How do you save for cruises?

[misguidedangel]

I can only scrape up enough to go once a year. I save so much each month and that allows me a seven day cruise in September....alas, my carpets needs replacing and walls need painting. I'd rather still take the money and cruise cuz floors I want would cost a years saving and hiring a painter would set me back three to four months of saving....so I cruise instead....I'd paint myself, but the times I have painted walls, uhm, ya no, I'll have to hire someone....

[MsMot]

I don't save money specifically for cruises/travel - I just save period. So when I want to take a cruise or a land vacation, the money is already there.

 

Mek - I am sure that we all save for retirement, the rainy day fund, the shoe fetish (oops that's my guilty pleasure), in addition to our love of cruising. We are cruise addicts, so the whole process gives us a rush and the chance to talk about our next cruise. Cruising is truly an addiction for us, but one we have no plans on shaking:D

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I stand on a busy street corner with a sign made out of cardboard and a black marker that says "NEED CRUISE MONEY"

[nurseingu]

Mek - I am sure that we all save for retirement, the rainy day fund, the shoe fetish (oops that's my guilty pleasure), in addition to our love of cruising. We are cruise addicts, so the whole process gives us a rush and the chance to talk about our next cruise. Cruising is truly an addiction for us, but one we have no plans on shaking:D

 

:thumbup:

 

Sent from my ADR6330VW using Tapatalk 2

[larkz]

We don't take other vacations. Every time we have taken a week and drove somewhere, pay for gas tolls hotel rooms and meals plus entertainment it is wayyyyyy more than a cruise. People don't realize this I think.

 

Agree.

 

Lately, much as I'd like to spend a week in the western mountain states, or in Florida or Pennsylvania, the math just doesn't work out well. Lodging alone is more expensive than cruising (even though I'm frugal with choice of hotel). Add in everything else, and I could get nearly two full cruise vacations out of the deal.

 

I do, however, add a day or two after the cruise to spend in Florida, usually to kayak and photograph nature.

 

I usually put down a deposit for a Nov/Dec cruise by late winter or early spring. I always get travel insurance right away after that. I purchase the flights and pay off the cruise by the beginning of summer. I might prepay for rental cars and hotel if I find a good deal. In the past three years, I've also made a pact with myself that whatever the cruise costs, I will donate the equivalent to a non-profit (to assuage my liberal guilt no less!)

[ShakyBeef]

We live 'debt free', and within our means. We have no debt except the mortgage, which we will be paying off about 20 years early, next year.:D Our 3 cars are each several years old, but they have been paid-for for several years. No car payments, no loans, no credit card debt, no debt.

 

We use our Carnival Funpoints MC for everything we can and rack up all kinds of points (already taken 3 free cruises:D), but we pay it off every month and have never paid a penny in interest.

 

I'm a stay-at-home mom, DH is a business owner/ IT professional. So we are a single income family. I spend frugally, within our budget, and save money in many ways in our 'normal life'. But when on vacation, we don't worry about penny-pinching and instead enjoy spending the money for which we have worked hard. We go on vacation when we want to, because we make it fit in the budget.:) We're weird - we're Dave Ramsey followers;)(except for that using credit cards points thing).:p

[larkz]

We're weird - we're Dave Ramsey followers;)(except for that using credit cards points thing).:p

 

Same here.

[PittsburghGirlee]

Not that it is saving....but I start selling things on eBay......a few things here n there adds up....it is very time consuming though...but worth the extra $$$$ and it sure helps....I also sold some Gold recently.....garage sales in the summer months as well....I could go on and on...lol

[SB2788]

I run a lot through my Amex Premier Rewards Gold and Carnival Mastercard each year for work and personal expenses. (Usually about $150k on Amex and $40k on Carnival Mastercard) and this usually gives me close to $3,000 per year in "fun money" towards vacations or whatever. I've found a site that will buy my Amex points in cash so there's a lot of flexibility as to how to spend the money.

[peepaw]

We book it and then...Feed the Piiiiggg!!

:D Sorry, but it is the truth.

I love to cruise and do so 1-2 times a year. People always ask " How do you afford that"? I look at vacations as a necessary "Mental Break" from the real world. I do the following to make sure I can cruise/vacation without busting the budget.

 

1) Plan early, book early and research for the best price & include gratuities when booking.

2) Make monthly payments so I don't notice as much

3) Continue to make monthly payments to myself once it is paid off

4) Save all change to later be used for parking, gas, porter & room service tips, etc. You will be shocked how quickly change adds up if you purposely break a bill to get change and keep your husband from raiding the bucket for quarters. :)

5) Use the leftover money from the cruise to put a deposit on the next one

6) Start saving change again.

 

How do you save??

 

Happy Sailing!

[buddybean11]

We usually use our tax refund for the deposit.

We don't cruise until hurricane season to get a better rate.

We book early saver and keep close watch on price drops.

We make small payments along and along until final payment so there is no large sum in the end.

Have a "Christmas/Cruise Club" at the bank that we put in $40 every two weeks and pay a $10 penalty for early withdrawal to use as spending money on the cruise. (Can't touch it like you can a savings acct. so no temptations)

We go for the cheaper cabins - 1st cruise porthole for DH and myself 25th anniversary, 2nd inside riviera for myself, DH, and DD, 3rd we are getting an OV for 4 of us on Riviera.

We aren't drinkers or gamblers so we spend very little onboard.

[grublet22]

I quit smoking on May 3, 2007 and took what I spent on cigarettes each day and put it in my savings account to save to take my cruise to celebrate the one year quit. I have since then been able to justify my new addiction (cruising) as a much better choice for my health! It's a win, win for me. :D

[GAMOM4]

I know that people ALWAYS ask questions about how we afford to go on SO cruises..that is actually funny to me when they ask that...we have been cruising since 2004 ... until 2010 it was me and my DH, DD, & DS .. we always got two joining oceanview rooms (except for the first year where we had a porthole view). In 2010 we went on our 25th anniversary cruise alone..and cruised twice in 2012 & have two booked for 2013. I book WAY in advance...watch for price drops on a daily basis...and try to save money out of each of my husband's checks (he is paid weekly) for the last 2 months. This year we decided since the OBC thing isn't offered anymore (and I don't understand why) we would always call about 10 weeks in advance very Friday afternoon and have money added to our OBC. But for our cruise in May I have actually paid for the cruise, paid for the tips, paid for FTTF & an excursionin Key West...and I still have $170.00 in OBC...we will use part of that for the steakhouse and the rest will be on drinks or stuff in the shops.

 

I have also just ordered us the cooler with 4 beers and 4 cups and 2 coozies in the cooler gift...so at least 4 beers will be paid for in advance:)

[Keith1010]

I don't save money specifically for cruises/travel - I just save period. So when I want to take a cruise or a land vacation, the money is already there.

 

That is what we have always done.

 

Keith

[kingoftheicedragons]

We are pretty thrifty in our day to day life. We have a "vacation fund" savings account that we automatically put money into before we even see it. We also tend to book a cruise at about the same time we get our tax money--we don't necessarily say we're using our tax money for the cruise, but that's what it works out to being as we rarely dig into the "vacation fund." We also don't have kids, use the money we get for Christmas and birthdays for new clothes, tend to not go out drinking, eat out mainly when we're on vacation as opposed to eating out regularly locally, etc.

[RWolver672]

I set up a savings account at the bank that is even listed as "Cruise Account" by the bank. Every month when one of my retirement checks come in, they automatically deposit $200 in that account. We never touch it for anything else. It gives us enough to cruise with a balcony cabin on the Panorama deck once every two years.

 

We also obtained a credit card that gives air miles and use it for major purchases and pay it off when the bill comes. Hopefully we gain enough for free flights for the next cruise.

[Ontario cruise duo]

I live and work in Canada. I have an US bank account set up at my Canadian bank. Every week I purchase $100 US through my online banking system and increase my US account. That way, I'm concentrating on increasing that account for that next US based vacation (which hopefully will be a cruise;), but not necessarily!!):rolleyes: And by the way, the US exchange rate has been really good for quite a long while. When you think about the difference between $100 Cdn and $100 US, it's probably the cost of 1 or 2 coffees a week at a local coffee shop. Oh, and since I'm not a coffee drinker, what better way to spend (save) a couple of $$'s.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are fortunate to have made good investments over the years that are pay for our cruises along with our pensions and social security.

[scifisteve]

I am Single, and live in the Family home so apart from "rent" I have £300 disposable income, which will be £500 in 2 years then I may do a world cruise.

[youngestof9]

We like to "do" more than we like to "have". We have a nice home, but not large. We save for retirement first. We buy our cars and drive them til they die. We save money every single week called "vacation". It's generally earmarked for a cruise, which as a family we like to do every other year. To some it looks like we vacation a lot (2 vacations a year, sometimes 3), but if I didn't save weekly, we couldn't do it. It's funny how sometimes friends say they could never travel as much as we do, yet they get takeout 2-3 times a week, go out on weekends, buy new cars, etc. It's all about where you want to spend your money. For us, it's vacations.

[printingchick]

I used to be able to cruise more often, but the bad economy and a severe drop in salary has put a crimp in my cruising schedule.

 

Still, I save in the same way I always have...it just takes longer for it to add up to enough to cruise!

 

1. I divert money from my paycheck via direct deposit to a separate account. If I don't see it, I'm less likely to miss it. I can only afford to save $100/month right now, but that's $1,200/year! And by brown-bagging both breakfast and lunch every day, I don't really miss that $25/week!
   
2. I use a credit card which earns me points redeemable for cruise discounts and on board credits.
   
3. I buy "NextCruise" certificates on board. These allow me to put down a smaller deposit when I book and give me $100 in OBC. I don't have to BOOK, just buy a certificate good toward my NEXT booking. I just used a certificate I bought in 2010 toward my 2014 cruise.
   
4. I'm a thrifty person in general. While I'm less-so on vacation, I try not to go overboard. I cruise in an ocean view cabin and focus on excursions which cost under $100/pp.
   

[Gunner22aa]

We are fortunate in that we can bank my wifes entire salary as a nurse. Rather she banks it. I have no idea what is in any of her accounts on a given day. When it comes time to pay for a vacation the money always seems to be there.

[Treven]

I'm retired and, of course, on a fixed income. I make my deposit for my annual cruise then make my monthly (or so) payments through my TA. Then after the cruise is paid off I send myself $500-750 so my credit card doesn't get too dinged up at the end. I think at the end of my last cruise, $9.50 was charged to my credit card.

 

Then I start all over again.:D

[momofmeg]

We have a savings account- we put $200 out of each paycheck into it. Now this is for everything-not just crusies/vacations-but as long as we have not had too many expensive car repairs/house repairs/medicial or dental bills, we book a cruise or take a trip. If our savings account is below a certain point we do NOT.

[momofmeg]

We have a savings account- we put $200 out of each paycheck into it. Now this is for everything-not just crusies/vacations-but as long as we have not had too many expensive car repairs/house repairs/medicial or dental bills, we book a cruise or take a trip. If our savings account is below a certain point we do NOT.

 

We also only go into our savigns account for big bills, medical or dentals bills.car repairs etc. under $500 we usually take out of our checking account-unless we have too many of those too often. We can do that because we drive older cars so they are paid for; and being they are an 8 year old Toyota Camry and and a 4 year old Volkswagon Jetta; they are very dependable so we rarely need to do repairs-mostly just regular manintaince on them. I WISH I could say that for dental and medical bills-lol!