Hidden Costs of Cruising – continued!

Some other costs to budget for on your cruise include:

– Photos

You don’t have to buy the photos that the cruise photographer will take of you while you are onboard the ship, but everyone wants snapshots of their memories and so you will have to buy memory cards for your digital camera, or film for your non-digital camera (do they still make those?!).

– Tipping

A major bugbear that people have when cruising is the cost of tipping. It can easily add a few hundred dollars per person on to the overall bill and although some cruise lines allow you to pay upfront within the cost of the cruise, don’t forget that you are still paying the tips, just upfront rather than at the end of your holiday.

– Internet

When you are on a ship, you are a captive audience and really you don’t have much choice but to pay for the internet if you need to get online. You could spend your time on shore looking round for an internet cafe, but who wants to waste their time doing that on holiday? Usually you can buy a bundle of minutes and I would definitely recommend this. Even if you only want to use it for a few mins a day, it soon adds up!

– Onborad Activities

Some onboard classes need to be paid for, and another onboard activity on cruises which can be a killer is bingo! Many people also play at the onboard casino most nights and that $10 or $20 that you’re losing doesn’t seem much but over the course of a 2 week cruise, you could easily be throwing away $200 (if you don’t win!!).

– Special Drinks

Often, cocktails and other premium drinks aren’t included in the price of your cruise. This can be true whether or not you are sailing on an all inclusive basis. You should always budget for a few cocktails and speciality wines, and don’t assume that you will always feel like having the drinks on the inclusive menu.