The Biggest Tourist Traps To Avoid On A Cruise (And What To Do Instead), According To Passengers

One of the most frustrating discoveries to make on your first cruise is the many unexpected costs that can arise aside from the cost of the cruise itself. These aren't the cheapest adventures in the first place, after all. And those expenses, both big and small, can start to add up very quickly.

In many ways, a cruise ship is like a mall, with many of its shops and services provided by independent companies. And every one of them wants their cut of your travel spending budget. The last thing you want to do is blow your travel cash on overpriced merchandise you could get just as well at home or get talked into an expensive upgrade you don't really need.

The good news is that there is plenty of advice out there. The web is full of regular cruisers who have spent enough time on the ocean to sort the tourist traps from the quality goods and services that are actually worth spending your hard-earned cash on. And that means a whole lot more wiggle room for the things you just can't get enough of.

According to many regular cruisegoers, many onboard spas have a reputation for pushing upgrades in a way that feels anything but relaxing. The spas are also notorious for engaging in questionable business practices like overcharging and refusing to issue refunds. Part of the problem is that a handful of massive global spa networks operate near-monopolies in the cruise ship industry. Even though they might have different names and branding, there's a good chance the spa brand you see on one cruise line is operated by the same corporation that runs the spa brands on many other ships. Like most multinational corporations, they have a major interest in maximizing profits, and that can translate to pushy upsellers. Their lack of competition may also be a demotivating factor when it comes to ensuring customer satisfaction.

Take it from one first-time cruiser and self-described "big massage" person on r/Cruise who was hit with a $700 spa bill for services they didn't pay. Another Reddit cruiser picked up $800 in spa fees with a similar story. Others complained of being told they were bloated as part of a high-pressure upselling campaign. As one r/Cruise user put it, "Every spa treatment I've ever had on a ship has been followed by a hard sales pitch."

If you do plan to splurge on a cruise spa, pay close attention to your receipts. Although judging by the number of complaints, it's probably best just to save that medicinal massage for your post-vacation recovery. There's plenty of relaxation elsewhere onboard.

Like all artists and artisans, photographers should be appropriately compensated for their labor. However, many cruisegoers say there are better things to spend your cash on than the photography services pushed on board the ship. That's because these tend not to be the most artistic or high-value photos — something even the ship photographers will admit (in the right forum).

As one photographer with friends in the cruise photo industry dished on r/photography, the job tends to attract young photographers looking for the opportunity to travel in exchange for generally less-than-satisfactory working conditions. "You take lifeless copy and pasta portraits with a hot shoe flash that takes 30 seconds, they're so simple a chimp can do it, and 90% of the people don't care about them," they wrote. They concluded by emphasizing that these aren't the kind of quality photos you would expect from a professional photo shoot, and they tend to cost more than they're worth.

Reddit is full of complaints from cruisers who say these photographers have a particularly annoying habit of interrupting guests at dinner or while they're just casually hanging around the pool. If you really want to invest in a cruise ship photo and you know what you're getting, then go for it. But if you're looking to trim costs on things that tend to have a low ROI for their cost, consider saving your money and bringing your own quality camera along for the trip.

When you go on an all-inclusive cruise, there are two kinds of restaurants. These are the buffets and main dining area food options that are included with the cost of your cruise and specialty restaurants that come with an additional surcharge. Although most take walk-ins if there's space available, making reservations ahead of your cruise is generally recommended at the specialty spots, as seating can fill up quickly on a first-come, first-served basis. Options might include a steak restaurant, Asian cuisine, or a seafood place, for example. And some of them have some pretty high-quality food.

But not all of them are worth the high cost, particularly when you've got free options available, with many Reddit users complaining about portioning or general mediocrity. "Whenever we've tried them I've regretted it," reported one Reddit user. "Not that the food was bad but that it's still just OK, and I've paid extra for it." Many regular cruisers also say the quality of specialty restaurants has declined in recent years. Calling specialty dining a "joke," one Reddit user complained, "Pay extra for the same quality food with maybe a few different choices. No thanks."

Claiming to have "cracked the code" on this issue, another cruisegoer advised only splurging on specialty restaurants if you consider the dining experience part of your overall cruise entertainment. Some guests also say it's just nice to splurge or escape the crowds of the main dining areas. If you're the kind of cruise guest who would prefer to save money on food but would prefer options beyond the buffet, you can also bring your own food items onto the cruise.

Drink packages are another common cruise expenditure that turns out to be a total money-waster for many guests. Of course, it sounds like a good deal on the surface. However, if you aren't a heavy drinker, you could end up paying for much more alcohol than you would ever actually drink.

Drinks package pricing and rules can vary from one cruise line to the next, but they all tend to seem a bit pricey at first blush. For example, Carnival's drinks packages start at around $82 per day for up to 15 drinks costing $20 or less within a 24-hour period. If you're planning to drink heavily and your cocktails run close to the $20 amount, that could turn out to be a good deal for you. But if you're a moderate drinker, there's a good chance you won't come even close to getting your money's worth. And the flip side is that you could end up overdoing it because you feel obligated to get your money's worth.

Unless you're seriously planning to party your face off throughout the trip, some seasoned cruisegoers suggest just buying drinks as you would normally and watching your tab to see if a drink package would actually save you anything. If it would, then you know it's worth investing in on your next cruise. And you know there will be a next cruise. There is always a next cruise.

You're killing an afternoon on a cruise ship with a little jewelry store window-shopping when, suddenly, a little fabulous eye candy catches your attention. But before you break out the old Mastercard, take a beat — it's probably not the deal you think it is. While it's true that some jewelry stores are willing to haggle with cruise guests on jewelry pricing and it's nice not to have to pay a sales tax, some of those prices are higher than they might be on dry land. And some of the jewelry brands are nothing particularly special, with cruise guests reporting finding the same brands at stores like Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue for lower prices or even on shopping networks like QVC. Some jewelry stores have even been known to scam shoppers into buying things they don't want. 

That's not to say you should just completely avoid the onboard jewelry store, particularly if you're the type of person who just likes to pick up a specific type of jewelry as a souvenir when you travel. "I like to buy myself a single piece of sterling silver jewelry when I travel, and I don't feel like what they have on at least Royal Caribbean is outside the realm of normal pricing or quality," shared one cruiser on Reddit.

If you just can't resist that bling bling, seasoned cruisegoers suggest taking a few moments to hop on your Wi-FI plan and find out if an item is really worth what the cruise ship jewelry store is charging. If you still want it and it's not likely to get snapped up by someone else first, try to hold out for the end of the trip when the haggling is good.

When you're booking your cruise, you'll have the opportunity to purchase excursions where all of your portside transportation and activities are included and you don't have to think about a thing. There's a definite benefit to booking them, particularly given that you don't have to worry about whether your tour guide and transportation options are safe. But that security comes with a pretty hefty price tag, and many seasoned cruisegoers say it's better to opt for the money-saving excursion hack of planning your own excursion if you're up to the challenge.

One Reddit user who lives on a cruise ship for several months out of the year shared, "My wife and I cruise 100+ days a year and almost exclusively choose independent excursions." According to the cruisegoer, the fact that independently booked excursions are much less expensive than cruise excursions is just part of the equation, noting that cruise excursions tend to involve touristy areas like "souvenir markets" and involve more waiting than they are comfortable with. As one Quora poster wrote, "With very few exceptions, you will get better value arranging them yourselves beforehand." Just be sure to do your research if you're planning to take off on your own in a foreign country.

Anytime you're cruising to a major tourist destination, the souvenir markets near the port tend to be full of underwhelming, overpriced, and far too often mass-produced souvenirs. That's to say nothing of the low-quality knock-offs of name-brand items — think fake Rolexes and cheap, poor-quality versions of designer purses. As if that wasn't bad enough, many online cruise forums are replete with tales of aggressive vendors and even scam artists lurking around these areas.

But shopping can be fun, and coming home from an amazing cruise empty-handed is anything but. That's why the best thing to do if you want truly high-quality souvenirs while supporting local artists and artisans is to invest in a little research before you go and take the time to travel to markets where these items are sold. The key is to get away from the super touristy zones while remaining in an area that's still known to be safe for tourists.

It's also not a bad idea to have a regular souvenir item you like to collect when you travel. Maybe it's a shopping mug, a good old-fashioned fridge magnet, or maybe a craft liquor from a local distillery. Whatever you're interested in, knowing what you're looking out for ahead of time when you're shopping at port can be the key to avoiding an impulse buy you'll regret later on.

If you've never spent much time cruising, you might be surprised when you see that art auctions are a staple on most routes. Much like the spa centers, the art auction galleries on most cruise lines tend to be run by the same company, a gallery called Park West. While cruisegoers tend to agree that the art costs more than it would on dry land, even if the gallery offers free champagne to lure you in, there's an even bigger reason these art auctions are quite possibly the worst tourist trap in all of Cruisedom — Park West has been previously sued for false advertising. 

Specifically, the gallery has presented prints and lithographs as originals and long-term investments, neither of which turned out to be true. Some shoppers have also reported winning art at a Park West auction only to have the price bait-and-switched for a much higher-priced item when they went to pay the tab. One Reddit user claimed they won a small print as a prize for correctly guessing the weight of a sculpture, only to be told they would need to pay $35 to have it shipped. 

That's not to say the gallery doesn't sell quality originals or that nothing they sell is worth the investment. Plenty of past cruisers who made less expensive purchases at the gallery have reported feeling pleased with their souvenirs. It's just important to go into these auctions knowing what you're getting into and setting your expectations accordingly.

Set down that martini, 007. While a casino can be a fun way to pass the time (if you don't have any problem telling yourself when it's time to call it a night and remember that the house always wins), many cruisegoers say the casinos on a cruise ship are the worst place to gamble. Some say it comes down to a regulatory issue. Casinos on land tend to be subject to regulations through local governance; for example, Oklahoma's tribal casinos are regulated by the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). However, the cruise industry isn't subject to that level of oversight, and in the absence of any international governing body, they tend to govern themselves. 

This oversight deficit gained public attention in 2024 when more than a half dozen casino employees above the Carnival Glory were fired for their role in a $100,000 casino chip-stealing scam that was spread over a several-year period. Allegations that blackjack and roulette tables were involved arose as part of the scandal. One recent class-action lawsuit (as reported by Cruise Passenger) alleged that some cruise lines encourage known gamblers to continue losing money by offering them a credit line throughout the duration of the cruise. If that's not enough to make you stay away from the casino in pursuit of something a little less high-stakes, it's probably best to just stick to the slot machines. 

There are plenty of high-quality shows on cruise ships, and plenty of top-notch performers have had the chance to hone their skills on the cruise circuit. And most of the entertainment on board a cruise ship will be included in the cost of your cruise. But there are some add-ons available depending on your cruise, and some cruisegoers say that with all the free entertainment options available, they're not always worth the extra price. While not all are straight-up tourist traps, they can start to cut into your wallet unnecessarily, particularly in light of the perfectly good free entertainment on board.

For example, MSC offers Cirque du Soleil-style shows for an added fee, and they cost less than $20 per person and come with a specialty cocktail. But cruisegoers say the quality of these performances has seriously waned in the post-pandemic era, and it's not worth the Jackson. "I saw 'House of Houdini' on the Meraviglia in January 2024 and was not impressed," lamented one cruiser on the CruiseCritic forum. If you're thinking of shelling out for add-on entertainment, take some time to read online reviews before booking your spot so you don't end up spending money on a cash-grab show that isn't worth the time spent.