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

[c-boy]

I worked hard for my money, and now it's working hard for me so that we may enjoy it.  First class all the way is my moto. 

[jwattle]

Definitely balcony, preferably Club Class (Aqua Class on Celebrity). Princess Plus as it includes tips, WiFi and drinks. We may not be the biggest spenders, but we will definitely enjoy ourselves onboard and won't be counting the pennies. 🥂 You will find us either out dancing, at the casino, at a restaurant, sightseeing or simply enjoying being together. I you do, say "hello" because we are two of the friendliest and happiest to be at sea people you'll meet.

We earned it and now that we have some time off, "we're on holiday!"

[iancal]

We get tired of the on board environment after a while.  21 days is our absolute limit.  14 is preferable.  Three consecutive sea days and we are ready to jump ship, regardless of the consequences. 

 

We get tired of the cabin, the food all starts to taste the same after a week or so, and we tire of the general environment.  Especially the cabin.  It starts to look so anti septic to us.  I realize that this sounds strange.

 

 It is not that we do not like cruising.  We do, but in smaller doses.   At the other end seven days is too short for us. 

 

We did a 14 day to Fiji, got off the ship and traveled on our own through to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.   Two weeks later or so we were back in Sydney for a 21 day Oz/NZ cruise.  That was fine for us because we had time in between and they were two very different ships on two different cruise lines.

 

We shop on value.  Most of our vacations average our.  We may not spend a great deal, relatively, in Thailand, but we certainly make up for it in Australia etc.  Same in Europe.  Like others we worked hard and worked smart all of our lives and now we want the dividends.

Edited August 4, 2021 by iancal

[navybankerteacher]

22 hours ago, SCBarker said:

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

What does “Free interior” mean?

 

 

[XBGuy]

I have really enjoyed this conversagtion.  It epitomizes the contention that I have made more than once here on Cruise Critic.  Namely, cruising allows everybody to customize their experience to fit their desires.  Nobody really cares whether I cruise frugally or extravagantly.  They are enjoying their experience the way they choose to enjoy it,  That is the way it should be.

[zekekelso]

On 8/3/2021 at 5:21 PM, klfhngr said:

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!

Going to art auctions for free “champagne “ is my drink package. Does that make me frugal? 

[getting older slowly]

Frugal...

 

Well a relation of mind went on a cruise... they got the cheapest interior cabin   and their OBC was Zero.. at ports walked around or took the free shuttle into town....   

afterwards his wife say she was no going on a cruise again.....

 

The question of ones spending on a cruise... done come to why you are on the cruise in the first place

 

For us the Cruise is a holiday to be enjoyed  so we enjoy ourselves...  we don't go over board.... on our OBC.... ( havn't gone over my allowed limit yet )  Cabin we get what we want...  Generally do our own thing in port, but sometime do a tour that we organised

 

The Point is one has spent  large amount of money of the cruise, .. so would not say no to spending extra

 

But it is Each to their own on this.... ( to some we splurge    but we are not over the top )

 

Don 

[MsADQ]

It depends on the ship, the destination, and the occasion.

 

Usually, I go for frugal.  I get the least expensive inside cabin, skip the drink and dinner packages, and usually skip the wifi too.  I do book excursions, but not for every single port.  The less I spend, the sooner I get to board the next cruise.  And I enjoy the good sleep I get in a windowless room, so it's hard to want to spend much extra without a good reason.  Last January was MrADQ's very first cruise and his birthday celebration, so I made sure we had a window.  And next February we're doing B2B cruises as a belated honeymoon, first week is a cheaper inside cabin and second week is a balcony. (Unless we get a really tasty upgrade offer)

 

Many years ago, I cruised in a royal suite on Celebrity Summit, the biggest splurge ever.  I figured I'd only go to Alaska once and it was definitely worth it to sit in the whirlpool on the balcony and watch the scenery go by. (Little did I know, I'd later move to Alaska! 🙂 ) 

[SCBarker]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

What does “Free interior” mean?

 

 

My next couple of cruises are on a casino offer for a free interior room

[SCBarker]

21 minutes ago, SCBarker said:

My next couple of cruises are on a casino offer for a free interior room

I just realized this got moved out of the Carnival forum and into the General Discussion board. No wonder the answers seemed to take a turn midway though.

[evandbob]

Frugal or extravagant?  How about balanced or geared to the cruise?  If a new ship, then dining choices in specialty restaurants are important.  If a "regular" mass cruise line ship on a Caribbean cruise, easy does it since I've been there before many many times.

 

If a one in a lifetime "bucket list" sailing, then all out, cause we aren't going back.

[louanne93]

On 8/3/2021 at 3:34 PM, snowballs mom said:

 

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

Absolutely!!

[clo]

1 hour ago, SCBarker said:

My next couple of cruises are on a casino offer for a free interior room

How much do you have to lose to get that offer? We used to live in NV and cruise casinos are so much tighter (captive audience, I suppose) that they don't tempt us in the least. I think a couple of times I 'donate' $20.

[SCBarker]

15 minutes ago, clo said:

How much do you have to lose to get that offer? We used to live in NV and cruise casinos are so much tighter (captive audience, I suppose) that they don't tempt us in the least. I think a couple of times I 'donate' $20.

I won't "donate" more than $100 a day on average. 

[clo]

28 minutes ago, SCBarker said:

I won't "donate" more than $100 a day on average. 

We said "we don't gamble, we make our donation to the local economy." 🙂

[greatestvalue]

We cruise based on the greatest value.

 

We dont need the cheapest, and we dont need the most expensive - We need the greatest value. 

 

From the room choice to how we get home from the port. 

 

Not just in cruising but in life. 

 

The avatar name, says it all.  

[getting older slowly]

50 minutes ago, greatestvalue said:

We cruise based on the greatest value.

 

We dont need the cheapest, and we dont need the most expensive - We need the greatest value. 

 

From the room choice to how we get home from the port. 

 

Not just in cruising but in life. 

 

The avatar name, says it all.  

 So the best bang for your buck..... Good point....

 

My analogy on that is with cars...

buy a local brand top of range or imported brand bottom of the range

 

( we are not starting about... main stream cruise line vs the luxury lines )

 

Don 

[Markanddonna]

I am thinking the folks on this board fall into one of four categories

- Can easily afford a cruise with lots of addons and so go for the upper level experience (suites and upper level experiences)

- Can easily afford a cruise with lot of addons but choose not to (book non suites)

- Are on a budget, but cruise left often so they can have the extras (book suites)

- Are on a budget, and are more frugal- book non suites and spend less money on drink, spa, and dining packages.

 

Just like when we purchase a home, some of us can easily afford several homes, some are willing to have a huge mortgage that they hope they can afford (but probably can't), and some live "below their means." 

[navybankerteacher]

12 hours ago, SCBarker said:

My next couple of cruises are on a casino offer for a free interior room

So it’s only free if you never lose.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We always do a balcony, but other than that are probably more on the frugal side of things.  We look for the best bargain, as long as it's somewhere we want to go, and spend very little on the ship.  Since we rarely drink, no drink package or soda package.  We do specialty restaurants if we have OBC to use up, otherwise not.  We buy very little on the ship, like at the shops or spa and almost always either do our own thing or use private excursions.

 

We do what we enjoy and don't miss spending hundreds or thousands on all the extras.  If going on long flights we try to do business class, but only using airline miles.

[navybankerteacher]

22 hours ago, Joebucks said:

 

I would be careful with the way you disparage the choice of a lot of cruisers. There are many people out there that believe the RCL Oasis, Carnival Celebration, and NCL Breakaway Plus classes offer an experience that is quite enjoyable to them, if not better than others perceived "first rate" experiences.

It's not really disparaging to simply mention that the "low cost" lines tend to offer a bare bones product - and then add extra charge items for people who want to enjoy, and not simply economize, while on vacation.  And, a lot of them (once the add-ons for quality meals, space, entertainment and service are tacked on) wind up spending as much as an upscale line would have charged - but still get the crowded experience.

[George C]

We go all out on vacation, suites , specialty restaurants, high end drinks etc, I have a 11 year old car but rather spend money on vacation.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

It's not really disparaging to simply mention that the "low cost" lines tend to offer a bare bones product - and then add extra charge items for people who want to enjoy, and not simply economize, while on vacation.  And, a lot of them (once the add-ons for quality meals, space, entertainment and service are tacked on) wind up spending as much as an upscale line would have charged - but still get the crowded experience.

I'd had that thought. We've only sailed once on Oceania but, yes, so many of those things are included. 

[iancal]

Doesn't your definition of going 'all out' really depend on personal preferences and on spending habits.

 

We never buy the drinks package.  Not because we we do not want to go 'all out' but because it does not have a great deal of value to us.  Same for a number of other various cruise ship offerings that we never consider.

 

Choices do not always equate to being a spendthrift or to be frugal.

Edited August 5, 2021 by iancal

[ilikeanswers]

3 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

I am thinking the folks on this board fall into one of four categories

- Can easily afford a cruise with lots of addons and so go for the upper level experience (suites and upper level experiences)

- Can easily afford a cruise with lot of addons but choose not to (book non suites)

- Are on a budget, but cruise left often so they can have the extras (book suites)

- Are on a budget, and are more frugal- book non suites and spend less money on drink, spa, and dining packages.

 

Not sure which I fit into 🤔. Maybe a little bit of each😁.