*~ Cruising (travel by Waterways) megathread ~*

Saysay19

Myself and himself are going on a cruise in September. It's for 7 days.

What kind of spending money would I need. We have drinks packages and dinner included.
2 days at sea and 5 stopping off!

Any idea I would be grateful !

Strumms

Saysay19 wrote: »

Myself and himself are going on a cruise in September. It's for 7 days.

What kind of spending money would I need. We have drinks packages and dinner included.
2 days at sea and 5 stopping off!

Any idea I would be grateful !

It would probably help if you actually mentioned what country's you would be visiting... as well as what sort of things you would be doing when you come ashore... ie. much shopping etc.... ?

endacl

You'll need somewhere between €5 and $50000. About ¥50. Give or take.

Saysay19

Strumms wrote: »

It would probably help if you actually mentioned what country's you would be visiting... as well as what sort of things you would be doing when you come ashore... ie. much shopping etc.... ?

Venice, Croatia, Turkey and 2 Stops in Greece.

We were thinking of doing shopping in Turkey and excursions everywhere else.

Strumms

Saysay19 wrote: »

Venice, Croatia, Turkey and 2 Stops in Greece.

We were thinking of doing shopping in Turkey and excursions everywhere else.

Did a very similar cruise actually least year with MSC apart from a stop in Bari as opposed to two in Greece...

None of those places are expensive aside from Venice however if you are starting and or finishing the cruise there you only likley expense there would be transport from the airport to the port which is expensive so do a bit of research on that..

Considering you have a drinks package you won't spend any money on the cruise ship itself so I'd imagine somewhere along the lines of 180 euros each per day to cover your shopping, incidentals, food, taxi's and anything else you want to do... either way if you dont spend it it comes back with you...if you are stopping off in Istanbul BTW beware of local taxi drivers.

coylemj

Saysay19 wrote: »

Venice, Croatia, Turkey and 2 Stops in Greece.

We were thinking of doing shopping in Turkey and excursions everywhere else.

'Excursions everywhere else' will cost you, they are typically a rip-off, especially if it's just a bus to a local tourist hot spot. For example, is your stop in Croatia the city of Dubrovnik? If it is, do not buy a ticket onboard your ship for a bus to the walled city, instead walk off the ship and you'll find a line of taxis waiting for you. We (three of us) got a taxi to the city gate and the total fare for all of us was 10 euros instead of a fare of about 19 euros each for the return trip! The taxi was a spotlessly clean Skoda Octavia and the driver spoke a small amount of English but the fellow running the taxi rank spoke good English and he told the driver where we wanted to go.

Tell us the names of the places in Greece and Turkey and people here can advise you as to what transport options you can avail of locally as an alternative to the official excursions.

Thoie

Saysay19 wrote: »

Myself and himself are going on a cruise in September. It's for 7 days.

What kind of spending money would I need. We have drinks packages and dinner included.
2 days at sea and 5 stopping off!

Any idea I would be grateful !

Things to spend money on on the ship outside of dinner and drinks would be duty free, souvenirs, handbags, casino, etc. All of these are totally optional, and would be charged to your room account, which you can pay by credit card at the end. Depending on cruise line, room service is generally free most of the time, but it's normal to tip the waiter a few dollars. Additional tips are about the only extra things you need cash for on the ship. All onboard purchases are totally optional, so how much you spend is up to you.

Shore excursions, booked through the ship can vary between $20-$200 per person - they're all visible (and bookable) ahead of time so that will give you an idea of the costs of those. You can also make your own arrangements which can often be cheaper, but the shore excursion price list will give you a good idea of the costs of things in the area. Add to that some money for taxis and lunch in port.

Even knowing all the details of what you're doing, no-one else can really judge what you'll spend. For all we know you could be a $10,000 a day gambler

whippet

Last year on a 14 day European cruise with two kids we managed to rack up a balance of about 3k on board ... We had a full drinks package included in the cost of the cruise. What you send is totally up to you but you don't go on a cruise to be frugal !

Saysay19

Thanks everyone for your replies! On my phone so can't reply (don't know how to reply individually!)

We are stopping off at Dubrovnik, Croatia so thank you for that tip on the taxis!!

We will be going to Kusadasi Turkey, Santorini and Katakolon Greece.

Defnitely don't have a 10,000 a day gambling problem. I wish I could afford to 😂

We had a stressful few years so we really want to enjoy ourselves and not watch ourselves. I'm aiming to have €2,500 going.

deisemum

Santorini: You'll be taken by tender to shore. What the majority of people including myself did was take the large speedboat from where we got off the tender - you cannot miss it, to Oia where a bus took us up the hill to the village and we spent some time there. It's full of tiny cobbled streets and gift shops. When we were finished we went back to where the bus dropped us and got the bus to Fia. We got the cable car back down the sheer cliff to the tender. The cost of the speedboat and bus cost €15 each, you buy the tickets in the ticket office and the cable car cost €5 each. You can walk down but it can take at least 30+ mins and you spend your time dodging the mules and their dung and on the way down there's a large area where the mules are tied and it stinks to high heavens. If you get the cable car there can be very long queues unless you're coming back a bit early.

coylemj

Saysay19 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your replies! On my phone so can't reply (don't know how to reply individually!)

We are stopping off at Dubrovnik, Croatia so thank you for that tip on the taxis!!

We will be going to Kusadasi Turkey, Santorini and Katakolon Greece.

See this post of mine from last August where I gave some advice based on my experience in Santorini and Katakolon ........

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=96724957&postcount=405

Saysay19

coylemj wrote: »

See this post of mine from last August where I gave some advice based on my experience in Santorini and Katakolon ........

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=96724957&postcount=405

Thank you very much for this!

Saysay19

deisemum wrote: »

Santorini: You'll be taken by tender to shore. What the majority of people including myself did was take the large speedboat from where we got off the tender - you cannot miss it, to Oia where a bus took us up the hill to the village and we spent some time there. It's full of tiny cobbled streets and gift shops. When we were finished we went back to where the bus dropped us and got the bus to Fia. We got the cable car back down the sheer cliff to the tender. The cost of the speedboat and bus cost €15 each, you buy the tickets in the ticket office and the cable car cost €5 each. You can walk down but it can take at least 30+ mins and you spend your time dodging the mules and their dung and on the way down there's a large area where the mules are tied and it stinks to high heavens. If you get the cable car there can be very long queues unless you're coming back a bit early.

Thank you!

Have you gone recently? Was it brilliant?

deisemum

Saysay19 wrote: »

Thank you!

Have you gone recently? Was it brilliant?

End of April just gone. It's very pretty but a day is more than enough there.

Saysay19

deisemum wrote: »

End of April just gone. It's very pretty but a day is more than enough there.

Lovely, were you on a cruise too?

deisemum

Saysay19 wrote: »

Lovely, were you on a cruise too?

Yeah, my second one.

blackwarrior

Tabnabs wrote: »

Private marinas on the Shannon are generally not set up for overnight visitors. A very different system to the coast. The Shannon has a myriad of harbours that are free and these are normally used instead.

You have Hodson Bay (beside the hotel & bar, no shop nearby).

or Lecarrow

or Portrunny

Thanks for the tips. We went Garrykennedy to Carrick-on-Shannon and back. Overnighted in Banagher (Silverline), Quigley's Marina on Lough Ree, Cloondara and Shannonbridge. All worked well. We had two hotel nights in Carrick.

Great trip, really interesting once you go north of Lanesborough and start entering the locks and smaller lakes. We also took in Lough Allen on a day-trip from Carrick, including Leitrim village and the Lough Allen canal.

Recommended, and I'll do it again, and more.

captain caveman

Hey guys!

We're heading on our first ever cruise on Saturday (MSC Magnifica - Venice, Bari, Katakolan, Mykonos, Athens, Dubrovnik, Venice). Any tips on what to expect on board or anything we should look out for?

We didn't purchase a drinks package (not huge drinkers, a glass of wine with dinner and maybe a beer or two), but wondering about waters outside of meal times. Should we just have booked a drinks package and have it all included?

Seeing a few people saying avoid the hard sell for trips etc, are any of them worth doing or is it best to find a taxi into town ourselves?

Thanks for any advice

CC

Thoie

captain caveman wrote: »

Hey guys!

We're heading on our first ever cruise on Saturday (MSC Magnifica - Venice, Bari, Katakolan, Mykonos, Athens, Dubrovnik, Venice). Any tips on what to expect on board or anything we should look out for?

We didn't purchase a drinks package (not huge drinkers, a glass of wine with dinner and maybe a beer or two), but wondering about waters outside of meal times. Should we just have booked a drinks package and have it all included?

Seeing a few people saying avoid the hard sell for trips etc, are any of them worth doing or is it best to find a taxi into town ourselves?

Thanks for any advice

CC

Glasses of tap water with ice will be available free of charge from bars, cafe, etc. As will things like tea and coffee - not the fancy stuff, but there will be somewhere to get a bog standard coffee if you want.

captain caveman

Thoie wrote: »

Glasses of tap water with ice will be available free of charge from bars, cafe, etc. As will things like tea and coffee - not the fancy stuff, but there will be somewhere to get a bog standard coffee if you want.

Lovely stuff! And do you reckon we've made the right choice re: alcoholic drinks etc? Are single drinks so extortionately priced that you end up spending more than a drinks package would have cost? Thanks again!

roundymac

I going on saturday with Celebrity Cruises, the minerals package was €30 per person a day. Total rip off.

deisemum

captain caveman wrote: »

Hey guys!

We're heading on our first ever cruise on Saturday (MSC Magnifica - Venice, Bari, Katakolan, Mykonos, Athens, Dubrovnik, Venice). Any tips on what to expect on board or anything we should look out for?

Seeing a few people saying avoid the hard sell for trips etc, are any of them worth doing or is it best to find a taxi into town ourselves?

CC

Venice: You'll have great views of Venice when the ship leaves Venice.

Bari: there's sod all in Bari. When you disembark continue walking along the length of the ship and only a very short bit past it on the left-hand side, about 1 minute's walk there's a bus stop that you can get a bus every 30 or 40 mins into the town centre. It costs €1.50 each way but if you get the bus back within 70 or 80 mins the return trip is free.

Athens: Athens is very industrialised and there wasn't as much to see as I expected but worth seeing anyway and you can get a local hop on hop off bus when you disembark. When you come out of the terminal building there is a small car park with taxis and a few buses but walk past that keeping left and you'll see a big bus park with the excursion coaches. Walk to the end of the bus park past all the buses and exit it and on your left you'll see another bus park with yellow and blue hop on hop off buses. We went on one of them and booked it on the ship that morning but if we'd booked it direct it would have been €15.

coylemj

captain caveman wrote: »

Lovely stuff! And do you reckon we've made the right choice re: alcoholic drinks etc? Are single drinks so extortionately priced that you end up spending more than a drinks package would have cost? Thanks again!

From what you said earlier, you should not buy the drinks package. Based on they way the cruise companies push those packages, even hardened drinkers probably don't get value for their money. Pints of beer are no more expensive than in the pubs in Dublin and if you buy a bottle of wine with your dinner and don't finish it, you can bring it with you to the lounge and finish it there.

deisemum

captain caveman wrote: »

We didn't purchase a drinks package (not huge drinkers, a glass of wine with dinner and maybe a beer or two), but wondering about waters outside of meal times. Should we just have booked a drinks package and have it all included?

CC

I've got a wad of receipts of what we drank back in April/May on the MSC Orchestra and I can post what various drinks cost if you would like that info.

captain caveman

deisemum wrote: »

I've got a wad of receipts of what we drank back in April/May on the MSC Orchestra and I can post what various drinks cost if you would like that info.

Yeah that'd be great! Do you then pay as you're leaving the ship at the end of the week? Thanks to everyone for the info!

deisemum

We had the inclusive drinks package for €26 per day and it was worth it.

If you don't have a package you're charged 15% service charge on all drinks

Glass of red or white wine or prosecco €5 + service charge
Cocktails €6.75
Large bottles of water €2.60
Spirits €5.50
Beer/Lager think it's 40cl €4.90

deisemum

Yeah you pay at the end if you don't have a drinks package.

We just paid the service charge/tip €9pp per day, airport transfer and something we bought in the shop at the end.

wicklowwonder

Never cruised before and looking at a Caribbean cruise in November. Any recommendations? Norwegian Getaway seems the best value as includes drinks and some higher level dining. Anything to watch out for? Couple in early 30s looking just for relaxation and sun.

kbell

Heading off on our 2nd cruise with Norwegian cruise lines in October. Last year we booked cruise, flights, transfers, drinks package all separate.
This year we booked a package through a travel agent back in January and saved over a grand compared to last year.
There's great deals to be had if you shop around!

hdowney

My NCL cruise had to be postponed until October 2017 . This Octobers holiday will be land based to Paris instead.

I am trying to decide on a land trip for after my April cruise. At the end of April I am doing a 4 day to Cozumel on the Carnival Liberty from Galveston. Trying to decide between heading to Boston or Hawaii when I get back into Galveston.