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Hello! I'm new to this forum. I've got plans to take a 5-day Caribbean cruise with my grandmother on December '22 aboard Voyager Of The Seas, this would be our first time traveling by ourselves (we usually go with seasoned travelers but they've all refused to go because of the pandemic) so we're kind of on our own and I have some questions that I'd like to list out, hopefully I'll get some answers to appease my nervousness. Thank you in advanced.

  1. How does an onboard spending account work? Is $400 for the entire trip enough or should I deposit more?
  2. Should I use cash to open the onboard spending account?
  3. Are drink packages worth it despite the price?
  4. How much cash should I bring to spend onshore?

Any tips and tricks for a first time traveler to be well prepared will also be greatly appreciated. I'm very excited and nervous for this trip!

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I am not aware of funding onboard accounts with cash, I use my credit card.

dud you prepay gratuities? If not you’ll be paying $15 (rounded) per person per day.  If you have a suit that jumps up to $18? Per day per person.

Deluxe beverage packages, are worth it if you like to drink alcohol and specialty coffees and anticipate you’ll “get your monies worth “. Alcoholic drinks run about $15 (incl tip/gratuity), specialty coffees I think are about $8.  Water is also included.  If you are both in the same cabin you are both required to purchase the alcohol package if one gets it, with one exception, you can call Royal direct to do your purchase and tell them person #2 does not drink in which case you pay for 1deluxe (alcohol) package snd / total refreshment package (non alcohol drinks).  Book your drink package when you see a “reasonable price”, you can cancel and rebook if you see a better price.  Reasonable these days would be about $50-$57 for the deluxe alcohol pkg. and when you go to check out I believe they add in taxes and gratuities.   You can purchase the refreshment package when you see a “good price” ($18-$24 I think) but, if you decide to add alcohol for the other person make the phone call. 
Mon shore is subjective to the type of shopper you are snd what you plan to do. 

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38 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

I am not aware of funding onboard accounts with cash, I use my credit card.

dud you prepay gratuities? If not you’ll be paying $15 (rounded) per person per day.  If you have a suit that jumps up to $18? Per day per person.

Deluxe beverage packages, are worth it if you like to drink alcohol and specialty coffees and anticipate you’ll “get your monies worth “. Alcoholic drinks run about $15 (incl tip/gratuity), specialty coffees I think are about $8.  Water is also included.  If you are both in the same cabin you are both required to purchase the alcohol package if one gets it, with one exception, you can call Royal direct to do your purchase and tell them person #2 does not drink in which case you pay for 1deluxe (alcohol) package snd / total refreshment package (non alcohol drinks).  Book your drink package when you see a “reasonable price”, you can cancel and rebook if you see a better price.  Reasonable these days would be about $50-$57 for the deluxe alcohol pkg. and when you go to check out I believe they add in taxes and gratuities.   You can purchase the refreshment package when you see a “good price” ($18-$24 I think) but, if you decide to add alcohol for the other person make the phone call. 
Mon shore is subjective to the type of shopper you are snd what you plan to do. 

I prepaid my gratuities. I remember scrolling through the blog and seeing that some people used cash for their onboard account but I have a credit card so it won’t be an issue. I’m not much of a spender myself but my grandmother does like to gamble so I have to keep an eye on her spending since I’m the one covering all expenses.

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16 hours ago, Sussiewinterbear said:

I'll get some answers to appease my nervousness.

My best advice is take everything people tell you with a grain of salt.  What is good for other people may not be good for you.  I just got off two cruises and my onboard account was $45 for the first and $20 for the second.  I am not a shopper and I pre-payed everything.  Other people I have seen had onboard accounts for 7 days was over $8,000.  The drinks on the ships are about $9 to $15 a alcohol drink.  The question you have to ask is how much are you going to drink.  No matter what you decide just keep track of your onboard account each day.  You can see it on the phone app or the TV in your stateroom.

And the last advice,  relax and do your thing....

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Another tip, related, is that if you see any discrepancies on your onboard account, or any other issue that you think you may have to take to Guest Services, do NOT wait until the last day of your cruise.   Most people wait until the last day/night to go there, and the line will be wastefully long.

 

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