How do u do it? Cruise costs

[ehfl]

The best way to save money is to be flexible, and take advantage of the various offers. We went on Oasis for around $100 pp/per day for a balcony which is really not bad for a vacation, considering all that's included.

[topnole]

Ok, I will try to answer what you asked and not tell you how to do it on another ship, shorter trip, a time when your kids are in school, or to a different part of the world.

 

Try a few things.

 

One, a family interior or exterior stateroom. If you can stand having one bathroom that could help lower the cost and they hold up to 6 (260-270 sq ft so much bigger than a normal cabin).

 

Or try for when they have a good deal on inside cabins and get two of them at the cheapest fair. We went earlier this year on Allure in that category for $1800 for two of us and it was during spring break time (tons of kids during our week). That could help if the timing works and you keep an eye on fares. Also, always check on Tuesdays as that is when the sales come out. You can see them in advance (Sundays I think) if you are a Crown and Anchor member on the Royal site. You might also be able to find a week where you can use a savings certificate.

 

I've been on both Oasis and Allure and both are pretty much the same. So if you have a choice in the week or you could look for which one is cheaper depending on week and ports. Western tends to be cheaper.

 

Both of these ships are amazing and in my opinion much better than Freedom class. Your kids will love it. So perhaps shoot for the Allure or Oasis and trim back on unneeded onboard expenses such as pay for dinners, expensive port tours, ship purchase extras like pictures, pay for ice cream, soda cards (drink free stuff instead) and some of the junk they sell. I'm sure your family would agree going on the biggest and best boat is worth cutting back in a few areas. There is so much free stuff to do you could save a lot compared to many I meet that do things like eat in the pay for dinner spots every night and spend hundreds on that alone. The food was the best I've had on a ship on the Oasis and the Allure in all places including the main dining room. I think they really focus on excellence in every area on those two ships.

 

Lastly, I'm sure you know the best methods to get good airfare so be sure to focus on that as well.

 

Best of luck. I can tell you if your kids are active and social they will absolutely love it (and so will you). There is not other ship like it in the world.

[jpolm]

I really want oasis or allure and looking at first week of June but availability is slim :(. Gonna keep watching and using all these helpful hints ! But i know that I priced this out monts ago and it has gone up quite a bit since. Yes wish we made a deposit but it was too early to decide.

Kicking myself now! I am going to see what I've got on my rewards too

 

It will happen.

[Merion_Mom]

1. I don't have three kids, so we all fit in one cabin.

 

2. I waited until *I* was older - I couldn't afford to cruise, or take ANY vacation for that matter, when I was your age. We did only what we could afford. When I got older, and things got better financially, THEN we could cruise.

 

I have always believed in living within my means. If I can't afford something, I don't do it/buy it.

 

:)

[sjacobs146]

I've wondered the same thing as you, how do these folks do 3 cruises a year?? I sympathize with you. I'm going on Allure in Feb. and he airfare alone cost $3k for our family of four. Driving is out of the question since my ds is trying to achieve perfect attendance for Middle School (only has 8 mos left!) and it takes at least two days to drive to FL. But this is our last family vacation before we start 8 years of college tuition payments, so we decided to go all out.

[misty57]

1. I don't have three kids, so we all fit in one cabin.

 

2. I waited until *I* was older - I couldn't afford to cruise, or take ANY vacation for that matter, when I was your age. We did only what we could afford. When I got older, and things got better financially, THEN we could cruise.

 

I have always believed in living within my means. If I can't afford something, I don't do it/buy it.

 

:)

 

Ditto..... but that is not the mind set of the present culture:rolleyes:

Even though we can afford to cruise a few times a year now, that means we choose not to do or have other things, or we choose to cut back on traveling.

I would love to cruise around the world, but I would also like to retire one day!

[JeffKoz]

Airfare really is the "kicker" for a lot of people. As a Florida resident I am lucky that all the main ports are within hours (Tampa 20 minutes, Pt Canaveral 2 hours, Miami/FLL 5 hours). But I must contend with the same expense issue when trying to get out to CA or Vegas.

 

A friend of mine uses a little trick. They go to southwestvacations and find an orlando discount package deal for a few nights with hotel and flight. They then come in a day early and use the hotel, but extend their flight departure until after the cruise...they claim to have saved quite a bit than simply buying the airfare. Of course, they pretty much stick to southwest...but may be worth a little effort to work out some dates and such....

[Isaboo]

We're really lucky about the airfare...my husband flies at least once a week on Southwest, so we always have enough points in his rewards account to fly our family from Texas to Florida. We book one balcony and one inside cabin across the hall. Last year, we went on Oasis and we all agreed that we liked the Freedom just as well...there's about a $2000 price difference between the two! For that amount of money I can do without the Boardwalk thingy and Centra Park. We always book during the WOW sale and our TA gives us very generous OBC. Last year between the WOW sale and our TA we had $825 in OBC. I also have a RCCL visa rewards. For the Valentine's cruise on Allure I cashed in 50,000 points and they gave me the full $1000 value towards it for a 3-day Bahamas cruise. That brought the price of that cruise down to a more reasonable level!

[Debde]

Ok I've just got to ask so many repeat guests of cruising. This will be my 2nd time and I'm trying hard to afford a cruise on oasis or allure I really don't want another ship. But we are in Los Angeles (horrible cruise choices here) and I live the Caribbean. But family of 5 needing 2 rooms (for bathroom and privacy) and air this is costing the same if not more than our Hawaii vacations and close to our Mexican all inclusives. I've noticed u have to book out way in advance. Any helpful hints? Remember I have kids so we only can travel summer or spring break. I really wanted to try this out for June 2013. If we get one room it's affordable. But that's crammed for us.

 

Anyways I had to ask

 

Love all the reviews.

 

Live within your means and stand proud.

 

Just because someone has more, can vacation more just means they just have more money. Plain and simple. The true success in life is being able to enjoy what you have and not put yourself in financial worry.

 

Because of your location, cruising could be something that is a very expensive vacation and could be the future and not the now.

 

Enjoy your kids on any vacation you take because family and a smile is a true reward.!!

 

I've always said-an AI resort is way cheaper then a cruise. The package air deals they offer are often unbeatable. Return guests loyalty programs are often good amounts off your next booking. Most repeat cruisers either have money already, live close to the port or have set themselves up for retirement in a good financial place.

 

Keep in mind-you have probably chosen the most expensive class ship they have and during the most expensive time to vacation. An affortable cruise for your family could very well be found on another class. Research is king!!

I don't cruise often but always took my kids out of school to book at a cheaper time.

Go to the website-pick your month and keep scrolling down. Cheapest comes up first on down to the most expensive. Never have I seen Oasis or Allure the first choice that came up on the search!! ;)

[TexCruise371]

1. I don't have three kids, so we all fit in one cabin.

 

2. I waited until *I* was older - I couldn't afford to cruise, or take ANY vacation for that matter, when I was your age. We did only what we could afford. When I got older, and things got better financially, THEN we could cruise.

 

I have always believed in living within my means. If I can't afford something, I don't do it/buy it.

 

:)

 

That's exactly how we did it. We did simple, close to home vacations while our 3 kids were at home. No cruises :(. We buckled down, did without and paid for their college education (no loans). No new cars (always bought used) and lived in the same house for nearly 35 years.

 

WE do take advantage of Southwest Airlines Credit Cards for airline points (we NEVER carry a balance by paying it off every month) and other programs that are available.

 

Now, the kids are on their own, we're debt free and we have no grandkids :( but, we are spending our kids inheritance :D

 

There are lots of good suggestions for the OP. Good Luck

[ZoeyVictoria]

It is also a matter of priorities. Travel is our priority, and the majority of our disposable income supports it. My cell phone doesn't even have a camera, DH settles for the basic cable that is provided by our HOA, our computers are ten years old, and we eat at only moderate restaurants while in our hometown. We do have the things that really matter to us (DH has very large-screen TV, we have iPads), but travel is our priority and that is where we spend our money.

[TexCruise371]

The newest ships are always going to demand the big $$$. Even the Voyager class ships have tons of kid activities and at a fraction of what the new ships bring. How about a spring break Mexican Riviera cruise on Princess then sock away enough dough to go on the ship of your dreams next year?

 

 

I agree, the Freedom and Voyager class ships are awesome! :D

[Candleonwater]

My thoughts exactly! I work hard, and vacation even harder! Everyone at my office knows that my limit is 6 months... then I must take a vacation!

 

I take up to 2 cruises a year, but fortunately live where I can drive to 2 ports in less than 3 hours. But to save money, I will drive to Florida (13 hours) because airfare is so ridiculous. As a single parent, money can be tight, but I only have to worry about the expenses for 2.

 

It is also a matter of priorities. Travel is our priority, and the majority of our disposable income supports it. My cell phone doesn't even have a camera, DH settles for the basic cable that is provided by our HOA, our computers are ten years old, and we eat at only moderate restaurants while in our hometown. We do have the things that really matter to us (DH has very large-screen TV, we have iPads), but travel is our priority and that is where we spend our money.

[jpolm]

I agree with someone that said the "airfare" is the kicker.. I think that is really it for me.. Even though we pay it for our other trips too, boy it'd be nice to be right there.. For us also it's not actually NOT being able to afford it or living above our means, it's more about how many people do repeat cruises and what is the deciding factor to this amount of money on a cruise. It does seem it's an expensive trip, (and we pay plenty for traveling with 5), and is it worth the price you pay? My husband and I are not that young, try mid 40's and 50 and we do not live above our means. WE live pretty comfortably and we like to travel alone but also take family vacations which we try to do once per year. WE love Hawaii, and even being on the West Coast it is expensive, and still takes 5 hours to get there, and my husband would go there all the time, but I like to see more, and I think the kids would love cruising and us parents would enjoy it too as the kids will be happy. Our best vacation with the kids is when we go to a nice resort in Mexico, AI, the kids get whatever they want, meet a lot of friends and there are kids clubs for them and for us to have some adult time. WE usually spend what I am pricing this cruise to be, (again alcohol included, but we dont drink that much) Our kids are varying ages- Stepkids 12- and 9, and our son who will be 5.. So a cruise made sense due to the age differences as well and it's something different..

 

anyways -- thanks for all the advice, i just see alot of cruise lovers here (and don't get me wrong my first cruise on the VOS was amazing !! and that was when I lived on the East coast 10 years ago to be exact I went !) I just wanted to clarify that we can afford it but it's hard to swallow with air to pay as well, and yes the idea is to get a good price, and I really want to take the kids while they are still young to enjoy with us.. one of these days they will want nothing to do with us. haahhaha (when!??)

 

 

but you get my drift. I looked at my rewards i have tons of free hotel nights no worries there, and i have OBC with my RCI visa. and the agent i am working with has obc's as well.. it's just the bottom line, But it sounds like you all have a good grasp of making the bottom line more comfortable to live with.. I think for us it might be planning in advance so we can take advantage of less expensive cabins, more availability and get what we want..maybe spring 2014, this year it might be a more local vacation this summer (besides our adult Cabo trip in Spring).. also June 1st does seem hot for us??

[jpolm]

It is also a matter of priorities. Travel is our priority, and the majority of our disposable income supports it. My cell phone doesn't even have a camera, DH settles for the basic cable that is provided by our HOA, our computers are ten years old, and we eat at only moderate restaurants while in our hometown. We do have the things that really matter to us (DH has very large-screen TV, we have iPads), but travel is our priority and that is where we spend our money.

 

same with us, my husband doesn't get alot of down time and we both work hard, so our family vacations are for quality time and relaxing.. we try to do one nicer vacation per year, and if we can pull it off another more affordable one or a few long weekends(some adult time) we don't take the kids out to eat alot,eat at home, (we do some date nights about all) and we really look forward to our vacations. i try to book ahead of time pay some of it down then and then a little bit before we go we pay it off. but they only thing i do like to buy for myself is clothes!

[printingchick]

I use the Royal Caribbean Visa card so I can pay for part of my cruise cost with points. I also divert $25/paycheck ($100/month) into a separate bank account that I call my "cruise account". Since it's done via direct deposit and I never see the money, I don't miss it. However, $100/month accumulates pretty quickly.

 

Good luck!!

[Sequim88]

Might not apply for OP but having grown up (a long time ago) doing family roadtrip vacations then donig same with my three kids there is a lot to be said for seeing the country - especially for kids to get appreciation of the size and diversity of people and geography.

 

It is 2,700 miles from LA to Ft. Lauderdale so doable as bit over a three day drive (with two drivers). Conservatively about $1K for gas R/T in a vehicle big enough for five. Six nights hotel and some meals are another grand. If R/T plane tickets are $600/ea that's still a grand less than flying. Tradeoff is time for extra vacation days and effort for the drivers.

 

Middle option - research intermediate cities for airfare bargains and drive part way - like maybe Houston (1,550 miles) - then do the math comparisons. A great site for road trip tips and local info (like long term parking) is www.tripadvisor.com - sister site to CC.

[pcur]

Thank you everyone. I do agree on all , we have the Amex card and Hawaiian. And pretty much have a free trip to Hawaii right now. I also am gold c&a member and also got the Rccl credit card last year so I have a few points. I also am obsessed with travel sites and researching the best price. But man cruising isn't cheap. (Yes I'm picky wanting to try the oasis or allure) and June would not be my first pick I prefer to go in April around Easter for Caribbean travel.

 

Thanks again.

 

Try not to pay for airfare. There is another credit card I've been talking about off and on here for several months. It's the Chase Sapphire Visa. We've already used it for free air, and I love it! I've used my Southwest Visa for over 10 years, and got an RCCL Visa for the onboard credit, but the Chase Sapphire is really, really good.

 

https://creditcards.chase.com/sapphire?CELL=6RRW&MSC=IQ16827956&defaultPanel=marquee_ad_1&jp_cmp=cc/03BRUltimateRewardsExact/sea/na/Chase&UR

 

My husband and I each got a card. We used one for our regular expenses, and the other to pay for the cruise. By watching online when we reached the "magic number" to qualify for the 40,000 bonus points, we switched over to the other card. This way we ended up with 86,000 points.

 

Then, we combined the points into one account. Then, using their air booking tool, you can start tracking airfares. Another great feature is you can transfer your points to certain airline programs to boost your points there. For instance, we transferred a bunch of points to Southwest to get free travel. So, if you are cruising out of FLL, you can transfer your Chase points to SW, and book your point travel from LAX to FLL.

 

I am cancelling my card, and next year will get another one to start the 40,000 bonus points all over again.

 

We fly out of LAX, also, and you might want to check out Princess cruises that sail out of San Pedro. No air costs, and they have some good Mexican Riviera cruises. Also, they cruise to Hawaii, and you can use your Sapphire points to fly home.

 

Another good thing about the Sapphire booking tool is you can pay the remainder of your fare in $$ if you don't have enough points. I booked my husband, myself, and my mother-in-law roundtrip LAX-Houston, and we got ours for free, and she paid us for her air. All one booking at one time.

[Isaboo]

I just wanted to add to what I said earlier here. I checked the RCCl website and our June cruise has dropped by $1200! I called our TA and he got the adjustment for us. That is a full $3000 less than we paid to sail on Oasis last year. You might check the Freedom class....it's plenty big with plenty to do!

 

We're really lucky about the airfare...my husband flies at least once a week on Southwest, so we always have enough points in his rewards account to fly our family from Texas to Florida. We book one balcony and one inside cabin across the hall. Last year, we went on Oasis and we all agreed that we liked the Freedom just as well...there's about a $2000 price difference between the two! For that amount of money I can do without the Boardwalk thingy and Centra Park. We always book during the WOW sale and our TA gives us very generous OBC. Last year between the WOW sale and our TA we had $825 in OBC. I also have a RCCL visa rewards. For the Valentine's cruise on Allure I cashed in 50,000 points and they gave me the full $1000 value towards it for a 3-day Bahamas cruise. That brought the price of that cruise down to a more reasonable level!

[waterbug123]

Ok I've just got to ask so many repeat guests of cruising. This will be my 2nd time and I'm trying hard to afford a cruise on oasis or allure I really don't want another ship. But we are in Los Angeles (horrible cruise choices here) and I live the Caribbean. But family of 5 needing 2 rooms (for bathroom and privacy) and air this is costing the same if not more than our Hawaii vacations and close to our Mexican all inclusives. I've noticed u have to book out way in advance. Any helpful hints? Remember I have kids so we only can travel summer or spring break. I really wanted to try this out for June 2013. If we get one room it's affordable. But that's crammed for us.

 

Anyways I had to ask

 

Love all the reviews.

 

Everyone's situation is different. Some people have more money at their disposal than others... some simply earn a lot more, some forego things others might consider necessary, etc. You have a number of parameters that that increase the cost: Long flight needed, 5 people to pay for, inflexible schedule which = cruising at expensive times. My situation is very different. Most of the time when I cruise, it is just my boyfriend and me. He lives in FL, so we only have to pay for 1 flight for me (long distance relationship), not 5. Likewise, we only need 1 cabin, not 2. And we are not limited to only going when the kids are on school break. All of that makes cruising much less expensive for us. He enjoys a comfortable income which also helps, obviously.

[JulieRose]

We use our tax return as a deposit, book a year or more in advance and save up gradually by having a small portion of our pay direct deposited into a special account. I also prepare a spreadsheet with what we expect all of our expenses to be so we have a goal for our saving and can see where we need to cut costs or where we can afford to splurge.

[Calico Jack Sparrow]

I have a little side business selling stuff on Ebay. I use that money to help pay for our cruise. However, I have been also making better use of my purchasing power from my business. I got the American Express card and make as many of my business purchases through the card to garner points. I can use the points to pay for airlines, hotels or cruises when I book through Amex travel. I got additional benefits by upgrading my card to Platinum.

 

So, my airline to Sna Juan was paid with the points as well as the extra legroom on Jet Blue. I got a two category upgrade to get my aft balcony. I also got dinner at a specialty restaurant. I got a bonus of double points on my deposit. Now I'm accumulating some more points to help pay for the trip.

 

I save all my coins and use that for gambling in the casino.

 

It's almost like getting a free cruise.:D

 

On my previous cruises I was good enough to come out the casino with some of the cruiselines money, which I use for subsequent vacation/cruises.

[BadDaddy44212]

I use the credit card churning strategies from the Frugal Travel Guy (Google it). This years churn earned me around 565,000 points. My credit rating has taken a minor hit, less than ten points.

 

We did start the year with around 200,000 miles in the bank.

 

As a result this past year we redeemed points for travel with my daughters national volleyball team (ten nights plus air), two tickets RT to Europe for my sons honeymoon, and this cruise.

 

Around $8,000 retail in travel for free (we did pay some marginal taxes on these).

 

My balance today stands at 275,193, and I anticipate getting earning around 500,000 additional points next year.

 

How did we use them for a cruise?

 

We are on the Mariner for seven nights in February and booked a D2 for my wife and me and a K across the hall for two daughters.

 

All in costs (cruise, flights, tips, taxes, excursions, meals in Houston, hotel and bar bill) budget is $7,269.

 

Flights were free using points earned by applying for United credit cards through Chase (plus one free bag each). Value $2,080.

 

Two additional chase credit card products got me another $1,500 in travel credits.

 

A Hilton Honors Amex got us two free rooms in Houston for pre-cruise. Value $250.

 

Total savings of $3,730 just for applying for the cards and hitting the minimum spend.

 

My out of cash pocket is $3,487. This was just the budget, I also know full well it will be too easy to spend more than we anticipated.

 

The final bonus is I got a part time gig giving volleyball lessons earning another $1,000 just to sweeten the pot.

 

Next year, no Volleyball travel and no honeymoon wedding gift (I hope), so the miles will go to DW and I using them just on us!

[cherylroslyn]

Ok I've just got to ask so many repeat guests of cruising. This will be my 2nd time and I'm trying hard to afford a cruise on oasis or allure I really don't want another ship. But we are in Los Angeles (horrible cruise choices here) and I live the Caribbean. But family of 5 needing 2 rooms (for bathroom and privacy) and air this is costing the same if not more than our Hawaii vacations and close to our Mexican all inclusives. I've noticed u have to book out way in advance. Any helpful hints? Remember I have kids so we only can travel summer or spring break. I really wanted to try this out for June 2013. If we get one room it's affordable. But that's crammed for us.

 

Anyways I had to ask

 

Love all the reviews.

I would think about taking the kids out of school for part of a week. Surprisingly Thanksgiving can sometimes have good rates or look for last week of school.......

 

I just checked and Thanksgiving week is a super low rate....... Really they only miss two days of school if you take them that week.....same as a cold:)

 

Just this would be a really fun cold!!!!!!!

[Roxymax]

We just can't wait until the kids are 18... then not only do we not have to spend the money to entertain them but there will be far more money to spend on even more vacations when we're no longer feeding them and clothing them every day. :D

 

Don't count on that it is amazing how those who demand their independance don't like the freedom to deal with natural consequences they cause and whine to family to bail them out just to repeat same mistake again.