Ok folks, now do tell all how good or bad you were with your sail and sign.
I have to give myself a slap on the hand an a time out becuase I went overboard with the S&S. I spent $450 at the spa and after that I decided to go nuts--and I did. The final total was $2075, almost 50% was for charges at the onboard jewellery store......ya, bad me, but I got me some nice, but not gaudy, jewellery.
Holiday 1991
Victory 2007
Triumph 2007
Conquest Feb 2008
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1991 Holiday
2007 Victory & Triumph
2008 Conquest & Liberty
2009 Valor, Freedom, and Splendor
2010 Glory and Liberty
2011 Glory
I don't usually spend that much...I don't drink a whole lot, not much into the jewelry (although it is gorgeous!) and book my excursions...The most I ever put on mine was close to $375
WOW is all I can say! I never have a bill always prepaid for everything even drinks & photos. I think I would have to jump over the rail if I ever spent that much on a cruise buying things. But I guess you had fun and can afford to pay for that "big" bill. As long as you are happy with what you did & spent that is all that counts.
Hey, income taxes come in 6 months or so. I hope you can use yours for your bill. Ill be using mine to book the next trip. It is OK to splurg every once in awhile. You cant take it to heaven. Have FUN now. Thats why they are called the FUN SHIPS..!!!!
We found on our recent cruise that a little pre-planning and budgeting really helped us have a great time and not come home feeling awful about how much we spent. Seems like the word "budget" is a bad word to most these days especially on vacation. However, I think most of us are (or should be) at least somewhat limited about how much we should really spend onboard. You can have a great time, we believe, without "going nuts" as some people suggest doing. We Americans find any excuse to "go nuts"...Christmas, birthdays, anniversarys, vacations, it's Tuesday lol or whatever. Problem is too many people are "going nuts" to the point they don't ever have enough to retire and can't comfortably send a kid to college. Here are a few things that helped us keep our total onboard bill to less than 400 bucks for both of us. It may or may not help anyone else but we were actually proud of ourselves...
We stayed out of the spa even though massage is both our big weakness. I know they have "specials" etc. at certain times but a couple hundred bucks or more for a 45 or 60 min "couples massage" is still REALLY expensive. We decided to hold off on a massage for when we got home...Gave us something to look forward to when we got back and was nice after traveling and flying....Also cost about a third as much.
Wife splurged for one nice thing for her...a name brand purse for 125 bucks...But she is smart enough to know that it is dumb to shop too much onboard because she can get almost everything way cheaper in a store or online at home. Even I had to admit it was a pretty cool looking purse though.
We couldn't believe what some people were spending for excursions...We just found that alot of people went excursion crazy and felt like they had to do some kind of exotic adventure at every stop. Alot of times they would come back saying it was great but more often than not they were commenting on how expensive it was and the whole adventure was just "ok". Is it really worth 300 bucks for a couple to get into a tank with a trained dolphin for a few minutes?...I guess you can make the argument either way but I'll wait until retirement for that one lol...I know, I know, I may get hit by a train tomorrow and all of that!
A sincere, respectful, friendly relationship with your room steward, wait and bar staff will almost always get you a fair amount of free drinks, cool souvenier stuff etc. I lost count of how many free STRONG drinks we were comped' and our room steward never charged us for one water, coke etc we drank in the room. Always makes me laugh when peple talk about how there are no freebies on board..There are none for alot of folks because they make no effort to go out of their way to get to know these people and that is the only reason for them. We still joke about how our room streward all but told us to take home all the towels we liked lol.
Last but not least, sometime in the middle of your cruise, take the time to go to the desk and get a print out of everything you charged so far. Even if you are pretty conservative you might be surprised...Something about seeing it in black and white helps slow some down from using that card, that is so easy to use, quite so much the rest of the cruise...I think on some ships you can even review your spending on the TV.
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Carnival Holiday (1999 ?)
RCI Sovereign of the Seas 2007
RCI Enchantment of the Seas 2009
I spent $500 on my S&S card. $200 was for an excursion, plus the tips.. the rest was drinks and my ship magnet. This was for two people.. I'm not a shopper.
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Carolin
Life is too short to let the ship of your dreams sail without you.
Carnival Destiny Feb. 2006
Carnival Fascination Feb. 2007
Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas Feb. 2008 The DTW & MsBJ tour
Carnival Valor MsBJ and Dina Feb. 2009
Carnival Glory MsBJ and Dina Feb. 2010
Carnival Dream MsBJ and Dina Feb. 2011
We found on our recent cruise that a little pre-planning and budgeting really helped us have a great time and not come home feeling awful about how much we spent. Seems like the word "budget" is a bad word to most these days especially on vacation. However, I think most of us are (or should be) at least somewhat limited about how much we should really spend onboard. You can have a great time, we believe, without "going nuts" as some people suggest doing. We Americans find any excuse to "go nuts"...Christmas, birthdays, anniversarys, vacations, it's Tuesday lol or whatever. Problem is too many people are "going nuts" to the point they don't ever have enough to retire and can't comfortably send a kid to college. Here are a few things that helped us keep our total onboard bill to less than 400 bucks for both of us. It may or may not help anyone else but we were actually proud of ourselves...
We stayed out of the spa even though massage is both our big weakness. I know they have "specials" etc. at certain times but a couple hundred bucks or more for a 45 or 60 min "couples massage" is still REALLY expensive. We decided to hold off on a massage for when we got home...Gave us something to look forward to when we got back and was nice after traveling and flying....Also cost about a third as much.
Wife splurged for one nice thing for her...a name brand purse for 125 bucks...But she is smart enough to know that it is dumb to shop too much onboard because she can get almost everything way cheaper in a store or online at home. Even I had to admit it was a pretty cool looking purse though.
We couldn't believe what some people were spending for excursions...We just found that alot of people went excursion crazy and felt like they had to do some kind of exotic adventure at every stop. Alot of times they would come back saying it was great but more often than not they were commenting on how expensive it was and the whole adventure was just "ok". Is it really worth 300 bucks for a couple to get into a tank with a trained dolphin for a few minutes?...I guess you can make the argument either way but I'll wait until retirement for that one lol...I know, I know, I may get hit by a train tomorrow and all of that!
A sincere, respectful, friendly relationship with your room steward, wait and bar staff will almost always get you a fair amount of free drinks, cool souvenier stuff etc. I lost count of how many free STRONG drinks we were comped' and our room steward never charged us for one water, coke etc we drank in the room. Always makes me laugh when peple talk about how there are no freebies on board..There are none for alot of folks because they make no effort to go out of their way to get to know these people and that is the only reason for them. We still joke about how our room streward all but told us to take home all the towels we liked lol.
Last but not least, sometime in the middle of your cruise, take the time to go to the desk and get a print out of everything you charged so far. Even if you are pretty conservative you might be surprised...Something about seeing it in black and white helps slow some down from using that card, that is so easy to use, quite so much the rest of the cruise...I think on some ships you can even review your spending on the TV.
This was some excellent advice that you provided. I am going on a cruise by myself in December and have already allotted the total amount I will be spending. I went on a cruise in february and even though it was a short cruise I noticed that amount on those cards can get up there if you are noe paying attention. but I would like to thank you again for the advice
Thanks for all the advice and amounts spent. My dh and I are planning a cruise for early to mid year next year. I am budgeting about 200.00 a piece. I was thinking that was low 8) . After reading these posts it seems that maybe this will be enough. Angie
Thanks for all the advice and amounts spent. My dh and I are planning a cruise for early to mid year next year. I am budgeting about 200.00 a piece. I was thinking that was low 8) . After reading these posts it seems that maybe this will be enough. Angie
I have allowed 400.00 for the card and about 400.00 in cash just for spending at the ports that may seem like no money and all to some but you with X mas just being right around the corner I have to curve my spening to a minimum.
We tried to keep our last cruise under $1,000 and just barely made it by a few dollars.
Our last cruise total came to $984 but most of that was for our Blackstone post-cruise excursion (over $500 for the 3 of us). That floored me but everything in Alaska was expensive, much more then the Caribbean.
I also bought a cheaper excursion, a few misc things, pictures (about $100), and then the tips. It adds up really fast. I'm not even counting the excursions I bought online at home.
But, the memories will last much longer then the time it takes to pay off the credit card!
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Renee - The better half of RobRen :-)
Carnival - Spirit: Alaska (August 8, 2007)
Carnival - Miracle: Exotic Western Caribbean (April 9, 2006)
Royal Caribbean - Explorer of the Seas: Eastern Caribbean (January 2005)
We won almost $400 at blackjack, and we put it all towards the S&S card. We had already paid for our one Carnival excursion, so even with drinks and photos (and some misc. costume jewelry), S&S only came out to about $350.
I wanted to get a massage, too, but held myself back. Maybe one of these days I will get one on the ship. I really want one on the beach!
We usually spend about $2,000 but we take 11-14 day cruises and we love the Casino. I did win $4,800 on one cruise and my wife and I each won $1,000 on the last one.
Regarding stuff on the ship, besides jewelry, there wasn't really much on there that I would want to buy. We waited until the last couple of days for the t-shirt sales. I don't do gold (I like silver) so I didn't do any of the by the inch stuff.
Next time we go I plan on winning a lot more at the tables. I didn't start playing until a couple of days before it was over.
Well, we did bring some of our own alcohol, but we really didn't drink much either way. We both brought a bottle of wine, so we were able to drink those for dinner a few nights, and we got a bottle of champagne from our AWESOME travel agent...
I wanted to buy more pictures, but I tried to keep it down.
$79 of mine was infirmary charges... I had an allergic reaction to a new 60+ sunscreen I bought for the trip. I had to go to the infirmary and get some prednisone.
Regarding stuff on the ship, besides jewelry, there wasn't really much on there that I would want to buy. We waited until the last couple of days for the t-shirt sales. I don't do gold (I like silver) so I didn't do any of the by the inch stuff.
Next time we go I plan on winning a lot more at the tables. I didn't start playing until a couple of days before it was over.
Tracy, I think they also sell "silver" by the inch, too....
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Darlene Mariner of the Seas Carnival Magic Bloggers Cruise 5 Mariner of the Seas
HAL Statendam Alaska Cruise Tour - 09/09/12; Disney Magic - 12/01/12; Allure of the Seas - 05/26/13
Mine was less that 250.00 on our first cruise. I bought some things in the gift shop, some photos and one drink a day. I have already purchased 200.00 in funship dollars for this cruise in a few weeks. I'll put another 100.00 on the card just to have plenty. I'm not a big spender.
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Carnival legend November 2009
Carnival Glory October 2007
Carnival Elation November 2006
I did some serious planning before my cruise. I paid off the entire cruise in cash. Then, I purchased drink coupons so all my drinks were paid for. I also bought the soda card when I was on board. I pre-booked and pre-paid my excursions. I planned a massage in the spa so brought the cash for that and paid off the purser when I was finished. I also knew I was going to buy cigarettes so I brought the cash for that. My Final balance was $80 that is on my credit card. Not bad, and nothing to lose sleep over.
Our first cruise was $1100 on s & s account plus about $1200 cash, that was on a 4 day cruise. On our Second we spent $1600 on s & s account plus $2000 cash and that one was a 7 day. At that rate I couldn't afford a 10 day or longer.
Besides buying drink coupons and gift certificates for my on board credit I also purchase photo coupons ahead of time as I always know I will buy a few of them each time we cruise. I never, ever had a balance bill at the end of the cruise's I have been on or any credit card bills to worry about afterwards. Cash saved for things I want and pre paid coupons and gift certificates are the way to go! Makes for happy cruising!
As we prepay our tips, book our tours though Carnival's website, and order our Brandy from Carnival, our S&S is normally about $400.00. Most of that is pictures and getting the grandkids a little something with the ship's name on it.
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etc. at certain times but a couple hundred bucks or more for a 45 or 60 min "couples massage" is still REALLY expensive. We decided to hold off on a massage for when we got home...Gave us something to look forward to when we got back and was nice after traveling and flying....Also cost about a third as much.
I was thinking that was low 8) . After reading these posts it seems that maybe this will be enough. Angie 
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