When you book a cruise you are for the most part paying for a package that includes all you need to enjoy an incredible vacation.  Transportation to exotic ports of call, food, drink and entertainment are all included in the rate you pay to book your cruise.  That isn’t to say that a cruise is an all-inclusive package as there are certain extras that are available for additional charges.

However, these additional charges aren’t necessary to have fun, in fact if you are vacationing on a budget what makes a cruise perfect is the fact that you don’t need to spend much additional money to have a great time.  The problem is without self-control it’s very easy to blow your budget especially in such a relaxed environment where the options are always presented as such a great deal.

The bad part is I’m not even talking about what happens in port I mean what actually goes on aboard the ship.  When you cruise there are several opportunities that will be presented to you that look too good to be true but aren’t.  What these opportunities really end up being is the cruise lines opportunity to pad their bottom line at your expense.

So, I wrote this article about five ways the cruise lines try to get even more money out of you.  Now, I’m not saying these situations should be strictly avoided.  What I am saying is, don’t allow yourself to be coerced into spending money on just anything.   If you don’t value these services don’t allow yourself to be talked into paying for them because they are presented as a “deal”. For example, sometimes my girlfriend will come home from the mall with a new piece of jewelry.  She comes in all excited trying to convince me of how great a deal she got.  My response is always the same (as I’m getting my stuff ready for a night on the couch), did you mean to buy it because if you didn’t set out with that piece in mind you didn’t get a deal you got taken advantage of.

The Shopping Advisor

On every cruise you will find someone touted as the cruise ships expert on shopping.  They tell you this person is who you should talk to in order to find the best deals in your upcoming port.  Now I am in no position to question the validity of these people’s credentials as a shopping expert.  However, I will tell you their primary goal isn’t to get you the best deal, but to get you to spend, spend, and spend.

While these guys bill themselves as providing a service helping you find the best deals, more often than not they get paid to steer you towards certain stores.  That’s right, in most cases these guys are (more or less) working on commission.  These “shopping experts” are usually contracted by a consortium of stores who pay them to get you into their shops.  The cruise line is in on this deal, and oftentimes they are tied to the stores themselves.  Many of dockside strip malls you see in the Caribbean were built by the cruise lines themselves.   Why else do you think every place they send you to usually end up being conveniently located in those shopping villages.

Buying Pictures

Everywhere you go on a cruise ship (and even when exiting) they are snapping pictures.  It’s not uncommon for passengers to be photographed dozens and dozens of times over the course of a week-long cruise; and even more if you voluntarily seek out the photographers.  To some it’s no big deal but to others like me it’s at best annoying and at worst bordering on harassment.

I bring my own camera on vacation. In fact, I usually bring 2 or 3 cameras along for different situations, complete with a ridiculous amount of storage.  On a 7 day cruise I usually return with 300-500 photos and a few hours of video footage so when it comes to capturing memories, I’m good.

While most of these shots are scenery pictures I have never had a problem getting a picture shot with my girlfriend.  Other couples are always happy to take our picture in exchange for me taking theirs; also waiters (in addition to being well versed in service and hospitality) tend to be excellent photographers.  Unless it’s some kind of special occasion you are commemorating, it’s usually a good idea to avoid buying too many photos.

Buying Cruise Line Swag

I have never had the desire to buy a Holland America (or any other cruise line) logo shirt, hat or windbreaker.  However, I do understand that some people do.  Occasionally, I do see someone walking around in “Cruise Line Swag” and it provides me an opportunity to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger.  I just hope that perfect stranger didn’t buy their gear on the first day of the cruise.  They could have gotten it much cheaper had they exercised a little bit of patience.

I’m not sure if you ever noticed but onboard cruise ships there are always sales going on.  The sales start almost immediately once you board the ship and continue at varying amounts throughout the remainder of the cruise.  If you have ever paid attention you probably realized that as the week goes on discounts get deeper.  So if you are going to buy cruise logo gear its okay to browse around early in the week but you aren’t going to want to do any of the actual purchasing until at least midweek.

Art Auctions

Every cruise will feature art auctions at various times.   The art is usually displayed around the ship and some of it is pretty appealing.  The problem is most of us having absolutely no idea if it really is worth the price or if it’s junk. The auctioneer (who is not employed by the cruise line) would like you to believe you are getting a great deal on an investment piece of art that that will appreciate in value and maybe someday even send your kids to college or carry you through retirement.  More accurately they are just trying to get under-informed and over-exuberant tourists to buy overpriced “art” so they can get a fat commission check.

That’s right that slick talking gentleman with the 1000 watt smile who seems so friendly and helpful is just another one of the commissioned salesman trying to separate you from your hard-earned cash.  Now at some point you probably will end up at least meandering through one of these auctions as they pretty popular for the free champagne they like to pass out.  It’s even okay to purchase something if it’s a piece you really like.  Just remember it’s quite possible the art you purchase will never be worth more than the purchase price and sometimes it won’t even be worth that.

Bar Service Auto-tipping

Now I am a huge advocate of tipping.  I think the auto-tips that are put in place are wonderful because I truly believe if they didn’t exist lots of people would “stiff” the staff.  In fact, I even believe in tipping additionally if I received service that was above the line.  However I tend to limit that extra-tipping to people that are actually in a position to provide me excellent service.  If you give it to everyone it will only come to be expected.

If you are my cabin steward or dining room wait staff and you take care of me, I will take care of you.  But, if you work in a lounge or at the pool most likely you just carried my drink from point A to point B.  For that service the 15% auto-tip will suffice.  The problem is a lot of people don’t realize that a 15% tip is already added onto your bill as soon as they purchase your drink.  So, what happens is the customer ends up writing in an additional tip when signing for their drinks.  Now if a poolside waiter catches my eye as someone who is going to take exceptional care of me throughout the week I have no problem slipping them a little extra to secure their service.

So as you can see these are just a few things you can look out for to make certain you aren’t taken for a ride while you cruise.  Now I’m not saying you should stick to any of these things as if they were gospel, but I do want you to aware of what is going on.