I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea as to extra costs I should budget for on a cruise. Do most cruises include breakfast and dinner in the cost of the cruise? Would alcohol be included with dinner or is this an extra charge? Also, are on-board activities/shows included or extra?

If you are not on one of the luxury lines where EVERYTHING is included, extra costs would include:

-Tips to staff (I find the cruise lines recommend a daily amount of somewhere between $10-$12 per person, per day)
-Alcoholic beverages
-Soda
-Specialty drinks, like at the coffee bar
-If there's an ice cream shop/counter, it's usually extra
-Shore excursions
-Bingo and to play at the casino
-Photos (if you want to buy them) taken by the numerous ship photographers
-Sometimes the ship will offer shuttles to the town center, this is sometimes extra
-Spa services
-Laundry services
-Room service food is free, but it is customary to tip the person delivering it
-Specialty restaurants have an added fee
-If you have a child and they go to the children's program, it is customary to tip the staff a little at the end of the cruise

You should read the website or brochure of the cruise lines you are considering. I've never heard of a cruise that didn't include breakfast, lunch and dinner -- and most have a variety of food options available 24/7. Whether or not alcohol is included with dinner depends on the cruse line. Some higher end lines include wine. Most lines charge for all alcoholic beverages. Many charge for all beverages other than coffee, tea and basic juices. But, it all depends on the cruise line and the ship. Most on-board activities are included.

You should also check to see what gratuities are included and what will have to be paid at the end of the cruise.

Another suggestion is to talk to your local travel agent about what you are looking for in a cruise and what your travel budget is. The travel agent can be a great source of info when it comes to cruises and can help you determine if a cruise is a good option for you and, if it is, which cruise line best fits your style and budget.

Food is always included as are coffee/tea. And you can eat in buffet as often as you wish, or order room service with a small tip. Some restaurants are free, some have cover charge.

Alcohol - it probably depends on the cruise line, if you travel with RCCL, NCL, Princess and such - definitely no. Some cruise lines allow to bring 1-2 bottles of wine, some not. If you bring your bottle to dineer table, there is a corkage fee, if in a glass - no fee.

Shows are free, but you buy bingo tickets, or pay in casino, or for a massage, or buy a mug in a pottery class. It's all on the daily schedule left at night on your bed.

Budget the tipping, it's $10-12 per person per day added to your account.

I missed ice-cream. On Princess, it was free at dinner. On RCCL, they had a dispencer outside of buffet by the pool - free self-service all day. On Norwegian (my next cruise) they will have the same dispencer I read on the website.

And of course they had it for sale too! With the "fancy" coffees.

Drinks that cost are sodas, alcohol and speciality coffees. A 15% gratuity will be added to the bill automatically as well. Most cruise lines add $10.00 per person per day for tips for the cabin steward and the waitstaff so if there are two of you and the cruise is 7 days expect to see $140.00 on your bill. The only time you pay for food is when you opt to dine at one of the speciality restaurants where you will see an extra charge of about $20.00-$30.00 pp. One way extra charges add up is for the pictures. You are not obliged to buy and pictures that are taken of you but folks sometimes get carried away with this stuff so be aware. Have fun. Larry

You can spend a great deal in extras. These include alcohol esp. The prices are usually very high - 3 or 4 times the wine store price for wine, e.g. Coffee bars and such are extra. Tips add up. Shore excursions can be very expensive.
This is an area where careful planning can help. The cruise line tours are often very expensive without having good value. Plan ahead for private tours. Of course you pay for gambling. Food except for the premium restaurants is always free. The food is ok, but if it was really great, there would be no need for premium spots. In short, with a little self restraint, you do not really need to spend a lot for extras.

Good list from chepar. Another way to think of it is the only thing you MUST pay extra for is tips - and most mainstream cruiselines now add that to cruise tab you settle at end of cruise.

When you board you will be asked for a credit card for your "extras" account and the last night of the cruise they will give you a statement so you can check it out. It can add up amazingly fast and some people stop by main desk to check out the damage mid-cruise.

They will stop you a zillion times to take your photo - but this only costs if you buy it.

And the best way to spend about $10 extra dollars I ever got is to leave a nice short note with about that much cash for the room steward after the first nite - saying the room looks nice (and asking for an extra pillow, etc if you have some small request). We have found this small expenditure gets us cabin service a notch above others (how do we know - when we have traveled with others, all cabin service was fine, but our cabin was serviced first, and sometimes we got a few minor perks)

Depending on your level of activities, try about $100 a day per person. It should cover all the simple basics. The tips, a drink or two, glass of wine, shore excursions (3 shore-ex for a 7 day cruise) etc. This is a ball park number and a lot depends on your habbits. My DW drinks lattie and mineral water so it addds to the tab. She doesn't hit the Casino and drink to excess so it sort of made up for it. If you want to so some duty free shopping, that's extra.

I have found wine prices reasonable, usually about $10 over the retail cost for most average wine. You can get soda cards and drink to your heart's contend for about $20-$30. Beer and cocktail are pricier at about $6-$8 each. Lattie and mineral water are between $2-$3 each.

All food are included except the specialty restaurants. All alcohol and soda are extra. Milk and juice are available for breakfast but are charged other times (depending on ships). Coffee and tea (including iced-tea) are included.

Most on baord activities are free. Some ships offer educational courses and they may charge a fee. Spa, Casino, Bingo, wine tasting etc are alwasy extra. I find wine tasting pricing reasoanble based on what they offer and what they charge.

All shows are included but seating maybe limited. You may have to be there an hour before show time to get a good seat on popular shows.

If you are on a budget (we all are!) you can just take in all the freebies and bypass the rest. You don't have to take a shore excursion (that's the biggest part of the extra $) by walkimnga round ton onyour own and use our transportation means. You can also limit expenditure by not buying alcoholic and other "charged" beverages.

If you really go on the cheap, the extra would be the Tips only and even that is supposed to be optional. Unless you get really crappy service, I do not recommend stiffing the staff. That's their hard earned money and it is the majority of their income.

I knew lots of people who went on a crusie and don't spend much money and have a great time.

I hope you have all the answers you need. If not, keep asking!

I forgot in my previous post. Some lines offer "wine cards"
and 'soda cards" (and maybe others) that are good for X number of drinks at a discounted price. I never used them, but the wine offered seems to be about as inferior as possible without total embarassment to the wine steward.

Aristotle - On HAL when we bought a wine card we had our option of wines - we upgraded to a better wine package.