Cruising for a bruising

By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher

updated 6:39 p.m. ET Oct. 25, 2007

Think your cruise price is all-inclusive? Wake up and smell the $4 lattes, the $10 yoga classes, and the $5-a-pop souvenir photos. Or better yet, read the fine print of your contract. On a cruise ship, incidentals have a nasty way of adding thousands of dollars to your overall cruise cost.

Before your cruise, sit down with your family and discuss what is included in the fare. Most likely, that will be your accommodations, meals in dining rooms and cafes, and activities in the kids’ clubs. Come up with a policy about what everyone is allowed to do and buy, and what is forbidden. You might even decide on a cash-only rule for incidentals to keep from racking up costs. Here are some strategies to avoid becoming an incidental tourist.

Go indie with excursions. Many, many families blow their budget in the ports of call. Your brochure will talk glowingly of scuba and snorkeling, dolphin swims, and kid-friendly sightseeing. Then comes the big letdown: These ship-sponsored tours can run anywhere from $30 to $350 per person, depending on the cruise line, destination, and activity. Realize that, on average for each port, it could easily cost over $400 for a family of four to join one of the ship’s outings. On top of that, the shore guides expect you to tip them 5% on top of the tour price.

The easiest way to beat down your off-ship costs is to look outside the ship’s program. Consider purchasing your excursions from an independent tour operator, who likely will offer similar, but lower-priced, excursions in your ports of call. For example, ShoreTrips offers a huge array of options from 400 local tour operators on 22 Caribbean islands. Another company, Port Promotions, offers off-ship excursions in Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Europe.

If your destinations are all about sand and surf, it can be easy to go cheaper still. In lively ports of call, it’s easy to hoof it off the ship and explore on your own for free. A cheap, family-pleasing option may be to catch a cab to the nearest beach.

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Be beverage savvy. Here’s an eye-popper for many first-time cruisers: The drinks ain’t free. You’ll pay not only for alcoholic beverages, but probably also for bottled water, soda, and your premium latte. Another stinker: Every time you order a drink, your bar tab will typically plunk on an automatic gratuity. If you want to have a cocktail or two, it pays to find out which bars and lounges are offering drinks specials, and when. Likewise, ordering the house special instead of your favorite name brand can save big money over the course of your cruise. Even if you don’t drink alcohol, it’s alarmingly easy for a family to rack up a triple-digit beverage tab. One way around this is to cruise with Disney, whose ships offer free, unlimited fountain sodas. Most other cruise lines offer an all-you-can-drink fountain soda card for the duration of the cruise, usually for about $10 per kid and $35 per adult for a 6-day cruise. These pay-up-front cards can make a lot of sense when you’re cruising in the Caribbean or other tropical locales, when you can foresee drinking more than four or five sodas or bottles of water per day.

BYO Cooler. Put these items on your packing list: One crushable, insulated cooler; a sports bottle for every member of the family; and some one-gallon Ziploc storage bags. While most cruise lines won’t let you bring alcohol on board, many will allow you to bring your own soft drinks and bottled water. (Note: Read the fine print. Carnival Cruise Line recently changed its beverage policy to allow adults over 21 to bring one bottle of wine or champagne on board during embarkation. But passengers are no longer allowed to bring any other beverage, including water, on the ships.) Make a point of refilling your sports bottles at the breakfast buffet’s beverage counter. In ports-of-call, most cruisers end up noshing on overpriced, indifferent tourist fare. A better plan: Pack a picnic lunch from the ship. Score a couple of sandwiches from room service, lift some fruit and rolls from the breakfast buffet, and ta-da!—you’ve got a free lunch to go.

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