Relaxation can be a relaxing, cost-effective way to travel. You have transportation, accommodations and entertainment all rolled into one. But cruise lines often have up their sleeves to prevent you, the traveler, from spending more money than budgeted for. When I got back from a bit of a cruise myself, I identified a few “cruise tricks” that I’d like to share with you.
Mandatory secret charge. I’m pretty steamy about this one. Each passenger is immediately charged ten dollars per day on top of the ticket price. After a seven day cruise, this really adds up! The purpose of the charge is to let the servants of your room sleep, support the staff, etc. Because it’s a mandate, you don’t have a choice in how you get paid for their service. To make matters worse, we weren’t even told about the charge until after we bought our tickets! I didn’t know until the cruise line sent my documents in the mail. In this same letter, they had the nerve to suggest that I could sleep more at the top of the order if I wanted to!
Beach excursions. These are conducted tours that the cruise line is trying to sell. They are extremely expensive. Of course I need 50 dollars per person to take a bus to the beach, have some hamburgers, and listen to loud music< /a>? Of course, excursions like swimming with dolphins and such are fun, but they cost an arm and a leg. The good thing is, you can get it from locals for 30 or 40 percent less in the same way. But the cruise line is doing a lot of business trying to buy more attractive excursions, which leads me to my next point.
The sailors on shore excursions would leave the ship first. The first harbor was too shallow to teach, and the ship had proceeded further. In order to reach the shore, we had to take tender boats, boats and carry passengers. I didn’t even anchor until 1pm. Of course, the first people who raised money for shore excursions were the first shippers. All that was left was for us to look around, to call our number “tickets” that we had picked up the night before. We finally made our way to the island around 2:30 in the afternoon. By the time we got to the beach, we only had about an hour before it was too cold to swim, and only hours before it got dark. Most of the first beach time was spent waiting around for our tender boat. Mainly negative support for those who either couldn’t or couldn’t fork out for the cash raid.
A packet of soda. Before everyday, my understanding, food and drink on the cruise was all included in the price of the ticket. Wrong, unless water is filtered unless you want to drink it. If you want to drink soda, you can either pay $2.00 a glass, or buy a pack of soda, which is $7.50 per day. No communion is permitted. The total cost for the week was over $60. My husband and I couldn’t buy one, so he went without. I wanted all the fillings, unless the chef ordered through the camera, in which case I would pay. Juice is not included, as it is on some cruise lines.
Cover the cost of the ship’s restaurant. Plaga and the main dining room were free. However, some of their own restaurants serving Sushi or French, or whatever, and had “nominal” charges. of $10 per person: Nominal????
Classes and lessons that should be free but aren’t. I have always pictured a cruise with dance lessons and other activities. I could see myself learning ballroom or ballroom dancing with my husband, and if I was lucky, something more exotic like belly dancing. And I certainly never thought that he would give extra for them. The cruise offered yoga and Pilates classes, for a $10 fee. And, as much as I say cool, no dance lessons of any kind were offered!
Uber expensive internet service. It would be nice if travelers spared at least 10 minutes a day to check email and what not. But there is no risk. Internet costs 75 cents a minute. You could buy two hours for 50 bucks. When we got to Mexico, we found an internet cafe offering $2 an hour. And this was in Cozumel, a major overpriced tourist trap.
So many things that should be free, but aren’t. For example, galleries and children’s activities. I understand that some things cost extra, like the spa and the casino, but it comes down to the fact that there’s hardly anything to do that doesn’t cost extra. Some free activities: swimming, sunbathing, live shows, and ping pong,
Pictures. OK, this is not really a scam, but just overpriced. A sailor takes snapshots of passengers eating dinner, boarding the ship or participating in ship activities. Then they try to sell them to you for outrageous prices. We found a cute picture of our daughter; five for seven, for 15 dollars!
The towel was lost. Stupid greed. Each cabin is provided with one beach towel for each person. If you lose your towel, or leave it on the beach or in the pool by accident, the cruise line will send it to you. Fair enough; they have to replace the towels that the passengers lose. But the price of the towel is 25 dollars! Imagine! 25 dollar towel! I used to get a 25 dollar towel! And they aren’t anything special or fancy, like regular old handkerchiefs. How in the world do they think they can get away with a 25 dollar old towel???? Especially when it’s probably mass produced for a dollar! What always!
So here are 10 tricks cruise lines will try to keep you from getting more of your money. Maybe some are avoidable, like the service charge, but being forewarned of others can help you stick to your budget. Remember, the more you can save yourself, the more often you can cruise!
