Watch Out For Extra Costs On Your Cruise!

While most cruises are labeled all-inclusive, they really are not. With continuing competition to reduce fares, the cruise lines must look to pricey extras to keep profits flowing. Often times, cruise patrons forget to account for these extra costs and can easily let their vacation budgets get out of hand. Below you will find a list of the most common extra costs you will find on most cruises.

Drinks
On almost all cruises, water, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and some fruit juices are free! That's the good news. Soda and alcoholic beverages cost extra. Soda is usually reasonable but it can add up if you drink a lot. Some cruises offer all you can drink soda cards for a fixed price. Generally, if you drink more than three a day, these cards can save you money. Alcoholic beverages are the biggest on-board source of revenue for cruise ships. The cruises make it very easy to put drinks on your tab. People can get caught up in the situation and rack up a tab of over $500 in alcohol. Drinks cost between $4 for beer and wine up to $12 for certain mixed drinks. You can take a chance and try to bring a bottle of wine or other drinks on board the ship. Most cruise lines discourage this though and they might confiscate your drinks until the cruise is over.

Tips
Some cruises do not allow tips. Others have tips automatically added to your tab at the end of the cruise. These tips are usually between $8 and $12 per day, per person. The tips go to your cabin steward, waiter, and busboy. These cruise workers count on your tips for the majority of their paychecks. If you have the option, please tip the workers, but be careful not to get carried away as it can add up fast. You might also have to tip your cruise director or director of activities.

Gambling
Today, I don't know of a single cruise ship that doesn't have a casino. In addition, there are often once or twice daily bingo games. Like with drinks, cruise ships generate a lot of on-board revenue from their casinos. As with any casinio, don't play more than you can afford to lose. The casino always has the advantage so it's up to you to know when to stop.

Phone Service
Phone calls from the ship to shore will cost around $10 PER MINUTE! If you have a cell phone, it doesn't hurt to bring it along since some programs have service near foreign ports. Otherwise, wait until you're on shore and use an international phone card. Another option would be to check the price of Internet service as you might be better off using e-mail.

Spas
The spas on board modern cruise ships rival the spas of the world's top resorts. They offer top notch beauty and fitness services. Like their on land counterparts, spa services on cruises are not cheap. Some can be worth the cost, while some of the more exotic treatments should be avoided if you are on a budget. Check with the spa desk about any free services they might offer. This will usually be the spa showers (with higher pressure and more space than your cabin) as well as the hot tubs and saunas.

Excursions
Almost immediately upon boarding the ship, you will begin to hear about the various excursions offered at the various ports of call. These excursions can cost anywhere from $15 up to $250 per person. The main advantage to using these excursions is the fact that they are sponsored by the cruise. This means the crusie has picked the excursion company and verified that it is a good service. These excursions are more expensive, though, than if you were to set something up for yourself. One caution - if you are on a non-cruise sponsored excursion that gets back to the docks late, the ship might be gone without you. The ship will only wait for sponsored excursions.

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