6 Cruise Extras Worth Paying For, And Those DEFINITELY Not !

i've seen so many cruise passengers unnecessarily blow a fortune on all the add-ons offered by the cruise lines so i'm going to suggest which you should go for and which to skip some as you will see are perhaps opposite to what many cruisers including maybe you are doing in my experience your cabin while maybe it won't make your cruise it could absolutely break the enjoyment of your cruise get it wrong and it's really hard to have a great time so many people find out the hard way and they keep telling me a better cabin is absolutely worth paying extra for especially these days cabins have become in my view much more important in post pandemic cruising because we do all need to have a place that actually we wouldn't mind being in for a period of time if we have to quarantine and i think we're also going to find cabins may be a place where we want to spend more time as you adapt to the new way of traveling so i recommend at least look at a balcony cabin you'll have access to fresh air you can enjoy the sailing sunrises sunsets the great view set out there a big warning once you've cruised in a balcony cabin it's really good and it's going to be hard to go back to an ocean view or an inside cabin but i really do believe that a good cabin is worth paying extra for and i always do although a lot of cruise passengers i speak to only self-explore imports to save money i really do think that excursions are worth paying for on many many cruises to absolutely get the most out of every single port so first off if you're cruising perhaps to a place you've never been before or perhaps it's a really foreign place you know unfamiliar languages unusual customs or perhaps it's got a reputation for being a little bit risky or the sites are actually a very long way from the port they can often be an hour or two hours away from the port then spending extra to go on an organized cruise line tour is absolutely worth splashing out on you'll get great information you have all your questions answered and you will get to see the key sites they make sure you do that now remember if you go on a cruise line tour they will absolutely make sure you get back to the ship on time or the ship will wait if you are delayed they will never wait for late comers who are self touring or on independent excursions so that's also a big plus in ports that are new to me i almost always go on cruise line excursion even if it's one of those on your own tours they're partly escorted they take you to a place give you a bit of information and give you some free time especially dining is one area that i have traditionally been more torn on i was in the not worth it camp but i've definitely moved into the it is worth spending on but in certain and very specific cases now cruise lines have made it a part of the cruise experience and they're constantly adding to the range and the choice of you know especially dining venues all of which are pretty appealing now of course the dining that's included in the main dining room the buffet restaurant perhaps informal dining venues around the pool they will be enough they will be great but going to one of the speciality dining venues can actually add a sense of event and add a bit of occasion to the cruise so asian brazilian italian french sushi and on and on and on those venues they give you a chance of having a table to yourselves instead of you know having to share it with strangers as you may have do in the main dining room or sometimes when you go to the buffet restaurant it gives you the opportunity to dine in a more intimate setting together just with your partner tasting some new cuisine that you may not have tried before so if you are on a cruise celebrating a special event like a birthday or perhaps a wedding anniversary or you just wanted to be a little bit romantic they are definitely worth the extra money i'm not convinced though that going to them often is worth the fairly large extra costs so resist the temptation to book packages if you do want to go and try lots of them though one of the big tips i've got is to go to dining at these specialty venues during lunch time because the surcharge is usually much much lower so you can try them all at a lower cost if you're on medium and large ships one of the best things that you can spend extra on is access to the private adult-only cabana areas these are on many many lines you know princess cruises holland america seabourn and so on you can escape from the busy pool decks and have a space to relax and unwind many will include some drinks some food some snacks and they will sell daily or cruise long packages these are in my view a really great treat that makes sea days especially enjoyable and that's when they really become worth paying for on those sea days linked to that is the private cabanas on the cruise line islands in the caribbean these can be a little bit costly if you're traveling just as a couple you know just two of you but if you're traveling with friends or you've made friends on the cruise then they definitely become more attractive cost wise and definitely then worth it the great thing is you've then got a place of your own on the private island where you can lie in the sun or you can escape from it because there'll be shade they'll often include snacks drinks wi-fi snorkel gear all that kind of stuff so you won't have to fight for a deck chair you don't have to worry about someone removing all your belongings you know if you go of wandering or exploring on the private island or perhaps go and get something to eat you will need to reserve these cabanas really early because they book up very quickly so this definitely proves the point that they are worth splashing out on because they are so popular although many of us say that we like to switch off on a cruise most of us in reality are used to being connected to our friends or family and in fact they expect us to be even when we're away it's the new norm so if your cruise line does not bundle wi-fi into your fare which the good news is more and more of them are starting to do then i recommend you budget wi-fi as you are almost certainly going to want to use it at some point so buy it for the entire cruise before you go before you board or the minute you board because that's when you're going to get the best price now if you only want really basic connections so you just want to do some social media perhaps some instant messaging many lines have much lower price packages now so for example carnival offer a social media messaging package for about eight us dollars a day after years and years and years of really lousy internet the lions are moving to really super fast wi-fi so you've got things like royal caribbean and princess where you can stream movies you can use netflix you can facetime you can watch that video call home and it's brilliant being connected is in reality what we're used to and i think it is worth spending that little bit extra to have it because it's kind of what we do personally i think skipping beverage packages is a really good idea because in most cases it's going to cost you more than buying drinks individually one big warning sign for me is just how pushy the cruise lines are in trying to get passengers to buy drinks packages this suggests to me that it must be a good earner for the line and perhaps less good for the passenger first of all you have to consume an enormous amount to make them worthwhile and cheaper than buying drinks individually secondly most lines require everyone in the same cabin or even in some cases cabins with the same credit card registered to also buy the same package so it becomes really really expensive because everyone has to buy the package so at a minimum do a rough calculation of how many drinks you will have and if it really will be cheaper take into account if you have a very very poor intensive itinerary because you'll actually be on the ship much less time to use the package and if you have private island calls so for example in the caribbean check that you can actually use your package on those islands because that's not always the case now the only time i've ever had a drinks package is if it's bundled into the fair either as standard so like celebrity currently or it's part of a fair promotion and i've looked at it i've worked it out and they definitely prove to me that they do not pay back so really really be cautious the sparrow ships are busy and in my view they're not worth spending your money on the prices in cruise line spas are much higher than most five-star hotels on land and you'll have a really hard sell push at the end of your treatment to get you to buy products now the consultants they own commission on that and they've become really really skilled at getting passengers to buy those so it becomes a pretty expensive activity to do now the only time i personally use the spa is if i've got a lot of on-board credit and haven't found better value things to spend it on like the spa attending events like wine whiskey and other tastings is also probably not worth splashing out on these again will largely be geysers for product selling and again they're masters at making you buy this brings me to shopping on board if you are going to buy things on board be that anything from toiletries alcohol clothing jewelry really important check what you can pick it up for in the ports you're calling on or back home so that wi-fi you bought will come in handy for doing that duty-free alcohol and perfume is probably going to be your best bet for getting a decent price but generally on board shopping in my view in my experience it's not good value and something that you shouldn't be splashing out on the other thing that lions push a lot are the photos which again suggests to me that they are probably a good owner and may not be as good value for us as cruise passengers photos on board will cost a lot of money whether you buy them individually or in packages now i'm not convinced they're worth paying for will you really treasure them or they basically stay packed away once you get home so really think about whether you really really will treasure these photos one thing to consider though is if you do want some professional portrait shots for display at home price what they would cost you at home versus booking a session on the ship in my experience this is one thing that usually costs less in my experience doing them on the ship than on land so in that case it's worth it if you want more cost saving and budgeting ideas for cruising i've created this playlist with two videos that you will find helpful so click to watch them right now

Channel: Tips For Travellers

Views: 377,589

Keywords: cruise tips, tips for travellers, Gary Bembridge tips for travellers, Gary Bembridge, Cruise Tips For Travellers, save money on a cruise, money saving tips, cruise money saving tips, cruise tips and tricks, cruise tips for first timers, Cruise tips for travellers, how to save money on a cruise

Id: bVGnYX5HCjc

Length: 10min 25sec (625 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021