The most common question from people booking their first cruise isn’t about cabins or ports. It’s “what else do we have to spend on board?” The short answer on what’s included on a cruise from Australia is more than most people expect. Your cabin, main meals, shows and pools are covered, and on most sailings from Australia, so are the crew gratuities. You can walk off at the end with a $0 bill if you want to. Whether you will is another matter.
What’s Included on a Cruise From Australia
For a typical 7–8 night Pacific Islands cruise from Brisbane or Sydney, expect to pay somewhere around A$150–$250 per person per night for an interior cabin, twin share. Short 3–4 night getaways usually sit at the top of that range per night. That price covers your cabin, main dining room, buffet, shows, pools, and basic drinks like water, tea and black coffee.
Here’s what costs extra:
| Extra | Approx. cost per person (AUD) |
|---|---|
| Soft drinks package | About $15 a day |
| Zero-alcohol drinks package | About $40–$45 a day |
| Alcohol package | About $80–$120 a day |
| WiFi | About $20–$30 a day |
| Shore tours | About $80–$300 per tour |
| Room service (on lines that charge) | About $5–$10 per item |
The rule of thumb: if it keeps you fed, entertained and in the pool, it’s included. If it involves alcohol, the internet, a barista, a masseuse or a tour bus, it costs extra.
Everything That’s Free On Board
Every major line sailing from Australia works on the same basic deal. Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America and Norwegian all include your cabin, main meals and the nightly entertainment in the cruise price. Where they differ is the extras: what counts as a free drink, whether WiFi is bundled, and how gratuities are handled. The included part looks much the same whichever ship you’re on.
Buffet & Fine Dining
| The main dining room, the buffet and the casual venues are all part of the price. You can eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late snack without spending a cent. Nobody goes hungry on a cruise. |
Nightly shows
| Production shows, comedians, live bands, trivia and deck parties cost nothing. On a sea day there’s usually more on than you can get to. |
Pools, Hot Tubs & Gym
| Pools, hot tubs, sun lounges and the gym are free on every major line. Some fitness classes, like yoga or spin, cost extra, so check the daily programme. |
Water, Tea & Basic Coffee
| Tap water, black coffee, tea and breakfast juices are included on most lines, and some add iced tea or lemonade. Barista coffee and soft drinks cost extra. |
Port Days on Your Own
| Walking off the ship is free. Beaches, markets and town centres at most Pacific and Queensland ports can be done on foot or with a cheap local bus or taxi. |
Gratuities: Included, or Added Daily
Gratuities work one of two ways, and it’s worth knowing which applies to your cruise before you board.
Built into the price. Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean don’t add daily gratuities for Australians sailing from Australia. Carnival doesn’t require gratuities on any cruise leaving an Australian port. Princess doesn’t add a daily amount for Australian and New Zealand guests on cruises from Australia or New Zealand. Royal Caribbean includes service charges for Australian and New Zealand bookings wherever they sail. The crew are still paid out of your cruise price; you just never see a separate charge, so there’s nothing to remove.
Added to your cruise card each day. Celebrity, Norwegian and Holland America add a daily service charge in US dollars, and most lines add one on cruises from overseas ports too. You don’t have to accept it. Go to guest services, ideally on the first day, and ask them to adjust or remove it. Most people leave it on, since it’s a big part of how the crew are paid, but the choice is yours.
Luxury lines mostly include gratuities as standard: Regent, Silversea and Seabourn all build them into the price. Ponant doesn’t add a daily charge, and tipping is left up to you.
| No daily gratuity on most Aussie sailings On Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean cruises from Australia, gratuities are built into the price, so nothing is added to your cruise card each day. You can still tip someone who’s looked after you well. It’s a choice, not a charge. |
Which Currency Your Cruise Card Uses
This catches plenty of people out, and it changes what everything on board costs.
Australian dollars: Carnival and Princess, on cruises from Australian ports.
US dollars: Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, Holland America, Cunard, and most premium and luxury lines.
On Carnival, the onboard currency is Australian dollars for every cruise departing an Australian port. Princess is the same, charging in AUD on cruises from Australia, and on some sailings between Sydney and Auckland or between Asia and Australia.
Royal Caribbean charges in US dollars, even on ships sailing from Sydney and Brisbane, and warns that your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Celebrity uses US dollars on every ship, and Norwegian accepts only US dollars for settling onboard accounts. Holland America, Cunard and Oceania also charge in US dollars.
On a US-dollar ship, a drink priced at $10 costs you noticeably more than A$10 once it’s converted, and your bank’s fee comes on top of that. Three things help:
- Use a card with no international transaction fees. That fee applies to every purchase on your cruise card, so it adds up over a week.
- Pre-buy onboard credit on Royal Caribbean. It offers a set exchange rate when you buy onboard credit through the cruise planner before you sail, and that rate is often better than what your bank gives you on board. Check the current rate before you commit.
- Expect a hold on your card. Whichever currency your ship uses, the line places a pre-authorisation on your card at boarding and adds more as you spend. Carnival’s Australian ships hold A$100–$200 on boarding day, and Royal Caribbean starts at US$100. It’s not a charge, but it does tie up your available credit or funds.
What Costs Extra, and What’s Worth It
Drinks packages
This is where most onboard money goes, and every line does it a little differently.
- Carnival: The CHEERS! alcohol package costs around A$110–$120 per person per day and is offered on Australian cruises of 7 days or longer. For non-drinkers, Cheers! Zero Proof is around A$40–$45 a day. Carnival’s Essential Value package, at around A$60 a day, bundles Zero Proof with WiFi and a few discounts, which is handy if you want both.
- Princess: Princess Plus is around A$80 per person per day and Princess Premier around $130, both including drinks and WiFi.
- Royal Caribbean: The Deluxe Beverage Package is priced in US dollars and changes with the ship, sailing and date. Anywhere from about US$70 to $120 a day is typical, and on sailings from Australia the service charge is included in the listed price.
- Celebrity: All Included pricing bundles a Classic drinks package and basic WiFi into the cruise price, typically adding roughly US$70–$85 per person per day.
- Holland America: Have It All, from around A$85 a day, bundles drinks with WiFi, specialty dining and shore tours.
- Norwegian: The Free at Sea upgrade, around A$60 per person per day when booked through Norwegian Australia, bundles premium drinks, some specialty dining, shore tour credits and 150 minutes of WiFi. Buying the drinks package on board instead costs around US$45 a day plus a 20% gratuity, so if you’re a drinker, sort it out before you sail.
| Insider Tip on Drinks Honestly, an alcohol package only pays off if you’re both having six or more drinks a day, every day. For a couple who likes a wine with dinner and a beer by the pool, paying per drink almost always works out cheaper. The exception is a bundle like Princess Plus or Celebrity All Included. If you’d buy WiFi anyway, a moderate drinker can come out ahead. |
WiFi
Almost every mainstream line charges for WiFi, usually around $20–$40 per device per day, in US dollars on some ships. Oceania is the exception among the lines covered here: it includes unlimited WiFi in every booking.
If you just want to post a few photos and check the footy scores, buy the cheapest plan before you sail. Pre-purchasing typically saves 10–30% on the onboard price. Or skip it altogether and use free café WiFi in bigger ports like Noumea, Port Vila and Cairns. Just don’t count on it at small island stops like Mystery Island, where there’s little more than a beach and a few market stalls.
Shore tours
Organised tours at Australian and Pacific ports usually cost around A$80–$300 per person, depending on whether you’re snorkelling or taking a helicopter flight. At most Pacific ports you can see plenty on your own. Walk into town, find a beach, or share a taxi with another couple.
New Zealand is a bit different. At some ports the ship docks well out of town, and the shuttle bus is money well spent. Ships calling at Dunedin berth at Port Chalmers, about 20 minutes from the city centre, and ships calling at Christchurch berth at Lyttelton. Both usually have a shuttle, at around NZ$35 return in recent seasons. Buy your ticket on board before you arrive, through the shore tours desk or the ship’s app, rather than leaving it until the wharf, where you’ll just end up in another long queue. It gets you into town on your own schedule for a fraction of the price of a ship’s tour. In Dunedin, the local public bus also runs from Port Chalmers, with extra services on busy cruise days.
Specialty dining, coffee and room service
- Specialty restaurants: Every mainstream line has paid restaurants alongside the free ones. Expect around A$40–$80 per person for a steakhouse or Italian dinner, or the equivalent in US dollars on lines that charge in USD.One paid dinner is usually enough. The food in the main dining room is better than most first-timers expect. If you’re on Princess Premier, specialty dining is already included, so use it.
- Barista coffee: Drip coffee and tea are free on every line. Lattes and cappuccinos cost a few dollars each, much like a café at home. Coffee packages cost around A$30 a day, so they only make sense if you’re having several coffees a day. For one or two, buy as you go, and ask whether the café has a punch card.
- Room service: Most lines now charge for it, either per item or as a delivery fee. A few still deliver a free continental breakfast, but not on Carnival’s ships sailing from Australia. If you’re trying to spend nothing, the walk to the buffet is always free.
Luxury and Small-Ship Cruises: A Different Deal
At the top end, what’s included on a cruise changes completely. Luxury and small-ship lines carry far fewer passengers, charge a lot more per night, and include most of the things mainstream lines sell as extras. What they include still varies, though.
Regent Seven Seas
| The most inclusive of the luxury lines. Shore tours in every port, drinks, specialty dining, WiFi, gratuities and laundry are all in the price. Its higher-priced option adds return flights and transfers. |
Silversea
| Drinks, dining, WiFi and gratuities are included on every booking, with butler service in every suite. Shore tours depend on the price you choose: some include a tour credit, others charge separately. |
Seabourn
| Drinks, gratuities and WiFi are included, and every restaurant on board is free, with no specialty dining charges. Shore tours and flights cost extra on regular sailings, so budget for those. |
Ponant
| One shore tour in every port, WiFi, and beer, wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner are included. All restaurants are free. Gratuities are generally extra, as are drinks outside mealtimes. |
Oceania
| Specialty restaurants, gratuities, unlimited WiFi and laundry are included under its Your World Included pricing. Drinks and shore tours depend on the deal you book, so check what’s in your price. |
Luxury lines cost more per night, but the gap is smaller than it looks. Add a drinks package, WiFi, shore tours and specialty dining to a mainstream cruise, and the price difference narrows a lot. If you’d spend nothing extra on board anyway, a mainstream line will always work out cheaper.
Before you book, check exactly what’s included. “All-inclusive” means something different on every line, and spa treatments, premium wines and some shore tours usually still cost extra.
How to Spend Nothing Extra On Board
Plenty of people cruise without spending a cent on board. It just takes a bit of planning before you leave home.
- Bring a bottle of wine. Most mainstream lines let you bring a bottle or two of wine or champagne on boarding day. Carnival and Princess allow one per adult. Drink it in your cabin, because restaurants and bars charge corkage.
- Pack your own soft drinks. Carnival and Princess allow up to 12 cans or cartons per person in your carry-on, while Royal Caribbean allows 12 per cabin. Rules differ on other lines, so check before you pack.
- Stick to the free drinks. Water, tea and drip coffee cost nothing at any time of day, and juice is free at breakfast. Bring a refillable bottle and fill it up before heading to the pool or ashore.
- Do port days yourself. Walk into town, find a beach, or share a taxi with another couple. If the ship is docked close to town, you can come back on board for lunch. At tender ports like Mystery Island, plan to stay ashore until you’re done for the day.
- Enjoy the art auction, skip the bidding. Art auctions on lines like Celebrity often hand out free sparkling wine, and sometimes snacks. Go along for a glass and a look, just keep your hand down. The photo gallery and spa seminars are pure sales pitches, so walk past those.
- Check your cruise card each night. Look at your balance in the line’s app before bed. It takes a minute and means nothing surprises you on the final morning.
What to Watch Out For
- One package means the whole cabin. On most lines, including Carnival, if one adult buys an alcohol package, every adult in the cabin has to buy it too. A drinker sharing with a non-drinker rarely comes out ahead.
- Onboard prices are higher. Drinks packages and WiFi usually cost more once you’re on the ship. Carnival’s alcohol package is about $8 a day dearer on board, and Princess adds around $10. Buy before you sail if you’re going to buy at all.
- Packages don’t cover everything. Carnival’s zero-alcohol package in Australia excludes barista coffee, so check what’s left out before buying one for your morning flat white. Read the inclusions list, not just the headline.
- Small charges add up. Most of the cost creep comes from little things, not big ones. On Carnival’s Australian ships, even ordering a third main course in the dining room adds about $7. Check the price before you say yes to anything.
- Independent tours carry a risk. If you organise your own shore day and run late, the ship won’t wait. Tours booked through the cruise line guarantee you’ll get back on board, so allow plenty of time on your own.
- The trip starts before the ship. Flights, a hotel the night before and getting to the terminal all add up. There’s no parking at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal on cruise days, so a train, taxi or drop-off is usually cheapest.
A Realistic Daily Budget
Here’s roughly what three typical approaches cost per person per day on top of the cruise price:
$0 a day
| Main meals, shows, pools, water, tea and drip coffee, plus the bottle of wine you brought from home. Easy to do on any mainstream line with a little planning. |
Around A$35–$50 a day
| A soft drink package and a basic WiFi plan, or a couple of drinks bought as you go. Less than a Friday night Uber home, and enough for most couples. |
Around A$100–$150 a day
| An alcohol package plus WiFi, before shore tours or specialty dining. Bundles like Princess Plus can bring this down if your line offers one, so compare first. |
On ships that charge in US dollars, add the exchange rate and any card fees on top.
Work out which of these sounds like you before you book, then compare the total cost across lines, not just the cruise price. A line that looks dearer upfront can come out cheaper once drinks, WiFi and gratuities are counted, and vice versa.
Found the same cruise cheaper somewhere else? Give us a call on 08 8366 6590 before you book. Our price match guarantee could get you that deal, and we can walk you through exactly what’s included while we’re at it.
