Where do you splurge vs. scrimp?

[brinvic]

Splurge

Always fly days ahead to start our relaxation

Always a balcony now an Ocean suite

We buy pictures

We use Cheers package

We do excursions both Carnival and private. We love to snorkel

We do the Steakhouse

We've done the Chefs Table don't find it necessary to do on each cruise

Time in the spa

We tip extra to those who go above and beyond

We don't use the casino

We don't buy much on the ship from the stores

We only cruise every other year and land vacation with our family.

Cruising is my and dh special time with friends

Edited September 14, 2015 by brinvic

[Schoifmom]

I'm pretty frugal and tend to scrimp on a lot, but we always have FUN!

 

Scrimp --

-We have never had a cabin over an OV, usually a PT or inside.

-We usually sail on fantasy class ship (so no specialty dining to be had)

-No drink programs. We will get an occasional drink, but not enough to make it worthwhile.

-No bingo. I budget $20 or so for slots just for fun.

-No ships excursions since our first cruise. CC makes it easy to research and book our own, or we just do a beach day (our favorite thing to do)

 

Splurge --

-FTTF ... totally worth the $ for me!

-Extra tips for extra service

-We usually buy 1-2 pics, but only if they are fantastic :)

[WindyFreedom]

I have thought long and hard to this and the answer is quite simple...

 

I scrimp on the room. I had gotten a balcony before but I'm never in my room. Like ever. So now I stick to interiors (plus I love how dark it is is... Mmmmm much better sleep!)

 

I splurge on at least 1 spa massage (if lucky).

 

Everything else is up in the air for me... It can go either way after that . Lol

[Me76]

Depending on how you look at it, I skimp on almost everything to be able to cruise, things I do "splurge" on, I almost never pay full price for.

 

Skimp:

Airfare or Drive Down - We are 8 hours from Port Canaveral or Tampa. But, being close to Atlanta, if it's 1 or 2 of us, we will sometimes fly. My DS and I are leaving Sunday morning for a cruise and I paid $64 total round-trip for both of us (yes, that's $32 each round-trip) on Spirit. (Tip: If you live relatively close to an airport Spirit services, you can go to the airport and book your flights and save the $17.99 p/p each way "Usage Fee" they charge you online. Of course, we have to pay for anything over a "personal item" bag, but it's a short cruise, and we are flying in early enough that I plan on stopping at a Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree to pick up toiletry and other small items on the way to port. )

Parking - We usually park at the $4.95 or $5.95 lots, never had an issue with the shuttles. (Tip: stop by the port first and drop your checked bags with the porters. This will save you a lot of time and hassle!) Also use Groupon for Airport Parking if we are flying.

 

Room - Whatever is cheapest, been in Balconies, been in OV, been in Insides.. don't really spend much time in the rooms, so it's not an issue.

 

Cruise - We usually cruise during Hurricane Season or in early or late spring (not Spring Break week) for the best prices.

 

Casino / Bingo - Never go in it, unless we are required to walk thru it.

 

Photos - Never buy them, usually avoid taking them at all

 

Alcohol - Never have bought a drink on a ship

 

Spa - I have never been in it

 

Steakhouse - MDR is good enough for us, we did it once on the Dream, it was ok, but not worth the extra $$ for us.

 

Food in Port - We are not seafood eaters (except DH), so unless we are in port all day without access to the ship, or it's inclusive, we don't eat in port. Also question some of the sanitary practices on some of the islands.

Souvenirs in Port - When the kids were little, they would haggle for a couple of the $1 or $2 souvenirs, but since they have realized what we did long ago, it's mostly all the same "made in china" crap with just a different island (or Panama City Beach, Branson, MO, Myrtle Beach, ect..) name on it. Now it's almost a game to see how many times we can see the same trinket in different places. As for t-shirts, it's what I do for my extra money, so they don't excite me much, lol.

 

Fun Shops - I browse thru them when I'm really bored, but never buy anything.

 

Splurges (if you can call them that) -

Soda Pass - It's my one bad habit, and the only thing I pay full-price for. Plus, I always get it for my kids. It gives them the ability to get juice and more importantly, if they leave their drink unattended, go get a new one with no issues. To me, that piece of mind is more than worth it!

 

New Clothes - As I said, we cruise during Fall or Spring. This is also when all the Summer and "Cruise Season" (in clothing retail, that's Dec-Jan, when people are giving Cruises for Christmas. Ever wonder why Target puts out swimsuits in Dec.. that's why) are 75% off. Just spent less than $70 on 4 swimsuits each for me and DS, outfits for each day, and outfits for dinner.

 

Excursions - We take them. My favorite thing to do during a cruise is snorkel, but other than that, we are not "beach" people. Usually, I look around and find really good deals from 3rd party vendors (though we did end up with a "Captain Ron" experience on our last Cruise going to The Baths in Tortola. This next cruise is very last minute, so I booked thru Carnival when I booked our cruise and used the 20% off that gave me.

 

FTTF - This upcoming cruise will be our first time using it. Our flight leaves Atlanta at 6am (this means leaving our house at 3:30am), so the thought of going to our room right away made this a (hopefully) worth while splurge.

 

Rental Car (for this trip) - Still booked thru Hotwire, but since our flight in is so early (6am), and our flight out is late (6pm), instead of using a shuttle, I booked a rental car. Between the car and parking, it wasn't much more than a shuttle to and from the airport for 2 people. But this gives us the luxury of stopping by a store and picking up toiletries (Tip: Dollar store is my fav place, I don't feel bad about throwing away $1 toothbrushes and stuff on the last day, and they have a little bit of everything, including batteries). This will also give us a chance to go explore Downtown Disney before our flight out. Much better than sitting at the airport all day long.

*I am not forgetting the tolls, we spent a week in Orlando over 4th of July for a dance competition nationals and still have plenty of money on my Sun Pass I bought, thinking we would go thru a lot of tolls, we didn't.