Cruise costs: frequently asked questions
How much are cruise gratuities?
Mainstream lines charge $16 to $20 per person per night in a standard stateroom (Royal Caribbean $18.50, Carnival $17, Norwegian $20, Princess $18, Celebrity $19.50, Holland America $17, MSC Cruises $16, Disney $16). Suites and top cabin grades are charged more — $19 to $27.25 a night on the same lines. On the calculator's default figures — 7 nights, 2 guests at $18.50 per person per night — that is $129.50 per person and $259.00 for the cabin over the week. Gratuities are charged for every night of the sailing, including port days you spend ashore, and most lines add them to your onboard account automatically unless you prepay.
Is a cruise drink package worth it?
It depends entirely on how much you drink, and the break-even is higher than most people expect. At $75 per person per day and a $14 cocktail you need about 5.4 cocktails a day just to get your money back. The calculator's default drinker — 3 at $14 cocktails, 2 at $8 beers and 2 at $5 soft drinks — spends $476 over 7 nights against a package price of $525, so the package costs $49 more than paying as you go. Packages also add 18–20% gratuity on top, and most lines require every adult in the cabin to buy one.
What does a 7-night cruise really cost beyond the fare?
Take the budget planner's defaults: a $2,000 fare for 2 people over 7 nights, plus $400 of shore excursions, gratuities at $18.50 per person per night, $50 a day of onboard extras and $500 of flights and pre-cruise costs. The total is $3,509 — $1,755 per person, $501 a night — against an advertised fare of $2,000. The fare is the single largest line, but it is not most of the bill.
How much should I budget for shore excursions and days ashore?
The excursion planner's default — 5 ports at $80 per person — comes to $400 per person, $800 for two, an average of $160 a port. Spending ashore is separate: on 4 port days with meals, shopping and transport the port estimator returns $200 per port for two and $800 across the trip. Independent tours often cost less than the ship's own, with the trade-off that the ship will not wait for one that runs late.
How much cash should I take ashore?
The port estimator assumes about 60% of a day ashore is spent in cash and the rest on a card, which on its default day — $200 for two — is $120 per port. Market stalls, taxis and tuk-tuks in most cruise regions do not take cards, and ATMs inside the terminal usually charge the worst rate available that day.
How much does cruise travel insurance cost?
Between about 3% of trip cost for cancellation cover alone and 10% for cancel-for-any-reason. The estimator's default — a $3,000 trip, standard cancel-plus-medical cover at 5% of trip cost — returns $150, or $75 each for two travellers. Age matters more than most people expect: the same policy loads 25% over 60 and 50% over 70, and declaring a pre-existing condition adds roughly 30%.
Is a balcony cabin worth the extra money?
Work it out per night rather than per booking. On the cabin comparison's defaults over 7 nights for 2 people, an inside cabin is $1,200 total, $86 per person per night and a balcony is $2,200 total, $157 per person per night, +$1,000 vs inside. The gap that matters is per night, not per booking: on these figures a balcony costs $71 a night more per person than an inside cabin over 7 nights. A balcony earns its money on scenic itineraries — Alaska, Norway, the fjords, the Mediterranean coast — where the view changes through the day; on a Caribbean run between sea days and beaches it mostly buys somewhere quiet to sit.
How much luggage can I take on a cruise?
Cruise lines themselves are relaxed about it — the limit that actually binds is the airline's on the flight to the port. The checker's default of 2 bags at 23 kg per bag comes to 33.0 kg against an allowance of 46.0 kg, leaving 13.0 kg. Weigh bags before the return flight, not the outbound one: souvenirs and duty-free are what put people over.
Are these cruise calculators free, and is my data stored?
They are free, there is nothing to sign up for, and nothing you type leaves your browser. Every calculation on this page runs locally in JavaScript — no figure you enter is transmitted to this site or to anyone else, and nothing is saved when you close the tab.