So your cruise is booked, paid for, and your ready to go. You are ready to get on the Lido deck and sip on a frozen concoction – but not so fast. First you need to figure out how much money to budget for your cruise.

Let’s start at the pier

Expect to pay $15 a day for port parking if you drive your personal vehicle.

Embarkation

When you start the embarkation process you will have the option of using a credit card or cash to link up to your on board spending account.

Using a credit card is much easier and painless. The cruise line will swipe your card, give you your room card which doubles as your on-board credit card.

If you take the cash option you have to go to the guest relations desk on the ship and activate your card, generally to start at $250.

Keep in mind with the exception of the casinos, cash and credit are not accepted on board. The bars, shops, and excursions at the ports of call are all paid with you on board purchase card.

Onboard

It is customary to tip your room steward, table waiter, and head waiter in the dining room at the end of the cruise. You can choose to pay the tips on your on board purchasing card and get charged at the end or pay cash. Generally gratuaties do not exceed 10 dollars per day.

Though I can’t tell you how much to bring. You know your spending habits, how much you plan on drinking, gambling, etc….  You can have a blast without spending much!