The fare fits the budget. Then you remember the hotel before departure, the car park and the drinks you will actually want. None of those amounts needs to be a nasty surprise; they need a place in the comparison before you book.
Start with the final checkout fare for everyone travelling, then add only what remains unpaid. The aim is not to make a cheap cruise look expensive. It is to find out whether you can enjoy that particular holiday without second-guessing every purchase.
The quickest route: open two written quotes and our cruise cost calculator. Enter each party’s checkout total. Leave any unresolved extra blank so the result clearly shows what you still need to check.
The seven amounts to collect
| Budget line | Use this amount | Avoid this mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Cruise fare | Checkout total for every traveller, cabin and tax | Multiplying a party total again |
| Gratuities | Only service charges still unpaid | Adding charges already prepaid |
| Drinks | Package or expected purchases, including relevant charges | Comparing an inclusive total with a pre-charge price |
| Getting there | Flights, luggage, transfers, fuel or parking | Ignoring the journey home |
| Hotels | Room totals, with unavoidable local charges | Using a per-room figure as per-person |
| Shore days | Tours, transport and likely independent spending | Assuming every port requires a paid tour |
| Other extras | Your Wi-Fi, dining, insurance and personal requirements | Adding things you would never buy |
Keep a screenshot or PDF of each quote with its date. Record whether the figure is per person, per room, per day or per booking. If a daily charge applies to only two people in a four-person party, multiply by two, not four.
A low fare can still be the better choice
An inclusive fare is valuable only to the extent that its inclusions replace spending you actually planned. A drinks package does not save its advertised retail value if you would otherwise buy very few drinks. Likewise, included Wi-Fi has little financial value to someone who intends to disconnect.
Our approach is to compare two realistic versions of the same holiday: your likely spending with each quote. Then compare the experience separately. A less expensive inside cabin and a balcony suite are not equivalent products simply because the dates match.
Gratuities: check the exact category and market
Royal Caribbean’s current published policy lists daily service gratuities of US$18.50 per guest for non-suite staterooms and US$21 for suites when not prepaid, with legal exceptions. These are source-checked policy figures, not a universal cruise-line rate. For two non-suite guests over seven chargeable days, the arithmetic is 2 × 7 × $18.50 = $259. Confirm the chargeable period and your booking’s prepaid status before entering it. Royal Caribbean’s policy.
For UK departures, do not import a US-line assumption into every quote. Read the specific operator’s inclusions and your chosen fare. P&O Cruises, for example, describes flights and airport transfers as included on its fly-cruise holidays; that wording does not make independently arranged flights part of a cruise-only booking. P&O inclusions.
A worked example without invented market prices
The following is a hypothetical arithmetic exercise in USD, prepared 19 September 2026, not an advertised fare. Quote A has a $2,000 checkout total and $700 of extras. Quote B costs $2,400 and needs $200 of extras. A totals $2,700; B totals $2,600. The higher headline fare costs $100 less for that planned trip.
Now remove $250 of optional purchases from A because you would not use them. A becomes $2,450 and is cheaper. This is why a universal “multiply the fare by 1.5” rule is a poor replacement for your own spending plan.
Find the unknown that could change your choice
Suppose your completed total for one quote is £2,800. The other is £2,650, but its transfer is still unpriced. The second quote is cheaper only if that transfer costs less than £150. You do not need a prettier spreadsheet at this point. You need the transfer quote.
This is an original decision method, using hypothetical amounts: subtract the incomplete subtotal from the complete alternative. The difference is the maximum missing cost that preserves the apparent saving. If several costs remain unknown, they share that allowance. If the cabin or itinerary differs, decide what that difference is worth separately.
Credit is not cash
Write down what onboard credit can buy, who may use it, and whether unused credit expires. In the calculator, only enter credit usable against the gratuities, drinks and excursions you have included. It is capped at those expenses; excess credit does not reduce your flights, hotels or cruise fare.
If credit also covers other items under your specific terms, calculate the eligible spending yourself before comparing. Never count the same credit as both a lower fare and a separate discount.
US and UK currency checks
Keep the quote in its original currency. A GBP website price does not tell you the currency of every onboard charge. Ask what will be charged, who converts it, and whether your payment method adds fees. The tool accepts USD per £1 from your own bank or card quote; it does not pretend to supply a current market rate.
Leave room in your personal budget for changes you cannot price yet. The tool deliberately shows unknowns rather than offering a false “all-in” total. Resolve essential unknowns before paying a non-refundable amount.
Your pre-payment check
Confirm traveller count, sailing, cabin, fare conditions, final balance, deposit, cancellation schedule and every inclusion you relied on. Keep the seller’s written answer alongside the quote. Then compare the completed totals and choose the trip you can explain and afford.
Sources and verification
Primary-source checks completed 19 September 2026. Confirm current terms for your own booking.
- P&O Cruises: What is includedAccessed 2026-09-22
- Royal Caribbean: Service gratuities policyAccessed 2026-09-22
Continue planning
Correction history: no substantive corrections recorded. Report a correction. This is research-based guidance, not a firsthand sailing review.