Cruise Lovers- Help Me Out

I have never been on a cruise before. We are planning on going on one and I knew that alcohol wasn't included but I read on the Holland America website that soda and bottled water is also NOT included.

So what other hidden fees do I need to know about?

What information in general would you share with a first time cruiser. Any info and advice would help!

Soda and BOTTLED water is usually not included. When DH and I went, we paid for the all inclusive drink package (we were on celebrity)...

It was like, $49 a day we can get whatever we wanted up to $12. For us it was worth it. They tack on a percentage of gratuity too for the drinks.

NCL is the wost with drinks. they only have free juice during breakfast. rest of the day is hot tea,coffee and dark hot chocolate.

other curiselines offer u comp juices all day/ night


celebrity cruise offers u drink packages, even alcooholic

right - alcohol, bottled water and soda are not included in the prices ...

also, you have to pay about $10 per person per day for tips and whatnot ... so if you have a 7 day cruise, you'll get billed for $140 total extra at the end of your cruise.

There are also specialty restaurants you can eat at on most cruises ... but these are completely optional (you never need to eat there)

and shore excursions are INSANELY expensive through the cruise lines .... you can usually find the same exact tours for half the price if you go on your own. Only risk with that is that if there's traffic or whatnot, going out on your own will not guarantee that the ship will wait for you ... if you book an excursion through the cruiseline, they will wait for you.

ETA: i've only been on Carnival cruises but they have free cofee, hot chocolate, tap water, and iced tea for free ... also at breakfst, you can get OJ, apple juice or some other kind of juice, i forget whih one.

We took Celebrity for our HM. I made sure to buy the unlimited soda package because DH is a BIG soda drinker. We didn't do an alcohol package, because we're not that big of drinkers, but we did buy a couple drinks here and there. We also smuggled some alcohol on

Also, if you can, get the open dining arrangement that allows you to go to dinner whenever you want and not at designated times. I'd also do the prepaid gratuities if I were you. You pay wait staff tips in advance so you don't have to tip each night at dinner.

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Posted by grkbarbie

NCL is the wost with drinks. they only have free juice during breakfast. rest of the day is hot tea,coffee and dark hot chocolate.

other curiselines offer u comp juices all day/ night


celebrity cruise offers u drink packages, even alcooholic

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Yeah, I always wipe out the mini fridge of soda on NCL cruises. And stock up on cranberry juice.

Pretty much what everyone has said about water, tea, juice, etc. Some cruiselines (Celebrity for one) will let you bring some wine onboard too (but of course they charge you a corkage fee if you drink it at a restaurant).

We're going on our third cruise in April and I love the website cruisecritic.com. It's a great resource for info abut the cruise, the ship, the rooms, the food, the ports, etc. You should check it out!

We've always bought the soda card when we get on board the ship. We only buy one and share it even though they say you can't. No one ever checks.

OTher hidden fees could be a fuel surcharge. Especially if fuel keeps going up they could raise it on your last minute. That's all I've ever had added on.

oh and the bar bill adds up QUICK! There is usually a line to write in gratuity but just FYI it's usually already on the recipet you sign. The line is if you want to add more.

DH and I are not big soda and alchol drinkers. so when we go we have the free juice, iced tea and water they have in the buff area. thats all i need. usually the water is not included.


also they now add the tip to your bill when you go to pay. i believe it was 10 a day for carnival. thats for your guy who cleans your room.

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Posted by soontobecruz
There is usually a line to write in gratuity but just FYI it's usually already on the recipet you sign. The line is if you want to add more.

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this is a really thing to know .... DH and I didn't realize it on our first cruise and ended up double-tipping everyone ... we were mad when we realized it.

Something I noticed is that almost all of the excursions collide so that you can only do one at each port...

I am torn between 3 at each stop!! How did you choose between the choices for excursions? I thought i would be able to do 2 out of the 3, but it appears I will only be able to do one thing at each place and I have three choices. This is so upsetting!!

How did you key in on 'the one' activity??

depending on what the activity is & how long it takes, you might be able to book a private excursion with a diff tour company that does everything you want (or at least 2 out of 3)

otherwise, you might just be screwed ... sorry.

What about internet?
Can you bring a laptop and connect to the internet or is there a fee for that? should i not even bother bringing a laptop?
Do you get 'normal' television in your room?

you need to pay for an internet plan if you want that ... there are computers on the ships though so if you want, you could just use those.

cell phones are also roaming the majority of the time so be careful with those. Not sure about other ships, but Carnival has AT&T on the ships themselves ... that means if you have AT&T and are NOT in a port, you prob are not roaming.

as for tv, there are *some* regular channels (maybe 5-10) but the rest are cruise-related.