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The fare is paid, the cabin is booked, and the confirmation email says “all your meals included.” So why do so many cruisers get home to a final bill that looks like a second fare?
Because a cruise is two purchases. The first is the ticket. The second happens one tap of your cruise card at a time: the daily gratuity that posts while you sleep, the 20% service charge on every cocktail, the Wi-Fi you swore you wouldn’t buy, the snorkel trip in Cozumel.
Here’s how much spending money a cruise really takes, built from the cruise lines’ own price lists and checked on October 14, 2026, with three sample budgets you can copy.
How Much Spending Money for a Cruise? The Short Answer
On a seven-night cruise with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian or Princess, plan on about $30 to $190 per person per day on top of your fare. That works out to about $440 to $2,650 for a couple. The only part you can’t easily avoid is the daily gratuity, $17 to $20 per person in a standard cabin. Everything else depends on how you drink, whether you need to be online and how many shore excursions you book.
A middle-of-the-road couple, with a couple of cocktails a day each, Wi-Fi for one phone, one steakhouse dinner and two excursions, spends about $85 per person per day on Carnival. That’s about $1,190 for the week, and it’s close to the real-world average: in our analysis of the big three cruise companies’ 2025 annual reports, onboard spending averaged $90.48 per passenger per day at Carnival Corporation and $95.75 across all three.
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Send me the free kit →What Do You Actually Spend Money On During a Cruise?
Your fare covers the cabin, the main dining room, the buffet, the shows, the pools and basic drinks such as tap water, regular coffee and tea. Our guide to what is included in a cruise goes through it line by line. Spending money goes on six things:
- Gratuities, charged automatically every day. This is the one fixed cost.
- Drinks, anything from a beer to a full drink package, plus a 20% service charge on each one.
- Wi-Fi, sold per day, and on some lines only for the whole cruise.
- Specialty dining, such as the steakhouse, sushi or teppanyaki restaurants.
- Shore excursions, usually the biggest variable on the bill.
- Port spending and extras: cash for taxis, tips and souvenirs ashore, plus the spa, casino, photos and shops on board.
The Daily Costs, Line by Line
Here’s what the four biggest lines charge for the items that turn up on almost every bill, taken from their own pages wherever they publish a price.
| Line | Gratuity, standard cabin (suites) | Service charge on drinks | Wi-Fi, one device, per day | Steakhouse dinner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnival | $17 ($19) | 20% | From $20.40 (Social plan, bought before the cruise) | $52 at Fahrenheit 555 |
| Royal Caribbean | $18.50 ($21) | 20% | Priced per sailing: about $29 to $39 on board | Priced per sailing in the Cruise Planner |
| Norwegian | $20 ($25 Haven and suites) | 20% | $29.99 (Voyage Wi-Fi Pass) | Not published as one price |
| Princess | $18 ($19 mini-suites, $20 suites) | 20% | $27.99 bought before the cruise ($33.99 on board) | $55 cover at Crown Grill, plus 20% |
Two things in that table are easy to miss. First, Norwegian’s own FAQ prices its Wi-Fi pass “per stateroom per day,” and says extra devices can be added on board for $14.99 each per day. Second, Royal Caribbean’s 20% doesn’t stop at drinks. Its gratuity FAQ adds it to spa and salon services, specialty dining, room service and minibar items too.
Three Real Cruise Budgets: Lean, Middle and Splurge
Averages hide the choices that drive the bill, so we built three budgets for the same trip: a couple in a standard cabin on a seven-night Carnival cruise that stops in Cozumel. We used Carnival because it publishes more of its prices than any other big line. Every figure comes from Carnival’s own pages: its gratuities page, its drink price list (beer from $6.50, specialty cocktails from $10.50, both plus 20%), its steakhouse page and two of its Cozumel excursions. Wi-Fi prices are from the reports in the table above.
| Item (couple, 7 nights) | Lean | Middle | Splurge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gratuities ($17 per person per day) | $238.00 | $238.00 | $238.00 |
| Drinks | One beer each a day: $109.20 | Two specialty cocktails each a day: $352.80 | CHEERS! package for both: $1,175.16 |
| Wi-Fi | None | Social plan, one person: $142.80 | Premium plan, both: $357.00 |
| Specialty dining | None | One steakhouse dinner: $104.00 | One steakhouse dinner: $104.00 |
| Shore excursions | Cozumel beach club day, both: $89.98 | Beach club plus day sail, both: $349.96 | Three day-sail-priced trips, both: $779.94 |
| Total for the couple | $437.18 | $1,187.56 | $2,654.10 |
| Per person, per day | $31.23 | $84.83 | $189.58 |
Look at where the money goes. In the lean budget, more than half the bill is gratuities, a cost you’d pay even if you never left your cabin. In the splurge budget, the drink package alone costs more than everything in the middle budget except the excursions. And the gap between “a beer a day” and “a package for both” is more than $1,000. That’s why the drinks decision matters more than anything else on this list. Our drink package break-even guide does that maths for each line.
How Much Should You Budget for Gratuities?
For a couple in a standard cabin on a seven-night cruise: $238 on Carnival, $252 on Princess, $259 on Royal Caribbean and $280 on Norwegian. Those are the lines’ own daily rates: Carnival’s “$17.00 USD per person, per day,” Royal Caribbean’s $18.50, Princess’s $18 for “all other stateroom types” and Norwegian’s $20, all multiplied out. Suites cost more on every line. Our cruise tipping guide covers other lines, children’s rates and how to adjust the charge.
Budget for this first, because it arrives whether you spend anything else or not. Norwegian’s page says the charge “can be prepaid,” and Royal Caribbean applies the daily charge to guests “who choose not to prepay gratuities at the time of booking,” so you can clear it before you sail.
How Much Is Wi-Fi on a Cruise?
Expect roughly $20 to $40 per device per day, and less if you buy before you sail. Carnival’s cheapest plan, Social, rose from $18.70 to $20.40 a day for 2026 sailings, according to Cruise.Blog. Cruise Mummy lists the same $20.40, plus $23.80 for Value and $25.50 for Premium, and says that in 2026 Carnival’s packages must be bought for the whole cruise.
Princess raised its prices for sailings from October 13, 2026. One device now costs $27.99 a day before the cruise, $33.99 on board for the whole voyage, or $39.99 for a single day. A new two-device plan costs $39.99 a day before the cruise. Both Cruise Hive and Cruise Mummy reported the same figures.
Royal Caribbean doesn’t have a fixed price. Cruise.Blog found onboard prices of $28.99 to $38.70 a day across three ships in March 2026, and a Cruise Planner sale that cut the Harmony of the Seas price from $38.70 to $29.02. The lesson works on every line: check the price before you sail, because buying on board almost always costs more.
The cheapest option is to share. If one person in the cabin needs to stay connected and the other only wants messages, one plan can be enough.
How Much Does Specialty Dining Cost on a Cruise?
A steakhouse dinner costs about $50 to $70 per person once the charges are added. Carnival’s Fahrenheit 555 page lists “Adults: $52,” with a $15 kids’ menu for children 11 and under. Cruise Hive reported that the price rose from $49 to $52 for 2025 sailings and that it includes gratuities.
Princess’s Crown Grill menu reads “COVER CHARGE $55 PER PERSON,” with extra mains at $20 each, and adds that all food and beverage costs, “including cover charges, are subject to a 20% service charge.” The Points Guy’s Gene Sloan met the same $55 cover and 20% charge on a recent Princess sailing to Japan. With “$20 upcharges for all the better steak cuts,” he put the total at “$90 per person before you even order drinks.”
One special dinner is a treat. Specialty dining every night is a different budget, and that’s when a dining package can make sense. Price the package against the meals you’d actually book.
How Much Should You Budget for Shore Excursions?
Excursions are priced per person, so they add up fastest for families. In one port on one line, Carnival’s Cozumel listings ran from $44.99 per adult (a four-hour beach club day with loungers, umbrellas and a tequila tasting; $34.99 for children 12 and under) to “starting at” $129.99 for a four-hour sail and snorkel with lunch and an open bar. A family of four doing the beach day pays about $160. Two adults on the day sail pay about $260.
Prices change by sailing, and Carnival’s pages show them as “starting at” figures. Price your own ports in your booking, then pick one or two must-do excursions instead of booking one in every port. You can also spend the day at the beach or in town for little more than a taxi fare.
How Much Cash Do You Need for Port Days?
On board, everything goes on your cruise card. Ashore, you pay your own way, and taxis, tips and street food often want cash. Bring small bills. Carnival’s Cozumel excursion page suggests tipping excursion guides about $1 per person for a half day and $2 for a full day. Other guides suggest more, and our tipping guide compares them. Our guide to bringing money on a cruise covers ATMs on board, which currencies work in which ports, and how much cash to carry.
One more thing to plan for isn’t spending at all: the hold on your card. Cruise lines place holds on the card linked to your account, at the start of the cruise and again as you spend. That money isn’t spent, but you can’t use it until your bank releases the hold, which on a debit card can be weeks after you’re home. Our guide to paying for things on a cruise lists the holds for each line we could check.
How to Keep Your Cruise Spending Money Under Control
- Start with the fixed cost. Multiply your line’s daily gratuity by the number of people and nights, and prepay it if you’d rather not see it on board.
- Decide on drinks before you sail. A package or pay-as-you-go is the biggest single choice. Work out your real daily number with our break-even table.
- Price Wi-Fi in your booking now. Pre-cruise prices are lower on Carnival and Princess, and Royal Caribbean runs Cruise Planner sales.
- Add 20% to every menu price for drinks, spa treatments and specialty dining. The price on the menu isn’t the price on your bill.
- Choose your excursions by port, not by default. One great day ashore beats five average ones you paid for.
- Check your account every day or two in the cruise line’s app, so the final bill holds no surprises.
Quick Answers
How much spending money do you need for a 7-day cruise?
For a couple on a mainstream line, about $440 for a lean week, $1,190 for a typical one and $2,650 or more with a drink package, premium Wi-Fi and several excursions. That’s roughly $30, $85 and $190 per person per day, based on our Carnival budgets with prices checked October 14, 2026.
What is the one cost you can’t avoid on a cruise?
The daily gratuity: $17 per person on Carnival, $18 on Princess, $18.50 on Royal Caribbean and $20 on Norwegian in a standard cabin. For a couple on a seven-night cruise, that’s $238 to $280.
How much is Wi-Fi on a cruise per day?
Roughly $20 to $40 per device per day. Carnival’s Social plan starts at $20.40 a day bought before the cruise, Princess charges $27.99 for one device, Norwegian lists $29.99, and Royal Caribbean’s price varies by sailing.
Do you need cash on a cruise?
Not on board, where everything is charged to your cruise card. Bring some small bills for port days, for taxis, tips for guides and drivers, and local snacks.
The Bottom Line
The fare is the price of the cruise you booked. The spending money is the price of the cruise you’ll actually take. For most couples on a week-long mainstream cruise, that second price lands somewhere between a few hundred dollars and a couple of thousand, and you choose where. Gratuities are fixed. Drinks, Wi-Fi and excursions are choices, and making them at home, with prices in front of you, beats making them at the bar on day three. Decide those three before you sail, add 20% to anything with a menu price, and the final bill will hold no surprises.
Cruise Chaos earns nothing from cruise lines or booking links. Every price in this guide links to where we read it, on the lines’ own pages wherever they publish one, checked on October 14, 2026. Wi-Fi, excursion and package prices change often, and some are set per sailing, so your booking is the final word. If something has changed, tell us and we’ll correct it.
Coming up on Cruise Chaos: what is free on a cruise ship? From room service to the ice cream machine, we’ll check what costs nothing, line by line.
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Keep Reading
- Is the Drink Package Worth It on a Cruise?
- How Much Does a Cruise Cost Per Person?
- Do You Need to Bring Money on an All-Inclusive Cruise?
Sources
- Carnival Cruise Line: Gratuities and tips, Drink packages and sample beverage prices, Steakhouse, and Cozumel shore excursions Downtown, Shopping & Beach and All Inclusive Luxury Day Sail & Snorkel
- Royal Caribbean: Onboard service gratuities
- Norwegian Cruise Line: What is the onboard service charge?, How do gratuities work? and What other Wi-Fi packages will be offered?
- Princess Cruises: Crew appreciation and service charge policy and Crown Grill sample menu
- Cruise Hive: Princess Cruises hikes package prices and shakes up WiFi plans (September 28, 2026) and Carnival Cruise Line increases prices for some dining venues (November 6, 2024)
- Cruise Mummy: Princess Cruises reveals higher package rates and WiFi changes and Carnival WiFi packages (January 7, 2026)
- Cruise.Blog: Carnival Cruise Line quietly increases price of WiFi (October 28, 2025) and Royal Caribbean internet package guide (March 3, 2026)
- Cruise Fever: Wi-Fi on a cruise ship, cost of internet for each cruise line (April 2026)
- The Points Guy: cruise newsletter by Gene Sloan (September 2, 2026)
- Onboard spending averages: Form 10-K filings for 2025 from Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, as analysed in our cruise cost guide
