My new wife and I are taking a cruise come Aug. 20th 2006 on Carnival Conquest. Does anyone know how much money we'll need for a 7 day cruise? Also since the tips are prepaid do we tip more than what they already make us? We plan on drinking quite a bit and gambling. The shore excussions and things don't really intrest us that much. We arn't big gift buyers and we won't need their pictures. so how much money do you think we'll need? Thanks for everyone's input.

KRoyal,
Welcome to Cruise Chat!
~Tipping in addition to what is being automatically added is optional
~"We plan on drinking quite a bit..." do the math - cocktails plus wine at dinner (say low average of $5 each x 7 days x 2 people x however many quite a bit adds up to = your guess is as good as mine)
~"...gamble" are you lucky? How do you do in Vegas? On the tables at $5 per hand for 7 days x 2 people = you do the math...

In addition to what ChucksOK mentioned, you'll also need $ for tipping the porters ($1-$2 per bag, typically) and for any transportation and activities you plan on in your ports of call (varies).

Everything on the ship will be purchased with your "seapass" which is what you use to get into your cabin. You'll give them a credit card to charge everything to. So, you really don't need a lot of cash. Your "seapass" is actually your credit card. If you pre-paid the tips you'll get vouchers at the end of the cruise to cover the tips. If you order room service, it would be appropriate to tip a few bucks. Otherwise, the vouchers will be enough. We don't carry too much cash when we cruise, around $500. We purchase excursions with our credit card. Hope this helps...

Sonny

Just like Sonny said, everything you purchase onboard (drinks at the bar, gifts in the store, anything) will be charged to your "Sea Pass". Early, on the morning that your cruise is over, they will slip a final print-out of your "Sea Pass" charges under your door while you sleep. You have just a little time to look at the charges and despute any errors at the front desk. If there are no errors, do nothing and the total amount will be charged to your credit card.

Yes, one of the sea pass charges will be the automatic gratuity charges for the crew that served you: Your cabin stewards amd your dinning room/waiter staff. You will be ask to slip some cash in an envelope for your Maitre'D. In addition to the automatic gratuities, I also slipped a little extra cash in seperate envelopes and gave it individually to my waiter staff (waiter and assistant waiter) and my cabin steward. I did this on the last night of the cruise. But, what I did was optional. Also, earlier, on the third night, I got locked-out of my cabin and I tipped my cabin steward a couple of dollars after unlocking my door. Also, I tipped a crew member on the top deck a couple of dollars when I needed a photo of myself and he snapped a shot of me with my camera.

So, the only time you will really use paper money onboard is for (optionally) tipping crew members and making bets in the casino.

You may also want some extra spending paper money to buy stuff when outside the ship at the port(s) of call. Although, allot of the bigger stores there should except credit cards.

I went alone on my 5-day cruise. I brought along $500 in paper money. I probably spent about $250 (half) of it, alothough I was rather frugal compared to the average cruise passenger. It was mostly for souvenirs(junk) , drinks (off the ship), cab fares, and tips.

I hope this is some help for you. Good luck and have a good time on your cruise.

I forgot to mention HOW your purchases get charged to your "Sea Pass".

When you check-in to your cruise at the departure port, and before you step onboard the ship, you will both be given "Sea Pass" cards. Not only are these cards used to unlock the door to your room, they are your only means of purchasing anything on the ship. Every time you purchase anything (shore-excursion, gifts, anything) onboard the ship, the crew member will ask you for your "Sea Pass" card. Then they will slide it through a reader, and give you a receipt slip to sign confirming your purchase.

So, it is very important that you DO NOT LOOSE your "Sea Pass" cards during the cruise. And don't do what I did on the third day of my cruise. That was when I left my "Sea Pass" card on the counter top inside my room, stepped outside in the hallway, and closed the door. OOPS! I had to wait awhile in that hallway until my cabin steward came around and unlocked my door.

So, have a good time on your cruise and hold tight to your "Sea Pass" card.

One more thing, in case you need more paper money during your cruise, there should be an ATM machine onboard the Conquest. So bring your ATM card just in case.

Since I did not spend all the paper money I brought, I did not use it. So I can't tell you how much extra the service charges will be. I would imagine it would be more than what is charged when you use your ATM card at a competing bank.

I would not rely on the ATM on the ship. They always tend to run out of money on the longer cruises. It is best to just bring enough money to last you. Not to mention the fees that will always get you. We had the option to cash a personal check on the ship. I however did not use this option so I do not know the restrictions or limitations, but it is something to look into.

Hey guys thanks for all your inputs. I hope we'll have a great time on our cruise I'm sure we will. I have one more question to ask. on a 7 day cruise what is the ball park figure of how much you spent after you bought the cruise. So how much do you think it would add up to on the Seapass and paper money all together for 1 person? Thanks again.

Hi. Well on our last 7 day cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. My husband and I spent $1980, for the 2 of us charging. My husband drank like a fish, drinking scotch and some mixed drinks, plus occasionaly buying rounds for people. I hardly drank, but spent $500 in the spa, and maybe $200 in the gift shop, and about $50 in cash for whatever. We do not gamble. We tried to use our ATM card in ports whenever we could. Hope this helps. I could of easily spent more the $2000, but I decided not to buy a jewelry piece I really wanted. Its nice to know I do have some willpower. Hope this helps, Lil' Lori

My husband and I just got back from a 7 day cruise and we spent $400. We had pre-paid excursions and tips, therefore that money was spent on souvenirs, pictures, etc. We do not drink and were very frugal with our money.

You will want cash for the taxis if you ride in one at any of the ports. For a family of three on a 4 night cruise, we charged about $700 between the sea pass and shore expenses. A couple we know went on a 7 day cruise and had a sea pass bill of $400. They have gone on several cruises so didn't buy souveniers, the formal pictures, etc.

My hubby and I went on a 7 day cruise last year and managed to spend $900 for the whole trip. We do not drink or gamble so no money was spent there. We spent on excursions, lunch in port, souveniers , taxis and tips. Souvenier shops were all so inexpensive and I did not see any big ticket items that were of any interest. If you want to cruise on a budget you could easily do it, however if you wanted to splurge you could easily do that also. It is all a matter of prefference.

How much did I spend on my cruise (after I got on the ship)? :
I will say about $250 in paper money
I will say about $300 in my cruise account

Let's see if I can remember on what....
[LIST]I bought a bunch of gift souvenirs from the gift shop on board (mostly refrigerator magnets, t-shirts, rum cakes, and other misc. junk). Mostly stuff for my friends and family back home.

I purchased two shore excursions (one for each port)

I purchased a video recording of that particular cruise (the photo/video crew goes around recording events during the cruise and makes it into a DVD available on the last full day at sea).

I purchased a Soda Fountain card which allows ulimited soft drinks at the bars and at meal time.

I purchased a couple of photos of me in the photo gallery that I liked (one which I posed with a beautiful showgirl/performer). Yes, the photo crew will being going around snaping photos of you all the time everywhere. They will hang these photos in the photo gallery. You hunt for the pictures with you in it (amoung thousands of other prints). If you like it, buy it. If not, leave it on the shelf and it will probably be destroyed.

I purchased two virgin drinks (since I am a tea-todler).

I gambled away maybe $25. All in coins tossed in the slots.

I purchased even more junk at my ports of call.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

So, compared to others I am rather frugal.
And this was a 5 day cruise (not 7). So I probably would have spent even more on longer cruises.

Hope this can help. Have a good time on your cruise.

Here I go again...

I forgot to mention the money I spent on cab rides in one port.

And all the money I spent on tips

Lets not forget "Prepaid Gratuities" automatically charged to your Sea Pass account. (something Carnival does; I am not sure about other cruise lines).

ok, We did Conquest in January. Hubby is poker player and they do have 1 Hold-Em table. We do not drink a lot, but we did 2 tours thru the ship that were on our card, plus I purchased a couple of pieces of jewelery. You can put gambling money on your sign and sail card thru the slot machines and then withdraw to play on the table games. All together for everything on board, our final bill was $1200 and that included hubby's poker. Then we spent about $500 more in the ports and on extra tips to crew and tour guides.