Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Cruise Questions... How much money should I bring, clothes, etc?

Cruise Questions... How much money should I bring, clothes, etc?
Ok here goes a few questions... I have never been on a cruise before and want to make sure i'm prepared so that I can just have fun on the cruise and not have to worry about anything... I'm 21 and going on a 9 day Princess Cruise to the Eastern Caribbean (Grand Turk, San Juan, St.Thomas and Bermuda.) I would like to know how much money I should expect to spend on and off the ship so I can have enough on my debit card and not worry about overdrawing my account. I do plan to drink a decent bit (and go to Margaritaville) and do some of the more expensive shore excursions such as Snuba diving. Also, if anyone knows from experience is there better snorkeling in San Juan or Bermuda? I'm also a horrible packer and try to bring everything I own on vacation which i'm sure won't fly on a cruise, so what should I pack? And is there anything else you would suggest I bring, do or just generally should know? Thanks!
Cruise Travel - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
If you can get to Trunk bay in St Thomas, that is the place to snorkel. Money wise, I would figure at least $1,000 for drinking, extras, tips, and a few shore excursions. That is per person. For this cruise(I have been on a similar cruise with Princess), bring only summer clothes like sandals, shorts, t shirts and tank tops, swim wear, flip flops, a hat and plenty of sun screen. For dinner wear sun dresses or cool slacks. Bring 1 pair of walking shoes too. Oh, be sure to call your bank to let them know you will be out of the USA. That way your debt card will not send up a bunch of red flags to the bank. p.s., Margaritaville is a lot of fun and they have neat souvenirs.
2 :
I hear you need at least $100 a day when cruising, so I would say $900. You don't have to spend it all, but with tips, light gambling, alcohol, shopping, excursions etc. I think that would be a good starting number. I'm sure it would be easy to go way over that if you are not careful, but also very possible to stay well under it if you are.
3 :
There is a saying.... Layout everything you've packed (including money) out on your bed. Leave half your stuff and take twice the money. Most people over pack. Also, I don't remember Princess having a baggage limit, I mean they aren't as strict as airlines, Just pack one large suitcase and a carry-on and of course extra bags for souvenirs.
4 :
For me personally I bring next to no day clothing. I already know I'm going to be in a bathing suit every day so I bring several bathing suits and coverups. I bring usually one tshirt in case I get sunburned. You are expected to be covered inside the ship. I absolutely love the stretchy top sundress/ coverups right now. I have several of them. I also have a terry cloth halter dress. That is seriously all my day wear. If you are a gym rat, carry a pair of shorts and tennis shoes to work out in. For night time, lay out your stuff ahead of time. One dress for every night, a couple formal. Perhaps one replacement dress, in case you don't like that choice that night or need a dress with a bit more room in the waist. So 10 outfits for dinner. If you lay it all out at one time you are less likely to overpack. Shore excursions range all over the board but I've discovered a good budget is $100 per shore excursion. Snuba is right about that as well. My husband LOVED snuba! It was his favorite excursion. If you do a hike in the rain forest in PR, bring a ziplock bag. Our clothing smelled so bad after that. We left it out on the deck to dry but wow--it reeked. I had to wash my shirt 3 times before I could wear it again. You won't want that going back in your luggage. Now on to money. So plan on roughly $100 per person for the hotel tips that are automatically added to your credit card. They charge you per pay and on my last cruise it was $11 per day. $100 per shore excursion per person. I probably wouldn't do a shore excursion at St Thomas b/c that's where all your shopping will be and it's got so much to do right at the port. Walking through Charlotte Amalie is amazing. I usually buy some jewelry down there since it's so cheap but it really depends on what you are planning to buy. My husband and I usually spend about $100 on liquor to bring back--especially Cruzan rum which is one of our favorites. It's hard to guess how much you will buy at each port but St Thomas will be the place you'll shop. The only place to shop at Grand Turks is Margaritaville. Then alcohol. Cruise ships usually mix some strong drinks. They offer drink specials too that can often help you out by saving several bucks. On Carnival, the drink special is about $2 off if you bring your souvenir glass around. I usually drink about 2 drinks a day and my husband and I get a bottle of wine at dinner. On a 7 day, that's roughly a $400 bill. So for you by yourself, I would think if you set aside $200-300 you'd be fine. If you own snorkel gear, I'd pack your own snorkel gear. Also pack your own aloe vera and if you get motion sick, medicine. They have it on ship but the markup is outrageous. For going snorkeling/snuba, get a water camera from the drug store before you leave. But really if you want some great pictures check out this bag. http://cgi.ebay.com/DiCAPac-Camera-Water-Dust-Snow-Proof-Case-UV-Bag-WP510_W0QQitemZ180360733473QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item29fe566321&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50 My husband got one of these and it worked great. No water got into the camera at all and that way we were able to get some good clear pictures no the kinda blue tinged pictures the underwater cameras tend to give you. So I'd say you can do it on $800 for the 9 days. That gives you 100 for tips, 300 for shore excursions, 100 for shopping and 300 alcohol budget. You may want to allow yourself an extra 100 for the spa and if you want to buy jewelry, 100 for shopping won't be enough. Though since you already know you want to go to Margaritaville you could save money but not doing a shore excursion there. We just got off our last cruise in April and went to Grand Turks. Wasting the day in Margaritaville was what made Grand Turks one of my favorite stops. Margaritaville was awesome.



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