How to stick to your budget while on your cruise

Typically, you get one day at each port, so you want to make the most of it, and the shore excursions are a great way to seize the day. Options ranging from helicopter rides to jungle treks are available depending on where you are, but they come at an added cost from about $40 for a half-day excursion up to over $100 a person for activities that take the majority of the day.

You will have the option to book the travel while on board, but it will come at the most premium price. If you are willing to risk perhaps not getting your first choice (if it is VERY popular, and books early), consider waiting until you get to port to book your tour. Nearly every cruise port has an adjacent series of shops that typically includes a tour package reseller.

The best way to save on shore excursions is to spend a few dollars on a guidebook, or an hour or so surfing the web for ideas of what you would like to see in each port. If it's accessible enough, plan your own day of exploring your destination.

Don't forget, unlike in the US, you can barter. If you are going to sit on the beach, see if you can barter the chair rental price if you are going to order food and drinks from the café. You were going to eat anyway, weren't you?

But, if you take a taxi to get to that beach, try to agree on the cost up front. This goes for bike rental, jet ski rental or hiring a driver. Negotiating the price up front can keep you from being over-charged.

There are so many activities and events on the cruise boat, that it takes a lot of pre-planning to make sure you are prepared for all of them. Forget one crucial item and you will discover the completely imbalanced laws of supply and demand that exist when you're in the middle of the ocean. The cruise ship will have a shop with most of the necessities you could need, but you don't want to have to spend 300% mark-up to get some sunscreen. Come prepared.

When you get to the cruise store you will see that everything would have been cheaper to buy at home. So, do that up front. Give particular attention to items that can run out: sunscreen, batteries, and film are three big ones that the cruise sells but at marked-up prices.

Medical aids such as Dramamine or Tylenol should be available at the cruise's Medical facility, but know that those are not open 24 hours. Sometimes the front desk will have a small supply of sample sizes, but if you worried about sea sickness or any other type of sickness, plan ahead.

Think through the whole experience. If you are going to be using the pool on that last day at sea, bring baggies to hold your still damp clothes when you have to pack later that evening. If you are not interested in the local cuisine, bring a collapsible cooler for your day at shore.

You came all this way, spent all this money, surely you want a souvenir of your trip, right? The cruise ships think so, so they have very fancy on-board boutiques with all sorts of items, many that have no relation to your cruise. The ports are also loaded with shops of typical travel trinkets. Shopping here is like shopping for gifts at the airport, you know you are probably not getting the best gift idea and paying a premium for it.

Much of the gift shop trinkets are fun when you are on the cruise, but lose their luster when you get home. This is also true for the many photos taken of you and your family in front of different backdrops. If you can't see yourself wearing or displaying that souvenir next week or next month, then you are not spending your money wisely.

Instead, think ahead of the cruise of the type of items that you would like. A nice tee-shirt of the port is a memento and a nice new shirt for the summertime. That photo of the family can be on display in the home, but get the one in front of the boat and the port, not the one from dinner; when looking back at your trip, you're not likely to reminisce about sitting in the dining room.

Finally, gifts don't need to cost anything at all. Sea glass, seashells, photos on your camera. These are keepsakes too that won't cost you a dime.

There is a good reason that alcoholic drinks are not included in the cruise package. It is where they make most of their money. If your good time involves a beverage or two, you need to take caution. I have talked to people who took a $600 cruise and ending up paying nearly $1000 more for drinks while on board. One place they get you is with the "day at sea", that's a whole day just on the boat soaking in the fun and adding to your tab. Fortunately, most cruises now keep you aware of the tab as you're building up so you are not shocked when you have to pay on the last day.

First know that cruises are quite strict about alcohol. Wine is typically allowed to be uncorked (for a fee) at dinner. Bringing your own beer or spirits is prohibited. So what can you do? Nothing really; rules are rules. But since that answer makes this section very short, I will tell you a story about my aunt who's not a big fan of rules.

Mu aunt, a cruise frequenter, tells me she'll bring a corkscrew and insulated mugs on board. That way she can open her own wine, and bring it to the poolside with her in the mugs. Further, if she purchases a bottle of rum while at port, she can use that in the mugs instead, and mix it with the free juices available on deck. Or, to mix it up, she'll buy her first drink from the cruise line, then keep the glass, and refill back in the room with the rum. And when she wants to get real crafty, she brings the rum from home, by filling an empty wine bottle with rum, and resealing the bottle with hot wax, so it appears unopened.

There's nothing hidden about tipping, unless you thought it was included in your bill. Generally you have to spend at least $10 a day on tips for your dinner waiter and/or kitchen staff as well as your cabin steward and/or maid service. On top of those tips, there is also your bar tender, and just about everyone who provides any sort of service for you while on your shore excursion.

There are plans you can get to pay a flat rate for gratuity for the whole trip, if you would prefer not to have to deal with it. But truth be told, most jobs in the cruise industry have long hours, low salary and poor conditions, (the same is true for those shore services). Your tip will go a long way for those folks. So, this unless the service was notably poor, this is probably not a place to skimp.