What two cruises really cost, side by side
Independent · No affiliate links · Typical figures compiled by a former cruise ship Purser's Office staff member
🗓️ Cruise line costs updated June 2026 · reviewed quarterlyCompare the total cost of two cruises — gratuities, drinks, Wi-Fi and onboard extras, not just the advertised fare.
A low fare and an all-inclusive fare rarely end up as far apart as they look — see each real all-in total, side by side.
Each cruise uses its own guests and nights. Travel costs below still apply to both.
Often by far less than the fare suggests. A low headline fare usually leaves gratuities, Wi-Fi and a drinks package still to pay, while a luxury fare folds them in. Once you add those to both sides, CruiseClarify finds a fare that looked twice the price can land within a few hundred dollars all-in. The tool above lets you test it for any two lines.
Cruise fare and taxes & port fees (you enter these — same per-person or cabin-total fare basis as the calculator, with port fees per person; tick the box on a side if that fare already includes taxes and port fees), plus the typical onboard extras from our onboard cost reference — gratuities, a standard Wi-Fi plan and a mainstream drinks package — scaled to your nights and party size. Travel costs — flights, hotels, transfers and insurance — are added on top and kept the same for both cruises.
Norwegian's drinks package is usually "free" under its Free at Sea promotion — but the roughly $28.50 per person, per day gratuity on that package is still charged. So the figure shown is what you actually pay, not the full retail package price. Lines without a free-drinks promotion show the price you'd pay for the package itself, which is why their numbers look higher.
Yes. On each card, choose the fare package — Princess Plus / Premier, Have It All, or Windstar’s All-Inclusive — and Compare prices it from the same commercial data as the calculator. Leave “No fare bundle” selected to price typical standalone drinks, Wi-Fi and gratuities separately. Fare, guests, nights and tax treatment already use the same rules as the calculator. When a path still isn’t like-for-like (for example Virgin’s Bar Tab, or a premium-fare drinks upgrade on Viking/Azamara), a notice appears above the comparison result.
No — they're typical, mid-tier figures for a like-for-like comparison, refreshed every few months. Real prices move with the season, itinerary, cabin and any promotion running at the time. Use the result to see how the gap between two cruises changes once everything is counted, then confirm the current numbers with the cruise line before you book.
Want the full breakdown for one cruise? Use the calculator →
