25 RIDICULOUS Money Mistakes All Cruisers MUST Avoid!
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- If you're going on a cruise, you don't want to waste money & spend more than you should! These 25 money wasting mistakes are pretty avoidable, if you know these tips & tricks!
In this video I share money mistakes not to make on a cruise. If you're a first time cruiser, or haven't been on a cruise in a while, these cruise tips will help you to avoid these costly cruise mistakes.
I've also included cruise travel tips that will help cruise passengers to save money on a cruise. From simple cruise hacks to more advanced travel tips, you'll avoid these extra expenses on your cruise vacation.
These tips will work for every cruise line, from Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean. Princess Cruises and more!
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ABOUT ME
Hi! I'm Ilana! I live in Montreal, Canada with my husband Frank. We can often be found dreaming about and planning future cruises, ideally to hot and sunny destinations! I believe in having fun, being kind and that you are never too old, or too young, to live the life of your dreams!
Please note that I do not sell cruises on Life Well Cruised. This and all other videos are for entertainment purposes only. I share my own opinions, personal experiences and information with other cruise travellers, which I hope can be helpful. Please contact your travel agent or the cruise line directly for advice and any information specific to your booking.
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If you payed gratuities ahead of time do you still have to tip again
@@Pink_jay80not if you don’t want to too. What we did was take off the gratitude and gave tips to the people that served us including the cleaning lady. Depending on how much you tip, it will come out to be the same. With pre-gratitude the tip goes to all the works on board. I would rather give the tip to the people that helped
@@Gospel3080 aww man just seeing this I just got back Friday afternoon I did a bit of both
I was charged for photographs that weren’t mine on NCL. When I went to the desk to clear it up, the cruise employee was very arrogant and insisted he had a receipt that I signed. When I asked to see it, I found it was a name that wasn’t even close to mine. They immediately removed the charge. I was glad I consistently checked my cruise charges.
Just got off NCL Epic and had a horrible experience with them and their customer service!
I always use my phone to keep up with what we sign for and then compare and total it up on the last night. It is a good way to keep the cruise line honest.
@@scottyphillips7799😢...😅😅😅
That’s a rule! Always always check your account statement during your cruise - Best to catch errors early than try to argue them in a long line right before you’re trying to leave the ship
NCL charging for Starbucks and not including in drink package
This is our third cruise. This time, it's not with extended family and my siblings. Just the two of us. We're going premium rate because it's a once-in-a-lifetime probably due to my wife's health. This means WiFi and drinks, plus special dining included, the latter just once. Sometimes, just the once, you splurge and make it memorable.
Fabulous! Enjoy every minute
I hope you & your wife have the trip of a lifetime. My dad always said, it only takes a few more pennies to go first class. Enjoy!
Wishing you the best trip ever. In Feb. We took my hubby's parents on a cruise to the ABCs. We flew first class. It was probably the last one for them. We hope not but, we did try yo make it memorable for them. As it was on NCL, we had the free at sea package so drinks, specialty dining and wifi were included.
Hope u and your wife have the best time ever, hope her health gets better soon 🙏😊
@@bitterspice5525i
One way to avoid ATM fees is to go to the casino. Use your card to withdraw money from your account. Print the ticket and go to the cashier and cash it out. No fees, and if you used your credit card for your account, no cash advance fees. I learned this from a crew member.
This may not always work after the first time. On royal Caribbean, you will need to play at least half of the amount in any slot machine before you can cash out the ticket.
My credit union refunds a specified number of ATM fees each month; I've never seen a bank offer that option.
I will be cruising soon. I have on board credit after booking with my travel agent. How do you use the on board credit. Do you just mention it while booking a spa service?
This is brilliant. Is this on all cruise lines?
@@maryhartsock7792good question. It will appear on your onboard account and you can use as you please. If you go over your credit card or method of payment will be charged
If you like snacks. Bring little baggies from home. Then go to the buffet and get cookies, gapes etc then you will have snacks for later
Is it allowed?
My wife and I bring zip loc bags with us every cruise. She is borderline diabetic so I try to keep some lil things in the cabin in case she has a problem. And we have never been told we can’t or to not do it.
We do that but it's just more of the same. We often bring snacks which just aren't available (easily) on the ship. Chips, crackers, granola, and protein bars are the top ones for us.
@@anohacharlesschlosser9305Who cares, they dont care to steal from you
I even bring Tupperware for off the ship to eat on the beach 😂
One of my things to do right before a cruise is to go to my bank, withdraw $100 inside, and get it all in fives. that pretty much covers cash tips, porters, small purchases at ports, etc.
They have lap/pole dancers on cruises? ;)
Don't ask how I know 5s are how you tip lap and pole dancers
@@FD2003Abc I don't judge. ;)
@@FD2003Abcwhat are you talking about?
@@FD2003AbcI always got 20s!
$100? $500.
Another mistake is not buying discounted gift cards if they’re offered for your cruise line. For our latest cruise we bought Carnival gift cards from AARP and saved 10% on just about our entire cruise cost: cruise fare, specialty dining, wifi, in-room beverages, excursions, and even estimated what our bar bill would be and purchased extra gift cards to put on our S&S cards when we boarded the ship. We saved about $450.
This is brilliant and thanks for mentioning it! I found the Princess gift cards on there too. yay!
I’ll check it out! Great for the spa!!!!!❤
I use my carnival fun points master card for EVERYTHING (includong cruise payments) and pay it off each week...u can use the points accumulated for on board credit etc
I always put a reminder on my phone calendar at 3pm the day of embarkation. Put phone on airplane mode.
I swear, it's a lifesaver.
Great idea.
We are going on our first cruise in November
The phone charges really worry me.
Can i still use the ship app on free wifi in airplane mode?
Thanks👍
@@annirvin6555 you can turn off mobile data separate from wifi. You'd just need to look up how depending on the phone you have. Typically it's an easy press button on the settings
@@annirvin6555 Yes you can, no problem.
If you put your phone on airplane mode, will you still have service on your phone?
No internet purchase is required. The app works in Airplane Mode, which means guests do not incur roaming fees. The app works with the ship's Wi-Fi.
You can pay 5.00 per day per person to use the chat app thru the hub.
Don’t forget you smart watches with cellular, need to be put in airplane mode as well!
thank you, I would've never thought about that!
I’ll have to learn how to do that. Thank you.
I’m just going to live on ship water and the included food, no specialty restaurants. I travel dull. All I need is a deck chair to use while reading. That’s all I really plan on doing. Nothing fancy at all.
I know many that feel the same way. Personally I have pets at home with a caregiver but I couldn’t relax if I didn’t check on them.
My first cruise was like this and I had a blast.
You also get regular coffee/tea and lemonade and iced tea for free. You can always bring drink packets to flavor your water
It’s the way to go! I just came back from an RC cruise and the free lemonade, fruit punch, oj and chocolate milk was perfect
That’s what I did on my divorce cruise on Carnival. Never had specialty dining and had lots of free drinks thanks to embarkation day and as a thank you for being loyal
I think they need to be more flexible with the drink package. When they make the entire room pay for a drink package, but some people in that room don’t drink alcohol. It’s a waste of money. They should offer the drink package and let each person choose which package from that room they want.
You can actually call them and have them downgrade it to a normal drink package.
Contact the customer service line. We are in a situation where our son is disabled and absolutely cannot drink alcohol. They let us separate the drink package so he would not have to pay for alcohol.
Drink package is ridiculous. My 22 year old son and I in a cabin. I wanted Cheers, he cannot have alcohol. He's autistic with seizure medication. They made me provide medical documentation and guardianship papers at the front desk, after telling me on the phone that it'd be no problem to buy the package in person.. Ridiculous. You have 15 drinks 8n cheers, it's not gonna get 2 grown people lit as it is with how weak the drinks are. Let me buy Cheers and let me buy him bottomless soda without being treated like garbage and embarrassed sharing my personal info at the front desk.
They can’t because you know people will find a way to screw the system
Can see r in a room, one with a drink package, everyone sozzled 😂
Bring snack bags and sandwich boxes to raid the buffet for foods to eat off the ship or at night in the room. Bring your own bottle to fill with ice and juice.
You can't take food off of the ship.
Good afternoon, Ilana. We never buy any of the packages - drink, internet, specialty dining. We cruise to unwind, so internet is not important to us. We don't drink specialty coffees, and fresh squeezed juice is not important, the free stuff suits us fine. We are ocassional drinkers, so paying al a carte for alcohol works for us. Just returned from an 11 day cruise to Alaska and our bar bill was $64 for 5 drinks. Even with Princess' Plus package @ $60/day/person, we wouldnt have gotten our value from the package, and they have some of the best pricing. On our upcoming RCL cruise in January, we've been getting drink package offers of buy 1 get 1 half off, but that's still $128/day just for drinks. We did take advantage of a Princess offer on this past cruise where we could pre-order bottled water for $7 for 12 bottles to be in your cabin when you arrived ($0.85/bottle). We felt the pricing was good and convenient to take on our shore excursions. They had a similar package for soda that worked out to $1.35/can when pre ordered.
Agree with all your other suggestions, especially using the "convenience" store on the ship. If we do find we forgot something, unless it's an emergency, it's usually cheaper to pick it up in your next port.
If you forget to bring things like sunscreen or over the counter medicines, or run out during your cruise, you can often be better off buying it at your next port... even the convenience store right next to the port is going to be cheaper than buying on board... but if you can make into the the port town itself you'll find regular shops that are far far cheaper eg local supermarket or chemist
Check reviews before signing up for excursions...
Good one
Where can you see reviews on excursions?
On the website where your cruise is located. Find your cruise, select shore excursions (I do it by day) and there are usually reviews for each excursion (unless new like I found on one of my upcoming cruises). Very helpful. It is hard to leave a review once you return, at least what I have found.
Some of them vary wildly though, so it's hard to tell. I found looking up RUclips videos of the tours offered was best. The swimming with pigs in Nassau for example, had great reviews, a few negative. The video shows the negatives are more correct, the water is a floating feces spetic pool. Cute pigs, but snorkeling past refuse... Gross.
😮😂@@constructiongeek4361
I learned the tip about discounts at spa from my sister ! Great idea on embarkation day. No one is there and there is a discount!!
As for the ATMs, you can avoid that altogether on most cruise lines. I haven’t tried this, but Emma Cruises mentioned it in a video a long time ago. Instead of using the ATM, go to the casino, load the amount you want to take out onto a slot machine, cash it out, and take it to the cages. Free withdrawal.
You can do it but I know for sure RC will lock you out from getting any more unless you play the money you withdrew. Do it all at once!
We ALWAYS buy the deluxe beverage package. It is worth it to us because people forget that it isn't just alcohol in the package. It also covers soft drinks, bottled water, smoothies, specialty coffee and teas, fresh squeezed juices, wine, beer, cocktails, shots. Everything. It adds up fast, so for us, it is worth it.
This is so true. Especially when packages are part of a bundle
I did not get the drink package on my current cruise because my travel Partner does not drink. I calculated how many drinks I would need to have daily to make it worth it for me. I just could not drink that many drinks.
The drink package is a total waste for us. I don’t drink alcohol, soft drinks or coffee. My husband only drinks occasionally. They always have free tea, coffee, lemonade and sometimes ice tea.
We get the non alcoholic drink package because I'm the only one that drinks, but nowhere enough to justify the cost. I prefer the way Virgin does it with the shared bar tab.
I don't get it because that's lots of excess calories on almost all of that I don't need.
Never thought of having a cruise re-fared. ❤
My wife and I booked a NCL cruise for next year. We are both Veterans and we're able to get a small discount on the cruise package. We have cruised with NCL in the past and we're not aware of this discount. We had to verify our Veteran status which was pretty easy. The person at NCL was very helpful and informative when booking the cruise directly with them. Your videos are very informative. Thank you.
Thanks for your services. We hope you have fun cruising.
Oh dear, we spent a month on NCL in February and it wasn't a great experience, despite the huge cost
I particularly hated the excursions and the misleadin(?) information provided
John, I too, am a vet. Our last NCL cruise, I was given a package that included an NCL challenge coin, orders to have an enjoyable cruise, and an invitation for my wife and I to attend an informal meet and greet with other veterans. It was all in all, pretty cool. We’re tentatively doing another NCL cruise in February. I’m excited to see if they still have this nice little veteran recognition.
Cheers.
@@peterdodgesr1576 That's pretty cool. I always enjoy meeting and talking to other Veterans. It's nice that NCL does this. Enjoy your February cruise!
My wife and I always buy the drink package and we 100% meet our daily quota’s without being obnoxious, and staying respectful and responsible… happy sailing everyone 🌊 🌴 🏝️ ☀️ 🛳️
My husband and I are going on back to back cruises for a total of 33 days. We booked the premium drink package and a balcony room. We ended up with the 2nd cruise drinks free with the savings. Plus all the coffees and bottle drinks, water, and all drinks except bottles of wine. We are going on Norwegian, and included the airfare. Their price was half of what I was looking at booking separately and they provide transfers from ship to airport. Plus if the flight is late or whatever, you don't lose the cruise they handle it.
For my husband and I, we have found longer cruises (TA and repositioning cruises) with lots of sea days, it's to our advantage to have a drink package. On port heavy cruises, we don't use it as much.
Great point
What is TA?
@@DebS0725 trans Atlantic crossing
Don’t forget Stock Perks. Many cruise lines offer onboard credit to those who hold a number of shares of their stock. This credit amount will be determined by the number of cruise nights. This is a good way to save some money. Thanks for your tips.
we got a $ 250 credit on Holland America in January
Good point!
Great advice there. I always apply for the shareholder credit. It may not be a lot, but it's better than nothing.
We are getting $450 ship credit for owning only 100 shares!
@@sherritaylor3896 Yay! 😃
This would probably be considered a money waster for most people but not for me. I order fresh flowers to be put in my cabin on embarcation. They last a week and are worth every penny. I'd rather give up something else like casino, spa or wifi.
Love your videos. Keep up the good work. I did have a problem with towels at Cococay. I had gotten two on board. After the day on the beach I returned the towels at a station on the island so I wouldn't have to take dirty towels back on board. I asked the attendant if it was OK and he said yes. I signed off for them and returned to the ship. Later I found out I was going to be charged the lost towel fee. Lesson learned, always return the towels where you get them first!
Just been on my first cruise. I am so thankful to you for your advice. I used the information from your website and we had a wonderful Alaskan cruise. My steward laughted when I told him I had your advice and I was able to have a bed topper, so comfortable. Thanks.
Do tell us more…bed topper. I missed that price of advice but I’m sure I need it.
Drink package is a must for me just for the convenience 😊❤!
We’ve learned to check the speciality restaurants for Day 1 specials. We’ve gotten free glasses of champagne and a discount on dinner and most recently received 50% off each person for dinner on Day 1.
For those who don't like the tap water on a ship. Buy flavoring that comes in a small bottle. You will have to put it in your liquids bag if you fly. It only takes a squirt or 2, depending on the size of your glass or bottle. There are several brands and lots of flavors.
I did this last time and it worked great. And sometimes the drops are a lil healthier than the powders they sell in stores.
You can also buy the powder packets and not have to worry about liquids or leaking
Which brand do you use?@@DarlaRodriguez-c9w
Along the lines of paying extra for things that are included on a cruise; I feel that way with the speciality dining. Some of specialty restaurants you can eat for free at lunch time on sea days, depending on the ships! No reservations are needed either!! I don’t buy the drink package but I’m not a regular drinker.
Yes! So many people don’t realize the lunch options in the specialty restaurants for free. On Carnival most everything other than the Steakhouse has a free lunch menu
We didn’t check our account on one cruise because we didn’t do anything that we thought was adding charges. Turned out that the sommelier at dinner had been charging us for bottles of wine despite that same wine being included in our drink package when served by the glass. Pretty shady but we learned our lesson.
Ohhh I'd be mad!!
If you check the limitations on your drink package I'm sure it states it does not cover bottles of wine and I doubt this was the "same" quality wine available by glass that you claim your package covered,
@@sheepdog401 it was literally the same wine, Conundrum Red Blend. He chose to enter it into their system as a bottle purchase which was a charge rather than the by the glass pours which were included in the premium package.
We sail with Princess and book with the Princess Plus package for $60.00 a day which includes drinks up to $15.00 plus unlimited coffee, soft drinks, bottled water and Wifi and gratuities which includes the gratuity on beverages and 2 casual dining, two specialty desserts a day and 2 exercise classes. You don't need to drink a lot of alcohol to come out ahead.
Too expensive
What happens if the drink you order is more than $15, are you only charged the difference? Is the gratuity included for each drink or is that an add on??
@@jperez934not if you consider that it includes daily tips which you pay anyway
@@sabrinaremo6408you’re only charged the difference for any drinks exceeding the price per unit stipulated AND you don’t pay the 18% gratuity
@@jperez934much cheaper than Celebrating Cruises!
I booked with a travel agent and she was able to get a $250 on board credit for the cabin that I couldn't. Well worth it.
What's the best way to pick a good TA??
@@tb985 I don’t really know. Only second time I’ve used one. She was the closest one to me and there really weren’t many choices.
@@donkitterman1940 Do you mind sharing the contact information or website for your travel agent? Thank you!
Don't be swept off your feet by the jewelry sales, many times you can do just as well at home. If there is a particular piece of jewelry that you are looking for, check the price at home before the cruise.
So true. Always compare prices. The only advantage to buying it on ship might be saving the taxes.
Yep. Ive been at stores on board and in port that wanted crazy high inflated prices for things. Um yea you won't get this person. I'm no sucker....
Especially on Carnival the Invicta watches are a ripoff. You can get them so much cheaper online. Only things we get is the free bracelet for my wife and maybe the gold by the inch for the kiddos a lil necklace or bracelet.
This is where having wi-fi is an advantage as I can price check a piece of jewelry before I buy.
The watch sale (Carnival) is awesome! I paid $25/watch and got one for my dad, my brother and myself for Christmas.
Some really helpful tips Ilana. Yes buying a bundle of specialty restaurants before hand does save some significant money. Also it helps in getting the dinner times you want. Also, we always schedule our spa visits on port days. These services have gotten expensive especially when gratuity is added so saving on port days specials.
Yes small bills are a must. There are times when you want to tip someone and if you you don't have some small bills hard to get change in most ports or on the ship.
Happy cruising Ilana!
I realize this is a cruise channel but the advice you gave for not just checking discount cruises goes for hotels as well. We once stayed at the Waldorf Astoria in New York for less than the price at the Holiday Inn.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing - even though we focus on cruising booking hotels for pre and post is an important part of cruising planning too :)
Great tips Ilana!!! I'd have to say booking as far in advance as possible. I'm shocked how full cruises are now and the prices almost never seem to go down. By booking 2 yrs out for the cruises and any add-ons as soon as they are released has saved me thousands. You can always reprice... but that just doesn't seem to be necessary these days.
Totally agree - unless you’re super flexible and can pick up any cruise and live near a cruise port - not most of us 😂
Another way to earn onboard credit is with a cruise line credit card. I got an offer from Princess that gave me $200 of onboard credit if I charged $500. I'm using it until the cruise (3 months) to accrue more points. I think I'll likely have $300-$400 before I sail. Then I'll go back to my Southwest card for free flights.
SPA TREATMENTS - I booked on a port day and payed nearly half price for a wonderful massage.
I started using the Beverage Card instead of the Drink Package. Lately I’ve been cruising with my Mom. She doesn’t drink much except for an occasional mock tail. For me this was the best deal to cover all types of drinks including specialty coffees and sodas. I also don’t need to worry about going over budget. $400 - $500 should be sufficient.
What exactly is this new to cruising?
That’s awesome! What cruise line has beverage cards?
@@LifeWellCruised Holland America Cruise ….. I saw it when I was searching for bundles.
@@Tafgrammy I never knew there were Beverage Card available to purchase instead of the Drink Package.
What happens if all funds are not used?
Another reason to check your onboard account early on the cruise is if you have a credit. My husband and I each received a credit when we booked the cruise, but my first charge was against his account. It was much easier to add my credit card to my account and only have to move one charge early in the cruise than to wait until many charges had to be moved, let alone later on, when everyone else was trying to correct their accounts!
Thanks for sharing!!
January will be my first cruise with a balcony. I'm certainly planning to utilise Princess's free continental breakfast and take it out to that balcony.
We usually add up what it would cost us to buy alcoholic beverages, specialty water, wine at dinner, specialty coffees, etc. and it’s usually better for us to get a drink package. Don’t really want to stress out and keep track of what we’ve consumed.
I always consider the drink package but never end up buying it. We don’t really drink much - maybe 1 or 2 cocktail per day. And the kids may have 1 or 2 frozen margaritas. Then many days we are at the port going to the beach or excursions. So when I do the math, we would actually save money going a la carte with drinks.
Here’s a question. Most cruise ships have an Internet cafe …. Is there free Wi-Fi there? Or is it just a place to hang out using your own on board Wi-Fi?
Sunscreen that you bring from home needs to be "coral reef safe" if you are going to swim in the ocean in areas with reefs. Generally, the sunscreens sold on the ship meets these requirements. So if you're not sure how to select one without the problematic ingredients, buying on the ship is a good option for the future of our oceans.
Most of the sunscreen sold in port is also “reef safe.” Hard to tell if the ones you buy at home are though.
@@fluffytail6355 Badgers brand is safe!
Not only putting phone on airplane mode - also other devices having SIM card or E-SIM like laptop, ipad etc.
I don't drink enough alcohol (basically I will only have a cocktail with my dinner) for the deluxe package to be worth it. Instead I get the refreshment package and then take a little bit of money from each paycheck leading up to the cruise and put it into my "cocktail fund". I then put this money into my onboard account and use it to pay for my dinner cocktails. This way not only am I not paying for something I might not have but most of the time I save up more then all of my dinner cocktails will cost me (I check the drink prices a day or to before embarkation) so I can grab another cocktail here or there if I want one or I can splurge on a nice item for myself from one of the shops.
Great way of thinking
Excellent way to save
We don't drink enough to warrant buying the drink package. We usually only spend $100 or less on drinks and coffees.
That’s my wife and I, we might get coffee in the morning and maybe two drinks a day. We have learned to bring a 12 pack of soda each on board and the carry our Stanley cups.
@@scottyphillips7799 yeah, we brought a 12 pack of soda onboard once but my hubby didn't even finish them. I don't drink soda. It works for us; sounds like y'all too!!
@scottyphillips7799 Would love to be able to do that. What cruise line did you do this on? We are going to Alaska in 3 weeks. All I drink is soda (not healthy, I know) my hubby just drinks water, so even the non-alcoholic pkg is not worth it, because you have to buy for each of us.
We almost always go on Carnival. You can carry a 12 pack of soda (12 oz.) each in carry on or free carry. You can also take 1 bottle of 750 ml of wine per person. @@wildlifelvr7929
@@wildlifelvr7929 we travel on carnival. We love it never have issues and always have more to do than we can do. Would love to do an Alaskan cruise one day.
The NCL free at sea drink package (bundle) is a good deal for us. Drink packages as extra does not work as we dont drink a lot.
We took the entire family on our first cruise last year. Before we left home, I contacted our cellular provider and asked if there was anything I could do to avoid charges. Maybe someone would forget to put their phone into airplane mode, or cancel it (deliberately or inadvertently), or need a connection while in port. Yes, they had several options. It's worth contacting your carrier (and your bank and credit card company) to let them know you'll be on a cruise; they should know in case they have to approve a charge made from a foreign country.
Great to know
Yes, check your account daily. My nephew had the same name and city as another passenger. He ended up towel charges on his account.
As a couple neither of us drink alcohol so we always opt out of the drink package. I appreciate that we get the option to opt out (on NCL at least). I have no desire to drink that much pop or specialty coffee to justify it so it is an easy choice for us. I can definitely understand how for some it would be worth it even just to know that it is already paid for.
I always bring a reusable water bottle . going on NCL next summer for first time - drink package yes, water not included. another good tip- use the chat app available on the ship. example- on Mardi Gras 2 years ago and we used the chat with our teen kids and it was worth the 20 dollars for the week (5 dollars per person for the week)
Please tho, don't put your bottle over the water dispenser nozzle, that's not sanitary and too many try to do that in the buffet. Take water in the glass and fill the bottle at your table
Fabulous 👏
This was very helpful as I will be on my first cruise at the end of this month. I didn’t realize I had paid for a drink package and called the cruise company because I don’t drink alcoholic beverages (and I don’t drink sugary beverages). I was able to take that money and apply it to prepay gratuities.
I will be taking my water bottle, protein powder, portable blender, and protein bars/snacks.
I'm impressed with your tips. I've been in the industry for over 40 years and I agree with you on everything you said
Be sure and use airplane mode even if on a ferry. I did not do this on the ferry to Guernsey and paid the price for it. Just letting you know...
I and my gf each have 2 or 3 drinks per day. Some days a bit more or less. Buying the drink package for us would be a waste of money. I totally understand those that drink pretty much every day at home to buy it. In our case, we never have alcohol at home.
2 to 3 drinks could easily cost $30 to $45, wifi is $25, and gratuities are $16 to $18 per person per day. That adds up to minimum $71/day, and just as likely $86/day. For $60/day on Princess you get all that plus two special desserts, or ice cream, room service, two exercise classes, soft drinks as many as you want, same for bottled water and two specialty meals, (not in the premium restaurants). I may be forgetting some items, but it looks like a good deal, and in the end your final bill is very short and easy to review.
We always bring water shoes and snorkel gear for those types of cruises😊
What travel agency do you recommend? Great video.
In terms of drinks packages, it definitely pays to consider that you have to purchase the same package for everyone in the cabin. The calculation becomes a lot less clear when you have one person (me) who will drink wine with dinner and spirits afterwards and would otherwise be buying smoothies and speciality coffee regularly, and another person (my husband) who won't (in his case, being a diabetic, he cannot drink alcohol, non-diet soda, fruit juices, etc unless he wants to spend the entire cruise miserable at best). Then it becomes whether paying for BOTH of us for only me is saving money versus me paying for each drink separately. Though on the plus side, it does encourage me to drink less, which probably is not a bad thing.
Side note: I understand why the policy is that way and why the customer service folks cannot really hand out exceptions (imagine the look of asking people to prove their medical conditions or the abuse potential of just taking people's word for it). But it is a consideration on budgeting.
I have been on Carnival, Princess, and Norwegian. When it comes to drink packages, it all depends who I am going with. If I am going with my Mom & Sister, I always get the drink package because I do save money. When I went with my neighbor, I did not and just paid for the limited drinks that I ordered. Now on Norwegian, the drink package is included in my cruise because there was a promotion.
Hello, we are going on our first cruise in a month. This and the others of your videos that I’ve watched are really helpful.
Same here!!
Excellent reminders, thank you!!
If 2 of us are in a cabin but I have an M.D.'s note stating I CANNOT drink alcohol due to the medicines I take can my cabin mate get the alcohol drink package without me getting the drink package? Also bringing 1 towel you like from home is a winner. LET the cruise line know if you are traveling to celebrate birthday,anniversary,retiring or other special reason,they will often give you perks or make it extra special.
I think in some other videos it has been mentioned that if you cannot drink alcohol then you can call the cruise line to try and explain the situation and that they might let you get the non alcohol drink package. I don't know for sure though
Another thing I do when buying airfare a year earlier- I go into my account and pull up the flight- I hit change flight- it will show you flights available- some will cost more but sometimes it will be less and I book it and the difference is given to me in e credits for future flights
We only use Viking and Oceania. Viking includes beer and wine with lunch and dinner, and my wife drinks very little, so a drink package makes no sense for us. Both lines include soft drinks for free, and there is no charge for specialty dining.
Good point to put your phone, iPad, etc., in airplane mode once you cannot connect with shore phone services.
We seldom gamble and Viking does not have casinos or children under 18 on their ships.
This video is so helpful! Also wanted to ask, where did you get your swimsuit cover up (time stamp 6:59)? It’s so cute!
Neither my wife or I drink Alcohol, Tea or coffee so taking the drink package is quite an expensive waste of money. I do order bottle to keep in our fridge because I like really cold water. We also prefer inside cabins because we're only in our rooms to sleep and shower.
Great tips and your channel is very helpful. We are going on our first cruise next month. Thank you for your advice.
Travel insurance is NEVER an unnecessary expense. Spend the money!!!
We always get it now that we're a bit older. I got COVID on my last cruise and the travel insurance refunded me the cost of 4 days of my cruise (the time I was in quarantine). MORE than paid for the cost of the insurance!
I totally agree with purchasing travelers insurance. We did this for my husband , myself, and 3 kids under 20 yrs old when we went to a 7 days Eastern Caribbean cruise. Thank God I did because my 15 year old scratched his eye while taking off contact lens, he had a corneal abrasion and it was extremely painful! He couldn’t open his eyes, he stayed in the cabin for 3 days of the cruise, we went to see the doctor on board. Then we couldn’t dock in Miami at the last day of the cruise due to a storm so the ship had to extend the cruise for an extra day. We obviously missed our flight back home, had to rent a hotel for a night, get airline tickets for 5 people, pay for meals, and rent a car. All these expenses were refunded to us by the travel insurance! It took 6 months to get everything back. Keep all receipts and get a copy of the medical records and bill from the doctor. You have to file the claim online , which can be time consuming but worth getting your money back.
@hwhite8989 we are on the Discovery Princess right now and I got really sick. Went to the doctor on the ship. We were not aware they won't handle anything with insurance. You have pay out of pocket then deal with the insurance company yourself. One good thing is we missed an excursion and we were told that we couldn't cancel since it was only 1 day notice (you have to give them 3 days notice to cancel) But we did find out if you take the excursion receipts to the doctor they will stamp them to prove your visit and drop it off at guest services and the charge should be removed from our account. (Let's hope so)
@@deebell8727 When I was sick we did just as you said and Princess refunded the price of the excursions I missed - but you do have to get the stamp from the medical office. And yes, we had to pay for everything and then be reimbursed by either the travel insurance or our personal medical insurance after we returned home. Took a little time but it wasn't that hard.
@melodeekistner2936 that's good to hear. Hopefully it all goes well and we will get reimbursed also. Nothing worse than being sick and not at home 😒
I have been on about 30 cruises and there are always things I can learn. You do a great job at adding value to my cruising.
Our next cruise is in 2 weeks and we opted for the Premier package for our first time on Princess. We did this for a few reasons. First, we don't agree with pre-paid gratuities to the cruise line so this gives the appearance that the cruise line is paying our staff a fair wage. We never go to specialty restaurants on a cruise ship since we regularly go to land based ones and we will get to try 2 on this trip. We don't regularly drink. At best 1 drink per cruise for the wife. On this trip we are going to try drinks we have only heard about but never would waste the money to try ala cart. Finally, this is our 25th wedding anniversary so we are stepping it up some and trying new things.
Regards to the drink package. If you have someone that wants the drink package but have someone in your cabin that doesn’t want the package and are going with kids and you have multiple rooms then try putting a kid as your passenger that is getting the drink package even if the kid isn’t actually staying with you
We always buy the drink package. It is worth it as we also like specialty coffees and get the water bottles for the excursions. It’s great for sea day mimosas with fresh squeezed
OJ too!
You discussed bringing snacks and drinks/alcohol onboard if allowed. I have heard that NCL is one of the cruise lines that will not allow this. Am I correct? Thanks in advance
You can bring one wine bottle per adult. No sodas allowed.
I’ve only been on Disney Cruise Line and Viking so far. DCL didn’t have drink packages you would only pay for alcoholic drinks (if you are concierge, then they have a concierge room that has free alcohol so before what I did is got my drink in the lounge and brought my drink to dinner). On Viking, there were drink packages but at lunch and dinner you could get a glass of wine, or a beer, or a tea, or a soda at no extra charge so my dad and I didn’t buy the drink package (on Viking, try the peach tea it is delicious). My dad and I are going on our first Holland America Line cruise in December and we did buy the have-it-all package; for our sailing it includes two cruise excursions a piece, two speciality restaurants reservations, Wi-Fi, and the elite drink package. I guess we will see if it is worth it or not.
We made a few mistakes.. like the casino one.... but we did sit and figure out the plus package last year. I havebit all written out. But here is the list of it:
$60/day - $25/d for internet = $35/d - crew appreciation $16/d = $19.. now we did not factor in the desserts, fitness classes. If alcohol drinks are about $8-$10 each.. that is 2-3 drinks. Now coffees, water, teas, sodas etc.... you only need 4 ta make it pay. The other way to look at it is $60/d is only 6 alcohol drinks or a combination of 12 other drinks.
I do not take a drinks package because on the cruise line I travel with, I would need to drink between 11 and 15 drinks a day to make it worthwhile, and I don't drink that much.
Makes sense
Ya sound like a Carnival Cruiser. We feel the same. We only pay as we go for drinks which at most is 1-2 drinks a day.
@@TheRecon1a Yes, you are right. They are Carnival Corporation companies like P&O Princess and Cunard. because they sail out of Southampton all year round so it's easier for me to use such Cruise lines,
I learned that the hard way with "Free at Sea" from NCL. I didn't begin to consume enough to justify it.
Thanks so much for this VERY helpful video, Ilana! I would have not known about re-faring a cruise, but was able to see a decrease of over $700 when I re-fared our cruise just yesterday! Thank you!!
I’m so glad to hear! I love when a tip actually gets money saving results quickly 👏👏
I ALWAYS buy drink package on NCL because you only pay the gratuities. Also, Princess, Celebrity and HAL have packages that include beverages and other things. I buy those packages because I want Internet and with Princess gratuities are included.
Royal Caribbean's drink package is expensive so I don't usually buy it. But on my upcoming Icon cruise we got it (kept checking and rebooking for lower price).
We buy the drink package. That way, we can have a drink before a meal, with a meal, or after the meal, plus the bottled water and special coffees. The drink package also includes wi-fi and the gratuities.
I managed to bring a case of soda onboard as I had four in my party. I made sure it was the competitors product too, Pepsi vs Coke or visa versa. Saved a ton of money
I was 🤏this close to buying the RC drinks package for my family. Then I wrote out how many drinks i could imagine us having on a 'splurge' day, and even on a heavy-drinking (for me) day it would still be cheaper to just buy as I go AND buy a bottle of tequila in port to bring home.
We always take advantage if the cruise line allows soda, flavored water, or wine to be brought on board. We also always bring chips and chocolate. Remember if you drive in or fly in the day before you can always make a trip to your local grocery store, walmart, or even Big Box store to get your snacks, reading materials, and even suntan lotion. We always bring our over the counter drugs with us and again if we forget we can pick them up on that trip that we make most likely to Walmart at the destination since we've always boarded for our 20 cruises from the US
We'll definitely get the drink package. It's a vacation. We drink. Planning ahead of time is much better than realizing that we've had 10/12 drinks in a day between the two of us. Days are long and nights are longer. PARTY ON! 😊
Only booking cruiseline shore excursions. Independent excursions can be cheaper for the very same excursion and there are usually excursions that the cruiseline does not offer. For example I will be doing a lobster boat excursion in Portland, Maine that NCL does not offer.
But make sure they have a guarantee to get you back to the ship in time.
Since we both enjoy an occasional beer with dinner but not hard liquor usually, we found a system that works well for us. We skip the drink package. Instead we have the cabin steward remove everything from the minibar fridge (they will do this if you ask them to). Then we watch for the happy hour specials that they have most days, usually while we are playing trivia. It is usually BOGO for bottles of beer. We take them back to the cabin unopened and take them with us to dinner. This way, we have our beer with dinner at half price, kept cold in the fridge until we want it. Again, we don't drink a lot, and rarely mixed drinks, so this works very well for us.
I thought it was required for them to open the bottle before it leaves the bartenders counter…cool idea…we will try it. Txs.
We have only accepted the drink package on Norwegian Cruise Line. I typically know the prices of the drinks, and I look at the length of the cruise, and how much are typical drinking would cost.
2:00 you can disable roaming in your phone setting, that way it won't turn on when you are outside of your home country
i've been cruising for over 20 years and had no idea about status matching! i’m def going to look into this. thank you!
Hi I’m beyond excited we booked our cruise so very long ago
And we are doing the all included and we paid for the upgrade drinks we don’t vacation often so this is a treat and I just want to have fun no worries
I have a question the martini are 17 American not Canadian right??
I’ve never been on a cruise but maybe going in the future and always heard that food and drinks were included, people have told me you can’t eat and drink 24 hours a day is this false ?
Ive been told by a very experienced cruiser to go to the Concierge on Day 1 and stop automatic gratuities and tell them that you would pay as you go depending on the quality of services. Thoughts?
Many places now require that sun screen is environmentally friendly specifically places that have diveable reefs.
Thank you for the helpful information and I want to add that also the coffee drink package isn’t worth the price! Most of the specialty coffee taste watery and the same
Wife and I are Diamond and only sail on Royal. We also are light drinkers, so our 4 free drinks per day are good enough for us. No Drink Package required.
On our last cruise our travel agent did not come up with all the perks she promised so we are looking for a new travel agent
any tips with Carnival on how to upgrade a cabin to a suite?