You might believe you’ve covered every detail before setting sail on your cruise holiday, but there’s one thing you might not have considered. 

Not bringing cash with you could end up costing you more than you’d expect during your trip.

Allcruisehotels.com, a website providing cruise tips, information on hotels near cruise ports, pre-and post-cruise accommodations, airport and port transfers and more, has shared its tips to avoid wasting money before going on a cruise. 

One of them involves bringing cash aboard the ship. 

Stefan DP,  Editor-in-Chief of “I Love 2 Cruise” at Allcruisehotels.com wrote: “Most cruises now have their passengers pay for everything on board with their keys or sailing cards. But should you run into any credit card problems or you end up at cash-only places at the ports, you should have some cash on you.

“There will be ATMs on the cruise ship and the places you visit, but be aware that you’ll be charged ATM fees. Bringing enough cash with you is an easy way to avoid this fee.”

As an expert cruiser, Stefan has spent 480 days at sea, journeyed on 15 different cruise lines and visited a massive 67 countries worldwide. 

Stefan mentioned how specialty restaurants, drink packages, product upsells, movies on demand, shore excursions, and gambling can all add unexpected costs that may not be necessary.

Complimentary drinks like tap water, tea, and coffee are often available within what has already been paid, making drink packages potentially unnecessary unless passengers plan to drink a lot.

Other of his tips included considering cheaper shore excursion options by booking directly with local operators and avoiding using phones’ data roaming unless passengers have an international phone plan or buy a Wi-Fi package onboard.

Also, passengers are urged to be aware of automatic gratuity charges and double-check their bills before paying.