Go Cheap or Stay Home???

[Sipsey]

-no wine at vintages every afternoon

 

-no specialty restaurants, just eat in the MDR every night

 

-no excursions, just enjoy the empty ship

 

-no souvenir shopping--have all the t shirts from every island anyways

 

-no casino:(

 

-no picture buying

 

-and last but not least, stay in an inside cabin instead of our usual balcony:o

 

I have always had an inside cabin, so no problem there. The pictures I can do without. I never eat in the specialty restaurants. Excursions are expendable. Didn't go on one last trip.

 

But the rest of it, no. If there's to be no casino, no drinks, no buying anything and having to be frantic by flying or driving in the day of the cruise then I would rather not go. I'd just be unhappy and I can be unhappy at home without paying for a cruise.

[papcx]

Cruise or stay at home?

 

Cruise, any and every day.

[Scrapnana]

No problems with the list until you hit the inside cabin. I need natural light.

[euro cruiser]

Other than a cocktail here and there and a balcony cabin, I don't do most of what was on the list. However, it's important to me to be able to do any or all of them if I feel like it, so I wouldn't go under these circumstances. If I don't have options I won't be relaxed, so it wouldn't be a vacation for me.

[sail7seas]

When we could not afford to travel, we didn't. It wasn't going to be fun for us to go someplace and not have the funds to 'reasonably' enjoy our stay. If we had to fret over every penny, which we would have done early in our lives together, we would regret going at all. We saved a little longer until we could afford to not stress about each dime we spent.

 

I would not have said but, OP, you asked. :)

 

[smtcan]

Go for it!

 

We have two types of cruise, and this Fall we are doing both.

 

The first is the 'plan ahead' cruise, where we take a balcony cabin and budget to do all the things we enjoy. These do not include buying photos or going to the casino and I long ago gave up buying things when I am on holiday. We do enjoy moderate drinking and an occasional visit to a specialty restaurant.

 

Just before we booked our air fare, we found that we could fit in another cruise with an itinerary that really interested us, if we left two weeks earlier. We have booked an inside cabin (we have done that before and know it isn't a problem for us). We know we can do our own thing in port without expensive tours and we will cut right back on drinks and eat in the included venues. This is our second type of cruise - the 'spur of the moment decision' one, and we will enjoy it just as much as the other one.

[srlafleur]

I could manage it. We've often skipped the photos, don't need any souvenirs (we sometimes get them for the grandkids, but they don't expect them), and we've rarely eaten in the specialty restaurants. No spa, no problem. We usually hit the casino, but didn't miss it in Hawaii, so not a big issue. Whether or not we'd miss excursions would depend a great deal on the itinerary. New places with tough-to-get-to-for-free sights would probably about kill me. But been-there-done-that ports, I'd be okay.

Drinks would be a bigger problem, (but being able to carry on a couple bottles of wine would help (so would rum-runners :rolleyes:, I suppose).

Probably the biggest problem would be the lack of balcony. Do-able, but the cruelest cut of all, particularly with the restriction of no excursions.

I'd certainly go, though.

[ducklite]

I'd stay home. Setting a budget is fine, but when it's so tight that buying a postcard souvenir will break the bank--forget it.

 

I'd much rather save for an extra year and travel comfortably than have to worry about spending an extra couple of hundred dollars if I find something I really want in a port or being worried about keeping track of every dime I do--or don't--spend on any given day. To me, that is stressful, and who wants stress on vacation?

 

I guess I'm not as emotionally attached to "cruising" as some people are, and feel that cruise ships are nothing more than a convenient way to see a number of places quickly over the space of a week or two without packing and unpacking every day.

[dsrdsrdsr]

There's nothing on that list that I don't do already.

 

I've never understood the attachment to alcohol. I've never drunk, so maybe that's why. And from the number of people who can't seem to get by without it, perhaps that's a good thing!

 

I can help with the excursions problem. You don't need to stay on an empty ship. What you do is, you find the gangplank, you walk along it, and you're on shore! And it cost nothing! You have all day to walk around and do things! (It does help if you have a free shuttle bus into town, as most UK lines do.)

 

And for the casino, there's another easy solution. Take some crayons and a supply of paper. (Nick it from an unmanned printer if you're as short of cash as all that.) Draw yourself some banknotes of whatever value you like. Then stand by the ship's rail, which incidentally looks like an enormous balcony if you have a good imagination, and throw those notes over the side. It's the same effect as a casino, but cheaper.

 

Problem solved. I'm cruising.

[ducklite]

There's nothing on that list that I don't do already.

 

I've never understood the attachment to alcohol. I've never drunk, so maybe that's why. And from the number of people who can't seem to get by without it, perhaps that's a good thing!

 

I don't drink beer or spirits, but I do drink wine--typically with my dinner. A good quality, properly paired wine greatly enhances the flavors of food. I don't drink to get drunk.

[SPacificbound]

OK. So this is kind of just for fun, but would maybe make you think if you were given this ultimatum. If you were given the choice to go on a 7 night cruise but had to be on a very tight budget, would you do it or would you just stay home?

 

What I mean by being on a tight budget or "frugal" as I like to call it is

 

-flying in the same day as the cruise, therefore, no overnight hotel, no buying drinks and supper the night before the cruise and no buying breakfast the morning of the cruise.

No

 

-we are diamond, so we would just have the drinks in the DL from 5-8 every night. No foo-foo drinks around the pool:eek:

 

-no wine at vintages every afternoon

 

-no specialty restaurants, just eat in the MDR every night

 

-no excursions, just enjoy the empty ship

No

 

-no souvenir shopping--have all the t shirts from every island anyways

 

-no casino:(

 

-no picture buying

 

-and last but not least, stay in an inside cabin instead of our usual balcony:o

Definitely no

 

So if you had to decide, what would you choose?? Go cheap and still be able to cruise, or just stay home!!

 

REMEMBER People...this is just a hypothetical situation. Would you be able to give all these things up to go on a cruise???

 

Most wouldn't matter but the inside, no excursions and especially same day flight are deal breakers. :D

[NMLady]

OK. So this is kind of just for fun, but would maybe make you think if you were given this ultimatum. If you were given the choice to go on a 7 night cruise but had to be on a very tight budget, would you do it or would you just stay home?

 

What I mean by being on a tight budget or "frugal" as I like to call it is

 

-flying in the same day as the cruise, therefore, no overnight hotel, no buying drinks and supper the night before the cruise and no buying breakfast the morning of the cruise.

 

-we are diamond, so we would just have the drinks in the DL from 5-8 every night. No foo-foo drinks around the pool:eek:

 

-no wine at vintages every afternoon

 

-no specialty restaurants, just eat in the MDR every night

 

-no excursions, just enjoy the empty ship

 

-no souvenir shopping--have all the t shirts from every island anyways

 

-no casino:(

 

-no picture buying

 

-and last but not least, stay in an inside cabin instead of our usual balcony:o

 

So if you had to decide, what would you choose?? Go cheap and still be able to cruise, or just stay home!!

 

REMEMBER People...this is just a hypothetical situation. Would you be able to give all these things up to go on a cruise???

 

We would definitely go cheap rather than staying home. For me, being waited on is worth it. For DH, Trivia and chatting with other passengers is worth it.

 

We will be in an inside cabin for 26 days in October, saving money. Before this, our longest inside was 12 days.

[CPT Trips]

Yeah, this pretty much describes the way I usually cruise. :)

 

Easy choice. Cruising always beats staying home.

 

Sounds like my kind of thinkers. Since I already have the rum runners, so that solves the drink issue. It also helps to be platinum and get a couple of cocktail parties on the Captain . . . also gets us two nights of specialty dinners.

Photos? Don't need them, I still can recognize myself in a mirror . . . and I recognize that person in bed next to me too.

[iltutcruiser]

I have no problem going cheap every time I cruise. I have been to most islands so no need to spend that money. I just enjoy being on the ship. Don't care where it goes just let me onboard. I've been rich and I've been poor...I like rich better. The best way to remain rich is to go "thrifty"....

[suzyed]

nope! I'd stay home.

 

I could do without the casino, the souvenir shopping or the pictures because we rarely do that stuff anyways.

 

But no balcony:eek:

No foo-foo drinks:eek::eek:

No wine with dinner:eek::eek::eek:

 

That's not a vacation, that's a prison sentence.

 

lol!!

[bluedevil72]

Without question.....cruise cheap. I would rather have a balcony, we've had them before, but I just can't see paying that much extra when we're never in the room. When we go back to AK again we'll book a balcony, but the last few Caribbean cruises we've done, they've all been inside. The food and the entertainment and just being away from work for a few days is well worth it to me. We drive six hours to get to Galveston and have always gone the night before, but would consider driving down the day of. If we were flying to a port we would be worried not to go a day early, just because of flight delays. We're cruising on the Triumph in two weeks in an inside and can't wait.

[CruisinCindy]

Easy choice. Cruising always beats staying home.

 

Agree!

[donaldsc]

You sound like me except that I need some outside light so we frequently do a restricted visibility outside and we also do tours but almost never ship tours. Also, we each bring 2 bottles of wine so we have 4 which lasts us a week,

 

On our last 14 day cruise, our ship bill not counting tips was maybe $10. We do take some tours but almost always non-ship tours.

 

DON

[slidergirl]

Outside of my first cruise (a Vancouver-LA repo), I've only done insides. Saw no good reason to spring for the extra money when traveling solo

Ate at one specialty, meh, not worth it at all.

Never once thought of buying the totally cheesy photos onboard.

Never saw anything onboard worth buying.

I can do without drinks - I make a bottle wine last a month at home. And, outside of Ultimat on NCL, I never found a vodka worth drinking straight up on a ship.

I refuse to be a sheeple in a herd, so the no excursions is a piece of cake - I do that already.

 

I'm one of the ones who uses the cruise just a method of transportation between ports. I'm not really into all the other stuff on the ship (not into shows, no bingo, casino, etc).

[ducklite]

Outside of my first cruise (a Vancouver-LA repo), I've only done insides. Saw no good reason to spring for the extra money when traveling solo

Ate at one specialty, meh, not worth it at all.

Never once thought of buying the totally cheesy photos onboard.

Never saw anything onboard worth buying.

I can do without drinks - I make a bottle wine last a month at home. And, outside of Ultimat on NCL, I never found a vodka worth drinking straight up on a ship.

I refuse to be a sheeple in a herd, so the no excursions is a piece of cake - I do that already.

 

I'm one of the ones who uses the cruise just a method of transportation between ports. I'm not really into all the other stuff on the ship (not into shows, no bingo, casino, etc).

 

How can you make an open bottle of wine last a month? Even using a preservative it's only got a week of shelf life before it is oxidized. The only exception is Tawny Port, that will last indefinitely if stored in a dark, cool place.

[Guest fyree39]

-flying in the same day as the cruise, therefore, no overnight hotel, no buying drinks and supper the night before the cruise and no buying breakfast the morning of the cruise.

*We drive to the cruise port the day of the cruise and have actually stopped having breakfast on the road. We have something at home, fill our travel mugs with coffee, then hit the road.

 

-no wine at vintages every afternoon

*I don't drink at all and DH might have 2 glasses of wine on a 7-day cruise. Our bar bill is miniscule!

 

-no specialty restaurants, just eat in the MDR every night

*This is never a problem. I don't find the specialty restaurants all that magnificent. I'm happy with the food that comes with the cruise fare.

 

-no excursions, just enjoy the empty ship

*Our favorite part of cruising is the emptiness of the ship on port days. That's why we love our Mexican Riviera cruises!

 

-no souvenir shopping--have all the t shirts from every island anyways

*I'm a bad tourist! I don't buy nick-nacks or t-shirts very often.

 

-no casino:(

*Fine. I'll save my money for Vegas. :)

 

-no picture buying

*Hmmm. We always buy ONE photo for our cruise album. If I HAVE to give it up, I'll get someone to snap a picture with my camera.

 

-and last but not least, stay in an inside cabin instead of our usual balcony:o

*Oy, this is a tough one. We could do it, but it would be hard. I could certainly do it if I could get an uber-cheap fare. We've sailed in insides before and they're OK, but not our preferred mode of cruise ship travel.

 

No question that I'd cruise rather than stay home. Staying home just isn't fun!

 

REMEMBER People...this is just a hypothetical situation. Would you be able to give all these things up to go on a cruise???

[slidergirl]

How can you make an open bottle of wine last a month? Even using a preservative it's only got a week of shelf life before it is oxidized. The only exception is Tawny Port, that will last indefinitely if stored in a dark, cool place.

 

In the summer, I can make a bottle of Washington State Reisling go that long. It stays in the fridge. When I work 6 nights/week for a month stretch, there isn't much time to imbibe :eek: The rest, well, sometimes I have to dump it. Breaks my heart, though...

[ducklite]

In the summer, I can make a bottle of Washington State Reisling go that long. It stays in the fridge. When I work 6 nights/week for a month stretch, there isn't much time to imbibe :eek: The rest, well, sometimes I have to dump it. Breaks my heart, though...

 

Not possible. You must not notice the oxidation that begins a day or so after opening.

[calliopecruiser]

OK. So this is kind of just for fun, but would maybe make you think if you were given this ultimatum. If you were given the choice to go on a 7 night cruise but had to be on a very tight budget, would you do it or would you just stay home?

 

What I mean by being on a tight budget or "frugal" as I like to call it is

 

-flying in the same day as the cruise, therefore, no overnight hotel, no buying drinks and supper the night before the cruise and no buying breakfast the morning of the cruise.

 

-we are diamond, so we would just have the drinks in the DL from 5-8 every night. No foo-foo drinks around the pool:eek:

 

-no wine at vintages every afternoon

 

-no specialty restaurants, just eat in the MDR every night

 

-no excursions, just enjoy the empty ship

 

-no souvenir shopping--have all the t shirts from every island anyways

 

-no casino:(

 

-no picture buying

 

-and last but not least, stay in an inside cabin instead of our usual balcony:o

 

So if you had to decide, what would you choose?? Go cheap and still be able to cruise, or just stay home!!

 

REMEMBER People...this is just a hypothetical situation. Would you be able to give all these things up to go on a cruise???

 

My only issues with your list are the inside cabin and the flying in same-day. I would rather stay home than cruise in an inside cabin, no question. As for flying in the day of the cruise - it will save money if things go well, it will cost you a bunch if it doesn't. I would do it only if the flight options were plentiful and the embarkation was late.

 

No excursions doesn't mean someone has to stay on the ship (though I could happily do so) - many ports are accessible by public transit to poke around and investigate. I could be have a good time in spite of no specialty restaurants, no alcohol, no souvenirs, no pictures, and no casino.

[marco]

As we're from the north east, if it's a cruise to the Caribbean in February...... the sun's out, it's 80 degrees, we can sit by the pool with at least ONE foo-foo-shi-shi drink with a little pink umbrella in it.....ya......you bet your bippie we go rather than stay home!