I will be sailing on the Explorer soon and I have spent all of my cash on the cruise. I am planning on scraping together about $200 for spending cash on the cruise. Will I be able to limit my spending to this amount?

Hey bro, be prepapred to read responses from rich people who will ask you if you made a typo and meant to type $2000.<BR><BR>You can bring $200, but realize that about $150 will be spent on tips for 2 people for a week. That will leave you about $50 for a few drinks and a few pulls on the slots. No excursions or other stuff. Maybe consider putting it on a credit card. <BR>

The previous poster is exactly right. If you don't drink anything other than tap water, coffee or tea and don't gamble or play bingo, don't book any shore excursions or buy anything on the ship you might have about $50 to spare. No kidding!

Been there doen that even less.

Not everyone like to drink anddd'or gamble. You make it sound like they would really be missing out on something. As for shore excursions, there are usually inexpensive alternatives. A person could still have a great time.

There are no inexpensive excursion alternatives short of walking around town. If thats all you want to do after traveling thousands of miles is to wander around town or walk to and lay on a beach - go to Disney World.

Man are you in trouble. They will fleece you of that within the first day. RCCL even charges you for coffee, and then adds a tip.

Hi Ben! I consider myself an expert at budget traveling yet experiencing a vacation to the fullest. On my last three cruises, I have spent no more than $400 - $450 including tips, etc.<BR><BR>I can always find shore excursions cheaper and better than what the ship offers. There are a few exceptions, and these are usually unique experiences like sailing on an America's cup yacht or a powerboat snorkel trip ( I did the later, which was very good).<BR><BR>But to avoid extra costs, don't take pictures except your own, stay out of the spa, no alcholic drinks (bring your own), stay out of the casino, avoid art auctions, etc. This is never a problem for me since I am not a drinker, find the pictures over priced, find better gambling in my hometown casinos, etc. I will treat myself to a spa treatment now and then.<BR><BR>I go on a cruise to relax, look and listen to the ocean, meet great new people, enjoy time with my family if I am traveling with them, snorkel, shop for native crafts which are inexpensive, hang out at the beach, etc. I don't need the other things to have a good time. <BR><BR>Let me know what islands you will be stopping at and I can recommend the cheapest alternatives.

Peter, I think your answer to "go to DisneyWorld " is rude and uncalled for. It doesn't even make any sense.

Rude, please remember Peter in highly intelligent, polished, loaded with money and a world traveler that has amassed 3 or 4 cruises to his credit!!!<BR>Accordingly, he cannot be rude or wrong.

Wandering around town and laying on a beach.......that's a negative? <BR><BR>Not in my experience. I'd much rather head off on my own that join an organized tour!<BR><BR>It's more fun to do the "local thing" when in an "exotic local" than the touristy thing!<BR><BR>Disneyworld? Now, that sounds like a nightmare to this poster.

Just pulled this up. I'm sure Ben has gone already, but I thought I'd let him know that my 2 children and I spent a whopping $17 (after tips), on our Disney cruise!. Since there are no shore excursions to speak of (private island and Nassau), we didn't drink, the only thing we spent money on was some childrens ibuprofen from the ships pharmacy. If I had remembered to pack some, we wouldn't have even spent $17.<BR><BR>It was completely painless. It wasn't even an effort to limit spending, I wasn't even trying to.

Since when do you have to bring $200 or $2,000? There is alot of options in-between these two prices. I usually bring $600-800 on week long vacations. $200 is impossible to live on while on vacation. I enjoy treating myself to sites and tours, along with eating out a couple times a week.

Remember aside from the tips, which you can charge to your supercard, they also charge for sodas, but lemonade and cofee and teas (hot &amp; cold) are free.

Peter is never wrong. Amazing that he has been able to amass his vast knowledge of travel through 3 or 4 cruises, all on RCCL.

Lemonade is not available on every ship in the buffet area. Carnival is the only cruise line that has lemonade, juice, punch, iced tea with lemons, tea, coffee, milk (all kinds) and on the new ships, hot chocolate.<BR><BR>Paul

Paul: Let me correct you, Celebrity has all those items in the buffet area. Carnival is not the only one.<BR><BR>BTW, have you ever sailed Celebrity?

Paul - wrong again - so does Crystal -

Royal Caribbean does too.