Question: How many of you go on a cruise the 'frugal' way vs. going all out.....

[klfhngr]

By frugal way, I mean go with a basic cabin, no specialty dining, no extras before the cruise, etc. but take advantage of all the freebies? By going all out, you get a balcony or suite, drink package, specialty dining, purchase in room stuff before the cruise, FFTF, etc.? Just curious, because I'm catching myself purchasing stuff left and right before the cruise even begins!

Edited August 3, 2021 by klfhngr

[Sillyjilly]

I go frugal so I can cruise more often.

[mommysoncruiser]

I tend to go middle of the road. I have two kids that cruise with me so I like to have as many experiences as possible without breaking the bank. We do tend to load up before the cruise with the preorders though. We also tend to buy the drinks packages, internet, and gifts. We tend to do our own excursion though because it just ends up being cheaper. So.... I tend to splurge but try not to go overboard.

[mkcurran]

I tried frugal once, but then upgraded to a spa cabin. And now frugal isn't an option anymore. 

[ninjacat123]

I'm finding alllllll sorts of fun things to buy...a balcony room, dinner at Steakhouse, dinner at Cucina del Capitano, the CHEERS package, the beach bag package with an extra Carnival towel, a cabana on HMC, an excursion to 360 beach in Bimini, a spa treatment for me and a 6 day couples pass to the Spa.  I bet I'll find more, just don't know where I'll fit them in...I know, Dream Studios!  Love their pics!  Now I need to work to pay for all this 🤣

Edited August 3, 2021 by ninjacat123

[TNcruising02]

We always travel the same way, other than choosing a cabin.  If we cruise when the prices are high, I might choose an inside.  If I can get a good deal, I will go for a balcony.  We don't spend much time in our cabin or on the balcony, so we don't get anything larger than a balcony.

We have bought the soda package, but don't buy the alcohol package.  It's not a matter of treating ourselves, we just don't drink that much to justify the cost.  We always preorder some cans of soda and bottles of water to be delivered to the cabin. We have never paid for a meal on a cruise, other than a magic show meal on Norwegian.  We are fine with the free food options.  We might buy a small souvenir here or there, but tend to not spend much on shopping.

 

Our main reason for cruising is to get away and relax.  We enjoy the comedy shows, lounging on the decks, visiting the ports, listening to live music, and being out on the ocean.  The main things we enjoy are free.

[IntrepidFromDC]

We only cruise when we get the "free" cruises from the casino, but once onboard the wallet opens wide for excursions, specialty dining and casino.  So I guess I'm a mix because I won't pay full price for a cruise, but they make money off me in buckets once we're onboard.

[lazydayz]

11 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

We only cruise when we get the "free" cruises from the casino, but once onboard the wallet opens wide for excursions, specialty dining and casino.  So I guess I'm a mix because I won't pay full price for a cruise, but they make money off me in buckets once we're onboard.

 

I love my "free" cruises, but the cruise line always ends up making plenty of money off me when I cruise.  We go to specialty restaurants and the spa, plus donate a fair amount in the casino.  Guess that why the free cruises keep coming! 

[stevec999]

We always book at least a veranda, when we fly it’s first class. Don’t usually do specialty dining. Don’t get a drink package unless there is a great deal.  So guessing not frugal.

[Jasonsterling]

Depends- On my upcoming cruise I'm firmly in the middle. I got a great deal on a 1A so definitely the bargain room but I've booked the Steakhouse and the Chef's Table plus I'm sure I'll eat other upcharge places like the cafe and sushi. Thinking of getting the Thermal Suite package in the spa as well. I've also been thinking of upgrading the room though too- lol so that would pretty much be the end of the "deal". Ha ha. 

[ScottsSweetie]

We are also a mixed bag. We have done 5 day cruises with no excursions - just get off the ship, walk around the port area, maybe a drink or two or lunch. We've also done cruises with very expensive private excursions (at a place where we are unlikely to return). We don't do specialty dining but have purchased at a couple of the a la carte places (sushi & seafood place). We almost always book interior rooms so we can cruise more often, but have booked a suite before (25th wedding anniversary). We are frugal in our everyday life so that when we go on vacation we don't worry about how much we are spending - we can afford lots of the "extras", they just don't interest us.

[snowballs mom]

We are in the middle. We like our spa balcony cabins and spend a lot of time in the thermal suites, but are not big drinkers and do not gamble. We don't always do excursions in ports - sometimes we just go to the beach. We have never booked a suite - I would rather book a second week of cruising with the price difference. We usually carry on the permitted amount of wine and buy a bottle of something for the cabin. A cocktail on the balcony and a glass of wine with dinner is usually enough for us. 

[Circlt]

Husband passed away, then Covid hit.  I’m never going frugal again, I want to live before I die.  Carnival treats me soooo good, it’s easy to splurge on extras. The only exception might be if I book my first cruise on another line.  It will take a couple good gambling cruises to rack up the casino offers.  Then I’m going to make myself happy.  Balconies, spa treatments, excursions I love….I’m their ideal customer.  I’m here to have fun, and forget my sorrows.  I’ve learned firsthand life is short. It’s so easy to be happy on a cruise ship, even without spending a lot, but now I’m not going to be cheap or frugal.  YOLO.

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

2 minutes ago, snowballs mom said:

We usually carry on the permitted amount of wine and buy a bottle of something for the cabin. A cocktail on the balcony and a glass of wine with dinner is usually enough for us. 

We basically do the same-enjoy what is provided on the ship and bring wine & buy a 12-pack of bottled water.  I don’t consider what we do as being cheap (typically bring $200-$300/day for onshore purchases), but most things that cost on the ship can be experienced for less $$ on another form of vacation.

[tallnthensome]

Just depends ..... I've spent $12000 on cruises but yet my cruise in a few weeks on the Panorama cost me $669 for two for a week so that left enough over for Cheers, the spa, dining. Generally we prefer to spend on extras like drink packages, tours, arcade passes, spa passes, etc. We find that enhancing our cruise experience makes it just that more enjoyable but can see how people choose to be frugal if it works for them. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by tallnthensome

[louanne93]

7 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Just depends ..... I've spent $12000 on cruises but yet my cruise in a few weeks on the Panorama cost me $669 for two for a week so that left enough over for Cheers, the spa, dining. Generally we prefer to spend on extras like drink packages, tours, arcade passes, spa passes, etc. We find that enhancing our cruise experience makes it just that more enjoyable but can see how people choose to be frugal if it works for them. 

Are you on the August 21st cruise? My husband and I are on that! Can't wait...

[tallnthensome]

Just now, louanne93 said:

Are you on the August 21st cruise? My husband and I are on that! Can't wait...

Yep! That I am!  We are excited too!  

[originalgeek]

Never had an inside and never bought Cheers.  I prefer balcony rooms but we have done rooms with windows on lower floors.  Our next 2 (next year) are both balconies but we got good deals on them last year when they were throwing offers at me every other day and before anyone knew when there would be sailing again.

 

Our first cruise we went on excursions at every port and found out you can wear your self right out doing that so the rest have all been more relaxed.  We were also too scared to go on non-carnival excursions then so they all cost us about twice what we could have done outside of Carnival.  I'm much more amenable to 3rd party excursions now but I don't know what the rules will be next year.

[Markmom18]

  Our Splurge on cruises would be the cabin itself.

 

 ** Biggest waste of money was Presidental Suite on a Royal cruise in Alaska.  As usual hardly spent any time in the cabin. Too cold for much time on theBalcony.

 

 ** Great Deal $$-Wise, a Porthole Cabin. Never again, the clanking of huge metal objects was awful!!!!! I pay for a window cabin now.

 

** The middle of the road happy cabin for us, is a regular size Balcony on the Empress Deck usually. Whatever Deck has only cabins above & below.

 

** Truly THE splurge is an Aft Wrap. We’ve only booked it twice, but loved the 2 different views. 
 

🛳🛳

Bobbi

Edited August 3, 2021 by Markmom18

[snowballs mom]

13 minutes ago, louanne93 said:

Are you on the August 21st cruise? My husband and I are on that! Can't wait...

 

11 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Yep! That I am!  We are excited too!  

My husband and I are doing a B2B on Panorama starting September 25th. I would love to hear how your cruises go in August!

[EMOSEA]

Before our upcoming cruise we've been more frugal. Our upcoming cruise we're splurging a little more (balcony, drink package, private cabana for our shore excursion). When we take the whole family on our next cruise after that one we're back in oceanview cabins and DIY shore excursions with no drink packages. 

[RoperDK]

We are retired.  The kids are on their own and no more college expenses.  We spend more on cruise cabins and extras now.  We still look for what we feel is a value price.  We mainly cruise in suites, but don't splurge too much.  For example, we could afford an excel suite on Mardi Gras, but chose to book 2 sailings in ocean suites for the same price.  I wasn't a fan of the drink package to begin with because we might actually lose money, especially with a casino DOU card.  We now get the drink package for convenience and will probably always do so unless we have a lot of OBC.  We do specialty dining but don't get flowers or cabin decorations any more.     

[EngIceDave]

We go what we call middle of the road but others may think all out.

 

Balcony cabin is a must. It's a dealbreaker.

We don't drink, so there's that.

Maybe one, two specialty meals

I do gamble (a lot?), so most of our cruises come through that.

We don't buy a lot of extras. I usually book excursions direct.

[tree.critter]

We are also somewhere in the middle. Always book a balcony and a spa balcony on the Dream class and Mardi Gras.  The room is important to me as I do use it regularly.  Booked our first  suite on the Celebration TA which was biggest splurge so far. Once on the ship will eat in steakhouse usually once, maybe twice. Drink a lot of specialty coffee but alcohol is minimal, maybe 10-15 drinks. Don’t visit the casino or spend much on souvenirs. In my early cruising years I was super frugal, not nearly as much anymore. Excursions I usually book with local tour companies depending on length and distance from ship. 

[SCBarker]

Frugal. Free interior. 

Parking 12/day 

Gratuities 14/day 

Bubbles 8/day 

So I cruise for about $35 a day. I live much cheaper on board than at home. Lol