How do you save up for a cruise ? post it

[panaba453]

We save our money for each cruise we go on by putting it into our Red White & Blue Slot machine.. We save every one dollar bill and every quarter , it adds up so fast.....We have had this slot machine for seven years now ,and it still has not HIT the jackpot :mad: DAMM SLOTS.... Even owning the slot machine ,i cant win.....:eek: PLEASE post some of the crazy ways you save up for a cruise

Edited October 7, 2012 by panaba453

[KirkNC]

We are still both working so we just set aside some money every month.

[smurfm69]

I put money into a Christmas savings account with my credit union via payroll deduction. When I get the check in the mail from it, I use it to book our cruise for the next year. When we get on the ship we share a toast and say,"Merry Christmas". lol

[PoofyTheCat]

I normally just set up automatic payments with my travel agent. Usually it's $100 every two weeks, so a $2,000 cruise balance is paid for in 10 months.

 

Kicking myself with my next cruise as final payment is due in a couple of weeks and I didn't set up automatic payments. Lesson learned!!

[mnh]

I put them "on layaway".....I book when the dates first come open and pay some each week or so....I usually have 2 cruises I am paying on at a time. I currently have a March 2013 (almost paid off) and a March 2014 that I pay on a little bit at a time.

 

After I pay off the cruise I then start prepaying tips, shore excursions etc....when I get on the ship I usually have a very small tab.

 

I like to cruise a couple of times a year and for me this is the least painful!

[JazzLizard]

We are paying $100 a week and we budget it in like any other expense. The payoff date for our cruise is Jan 28 and we sail April 8th. We are scheduled to pay off the cruise by Christmas but will continue to the saving practice so that money can be put towards traveling to Jacksonville and onboard spending. We plan on having a fine time for our first cruise! :D

[bruisin4cruisin]

We usually book a like 6 weeks out, sometimes a little further. I think the longest was booking in May for November, and my in-laws booked it because we were talking about it and they decided to book it for us. (That was the most interesting way to pay for a cruise) Usually, it is "throw it on the Amex and we will take care of it next month". I hate doing it that way, but 6 weeks isn't much time to plan for spending $2,000 or more.

[Donna1127]

We do the same as most of the posters...book 6 months+ out, and then pay it off monthly..

[gail811]

We have a separate savings account for our vacations. We make a budget, then put a certain amount into the account each month. Of course, we also have a loose change jar we keep and put in the account when it gets full too.

[cruisecrazy82]

We put the deposit on a credit card and pay it off first. Then we pay every 2 weeks on the balance through Carnival. That way we don't have to pay any interest. We always book at least a year in advance too.

[bruisin4cruisin]

To the OP. If I was your neighbor, I would have fun helping contribute to your vacation fund. The one arm bandit is always fun.

[hockeyluver]

We stopped drinking Tim Hortons coffee :eek: (if you are Canadian or have ever been to a Timmies you know the addiciton!!) So that $10 a day gets transferred automatically into our cruise account. We put our deposit on our credit card ( collecting the travel points) and every month transfer the money from our cruise account onto the credit card (travel points :D) and put it on the cruise. By the time the cruise, excursions, drink coupons and prepaid gratuities are on the credit card we usually have enough travel points to make a big dent in airfare.

[hockeyluver]

To the OP. If I was your neighbor, I would have fun helping contribute to your vacation fund. The one arm bandit is always fun.

 

LOL I would too!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We save our money for each cruise we go on by putting it into our Red White & Blue Slot machine.. We save every one dollar bill and every quarter , it adds up so fast.....We have had this slot machine for seven years now ,and it still has not HIT the jackpot :mad: DAMM SLOTS.... Even owning the slot machine ,i cant win.....:eek: PLEASE post some of the crazy ways you save up for a cruise

 

 

That is so cute!!

[NoobCruise]

We have a separate savings account just for vacation savings and we have an automatic transfer set up so as soon as the paycheck arrives, the money is transferred. We don't miss it that way. It doesn't feel like a payment cuz we just never see it to begin with.

[sonicbuffalo]

We book early saver usually a year out. Then we have opened a 'way to save' account with Wells Fargo. It automatically puts money in when you use your debit card. The amount it puts into the 'save' account varies according to how much you spend with your debit card. It's not 'free' money, because it takes the money from your checking account. My wife has to check our checking account and deduct the 'way to save' money from our checking account online regularly.

 

I know it sounds like a pain, but by the end of the year, or by the time final payment is due, we have always had enough money in our 'way to save' account to pay off our cruise. For gratuities, and excursions, hotels, and gas, we just use whatever we have stashed away.

 

At least we don't feel the pain of having to come up with a huge final payment. It works fine for us, and we usually have enough money in our 'way to save' account left to pay the down payment for our next cruise.

[panaba453]

With my luck , you would hit the jackpot, :eek:

 

 

To the OP. If I was your neighbor, I would have fun helping contribute to your vacation fund. The one arm bandit is always fun.

[TracieABD]

Love the slot machine!

Too much fun...:)

[chipq]

Similar to others, have an automatic transfer off each paycheck to the cruise savings account. Supplement that with the money saved by dropping a visit or two to starbucks each week

 

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[RunnerGirl26.2]

Several methods:

1. Credit union allows multiple savings accounts so have a "vacation" account that I transfer money into as available.

2. I use PTO payout of hours every year. I work part time so accrue a lot of PTO. Also any bonuses from work go toward travel.

3. I also work as a massage therapist one day a week and save up my tips for travel cash.

4. Jar for change and spare cash. Take it to your bank and they will cash it out for free. Adds up over time.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We normally just pay with our credit card (getting FF miles), which we pay off each month anyway.

 

We also have a change jar and I put away any 'extra' money that comes out way; birthday money, bonus checks, rebates, etc.

 

We're in our sixties and instead of giving each other big gifts, like we used to, for birthdays and Christmas, we now give small token gifts and buy cruises instead. We don't really need a lot more 'stuff' anyway and this way we get to share wonderful memories instead.

[hockeyluver]

We normally just pay with our credit card (getting FF miles), which we pay off each month anyway.

 

We also have a change jar and I put away any 'extra' money that comes out way; birthday money, bonus checks, rebates, etc.

 

We're in our sixties and instead of giving each other big gifts, like we used to, for birthdays and Christmas, we now give small token gifts and buy cruises instead. We don't really need a lot more 'stuff' anyway and this way we get to share wonderful memories instead.

 

We are in our late 40's with two daughters in thier early 20;s , we are trying to get them to buy us funship dollars instead of "stuff" we also have way to much and hopefully in the next few years they will move out and we can downsize!!

[pris993]

We book early and use future booking deposits -- we are retired, so we put money away monthly, plus work a part time job for more "fun" money.

 

Generally cruise two times yearly. We stretch our payments out over the year as well, first the cruise deposits, then any air which we book independently, final cruise payments, credit card payments after the trip. Paying for portions of the trip through out the year is the way we have done it for the past 25+ years, don't feel it as much that way.

[fi'fi]

We set aside money each paycheck. Every month.

[fi'fi]

Several methods:

1. Credit union allows multiple savings accounts so have a "vacation" account that I transfer money into as available.

2. I use PTO payout of hours every year. I work part time so accrue a lot of PTO. Also any bonuses from work go toward travel.

3. I also work as a massage therapist one day a week and save up my tips for travel cash.

4. Jar for change and spare cash. Take it to your bank and they will cash it out for free. Adds up over time.

 

Good plan. We have a vacation account too. By final payment we have all the money.