Come on we are talking about the $499 4 night advertised cruise that fills the Sunday paper and your email. It's just like I said they have to put an asterisk next to that like the car dealers do - excludes tips, gratuities, transportation, etc. I'm not saying don't do it just don't expect to pay $499. I like a cruise. It's not my cup of tea to do it many times per year. We probably go once a year and when I do I don't watch what I spend with a calculator. I do what I want and enjoy myself.

Tipping is not a percentage of the cruise - it is a number of dollars per day per person - typically around $10 if I recall correctly.

Taxes and port fees are itemized when you get a price for the cruise and are therefore known and accounted for.

Regarding cabin choices, we have typically not spent a lot of time in the cabins so it isn't really that important. Be that as it may, we have avoided interior cabins. Regardless, the cost is known.

Try it....you'll like it.
 

Sit down with a travel agent. Talk these things over. Once I became a seasoned cruiser I often made my own arrangements, but I did my first cruises through AAA. There is an AAA office near Spanish Springs, and there have been some other suggestions in previous posts.

You will know virtually all of your required costs because the travel agent will compute them and want you to pay in full before receiving the package of tickets.

There will be other expenses because you will want to do optional things, such as drinks, use of wi-fi, alternate dining rooms, and especially shore trips. Shore trips vary greatly in cost but should be taken to get a taste of the foreign countries that are your ports of call. No one can give you an exact price because these offerings are at your option.

There has been lots of good advice on this thread. I engaged in forums on Cruise Critic for years. The Cruise Critic web site has an incredible wealth of information.

Once you make your first cruise you will better understand the entire process and you will probably choose to cruise every year.

Incidentally, Carnival Cruise Line targets a very young, and usually very noisy clientele. I prefer Princess and Royal Caribbean. Holland America targets the elderly and is very well run.

I will not book cruises that have anywhere in Mexico as a port of call, but that is a personal prejudice. I cruised the Eastern Caribbean, Eastern Canada, Pacific out of Los Angeles, and Alaska (Land and Sea.)

Sailing out of Port Canaveral will usually involve a stop in Mexico, or will be less than a week and go to the Bahamas. Longer trips into the Caribbean will often originate in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. Only medium sized ships sail out of Tampa because Mega-ships cannot sail under the Sunshine Skyway bridge at the entrance to Tampa Bay.

Your travel agent can explain all of this to you. Find one. Just sitting down and discussing a cruise should cost you nothing.

we just got off our 69th cruise. we have been on all the lines from carnival all the way to QE2.

the tips nowadays are $12 to $13 per person per day

We travel and meet people never even get off the ship because they have done the islands so many times.

They go for the food entertainment and the pampering.

The money you spend on a cruise it up to you. I don't encourage paying tips prior to the cruise..as it makes it hard to remove if things aren't quite the way you want them to be.

So if you spend nothing.....drink whats free....and do whats free....

you will get off the ship with only the tip fee.

Thanks everyone for all of the information. After reading it, I think that I will remove cruising from my list of things to do. As some have said, it sounds to me like a bait and switch ripoff. I was not looking for a discount cruise, just an honest company that had upfront pricing. I have plenty of money to spend and can afford any cruise, but I just don't like getting taken advantage of. The tipping, wifi charges, high drink prices, dishonest advertising, etc. are insulting to me. Why would a company expect me to tip their employees automatically, and why would they charge me for wifi that is free everywhere else? I think I'll do something else with my money instead. Why doesn't someone offer an upfront, fixed price deal with no mandatory tipping and other bogus charges?

I guess we have been lucky. In 60 plus cruises, there has never been one person that didn't deserve their tip & sometimes even a little bit more. :thumbup:

There are all-inclusive cruise lines where most everything is included in the price, such as Azamara, Crystal, Regent, Seabourn, Silversea, etc. They will welcome your "plenty of money" and you will have a great cruising experience.

Top 5 Luxury All-Inclusive Cruises - cruisecritic.com

You are a wise consumer. Independent of your choice it is obvious you did your homework before making a decision. One item we did neglect that is also not cheap and gets one to 2x-4x over the advertised price is insurance. Quick story - We were booked on a Canada/New England cruise Sept of this year. The day we were to board the ship hurricane Hermine hit NYC. The cruise company did not cancel the trip and had the right to reroute. I sensed that was going to happen. As result the cruise skipped three of 7 ports of call with no compensation to patrons. Rough seas and 42% of ports cancelled. As required by most cruise companies full payment in advance. They had our $12K. Got $11K back. Sure am glad we had insurance. I'll go this year and hopefully enjoy it the way I envisioned it.

One reason that cruise prices are cheap is that your tips effectively pay most of the crew's wages.

Rather than dismissing the idea of cruising altogether, just add $12 per person per day to the quoted cost and see how that looks to you.

The tip is automatically added to your bill, but you can take it off. However, that would not be fair on the crew as they receive very little in actual wages from the company.

We have done many cruises. Favorite lines are Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Holland America. We always work through the cruise line. We know what we are paying as we pay it all upfront. Never have a balance when we leave the ship. Always include gratuities upfront. We also own stock in both Carnival (owns Holland America) and Royal Caribbean (which also,owns Celebrity.). This entitles us to unboard credits of about $100 when we sail. That's our fun money for Casino.

our last trip on the Oasis Royal Caribbean.....which we have been on 4 times previously, we had a horrific cabin steward.

The first night we noticed our sheets were scratchy, we decided to sleep on the duvay cover and found another devay under the bed and used that for a top sheet.

The next morning we explained this to the steward and he went crazy, telling us the sheets are clean....we expained they are not dirty but someone maybe went heavy with the starch.
For the rest of the cruise...6 more nights he refused to make the bed, just threw the devay on top and went about his business. being experienced cruisers we knew how much trouble he could make if we told the hotel manager, so we put up with it. on the last night we went down to the desk and informed them of what was happening. They removed his tips....but we would have to remove all or nothing.....all meaning the restuarant workers a well. having no choice we removed them all. He didn't vacume the room either. sad..... we had never experienced this. we usually over tip..

I suggest you give Princess a try.....that is our favorite cruise line. Upscale and not as many children on board. Very seldom do you see a stroller.

These lines are excellent, but....they tend to have clientele that, we feel, sometimes, snooty....suits are required for dinner...ect.

I like to relax when we cruise...I lean toward the spa cabins with the thermal suites.

If I have to carry a gown and heels and get my hair done for dinner....the relaxation is lost.

It's become the new bait and switch industry. Do you remember when lobster was on the menu most every night? Remember when it became lobster night once per cruise ? Now your lucky if you find a lobster in the specialty restaurants that you pay extra for. To add insult to injury lobster may have a surcharge in the specialty restaurant you paid extra for. How about formal night. What a crock that is. Let's see I'm getting dressed up for my wife who seen me where a suit to work for 30 years. But I get to lug around extra set of clothes that I'll wear for a couple hours. Now I remember that was "the bait" the cruise line used to take your picture and sell them as memories at the end of the cruise. No wonder there is a surcharge on lobster now - everyone has a cell phone with a camera. Goodbye to that revenue stream.

cruising has changed since we started back in the 80's. Prom is so over for us....
But, we went on Carnival and sat next to the captains table. the older gentleman that we sat with ordered lobster and escargo every night for dinner, and they brought it. Who knew?

I ordered steak on the QE2 and they told me I would have to settle for Lamb.