10 Cruise GOUGES & RIP-OFFS to Absolutely Avoid (If You Can) 

Each person has to decide what’s important to them. Personally I travel solo. I book early and I book an inside cabin. I skip specially dining. I can eat out at home cheaper. Being on the ship is my priority!! All the entertainment I want on the ship!! My home city doesn’t have entertainment.

We cruise off season also.. our group of 4 are retired... bags are always packed

Just a note - don't forget to look at public transit options. In Miami, I stayed a few days after my cruise, and taking transit from downtown to the airport was easy - one elevated train for $4.25 - and for getting around the city, they have a whole system of trolley routes are free!

A caveat with respect to gift cards: If you need to get a refund before the cruise, gift card payments come in the form of gift cards, not cash. And you might need to have proof of purchase. So save the record of purchase. And plan to take another cruise in the future to use those gift cards. Now a disclaimer: I use them to help pay for my cruises too.

10:55… but that poor robot bartender has robot kids and a wife back at the factory that he’s supporting!

Personally I cannot see ever paying for a meal at any of the specialty restaurants since meals are already included elsewhere.

I love your cute little numerical interludes.

I don’t go to any of the specialty restaurants. I have in the past but they really weren’t any better than the MDR. I already paid for the food in the buffet and MDR so that is where I eat. Since Covid I have only had one bad experience in the MDR where the steak was so tough it was inedible. I let the server know and I got a new steak and the server made sure that the chef knew and gave me a great cut.

Have used and am using the AARP discount cards. Best value and so easy to use !

I would like to pose an alternative way of thinking about booking a suite on a short cruise...as this is what my wife and I do 2-3 times per year. We sail on Celebrity..and when you are comparing the cost of a regular balcony cabin to a suite in The Retreat...you have to also take into consideration what that comes with in addition to the actual cabin. We get a premium drink package and get to eat in Luminae for every meal we want to, which is the same as eating specialty dining for every meal in my opinion... If you were already planning to buy a drink package and eat at some specialty restaurants...the total cost for upgrading to a suite is well worth it...and in total is nowhere near the difference in prices you just showed as a comparison....yours was not an apples to apples comparison.

Try inquiring internet with your cell phone provider. I paid $100. For 7 nights cruise instead of paying $350. On the cruise for internet.

I've been using the AARP gift cards to pay for my cruise since last year! Saved a bunch!

Viking is the worst . They cancelled a major part of cruise 3 weeks prior to departure. We lost a bundle . It was our first ocean cruise and probably our last. Viking don’t care either that they said we should have cancelled. Never cruise Viking.

I have prided myself on saving money since I started cruising right after Covid, only transatlantic on both Royal and Princess. The only extras I've purchased have been internet on sea days, and some specialty dining. No alcohol onboard, no photos, no cruise line excursions, no on-board shopping. Solo inside cabins. I did buy gift cards for paying the cruise fare on Princess, but I did so at the grocery with a card that gives 4x points; not quite as good as AARP's 8% off (not 10% any more). But I didn't know they also have RCL gift cards, which I don't find at the grocery. But there are rules about RCL cards that need to be followed closely.

I find cruising to be a great deal overall. Accommodations, great food options, entertainment, trivia, game shows, pools. All included. I stay away from drink packages, choosing to bring soda and wine when allowed. Avoiding purchasing internet. Avoiding specialty dining and photos. Sailing off season. All makes for a very affordable and fun vacation. AND, your greatest hit using AARP. I’ve save hundreds thanks to your video. Nice new transitions. Clever.

Biggest gouge: Gratuities. FFS 🤦‍♂️, just like restaurants, roll gratuities into the overall price of the product (the cruise 🚢)…..like port fees and taxes. I want one price when I click on a cruise, and I don’t want to pull out a calculator. I tip cash for extra or superior service as required while on cruises, and half the time I get them already included in the overall price.

I think people (including me) misuse the drink package. It also includes bottled water, fresh OJ, soda package and specialty coffee at ANY BAR, ANYWHERE! No more running to find a soda machine or going up to the Jammer to fill your water bottle you have to carry everywhere. You can just ask any waiter anywhere for water or a coffee or Coke Zero and get it and there is no tip because the cost of the package includes gratuity.

I always add extra gratuities, but I would love to see transparency as to who and where the money actually goes. My gut tells me that a portion is kept by the cruise line.

Rakuten gives cash back on cruises, then use your AARP card to get your discount, then be sure to get your military obc.

sorry, on short cruises i have no need to leave suite, we pay for the room, the experience the feet up holiday, the perks. each there own

I don’t think I should have to tip somebody that doesn’t give me service like the maître D

You know the old joke: What does Ensenada mean in Spanish? It means "stay on the ship."

We just got off a Carnival sailing and we went to Montego Bay, Jamaica. The last time we went to Jamaica was 15 years ago to Ocho Rios and then the vendors were very aggressive. Now, the state department has given Jamaica a level 3 travel warning (reconsider travel) due to crime and sketchy medical facilities. My wife stayed on the ship and i just went to the shops in the secure port area. I found everything we were wanting and we got them at a fair price and no aggression. Going to Alaska soon and i know that sailing will be a much more different vibe.

The biggest gouge of all is the Spa. It would be so much easier and fun to enjoy the services offered if the workers were not constantly and continuously trying to sell you useless overpriced products you don’t need. I know now to tell them from the start I am not interested in buying products. I say that as I stare at $500 worth of spa items I bought 4 cruises ago because I let them corner me and pressure me. I thought I had to buy SOMETHING. 😢

At Amber cover we were a group of 4 then 2 others from the ship joined us.. we haggle our taxi price and got the city tour for 15$ per person... ship price was way way way more...

Viking scammed us on air fare on our Dec 2023, Amazon and Caribbean adventure. We chose to do the extra night and airfare with Viking. They cancelled the Brazil portion of the trip but never adjusted the air fare. When checking flights it would have cost us $340 a person round trip instead they scammed us for $999. It was a disaster since no one would help . Any ideas people how to get my money back. Will never recommend Viking a complete rip off . 😮

I started donating plasma again and use those funds to purchase aarp gift cards. I earn $95 a week donating twice a week. I’m getting 10% off my cruise and Biolife foots the bill for 2 hours a week of my time. Win Win!

We went to the BLOW HOLE also about 15 to 20 years ago. It was not a good experience. One thing stood out at the full on shopping was a shop that had "We cheet um less" sign on top of their store. Great video thank you.

I skip the drinks package. Too many calories. I am happy with water and tea. I am happy that drunks spend hundreds of dollars to subsidize my cruise.

For Port Miami and Port Everglades you may be able to use Brightline to stay in Aventura, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Orlando before the cruise and then take the Brightline train to the particular station and then Uber or Lyft to the port. Princess Cruises has a free shuttle from the train station to the port.

Don't buy the welcome aboard cake that they send to your stateroom. Remember they have fresh baked deserts all over the ship.....

Ensenada exists strictly as a legal stop. It's the closest foreign port to the south west coast. There is NO reason to get off the ship.

Check out train and bus line prices to get from the cruise port to the airport. I paid less than $18 to make a 2 hour trip from ship to airport. The cruise shuttle was about 5x as expensive.

4:05…NORWEGIAN DOES NOT allow you to bring on a 12-pack of soda

We purchased the Free at Sea on our last NCL cruise and the Have it All for our next cruise on HAL. It includes internet. BUT if you get X minutes of wi-fi, remember to turn the wifi feature off on your phone. On the NCL Med cruise, I wanted to get Euros. I have a Scwhab debit card. Schwab absorbs ATM fees. At one stop, the bank ATMs on shore wanted a HUGE commission. So I got dollars out of the ship's ATM (No idea why on a Med cruise where the Euro was the dominant currency they didn't have an ATM with Euros). I then went to Customer (Dis)Service and THEY wanted 13% commission -lower than the bank ATMs but HIGHER than the exchange kiosk on the dock!

About the taxi ride. We found that out first time ever in Barcelona. Spain. The hotel was 4.1 miles from the airport. The guy kept getting lost by time he got there. He tried to charge me $110 Euros?. I told him to F off and told him I'm giving him $20 or I'm calling the police. He took that 20 listen, be learned. The cabbies are ripped off Artist in barcelona spain.

Celebrity's ground transportation saved me and about 18 others on a flight from Florida to board Celebrity in Seattle for an Alaskan cruise. The airline was the issue and this ship knew of it so waited. Had myself and four others NOT been booked through Celebrity the ship would not have delayed departure. Literally a dozen others who were going to take Uber or a cab were allowed to board the bus and they were VERY GRATEFUL, they'll always book transportation with Celebrity henceforth.

Internet: expensive but I have no choice. It's either fast expensive internet so I can work on my laptop or else it's no cruise at all.

Not to mention summer and holidays are a floating daycare

I love going to a specialty restaurant a couple of times on a longer cruise. It’s worth it to us.

My wife and I went on the La Bufadora excursion about 10 years ago and the part I remember the most about it was the homemade tacos we got right by the parking lot . Homemade tortillas were amazing!

Thanks So Much For The Great Advice Tips And Treats. 😮🎉

I did the La Bufadora excursion. I had the BEST time! But it must be put into context… I’m a wash and wear kinda girl.. no primping or fussing. Also I dont drink. I was on this 4 night party cruise (my first ever cruise) with my bestie and her primping, preening, drunk af sisters and some of their friends. I spent 90% of the cruise waiting on them to primp and preen, get pre-bar drunk, realize they needed to primp some more, then go to a bar to get additional drunk and flirt with the hot bartender. They completely ruined Catalina (a place I’d never been) for me because they took so gd long to get off the ship that we had time to only… you guessed it… hit up a bar. So the day came when we hit Ensenada. I was pissed up to my eyebrows at the lot of them. After breakfast, they all went back to the rooms to primp and pre drink, before hitting up the ship bar, before getting off the ship sometime in the afternoon. I however, left. I had been going to just wander around aimlessly with the goal of being kidnapped by sex traffickers because it would have been more enjoyable than the trip I was on. However, I accidentally ended up on the bus to La Bufadora and the bus driver kindly let me stay despite not having paid for the excursion. It was an unplanned trip and I loved every second of it! The 1/4 mile of shopportunities was really fun to browse and I still have the necklace I was price gouged for.. I paid cash money for some toilet paper to be handed to me by an old woman in the restrooms who was perched on a broken toilet out by the sink, met her grandson who had some puppies he was trying to sell and played with the pups for a while, and I saw La Bufadora.. In all honesty, under normal circumstances this might have been a major let down of an excursion but based on the trip I’d had up until then, I was living my best life and to this day remember that blowhole with immense fondness. I think the moral of the story is sometimes life hands you an adventure and you should just go with the flow. My “friends” were pissed at me.. probably should have told them I was going off on my own. I eventually found them in .. yep. A giant bar just off of the dock. They got off the ship, stopped there and did not see anything else in Ensanada. When I related my adventures, they were jealous. Seems to me it was a day well lived!

I actually enjoyed La Bufadora. I had the best greasy fried something or other there (and I bought some, uh, pharmaceuticals that I can't get at home.

Agree with the gratuity gouging. I am a member of AARP but am wishing that they had NCL gift cards since the past few cruises have been with them. Though we will probably be switching to HAL, Celebrity, or Viking for future cruises.

We are cruising in September and I have learned that if I want to drink a Root Beer on RC then I need to bring my own onboard. We had 3 port stops and no one had it in stock. It's not being cheap if the cruise line doesn't carry the product that you want so bring your own.

Thanks! Love You Videos~ Keep It Up!

I saw the 'blow hole' in Kauai and was much better than the one in Mexico.

Carnival I prepaid gratuities. Then I bought the soda package with gratuities. I got part of a can with a slip to add gratuities on. Seriously? Less than a can with several gratuities.

I'm going on my first cruise with one of my friends. We're doing RC. We got the key because it was only a couple dollars more expensive than the internet package and she needs internet just in case anyone needs to reach her about her kid (he'll be with his dad). We're doing a specialty dining one night because we've started a tradition of getting hibachi when she comes to visit. I have on board credit from playing a cell phone game that will pay for it, though.

Who do I contact for discounts on senior citizens and military. I have already booked my cruise on Royal Carribean

Regarding ship WiFi. It’s pretty easy to bypass the streaming restrictions with the basic plan, by using a VPN. 6:31

We don't cruise from may to August ..the early we book the better the price

Paying for early check in / boarding. I looked into it for our first cruise, and after looking around and then asking the Mrs. She said she would rather go to the ship a bit later, not have to sit and wait after checkin and pretty much just walk on board. WE didnt have to wait in much of a check in line at 1130, and sure, others got on board before us. But it was really nice not having to wait for boarding to start, even if we would have been one of the first on board. If it came with some other perk, MAYBE would be worth it, but nah, not to us.

We did La Bufadora back in Feb 23. We really enjoyed it. The vendors are aggressive, no doubt, but it helps that my daughter speaks Spanish. They warm up to that, and even offer discounts. It's not something we need to do again, but for a 1-time thing, we liked it.

Onboard spa services usually suck and are underequipped, nice lady tore up my face without using any steam. Make a spa appointment ashore where you can read reviews first.

I'd say the biggest gouge is not being explicit with what is and is not included in drink packages. For example, that welcome on board drink is likely not included in the package

Great information for us cruisers - do you have any tips for trying solo cruising? What ships offer studios besides NCL?

I had a bad experience using the gift cards. It can only be used for the base cruise and and my TA took forever to get it to go through.

Cruises are worse than a trip to Disney because they are always trying to get into your wallet, but on a cruise there is no escape as you are confined to a floating rip off.

Thanks

Tips for robo bartenders,still need service and refilling supplies.

Everything about a cruise is a gouge.

Note: With most cruise lines there is a corkage fee per bottle of wine/champagne applied - from around 15.00 to 30.00 $. Tip: Check cruise contract.

I like your channel. 100k is coming

Thanks you, the AARP tips is a good one.

didnt help

I have cruise news. Regent Seven Seas is now offering an option for coach plane seats as well as their standard business class option. The prices are on the website as of yesterday.

Internet on a flight can be way higher for a few hours .

Nowadays I think specialty dining has become a rip-off, it used to be that when you paid for a restaurant on board the pricing felt like they took into consideration the fact that you had to pay to be on board to begin with. But now all cruise lines have drastically increased the cost per person for specialty dining which now feels to be on par with land Restaurant pricing so you no longer feel like you're getting a special experience at a special price.

4:35 why accept this thievery? Cruise lines are so greedy

I never would heft soda cans or wine bottles arround only to save a couple of bucks. It's vacation, and yes I do pay for comfort.

I have been cruising since 1981/82, when alcoholic drinks were included! Apparently, AA members complained about paying for alcohol they couldn’t consume, but the cruise prices never changed, drinks just became additional. However, cruising is still less expenses than going to a single destination for the same amount of time. And if you travel with the same cruise line repeatedly, you earn a variety of upgrades!!!

NCL sold ATV ride excursion to us on line. On day of excursion was turned away because we were too old. Cruise desk no refund, we should have read details on ticket and ask for refund 2 days before day of excursion

If you are retired military or affiliated with the military - that is the steepest discount there is, beats AARP by a mile.

On seven or 12 night cruises get the drinks package.