The biggest cruise RIP-OFFS that you should AVOID to save money

I'll never do the spa again. Paid about 150$ for a 'massage' and all I got was a 10 minute massage and 20 minutes of hot stones. Total waste of money.

There is a great trick to avoid the ATM fees. As a very seasoned cruiser, you go to the casino, tap your card/band, add money into the machine "to play" as a room charge, and then print the voucher and take it to the cage. Boom! You're welcome in advance...I do this ALL the time on multiple cruise lines and it works.

Specialty dining. Don't get me wrong, the food is great, but we're just as happy with the included food options.

I can’t understand people buying specialty dining.,surely if you have paid thousands of dollars you should be getting special meals anyway.

Some of these rip offs can be avoided by your choice of cruise line. The all-inclusive choices may appear more expensive, but aren't in the long run and Viking, for instance, provides included bottled water, free wi-fi, at least one free shore excursion in each port, has no art auctions, no annoying professional photographers, allows you to bring your own alcohol on board, and probably a few other things as well.

On Royal last year my wife won a raffle for a "free massage". It turned out to be a 100 dollar voucher that wouldn't cover a 45 minute massage.

Excursions are rip-offs to me as well as the impression that you have to take them to enjoy your trip. First time to a port just walking off the ship and exploring is a great excursion. Enjoying the ship while others get off also makes the ship a more enjoyable excursion on its own.

Absolutely avoid spa treatments doing it prior to cruise you’ll save a ton of money.

Also be careful of any "Shopping Seminars" the cruise line may give to steer you to shops at ports that are very expensive. Also BINGO has become a big rip off too.

I agree with every thing except the photography . I am a picture freek and I like to remember the times of my life.

When I go on a cruise, I take laundry pods with me. That way when I have any small items I need to rinse out then I can do so in the bathroom sink and then hang to dry on the line in the shower that way I don’t have a bunch of additional costs as for laundry. .

I like how it’s “for example NCL” they always charge the most for everything it seems. Not that the other cruise lines don’t nickel and dime.

What's even worse than the price of the art on the ship is the price they charge to ship it to your house. You can't just bring it home with you. I almost bought a $15 print at an auction until I found out the shipping would cost $35! I said "Thanks but no thanks".

You are on vacation. You don't need to be online.

Eat and drink only what is included, no spas, no casinos, no wifi, no photos. I take my own hot chocolate sachets - cruise ships will charge £4.00 for a hot chocolate at the bar and I buy bottled water in port.

I use a computer not a cell phone for my needs, I upgrade to a package that covers WIFI, drinks, and tips sometimes other goodies like gyms and desert packages. This works well for me, I'm on vacation, I budget at home. If you don't want your children to spend on the ship activities, go on ships that don't offer all the frills, kids will find other included activities, also these cruises are usually less money. Booking extremely early, a year or two, allows cruisers to save hundreds of dollars and it gives time for families to save for wanted extras. Always buy cruise insurance, shop around for what your family needs. Personally, My group has used the insurance twice in two years, once to avoid a hurricane. That was a good list you gave.

Your list is pretty complete & I agree entirely. But I'm very glad there are many people that seem happy to pay for all the extras because it helps keep our total price down as people that forego most of them & just enjoy the basics.

Best suggestion is to look for bundled packaged deals. We pay $60/day for drinks and gratuities, WiFi, 2 fitness classes and a few extra perks.

While getting your alcohol drink, request a bottled water(free) so you can take that to your room for later, especially if you’re fixing to head back to your room, That way you can stock up for free. Sometimes you can do the same with sodas ask for soda when you get a drink.

I’ve always thought it has been cost of pictures taken by cruise members while on ship. Old cameras used a lot of film that had to be developed and then thrown away each week as passengers disposed of them. Now with digital cameras this is all saved. But pictures have even went higher. We refuse to have pictures taken that we don’t care for others to judge.😬👎