Best ways to save $$

[bigredva]

My wife and I are booked on a b2b on Magic in January when I get back from deployment. Cruise isn't totally paid off yet but almost. What are some of the best ways to stretch my dollar as far as I can without feeling like I'm really losing out on the cruise experience? Thanks for your help!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[pbsteve]

My wife and I are booked on a b2b on Magic in January when I get back from deployment. Cruise isn't totally paid off yet but almost. What are some of the best ways to stretch my dollar as far as I can without feeling like I'm really losing out on the cruise experience? Thanks for your help!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Cheers is expensive, but if you are a drinker, and she is, it's worth it, my first cruise I spent 120 Bucks day one on drinks.

 

Buy by the bucket if you drink beer, ask for unopened, and save em.

 

Skip the excursions from carnival, if you want to do one, you can usually buy it for 50% direct, but don't miss the ship.

 

Skip souvineers.

 

Pre pay gratuities, easier for me to work into the budget as I pay off the cruise than to have a lump charge.

 

Look for discount gift cards, Verizon let's you use points to buy them, grocery stores, and AAA AARP, often have them.

 

Use your star card for gift cards ( non military won't get it) 10% off first purchase, so if you don't have one, that's 10% off your cruise.

 

Book early saver hopefully you did, and watch for price drops, we once had over 800 in on board credit on a Sept booking.

[sunshine002]

If you enjoy wine make sure that you each bring on a bottle for each cruise. (not sure how it works for a B2B, with bringing wine on for the 2nd cruise)

 

If you go to the steak house the 1st night of the cruise you get a free bottle of wine with dinner.

 

There are many things you can do on the ship without spending any money, comedy club, trivia, piano bar to name a few.

 

For the port see what info there is in the Ports of call section, many times you can walk around the port or hop a local bus and have a great day in port.

 

Enjoy your cruises.

[poz222]

#1 tip... Avoid the casino!

Don't do excursions or shop them in your own

Drink the regular coffee

Buy discounted gift cards when you can

Bring 1 bottle of wine each

Research your ports of call to get the best bang for your buck

Do not stiff the servers tip, save elsewhere. Good service only adds to your experience

Bring snacks to bring ashore (if allowed at that port)

Did I mention, avoid the casino?

Bring a 12 pack of side if that is what you drink

Buy the bottled water (12 for $3.99) to be delivered to room

Drink the free tea or lemonade or water or bring some of the MIO drops and make your own flavored water!

No Spa treatments

Bring all the essentials you need as buying toiletries onboard is expensive

Limit souvenir shopping

Drink less alcohol and stick to the drink of the day or beer

Finally, avoid the casino!!

Have fun!! Enjoying the experience does not have to break the bank.

[sfaaa]

Take advantage of military discount.

[ABQrobin]

Skip Cheers... it just encourages you to drink non-stop all day and night to get your money's worth, then you don't enjoy the cruise.

 

Cruise ships make most of their profit on the booze and on the casino. Keep that in mind. Drinks are not cheap, so put yourself on a budget of how many per day you will have.

 

Skip the $$ dining rooms, eat in the MDR and buffet. Or only do it once per week, as a special occasion splurge.

 

Excursions.... do book excursions, but do it with lots of research for what is best for YOU, not what gets the most raves here on CC. People are different and have different needs. And it is okay to book through Carnival at some ports, if it offers the best excursion for you. Don't take an excursion just because it is cheaper with a private company, there are always added costs.

 

Booking B2B cruise when you are on a tight budget is really tough.

[louanne93]

Take advantage of military discount.

 

^^THIS^^ We always use the military discount! It is the same price as the early saver (but with a guarantee).

[sparks1093]

The best way to save money is simply not so spend it. All of the basics are covered by the cruise fare, everything else is completely discretionary. We've always sat down before the cruise and developed a budget for the discretionary stuff, $X for photos, $X for drinks, etc.

[louanne93]

I forgot to add that Carnival is now geared towards Military life and families. Their new logo is Honor, Family, Fun. They are doing a BIG event in the showroom for honoring the Military! We went and I laughed, cried, it was really heartfelt. Make sure you go. They also have a Veterans meet and greet everyday in one of the pubs or bars! My husband went and met some really great people :)

[sparks1093]

I forgot to add that Carnival is now geared towards Military life and families. Their new logo is Honor, Family, Fun. They are doing a BIG event in the showroom for honoring the Military! We went and I laughed, cried, it was really heartfelt. Make sure you go. They also have a Veterans meet and greet everyday in one of the pubs or bars! My husband went and met some really great people :)

 

Will have to keep my eyes open for that event!

[nealstuber]

With that many port days, maybe get your own snorkel gear if you're planning to do that. Are you driving or flying to port?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[riffatsea]

Take your own photos.

Don't buy pix from the ship's photographers.

Instead of spending all that money on booze just drink less!!

Do research on the ports to figure out activities that don't cost a lot but are still lots of fun.

[First and Ten]

Limit the onboard pics you buy, overpriced (We fail at that, DW buys every friggin pic)

 

Unless booze is a big part of you having fun, skip Cheers and pay by the drink

 

Excursions are expensive, maybe at a few ports do your own thing or skip the port and enjoy the ship

 

Steakhouse/Specialty Restaurants are worth the upcharge but if you want to save $$$$, by skipping them, you arent missing much as far as food quality

 

Obviously skip the casino....unless of course you are winning :D

 

pre-purchase a 12 pack or 2 of water from the funshops for $3.99 (if you don't do the Cheers package)

 

Stay away from the Bingo games....huge racket for Cruise Lines

Edited August 22, 2016 by First and Ten

[dulcimergirl]

Do all the free stuff, trivia, pool, etc.

Stay away from the photo's take your own instead.

Do your own looking around the ports, excursions, etc.

Above all, stay out of the casino.

[RjayB]

Unless you have pre-paid your tips, remember to add those in to your budget - 2 cruises' worth! :)

 

Not questioning your choice, but if it were me I would probably just do one cruise with no budget worries, rather than a B2B with restrictions.

 

It is VERY easy to spend a lot of money if you aren't careful! :eek:

[ZoeyVictoria]

#1 tip... Avoid the casino!

Don't do excursions or shop them in your own

Drink the regular coffee

Buy discounted gift cards when you can

Bring 1 bottle of wine each

Research your ports of call to get the best bang for your buck

Do not stiff the servers tip, save elsewhere. Good service only adds to your experience

Bring snacks to bring ashore (if allowed at that port)

Did I mention, avoid the casino?

Bring a 12 pack of side if that is what you drink

Buy the bottled water (12 for $3.99) to be delivered to room

Drink the free tea or lemonade or water or bring some of the MIO drops and make your own flavored water!

No Spa treatments

Bring all the essentials you need as buying toiletries onboard is expensive

Limit souvenir shopping

Drink less alcohol and stick to the drink of the day or beer

Finally, avoid the casino!!

Have fun!! Enjoying the experience does not have to break the bank.

 

I was reading the other answers before I posted, "Avoid the casino!" I see you already took care of that one :D

[Foxinspace]

Some of our expense is hotel before the cruise. If you are flying in look for super discount accommodations. Hop on to your Roll Call and see if you can wrangle a group of people together. If you all book through the same hotel you might be able to arrange a discount for everyone at that hotel.

 

When on board avoid the shops, casino, spa and specialty restaurants. You don't need them, you can have a great cruise without any of that!

 

Check out the port boards and look for suggestions of low cost things to do. There are usually free beaches or super cheap local transit stuff you can do in every location. You can also read up to see which ports will let you take food ashore and which ones won't. Packing a sandwich and carrying some water can save you from buying lunch ashore. Or if you can stick close to the ship and go back on board to eat lunch.

 

There is lots of stuff to do on board that is free, so make your plans around that. Enjoy the mini put and dive in theatre and skip the more expensive things. If you know you will want some candies for the dive in theatre bring your favorite on board with you rather than buying something from the shops.

 

If you plan ahead you can see some of the money pit falls and plan around them.

 

Lastly take a slow pace. Enjoy the sun sets on deck, and sit pool side reading a book.

 

Have a great time!!

[RecoveryDude]

I think BINGO is a bigger racket than the casino. I actually did great in the casino on the Pride last February - however, I was careful to not go bananas.

 

Do your best to win 1 or 2 "ship on a stick" ... because those activities are always free and there's lots of them.... and you will need to stay relatively sober (which saves money) in order to win those. :)

 

Booking excursions through Viator or other web vendor always saves me TONS of money - I only book thru Carnival If I can't find it other places and really want to do it.

 

Don't buy any merch on the ship, this includes marked-up-then-50%Off watches and jewelry. most of that type of stuff is cheaper on amazon anyway. even the 50% off shirts end up costing $10+ each.

 

Check your balance on the Kiosk every day

 

Have fun!!!

[MissCruiseAddict]

I know others have mentioned avoiding Bingo, the Casino, and liquor but if those three things are your cup of tea save for them now.

 

You'd be surprised how much you can save just by putting away a few dollars every week or day. Cut back at home. If your wife goes out for Starbucks she can take that money and put it in jar or something to set aside.

 

Carry on your own soda instead of buying the bottomless bubbles.

 

On the port stops if excursions are your thing don't do them through the cruise line find a reputable tour company and book through them. If the beach is your thing find out where the closest free beach is on the island and just take a cab there instead of doing an all inclusive excursion.

[simplelife]

Here is how we save: Eat on the ship, not in port, though it is often cheaper to buy drinks in port. Ear a good breakfast before debarking. We have even at times returned to the ship to eat and debarked again. Take on the allowable amount of wine. Don't buy the photographs -Take lots of candids with your phone/camera. Let the photographs be your souvenirs. Do your research and find out if your port has things to do without buying an excursion. Use your hotel points for the pre- Cruise hotel, or use a "mystery" hotel through Priceline or Hotwire. Don't park at the port. Do the math and find out if it is cheaper to get a good rate on the hotel and park at an off site place. This is often cheaper than paying the rate at a hotel which lets you park, especially if they charge for the shuttle. When possible, walk. Take advantage of the times specialty restaurants are free -Often at lunch.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Micahs Grandad]

Minimize spending on the ship, limit alcohol and specialized coffee and have stuff that is included in price.

 

Take walks on your ports. What ports are you going too?

 

and thank you for your service

[riclop]

My wife and I are booked on a b2b on Magic in January when I get back from deployment. Cruise isn't totally paid off yet but almost. What are some of the best ways to stretch my dollar as far as I can without feeling like I'm really losing out on the cruise experience? Thanks for your help!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Control your drinking because it seems most go on a cruise to drink and drink some more.

[Micahs Grandad]

I think BINGO is a bigger racket than the casino.

 

I like to count how many people go up on line to purchase bingo cards and compare it to payout, than shake my head at the ridiculously low payout

[nealstuber]

One more suggestion, don't be penny wise and pound foolish. You're out the right track with a "keep costs in line without detracting from the cruise experience" mindset. For us it's easy to stay on budget onboard. The shore excursions are what used to get us, especially in "new to us" posts. Now we pre-book, usually all-inclusives through 3rd parties frequently reference on this site.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Thirsty Cruiser]

Skip Cheers... it just encourages you to drink non-stop all day and night to get your money's worth, then you don't enjoy the cruise.

 

Wait...what? I'm doing it wrong.

 

Disagree with the $$ dining comment. Steakhouse is the best deal you'll find anywhere for that level of dining and I'd highly recommend it. Save your pennies and take advantage of your special event -- or make it one.