One of the best things about cruises is that it includes your cabin, meals, entertainment and transportation to different places all for one price. You’ll often get a ton of value out of a cruise versus a similar land-based vacation. However, that price that you see advertised isn’t the final price unfortunately. There are other fees you’ll have to consider that are not optional. Optional fees will be discussed in another post.
Cabin prices
You’ll often see prices advertised something like this: “starting at $199” or “$299 per person: or something else like that. Unless a cabin is specified, assume that is for an interior room and usually, it will be a guanteed room which means you will get a room but the cruise line will assign it for you. If you want to actually pick your room, it’ll likely be at least slightly more expensive. If you want an ocean view room, a balcony or a suite, it’ll cost you more. Regardless of the room you select, you’ll still see one price which is the price for one person without taxes and fees but based upon double occupancy. So if you see $299, the final price will be $299 x 2 plus taxes and fees for both people.
If you are solo, you’ll usually pay what’s called a single supplement which means that you’ll pay for two people. However, you only pay taxes for one person. Let’s go back to our $299 per person example. Assume taxes and fees are $102. So the final price for that cruise will be $299 plus $299 plus $102 which would total: $700. There are some luxury cruises that will have promos with reduced single supplements but for most solo cruisers, they’ll have to deal with the single supplement. Now there are some solo cabins on a handful of ships, but these sell out fairly quick. Since there’s such a demand for them, they usually aren’t cheap at all. Therefore, you’ll likely save money taking a different cruise with a single supplement. Sounds counter intuitive I know but be sure to check the math before you just decide no booking a solo cabin.
If you’re sailing with more than 2 people, you cannot just assume that you can just multiply the price. If you had two children going on the $299 cruise, it wouldn’t just be $299 x 4 plus taxes and fees for 4. Unfortunately, each cruise is different so some don’t discount children while others allow children to sail for free. Put it another way, the cheapest cruise for 2 people may not be the cheapest cruise for 4 people. If you are looking for a deal, be sure to tell your travel agent how many people and what their ages are.
Port fees and taxes
If you gamble $100,000 per cruise and you get all the free cruises you can possibly handle, you’ll still have to pay port fees and taxes. No one gets these for free so there’s nothing you can do about them. Normally they aren’t anything to really worry about other than just making sure you understand what they are for budgeting purposes. However, there are a few times where these fees are exceptionally high. The primary example is a Panama Canal cruise. For whatever reason, these port fees and taxes are much higher than your average cruise. In fact, these fees may be higher than much longer cruises.
Here’s an example. A 24 night transpacific Princess cruise has a base fare of $1439 per person for an inside cabin. The taxes and fees are $321 per person. A 10 night Panama Canal Princess cruise has a base fare of $598 for an inside cabin and a whopping $450 in taxes and fees! I just use Princess for both examples so it’s more of an apples-apples comparison but it really doesn’t matter which line you choose. As you can see, even though the first cruise has a higher base far and 14 more nights, the taxes and fees are much cheaper. Alaska has higher fees as well.
This sometimes shocks people but please note that travel agents and others are not trying to trick anyone here. It’s just the way the travel industry works. Rental cars are the same. You’ll really low quotes like $20 a day but then a 5 day rental costs $300. Hotels are airfare have a lot of taxes as well. The only difference with airfare is that it’s already built in. The quotes that we get for cruises don’t have the taxes and fees built in and it’s just far too complicated to quote them up front since that’s not what the industry does. Nevertheless, if I have a client interested in a cruise, I try to get them the full quote as quickly as possible.
Gratuities
For decades, you would tip your room steward and waiter with at the end of the cruise. The cruise line would give you envelopes to use. You’d put your cash tip in that envelope and hand them out. While there were suggested guidelines, what you gave was up to you. NCL changed all of that when they turned the cruise industry upside down when they introduced freestyle cruising. Sitting at the same table for dinner with the same people and the same waiter were gone. Now you could go to different dining rooms and different times and even go to specialty restaurants. In order to make sure that the crew still go tips, NCL added them to your bill automatically. Other cruise lines followed suit.
These daily charges are per person and they have increased over the years. However, they are still gratuities and you can adjust them as you see fit. You’ll have to go to guest services and either tell them what you want to change it to or fill out a form for them to adjust it. You’ll then get charged for them at the end of the cruise. Most lines give you the option to prepay for them but I don’t see any reason to do this.
Please note you are still free to use cash and adjust the gratuities accordingly. Some lines will run specials where the gratuities will be part of the fare or they will give you on board credit. I went on a cruise where the gratuities were $350 and the on board credit was $350. As a result, I didn’t owe anything at the end of the cruise.
So while not exactly mandatory, just about everyone will pay something but if for some reason you don’t want to pay anything, that is up to you. Regardless, this is something you should factor in but the good news is that you won’t really have to decide until the cruise is almost over.
So what does the cruise include?
This is a common question and as we’ve already discussed, it will not include gratuities (unless there is a promotion or you are on Virgin Voyages). You’ll get a cabin, meals on the buffet and main dining room and entertainment such as production shows, live music, access to the gym and comedy (if availably on your ship). Some ships have rock climbing, saunas, waterslides, ropes courses and all sorts of other things that are free. Other ships have go karts and various other activities that cost extra. Likewise, some ships have alternative restaurants that have pizza, tacos, hamburgers and other food that is free along with plenty of restaurants that are an up charge. Excursions are also available either through the cruise or a private vendor that will cost extra.
Drinks are probably the biggest issue for most people. Your cruise fare will usually just cover water, coffee, tea, unsweetened ice tea, lemonade and orange juice (at breakfast). Sodas, specialty coffee, beer, wine and alcoholic drinks will cost money. Most cruise lines offer some sort of drink package but often time, you’d have to drink a lot to break even. Carnival allows you to bring a 12 pack of soda on the cruise per person. Otherwise, if you try to bring drinks with you, they’ll be confiscated.
Some people go on cruises and spend a fortune while others go on a cruise and spend next to nothing. We’ve gone on plenty of cruises without spending anything beyond gratuities so don’t think that you have to spend a lot of money or any money really to have a good time on a cruise. There are plenty of ports that are nice to walk around or you can take a cheap cab to a beach. Either way, you have complete control as to what you decide to do.
On board credit
Some cruises will include free on board credit as part of a promotion. I can usually get my clients extra on board credit on 99% of cruises. Just as the name implies, on board credit is credit you have for any expenses that you have while you are on board your ship. This can be drinks, excursions, gratuities or even the casino. You don’t use cash or a credit card for expenses on your cruise. Everything is charged to your cabin. At the end of the cruise, you get a bill and the total of that bill will be charged to your credit card on file. So if I was able to get you $100 of free on board credit and you had a bill of $120, your credit card would only be charged $20. Keep in mind that this on board credit does not get refunded to you so be sure to use it up.
Airfare, transportation and parking
Getting to your cruise is going to usually cost money no matter what you do. If you have to fly to take a cruise, this is an added expense you should consider. Check those rates before you book the cruise. You will also have to get from the airport to the ship. Most cruise lines will have a transportation service. This might be a good idea but not always. You may have to wait at the airport for the bus to leave and then when you go back to the airport, the ship might drop you off earlier than you would prefer. Regardless, its one less thing to think about it and it’s rarely expensive. We usually take a ride share.
If you live close enough to a port where you don’t have to fly, you still have to consider how you’re going to get there. If a friend can give you a ride for free, that’s great but most people don’t have something like that available. In some cases, Uber or Lyft will be your best bet but you’ll want to price that out versus a private car service. Private car services have set rates whereas rideshare has dynamic pricing. You can usually find affordable private care services in your local Facebook groups.
If you drive yourself there, you have to consider parking. Cruise parking is usually expensive and you could be looking at a bill over $100 for a one week cruise.
Conclusion
Despite the increase in cruise prices, I still believe that cruising offers the best value in travel. If you are flexible, you can find go on some really cheap cruises that will take you to all sorts of fantastic places. Either way, I’ll do everything I can to get you the cheapest price possible with the most on board credit possible. Join my travel group on Facebook and then send me a message to get a free quote. Remember, there is no charge to use a travel agent!