The Anatomy of an Onboard Account and all those costs!

So, we talked about those elusive costs in our Blog titled, All Inclusive, Yet Elusive. Full transparency here. I’m putting my $$ where my mouth is. So, I’ve included one of our recent statements from onboard. Now you can see firsthand what we spent!

Let’s Break It Down

Cruise Fare/Taxes/Insurance (see Anatomy of a booking confirmation) we paid totaled $3,011. What’s left then to spend would be anything you purchase onboard.

Here is where we spent money onboard:

– Gratuities (we never prepay: we usually change these when onboard and use cash to tip those who directly helped us)
– Casino (we budget about $100 per/day the casino is open)
– Arcade (a kid thing but at least $20 p/kid)
– Beverages (we bring our own wine onboard and then budget for little extra. We never purchase the beverage package.)
– Gift Shop (miscellaneous items like ornaments, t-shirts or jewelry)

What our account showed

The images below show what you onboard account looks like and can be requested at the guest service desk anytime throughout your cruise. I recommend getting a copy at least half way through to see how you are doing! Things add up quickly when you never use cash and it all goes straight to the room. You will receive a copy to your room the night prior to debarkation.

At the bottom of the second page above you’ll notice the total owed at the end of the trip. It was an ADDITIONAL $670.

So in total the cost for our entire experience was $3,681.

Now, that may seem like a lot of money but if you read our Anatomy of a Booking Confirmation you can see that this was for a 12 Night Cruise.

Take the total experience amount divided by the number of nights and then divided by the four of us in the family.

It cost us $306 p/night ALL INCLUSIVE.

Whoa that seems like a lot of $

NOW, I wouldn’t be doing my job educating you all if I didn’t give you a quick comparison.

So, for comparison purposes I went to an online booking tool and did a quick search in Myrtle Beach for 12 nights in April 2019 (since we went in April 2018). Why Myrtle Beach? Because it’s comparable in the offerings (sun, sand, activities) and let’s be real, we all know Disney is expensive—just go price out 12 nights there! 

The cost at the Paradise Myrtle Beach Oceanfront Resort^ (ocean view room which is comparable to our cruise) for family of 4 is $2,411.

This DOES NOT INCLUDE all food (just 2 breakfasts each day), entertainment or kids programming.

On average per day you could spend at least $20 p/person on food (and I think that’s low) however, that’s about another $1K.

Ok, are you still with me?

This leaves you with just $200 extra for entertainment.

A quick search and I found if you do 3 excursions it would be:
– aquarium with glass bottom boat tour about $140 for family of 4
– visit a botanical gardens would run $50 for family of 4, and
– adventure ropes course would be another $176

You are at $366 on entertainment/activities.

If you’ve followed along so far you will see you are now OVER the cost of what 12 nights cost my family to cruise the Southern Caribbean and you’re in Myrtle Beach!

^I am not affiliated nor have I ever stayed at this property. Only using for the sake of an example!

Could we have saved even more?

Take a look at the images included. I diagramed them for you so you can understand the breakdown. Plus I think we could definitely have saved more and think one time when we cruise we won’t do any extras at all!