Crossing the Water on a Budget - Trip Considerations Before You Leave
Water travel is a bit different than most other forms of travel. This has to do with the fact that, especially as concerns cruises, you can’t exactly get a drink or a meal anywhere other than the ship. That means that whatever happens to be on the menu, at whatever that price happens to be, is most likely what you’re going to be partaking of.
If you don’t like something, there will of course always be other options, but they can be frighteningly expensive in comparison to what you’d otherwise have access to on land.
In fact, the single largest complaint of budget conscientious water travelers is the unexpected cost of items that aren’t included in the cruise prices.
While most cruises do offer meal plans and packages, as a general rule, the average package does not include snacks or beverages during off times. A couple can easily end up spending 20£ a day on those, which adds a whopping £140 to a seven day cruise. Throw in alcoholic beverages, and that figure can easily triple to £400 or more.
That means you might save more by upgrading your travel package than you’d save by not doing so. You’d also do well to consider the cost of basic remedies that might not be available on ship, such as aspirin, and antacids if you’re prone to indigestion.
Of course, many of the better packages will factor things like these in and won't always nickle and dime you in to stumping up more from their captive audiences. But ask questions first, it'll save a sore wallet or purse on the other side!
