free bar drinks are at the Captains Reception and the Repeat Cruiser Reception. Do not assume that the drinks being offered when you board are free. They are not. Bar drinks are $6 and up. Some ships are even charging for juice at any meal other than breakfast.

Megaships are now including "name" restaurants such as Starbucks or one of the hamburger chains. You will pay for any meal there. There are even full scale production shows that charge huge prices for dinner and a show.

Some cruise lines sell a soda card for about $4 a day. It is only for fountain soda. Unless you have 3 sodas a day it is not worth it. You can also buy a specialty coffee card which gives you 15 for about the price of 12.

There is a charge for any personal service such as laundry, salons, private trainers, etc. Spa treatments are very expensive, $50-$100. There is also gambling which includes the casino, bingo ($10-$20 per session), and sometime deck games such as horse racing. A ship photographer will be taking pictures all over the ship and at special occasions. They cost over $10 each. Phone calls in the room are about $8 a minute. Some ships have cell phone service. You are charged for international roaming by your phone service at about $2.50 per minute. Internet will cost about $50 an hour for a package. It is higher by the minute.

Sundries are very expensive. Figure at least double the normal price. Many ships also sell works of art for lower prices than you will find in a gallery.

Off ship excursions are expensive. They start at about $30 and can be in the hundreds. You can book them on the ship or go on your own. The ship will not leave without you if a cruise excursion is late. With one you did on your own they will not wait.

In addition to these costs be sure to plan $1 a bag for porter service and over $10 a day for pier parking.

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There is a daily tip fee that you can either choose to include before the trip or pay individually each day. I think it's around $10 pp per day. So, that'd be around $70 for each person on your 7 day trip. Drinks (both soda and alcoholic) and anything you buy on board are not included. You can buy a soda card for the week, but everything else is charged to your account via the card they issue you for the cruise. These things typically are very expensive on board! Hope this helps some.

Its a gratuity. It is recommended that each person pay the $10 per day in gratutities. This is divided up between many of the waitstaff and your room stewards. That is the only reall cost once you get on board. Everything else is optional and entirely up to you. If you go to Royal Caribbean's website, they detail exactly what is covered by the price of the cruise and what is not.

I try to minimize how much i spend, last time I only spent $70 on board on a 12 day cruise (including 2 specialty restaurants), then tips that were $12/day. I did two shore excursions, but I booked them on my own and found some half the price and were in small groups (less than 10 people) unlike the ship tours that can be 30-40 people.

www.cruisecritic.com can answer all your questions!

My wife and I usually spend about $1500.00 extra on a 7 day cruise. This includes tips,drinks,bingo,casino,excursions,usually 1 specialty dinner and what ever we spend on shore. They say a good average is $100.00 per person per day. For some people this might be high for others it could be low but the key word is average Bon Voyage

Your ticket covers all your meals, juices, coffee, milk, tap water, shows, entertainment, music etc.

You do have to tip the staff but that's minimal. Technically you could go the entire cruise without spending a dime if you didn't want to. But that would mean settling for walking to local sites and some of the most memorable sites aren't within walking distance. They do charge you for soda and bottled water but I always bring a six pack of soda and a couple liters of bottled water with me.

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