How do you people afford all those cruises?

[sky61]

We've decided to spend any inheritance our children hoped to get.

 

 

Haha I love this! Last year I asked my parents to join us (each paying our own way) on an Alaskan cruise (this summer) and told them I'd rather have memories with them than squabble over an inheritance. I'm hoping they catch the cruise bug and spend away hahaha. They just bought new luggage...I'm thinking that's a good sign! :)

 

 

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[gr82cu2]

Haha I love this! Last year I asked my parents to join us (each paying our own way) on an Alaskan cruise (this summer) and told them I'd rather have memories with them than squabble over an inheritance. I'm hoping they catch the cruise bug and spend away hahaha. They just bought new luggage...I'm thinking that's a good sign! :)

 

 

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This is so true! My parents died with a pile of money in the bank. Not a huge pile but significant enough. It made me so sad that they didn't travel and have experiences that they could have afforded. You can't take it with you! Unless you have a disabled child that truly depends on you financially for their welfare, I say go!!! Spend like the wind! Have a great time and make memories :)

[chisoxfan]

Wow. It's still there! sad to say, it's more truth than poetry nowadays.

 

Hey it might still be there but I was audited by the IRS a day after posting.

[Texed]

Hey it might still be there but I was audited by the IRS a day after posting.

 

Now, that's funny, I don't care who you are. :D

[PinotBlanc]

We've decided to spend any inheritance our children hoped to get.

 

Our children ask us to spend on ourselves.

They say they don't need an inheritance.

 

The children are jewels. We took them on cruises,

now they book and pay for their own.

 

It pleases them that we travel.

 

Penny

[Honeybearhollow]

We are retired, no debt, and budget wisely, putting money every month into a cruise account. We cruise generally twice a year, drive to our cruises when we can. We prefer longer cruises. We try to combine cruises with other trips, when possible. We made the mistake of booking an AQ cabin on our first cruise and were spoiled. We usually book AQ or Concierge. We are trying, on our next cruise, booking a balcony and moving up after final payment. We will see how that goes. We keep our specialty dining to once or twice during a cruise, opting to take advantage of discounts. We do not go to the casino, seldom take ship excursions, and do not buy the drink package. Being elite, bringing wine onboard and receiving wine from Celebrity and our TA give us all the drinks we need. Many of the frequent cruisers live in Florida and get the Florida discount, as well as being able to take advantage of the last minute cruises. Someday, I will get up the courage to book an inside room, but not on a long cruise.

[seadancer]

We cruise on avg once a year . Sometime ago we started setting money aside and just made it a monthly bill .As our financial situation improved so did the payment .

[footer6]

It helps to be both independently wealthy and obsessed with cruising. On a recent Connie 5 day, at the Welcome Aboard show, the Captain introduced a couple from San Antonio who are CC Zenith plus, with more than 100 Celebrity cruises. These folks cruise each one of the ships in the Celebrity fleet each year. Now that's loyalty.

[Chazteach1]

In 2005 I convinced my parents to bite the bullet and take a cruise. What were they saving for? I was doing well, they were well, everyone was healthy at that time.. so let's go!

 

As an only child, Mom and Dad didn't want to go without me, so I was in my 30's and went with them to Mexico for 9 days and we were hooked! We all stayed in an ocean view balcony room, me on the pull-out. (Good thing I get along so well with the P's!) My Mom started saving for the next cruise the minute we returned from the first.

 

I am a teacher and have limited time to cruise, summer and Christmas vacation which are more expensive dates to cruise. I save too and use visa points for airfare and hotel stays. We always try to have at least 1 in the group flying free.

 

When my DH came into the picture, Mom priced out a suite and that was cheaper for us to go than 2 balcony rooms. 3rd and 4th persons in the suite go for half price. It was wonderful. No one was cramped, DH likes the showers in the steam room / spa and the pull out sofa in the RS was great for us. That was 4 suites ago. Galaxy, 2x's on Connie, Equinox RS.

 

In 2011 we lost my dad and had already booked and started to pay for another suite on Equinox. DH, me and Mom went anyway and had a blast… this time DH and I got the Kingsized bed and Mom got the pull out with the 2 piece bath on the S class ship. This June will be our 6th time in a suite and we are very happy and grateful to be able to do so. Captains Club is a must for extras and save for drink packages too.

 

I'm at a point that if I can continue to enjoy traveling with my Mom, (while missing my Dad immensely), I will do so. The memories we have made and the friends we have made are priceless.

 

Enjoy your travels…

[Cruise Raider]

Jayoldschool,

 

I get it, I am a TINC too! 2 incomes, no children, but I can't afford a cruise every year and I am "officially" a millionaire (though it doesn't feel like it).

 

Not officially a millionaire here ... but no kids and only single income but we cruise as often as possible....3-4 times a year.

Yes, sometimes inside, sometimes oceanview, sometimes a balcony....but you better believe that I go for the best deals out there. If not a deal, I don't go.

Boy, if I were officially a millionaire, I would be on at least 7-8 cruises a year.

[gagirl7143]

Hate to break it to most of the readers but Fla. discounts are pretty much nonexistent these days and many of us Floridians have to drive 10 to 11 hours to get to the cruise ports. Hubby was in the Navy for 26 years and vacations were almost always spent at HOME (parents homes to visit relatives!!). We now have 9 booked between this month and No. 2015. We Never waste money on AQ or Concierge class as those cabins are the most undesirable balcony locations.

[fifties chick]

We run our own business, but don't pay ourselves a wage...[obviously living expenses]...so I consider our yearly cruise to be our wages...Not a bad way to be paid...We don't smoke, rarely drink and as our cruises are usually around 20day ones, we don't bother to eat out either...I figure 20 breakfasts, lunches and dinners are all the fancy dining we need in a year...Once on the cruise, we only eat in MDR and very rarely book a shore excursion preferring to do our own thing...Have only ever booked an inside cabin, but have scored 2 ocean-view cabins...Land-based holidays are so expensive, with your hand in your pocket all the time...Once on the ship, it is only as dear as you want it to be...Our biggest gripe is the airfares to get to anywhere from Australia...Approx. $2000 return flight to Europe or America...That is a big add-on:(

[lilghallinsf]

I love some of these ideas

[Chazteach1]

I love some of these ideas

 

 

Which ones?

 

 

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[ShawninFL]

Is there some secret to cruising regularly that I am not aware of? I just booked my second cruise in 10 years and it is costing me a fortune for a Sky suite, specialty dining and beverage package, let alone the flight and hotel stays. Is everyone out there a billionaire or am I just paying rack rates stupidly? I researched a bunch of online cruise sites, but Celebrity offered just the same price for the cabin I wanted. So what gives, get up off your secrets to great cruising, I want to join you....

 

Don't book a suite. I can typically do 2 to 3 cruises in an inside cabin for the price of one suite. I also live in Florida so at least one of the cruises won't require airfare.

 

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[gold1953]

WE are retired with one pension check. We have children and grandchildren. . If you do simple math... $10.00 a week is $520.00 a year. We just made a list of wasteful $10.00 items and it adds up to a nice cruise every year ( We try to take 2 though). WE rarely cruise balconies, don't pay to eat onboard, don't buy drinks either. Rarely use ship tours either. We are totally happy with our method!!!

[Happy2cruise]

We are retired, no debt, and budget wisely, putting money every month into a cruise account.

That sounds like us;). Every month money goes into the cruise saving account just like we are paying a bill but we are actually paying to enjoy ourselves:D.

[Champagne Cruiser]

Is there some secret to cruising regularly that I am not aware of? I just booked my second cruise in 10 years and it is costing me a fortune for a Sky suite, specialty dining and beverage package, let alone the flight and hotel stays. Is everyone out there a billionaire or am I just paying rack rates stupidly? I researched a bunch of online cruise sites, but Celebrity offered just the same price for the cabin I wanted. So what gives, get up off your secrets to great cruising, I want to join you....

 

You need to sign up on all cruise websites that you want to cruise. For instance I just received an email from Viking with an offer $1000 less than published price including airfare (another $1000). However, you had to book by April 30 and sail in May 2014. Great deal but we weren't looking for a river cruise this year. We usually book what I call our main cruise way in advance and then track prices. We then usually book our bargain cruise. Have never sailed a suite, but if I found a good enough deal I would. Our upcoming RCL cruise is an OV. We like balconies, but it was OV or nothing for this extra cruise. It also fit with a good airfare. Would have liked the following cruise for 1 more night, but I couldn't get the airfare down to something reasonable. It's all about priorities, and my priority is to vacation as much as possible now that we are both retired and have downsized our home. We never do specialty dining and only have a beverage pkg when it is a freebe.

[ClairetoCruise]

We were born savers.

Keep tabs on the budget every day.

Edited April 12, 2014 by ClairetoCruise

[4774Papa]

WE are retired with one pension check. We have children and grandchildren. . If you do simple math... $10.00 a week is $520.00 a year. We just made a list of wasteful $10.00 items and it adds up to a nice cruise every year ( We try to take 2 though). WE rarely cruise balconies, don't pay to eat onboard, don't buy drinks either. Rarely use ship tours either. We are totally happy with our method!!!

Spending habits can fritter away a lot of money.

While Starbucks has good coffee, I don't consider the coffee there that much better than ordinary coffee. That is why we don't buy $5 coffee.

 

Many people have to have name brand clothing. I remember when I was a teenager in the 60s and the expensive Gant button down shirts were the rage. A shirt from Sears or Penny's was hard to distinguish from a Gant shirt and people would come up to you and pull up the back of your shirt to see the label. How silly.

 

This doesn't mean that sometime quality is worth the price, sometimes the best value is a more expensive product, especially if it last longer.

 

I suppose some people cruise in inside cabins and enjoy their cruises as much as others in suites. We generally do a balcony. We started in OV, but on our second cruise, a balcony was just a little more, so now DW and I are spoiled. We do enjoy sitting on our balcony watching the ocean for dolphins or whatever.

 

You can save on arranging your own tours, we do that, but sometimes the ship's tour are the best.

Whatever makes you happy.

[varoo]

Sell the house and cars and spend our time cruising around the world from ship to ship and visiting family members in between cruises.

 

No more gas, electric, water, cable, refuse or lawn service bills to pay, no home or auto repair bills, no real estate taxes, no grocery bills, no homeowner's insurance payments, no auto insurance payments.

 

Okay, so we haven't actually done it, but the thought sure seems tempting.

 

Just don't bog us down with practical details like what happens if we get sick and they kick us off the ship. ;)

 

[Priya2]

You're "officially" a Millionaire and you're worried about all this?:rolleyes:

Hmm! Absolutely.

 

I only book Sky suites and I'm officially a millionaire, but I need to know how you all can afford to cruise so often! I don't understand where you are coming from either, and I just can't take this enquiry seriously!

[drfun48]

I am the person who sends out all those Nigerian email scams and thankfully there are enough suckers who buy into it so I can afford at least six cruises a year.

[Merriem]

Hmm! Absolutely.

 

I only book Sky suites and I'm officially a millionaire, but I need to know how you all can afford to cruise so often! I don't understand where you are coming from either, and I just can't take this enquiry seriously!

 

Retired, no mortgage, no car payment, and no kids to support. As my DH said to some neighbors who ask the same question...

[Merriem]

Don't book a suite. I can typically do 2 to 3 cruises in an inside cabin for the price of one suite. I also live in Florida so at least one of the cruises won't require airfare.

 

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Do book a suite! I love the extra space....