You really get a pretty good value for your dollar. The cost varies considerably between categories but you can travel quite comfortably for about $150 per day - and that includes both the stateroom and all of your meals. It is true that some shore excursions and off ship activities will come out of your pocket, but that would be the same on just about any vacation. This also makes it is easy to budget for a cruise vacation because almost all of your expenses are included the total price that you pay up front.