All week long I was researching hotels close to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC for an upcoming science convention. I kept coming back to the same hotel for several reasons. It was two blocks from the Convention Center, within walking distance to the White House and Smithsonian Museums, offered a full hot continental breakfast for free, and had refrigerators and microwaves in all of the guest rooms.

I’m the type of person who likes to create a budget for my vacations down to the very penny. This way I am sure to have enough money before I leave on the trip, dismissing any possibility of ending up in debt afterward. Two years ago I took my girls on their very first cruise. Here are the costs you can expect to pay should you decide that taking a cruise is right for your family.

1. The Cruise Itself: The cruise itself covers your lodgings, meals, entertainment, and most of your non-alcoholic drinks. There are ways to take advantage of special discounts, as well as receiving lower prices if you choose to cruise during the off-season. Make sure when they give you a quote that they are including the taxes and any other associated fees.

2. Drinks: You will need to pay for any alcoholic drinks you desire. Also, while water, tea, coffee, and juice are free, soda and smoothies are not. You can purchase soda cards ahead of time if you plan on consuming a lot of soda. I personally don’t like soda so that wasn’t a big deal for me.

3. Shore Excursions: When you book your vacation, you’ll be given a list of shore excursions. These are optional, but you will most likely want to take advantage of one shore excursion at each port, unless the port is far away from any entertainment. For example, our ship docked in Nassau so we went to see Atlantis. It also docked in Freeport, which is about 30 minutes from any attractions. We just go out and strolled around the shops by the port.