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I know that there are some old posts on this...but does anyone have some new ideas?

 

I am putting all of my 1's and 5's and change in a jar and cashing them in just before I go. 

I am using one of my credit cards that has  a free $100 Carnival gift card for every 10000 points

I use Allstate rewards to get $100 gift card  for $90

I am going to a "travel expo" this weekend where I get 2 free plane tickets, 2 nights hotel and 1/2 price rental car for free just for sitting through their presentation...Yes I know they will try to sell me a time share....but I already have one...so I don't need another...

I am comparing excursion prices, and hoping to use Carnivals price match guarantee to get some free OBC.

 

 

What are you all doing?

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  • 1 month later...

I just found the Ibotta app for my phone. When I go grocery shopping, I usually get a couple of dollars back from them. Bu the time I cruise...I should have $100 or so...

 

Soda bottles and cans can be returned in my state for 5 cents each. I might have another $100 or so by the time I leave in January...

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In the past, we used our big box credit card to get 3% cash back on travel.

If you book through the big box, you can get another 2% cash back.

Now, we use our Chase card to earn 3% in points for travel.

Points redeemed through the Chase portal receive another 1.5 bonus, total of 4.5%.

We don't use the points for cruises but we do use them to book hotel rooms.

The Chase card also provides cancellation insurance up to $10K per person.

We like GeoBlue for health insurance  while on travel.

 

 

 

Edited by RocketMan275
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On 2/4/2020 at 7:12 PM, richbum said:

 

I am putting all of my 1's and 5's and change in a jar and cashing them in just before I go. 

 

I like to do this too. We save all our coins and smallest bills, 20 SEK (around $2).

 

Between cruises we normally save around $2000  which we use as a small part of our final payment.

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  • 4 months later...

Buy some stock in a Cruise Corporation that you sail on quite frequently.  My wife has 100 shares each of Carnival (Princess, Holland America and a few others belong to this corporation) and Royal Caribbean (includes Celebrity).  We get $100 cruise credit as stockholders, and is the only reason we hold this stock. .  And, someday, the price may go up.

Look for deals where a lot on on-board credit is offered.  Free gratuities is always a good deal.  Free excursions or free internet do not matter to us.

We hardly ever bother with ship excursions, we have found better deals in every port by researching on-line.

As Elite passengers on Royal Caribbean, we can get sodas and wine for free at some bars, and just carry them into dinner (this will take multiple cruises to build up to this)

We both have American Express cards, tied to Delta   Sky Miles.  In addition to miles being tied to daily purchases, Delta offers up to 3x the miles on the purchase price of the cruise, plus 10,000 extra miles, and, usually a lot of the usual perks. Not strictly a money saver for cruising, but, if you are ever flying somewhere, you'll really appreciate this savings.

The specialty restaurants usually offer up to 50% off the first night of the cruise, so, this is when we go to one

My wife likes her chocolate martinis, but, we rarely have a balance over $100 at the end of any cruise

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 2/4/2020 at 12:12 PM, richbum said:

I know that there are some old posts on this...but does anyone have some new ideas?

 

I am putting all of my 1's and 5's and change in a jar and cashing them in just before I go. 

 

 

What are you all doing?

I save 1s and 5s also but keep them for cruising for tips and exact change for shopping. Better to barter with exact change and everyone wants a tip. Want better drink service, tip at least $1 per drink onboard. 

 

Usually I cruise off season, or last minute deals. I booked up a lot of covid deals for less than 200% solo pricing usually hard to come by out of Galveston. Now prices back to normal. .. or higher as lots have to use up fccs. Pick your deals. Know your ships. Carnival has 1A that say upper and lower but unless it's a very old ship it's a sofa bed and twin. Get a port hole for inside price. Or obstructed ov on rcl. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

While I haven't used this tip saving for a cruise, I did use it years ago to help pay for a trip to Disney that I surprised my husband and son with.  I needed ways to save up as much money as possible without my husband finding out what I was up to (it was a surprise for his birthday) so I started using every possible coupon/cash back opportunity I could on the things that we typically bought.  Since we already had a weekly grocery budget amount set, I knew I could spend up to that amount without him catching on.  When I checked out, whatever I had saved in coupons OR not spent out of the weekly budget on that trip automatically got transferred into a savings account.  While this technique didn't pay for the entire trip, of course, it did help save quite a bit because I got very good at finding coupons or cashback offers! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

1.  I book my cruises several months ahead and pay the cruise line monthly.  I think of it as an interest free loan.

2.  Some cruise lines have gift cards.  If you have a Target credit card, buy the gift cards with it and save 5%, and use them to pay for the cruise.  Do your research first though, I haven't done this on a cruise, but it saved me a couple hundred on a Disney World trip.  Just be sure to pay the credit card bill in full or the interest will eat up any savings you get.

3.  To save on airfare getting to the port, Alaska Airlines gives holders of their credit card a two for one ticket once a year.  You do have to wait two billing periods before you can use it the first time.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

For Caribbean and Europe Cruises, don't spend more than $70 per person per night, including all port fees and taxes, excluding gratuities.

There are plenty of bargains available below $70 per person per night.

 

Use the bidding site to have different agents offer you lower and lower prices or higher and higher OBC

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
On 3/7/2020 at 2:20 PM, RocketMan275 said:

In the past, we used our big box credit card to get 3% cash back on travel.

If you book through the big box, you can get another 2% cash back.

Now, we use our Chase card to earn 3% in points for travel.

Points redeemed through the Chase portal receive another 1.5 bonus, total of 4.5%.

We don't use the points for cruises but we do use them to book hotel rooms.

The Chase card also provides cancellation insurance up to $10K per person.

We like GeoBlue for health insurance  while on travel.

 

 

 

Plus it comes with $10.000 insurance .

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  • 9 months later...
On 3/12/2020 at 3:45 PM, Surfguyxxx said:

I love a good massage  but not on-board with ships pricing.  I know, the company is leased out, but I usually go in the ports and get one at 1/3 to 1/4 the price.

In Central Pattaya you can get a 1 hour traditional Thai massage or foot massage in a regular massage parlour for less than $6.

 

When our Cruise was docked at Laem Chabang, (near Bangkok and Pattaya) for two days, it was amusing to see Thai masseurs charging over $50 for the very same massage onboard.

 

They said it is like comparing a roadside food stall to a five star restaurant, (with the same cooks and waiters)

Edited by drsel
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