Myth – A cruise vacation is too expensive.  Not at all.

While not cheap,  a cruise vacation is still a very efficient use of vacation funds.  The cruise industry continues to compete for the ever growing market.  The market is growing because more and more people can afford cruises.

A look at the Value

Value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, so, value is only relevant to each individual based their preferences and what they are looking for in a vacation.    A cruise vacation offers value in the broadest scale by the features of the vacation that are included in the fare.    To see how far your vacation dollars can go, this post will first illustrate the bare bones vacation for two, joining a group cruise.

The Cost of a Cruise Vacation

Base Fare – Taxes and Port Fees – Gratuities – Insurance – Transportation to Port – Excursions at Ports Visited – Additional Options At Sea

Base Fares

Every cruise vacation will include the base fare, that is the price advertised for a specific cruise, and the cabin category being advertised.   Often referred to as the lead in price, it routinely is offered on a per-person fare based on double occupancy.  The base fare is a great tool when shopping for cruises and narrowing down the cruise line, ship, dates and itineraries that appeal to the shopper the most.   As you can see above, the base fare is only part of the eventual total cost of a cruise.  Use the base fare to compare.

Taxes and Port Fees and Gratuities

Each cruise, based on length, cost and the number of ports being visited will have an additional line item in the cost of the cruise for each person booked that reflects the taxes and port fees.   Additionally, each person is charged a set daily amount in mandatory gratuities that can be paid prior to sailing or paid while aboard the ship.  The gratuities are for the food and beverage servers, porters and housekeeping staff.  Gratuities are 11-14 dollars a day per person.

Travel Protection/Insurance

When booking, the decision to purchase travel protection directly from the cruise line, through a third party or you own travel club will be made.  As a consumer, I always purchase some form of insurance, and a group cruise planner, I highly encourage the same to all my clients.   I use a third party vendor that includes free coverage of pre-existing health concerns if coverage is purchased within a week of booking a cruise.  Look for a blog post on insurance coming soon.

Additional Costs

Beyond the cost to board the ship and enjoy all the complimentary features included in your booking, there are other expenses that you may or may not decide to enjoy.

The complimentary features include dinning, comedy shows, musical performances, nightclubs, lectures, pool side  deck parties, themed nights, sports venues, the gym, group fitness events led by professional trainers, etc, etc.  The list of activities that are included are more enough to enjoy a very nice cruise.    So how else could you spend additional monies on your cruise?

Two significant forms of additional expenses are alcohol and shore excursions.   Alcohol is not included.    There are beverage packages that can be purchased that allow you to control how much you will spend.  Lately, cruise lines not only offer the various beverage packages, some are including a “free” adult beverage package as a booking incentive, I say free because the free beverage package comes with additional gratuities near 100 per person, for me and my wife, 100 per person to drink for a week while on vacation is an absolute bargain, no brainer.     Shore excursions are expensive, as with insurance, you may select excursions through the cruise line or you may go with a third party shore excursion, we do both.     The best way to avoid shore excursions is to be your own travel guide, google the ports you are going to visit, we have often found things to do in port that allow us to enjoy the port visit.   We have often been successful finding nearyby hotels that have beach passes tailored to those of us on a port visit.

Transportation To The Port

If possible, choose a cruise close to home.   If you are able to drive the day of embarkation, and park at a discount parking venue that provides a shuttle to and from the ship, then that will be the least expensive.   It does add significant costs when, because of distance you need to fly to the port the day before the cruise and spend an evening in a local hotel.  We have done both, and it adds several hundred dollars per person depending on airfare and hotel costs.

Still a Value?

Without a doubt, when first time cruisers ask me for a quote for our group cruise, I always know the number for booking various cabin categories for particular cruise.    They are always surprised to hear they can join our 7 day cruise, with the adult beverage package for less than 800 dollars a person.   That is two people in an inside cabin and includes the base fare, the taxes, and gratuities.  If we convince them to purchase travel insurance, it add less than 100 dollars.   So yes, a one week vacation aboard a ship full of features, visiting 3-5 ports during the vacation, all for less than 1000 per person is a heck of a deal.   I can think of no other vacation where you can eat and drink all you want, enjoy poolside activities all day, attend comedy and musicals in the evening, then party to wee hours of the night at various night clubs.    You are only a first time cruiser once, then you are a returning cruise enthusiast, learning more and more ways to extend your vacation dollars.

I am always happy to help, let me know your questions and I will answer them in future blogs.

Jeff