Overwhelmed by all the extras

[wibeachbum]

DH and I have cruised before but never with the kids. We want to take them on a cruise for spring break 2006. Older DD will be graduating high school and this may be the last family vacation. We booked a balcony cabin on the Norwegian Jewel. Now I'm having a hard time finding reasonable airfare. Also need passports, trip insurance, want to fly in the night before so we need hotel and transportation and of course shore excursions. It's adding up to be way more than we planned. :eek: Any money saving suggestions would be appreciated!

[MichTraveler]

There are several ways to save money, but you have to decide where to spend and where to save.

You might be able to save money flying into FLL and using ground transportation to/from Miami.

Instead of buying sodas on-board, pickup some at a local market that morning and carry-on. If you drink bottled water -- same thing as the bottles in the room are very expensive.

Instead of booking cruise excursions, look at the ports of call on CC and find that independent ones can be much cheaper. Or shop for a tour once you get off the ship -- the locals often have excellent opportunities for savings.

Instead of taking excursions at every port, consider just taking a hike or doing free window shopping at one or more. Even consider staying on board during a port call and enjoying the pool and other cruise activities with fewer people -- get your cruise money's worth.

When looking at pre-cruise hotels, consider getting one with included breakfast in the price. Or free transportation to/from port and/or airport.

Limit your souvenier buying. Have the children look at the itinery in advance and choose one or two places where they want to buy a Tshirt instead of from every port. Avoid buying on the ship unless they have a really good sale -- sometimes on the last day.

Avoid the extra cost of the specialty dining rooms and eat in the standard rooms for no extra charge.

Bring your own camera to reduce the number of photos purchased. (We usually don't buy any.) Bring plenty of film or memory sticks instead of buying aboard or in ports.

Choose where you are willing to save a little, as this may be your last family vacation, and have a great time!

[momofslg]

definately get travel insurance. I checked around andd someone told me about STA travel. They are a student travel agency but sell travel insurance to anyone. Their prices are better than any I found. They charge by the # of days traveling not how much you spend. I found their policy to cover everything that I was looking for for a great price. I hope this helps.

 

Airfare...

check out kayak.com they list the prices of many airlines at one time.

[jmcancruise]

Why not suggest to your children that they have to pay for some of the extras like soda cards, shopping or shore excursions. Taking them on a cruise like this is pretty special, but it doesn't hurt for our kids to learn just how much things cost. I do believe they appreciate things more that they have to pay for themselves, and yes do buy travel insurance. My moto is if you can't really afford the insurance then you really need it. We bought it and were thankful for it when our ship was delayed on return and we had to change flights and pay for an extra nights lodging.

[Cruise2End]

One of the neatest things we ever saw was a family where the grandparents took their children and grandchildren on a cruise - now I'm not sure who was paying for what, but for souveniers instead of them buying each person in their group something, they gave each one a nominal amount and then put everyone's name in a hat. Each person picked a name and used the nominal amount to buy the other person something during the cruise - the grandkids absolutely loved being able to buy their cousin or aunt or uncle something that they found in one of the ports visited. We thought this was really neat, and if we ever have grandchildren (hope, hope) someday -- we're going to try it!

[wibeachbum]

Thanks for all of the tips. I am looking at flying into FLL, also flying out of Chicago Midway instead of Milwaukee. Still working on the trip insurance. Bringing our own soda and water on board is a great idea. I just need to get to a store. Thanks again.

[colette5479]

Since you have a few months before your cruise, you can save a little extra money. If your children like to buy souveniers, have the kids do odd jobs around the house to earn the money for them. It always makes my DD feel important if she can buy thins on her own:p

 

Save all of your change until the cruise...you will be amazed how much you will have.

 

I use coupons when I grocery shop and however much money I save, I put that amount into the cruise fund.

 

Coffee, Tea, and juice is free and available most of the time. Take advatage of that instead of spending money on soda.

 

Try to do just one excursion. I would check the boards here to see what might interest you and see if you could save $$ by booking with the cruiseline or with an independent company.

[DFritz]

I didn't look at your itinerary for the NCL Jewel but you may not need all of those passports yet. Many locations like Caribbean, Mexico and Canada don't need the passports until Dec 31, 2006 so you may be safe for the spring. Double check on this and also double check that you have all documents ( birth certificates, etc.) that you need ahead of time.

 

If you have access to Airtran flights or other cost effective airlines from your local airport then sign up with the airline for email postings of their specials. We were able to find flights at $69 each way from Northern Ohio to Tampa or FLL by knowing about the specials.

 

Check your ports of call ahead of time, contact the local area tourism department and find out what they offer for free like museums, walking tours, etc. We have found everything from free snorkeling to free museums at many destinations.

 

Book your hotel using Priceline.com ( read all of the rules first ).

 

Have each child carry their own backpack or fanny pack of snacks on the go to have for airport, etc instead of buying high priced lunch at these locations. I purchase these small food items ahead of time to spread out the cost of my trip.

 

What about an inside stateroom instead of a balcony room. This would probably save a couple of hundred immediately.

 

Have the kids involved in the saving of change, clipping coupons, etc to save additional family funds.

[angel2814]

Check southwest for flights into FLL, their flights don't pick up if you do searches thru discount flight websites. As long as you book 3 weeks out you can get really cheap fares and there is probably a ground transportation relatively cheap for air port to airport. I fly into FLL instead of Miami and save about 100 each flight.

 

There are great tips on shore excursions on the port threads, in the past we've done a couple of independants and a couple through the ship but this time all our excursions are indepent and we're saving about half the price on each. Plus they normally aren't as crowded as the ship scheduled excursions. just be sure to do your research and check for recent feedback to ensure they still have a good reputation.

 

Wait until the last night to buy anything on the ship, it's always on sale! With all the juice and lemonade you can drink for free you really don't miss the soda's! Make sure to bring any toiletry sunblock etc with you and plenty of film and batteries because those are expensive to buy wether on the ship or at a port!

[wibeachbum]

I didn't look at your itinerary for the NCL Jewel but you may not need all of those passports yet. Many locations like Caribbean, Mexico and Canada don't need the passports until Dec 31, 2006 so you may be safe for the spring. Double check on this and also double check that you have all documents ( birth certificates, etc.) that you need ahead of time.

 

Did this change recently? When I booked in July they told me we would need passports. Also when I went to register as a guest on the NCL website it asked for passport info. When I went to the NCL site now, in one place it said passports by 12/31/06 and another place said they will be needed for all of 2006. I went to register as a guest and it did not ask for passport info. I will call NCL when I get home from work. That would save almost $400! :D

[FunInTheCaribbean]

We are a family of 4 cruising this December on the Jewel, and I know exactly what you mean by it "adding up". We ended up getting airfare into FLL much cheaper and renting a van for about $50 to get to Miami - that was cheaper than taxi because there are actually 6 of us - grandparents are going to. We also opted for not purchasing the passports yet - was going to, but at a cost of $400 for family of 4 and I believe I read they are not required until 12/31/06, I decided against everyone's advise to get a passport and saved $400. We have cruised before with IDs and birth certs and it works just fine.

 

As far as insurance- get it. But I learned finally that you don't have to buy it thru the travel agent or cruise line. We found great insurance online for a great price! And the insurance we purchased has so much more coverage such as medical, etc. It was about 1/2 the cost of the cruise line and better coverage.

 

Good luck! You are going during a peak time but with a little searching, you should be able to find decent hotels & airfare rates.

[wibeachbum]

FunInTheCaribbean,

 

I just called NCL and they confirmed that the date for required passports has been pushed back to 12/31/06. That just saved us $400.

 

Flying into FLL sounds like the way to go. I'm still waiting to book airfare, it's a little far our for March and I think I can still get a better deal. However, I know March is spring break and I'm not really comfortable making the final payment on the cruise (due 1/03) without having air.

 

Renting a van sounds good. Where do you return it and how do you get to the pier?

 

Would you be willing to tell me where you got your trip insurance?

 

I appreciate everyone's help!

[Andee]

When we travelled with our kids, at the beginning of the trip, we would tell them an amount that they each had available to spend on souvenirs. They could select anything they wanted, and they could spend it all the first day, or stretch it out for the entire trip.

 

It eliminated their asking us for everything they saw, and gave them a sense of control--plus it taught them a little about budgeting. We bought them one T-shirt per trip in addition. Sometimes, if they admired something, we'd buy it on the sly and give it to them for their next birthday, when they weren't expecting it at all.

 

I agree with the idea of researching free or inexpensive things to do. There are lots of fun ways to spend a day that don't involve a $50 (or more) pp shore excusrion. Our kids loved the beach, and wouldn't have minded if we did that at every port.

 

We never had soda around the house, so it was a vacation treat--but we limited them to one per day. It was a hoot to listen to them deliberate at lunch about whether they should have their soda then--or later in the day to ask us, "Have I had my soda yet today?"

[JoanieBlon]

Check southwest for flights into FLL, their flights don't pick up if you do searches thru discount flight websites. As long as you book 3 weeks out you can get really cheap fares and there is probably a ground transportation relatively cheap for air port to airport. I fly into FLL instead of Miami and save about 100 each flight.

 

Spirit Airlines, another discount airline, also flies into Ft. Lauderdale. I just looked at see they fly from Chicago. You can check their fares at http://www.spiritair.com

[stanford's girl]

For trip insurance, go to www.insuremytrip.com

They will give you different quotes, side by side. :)

[Laurab23]

Also,check the STA website. Its a student travel agency but anyone can buy the travel insurance.It is by far the cheapest I've found and the coverage is as good as any of the rest.

 

Laura

[Nebr.cruiser]

Be sure to buy travel insurance! We have had to cancel three trips in the last 4 years, one to China during the Sars crisis and two due to health of elderly parents; one to China (again! we are not destined to see China, I guess) and one to Europe. Be sure to check what is covered; because of our 4 very elderly parents, we need one that covers pre-existing conditions. In all cases we were reimbursed for all expenses except the cost of the insurance. We used Travel Guard and they have been excellent. It can be a pain getting together all the necessary authentification that you are concelling for a true emergency, but worth it for a $4000-$10,000 trip.

 

Wish us luck--we are going to Africa for 3 weeks in January--if everyone stays healthy!

[Noni]

Hey.....no opinion on the travel insurance but had to say hello to a fellow Nebraskan. Sure is cold these days! We will escape the frigid temps tho when we travel on the Legend of the Seas Feb. 4, 2006.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Greetings, Noni. I guess there are a few Nebraskan cruisers on these boards. We are from Meadow Grove--not so far from Randolph. Looks like our weather will improve before Christmas--finally. Enjoy your cruise!

[wibeachbum]

I will definitely buy travel insurance. That's my next step. Finally booked air this week. We're not flying the day before departure but we have an early morning non-stop flight so we should be okay. I still need to book ground transportation from FLL to Port of Miami.

[tiffnicole_24]

hello even though i don't claim nebraska i am have been stationed there for 2 years and am going on the Carnival Valor in April. Nice to see other people from around:) Just bought travel insuarnce and it is so much cheaper than through the crusie lines. glad I found these boards!

[trentmister]

We just returned from a cruise in Miami. We flew Southwest out of Midway to FLL (great rates), then rented a van from Thrifty, which was conveniently located right in the FLL airport. We drove to Miami, spent the night at Homewood Suites near the Miami airport. Returned the van Saturday morning to the Thrifty near Miami airport, then they shuttled us to the port. Worked very well for us, a family of 5. Since our return trip home was the same day as the ship returned, we took the Super Shuttle to FLL, $95 for 5 of us.

[senior lady]

When we took our boys on a cruise. We told them that we were paying for the cruise, but they had to save all their birthday,xmas etc money. It really gave them the incentive to save.

This way they had their own money when we went ashore, and they usually thought twice before charging something to the room account. We ended paying for the ship bill, but it was much less then it would have been if they hadn't thought that they had to pay their own bills;)

 

They still talk about it being one of their best vacations:D

[MurfAtHome]

I didn't look at your itinerary for the NCL Jewel but you may not need all of those passports yet. Many locations like Caribbean, Mexico and Canada don't need the passports until Dec 31, 2006 so you may be safe for the spring. Double check on this and also double check that you have all documents ( birth certificates, etc.) that you need ahead of time.

 

We are going on RCL out of Galveston and you do not need Passports. Just a Birth Cert. and ID. This was changed by the Government from this year to Dec. 2006. Too many people were affected and they were afraid it would overwhelm the passport dept. We are traveling with 7 of us so we were thrilled that we didn't have to dish out the 700$ for passports:D

[lzlawson]

We are in the same boat--no pun intended :) We are also traveling with kids in 2 weeks--4 teen girls and 2 young boys. I know how easy those extras add up...I have to make a conscious effort not to over-indulge the kids. They don't have to have everything!! We are flying out of Chicago Midway on Southwest (used credit card mileage points for 6 tickets), staying at a Marriott for one night pre-cruise (2 rooms, again using credit card points). I know it may be too late to use points. We are planning to check out inexpensive dining options for dinner and breakfast at or near hotel. Might just order in pizza. Just called Thrifty today and booked an 8-passenger van each way (FLL to Port of Miami). $62 to Miami and $51 back to FLL--with gas it averages about $17 per person roundtrip. Kids will get a little money from us in a cash account on their SeaPass cards, but it is up to them to use their own savings if they want more, or do chores to earn more. We've cruised with them once before and soon after we boarded my (lucky) daughter won a raffle for a free 12-drink ticket (alcoholic drinks). Look for raffles on the first day! That saved some bucks!! As others mentioned, we did our excursions with privately owned companies--reserved online in advance. We were also very selective with the photos they take. We cruise on Royal Caribbean, and found coupons which we used (after booking!) which they still honored. They also have ocassional price drops (although not likely for spring break). They honored for our last cruise after our final payment--gave us an on-board credit. (I would check online prices daily.) Good luck and enjoy!