How do y'all afford to cruise so often??

[etoile]

I wonder if that "cruise" from Pampered Passions is a Discovery Island Cruises trip? I wouldn't turn down a trip to the Bahamas but I'm not sure about the Discovery stuff...?

[notentirelynormal]

For our first and second cruise I used several methods to save money. If I leant someone $5, when he paid me back, into the cruise fund. When I went to the grocery store I always wrote the check for an extra $5 - $20 depending on how rich I felt. Took the recyclable bottles back – cruise fund. Any refunds for anything went into the fund. It took me two years but we did it. We also don’t eat out a lot (maybe pizza once every month or so), don’t take those mini-vacations that you really spend more money on then you think. We used the cruises for our family vacations so we tried to go every other year and spent little on board and cheap shore excursions. That also means the years we didn’t go, we didn’t take a vacation except maybe to visit relatives or camping.

 

Now, the way my kids afford to cruise with their family is – MOM - I want to still travel with them, so I pay for the cruise, usually as a Christmas present, sometimes their airfare, and a few of the miscellaneous things like the expense for parking at the airport or the pre stay hotel and they pay their on board expenses and everything else. Our next one is Australia/New Zealand its mighty expensive so after this one just my DH and I! Ok, might take the grandkids and leave the parents behind. They save for the spending money and expenses the same way I did. Refunds, spare change, buying things on sale, coupons, soda can returns and the “I’m feeling rich” deposit when they have an extra $5 or $10 then they thought was left and just plain doing without on some things.

[nursallie]

Hi,

Perhaps the biggest tip to cruising often is:

time

money.

 

If you have a full time job, well then, you only get a few weeks of vacation a year, NOT a lot of time to cruise.

If you have kids, it's even harder, due to school.

 

But I can help you with one thing: money.

The best tip I have is to shop around for a good deal and get an inside cabin.

If you go to expedia.com, do a search under "cruise" for 7 days, carribbean cruises. Then you will get a list of lots of cruises, now sort the list by "price". You will see many cruises for $499 per person for a week long cruise!! That's cheap!!!

You can even go to carnival.com or royalcaribbean.com and search on their websites and they will show some cheap prices too.

 

With port taxes it's about 590/pp and then 2 people cruise for 1200!

Less cost = More cruises!

[JustineTime]

I wonder if that "cruise" from Pampered Passions is a Discovery Island Cruises trip? I wouldn't turn down a trip to the Bahamas but I'm not sure about the Discovery stuff...?

 

Etoile - I checked out that sweepstakes from Pampered Passions. It doesn't say if it's from Discovery or not, but it's 5 days and 4 nights in the Bahamas. Either way you slice it I'm all for it!

[rpinphx1]

Here's our method. If possible to work into your life, it is very easy to do.

 

1. Try to go off season

2. Do the usual, inside, look for deals we all do

3. We minimize how often we go out to eat a month. It adds up faster than we all realize, including all the fast food.

4. I pay myself $20 a paycheck into the cruise fund. Which is a seperate account @ the bank. The bank is located in the same area I do my food shopping in so the deposit is done on the same trip.

5. We no longer give gifts for birthdays, every holiday etc.

We give each other a card and the cruises ( we do at least 2 a yr ) are out Xmas, birthday etc. gift. We plan the cruise AFTER the Xmas, birthday or whatever is good for us.

6. We try to drive to our cruiseport

7. We have pot lucks w/ our friends instead of the "going out to eat for entertainment" syndrome.

 

It works for us.

We save at least $50 a month not eating out at fancy places. We eat out but watch it.

[rpclmc]

Here's our method. If possible to work into your life, it is very easy to do.

 

1. Try to go off season

2. Do the usual, inside, look for deals we all do

3. We minimize how often we go out to eat a month. It adds up faster than we all realize, including all the fast food.

4. I pay myself $20 a paycheck into the cruise fund. Which is a seperate account @ the bank. The bank is located in the same area I do my food shopping in so the deposit is done on the same trip.

5. We no longer give gifts for birthdays, every holiday etc.

We give each other a card and the cruises ( we do at least 2 a yr ) are out Xmas, birthday etc. gift. We plan the cruise AFTER the Xmas, birthday or whatever is good for us.

6. We try to drive to our cruiseport

7. We have pot lucks w/ our friends instead of the "going out to eat for entertainment" syndrome.

 

It works for us.

We save at least $50 a month not eating out at fancy places. We eat out but watch it.

 

We also don't give gifts anymore; the cruie is a gift to all of us. We also don't give cards. We did this many years ago when we didn't even have extra money for a card (let alone any vacation), we would pick out a card we liked, take the other person to look and the card and tell them this is the card we would get them if we could. Now we do that and it is a joke, but so much fun. Yes, simple things still entertain us. We used to take each other on dates to the dog pound and pet the dogs - we couldn't afford real dates and both love animals - so we would spend a few hours playing with the animals. It was quite fun. Boy the simple things in life.

 

Linda

[adamsmom]

We generally only vacation on cruises. It just seems like less stress, less worry about meals, and the whole family enjoys it, including our 2 kids, ages 8 and 11. We might go visit family once or twice a year, but other than that, we rarely travel otherwise. We went to Colorado skiing once without the kids for 3 days, and it cost as much as a 1-week cruise for all 4 of us. We keep looking into Disney World before our kids get too big for it, but a cruise always wins, hands down.

 

We look for cheap cruises, inside cabins are fine, we prefer ports we can drive to, we limit our shore excursion expenses, we don't drink alcohol anyway (a BIG expense), we have yet to even buy a soda card, and we have a certain percentage of hubby's paycheck automatically stored away every payday to pay for the next cruise. We generally do only one a year, but we found a cheap one this fall (the cheapest time to cruise, btw).

[TwoRedMenaces]

I would love to be able to cruise more.

Only having 2 weeks vacation stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chemist661]

We are fairly new to cruising. We were supposed to go a year ago but due to an unforseen event, we couldn't go. (it was before final payment so full refund). We got a very good deal for our upcoming NCLA Hawaii cruise. Balcony for $880pp all in. Last year, we would have paid $1100pp for insides. We saved up & paid cash. (we put on credit card to get points:) ).

 

I have been checking things out & the repo cruises on NCL seem to be bargains. If we didn't book Hawaii, there is a 6 day Vancouver to LA repo cruise for $299pp inside going about the same time. I checked one way air (on our own) & it was $162pp all in. Now that is a nice price! There is a 13 day transatlantic cruise (NCL Jade) from Miami to Barcalona for $499/$599/$699 (inside/outside/balcony). With my online agency, it would be approx $450/$540/$630. I would be tempted but I don't know my wife would like that many sea days. (tempting :D !).

 

She hasn't cruised before--we will see how she likes cruising. I cruised before & enjoyed it. We may do a Mexican Rivera cruise out of our local ports. We can get 7/8 day cruise for well under $500pp. We may try that out.

[craigkell]

im only 22 and im going soon on my 7th cruise.

the way i look at it is that your only here on earth for a short time , . . .enjoy it!!!!!

[Snerd]

Moderate income but low expenses.No CC's or loans of any kind and living debt free.

 

Amen to that! Money is a lot cheaper when you've earned it!

 

Another tip for saving money is to spend all your free time researching cruises!! It's cheaper than going to the mall and can save you some money!

[d man]

I also vacation at least one month every year. I am able to do this for the following reasons:

 

1. I don't stop at a coffee shop every morning going to work

 

2. I pack my lunch every day

 

3. We do not eat out or order out every week.

 

what most people spend on coffee and lunch, I use that money to vacation

 

just my thoughts

 

d man

[melika091900]

im only 22 and im going soon on my 7th cruise.

the way i look at it is that your only here on earth for a short time , . . .enjoy it!!!!!

 

 

 

I agree...

 

me and my husband are 29 and 30 , and our first cruise was in 2003, and since then weve taken 5 more...

 

you might as well enjoy it ....

 

i like the ideas the other posters were saying,,

what i do is every paycheck i transfer 50$ into a cruise fund,, and then in a few months it adds up.. and then its cruise time...

 

 

 

ALSO STAYING OUT OF THE CASINOS HELPS TOO !!!!!!!!! IF WE WERENT GAMBLERS WE COULD CRUISE ALL THE TIME SINCE WE GET 5 WEEKS VACATION A YEAR :o

[LHP]

Ultimately, the bottom line is that we are blessed and we try to be responsible with those blessings.

 

Every person decides what is a priority to them. We have friends with huge brand new houses, pools, new cars etc. But they don't go anywhere. The house and the cars are the priority to them. And if that is what makes them happy...that is fine.

 

We live in a 30 year old house. Our cars are new; but that is just because we just replaced the two 10 year old cars we had. We pay ourselves a car note every month, so when we need to replace the cars...the money is there.

We have no debt. If we can't pay cash for it, we don't buy it. (that includes the house)

 

We have been cruising with our 2 boys (never leave home without them) since 1998 ..... now that the oldest is in college (100% paid for by academic scholarships + spending money) we can spend his college fund on cruising!!!

 

So our 2 to 3 times a year is about to jump to 5 times a year. yea!!!

Hubby gets 7 weeks of vacation because he has been with the same company for 28 years. We also have a motorhome that we use a couple of weeks a year.

 

Basically, the number of times per year is not what is important. What is important is that you enjoy the time you have with the one you love! (where ever that might be) So whether it is one cruise or 100, as long as you enjoy it...than all is right with the world!!

[FAMILY 4 CRUISING]

We shop around for the best price online and travel agents. We buy the cheapest room, inside or TBA. We would love to have a balcony but realize that we can take 2 trips for the price of one by staying inside. We have learned that you spend very few hours in the cabin anyway. We're usually up early, bathing suits on, breakfast, pool, and not back until showers for dinner, then dinner, show, more food and finally back to the room for some sleep to do it all again the next day. We do not drink much, no casinos, We do our own trips on shore and do not buy the cruise line trips as they tend to be very expensive, sometime we use public transportation. We purchased our own snorkel equip. and use this almost everywhere we go. Money is always tight these days so we save by driving older cars, keep the dining out to a minimum, We like to save then pay off the cruise before going then begin to save for the next time. It feels alot better on board when you know the bill has already been paid.

[mncruiser66]

I was thinking the same thing the other day -

for me once a year is all I can afford and honestly I can't really afford that either but I have an incredibly, wonderful mom that takes me with (in return I take care of her and the house all year). Our deal is that I have to pay for my drinks, shore excursions, and anything else I may want but she covers the cost of the cruise. We actually did a comparison of a land based week vacation vs. the cost of cruising and in all reality it actually comes out pretty much the same per day rate. :)

[PattiMerritt]

Charles and I cruise 4 - 6 times per year on an average.... we tend to book inside guarantees and get a much lower rate. First time I DIDN"T book an outside and/or suite, I thought I'd be miserable...but being able to cruise several times a year certainly makes up for not having a window.

 

Also, many lines offer discounts to certain professions. Holland America gives discounts to active police officers, teachers & firefighters. MSC does the same. We just came off a 7-day eastern caribbean cruise with Carnival and spent $450 each with a military discount.... active duty, honorably discharged, and retired members are all eligible.

 

Then there's always the "this agency is offering me this rate...can you beat it" trick!

[etoile]

Then there's always the "this agency is offering me this rate...can you beat it" trick!

Can you go into a little more detail? :)

[rpclmc]

All of the thoughts and suggestions have been great on this thread. I am like LHP, we have been blessed (we don't deserve it more or less the next person, we just received a lot of blessings in our life).

 

It is also about priorities. I have had a lot of people ask how we can afford the vacations that we do. I research and research and then research more and make sure I follow up on the prices each week up to the trip to make sure it doesn't drop. If it does drop in price (I have only had that happen once), I ask for a refund or on board credit.

 

Anyways, other ways that we can afford what we do, is we don't smoke, my husband drinks a case of beer week (I think that comes to about $10.00 a week), only used cars, no debt (this is a recent development, but we also haven't been cruising much, mainly camping until now). Clothes are boughten on sale or at lower price stores (Target, Walmart, etc). We do eat out more than we should, but nothing really fancy.

 

The camping started out in a tent, then a 79 motorhome and now we are really living the highlife and went to a 98 motorhome. We love camping and I love having a motorhome, but I also like very much seeing all the fancy motorhomes and knowing I don't have payments (some of them may not also, but I bet a lot do). We also boat and brag about our 19' motorboat only costing $500.00 with the trailer. We bought it off a guy getting a divorce and not wanting to mess with it and it needed a ton of work. Well, you can't use it in the winter, so my husband did all the work himself.

 

We also limit the casino playing. But we do spend our money on the cruise line excursions. I know it is more expensive, but we like them. It is priorities.

 

For the OP, keep in mind some of the ages of these cruisers. One mentioned the husband had worked for the same company for 28 years. We didn't start cruising until recently and we are in our early 40's. I know there are some people in their 20's out there, but most of the repeat cruisers have had some time to shake out their finances and get some time under their belt at jobs.

 

Also, maybe start with short cruises and you can do more of those. They seem to be less costly.

 

Our first one was a short one, but on Disney - those aren't less expensive. I think we are paying about the same for a 7 night on RC, that we paid for a 4 night on Disney. Don't get me wrong, Disney does a class act, but from what I have learned on these boards, so do other cruise line.

 

Linda

[jazncruiser]

Also, many lines offer discounts to certain professions. Holland America gives discounts to active police officers, teachers & firefighters.

 

Patti, how do you find out about these discounts?

 

Patti (jazncruiser)

[kasaba]

I've been wondering the same thing. This is our second cruise, and it's been five years since the last one. We got such a good deal on the second it gives us hope that there'll be a third, but it might be another five years! It's an outstanding value, but it's still a big lump o' dough.

 

I wonder how many of the frequent cruisers live within driving distance of a port. We Midwesterners, who have expensive airfares in addition to the cost of the cruise, are at a distinct disavantage! :(

[kasaba]

. . . many lines offer discounts to certain professions. Holland America gives discounts to active police officers, teachers & firefighters. MSC does the same. . .

 

My husband and I both teach, and our son is in the service (Coast Guard yet!) so we were VERY interested to read this. :rolleyes: Can you tell me more?

[want2cruiseagain]

My husband and I both teach, and our son is in the service (Coast Guard yet!) so we were VERY interested to read this. :rolleyes: Can you tell me more?

 

 

Jury is still out on this one for me. My husband works for an airline and we get "interline" rates on cruises. Well, I started going into all the interline travel websites and all the fares for the cruise we wanted were the same price from one T/A to another, even non-interline T/A's. Then I went to the cruise line website - price was the same. So I don't know how booking through one of these is going to get you a better deal. The only thing that I saw they offered was "bump" protection, which is something airline employees have to deal with when flying.

 

If anyone has info out there that I'm not getting about that, please enlighten.

[sellsitall]

We decided to cut out all those little 2-3 day weekend trips and just go on a couple cruises a year. We book thru Costco and choose the best deals. All our other vacations have always cost us so much more than cruising. We bought our home 11 yrs ago, so our mortgage is low. We do have 5 kids, and are a young family.

[want2cruiseagain]

We decided to cut out all those little 2-3 day weekend trips and just go on a couple cruises a year. We book thru Costco and choose the best deals. All our other vacations have always cost us so much more than cruising. We bought our home 11 yrs ago, so our mortgage is low. We do have 5 kids, and are a young family.

 

 

We usually go to NYC at least once a year. We usually get an airline rate on hotel, but not really anymore, because the cheapest room at a decent hotel is at least $150 for us. For what we paid for a hotel room for a couple of nights, we could go on a 4 or 5 day cruise. Same thing with land tours. It would have cost us way more to do Italy by land than it did on the cruise. We saw more places than we would on a land tour. Our airfare is cheap or none, so this is a good deal for us.