How Money Conscious Are You, on board

[ron46936]

I voted for setting a reaonable budget even tho we do sometimes throw caution to the wind. Last time our account was $250 including $160 in tips. What the heck it's only money.

[Himself]

I always splurge within reason (more or less!)

[bluehorizonlover123]

Plan on spending at least $500 while onboard. Could go as high as $1000

[Guest enjoycruises]

Our account is usaully under $200 for 3 unless we buy art at the auction and then "watch out"!

[cruzincurt]

CANDY, I agree with you. There is "money" and there is "gambling money". Both are separate. We'll put down $20 on the bones and use a 2 for 1 coupon for the drinks.

 

Studies show that most serious gamblers are frugal in their normal lives. By serious I mean those that know the odds and the correct strategdy.

 

We'll drop $250 a week on extras above and beyond the tips and gambling. Then again, we don't always lose at gambling. And we don't waste $3.95 on a "name brand" hamburger when there are ones we already paid for down by the pool.

[patrice1]

Let me start by saying that we live in the FL Keys, so vacations can be more far apart. We also like to cruise in the fall, so prices are much lower, which saves us a bunch. We always book a guarantee and have ended up with some fabulous rooms. But our last cruise was the end all ;) . We booked a guarantee outside and ended up in a suite (no balcony) with champagne waiting. Every evening, we play a roll of quarters for pre-dinner try at the casino. Never, ever win until this cruise when we won every night - at least $100 and one big one .:eek: We actually paid our onboard account and some off-board souviners with the money and came home with all the money we brought. We had a ball & it was the most frugal vacation we've ever taken.

 

We are now waiting for the 4th quarter itineries to come out so we can book our Panama Canal cruise in Dec. 2006 which is far enough away to allow us to pay off everything ahead of time.

[oliviaonthe beach]

This time we are reserving and paying for our July cruise excursions NOW so we will have everything paid for and will only need to set aside spending money come July. I hope this approach works better for us and we don't go "overboard" once we are on the ship!

[Host Walt]

I splurge, but my wife orders a preliminary statement of charges about 3 or 4 days into a cruise, then reality sets in.

 

When I see the amount that I am paying for stuff I charged a day or two ago that is already long forgotten, and she says that money could easily have gone toward a new flat panel for my desk, I get realistic rather quickly.

[cruzermon]

This is a very interesting discussion.

 

I selected "generally concerned about what I spend", despite the fact we never budget for our trips, whether on the sea or land-based. I always look at it as value for the money(or time) spent, so if free drinks are easily attainable, I'll go for them. I won't spend a half hour in line to get one, though. And, even though I never drink it, I'll b**ch and moan about any bar that dares charge $5 for a white zin.

 

Even though I do research our cruise and air fares, I know we do spend a lot on shore excursions and on board activities, well drinking if you must know. As I'm checking out the tours on our upcoming Alaska trip, I doubt I'd bat an eye at spending the multi-hundred $ for a helicopter galacier landing, but don't think I'd pay more than $20 for a 2 hour tour around the town. And, I'd probably rave, or so I'm hoping, about the helicoper trip and bellyache about the town trip, which probably costs a bit more that $20.

 

I guess I'll be the first to sing the praise of a great experience, and also be a critic of over-priced or under-delivered experiences as well. Fortunately, I haven't had too many of the latter.

 

So, even though money isn't a constraint (did I really say that?), I do want value for my money.

[Tatka]

I checked "I'm generally concerned about what I spend "

 

We are "youngish" family of 3 ( 33, 32, 13) and our kid will hopefully be in college in 4 years. As we usually travel when prices are high (school vacations) we usually book inside cabin.

 

We don't usually play in casino (except for Black Jack tournaments), as we have two beautiful ones nearby ( Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun).

 

We don't spend a lot in the ship bars (I usually have 2-4 drinks for whole cruise) as we prefer spend these money for shore tours.

 

We take tours where they make sense: Europe, California etc, but not on every Caribbean island . ;)

 

We don't buy ship pictures, but rather take 400 - 500 with our camera.

 

We don't buy soda card for our kid , as there is enough juice/water to drink (specially on HAL ships :) ), plus IMHO less soda is better for him.

 

 

 

 

It might look like we are on a cheaper side..but we also usually have 2 nice vacations yearly. (Cruise/cruise, Cruise/Europe, A/I / Europe) and this is 1 or 2 more than many of people our age with kids. ;)

[Huckelberry cruiser]

Never had a cruise with less than 1,000.00 charge. usually 1,500.00

 

We take one cruise a year and between the shore excursions, spa, pictures, tips, and bar tab ( I own a small company and my wife is a school teacher and we absolutely will not drive after drinking so we rarely drink much because of our busy schedules and late nites and we must be able to drive ). On a cruise we are not responsible for employess or driving so we try fine wines and enjoy nice cocktails. We are very lucky financially plus as others have said we pre-pay as much as possible.

[BIWOZ]

We try to keep within a fairly elastic budget without being obsessive. We like to have little indulgences that we wouldn't normally buy. I have to admit, though, for us it's the experience that is the attraction, not so much the "purchases". But it's a joy to have a few nice wines or a cold beer when we want ... and we do. Our favourite indulgence each night on our last cruise was a couple of mixed drinks each, listening to the string quartet, watching the snow and ice-covered hills slide past. Bliss!

[richnorto]

I can finally answer this question. We had not done a cruise in a long time and was curious how we would handle it! We didn't give much thought to money as we were paying for only drinks, excursions, tips, ect. We drank what we wanted, gambled what we wanted and did the snorkling we wanted. we still only spent around $6000 for a family of 5 including hotel, dogs kennel, gas, cruise, tips, excursions, souveniers, liquor for home etc.! We can't go to Disney World for a week for that!!!:)

[sheephugs]

Bonnyweed, If you ever make it South, Hilton Head Island thrift stores have "cruise wear" sections with gorgeous outfits.:)

[Scrumpy]

Heather,

I couldn't admire your mom more! I would love to be that way myself and I do try. My more successful relatives are well-known for being budget-conscious. One buys knock-off purses because no one knows the difference. She and her girlfriends love doing that kind of thing and think it's a real hoot. They'll go to those "ladies who lunch"-type events and giggle on the inside. Meanwhile, they have very nice homes and other "things" and give generously of both their time and money to various causes. Several years ago, and this still cracks me up, their answering machine broke in November or thereabouts. They put that on their Christmas list. They didn't just go buy an answering machine - and, since they have everything and are hard to buy for, it was probably a thoughtful thing for them to do. Actually, that is a big difference in spending style and potential *small* waste of money - we have voicemail, not an answering machine. In the long run, it's more expensive for a little more convenience... DH and I are not as financially successful, and both lack the proper mindset to find bargains. If there's a way to get ripped off, we'll usually find it. Get lucky sometimes, but I can research something until I'm blue in the face, buy it, then find out later that I didn't get the bargain I thought I had - or that I had invested in a "better" product that wasn't worth the price (Kirby vacuum cleaner - GRRRR). I have recently re-discovered consignment stores and Goodwill. It's amazing the clothing you can get there, sometimes obviously unworn. There is also a lot more variety than at a traditional department or specialty store.

 

There is a good book called, "The Millionairre Next Door". I haven't read the whole thing, but it's on my to-do list. Those who have it usually don't flaunt it. And, those who do have some showy things quite often drive a hard bargain to get them. People in my family didn't start out with money. The people I spoke of above started out in a small trailer and now have a large home in a fancy part of the city (equivalent to Highland Park in Dallas) and a gorgeous vacation home. It's amazing how those pennies add up!

Scrumpy

 

 

I've told this story before, but it fits here. My mother, who is very comfortable financially believes in spending wisely and has always watched her pennies, though she has travelled all over the world. She sent my husband quite a distance to buy a bag of ice because it cost less than "down the road". She gets some of her finest clothes at the Salvation Army and is proud of it. She is extraordinarily generous, yet she doesn't throw her money away. I've tried desperately to learn from her though money tends to flow freely through my open fingers.

 

I have known many wealthy people through the years who are extremely careful with their pennies and say things like "how do you think I ended up where I am today?". To this day my mother (good for me;) ) has not spent a penny of her "capital".

 

So laugh if you will, but those "pennies" add up and I wouldn't scoff at anyone who is careful with the nickels and dimes.

[Scrumpy]

Here is how my mind works: I'm turning 40 this year. My husband surprised me just over a week ago by telling me I could go anywhere I wanted for up to two weeks (and that was negotiable) and up to X amount of money (also negotiable) - or that I could buy anything I wanted up to that amount (negotiable depending on what it was), etc. I immediately wanted to mazimize the use of the time and the funds. We could have had a better cabin and a longer cruise. Instead, we have enough for a second, separate trip at a later time. (More practical people would have done other things, I'm sure; coulda made a nice dent in those student loans...)

 

I will be trying to get a 12-pack of my precious Mountain Dew onboard, not because I'm too cheap to buy it but because they don't HAVE it. Also, will probably take a few bottles of wine. A FEW, not enough for the whole trip. Some things cost over twice as much on the ship. That is not too terribly stingy, imo. I will be able to spend as much time as I want in the spa. Spas are my favorite places, but the nice one here is all the way across town and I don't like to get relaxed, then tense up in traffic all the way home. Other than liking spas, I am extremely low-maintenance and go months without visiting the hair salon because I simply cannot be bothered. That is my indulgence onboard - ahhhh spa treatments. Your comment about something for nothing would apply to me only if it was something I wanted very much. That "nothing" is part of the built-in cost of cruising (or a resort), after all. But, I don't jockey for position to get it because that isn't in my nature, so I'm sure there have been lots of "free" things that I've missed out on because I wouldn't queue or push through others to get them. I'm also terrible at bargaining, so if there is something I want in place that requires negotiations I do tend to get a bit frustrated. That is when I least enjoy myself and it is because I am thinking about money.

 

Scrumpy

 

Once we're on vacation, I rarely try to think about money or how much something costs, large jewelry and electronics purchases aside. But it's annoying to hear people nickel and dime everything, try to get something for nothing and complain about the cost of the little things. Is it that hard to relax about money that it jaundice's your view of everything?

 

It's actually a little funny to watch grown people jockey for position to get an extra free drink or hors d'ourve.

[kryos]

We can't go to Disney World for a week for that!!!:)

Actually you probably could go for even cheaper. I have a friend who does it all the time. They drive their pop up camper down from Philly ... barrel through in like 18 hours with stops only for potty breaks and gas ...

 

I am positive that they spend nowhere near $6,000 for a family of five ... and they are usually gone a total of about two weeks. They are a family on a budget and they stick very strictly to that budget. While they make sure the kids have the time of their lives at the various attractions (they don't just do WDW while down in Florida), they don't "waste" money either. They pack "munchies" for if the kids get hungry in the park, and unless they are gonna be in the park for like twelve hours, they don't waste money on a lot of food purchases. They wait until they get back to the camper and either fix something there, or stop at a budget restaurant on the way back.

 

While their type of vacations are not for me ... seems that they enjoy them and the kids always talk like they had a great time. Guess it's all a matter of what's important to you. While I like my nice food and fruity drink out on deck, these people could care less about that stuff. They're just looking for quality family time at a price that makes it possible for them to do something each year.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

 

But, of course, they didn't get a cruise either ...