Cruise planning ----where to begin? (dinner, hotel, flying, Royal Carribean)
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I'd like to plan a cruise for me and my friends (about 10 in all) for next summer 2010. I've never been on a cruise before so I'm not too familiar with how they work in terms of prices. We'd like to keep costs pretty low as were all recent college grads and don't have much to spend.
We all live in the northeast and would prefer not to have to buy flights to get to the cruise liner. Can we depart out of NY?
Do any cruise lines offer an all inclusive for drinks and food, just food, or just drinks?
Can you bring alcohol on board?
We'd like to travel for 5 days, 4 nights for under $700/person, is this possible?
Your best bet is to contact a travel agent. For that many people, you may be able to get a group discount. The agent can tell you which cruise line will be within your price range, where you can leave from, what destinations are available, trip insurance (recommended), help you pick a boat based on the type of trip you want (singles? NASCAR fans? adventurers?) and all the other details to get you the cruise you desire. Each cruise line offers different amenities. Travel agents sometimes buy a block of rooms so they can offer a better deal than just booking online, plus "insiders" knowledge and experience. They can also help set up payment plans and track payments for each person. Its hard to figure out the actual cost on your own (port fees, taxes, fuel surcharges, gratuities, etc.). These can sometimes double the "advertised" price. Also, if something goes wrong with your trip, the travel agent takes care of the problems for you. For a first time cruise, especially trying to organize so many people, go to a professional.
Per bringing alcohol, you can in some instances but you must surrender it and will be charged a corkage fee whenever you wish them to bring it to you. As far as bringing and keeping your own beer to drink at will, my guess is no cruise line will allow that. This is where the real money comes from.
Check the cruise line websites for pricing, they do sail out of NYC during some parts of the year, so you would have to check to be sure.
Usually drinks are not included in fare, but food is.
Policies are different on all cruise lines about alcohol, check with individual cruise line.
If you are not flying and not drinking a lot of alcohol or not buying anything on the ship or out at ports you should be able to get by on $700 a person.
You aren't generally supposed to, but I'd smuggle the hard liquor aboard in your baggage. Drinks on the cruise ship are ridiculously overpriced. I would also use some care as it's not like a hotel; the housekeeping staff will probably be in and out of your room several times a day.
Of course, the housekeeping staff put up with a lot of BS, don't get paid much, and often get stiffed on tips. So if you had a lot of evidence of having brought your own bar aboard, and you were to leave a small daily gratuity without fail, it might be that your housekeeping person would suffer a sustained amnesia attack regarding a few bottles of booze. If I were doing their job I would not give two cents for what the cruise line wanted me to watch for, especially if acting on that would halt the gravy train of a satisfying tip flow.
One thing that surprised me was that the liquor on board in the ship's duty-free was actually somewhat reasonably priced, so you might not go out of your way to stuff your bags with many gallons of drinking stuff.
I'd like to plan a cruise for me and my friends (about 10 in all) for next summer 2010. I've never been on a cruise before so I'm not too familiar with how they work in terms of prices. We'd like to keep costs pretty low as were all recent college grads and don't have much to spend.
We all live in the northeast and would prefer not to have to buy flights to get to the cruise liner. Can we depart out of NY?
Do any cruise lines offer an all inclusive for drinks and food, just food, or just drinks?
Can you bring alcohol on board?
We'd like to travel for 5 days, 4 nights for under $700/person, is this possible?
1. Yes, some cruises leave out of New York.
2. Cruises include food. Those who include alcohol are generally higher end, expensive and cater to older passengers.
3. You cannot usually bring alcohol on board. Otherwise the cruise ship would make no money.
4. There are some great deals out there. Check with a travel agent and also look on cruisecritic dot com.
ps. IMHO, cruises are greatr. Make sure you pick one that caters to your age group and goes to places you like or think you might like.
Yes, you can. When I was in grad school I took my whole family on a Bahama cruise. NC to Port Canaveral, FL. I did the 4 day/3 night cruise for like 169/99 (meaning 169 1st person, 99 each after)
My tip would be to google cruise lines and ports...then take the time to check all the ones in your area and remember Baltimore MD has departures as well. Fill ALL rooms to capacity so that you can get the cheaper rater for the extra people. Once you get on board ya'll can swap or whatever.
It's all inclusive but soda and alcohol are not included. Some you can put some in your luggage, but some check and confiscate it and give it back when you get back home.
Regarding alcohol:
1. Luggage is screened with xray just like at the airport. Bottles of liquor will probably be confiscated. I know some people who put it in shampoo bottles, but it tasted funny...
2. Alcohol purchased in the duty-free shops will be held until the last day of the cruise. You can't just take it back to your cabin to use.
3. Some cruise lines offer a package deal for pop or alcohol.
Thanks for all the responses! We'll have to think of something crafty
And it seems like we can do it all for under 700/person. I think I'll do some research on my own for a bit in terms of ports and cruise lines and then go talk to AAA or another travel agent.
Is there any advantage or deals to booking REALLY early? If were planning for next summer, is now the time to start?
Some cruise lines give a better deal if you book early. Also, you get the your choice if cabins/decks by booking early. When you book last minute, you take what you can get and that can mean everybody will be all over the ship.
Plus, if the price goes down between now and then, you might be able to get the reduced rate.
Regarding BYOB...check out cruisecritic.com forums for detailed info on this. I have done quite a bit of research into this and the ship's policies (and actual practices) are all over the board on this matter. I believe Princess has the most liberal enforcement and it appears that little if any confiscation occurs with liquor packed away in your checked baggage. Many people recommend purchasing "badder-type" water bottles to further increase the liklihood of your liquor making to the room although it seems that in the end, it all makes it through. Royal Carribean seems to be one of the most strict in enforcing the screening and confiscation of alcohol coming in through the luggage.
Princess apparently allows an unlimited amount of wine, mixers and pop through and there are many reports of people simply slapping a baggage tag on the side of their case of wine and it is delivered to their cabin with the rest of their baggage. A small fee is charged if you choose to bring your bottle of wine to dinner with you and it would appear that discretion is best used as far as consuming your alcohol outside of your stateroom. We plan to purchase plenty of on-board umbrella drinks when out and about the ship and save our in room stash for consumption in the room or on the balcony.
Last edited by Ghengis; 09-15-2009 at 09:03 AM..
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