It was a fabulous cruise, the late-night glasses of champagne on the lido deck, the energizing massage in the spa, the Jack Daniels sipped at the poolside bar and the scuba diving off Cozumel.
And-oh, yes-there was that great shot the cruise photographer snapped as the two of you strolled on the promenade deck, your wife in her Ralph Lauren best, you in a dashing navy blue blazer. You both looked so continental.
It was a fabulous cruise. Until, that is, it came time to settle up with the purser for that week of heaven in the Caribbean.
Then the cruise version of sticker shock hit: Your final bill was a bit heftier than you figured. A couple hundred dollars to be exact.
Blame the big bill on those late-night champagnes. And the massage, Jack Daniels and snorkeling excursion. Blame it on that photo.
Okay, so maybe the photo wasn’t the culprit on its own. At $6, the price tag on that 5-by-7 souvenir didn’t seem high at the time. Then again, neither did the $7 (plus 15 percent tip) for two glasses of champagne.
But with cruising, as with most travel, it is important to remember that incidentals can add up.
“On a standard Caribbean cruise, you can expect to spend $25 per day per person on extras plus another $10 a day per person in gratuities, and this can add up to as much as $500 for a couple on a seven-day cruise,” says Douglas Ward, Miami Beach-based author of the “Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships” and co-publisher of Porthole: The Intelligent Cruise Magazine.
That can be a chunk of change-especially when you vaguely recall hearing the words “all inclusive” mentioned sometime during your conversation with your travel agent.
“The brochures nearly always state, in the North American marketplace, that they are almost all `inclusive’ cruises, (but) this is clearly not the case,” says Ward, who is president of the 12-year-old International Cruise Passengers Association. “Reading the fine print at the back of the brochure you will find that cruise lines state that `Items of a personal nature are at extra cost.’ “
Those `Items’ can range from insurance to shore excursions. Vegas-style shows are included on many cruises, but if you sip a chardonnay during that show, it will cost you. On-board aerobics classes are often included, but an afternoon of trap shooting or a snorkeling trip to Cozumel is probably not.
“A lot of people don’t realize they’ll incur extra expenses during a 7-to-10-day cruise,” says Phil R. Beach, Orlando-based editor and publisher of The Shipboard Cruiser Newsletter. “On a 7-to-10-day cruise, they could easily spend $1,000 per couple, especially on shore excursions which are often the biggest item.”
“We will quote you an all-inclusive price which will get you to and from the ship from your hometown airport,” says Rich Steck, spokesman for Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “We will provide all your on-board entertainment, some good food and a nice place to stay. In other words, room, board and entertainment.”
Yet newcomers to the world of cruising may be confused or surprised by some of those extra costs, which vary from line to line.
Say you have a woman’s blouse washed; it will cost about $2.50. Dry clean a pair of slacks, and $3 will be added to your tab. Have a can of Diet Pepsi delivered poolside, and the $1.25 cost (plus 15 percent tip) will be added to your room charge. Call the doctor to your cabin at midnight with back spasms, and it can cost $45. Visit the hair salon for a shampoo and set; that bit of pampering will set you back $22.
Need a babysitter? One cruise line charges $8 an hour per child, with a three-hour minimum. But if you left the kids at home with grandma, and instead called to chat for three minutes, you’ll find $45 or so on your tab.
“If they’re going to be shocked by anything, the cost of a long-distance call home can be a real shock to (cruise passengers),” says Nancy Kelly, of Kelly Cruises Inc. in Oak Brook. “It’s not unusual for a passenger to pay $15 per minute. If they are going to call home, do it from a phone booth at a port.”
“Generally, what we like to tell people is that if you’re viewing your overall vacation budget, we estimate that 80 percent of your vacation cost is covered in your initial cruise fare,” says Jennifer de la Cruz, spokesperson for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines.
Which means that if the cruise fare is $1,200, for example, you can expect to have $240 in costs over a seven-day cruise. That extra 20 percent does not include gambling and gifts, according to De la Cruz, who says those items vary too much to estimate.
Because different cruise lines have different policies on what is and is not included-from the types of beverages to room service-it is important to work closely with a cruise-savvy travel agent.
In fact, there are a number of cruise lines such as Seabourn and Seven Seas which include everything from wine at dinner to port taxes and shore excursions in the initial price, explains Kelly.
“Some upscale luxury ships include things that other cruise lines do not,” says Kelly. “Silversea includes all of the gratuities, includes complimentary beverages and selected wines, includes port charges, a deluxe hotel prior to the cruise and one interesting shore excursion.
“On some of the exotic cruises, such as the Ocean Pearl to Asia, there is a tremendous number of things that are included,” she adds.
“Have the travel agent go through the cruise brochure with you. And together you should be able to read through the fine print and discern what is and what is not included in the fare you paid,” says Ward. “Unfortunately, in these days of deep discounting, most cruise lines have to find more on-board revenue in order to make up that revenue lost from items that were formerly included in the fare.”
“The most satisfactory trip is going to be one in which you know up front all of the costs that should be anticipated,” says De la Cruz. “Cruising enjoys a very strong reputation as a good value. The primary reason for that is the all-inclusive aspect-the majority of costs are covered in initial cruise fare.”
So there you are on the high seas, away from it all, and the heady experience of a cruise kicks in. Throughout the trip, you’ll often be charging everything to your room. Before the big-spender mentality takes over, consider these additional expenses:
Port taxes: Depending on your destination and the length of the cruise, port taxes can cost anywhere from $80 to $150 per person and up.
Each port including the home port assesses a per passenger tax on the cruise lines to cover docking, warfage, etc., according to De la Cruz, so that on a seven-day Caribbean cruise on Carnival’s Sensation, for example, the port charges will be about $89 per person.
“Port taxes are normally not included in the total air-sea package cost,” says Pam Knickrehm of Kelly Cruises. “But they are paid before you board.”
It is important, says Knickrehm, for consumers to clarify if the port charges are included in the price quoted them by the travel agent.
Tipping: The concept of tipping can be as confusing in your hometown coffee shop as it is on a cruise.
Usually, on the ship’s last night out, a cabin steward will leave envelopes in your cabin-one for your cabin steward, another for your dining room waiter, another for your dining room busboy-and often another for the head waiter.
Steck says, “You really need to plan for tips, and then figure out what your basic tips are going to be, then put that in an envelope and put it away somewhere. Otherwise you’re going to be terribly embarrassed when it comes time to tip and you’ve spent all your money.”
He suggests setting aside three envelopes at the beginning of the trip with $3 per person per day for the steward and the waiter. For a couple on a seven-day cruise, that’s $42 for the steward and $42 for the waiter. The busboy gets half ($1.50 per day), or $21 for two of you. That adds up to $105 in tips for a couple on a seven-day cruise.
On the Crystal Harmony, an upscale ship, gratuities are recommended at $9 per person per day, with $3.50 for the room stewardess and $3.50 for your waiter and $2 for the assistant waiter, according to Los Angeles-based Crystal Cruises, Inc. All other tips to the maitre d’, headwaiter, butler, assistant stewardess and night snack personnel are at a guest’s discretion, according to Crystal Cruises.
Insurance: A good agent should ask if you want insurance.
“Suitcases can get lost,” says Steck. “If you’re sick and need shore-side care, or if you need to be flown back (to the States), you could be out up to $15,000 for the air ambulance.”
“We generally strongly recommend that people take insurance,” says Kelly. “Their own insurance generally does not cover travelers when they are outside the U.S. nor does Medicare.”
And, without cancellation insurance, you`ll usually lose everything you`ve paid if you cancel your cruise-no matter how good the reason seems to you.
Travel agencies and cruise lines have different types of insurance programs available (to cover cancellation, lost luggage or medical care, for example) which can go by different names. Price tags on such insurance programs vary, of course, depending on the type of coverage.
Knickrehm of Kelly Cruises suggests selecting a cruise insurance that includes medical coverage during the trip, trip cancellation and interruption coverage and baggage delay.
Insurance costs vary widely, but here’s one example: A couple books a cruise to the Caribbean costing about $3,000 for the two of them. One possible insurance program covering everything from the time they leave to the time they return (trip cancellation, medical and baggage) would cost them $146. That’s small potatoes considering the thousands they would lose if they cancelled the trip-or the bills they could face from a major medical emergency.
Food and beverage: Cruises have earned a reputation as food festivals of sorts.
“Once you get on board, food is free and you can eat all you want-seconds, thirds, fourths and fifths-nine times a day,” says Steck.
But “beverages” are another matter.
Says Kelly, “Drinks (alcoholic or soft) are not included with most cruises. In the dining room, coffee, juices and tea are included. By the pool, ice water or ice tea is usually included, but if you ask a waiter to bring you a Coke or a drink, then that’s an additional charge.”
“If you’re sitting at a bar and it’s not at a meal and you want a coffee, you may pay for the coffee,” notes De la Cruz.
And if you take your water bottled, you may pay $1.95 for a half-liter of Evian. Wine prices can start at $12 for a chenin blanc on Carnival, $22 and up on Crystal’s Harmony.
Generally, every time you buy a drink, 15 percent will be added to the tab, so you’re not expected to tip the guy when he brings you the drink on the pool deck.
Tours: There is scuba diving in Caribbean (one line charges about $70 for a two-tank scuba dive with rental gear included) and flights over Alaska’s glaciers (about $200).
“Anything you do shore side will cost you,” says Steck, “ranging from $13 to $350. Shore tours average $20, but plan $20 to $50 per person per activity.”
“Sometimes people are shocked and sometimes surprised by the cost of the shore excursion, especially if they’ve not taken a cruise before. Or if they go to the Mediterannean or Scandinavia where (shore excursions) can be expensive,” says Kelly. “The value of our U.S. dollar is directly related to the cost of the shore excursions all over the world (and) whether they’re going to be expensive or not.”
