Some cruise lines, like Norwegian and MSC Cruises, sell cruises that are more inclusive than the fully a la carte lines, including Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line.
Newer cruisers don’t want to miss out and that can lead to some purchasing mistakes.
Related: Royal Caribbean makes its new beverage policy very clear
Every cruiser, of course, is different; what’s wasteful to some might be important to others. And in some cases items that are usually wasteful purchases are priced so well that they become worth the money.
Royal Caribbean’s The Key offering, for example, comes with internet access along with early boarding, a special lunch and a few other perks. That’s not something most passengers need, but sometimes it’s priced close to what the internet costs on its own.
At that point, something that by itself might be wasteful becomes something valuable.
Withal, cruisers face, and can easily avoid, a number of spending pitfalls.
Life Well Cruised outlined five areas where it’s easy to waste money, as shared by viewers of the popular YouTube channel.
Avoid wasting money on these cruise extras
Transcript:
These are five things cruise newbies waste money on, according to your fellow passengers.
Number one, buying the beverage package if you’re not a big drinker. If you can’t drink five alcoholic drinks per day each and every day of your cruise, save your money, don’t buy the package.
Number two is buying full-priced spa treatments. Think twice before prebooking spa treatments. We recommend going to the spa on the first day and asking if they have any specials, and we’ve received up to 35% off.
Number three, tipping twice. If you buy anything — drinks, specialty dining, and spa treatments — on your cruise, there’ll be a tip already included. So be aware of this, and if you want to tip extra for amazing service, that’s up to you.
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Number four, buying excursions through the cruise line. You can save money and have a more enjoyable experience booking them on your own. And for those that are worried about missing the ship, many operators have a guarantee to get you back to the ship on time.
And number five, buying photo packages. Do you really need 20 8x10s from your cruise?
What is something that you’ve wasted your money on?
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