Legitimate Ways to Save on Carnival

[JerseyshoreBruce]

Don't buy the pictures....thats where alot of money goes!

[JerseyshoreBruce]

Why don't you wait until the 3rd day and save $12?

 

Or better yet, wait till you get home and save $85 and give your kidney's a vacation also...

I agree wait till the second day also! Your just being sarcastic IMO

[LemurCat]

Let me tell you personally why this is a good idea. Twice I have been on land vacations, in St. Marteen & Grand Cayman both times people who were on Carnival cruise ships left towels on beach chairs when they went back to the ship. My girlfriends & I gathered a few up took them back to the condo where we were staying to wash them and take them home with us. So now I never take a Carnival towel off the ship.

 

I don't get this. Other people lost them so you automatically assume you will as well?

 

I mean, by that logic, because other people die in car crashes, you should never leave the house.

[Daisydaisy20]

one should not cut corners when they vacation, nor sacrifice what they do freely.

 

Agreed. This is a form of vacationing I'm not well acquainted with, though. Just doing my research.

[Daisydaisy20]

I don't get this. Other people lost them so you automatically assume you will as well?

 

I mean, by that logic, because other people die in car crashes, you should never leave the house.

 

I'm more worried about my CHILDREN losing them. But I'm smiling at the whole towel thing. All your responses are great. Now I want to bring a towel home with me even though I'll get charged for it. Great memento of the towel discussion I inadvertently started on CC.

 

I'm having a great time on this cruise already, and I'm not leaving for a couple of months. Woo hoo!

[Daisydaisy20]

I hope I get a good room steward who does the wash cloth animals. Imagine all the things I can do with my beach towels after I get home. Hee Hee!

[scrapycruiser]

I don't think these have been mentioned yet.

 

 

1. Review your expenditures several times during the trip to make sure you're not overspending. It's easy to lose track and then find your Sail & Sign balance is higher than you expected.
   
2. In addition to avoiding unnecessary expenses, make sure you're not, er..., inadvertently charged for anything. Check every tab that you sign.
   

 

Can you view this on your stateroom tv or do you have to check with the front desk ?

[Brendarudd28]

Can you view this on your stateroom tv or do you have to check with the front desk ?

 

 

It depends on what ship you're on. When I was on the Freedom - yes. On the Inspiration - no. On my upcoming Dream - I believe so.

[scrapycruiser]

It depends on what ship you're on. When I was on the Freedom - yes. On the Inspiration - no. On my upcoming Dream - I believe so.

 

We'll be on the GLORY

[larkz]

We'll be on the GLORY

 

I'm not sure about the Glory either, but on the Dream it was on the TV.

 

Even so, I stopped at the desk in the middle of the week just to confirm that a bottle of water from the fridge had been correctly credited (I was charged and then credited for the water -- I guess the steward realized his mistake and fixed it for me before I had even noticed the error on the TV). If you need to visit the desk, pick a quiet time when you won't be stuck in a long line.

[dmdiver]

Why don't you wait until the 3rd day and save $12?

Or better yet, wait till you get home and save $85 and give your kidney's a vacation also...

 

Lol, no vacation for the kidneys!

[dmdiver]

I'm more worried about my CHILDREN losing them. But I'm smiling at the whole towel thing. All your responses are great. Now I want to bring a towel home with me even though I'll get charged for it. Great memento of the towel discussion I inadvertently started on CC.

 

I'm having a great time on this cruise already, and I'm not leaving for a couple of months. Woo hoo!

 

If you want to bring a towel home, you can buy a brand new one instead of paying through the nose for a used one.

[southbayer]

You forgot, stay out of the casino:rolleyes:

I'm interested in the best value for my dollar while having a good time and NOT breaking the rules. Examples: I'll mix my own drinks with alcohol from Bon Voyage but I'm not the type to sneak it on the ship. I won't get one soda sticker and share it among 4 people but I will set a budget for the casino. I'm not interested in removing the automatic gratuities. I'll take old beach towels from home that we won't miss and won't be charged for losing if we fail to bring them back to the ship. What are your tips to get the best value for your vacation dollars without losing your integrity?

[tassycatt]

I was on the Glory in April. You CAN check your account on the room tvs although I had a crap remote that wouldnt work half the time.:mad:

[crojemupeo]

Listen, as far as alcohol goes, allot depends on how much you drink. DW and I are in our late 20's. We enjoy drinking, but aren't going out to get hammered every night. Now this is what we do on a typical cruise as far as drinks go on a 7 nighter:

 

A liter of gin from BV, carry on a couple big bottles of tonic water.

 

Two bottles of wine brought on per CCL's policy.

 

Free drinks at the past guest party one night.

 

Free drinks at the farewell party on night.

 

We usually book at least one excursion that has free drinks.

 

So that's 3 days with all you can drink drinks for at least an hour or more. Plus a couple dozen gin and tonics from the BV bottle. Plus 10 glasses of wine from the 2 bottles you brought on board. I mean, we still have cocktails from time to time, but seriously, for us the list above is ALOT of booze for a week! We just got back from a B2B and we were both totally drinked out!

 

 

what are the BV drinks? do you buy full bottles of liquor there?

[T. Advisor King]

Take the maximum permitted soda or water. You should never need to buy a soda or water on the whole cruise. If you have small kids, take their maximum for yourself as well if you think you're going to drink more than your own allowance.

Take the maximum permitted wine or champagne. I always make it champagne (or at least sparkling white) because it’s a cruise. Depending on how much you drink, you may not need to buy another.

Avoid all the “extra fee” things they throw at you (photos, casino, bingo, spa, steakhouse, art auction). They sell you on this great cruise experience, then once you’re there, they try to sell you on why you won’t have a great time unless you spend even more money.

Make your own plans for port. You can usually save 50-75% off the cost of packaged excursions and will usually have more fun and see more of your destinations if you do-it-yourself.

Use the laundry rooms on the ship. It is the only thing I can think of where they charge regular rates rather than gouging

[Halftocruz]

We are big soda drinkers & one thing we have done to save money is to wait until the 2nd day to purchase our soda sticker. Saves $6 per person that way.

 

That is really true? I didn't know that and I guess I'm surprised. can anyone verify.... it's not that I don't trust dmdiver just surprised :eek:

[T. Advisor King]

one should not cut corners when they vacation, nor sacrifice what they do freely.

 

It's not, in my view, a matter of "cutting corners"; it's about making choices. You always have to make choices every second of every day. You can't avoid it. Many of those choices have a monetary impact. Should I "go in style" from the airport or hotel to the cruise terminal in a town car or limo, or should I just take a regular taxi? Are you "cutting corners" taking a regular taxi? No, it is just a choice. Do you take the "all-inclusive beach resort" excursion when in Grand Cayman, or do you just take your trunks and a towel and catch a cab to 7-mile? It might be a difference to a family of 4 or $300. Is that "cutting corners" or making a choice?

[richstowe]

Another way of saving money is to check out the airfares before you book the cruise. All the money saving in the world will go down the drain if your airfare is high. I have forgotten this twice, and paid very very dearly for my lapse. I now book cruises largely dependent on the airfare. Or at least do a complex comparison of cruise cost, airfare cost, hotel cost, and cost of getting to the port itself.

Good idea. Along the same lines, how about driving to the cruise port?

[PrettyHazardous]

Can I first say that this towel business is hilarious. I never knew it was such a big deal. I am an overpacker so I'd never waste space and bring my own towel. But if I had kids I probably would. The cheap thin kind of course.

 

Ok 2nd I'd like to admit that I am a RR queen. I have had 1 confiscated before and it was no big deal. They just took it out of my suitcase and left me a note. However I had 3 others and didn't finish even one lol.

 

What I do to save $$ is try to find an airline with free checked bags. I usually do Airtran (cheap flight but checked bag fee it now too high) but this time it's Southwest with 2 free checked bags. Now I can pack what I want and not stress about the cost of checked bags (I won't even say how much I spent on checked bags for my wedding cruise :eek:) as long as the bags aren't too heavy. Like some others said each evening or morning we quickly review our S&S bill on the TV. This helps us keep track of our budget. We no longer bring back souvenirs for lots of ppl. Just our niece. And maybe one or 2 unique things for our home.

 

We always cruise with a budget in mind but have extra $$$ just in case. We love vacationing and we don't make a big deal about our purchases on a cruise, it kinda takes away from the fun.

[nzdisneymom]

Great ideas! For those who bring their own water bottles and soda on the ship, do you just put it in a carry-on size suitcase and roll it around with you until you can get into your stateroom? There are four of us and we were thinking of bringing on our own water bottles for excursion purposes - but I wasn't sure about the logistics of actually getting it onboard. We usually just carry a small backpack for a daybag (we've mostly sailed Disney so there wasn't the need to bring soda) so this would be different for us. Also, I was wondering if we were to buy water / sodas in a port, would they let us bring them onboard (I don't see why they wouldn't) when we got back on the ship after our day in the port.

 

We are hoping for a mid-cruise Laundry bag special so we don't have to do laundry while onboard. The last report I read said it's $3 to wash and $3 to dry.

[dmdiver]

That is really true? I didn't know that and I guess I'm surprised. can anyone verify.... it's not that I don't trust dmdiver just surprised :eek:

 

Unless they have changed their policy since summer of 2010, yes, they are charged by the day, so buying the 2nd day saves some money. May not be a big deal if it's just one or two of you, but when the whole family of 5 is traveling, it makes a bigger difference.

 

That being said, you can always carry on some soda. We don't do that because we don't want to have to go to the cabin every time we want a soda. It's a good option for those who don't drink a lot of them or go to their cabin frequently anyway.

[The4Cruisers]

Great ideas! For those who bring their own water bottles and soda on the ship, do you just put it in a carry-on size suitcase and roll it around with you until you can get into your stateroom? There are four of us and we were thinking of bringing on our own water bottles for excursion purposes - but I wasn't sure about the logistics of actually getting it onboard.

 

When we cruise, I used to bring 2 - 3 twelve packs of my soda brand on board. I believe the policy is one twelve pack person as the norm.

 

We have one bag that hold the twelve packs just fine and we carry them on board. The bag gets a little heavy after awhile, but that's a small price to pay from boarding until the rooms are available.

[cruise_pirate]

We always arrive at the port area the day before, a good way we found to save some money is to book hotels that offer free parking for the week with shuttle service to and from the port.

 

Being we are there a day early anyhow, by time you subtract the port parking fee the room is usually free or very close to it.

[momof3cruisers]

Some ships do not sell them. I was on the Imagination and Sensation and they do not sell them. There are a few more but I don't know which ones....anyway, if your ship does not sell them. You can call the Promotions Department within one week of debarkment and order them. I was off the Imagination on Monday and called yesterday to order 2 of them. Can't wait to use them. :D

 

Wow! I wish I knew that after my Paradise cruise! I have two cabins booked. Knew it was coming up but hadn't booked yet when I did that cruise.. Here I thought I was just out of luck. Thanks for sharing that so others don't makes that mistake.