How Much I Really Spend Each Week Working on a Cruise Ship

What I Spend in a Week Working on a Cruise Ship (Spoiler: It's Wildly Cheap)

Living rent-free in the Caribbean while cashing a paycheck and sipping Red Bull before a show? Sounds like a fantasy—but it’s real life when you work on a cruise ship. If you’ve ever wondered what it actually costs to live and work at sea, this breakdown will blow your land-based budget out of the water.

I’ve been working on a cruise ship for a while now, and one of the biggest perks (aside from waking up in a new country every week) is how little money I have to spend. If I wanted to live off $0 a week? I could. But I don’t—because sushi dates, Red Bull splurges, and tropical waterparks are so worth it sometimes.

So here’s the tea on what I really spend in an average week working on a cruise ship, from specialty dinners to Wi-Fi hacks and everything in between.

💰 What I Don't Pay For (A Lot, Tbh)

Let’s start with the basics: living on a cruise ship comes with serious built-in savings.

• Rent? Covered. My cabin doesn’t cost me a dime—and no, it’s not secretly pulled from my paycheck.
• Utilities? Water, electricity, A/C—completely free.
• Laundry? Also free! The only thing I supply is detergent (I bulk-bought 104 pods from Costco for $30, which works out to ~50 cents per use).

Basically, I’m not paying for any of the boring adult bills that make land life expensive. So the baseline of my weekly budget starts way lower than most.

🍽️ Food: Crew Mess Meals vs. Treating Myself

Most of my meals are at the crew mess—yep, totally free. But let’s be real, eating the same rotating menu every week can get repetitive. So about once a week, I treat myself and my partner to one of the fancier onboard restaurants.

Here’s a peek at the options:

• 🍝 Italian at Giovanni’s
• 🥩 Steak at Chops Grille
• 🍣 Sushi at Izumi
• 🍔 Johnny Rockets or Playmakers (cheaper, still fun)

Crew discounts help—typically 20%, sometimes more when there’s a promo. On average, I spend about $50 a week on these upgraded meals. Worth it for a change of pace and some date night vibes.

☕ Snacks, Drinks & That One Red Bull

While the crew mess handles the basics, we do have what’s basically a little mini-mart and bar called the slop chest. You can buy:

• Soda
• Alcohol
• Coffee
• Toiletries
• Random snacks

I’m not a huge snacker, but I do buy a $3 bottled water every week and grab a Red Bull before big performance nights (tropical flavor supremacy). Occasionally, I’ll grab a cheap margarita at the crew bar—$4 versus the $10+ you’d pay on land. That alone feels like a luxury.

Also, crew parties are a thing. HR sometimes supplies free drinks and food for themed nights. Imagine your favorite party… but without the Uber rides, cover fees, or overpriced cocktails. Heaven.

🏋️‍♀️ Free Gym? Yes, Please

As a cast member, it’s actually required that I do five gym hours a week to keep in shape for the shows. So, no gym fees, no planet fitness ads in my inbox, no excuses. I save anywhere from $10 to $50 a month compared to my usual land life.

🌐 Wi-Fi: The Sneaky Expensive Part

Here’s where most crew members drop the bag: Wi-Fi. It’s $3.99 an hour, and the two free hours we get each week barely cover FaceTime and a scroll through Instagram.

BUT—I found the loophole. I help out at the Wi-Fi desk one to two hours per week and earn 300–600 free minutes for every hour worked. So, my Wi-Fi = totally free. Can’t relate to paying for it.

🏝️ What I Spend Off the Ship

This is where it fluctuates the most. Our itineraries rotate every 7 days, hitting places like:

• St. Thomas
• Jamaica
• Grand Cayman
• San Juan
• Fort Lauderdale

On land days, I’ll grab lunch, beach snacks, or hop into a local café to download new music and shows (because, cruise ship Wi-Fi). A chill day might cost $10. A bigger adventure, like a waterpark in Nassau? More like $40+—but I always split cabs and entry fees with my castmates to keep costs down.

And shout out to Coco Cay: it’s totally free for crew. Beach chair, food, everything—no cash needed unless I want to rent snorkel gear or ride a jet ski (which I rarely do).

🧾 The Average Breakdown

I went back through my bank and onboard statements to get a real average—and not just a “cheap week” flex.

🧍‍♀️ In Europe, I averaged around $224/week.
🌴 In the Caribbean, my average is about $200/week.

That shocked me, because I thought I’d be spending more in Europe. But in Europe, everything’s close to the port and cheaper (hello, $3 Aperol Spritz). In the Caribbean, it’s more touristy, and a lot of spots charge top-dollar. I once paid $15 for the same drink that cost $3 in Italy.

Still, even with those splurges, I’m spending way less than I would if I were living on land with rent, bills, and regular transport.

💡A Floating Financial Win

So yeah—working on a cruise ship lets me pocket way more of my paycheck than I could back home. No rent, free meals, no utility bills, and a job that covers my gym hours? Absolute win.

Even when I’m spending $200 a week, most of that goes toward experiences—whether it’s food, beach days, or adventures with my castmates. And that’s the kind of spending I never feel guilty about.

The day I have to move back on land and start paying for real life again? Let’s just say I’m emotionally not ready.

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