Comparison: 3 Night Cruise and 3 Night City Vacation

We recently had a three night stay in our city of Brisbane. We went to see a performer we like, so took the opportunity to stay a few extra days and do a city vacation.

Michael Waugh performing at 'It's Still a Secret'

I am basing this comparison on a 3 night Royal Caribbean cruise for three people to nowhere, and the 3 night city vacation for 3 people. We stayed at Riverside Hotel, in a room much the same size as a Royal Caribbean cabin.

Royal Caribbean - Quantum of the Seas

We had a few issues, that one wouldn't get on a cruise ship - no plugs in the sink or bath (our cruise cabins don't have a bath), asked for extra pillows twice (still waiting), and the phone didn't work. On a cruise ship all of these would have been rectified almost immediately.

Riverside Hotel Room

So lets look at each section:

Accommodation - both cabin and room are similar in size. Room a little wider and shorter than a cabin. Bathroom was larger in the room. We chose the cheapest hotel accommodation for the area we wanted to be in.

Breakfast - the hotel charged extra for the breakfast buffet and it was no where like a cruise ship buffet. Cruise ship buffet is included in the price and wins hands down for variety.

My favourite breakfast on Royal - crispy bacon with maple syrup, salmon and cream cheese bagel, avocado toast, scrambled eggs, hash brown, and sometimes a breakfast doughnut.

Lunch - we had fast food while out exploring the city. Not the best but was the cheapest we could find. Lunch is much better on a cruise ship and is included.

Dinner - city restaurants are expensive. The average main was above $25 each. We did not have 3 (4) course meals like we would on a cruise ship. We tended to have just one main each (or entree instead of a main). Cruise ship buffet or main dining 3 courses (or 4 if having soup) is included in the price. We like to dress for main dining room.

Example of main room dinner menu - changes every night.

Drinks - to be honest we didn't buy a lot of drinks out, but took our own to have in the room. However, we did buy drinks at a cost of $10 a beer or mocktail and $25 a cocktail. The cocktails, although tasty had no taste of rum or alcohol. Drinks in the city were expensive. On a Royal Caribbean cruise we have 4 free drinks a day included each due to our frequent cruise status, so I have worked out the cost of 4 similar drinks if we had, had them in the city.

Chocolate Martini's at the Schooner Bar on Quantum of the Seas

Entertainment - we did only two paid entertainment events, and that is the costing I have included. On a cruise ship there is an evening show each night - included; often, especially on a 3 night cruise to nowhere there will be included late night comedy shows. There is also included entertainment throughout the ship all day from trivia to dancing to crafts to music and games.

Star Water on Quantum of the Seas

Snacks - we needed a few snacks on a city break, some fruit, chips, cheese and biscuits. On a cruise ship there are plenty of snacks to be had - all included.

Now we have been very conservative in our costing. We could have easily spent much more on lunch and much, much more on dinner. Entertainment, we chose what we could afford and what we wanted to do. We could have easily spent more on entertainment. We chose to do a lot of free things, self guided tour, Museum of Brisbane, city murals, fairy door exploring, riverside walk. 

3 people 3 nights	Hotel	Cruise
Accommodation	$703.00	$1,743.00
Breakfast	$225.00	included
Lunch	$120.00	included
Dinner	$288.00	included
Drinks x 4 each	$720.00	included
Entertainment	$220.00	included
Snacks	$45.00	included
	$2,321.00	$1,743.00

Would we do a city vacation again? Yes, we like visiting our own city, always something new to see and do. However, accommodation is getting more expensive each time, so maybe we will be leaving it to $20 all day parking and do day trips from home.

This is why we love cruising - an all round holiday, at a price we can afford.