I can still remember my first rookie mistake on a cruise. It came about 15 minutes after I stepped on board a ship for the first time.
I had worked my way up to the Lido Deck to take in the view, and I was almost immediately confronted by a beaming waiter holding out a tray of colorful umbrella drinks.
"Oh, nice," I thought. "Free sail-away cocktails!" I reached out to grab one.
It was only then that the waiter whipped out an invoice pad from his back pocket. Ka-ching. It turned out the sail-away drinks on this particular ship weren't free. Not by a long shot. I can't remember the dollar amount that he wrote down, but I recall it was sky-high. And I do remember the way I felt: duped.
I never made that mistake again. But it wasn't the last time that I spent money on a ship in a way that I later regretted. Even now, after sailing on more than 200 cruise vessels, I still make unforced errors from time to time when it comes to onboard spending. (Don't we all?)
As anyone who cruises a lot knows, cruise lines are masters at the upsell. For some lines, the whole business model is built around getting you to spend more on board than you ever thought you could. They get you on the ship at a low rate, and then they blast you with spending opportunities.
Are you a newcomer to cruising looking to make sure you are spending your dollars wisely? Read on for our list of the 15 most common ways first-time cruisers waste money on ships.
Related: The ultimate guide to picking a cruise line
It's a list drawn not just from my own experience over 25-plus years of cruising but also the observations of hundreds of cruising fans who shared their tips in a robust conversation on the topic at our TPG Lounge on Facebook. (If you're not a member yet, we highly encourage you to join.)
Buying too many shore excursions
Despite what you'll hear at onboard port talks, you don't have to book a shore excursion in every port. There are many big-name cruise destinations around the world — like Barcelona or Venice, Italy — where it's easy to visit the biggest attractions on your own, either on foot, by using public transportation or by taking advantage of ride-hailing companies such as Uber. This can be much less expensive than going with a group on an organized tour — and it might be more enjoyable, too.
For example, my favorite site in Barcelona, the Antoni Gaudi-designed Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, is easy to reach via the Barcelona metro for just a few dollars. Tickets to enter the basilica are 26 euros (about $30) for adults; they are discounted for students and seniors, and free for children under 11. (Be sure to buy tickets in advance to ensure access.) Compare those costs with the $100 or more per person you'll pay for a typical four-hour cruise excursion to the basilica.
Related: Is cruising right for you? Start by asking yourself these questions
Only buying excursions through your cruise line
It's easy to book a shore excursion through your cruise line. You can book them before sailing, online while you're on board or in the mobile app. But booking tours through your cruise line may not always be the best option. In many cases, you can save money by booking shore excursions through local independent tour operators or tour booking services such as Viator or ToursByLocals.
Independent tours are often a much smaller group, giving you a more intimate and personal experience. If you're traveling with a large enough group, you may even be able to book a private tour with a local service. In comparison, excursions offered through cruise lines might be as large as 40 people on the same bus.
Pro tip: Use the excursion list from your cruise line as a guide to the possible tours and top attractions in each port. But don't book one of the official cruise line excursions until you've researched whether it's just as easy to do the top attractions on your own or through an independent tour company.
Related: The ultimate guide to shore excursions
Buying a drink package (if you're not a big drinker)
Drink packages on ships often are quite pricey, and they generally only make sense if you're a big spender on drinks — a really big spender. Carnival Cruise Line, for instance, charges $69.95 or more per person per day for its Cheers! drink package. Royal Caribbean drink packages sometimes cost as much as $115 per person, per day. Think hard about how much you typically drink on vacation — and what type of drink you typically order — before you commit to one of these packages. You may find it's less expensive to just pay as you go for your drinks.
For instance, if you're a beer drinker, the packages often are not a good deal unless you drink a lot of beer. On Carnival ships, many beers cost around $8. You'd have to order more than eight beers a day for Carnival's Cheers! package to start paying off.
Related: Are drink packages on ships worth the price? A line-by-line guide
Not buying a drink package (if you're a big drinker)
By contrast, if you're a big drinker, a drink package can be a money-saver — again, depending on what type of drink you prefer. Drink packages can make sense for wine drinkers, in particular, as the cost of wine by the glass on cruise ships is often high. To continue with the Carnival comparison: Wines by the glass on the line's ships range from around $11 to $16. At the higher end of that spectrum, you'd have to order just five glasses a day for the package to start paying off.
Note that, in addition to alcoholic drinks, passengers purchasing a drink package typically also have access to an unlimited number of nonalcoholic beverages, such as specialty coffees and sodas, which normally come with an extra charge. For vacationers who are fond of ordering a high number of lattes, sodas and other nonalcoholic beverages during the day, these packages can be a good value.
To use the Carnival example again, someone who orders two or three lattes in the morning, several sodas during the day and several glasses of premium wine in the evening would come out ahead by buying a drink package.
Pro tip: Some lines will offer discounts on their drink packages in advance of sailing. Royal Caribbean is known for doing this. For Royal Caribbean, the deals will appear in the "My Cruises" section of the line's website. (Once you log in, navigate to the "Cruise Planner" area for your sailing and click on "Beverage Packages.")
Related: A novice cruiser's tips for better sailing the second time at sea
Not bringing your own drinks (when it's allowed)
One way to cut your bar bill on ships is to bring your own drinks on board. Not every line allows this, and those that do often have limits. But you can end up saving a lot of money by being your own bartender on lines where going BYOB is kosher.
For example, Disney Cruise Line allows each adult to bring up to two bottles of unopened wine or six beers on board at the start of a cruise and at every port of call. Note that you must pack these beverages in carry-on bags, as alcohol packed in checked bags will be confiscated. On Royal Caribbean, the bring-your-own allowance is one bottle of wine per adult at boarding, plus up to a dozen standard cans, bottles or cartons of nonalcoholic drinks such as sodas.
Note that many lines levy a "corkage fee" if you want to bring your wine into an onboard restaurant.
Buying the soda package
Unless you're the type of person who drinks a soda every few hours, these packages don't always make sense. People often buy them for their kids, who love the freedom of having access to soda all day long. But be sure to think through the drink-cost math before committing to one of the packages. For example, at Royal Caribbean, you can get an a la carte soda for around $3.50, while a soda package runs from $12 to $18 per person, per day, depending on the ship. That means the package doesn't really start paying off until you hit an average of five sodas a day. When you're doing the math, remember that on some days, you will be off the ship for extended periods, so you won't be using your soda package then.
Not bringing every toiletry you could possibly need
Toiletries are one area you may want to overpack for a cruise. The cruise lines know people forget things like sunscreen and toothpaste, and price them accordingly. So while you can find these items on your ship for purchase, you will likely overpay for them.
I recommend having a small bag of over-the-counter medicines — with items such as bandages, cold medicine and seasickness pills — that you can throw into your suitcase for every cruise. While you might not use it all on the trip, you'll be glad you have it if you do happen to need it.
Not using a points card for onboard spending
Given that TPG focuses so much on points and miles, this is our favorite topic to remind you about. Make sure to maximize your credit card points while making purchases on ships by tying a credit card that offers extra points for travel purchases to your onboard account. This could be the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), which earns 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on travel and 3 points per dollar spent on dining.
Related: How to book a cruise with points and miles
Buying full-priced spa treatments
If there's one thing that all cruise ships have in common, it is this: The pricing in their spas is high. It's not uncommon for a 75-minute massage at a cruise ship spa to run as much as $199 — and that's before a gratuity that, on many ships, now gets added automatically. A manicure can set you back nearly $50 on some vessels before gratuity.
One strategy that many savvy cruisers follow when booking spa treatments is to wait for the treatments to go on sale. This often happens when a vessel is in port. Cruise ship spas have a harder time getting customers on port days, as many passengers are out on excursions; so, they often drop prices to get more bookings. You'll often find port-day spa discounts highlighted in cabin newsletters the night before a port call, and the spa staff will most likely be in corridors promoting the deals on port days.
Tipping twice for a spa treatment
As noted above, some cruise ship spas are now adding an automatic gratuity to the cost of spa treatments — often 18% to 20% of the treatment cost. Be sure to ask if a gratuity has already been included before adding another tip to the total. Otherwise, you may end up inadvertently tipping twice.
Related: Everything you need to know about tipping on a cruise ship
Shopping on board, for just about anything
People buy the strangest things on cruise ships. On just about every ship bigger than a tugboat, you'll find at least one store (though usually many stores) selling everything from little models of your ship to gold chains sold "by the inch." There's also art sold through auctions, all the tanzanite you'll ever need and many tchotchkes, jewelry, watches and clothing items (the latter of which often has the cruise line's logo splashed all across it).
If you're into all of these kinds of mementos, that's OK. Just know that it isn't necessarily a bargain, no matter what the salespeople try to tell you.
Not keeping your phone in airplane mode
Some of the biggest cruise ship horror stories are tales of cruising newbies who accidentally racked up thousands of dollars in cellphone charges while on their trip. This can happen when you leave your phone's data turned on as many phone plans — even international plans — do not include talking, texting and data on cruise ships. So if you watch videos or scroll social media during your cruise, you may come home to a large unexpected phone bill.
You can make calls and access the internet from ships if you buy a Wi-Fi package. Some phone companies also have cruise-specific plans you can buy in advance of a voyage. But I personally never go that route. I keep it simple. I just put my phone in airplane mode the moment I step on board a ship and buy a Wi-Fi package to do all my calling, texting and internet surfing over Wi-Fi.
Buying photo packages
Photography is big business on many cruise ships. You'll often find ship photographers waiting as you arrive for a cruise, usually near the gangplank. They'll want to take your picture in front of one or more ship-related backdrops. They'll resurface at the gangplank during port calls, in restaurants during dinner and in the corridors on formal nights, snapping away. All these photos then appear in ship photography galleries, where they are available for a charge.
Our advice, and the advice of many TPG readers who cruise: Look but don't buy. Some of the photos may be fun, but the pricing for photos on most ships is wildly over the top. You can easily pay $20 for a single photo in digital form — you won't even get a print. Multiphoto packages often run into the hundreds of dollars. You may be excited about the photos when you first see them at the shop, but you won't be so thrilled when you get your final bill at the end of the cruise — trust us.
Not using points to get to your cruise
Using points and miles to pay for a cruise doesn't always make sense, as it often requires a huge number of them to book your cabin. But that doesn't mean you can't save big by booking your flights to and from a ship using points and miles.
You'll find plenty of stories here at TPG about how to, say, fly in a lie-flat business-class seat solely by using points, or book an around-the-world trip with minimal out-of-pocket costs. Check out some of our tips, and you may never pay cash for a flight to a cruise ship again.
Related: Things you should do before every cruise
Not asking for compensation in the casino
Just like at casinos on land, casinos at sea often offer extra perks for their most loyal customers. If you're going to play a lot in a shipboard casino, make sure you introduce yourself to the casino manager at the start of the trip and check to see if the line has a casino players card. Depending on the line, your play could be rewarded with such perks as free drinks, free dinners in extra-charge restaurants, free internet time, onboard spending credits or even a free future cruise.
Norwegian Cruise Line has a formal Casinos at Sea rewards program with four tiers. At its highest tier, it can offer a waiver of your onboard service fees, a complimentary shore excursion, private transfers from your home or hotel to the ship and back, cabin discounts, free drinks while playing and more.
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Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
