How Much Does a Cruise on the MSC Seaside Cost?

Cruises have always been my vacation of choice now that I have adult money. It is the most convenient vacation especially now living an hour away from Port Canaveral. It takes the biggest inconvenience of travel away and we can just truly relax. I just got back from the MSC Seaside on a three-night cruise to their private island. Going to break down the cost for this trip and how well it stacks up to other three-night vacations you can take in the central Florida area.

Travel

Travel was almost as painless as it could possibly be. We drove an hour away. With the tolls and gas to and from we spent $50. We also traveled for an overnight stay at a private island in the Bahamas. Which was included in the cruise fare.

Lodging

This was included in the ticket. This price was for a guaranteed interior room, but we ended up getting upgraded to a balcony stateroom which was an amazing view. It was a little bit of a waste as we are so used to interiors, we always would just go to the top deck to look out, but it was convenient to see the water from our room. Not an incredibly spacious room by any means but if you are spending more time in the cabin than out on deck then you are cruising wrong.

Tickets

This is where we need to spend a little money at a price point of $848.18 for our entire cruise. Our price point was even higher due to our drink package but $424 a person for a three-night vacation with unlimited food and drinks is just a perfect budget friendly vacation.

Food

All food was included in our cruise fare as we didn’t do any upgrades. We got the drink package for $60 per person per day. So, if you don’t want the drink package take $360 off the price. The food did hover around the bad to mediocre side though.

Totals

Not sure if I should include the $60 in the casino that I lost in a hilariously quick manner but the total we paid for this cruise that included our lodging, our food, was $848.18. Cruising has the reputation of being the budget vacation and I think that is a great way to put it. If we didn’t get the drink package it would have been $488.18 for two people to go on a tropical vacation.

How to save

Breaking it down more, saving for this trip should not take as long as some of the other blogs. If we start saving a year out, we will only need to put aside $16.31 each week to afford it. If there are two people splitting the cost, they would each need to put aside about $8.15 a week to be able to afford it. An amount that can be fit into most budgets. If we start saving 20 weeks out, we need to save $42.41 per week in order to afford this vacation in its entirety. About $21.20 per week to afford the split cost. Ten weeks out we must save $84.82 per week to afford the vacation in its entirety.

Level of Difficulty

This is a new subcategory that I had to add for this article because what a huge difference there is between a Walt Disney World vacation and a trip to the Bahamas. You pay one time, and then you get on the cruise ship. Getting on is the most stressful part because if you left any necessary documents at home, you can’t just swing back by there and come back. The ship would be long gone by then. Once you put away your boarding pass and passports away the true relaxation can start. Your meals are taken care of, your transportation, your

What would it cost if we did a vacation at Disney World?

The quality and type of experience can vary greatly between the two of these but let’s have some fun.

Travel

I can be at Disney in thirty minutes. No tolls required and it would probably cost about $10 in gas. Once we make it into the bubble, we can use the Disney transportation system so it will be free from then on. I have a feeling this is the only cheap portion of the Disney trip.

Lodging

I think the Caribbean Beach Resort would be a great hotel to compare a cruise to. A three night stay in mid-October, a very similar set of weekend dates as the cruise. The price is $1,002.40 for just the lodging. Already passed the cruise price point. For a moderately priced resort in Disney’s eyes.

Tickets

I can’t add any Disney tickets to make this comparison a little fairer. We didn’t go to a theme park; we went to a private island in the Bahamas.

Food

This is when the comparison is really going to pull away here. We had about four meals a day, and we averaged five drinks a day. The most comparable thing to compare the buffet to is the food court at the resort. We will also add five beers a day from the same place. With an entrée and a dessert from Centertown Market it hovers around $20 per meal. We need 12 of these and 15 drinks. The drinks hover around $9 so our price for drinks would be $135 and your meals would be $240 for a grand total of $375 per person for food for three days. $750 just for food and drinks almost hits the cruise fare.

Total

The total for this Disney trip would be $1,762.40. Almost $1,000 more than the cruise to a private island in the Bahamas. With so much less stress and not as many people. Traveling is also a light expense while living in Florida so these trips could be much more expensive.