Are trips on Cruise Ships really that inexpensive?

Out of curiosity, I decided to browse the websites of the two popular cruise ships: Royal Caribbean and Carnival.

To my surprise, the rates for a 3-5 day cruise were less than 500 bucks. Am I missing something here? Is that rate listed on the website per night or for the entire trip? And the rate even sometimes says for 'double occupancy'. No way! How can it be that cheap?

I always thought cruise vacations cost in the thousands. Paying less than $500 bucks to spend 3-5 nights on a luxury cruise ship with free food seems too good to be true.

With most of the meals included, what other costs or expenses is one expected to pay in addition to the rate listed on the website?

They are cheap if you can go and not pay for anything else. Expect to pay an incredible premium on everything else like beverages/drinks, excursions, on board activities and tips. You can do a cruise and not pay anything extra, but you have to be aware of what is free and what is not in advance. Many of the free things are there to try and get you to buy into something else. If you want a nice vacation, free food, don't need alcohol or sodas and can simply relax by the pool and take care of yourself at whatever port you visit, then cruising can be an incredible value.

also read carefully if port charges and taxes are included in the quoted prices. also tips will run you around another $40-50/night/person if you follow their suggested guidelines.

actually, i wouldnt consider the cruise cheap until it gets below $75/night. you wont find that kind of price on the cruise lines' websites however.

iirc, there may some threads in the Travel Forum on cruise prices.

frugalpete said: also read carefully if port charges and taxes are included in the quoted prices. also tips will run you around another $40-50/night/person if you follow their suggested guidelines.

actually, i wouldnt consider the cruise cheap until it gets below $75/night. you wont find that kind of price on the cruise lines' websites however.

iirc, there may some threads in the Travel Forum on cruise prices.


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Tips are $10-$12/night per person, not $40/$50 as this poster suggested

For a cruise newbie, what's a good place to start getting some research about cruises? I want to go on a shorter cruise (around 3 - 5 days), and from what I'm reading so far, I like the "freestyle" cruises where I don't have to sit at the same table with the same people everyday. Thank you for informing a newbie on this.

RLiu818 said: Out of curiosity, I decided to browse the websites of the two popular cruise ships: Royal Caribbean and Carnival.

To my surprise, the rates for a 3-5 day cruise were less than 500 bucks. Am I missing something here? Is that rate listed on the website per night or for the entire trip? And the rate even sometimes says for 'double occupancy'. No way! How can it be that cheap?

I always thought cruise vacations cost in the thousands. Paying less than $500 bucks to spend 3-5 nights on a luxury cruise ship with free food seems too good to be true.

With most of the meals included, what other costs or expenses is one expected to pay in addition to the rate listed on the website?

You can do 350 pp if you put 5 people in 1 room for 7 days. Just a place to sleep anyway. Think of it as a 7 day buffet.

superdrew said: frugalpete said: also read carefully if port charges and taxes are included in the quoted prices. also tips will run you around another $40-50/night/person if you follow their suggested guidelines.

actually, i wouldnt consider the cruise cheap until it gets below $75/night. you wont find that kind of price on the cruise lines' websites however.

iirc, there may some threads in the Travel Forum on cruise prices.


***
Tips are $10-$12/night per person, not $40/$50 as this poster suggested

only if you never buy drinks or snacks outside what is included with your meals. even then $10-12 is on low side; just the headwaiter and waiter tips about $12/night.

Here are the tip guidelines, straight from Royal Caribbean's website:

So that you can thank those who have made your cruise vacation better than you could have imagined, we've developed these gratuity guidelines:
Suite attendant: $5.75 USD a day per guest (ONLY if you're actually booked in a suite!)
Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest
Note: These gratuities apply to guests of all ages.
Gratuities for other service personnel are at your discretion. A 15% gratuity will automatically be added to your bar bill or wine check when you are served.

So, as you can see, the tips adds up to $9.75 per day (per person)on this particular cruise line. If you've booked a fancier suite, it's a couple of bucks more.

I actually just got back from a 14 day Hawaii cruise a couple of days ago. I love cruising! Yes, it's possible to cruise without spending much more money than the initial cruise fare, but it's hard to do! For most of us, there's airfare to the port city to consider. Alcohol adds up quickly, as do things like photos, souviniers, shore excursions, rental cars on the islands, etc. That's not to mention the casino, which I personally stay far, far away from.

Cruisecritic.com has the best message boards around for cruising, in my opinion.

RLiu818 said: Out of curiosity, I decided to browse the websites of the two popular cruise ships: Royal Caribbean and Carnival.

To my surprise, the rates for a 3-5 day cruise were less than 500 bucks. Am I missing something here? Is that rate listed on the website per night or for the entire trip? And the rate even sometimes says for 'double occupancy'. No way! How can it be that cheap?

I always thought cruise vacations cost in the thousands. Paying less than $500 bucks to spend 3-5 nights on a luxury cruise ship with free food seems too good to be true.

With most of the meals included, what other costs or expenses is one expected to pay in addition to the rate listed on the website?

One thing to keep in mind is that the ships used on the shorter itineraries (less than a full week) are usually older, smaller, and may have fewer amenities. Generally speaking they will give you a feel for whether or not cruising is for you, but the nicer ships are usually not doing the short cruises. Stepping up to a full week gives you alot more choices, including the newer ships and the more luxurious ships.

dnickerson said: One thing to keep in mind is that the ships used on the shorter itineraries (less than a full week) are usually older, smaller, and may have fewer amenities. Generally speaking they will give you a feel for whether or not cruising is for you, but the nicer ships are usually not doing the short cruises. Stepping up to a full week gives you alot more choices, including the newer ships and the more luxurious ships.This is a good point, and I'll add, while not trying to sound elitist, that because the shorter cruises tend to be less expensive, they tend to draw a different clientele. Taking a three day cruise "to see if you like it" will backfire because you will be on an older ship with an entirely different clientele from what you could expect on a more expensive cruise. Talk to a good travel agent who deals exclusively in cruises. They can steer you toward a cruise line and itinerary you would enjoy.

I have been on 6, and recently have been booking 'best gaurantee" in which you don't get an actual room assignment until the day you sail.. in each case, I got upgraded to a Exterior and better room than what I paid for... the lowest priced rooms always get filled, so it's a pretty good bet you'll go up in rooms... For your 1st cruise hoever, I'd suggets mid-ship, as high of decks as you can afford...

gondrej said: Maybe I should start a new thread for this question, but, I didn't. I need to find out which cruise line best suits our party. My siblings and I and our spouses are planning to go on a cruise next year. There will be 4 couples ranging in age from 60 to 45. We do not want to go on a geriatric cruise, yet we don't want a party all night and day cruise either. We all like to have drinks, listen to music, maybe dance a little, but not necessarily the nightclub scene. Can any of you experienced cruisers lend me any advice? Thanks in advance for any help.

I think most should fit your requirements. You may want to focus on Royal Caribbean or Princess for a bit better experience.

Ditto the RCL selection.. not Carnival, and no need to pay the premium for Princes. try a RCL to begin with..

TenerifeSharon said: gondrej said: Maybe I should start a new thread for this question, but, I didn't. I need to find out which cruise line best suits our party. My siblings and I and our spouses are planning to go on a cruise next year. There will be 4 couples ranging in age from 60 to 45. We do not want to go on a geriatric cruise, yet we don't want a party all night and day cruise either. We all like to have drinks, listen to music, maybe dance a little, but not necessarily the nightclub scene. Can any of you experienced cruisers lend me any advice? Thanks in advance for any help.

We've done 3 Celebrity cruises to date, plus 1 Norwegian and 1 "Miscellaneous (MSC" - which we didn't like at all). We liked Norwegian and we're very happy with Celebrity - have just booked an Alaska cruise for 2007 and Australia for 2008. It's a really nice group of passengers (always a couple of complainers in any group) and the service and food are excellent. Have a good look at www.cruisecritic.com to get some more ideas. If you read the reviews, it's probably best to disregard the very best and the very worst of them - then you'll know more about what any cruise is really like.

Are you really from Tenerife?

TenerifeSharon said: Not originally - NYC holds that claim to fame! But I moved to Europe about 30 years ago (as a young opera singer) and my husband and I now spend 1/2 the year in Germany and 1/2 the year living on Tenerife (and the other 1/2 travelling -- LOL.)

I wish I had a 18 month year like you.

My Family and I (26 peopele total) just got back from 7 days down mexico riv Cabo,Mazatlan,Porto

with Princes and it is well worth it.. it is rather Cheap but one great week later my room bill was 400.00 all in sodas, DRINKS DRINKS DRINKS,and lil items u can not pay cash for you have to put it on your room bill like shirts things out the general store... also u have to pay a TIP PER DAY FEE which was 10 dollas a day for ours... but agian well worth it....

didYOUsearch said: On cruisecritic, you'll find many people mentioning stateroom bills in the thousands, which is all in addition to the price you paid for the cruise. I The savvy FWer can (and tries) to cut the stateroom bill as close to 0 while still having a great time.
Depending on whether casino charges can be billed to your account and settled on your credit card when you leave, you can do very well on miles/rebates if you take money from the casino. Same thing for tips -- no sense in paying cash that you bring along if you can find a way to charge it.

gondrej said: Maybe I should start a new thread for this question, but, I didn't. I need to find out which cruise line best suits our party. My siblings and I and our spouses are planning to go on a cruise next year. There will be 4 couples ranging in age from 60 to 45. We do not want to go on a geriatric cruise, yet we don't want a party all night and day cruise either. We all like to have drinks, listen to music, maybe dance a little, but not necessarily the nightclub scene. Can any of you experienced cruisers lend me any advice? Thanks in advance for any help.

I would recommend Princess Cruise Lines for your party. My wife and I who are in our late 20s went on an Alaska Cruise with the inlaws who were mainly in their late 50s and early 80s. They can't help but rave about how good Princess was as it wasn't too old of a crowd and it did have dancing, singing, shows etc. Fyi... we went because it was paid for by the MIL.

We packed a couple of water bottles full of 'long island iced tea mix' - equal parts rum, vodka, gin, and triple sec, topped off with a little tequila. We got the soft drink tumblers on the first day, and would fill them partway with our mix before we left the room. Lido deck had lemonade, and we'd fill them up and nurse them for a while. We still spent some money in the bars, mostly for variety, but we saved ourselves a good bit of money that way.


BTW, we brought the water bottles and a 6pack of diet coke in a cooler, and noone minded a bit - the steward even brought extra ice every day.

Aren't RCL and Princess rather comparable these days? It's Celebrity that is fancier.

You don't necessarily have to bring a friend along, in order to get that $500 rate (or whatever the per person, double occupancy rate is). Many cruiselines will allow you to book a room as a single passenger, at the double occupancy rate. HOWEVER, if another passenger also does the same thing, they may put them in the same room as you. So, you could be bunking with a stranger (they won't put opposite-sex strangers in a room together in this situation, though). If no other single, same-sex passengers opt for this kind of deal, you end up getting the room entirely to yourself, for the per person double occupancy rate.

Also, to the poster who mentioned Princess having a "premium" rate... When I booked my 7 day cruise to Mexico, for last November, I did extensive research. I found that Princess was actually very cheap -- either the same, or less than RCCL or Carnival or NCL.

It was the first cruise for my boyfriend and I, and we were both incredibly impressed (he was worried he wouldn't like it much). And we are absolutely looking forward to doing it again. We sailed on the Sapphire Princess, which is a beautful ship, with a massive amount of amenities. In our 7 days, we didn't even come close to doing everything on board. Plus, the ship was large, and despite having over 2000 passengers (not including crew), we almost never noticed crowds, or felt that there were too many people. We also ate one night at the Sterling Steakhouse (an extra $15/pp, I think). And it was worth every penny. We have both eaten at some incredibly expensive, and highly-regarded steakhouses. But the filet mignon's we had at Sterling's blew us away with our first bite. Every time we eat a filet mignon now, we compare it to Sterling's. And none have come close.

Also, a little tip to the OP. Normally, I refuse to use travel agents. I always find better deals, and I'm not interested in paying any sort of a premium to let someone else do the dirty work -- especially when I love doing the dirty work myself. That being said, I DID use a travel agent to book my cruise. I got a recommendation from someone I knew, who goes on many cruises. Then, I did my own, extensive research -- including using a website called www.cruisecompete.com, as well as another site called CruCon, and some others I don't recall. The first one lets you enter what you want, and travel agents reply back with offers/prices for your itinerary. Many throw in extras, like shipboard credit (we got $100), or free drink passes, or a bottle of champagne, or upgrades, or other things. Travel agents also often have access to really good group rates that you may not be able to get on your own. I called my recommended travel agent, told her what I wanted, and then asked what kind of deal she could make me. She came back with a quote, which was good, but I had gotten some better deals. I was honest with her, and told her I had been doing my own research, and that I had found better deals. She asked me for the details, and then talked to her boss. She was able to match those deals for me. Plus, she threw in a large tray of chocolate covered strawberries as a surprise for us, when we entered our cabin on the first day. Not only did I get a smokin deal, but I also had a travel agent to call and ask a billion questions of. She was super friendly and helpful, very knowledgeable, and was able to answer every question I had. And as a first time cruiser, that was invaluable (I also used Cruise Critic to answer my questions). My travel agent took care of most of the dirty work, while I just made sure I was getting the best deal. And, chances are I'll go through her on my next cruise. If your agent won't match prices/deals, or can't, don't be afraid to try someone else. No good agent should require you to leave a deposit with them or pay them extra to set things up. The only deposit you should need to make would be with the cruise line, once you have decided to book (but, your travel agent will handle this for you).

Also, if you need to take a plane, research the prices for that on your own. Often times, the fares are cheaper if you book those on your own. We opted to book our airfare outside of our travel agent, because we got better deals. And, highly consider flying out the day before, and staying at a cheap motel the night before you leave. If you aren't at the dock when the ship is leaving (and they really do leave promptly), you'll get left behind -- whether on the first day, or at one of the ports. If your flight has a delay, and you left the day of, you may not make the ship. And it has happened to many people. Plus, staying in a motel the night before allows you to get up early, and be one of the first on the ship. Then you can enjoy the pool, or start stuffing your gut at the buffet, before the ship even sets sail.