Cruise help please

[Holidaymoo]

Hi, I'm looking for some cruise advice please. I know the destination I want to go but wasn't prepared for all the other bits.

A room with a view?
Or picture window?
Drinks package which adds hundreds to the trip.
How does onboard spending work?
What's the deal with tips?

Seems a lot of hassle now I've started looking.

Any help appreciated

Tips are some times included in the fare.
Usually they may be automatically added, go to reception and have it removed and tell them you will do your own.
We only tip the state room attendants (cabin boy or Girl) and the waiters.
Balconies are very nice if you can afford it, but are you planning on spending much time in the room? We once had a suite it was like something out of James Bond ( It was a free upgrade as they wanted the cabins we had booked)
The only real advantage was it had a bath room, shower room and dressing room and a massive TV, but whilst it was fantastic we didn't feel we would pay the thousands extra for it.
Drinks do the maths, we never bother as we would have to be alcoholic to get our monies worth.
It is possible to smuggle some spirits on board and just buy coke etc
We quite enjoy going ashore for a tipple its part of the day out.
To be honest Cruise Critic Forum is a great source of info.
Plan your ports, always carry a second credit card and 50-100 Euro in cash, when you leave the ship make certain you know exactly where it is docked have it written down, the ship usually include this and the agents contact details on a flyer about the port, its just incase but we have known a few people Miss the Boat!

Been on two cruises, one was Norwegian Cruises (party type cruise, greek islands), fake blow up palm trees etc, the other was P&O, I'd opt for P&O every time, Italy, Venice, Croatia, Greece etc.
The P&O was classier (I'm not a snob, honest but it was much nicer)
Don't have an inside cabin, they're like caves, we had a balcony which was fab, sat outside with a drink, watching the waves or pulling into port, fantastic.
Drinks are expensive, 1st cruise we spent £300 in four days and we're not big drinkers, we opted for a drinks package on our 2nd cruise which was absolutely worth it.
You can opt out of tips added to your bill and tip your favourite servers directly.
We didn't use the on board shops as they were expensive, we treated ourselves when we got off at different ports, much cheaper but if you do keep an eye on your spending or you'll be in for a shock when you see your final bill.
Also, don't buy booze when you're off the ship thinking you can have a cheap drink in your cabin because they confiscate your duty frees and give it back when you dock at home.

Don’t opt out of tips - the staff are paid almost nothing and the tips get divided up. If you rate your cabin steward and serving team then you tip them more. The standards tips are just part of the cost of your cruise.

Who are you sailing with potentially?

Does a window matter to you? You can save a lot by having an inside cabin, I've had one, bargain!

Onboard spend money gets added to your account, you can use it for drinks and tips. Tips are added daily with most cruise lines. Whether the drinks package is worth it is dependent on you! If this is Cunard (could be by the terms you used) the drinks prices are available on the (fan) Facebook group page so you can add up whether you think it's worth it (they are London pub prices) also with Cunard you can take alcohol onboard to drink in your cabin, most other cruise lines don't allow this

Thanks everyone! I've been looking at P&O mainly. I'm not a big drinker but would like plenty of soft drinks and the odd cocktail

P&o drinks prices are not that expensive and you can buy the package once onboard (on day 2)

I went with tui and it was great. Everything was included - you could upgrade the drinks to have certain named spirits and beers but there were many options in the included list. We booked late so only inside cabins left. Tbh, we were only in there to sleep so it was actually fine.

I’m with @HermioneWeasley on the tipping thing. Don’t remove the daily tip. Stewards/waiters work extremely hard and often don’t get to see their families for months. You can also tip extra if someone has given really good service.

Inside cabins feel very claustrophobic - only went into one when I was visiting a new friend & couldn't wait to get out.

We like wine with our meals, coffees during the day etc, so a drinks package is good value for us.

I always opt for the added tips as they get shared out.
Only tipping the stewards & waiters is horrible - don't the cooks, engineers etc work just as hard?

A disadvantage of not having a balcony is that you get no fresh air into the cabin. Air con is no substitute for a window you can open, IMO.

P&0 don't do separate tipping now, its added into your fare, so what you see is what you get. Cocktails about £7 soft drinks about £3.5. I thought those prices were okay. I love a balcony and find it better value than a drinks package. I use it a lot rather than sunbathing on deck.

WiFi seems a bit steep though, think it was about £15 a day, but worth it for us as we sick parents! If you are round Europe tho you might just use data roaming when you are on land.

Data roaming charges are now astronomic.

We did a few cruises with DC when they were younger. Awful when I look back. We drink very little and just aren’t cruisers at heart. We like small boat trips. Around 120 on board or less. Big Cruise ships are so vast. Trips on shore are awful value too.

P&O include their tips in the price of the cruise now.
Their drinks package is expensive too for what you get (restricted to certain drinks etc) so unless you like wine and spirits I would pay as you go. P&O will allow you to bring a small amount of alcohol onboard at the start of the cruise - check their website for the amounts but I think it was a 1ltr bottle of spirit.
As for cabin - depends where you're going and time of year. April in Northern Europe save your cash and get an inside cabin (bring a nightlight), July round the med would be worth a balcony for sunbathing in peace and quiet.

I sail royal carribean quite often and get the drinks package. Not sure about p and o but drinks on RC include ground coffee, bottled water, freshly squeezed orange juice as well as soft drinks, cocktails and alcohol. When I add up 2 coffees, several bottles of water, a fresh orange with breakfast, a glass of wine with lunch, cocktail by the pool and dinner drinks, it makes the package worth it.

As someone said, go to cruise critic and have a search on there for your ship. You’ll get loads of advice and a good understanding on your questions.

And keep the tips. All staff onboard work hard for you. Not just cabin attendants and servers. There are cleaners cooks, engineers, security etc.