I am trying to plan a cruise for my friends and I over spring break. I am looking at Royal Caribbean cruises and they seem very reasonable, but I'm worried about any extra costs associated. This includes the normal taxes and services, any porting charges, tipping servers, etc etc. Anything and everything you are expected to pay for on the trip. If you could break it down that would be very helpful, THANKS!
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I cruise on Royal all the time so here a full breakdown. When you pay your cruise fare all taxes and port charges are included in that fare. Once you get on the ship everything is cashless. If you book tours through the ship before the cruise the charges will go on a credit card. If you book tours after you are on the ship the charges will go on your on-board tab.
Regardless of the cruise line the price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service), free admissions to all shows, disco, and entertainment, and free use of all facilities (except spa services) on ship like the pools, hot tubs, gym, and recreation activities. The things that you will have to pay for are: You have to pay to use the golf simulator, to shoot pool, and to play video games.
GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day; about $70 each for a 7 day cruise. 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. So everything on ship except the casino is cashless; everything you buy goes on your account. These gratuities cover your cabin steward, your waiter and assistant waiter, and MatreD in the main dining room. Those are the only person you are required/requested to tip at the end of the cruise; these should be considered pretty much mandatory although you can ask the purser to adjust them if you have a problem with any service received from these persons.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided FREE but you must pay for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and they will add a 15 percent gratuity to each alcoholic drink and soft drink order. Drinks of cruise ships are generally in the range of $7 to $9 including the 15 percent gratuity that is included in each tab. Beer and wine are slightly less, maybe $6 to $7. RC cruise line does sell a soft drink card that allow you unlimited soft drinks for the duration of your cruise. These you must buy the first day of the cruise and they generally cost about $6.00 a day for adults; $4.00 a day for kids. The cost of the soft drink card also goes on your on-board tab. They do NOT sell an alcoholic beverage plan, so you pay for drinks as you go.
PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise ship employees 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, between $15 to $25 for most and the cost of them goes on your on-board tab. You can save yourself a lot of money by taking your own photos and asking other passengers to take photos of you; they generally always will.
TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and you 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 NOT included and are expensive.
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: All RC ships have what they call "specialty" restaurants where there IS a gratuity/service charge of between $20 and $25. On RC these places are called Chops and Portofino, and on some ship there will be a Johnny Rockets that has a fee of about $4.95 per person. 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 (so why pay to go eat).
SPA SERVICES: 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. Spa fees start at about $70 to $80 and they go on your on-board tab if you use the spa services. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.
INTERNET SVCS: RC ships now have an internet cafe and WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (about $50 an hour, a little less if you buy a plan). I always recommend that you skip the high priced internet on ship and wait for port stops where you can usually find an internet cafe where the charges are about $2. to $5 an hour. Just ask the cabin steward and/or your wait staff where the internet is at the port. They know because they use them when they can get off the ship.
ROOM SERVICE/MINI-BAR: You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for anything you take out of the mini-bar. You will have free room service (24/7) but if you order between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM there will be a service charge of $4.95 for bringing the food (no charge for the food).
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Royal Caribbean: extra costs?
I am trying to plan a cruise for my friends and I over spring break. I am looking at Royal Caribbean cruises and they seem very reasonable, but I'm worried about any extra costs associated. This includes the normal taxes and services, any porting charges, tipping servers, etc etc. Anything and...
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. ₪ ʎəɿʞɹɐq ₪
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We've travelled on several different lines, we prefer RC. Extras- alcohol, speciality dining, excursions, Massage, hair cuts etc. pop(coke, 7up etc) ship to shore phone calls, tips(totally at your discretion, I almost always tip, RC has some of the best staff, but I have held back tips for bad service, and I've told them why, I'm not shy!) gambling
Free- Room service 24 hr a day, buffet, dining room, movie theatre, hot tub, pools,
You can book excursions from home on computer, Prices are all listed.
When we cruise I expect approx. $200 extra.For both my wife and I.
We go for the sun, not to drink.
Extra charges are a mix of "must pay", the "should pay", and the "optional". The "must pay" is whatever it costs to get you from home to the ship and back. The "should pay" is a $2 tip per bag to the porters at the dock before you get on the ship, and tipping the ship crew $10 per day per person charged to your shipboard account. Everything else is "optional" in that you can choose to spend money for the goods and services or not -- souvenirs, casino bet money, formal portraits, spa services, optional premium reservation-only restaurant on the ship, taxi on shore, shore excursions, alcoholic drinks, and soft drinks. You can spend a lot on the optional stuff, or nothing.
As to the actual total cost of a cruise, I figure that whatever the price of the cruise is, I double it for the total amount I actually spend. I happen to live in the Midwest and have to fly to and from the ship, always pay tips, drink modestly, spend about $200 in the casino, take a shore excursion or two, and buy a few souvenirs. I also have to get to and from the airport and have a dog to stay in a local kennel while I'm gone.
Before You Purchase
Q: What does the price of my cruise include?
A: The price of your cruise vacation includes: Ship accommodations
Ocean transportation
Most meals onboard
Some beverages onboard
Most entertainment onboard
The following services are not included in the cruise price:
Dining in Specialty Restaurants such as Portofino
Dining in Johnny Rockets (Where applicable)
Spa and Salon services
ShipShape Fitness Classes (i.e. kickboxing, pilates, yoga and spinning)
Golf Simulator
Gambling (Including Bingo)
Art Auction
Any purchases made in the gift shops onboard
Shore excursions
Photographs
Video Arcade
Medical Services
Internet Access
Transfers (Unless guest has purchased our air/sea package)
Laundry and Dry Cleaning Services
Ship to Shore Telephone calls
Gratuities
Alcoholic Beverages
Non-Alcoholic Beverages (excluding water, lemonade and iced tea)
All prices are per-person, based on a double occupancy of the stateroom and are quoted in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise noted. The cruise fares quoted also do not include any applicable government taxes, fees, or surcharges that may be assessed by any governmental agencies. Such assessment is subject to change without notice at any time whether or not you have a confirmed booking under deposit or if you have made a final payment.
Onboard Extras
Q: What are gratuity guidelines for cruises?
A: So that you can thank those who have made your cruise vacation better than you could have imagined, we've developed these gratuity guidelines:
Suite attendant: $5.75 USD a day per guest
Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest
Note: These gratuities apply to guests of all ages.
Gratuities for other service personnel are at your discretion. A 15% gratuity will automatically be added to your bar bill or wine check when you are served.
Notice to Guests: Gratuities may be shared with other crew members depending on the particular service requirement.
Envelopes for gratuities will be provided in your stateroom on the last night of the cruise. Gratuities may be paid in the following ways:
Pre paid by having them added to your reservation by your booking agent.
Added to your onboard SeaPass account.
Paid in cash at the end of the cruise
Hope this helps...
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Not included on any cruise line:
Tips
spa treatment
Bar drinks-soda-beer
bingo
internet
Gifts
excursions
specialty restaurants-coffee shops
photos
Hope I helped!