Cruise holidays offer an exciting opportunity to see and explore more of the world and are arguably one of the best value holidays you can choose. Cruise holidays are a great way to pay for everything in advance meaning once you step aboard, you can relax in the knowledge that you don’t have to spend a penny whilst on your cruise!

Spread the cost

Travel is back and better than ever before, with many family cabins and school holiday sailings quick to sell out, it’s recommended to book your cruise in advance. If you’re planning for next year’s holiday, you can secure your sailing with a deposit and spread the cost with interest-free monthly payments to pay off your holiday in manageable chunks.

Celebrity Beyond DIning

Food, drinks, and snacks

All cruises are full-board with buffet restaurants, cafes, and main dining readily available for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks whenever you feel peckish. These are all included in your cruise fare as well as selected drinks such as tea, coffee, water and selected soft drinks.

Many cruise lines offer speciality dining options which come at an additional charge, but it might come as a surprise to know that you can take out speciality dining packages before embarking on your cruise which means you’ve paid for these dining experiences in advance of sailing.

If you choose to cruise with Royal Caribbean you can enjoy ice tea and lemonade in the soft drinks selection. You can also choose to add a drinks package to your booking for more soft drinks or deluxe alcoholic beverages, which can also be purchased in advance of sailing.

For those who like to enjoy a tipple when on holiday, drinks packages are readily available, which you can pre-book and pay for before boarding your cruise. Celebrity Cruises offer an ‘All Included’ option which includes premium beverages, WiFi and tips which can be added on at the point of booking.

Norwegian Cruise Line offer the upgrade to Free at Sea from £149pp which includes premium beverages, speciality dining, WiFi and shore excursion credit which can be applied at the time of booking or purchased in advance of sailing. Meaning when you get on-board you needn’t spend a penny on drinks, or speciality restaurants.

Get the most out of your sailing with Princess Cruises with the Princess Plus (£50pp per day).

With Princess Plus, you’ll get the Medallion Class experience, which includes use of a wearable device and app which provide you with:

  • Beverage package with drinks valued up to $15 each
  • Pre-paid crew appreciation
  • WiFi on 1 device per guest
  • Premium desserts (2 per day)
  • Fitness classes (2 per cruise)
  • Unlimited juice bar (4 juice blends
  • The OceanNow service which allows you to order food and beverages to you rather than queuing for them.
  • OceanReady which allows you to upload your security photo and passport, and fill in pre cruise documents at home, speeding up the boarding process.
  • OceanCompass which helps you find your way around the ship and find friends and family around the ship.
  • PlayOcean interactive games including scavenger hunts on the medallion device.

Gratuities and Tips

If you want to truly not spend a penny whilst on-board, you can choose to pre-pay your tips and gratuities. The majority of cruise lines provide you with an opportunity to pre-pay your gratuities before you sail, giving you peace of mind of not needing to tip as you go.

You can find out more about tipping etiquette on-board and by destination in our guide.

Symphony of the Seas for families

Activities on-board

One of the things we love about cruise holidays is that they provide so much value included in the cruise fare. You can enjoy Broadway productions which are free to access on-board, dodgems and arcade games for the kids, also included in your cruise fare. Aquaparks and enrichment classes which are all available in your cruise fare. It can be a good idea to pre-book some of the more sought-after activities like enrichment classes and theatre shows, to ensure you have a place reserved on these, but you won’t need to pay to access these when on-board.

Norwegian Prima Speedway

Shore Excursions

One of the most appealing things about cruising is being able to wake up to new views and destinations each day. You’re able to explore each destination and if there are excursions you wish to do in key ports, you can pre-book these before embarking on your cruise. Alternatively, you can roam in different ports at your own leisure and get back to the ship for your meals so as to not spend a penny when you’re in port.

You can book your dream cruise without having to spend a penny. With the right packages and bookings, whether that’s Celebrity Cruise’s All Included or Princess Cruises’ Princess Plus or Premier packages, you might not even spend a penny on-board! Or be a super savvy cruiser and keep an eye out for on-board credit promotions to get an even bigger bargain!

With so much included in the price of the holiday and not needing to spend a penny whilst on-board, why not book the cruise of a lifetime with Cruise118.com?

Mandi Webb

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