I Paid for a Premium Cruise Experience. Here’s What I Actually Got — And What I Wish I’d Done Differently.
A Trip Jar founder’s honest look at cruise value, savings strategy, and why the price tag is never the whole story.
I’m going to tell you something that might sound strange coming from someone who just launched a travel savings app: I recently got off a cruise where I felt like I didn’t get what I paid for. And honestly, that experience is a big part of why Trip Jar exists.
Here’s what happened, what I learned, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
The Setup
My wife Jodie and I sailed the MSC Seashore: 7 nights, Caribbean itinerary, Aurea experience tier. If you’re not familiar with MSC’s pricing structure, Aurea sits above their standard cabin categories and below their suite-level offerings. It’s marketed as a premium experience. Priority boarding, a dedicated dining time, elevated amenities. We paid for the upgrade. We went in with elevated expectations.
Some of those expectations were met. Most weren’t.
The ship is beautiful. The crew is exceptional, genuinely some of the warmest, most hardworking people I’ve encountered on any vacation. The specialty dining was solid. The Caribbean itinerary itself was enjoyable.
But the Main Dining Room food was bland and uninspired across multiple nights. The entertainment was thin. The cocktail program was an afterthought. The private island was in the middle of large-scale active construction that the marketing materials conveniently left out. And we had a genuinely unpleasant high-pressure sales experience in the onboard watch shop that I’m still annoyed about.
At the end of the sailing, I sat with a simple question: did I get what I paid for?
The honest answer was no.
The Real Cost of a Cruise
Here’s what most people don’t talk about when they talk about cruise pricing, and it’s the thing that gets first-timers and experienced cruisers alike.
The fare is just the beginning.
By the time you add gratuities, a drink package, specialty dining, shore excursions, Wi-Fi, and the inevitable onboard purchases you didn’t plan for, the actual cost of a cruise can be double or triple the advertised base fare. On a premium tier like Aurea, that gap gets even wider because your expectations are higher and the temptation to spend to meet those expectations is real.
We went into our sailing with a budget. But we didn’t go in with a fully itemized, category-by-category picture of what we expected to spend. We had a number in our heads, not a plan on paper. And there’s a difference.
What I’d Do Differently
If I were planning this sailing again, or any cruise, here’s exactly how I’d approach the budget.
I’d start with the base fare and work outward from there, building a complete picture of the real cost before I committed to anything.
Gratuities on a 7-night sailing for two run roughly $200-250 depending on the line. That’s not optional, it goes to the crew, and the crew deserves every penny of it.
A drink package, if you’re going to drink at all, almost always makes financial sense to buy in advance. Onboard pricing per drink adds up fast. Buy the package before you sail and you’ll pay significantly less than purchasing at the ship’s rate.
Specialty dining. On MSC specifically, this is not optional if you want to eat well. Budget for at least three specialty dining experiences per person on a 7-night sailing. Book them before you board, onboard pricing is higher.
Shore excursions. This is where cruise budgets quietly explode. A port day with two excursions for two people can easily run $300-500 depending on what you choose. Decide in advance which ports matter most to you and what you want to do there. Don’t leave this to impulse decisions on the ship.
Onboard incidentals include spa, arcade, specialty drinks not covered by your package, photos, souvenirs. Budget a flat amount and treat it as already spent. If you don’t spend it, great. If you do, you’re not scrambling.
When you add all of that up and look at the real number, two things happen. First, you’re not surprised. Second, and this is the important one, you can actually save toward it with intention instead of putting it on a card and dealing with it later.
The Watch Shop Story
I’d be leaving something important out if I didn’t mention this.
The onboard shops on cruise ships are a revenue stream. They are not a service for passengers. On our sailing I had an experience in the watch shop that I want every cruiser to know about — inflated pricing presented as a discount, a salesperson who physically positioned himself between me and the exit, and resistance when I tried to return the purchase afterward.
I got my money back. But only because I pushed firmly and didn’t back down.
The lesson: research any purchase on your phone before you commit to it onboard. If a price seems too good to be true or a salesperson seems unusually eager, walk away. The shops are not your friends. Build a small discretionary budget before you sail so you’re not making emotional purchasing decisions in the moment.
What This Has to Do With Trip Jar
We built Trip Jar because we’ve seen, and lived what happens when travel costs catch you off guard.
A cruise is one of the most savings-friendly vacations you can take, because almost everything can be anticipated and planned for in advance. The base fare, the gratuities, the drink package, the specialty dining, the excursions, none of it is a surprise if you do the work upfront.
The My Jar savings feature will exist exactly for this. You create a named goal “MSC Seashore 2027” or “Caribbean Cruise” or whatever you want to call it, set your real target number based on a fully loaded budget, and save toward it with intention. When you reach your goal, you book. You board that ship knowing every dollar is already set aside.
No credit card hangover. No mid-cruise spending anxiety. No coming home to a bill that makes the memories feel expensive.
That’s the version of travel I want for every person who uses this app. Not just the dream — the dream, saved for, and actually paid for.
Would I Cruise MSC Again?
Not at this price point. The Aurea experience promises more than it delivers, and there are better value options in the same category. That’s just the honest answer.
But would I cruise again? Absolutely. There is something about waking up at sea, coffee in hand, nothing but water in every direction, no calls to take and nowhere to be. That is genuinely one of the best feelings travel offers.
I just want to do it next time knowing I built the whole budget, saved toward it with a real number, and arrived at the port without a single financial question mark hanging over the trip.
That’s the goal. For me and for every Trip Jar user who books their next travel through this app.
Ready to start saving for your next cruise? Soon you’ll be able to create your My Jar savings goal at gettripjar.com and build a budget that covers the whole trip, not just the fare.