Luxury Cruising Editorial

These days, cruise ships are absolutely packed with things to see and do, and all kinds of extra features designed to encourage you to book, or spend more money once you’re already onboard. They certainly aren’t like cruise ships even 10-15 years ago.

But you likely aren’t going to have time to try everything, unless you’re on a longer cruise with a lot of sea days. So, what are the attractions that aren’t worth it, either because they’re too expensive or they just aren’t as fun as they should be?

Let’s take a look.

1. Butlers

There are certain cruise rooms – typically suites – that advertise themselves as having butler service. This sounds very fancy, and could convince you to upgrade your room to a much more expensive option if you wanted to try out this perk.

But in reality, most people don’t know what to really use a butler for. In fact, it’s one of the more popular questions on cruise forums – what exactly can you ask a butler to do that’s different from your regular stateroom attendant?

There are a few services they might offer, depending on the cruise line, such as shoe shining, or taking care of your laundry, or packing and unpacking for you.

For most people though, you likely won’t make use of them very much, and having a regular stateroom with an attendant will be plenty – especially since people don’t just pay extra for the perk of having a butler, but they then are likely to tip them more as well.

If you are tempted by a butler, be aware that on most ships, they won’t be exclusive to your suite. On cruise lines like Royal Caribbean (who have the Royal Genie instead of a butler) or NCL in The Haven, the butler will be working with several guests across multiple staterooms – so they aren’t completely at your beck and call.

Instead…

Book a regular stateroom – it won’t take you long to sort your own laundry or do your own unpacking.

2. Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea is a nice activity on land when you want to go to a cafe or a posh hotel and try some delicious sandwiches and cakes. But on a cruise ship, is it worth the extra cost?

I’d argue that it isn’t, simply because you can grab the same food elsewhere on the cruise without paying for it. Sure, it might not come on a fancy stand, but is that really much of a dealbreaker for you? And the quality often isn’t great.

If you have special dietary requirements, the afternoon tea can be particularly disappointing. I once had a vegan afternoon tea that consisted of gluten-free scones with margarine and sandwiches with only cucumbers and olives. Yuk!

Instead…

Head to the ship’s included cafe or the buffet restaurant, and pick the items you like – especially since you can get as many of them as you want.

3. Dry Slides 

Several cruise ships have added dry slides that span several decks of the ship. The Ultimate Abyss on Royal Caribbean is one of the more well-known examples, but MSC and NCL also have dry slides on some of their biggest ships too.

However, they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. They can often be quite slow, although I love the tip that it’s better to ride earlier in the morning when the humidity is higher and you’ll go a little faster. But still, a lot of people find them to be a bit bland, and they can even get a nasty burn!

They are free, so do have a go if there’s no queue, but they aren’t worth waiting in line for.

Instead…

Hit the waterslides on a cruise ship instead. They might also have a bit of a line, but they tend to be a lot more fun.

Suggested read: The Best Cruise Ships With Water Slides

4. Cruise Line Shore Excursions

This one’s a bit of a controversial one, but I wanted to include it because I know a lot of cruise passengers will feel that these are overrated.

Whenever you visit a port on a cruise, you can either head off an explore on your own, or try a shore excursion. You can book directly with the cruise line, or you can book with a third-party company instead – often for as little as half the price of what the cruise line is charging for exactly the same excursion.

The benefits to booking with a cruise line are that you’re guaranteed to make it back to the ship, but it’s not like everyone who books with a third party is being left stranded in port. A lot of people believe it’s much better to save the money.

Instead…

Book your excursions with a trusted third-party company – you’ll still get the same fun experiences but you’ll pay a lot less.

5. Bionic Bar

Royal Caribbean has the Bionic Bar on several of its newer ships – a bar where robotic arms mix your drink for you.

It’s a nice novelty the first time you try it, but after that, the excitement has worn off. It’s easier to just find a regular bar and ask a human bartender to make the drink for you instead – and it’s likely to be faster, too.

The Bionic Bar is included in the Deluxe Beverage Package, so it’s not a waste of money if you already have that on your cruise. But it’s a waste of time to go out of you way to grab a drink here, unless you find it particularly exciting.

Instead…

Just order your drinks at any bar on the ship.

6. Chef’s Table Dining

A number of different cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, P&O Cruises and others have a speciality restaurant option called Chef’s Table.

This is always a small venue with literally one or two tables, where guests will be served a multi-course fine dining meal, typically paired with carefully selected wines or cocktails.

And it’s a really nice experience, usually with good food. But the prices can be very high – and I’m not sure that it’s worth paying as much as you do for one meal here, when the other speciality restaurants are often just as good, but a little busier.

Carnival’s is one of the most expensive Chef’s Table venues, with a late 2023 price increase pushing the cost up to $150 per person on some sailings.

It’s not the most expensive speciality restaurant – that’s the Empire Supper Club on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas that costs $200 per person, but that’s more experiential with themed entertainment alongside an 8-course meal and cocktails too.

Instead…

Rather than pay for one meal at Chef’s Table, pay for two or three meals at other speciality restaurants on your ship. If you want the multi-course experience, just go to the buffet afterwards!

7. Spa Offers

Be wary of any special offers for the spa that you might find on your cruise, offering you the chance to visit and learn more about the treatments on offer or even get a discount on one.

You aren’t going to get a truly luxurious experience when you visit on one of these special deals, but you are almost guaranteed to be getting quite the upsell experience.

Some people have reported hearing some quite horrible things about their skin from the specialists working in the spa, who are trying to convince them to spend huge sums on beauty products!

Instead…

If you really want a spa treatment on your cruise, I’d recommend booking one as normal, and telling them upfront that this is the only treatment you want and you won’t be paying extra. It might come across as rude, but it’s better than being told your face is saggy or your skin is bad!

8. Cabana Rentals

Several cruise lines visit their own private islands or private resorts in the Bahamas and Caribbean, giving guests a fun port of call where they can relax on the beach, enjoy great BBQ food, and try out some exciting excursion opportunities too.

Many of these cruise lines allow guests to book a cabana or a villa for the duration of their stay too, but the thing is your stay is not normally that long – you might have around 6 hours on the island before you depart.

And those villas and cabanas can be costly – Disney’s Castaway Cay cabanas start at $600 for the day! That’s around half the cost of a short Disney cruise per person, or it’s the cost of a full cruise with some other cruise lines!

You do get some nice perks, but ask yourself whether you really need that private space, especially on a cruise island where your ship is docked and you can just nip back to your room if you want some shade and a bit of quiet time?

Instead…

Save the money, make sure you’re awake early so you can get onto the island and grab yourself a lounger, and remember that in a few hours you’ll be sailing away from the island so you really aren’t missing much by skipping the cabana!

9. Art Auctions

The art auction is a cruise staple – most cruise lines still run these events, and you’d be surprised by how many people head along to them as well!

Many of those might be looking to grab a free welcome glass of sparkling wine, which is fair enough, especially if you haven’t bought a drinks package. But the auctions themselves are usually not the most exciting activities and they aren’t great value either.

The artworks are often overpriced and usually, you’ll only be bidding on a print anyway – you won’t be given the art you buy, but you’ll be shipped a replica from a land-based warehouse instead.

When you think of it that way, you might realise that it’s not really worth it, and you might as well grab any art you want somewhere else rather than on your cruise.

Instead…

Save your money and time. If you want a glass of bubbly, just buy one. And if you really want to throw your money away, maybe consider a trip to the casino where you might end up winning something of actual value – more cash!

Final Word

These aren’t ‘bad’ attractions on a cruise, and some people might love the art auctions, or get a ton of value out of having a butler, and that’s fine.

But if you are limited on time for how much you can fit into your cruise, or you’re lying by the pool and wondering whether it’s worth the effort of moving to go try out one of these cruise attractions, give it a second thought – it might be wasted time or money when you could be doing something better.

There are some extras that most people agree are worth it though, and I suggest that you take a look at those next… 5 Cruise Ship Extras That Are Actually Worth the Splurge.

Related Posts:

Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

When you cruise, you’re often presented with extra packages or features that have an extra charge associated with them. Cruise lines love to enhance your holiday as much as possible, and make money while they do it, of course!

It’s true that some of these extras aren’t always worth the money – you might be able to enjoy free alternatives, or the cost just doesn’t justify what you get. But there are some cruise extras that I think are absolutely worth the money you pay – at least, for some people.

Let’s take a look.

1. Specialty Dining Experiences

Every cruise ship has a range of dining options – you’re never just limited to a single restaurant, even on the smallest ships. But not all venues are included in the fare – speciality restaurants, so-named because they tend to specialise in a certain cuisine or theme, tend to come with an additional charge.

That might be a la carte, or a fixed fee, depending on the venue. And the great thing is that you don’t need to use them – if you want to keep costs down, the main dining room and the buffet are often more than enough, along with the free snack bars.

But, I would absolutely recommend you check out the restaurants on your chosen cruise ship, because the food here can be a whole other level when it comes to choice and variety. 

The main dining room and buffet will start to feel samey, whereas speciality restaurants give you something different to try, including some great menus or unique concepts.

The price doesn’t tend to be super-high, either. Unless you’re eating at a Chef’s Table, then most restaurants will cost between $20 and $40 per person, which is likely cheaper than you’d pay eating at a restaurant on land.

And it gets even better if you cruise on a ship with a speciality dining plan where you can pre-pay for a package that gets you discounted meals – so look out for those.

If you’re celebrating a special occasion such as a wedding anniversary or birthday, or you just enjoy great food with plenty of variety, then speciality dining restaurants can absolutely be worth the extra cost.

2. Spa Thermal Suite Passes

One of the best ways to unwind on a cruise is in the spa – it’s a space that is peaceful, relaxing and soothing, with a range of facilities on offer, often including a thermal suite. 

That might be a simple sauna and steam room, but some cruise ships have even more features such as simulated salt caves, to really help you escape and to give your skin a deep cleanse.

Access to these thermal suites doesn’t tend to be free, but you can buy a pass for either a single day or for your entire cruise.

Your loyalty discounts can come in handy here too. When I cruised on MSC Euribia, because my cabin-mate was Diamond on Royal Caribbean, the MSC Status Match programme meant that she could access the spa for free and I paid just £20 instead of the usual £80.

If you’re someone who really enjoys visiting a spa, or you’re on a crowded family cruise ship and you want somewhere to escape when the excitement and noise gets a bit overwhelming, a pass to the thermal suites could be invaluable.

3. Drink Packages

On most cruises that you book, you’ll get plenty included in your cruise fare, but drinks (soft drinks and alcoholic ones) typically aren’t covered. You’ll get a couple of free juice options for breakfast, and there’ll always be free tap water available, but otherwise, you’ll need to pay for your drinks.

Most cruise lines therefore offer a drinks package option – the chance to pay a set fee and enjoy all the drinks you want throughout your cruise (though some do set a limit, such as 15 alcoholic drinks a day – which is plenty for most people).

These drinks packages vary by cruise line and can cost as much as $100+ per person, per day!

This sounds huge, but when you then look at the bar prices and see that a cocktail might cost you $15, or a beer is $9, then you realise that the package might make sense.

It does mean you need to do a little bit of math before you book – working out how many drinks you’re likely to enjoy each day, roughly how much that’ll cost, and then checking whether the drinks package is good value.

It’s not just for booze lovers too, because most cruise lines offer a soft drinks package option as well, and those make sense for anyone teetotal or who just wants one or two alcoholic drinks a day, and is happy to pay for them individually but wants to save on their sodas and juices.

Use my cruise drinks package calculator to help – it’ll take care of a lot of the calculations for you, once you know roughly how many drinks you’ll enjoy each day.

4. WiFi Packages

It’s extremely expensive to connect to mobile internet while you’re on a cruise – the roaming charges are astronomical, and you absolutely have to make sure your phone has data turned off while you’re sailing.

Instead, if you want to get online during the cruise, you’ll have to connect to the ship’s WiFi, and most cruise lines will also only sell that in packages that last the full cruise, typically for around $20-25 per day (though prices will be higher if you want to connect multiple devices).

So it’s not cheap – but it might still be worth it, especially if you have several days at sea in a row or if you have to work. A lot of people work flexibly now and may prefer to take a cruise without completely abandoning their emails or projects.

If you only want to catch up with friends or check socials, it’s better to wait until you’re in port and can find free WiFi nearby.

There’s always somewhere you can walk to. But if you do need to get online, paying for the WiFi is worthwhile, and speeds are improving as more cruises switch to faster Starlink internet.

Suggested read: Virgin Voyages Launches ‘Work From The Ship’ Package

5. Shuttle Buses

Unless you’re on a river cruise ship, most cruise ports are not at the heart of the action when it comes to your destination – you might be a distance from the main town or city.

You could get off and try walking, but in some ports, that’s a long distance to cover, and you might only have a few hours to explore. You could also book an excursion, but that might be really expensive, especially if booking through the cruise line.

So instead, look into the shuttle buses in the port to see what’s available. It’s much better to pay a small fee to get taken right into the main city centre, and then get whisked back to the cruise ship in plenty of time before she departs, instead of walking for hours or paying for a tour.

Some ports might even have free shuttle buses, so ask around or do some research before your cruise begins to explore your options.

Final Word

I’d always recommend looking into your cruise ship and cruise line before you book and before you sail, so that you know what to expect when you’re onboard, including any extra packages or charges that you might be presented with.

That doesn’t mean you always have to be sceptical, though. While you might get a little bit of a hard sell on the ship, some of these extras are absolutely worth paying for, especially if it’s a special cruise, or depending on your circumstances.

Always ask whether you’re getting good value – but don’t assume that you always won’t be.

Related Topics

Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me