Splurge or Save on Cruise Extras

If you are planning on taking a cruise, you might feel lost with all the extras you can book with your cruise. From fine dining to excursions, you can spend a lot of additional costs to make your cruise better, more relaxing, and so much more! Here are some of the best cruise extras to splurge on and a few you should skip.

Splurge or Save on Cruise Extras

Drink packages

Drink packages onboard can be a huge hit or miss, but their value depends entirely on your drinking habits. If you are the type of person who drinks soda with every single meal, you will get your money’s worth on the drink package for the bottomless bubbles. However, others who drink maybe one over the course of a week will find that paying per can is a better deal. Drinkers of either alcohol or soda should look into drink packages for sure!

Don't miss this post: Is a Cruise to Alaska a Good Trip with Teens?

Onboard entertainment

If you’re looking to have a blast while on your cruise, a game of Bingo or Deal or No Deal can be just the thing! While these can be pretty pricey, you can have a blast playing. However, they don’t tell you that you can watch for FREE! Save yourself the $20 per card and instead watch the games if you’re interested in them. Your odds of winning anything are so low that it might not be worth it.

Excursions

At your ports of call, you will have the opportunity to book excursions through the cruise line. While many of these will be more expensive than booking with someone directly on the port of call, you have perks for booking with the ship. If an excursion is running behind or something and you booked through the cruise, they will wait for you if the excursion itself causes a hold-up. Otherwise, you are on your own and the boat may leave without you!

Most companies who run independent cruise excursions are very mindful of their cruise patrons and will do whatever they can to keep you on schedule, but there is no guarantee and sometimes having that guarantee brings peace of mind so it's worth it to splurge. 

I have found that you can negotiate last-minute activities in the various ports of call. For example, in Alaska, I was able to negotiate a whale-watching trip to half-price in an effort for the company to fill the boat. But not everyone likes to make plans last minute. My advice? Book some excursions you are most excited about ahead of time and be flexible on others. 

Everything You Need to Know Before You Book a Cruise to Alaska

Upgraded rooms

Another area that can be a big hit or miss is the rooms. If you are the type of person that spends a lot of time in your room, having a larger stateroom with a view is highly recommended. This will give you space to stretch out and really enjoy your cabin. If you are the type that just uses your room for sleeping and getting ready, don’t splurge on the upgraded room. You won’t spend enough time there to really get any value out of the extra amenities.

Upgraded Wi-Fi

Staying connected is important to a lot of people, and while the cruise ship will boast that it has wi-fi connectivity, the connections are often spotty. You can purchase upgraded wi-fi, but honestly, I have found that those connections are often spotty. If you want wi-fi to check your e-mail, you should be fine on the ship's connection. If you want to connect to social media, you'll probably need to upgrade and then you'll need to manage your expectations. It won't be like your connection at home!

Download anything you want to stream before you go and follow the cruise ship employees in port, they will generally know the best free wi-fi locations!

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Bottom Line

When it comes to extras on a cruise line, there are very easy ways to tell whether or not getting them will be worth it for you. Ask yourself what kind of vacation you want and know your personal habits as a person and family. Knowing these will help you make those tough decisions because you can break down their value, like with the drink packages.

 Want to know what I wished I packed on my cruise to Alaska? Check out this post!

If you’re looking to make a few difficult decisions about where to put your money on your next cruise, hopefully, this will help give you a few ideas.

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