What do you guys do to cut back on $$$?

[kiraryker]

Of course Christmas is almost here and we cruise the first part of January so I'm in panic mode - what do you guys do to conserve your $$ while on a cruise - do you cut back on your excursions? Do you not get adult beverages on board??

 

I want to do everything because I always think well we don't have big family vacations very often but then again I don't want to break the bank either.

 

Any money saving ideas that you have used?

 

Thanks

[Havingfun2010]

Of course Christmas is almost here and we cruise the first part of January so I'm in panic mode - what do you guys do to conserve your $$ while on a cruise - do you cut back on your excursions? Do you not get adult beverages on board??

 

I want to do everything because I always think well we don't have big family vacations very often but then again I don't want to break the bank either.

 

Any money saving ideas that you have used?

 

Thanks

 

You could go the entire week, without spending any extra money! (except for tips) You could also go the entire week and spend more money than you spent on the actual cruise. So all you need is set the budget and keep to it. Excursions are one of the biggest expenses, and can be skipped by making your own excursion. Limit you adult drinks, and stay away from the casino, and you could do it on a budget, and have plenty of fun!

[hamfiveo]

Bring 2 bottles of wine yourself, 12 pack of coke and a rumrunner full of rum.

 

We book one excursion we really want to do for the whole trip. The other port days we either go to the beach, roam around the port area or go "shopping" without really buying anything.

 

We are extremely limited on funds so the gf and I know we have to make our vacation special ourselves.

[dustyroad]

no ship photo's, casino, bingo, specialty coffee drinking or dinning, and i try too stay out of the ship gift stores.

 

i do buy a couple bottles of wine from gift services before i cruise too cut down on the cost and gratuity. i also try too use very reliable vendors in the ports for a few tours. and i dont buy '' spur of the moment '' items in the shops in the ports. walking tours and free museums and things are great too do also on my own. there are lots of things you can do too cut expenses if you have the will power and relly need too do so. good luck and have a great time.

[Mel1322]

I plan on bringing 3 bottles of wine (having our friends bring one on). I am the only one who drinks wine. Then bringing on 12pk coke for DH and buying a bottle of rum from bon voyoge. That is about $40, but I figure DH can have 2 drinks a day and it will still only come to about 3.00 each (including the cost of the coke).

 

We are also driving to the port and staying in a hotel that has a cruise and park option. We stay overnight, they keep our car for the week (no parking fees) and we take a shuttle to and from the ship. We were going to stay over anyway since we live 6 hours from the port, so this saved us on the parking.

 

Another idea would be to ask family and friends to give you drink coupons for your holiday gifts. Or buy them yourself first to help you limit your spending. They could also purchase photo coupons too so you have something to bring home.

 

If you set up what you want to spend ahead of time, and both stick to it, you won't be surprised with a HUGE bill at the end. On my last cruise, I would have loved to see some of those bills. Buckets of beer were everywhere. That adds up quickly.

 

You can have a great time and still limit the extras!! That way you can save some for a future trip:D

[westview1]

This time we have no excursions booked through the ship. Instead we will be going to the beach 2 days and the other 2 ports we booked independent tours (Belize and Cozumel). You can search the ports of call area and find ideas there. Also, I will be bringing my own wine on board and paying the corkage fee ($10.00) to have it with my dinner, less expensive than paying by the glass. We are not big drinkers or gamblers so that helps also. It is usually the small things that add up for us, I just need to stay away from the shops. :o

[tak81288]

Set a budget and stick to it...There are several ways you can cut back, but spend on the things that are most important to you and forgo the things that aren't.

 

It also helps if you use cash for everything, including your S&S account and only bring along a credit card in case an emergency occurs. That way, once the cash is gone, it is gone and that forces you to watch what you are spending and to stay within your budget.

 

Enjoy!

[keystonemama]

Well, coffee, tea, teabags, lemonade and some breakfast juices are all free. Biggest sales on the ship happens on the last day at sea. We bought some jewelry(by the inch) this day $20 for a 8in bracelet, not bad.

Alcoholic beverages can add up, what do you drink? Beer can be bought in buckets and run around $21.00 for 4 16oz. Most drinks cost $7-9 on average. DOD you can buy, save your cup and get $1.00 off your next. Soda cards can be purchased for limitless refills, worth it if you drink over 3 sodas a day, but you can bring some soda on board and 1 bottle of wine or champagne per adult in your carryon.

Some mornings they offer drinks for $3.50-4.00 on screwdrivers, mimosas and bloody mary's from 8-12 p.m. We like our alcohol on vacation so we ordered 1 litre of tequila from the Bon Voyage department and a litre of Jameson to be delivered to our room. DH brought soda and mixed and I used lemonade or crystal lite packets to mix mine in our mugs we brought. The cost for the liquor was $95.00, a bit pricey, but cheaper than buying on board drinks for a week. We actually spent about $400 altogether on alcohol. It's cheaper to drink in port too.

Take your own pics. Carnival pics are expensive. We limited ourselves to $50 in the casino. I've read where the best day to play here is the first. We don't gamble much anyway. We did enjoy the bingo game though. If you have kids, the arcades can get expensive, best to put them on a daily limit.

Excursions can also be pricey, it depends on your port. Carnival's will usually be more expensive. You can just get off in port and do things on your own, hire a taxi, walk to beach etc. Our cruise went to Jamaica, Key West and Grand Caymans. Grand Cayman can be an expensive place. We caught a van for $10 roundtrip to 7mile beach and snorkeled for $5.00 (gear) and bought a couple of souvenirs. We did a Carnival excursion in Jamaica, would not recommend walking on your own at this port. What is your itineray? You may post on the port blog for some better answers on this.

 

Happy Sailing,

[jebuell]

I travel almost solely for work so my employer foots the travel and cruise/hotel bill. But because I only get a $300 fee on top of all of that I like to keep my budget to $100 which has so far just covers the tip with $20 left over. Here's what I do:

 

-Bring on the allowed bottles of wine in my carry-on

-Bring on the allowed cans of soda in my carry-on

-Don't buy anything on board... no need, really!

-At port just walk around and window shop or go to a beach and relax

-Sit by the pool and grab some sun

-Catch the shows!

-Bring a laptop and lots of DVDs because, IMO, days at sea on my two Carnival Cruises were tortuously boring.

-I tend to use my $20s either at the port shopping or in the casino. On my second cruise I actually got $25 OBC (a gift) and I spent that in the Casino, tripled my money (Craps) and actually paid for some drinks during the Comedy show and bought souvenirs at port.

 

Another thing I did was buy a future cruise credit on my last one knowing I was going on a 7-day cruise later that same year (this was my canceled Splendor cruise). It's nice to have the extra OBC for the next time, so if you know you are cruising again in the next 5 years (I think that's how long they last) pick one up and enjoy a little more cash next time around!

[hlb76]

We too try to be savy when we are figuring out vacation budget. We try not to skimp but we want to be wise as well.

 

~ first and foremost we find the cruise that is in our budget. When picking we factor cruise cost (including tip), airfare, transportation, hotel etc. Sometimes the cruise itself can be cheap but the air and such can kill you or the other way cheap air and hotel but the cruise can be a bit more. So we look for the happt medium.

 

~ then we try to plan our own excursion and try to get the best bang for our buck. I have also been known to book a cruise around cheap ports.

 

~ I try to limit my spending on ship. I do enjoy a DOD and the hubby likes a bit of time in the casino.

 

~ Since we normally cruise Jan and Feb its hard with the holidays right before so we have been using the cruise as part of the x-mas gift to our family. Really a week together means a lot more to me and them vs the newest "crackbox" AKA PS3 games or whatever. Then we try to gift a excursion to the kids. Example last year we let then use the Flow rider in Grand turks. It got them excited about the cruise and was a great memory. Plus it was not in the garage sale pile in the spring.

[golfadj]

Remember everything that goes on your sign and sail card you get to pay for.

[sunquest76]

I have heard of super organized people who put a certain amount of cash in an envelope for each day. When it is gone, no more spending. I don't think DH would go for that system!

[LBumb]

pack many rumrunners and rarely buy any souvenirs, except love the ship christmas ornaments

[BeachChik]

Of course Christmas is almost here and we cruise the first part of January so I'm in panic mode - what do you guys do to conserve your $$ while on a cruise - do you cut back on your excursions? Do you not get adult beverages on board??

 

I want to do everything because I always think well we don't have big family vacations very often but then again I don't want to break the bank either.

 

Any money saving ideas that you have used?

 

Thanks

 

We skipped the photos altogether. Never even had our photo taken because I knew we wouldn't purchase them. Just told them no when we walked by. We booked all excursions except one through private companies. Without shore excursions our total bill from Carnival was around $225 and that includes the $140 for tips for both of us so we spent about $85 on board.

 

And I kept all my receipts to account for everything that showed up on our sail and sign card.

[truchattycathy]

I always cruise on a budget. I do not buy any pictures. I take the alloted amount of wine per person. I go to all of the shows. I try to stay out of the gift shops. I never buy any of the ship's jewelry. The biggest savings for me is to book my excursions independently. I can get them for almost half of what the ship charges. If I go to the Casino, I limit myself to absolutely no more than $15.00 a day, which I seldom even use. $5.00 can go a long way on the nickel slots. I don't play bingo anymore. I buy a dod when I first get on the ship, but not many more. Even with tips, my sail & sign is often around $100 for a seven day cruise. Have a great time and try not to stress too much, it's only money. ;)

[CanWeGoYet?]

If you are on a tight budget, resist the sales pitches for the steak house. The food in the MDR is usually quite good. If you are particular about coffee, you might want to bring along via or an aeropress & your own coffee to avoid charges at the espresso stand.

 

You can work out for free in the gym, and there are many free fitness & stretching classes. The charge classes like yoga, pilates etc are fun, but not necessary. Same with the spa treatments (my downfall for charges are the spa treatments & the for fee fitness classes) so much is included in the cruise you don't really need to run up a large sail & sign bill if you are careful.

 

Research your ports ahead of time, I used to buy travel books but in recent years find online searches (& take advantage of the boards on CC and trip advisor) gives more current information without the cost of buying the books. If you have a plan for what to do in port, know how to get there etc you will save $ over the ships excursions and often have a better quality experience.

[donaldsc]

Simple - don't buy stuff.

 

DON

[buddylover]

I always cruise on a budget. I do not buy any pictures.Same for us...since they raised the price so high, we just take our own. If they would charge a more reasonable price, I would buy some.

 

I take the alloted amount of wine per person. I go to all of the shows. I try to stay out of the gift shops. I never buy any of the ship's jewelry. The biggest savings for me is to book my excursions independently. I can get them for almost half of what the ship charges. Ditto to all of the above for us. As for excursions, the only time to book thru the ship is if you are in a 3rd world stop....or one that is new port such as La Romana....then it is probably safer to book thru the ship...other wise we ALWAYS book on our own, or just hire a taxi to sight see/shop.

If I go to the Casino, I limit myself to absolutely no more than $15.00 a day, which I seldom even use. $5.00 can go a long way on the nickel slots. I don't play bingo anymore. Yep, us too exactly!!

 

I buy a dod when I first get on the ship, but not many more. Even with tips, my sail & sign is often around $100 for a seven day cruise. Have a great time and try not to stress too much, it's only money. ;)

 

We, too have been very sucessful at keeping our extras to well below $100. Getting onto the cruise itself is the primary goal, then we just keep the extras at a minimum, and we have had WONDERFUL cruises !

[Crusin6]

The kids drink what is free and we only have 2 or 3 drinks the entire cruise and maybe a bottle of wine. We don't attend any silly programs that have a fee attached, we don't gamble and wouldn't even if the casino were smoke free. We don't go near the overpriced Spa...I get a reasonable facial and massage at home when they are offerring specials.

 

Our next cruise is our first on NCL so we are not familiar with having so many extra fee restaurants...so we might do one or two....but we have never done one before on any ship that we had to pay for...we did win dinner for 2 at the Sun King on the Freedom...it was nice and probably worth the money...but we didn't have to pay so it was great.

 

Next cruise we are cutting down on the photos primarily because we are leaving one DD behind as she is at school. Also plan to just go with the auto tip. We only take ship excursions in places where we feel more comfortable doing so like Dubrovnik and Istanbul, but for our next cruise which is Florida and Nassau...we are doing our own thing...day pass in Nassau and car rental to Kennedy in Florida.

[kiraryker]

Wonderful suggestions!! We have 3 children (well 10,17 and our oldest just turned 21) so we were thinking of giving them each some cash for the entire cruise and that would be their spending money - but I guess I'm not sure of the amount? The 2 oldest have income (jobs) so of course they will have to spend their own if they want more.

 

We have booked all our excursions independantly - belize, costa maya, cozumel, roatan and I am trying to give a daily $$ amount for me & hubby to spend on the drinks (we don't gamble) and STICK TO IT!! That is the hard one.

 

Thanks for the ideas!!!

[MamaParrotHead]

I actually scrimp, save and clip the heck out of coupons to be able to go on vacation and NOT have to worry about scrimping and saving then. Although I do skip the casino and we're not huge drinkers, I do blow a decent amount on the pictures, one evening in the supper club and a few goodies from the gift shop.

[Crusin6]

Oh and I charge every single thing I buy to my MasterCard and then once or twice a year I cash out the points....got $300 so far this year...and just requested $400 for our cruise in April. I will request one more time before that cruise and should have a few hundred more by then.

 

 

Never pay interest either on the balance:D..much better than a debit card too:D

[cruisingreena]

i bring on my two bottles of wine, my own pop, 12 bottle of soda and replenish soda and water in port if needed.

on a few ports i just walk to the beach, also stay away from booking ship excursions, book your own.

stay away from gift shop/casino

i spend barely anything on the ship at all

in fact my bill alone is zero..i dont drink the wine is for my boyfriend

[SANDYJABS]

We try to book private excursions and we do not pose for any pictures for the professional photographers onboard so that we are not tempted to buy any of those high dollar photos ;).

 

We sailed the Sensation in Aug and again in Nov (trying to get to Platinum cheap) anyway I discovered that our onboard account was almost exactly the same for both cruises within $65. I guess we average $100 a day that we spend onboard.

We are sailing Sensation again in March so I kind of already know what to save for our onboard spending :)

 

Dont stress about it - Have a great cruise and enjoy yourself - we all deserve it!!

[MorePlease]

1. We don't buy sodas on board. The tea, punch and juice are sufficient for us.

2. If we want an alcoholic drink, we stick to the DoD which is usually discounted that day.

3. We research shore excursions that are offered by business not affiliated with the cruise line as these are often much, much cheaper. We are also satisfied with doing a self-guided tour which is free, free, free. Oftentimes, the port will have an information booth for cruise passengers and will have maps of the city that include points of interest.

4. No bingo, no spa, no casino.

5. You can eschew the formal and staged pictures during dinner. Fellow passengers are always happy to take pictures of you or your group - just pick an interesting background.

6. If you need to keep in touch with home or work, internet access is a fraction of the cost ashore. Just ask one of your waitstaff or any friendly ship employee where you can go ashore for internet access. I bet they know the best and cheapest place.