How much does it cost to cruise?

Thinking about going on a cruise but not sure about the costs involved? In this blog post, we break down all the expenses you can expect when planning a cruise vacation. From ticket prices to onboard expenses, we cover everything you need to know to budget for your next adventure on the high seas. We will be using Royal Caribbean as the basis for our example because again, it’s sort of in the middle price wise.

1. Ticket Prices

• Since there is a range of cabin types on any ship, we’ll use examples from the middle. On an eight nigh itinerary to the Eastern Caribbean in May of 2025, the avg price per person for an inside cabin is $1040. That’s $130 per night including meals, entertainment, and everything else the ship has to offer. Then there are the sales (hint: there are always sales going on). I’ll get back to that but for now let’s talk about what is not included.
• Since meals and your room are included, what else is there to buy? Could be a lot if you aren’t careful. Let’s start with alcoholic beverages. If you are a drinker, you can expect the prices to be fairly high- think stadium or concert high. If you drink more than 4 or 5 alcoholic drinks per day it’s time to start thinking about a drink package. As I have said before, you have to do the math to see if the price of the package will save money for you. For two people this could be as much as $1000 or more on top of the base cruise fare. There are other potential costs that are optional and I’ll talk about these later.
• Cruise pricing is dynamic– it goes up and down based on demand. So of course, during off peak seasons it is less expensive right? Maybe. Caribbean cruises in September-October can be a good deal, but if you get around the holidays or spring break they go up. Anywhere cold in the winter time is a better deal too, if you want that. There are so many variables to pricing there is no way to cover them all. Bottom line is whether it is worth it to you.

2. Additional Costs

• Excursions and onboard activities are another potential budget breaker. Excursions purchased from the cruise line tend to be on the expensive side. You can do them cheaper if you hire outside of the cruise line’s offerings but there are some drawbacks to that. Also, depending on the ship there are things like escape rooms, laser tag, and other activities that are an extra charge. Again, it depends on you to decide where to spend extra.
• We touched on onboard activities above but let’s look more closely at this topic. Sometimes it may sound like everything is an extra fee but there are tons of thing to do that are included too. Swimming pools, water slides, rock climbing walls, and ziplines are a few of the included activities on this ship. Then there are the ports you can explore, private islands on some itineraries, and just relaxing by the pool if you want. Point is, you won’t be bored just because you don’t pay for optional activities.
• Gratuities are another cost. This is the amount charged to your account per person per day for “crew appreciation”. That’s going to be somewhere between $14 and $20 a day per person.  That’s another $220 to $350 total for two people on an 8-day cruise. Just know that tipping beyond this is not required but a totally personal choice.

3. Budgeting Tips

• You don’t need advice from me about your personal spending so I’ll just say this: Once the barrier is broken it is easy to get out of hand with your spending. The cruise lines are businesses and they are trying to attract you to their “extras” because that is close to pure profit. My advice is to decide what you will spend and stick to it. Go in with your eyes open though and do your homework.
• Saving money on cruise vacations. I have another blog post that addresses things you can do to keep your costs down when cruising. There might be a tip or two there to help you save a little money. Just get to know the product you are buying as thoroughly as you can before making any decisions. At the end of this post, I will give you some totals and maybe some food for thought for the next time you think cruising is too expensive.
• Booking in advance vs. last minute deals. It’s almost always cheaper to book in advance. I have several cruises booked and they were all at least a year out when we put down our deposit. Demand is so high now that you’ll need to book as early as you can to get the cabin you want. In the past when ships might not sail %100 full there was a good chance that there would be some real deals close to the departure date. With most ships sailing at more than full capacity there is no need to offer special rates anymore.

4. Hidden Costs

• Wi-Fi charges. If you want or need to stay connected during your cruise, just remember there are no cell towers at sea. That means only satellite internet is available and it is expensive. To use it you will have to buy a wifi package. There are usually two levels, basic and premium and although there has been a lot of improvement in the last few years it still won’t be what you are used to. If you can’t disconnect for the duration, it will cost you $25-$35 per day for basic wifi. That’s around $200 to $300 for the entire cruise.
• Drink packages. We have discussed this, and it’s a very personal choice. For me, it comes down to this: 3-6 beers per day at about $9.60 each, specialty coffee 1-2 times a day at $7-$8 each, and 4 bottled waters at $4 each. It’s close to $80 a day and makes the drink package totally worth it for me.
• Specialty dining fees. The specialty restaurants on board are a step or two up from the included dining, which is very nice. They are also expensive. We’ve tried them, and we’ve cruised without going at all. You can easily spend $75-$150 depending on the ship and the restaurant. If you like to go upscale for your dining you might like this but it comes at a cost.

5. Bottom Line

• The cruise in the example is an 8 night Eastern Caribbean itinerary on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas mega-ship. We selected a balcony room (in the middle price range). You can go for less if you choose an ocean view or inside cabin or for much more in a suite. The base fare was $1980 per person but there was an instant savings of $225 and a second passenger discount of  60%. The only other expense not mentioned above is taxes and port fees of $169.51 per passenger. After doing the math, the grand total for two is $2891.02. Per night that is $361.38 for the cabin, all meals, entertainment, and the rest of the experience. Tough to beat when you compare to a middle-priced hotel in a tourist area and meals on top of that.
• Cruising is not cheap, but when compared to theme park vacations or beach trips in season it stands up as a relative bargain. When we cruise the experience of being on the ship alone is worth the price. If a cruise is something you have considered it might be time to try it; you just might like it. After the first time we were hooked and it’s now our number one vacation option.

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