Any tips/advice on how to afford cruising with a VERY tight budget?

[smurd83]

I will be getting married this coming summer and finishing up grad school next year, so I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to afford to go on cruise vacations with a very limited budget?

 

We live in Ohio, so getting down to ports like Miami/Galveston aren't so financially friendly, so I'm guessing there's not much that can be done to save on airfare there. But, I just wondered if people have certain methods of getting their cruises paid for? (paying a little bit month by month, etc.) Thanks!

[BEVGOO]

We cruise during what are usually less costly times like the week after Thanksgiving. We live in Northern Kentucky but can fly out of Indianapolis on Southwest a lot cheaper and do that sometimes. Watch the specials on some of the big name Websites, same with air and put something towards it every week. Book an inside room if necessary, you are still on the same cruise and get the same service. I would say determination to cruise is your best friend.

[mcfaddensfarm]

We live in Idaho, so I feel your pain on being far away from any ports. That's always a bummer, having to come up with the airfare too. But in regards to the cruise budget, that's what I love about booking a cruise. You can plan one way ahead of time, depending on when you book. My cruises are normally booked at least a year out. (Usually around a year and a half!) Then each month I put a certain amount away into my savings, so that by the time final payment is due, I'm paid off. Then I keep putting money away up until the sailing date so I have some extra spending money. Even if you don't know which sailing you're doing, you can always start saving. For instance, my 40th birthday is in June of 2008. I know I want to do a special cruise for that special birthday. Being that June is NOT a cheap month to sail in, I know that I'll have to come up with a little extra money for the right cruise. So I figure if I start saving NOW, just a little each month, then when the right cruise comes along I can book it with no problem and keep on saving until the final payment is due!

[Barbee524]

What month in the summer you are looking to cruise? Late August is generally a bit cheaper.

 

Some land based travel agents will let you make monthly payments toward your cruise and I think you can do this if you book directly with RCI. If you can afford to buy yourself onboard credits in advance this will lessen the shock of your seapass bill. If you use a travel agent try and find one that will give you extras like onboard credit, free wine, etc.

 

And by all means once you book check daily for a price drop on your cruise.

[michigan tim]

Also, consider different ports, shorter trips and perhaps driving to Balitmore.

[Willum UK]

My wife and I come over to the US from the UK to cruise so working out how to keep the costs down is important. We cruise after 1st November and before 31st March so get the cheapest airfares (still around $600 each though) There are cheap deals on the cruise costs if you are prepared to wait until quite close to your cruisedate before booking, although you need to be flexible about where you want to go as some cruises may be fully booked. I have seen RCI 5 day cruises to Nassau for around $200 before now.

[smurd83]

Thanks for the great advice so far, everyone!

 

m*ch*g*n tim: don't most of those ships go to Bermuda though? Bless her heart, but my fiance gets some strange things in her head sometimes, and said she wouldn't want to go out there because of the whole "bermuda triangle" thing.

 

Barbee524: I have been checking the prices about once a week, but do they change more often than that? I thought I read somewhere that all the price changes happen on Tuesdays?

 

For our honeymoon, we are booked on the Adventure of the Seas for July 1 2007, but the price seems to keep inching higher and higher instead of lower and lower. But I'll keep in mind the tip about August generally being cheaper!

 

I definitely like the fact that you can pay off the cruise in increments rather than having one big dent in the bank account!

[barbaragrace]

I will be getting married this coming summer and finishing up grad school next year, so I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to afford to go on cruise vacations with a very limited budget?

 

!

 

Would leaving out of NY or Bayonne, NJ be cheaper than flying to Florida?

Also, Carnival might be less expensive.

[smurd83]

Unfortunately, our future professions (music teachers/performers) allow us very limited options in terms of cruising (spring breaks, winter breaks, summer breaks). I would bet we could drive out to NY, wouldn't be TOO bad, and it'd be a fun road trip.

 

The funny thing is, from Columbus to San Juan, PR, the airfare has been below $300 for months now, with no signs of going up! It's cheaper to fly there than to most places in the states! If only it'd stay that way forever...

 

I'm leery about trying Carnival...I've heard lots of bad stuff about them (being overrun by families/partiers). While yes, I am still relatively young, I don't drink and I'm not much of a partier, but I still like to have a good time. Do you think I'd still enjoy a Carnival cruise? I have noticed their prices being a bit cheaper than RCCL sometimes...

 

Thanks again for your help!

[Barbee524]

The promo wave is released on Tuesdays though the prices can change at anytime. Our last cruise the price dropped on Tuesday and went back up a couple of days later. My TA told me that RCI can raise the price back up when they feel they have enough cabins booked.

 

I'll admit I'm obssesive about checking the price. Though I saved $100 on our last cruise with a price drop and $200 on our upcoming cruise.

[murphyis1]

Some money saving tips while on the cruise...

 

Try to walk into town when in ports. It will save you money on taxi fare, plus the exercise will help to burn off all those extra calories!

 

Try to eat lunch on the ship on port days. You've already paid for the meals, so this is an easy way to save. Consider going to shore as early as possible, then return to the ship near the end of the lunch serving.

[Sue L]

Thanks for the great advice so far, everyone!

 

m*ch*g*n tim: don't most of those ships go to Bermuda though? Bless her heart, but my fiance gets some strange things in her head sometimes, and said she wouldn't want to go out there because of the whole "bermuda triangle" thing.

 

 

 

Tell your fiancee that the ship does not go through the Bermuda triangle on the way to Bermuda. The Bermuda triangle is further south and the island itself is basically one of the points. We loved the Bermuda cruise which we did in September. If you like please check out my pictures with the link in my signature.

 

 

Sue

[ACCagent]

I don't know if this would help you or not but I've had some couples use my agency as one of their "bridal registries" and many of their guests have given gift certificates to be used toward their cruise. This went quite a ways toward their total cost. Your agent will have to set up a separate account that is just for your money and it requires a bit of work on his/her part to use the payments that are made past final time as many are. It can be done if you have a patient agent. If they need haep on how to handle it, I'd be happy to pass on what I've done.

[frugal one]

There are several websites out there. Hubby and I used www dot thebigday dot com. We were very happy with it. Basically you post anything and everything from one night hotel/cruise ship to suntan lotion. You give each item a price. And your guests buy you "gifts". The website sends you a check or directly into your checking account less a % fee. I did a bunch of research to ensure that the website we selected was reputable. And we got NO toasters.

[NancyB84]

We cruise at off times when we can. We also start saving... sometimes a year or two in advance. This upcoming cruise has been in the works for about a year.

 

We take a little each week out of our paychecks and put it toward a cruise or other vacation. (goes right into the savings). We also did Bank of America's keep the change program. I was amazed at how much we actually had in our savings the last time I checked from just the keep the change transfers.

 

Then we start waaaaaaaaay in advance saving out cash for tips, excursions, spending money etc. We tuck it away in a fireproof box and don't touch it. We pay for as much ahead of time as we can. It doesn't seem like as much of a hit fnancially when you take $20 here and there out of the weekly budget.

 

We also have driven to ports... even ones that took a day to get there.

 

We look for deals like... park and fly hotel options ... to save on airport parking.

 

We were hooked after our first cruise... and we live on a very tight budget... but where there is a will... there is a way.

 

Good luck and enjoy cruising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[AFT_LOVER]

Visit www.rccl.com and go to HOT DEALS for weekly specials that are true bargains since they are NOT selling. So grab one of those! Also check 2 other RCCL sites:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL.pdf

 

and

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL.pdf

 

These both post new sales every Thursday night to be booked on the following Tuesday. As far as making monthly payments, get the RCCL Platinum Plus VISA which doubles all charges made to RCCL. This is deposit, final payment, excursions bought online, gift & gear bought online. Then you get upgrades or Onboard credits added to your account to buy or pay for stuff. You can make monthly payments to them but interest is charged, or get a free checking account & put monthly payments in there & when you have the $500 for 1 week or less or $900 for 2 weeks or less deposit. Then keep saving to pay the payment 60 days before the cruise.

 

An inside stateroom isn't that bad if you haven't cruised on a balcony, which I could never do it again inside. Since you sleep & shower there, the whole ship is for fun & you get it all for you.

 

Pack booze in your clothes inside a ziplok bag to protect against leakage. I have put a small bottle with toothpaste, brushes, so it looks like mouthwash thru the scanner. Then get glasses of lemonade from the buffet to take back to your stateroom to mix vodka or gin in. We have a -0- balance since we are Diamond and all specialty coffee is free 24/7 & cocktails from 5-9 PM daily. We like to walk around ports to see what we can see and if we see a cheap interesting excursion that is early we go.

 

ENJOY! & Welcome to Cruising...........

[randyfipps]

My wife and I cruise on a tight budget also. Our secret is every week

the first thing we do is put $20 Each in an envelope. At the end of a year

we have $2080 that covers most of our vacation. If we have extra during

the year we add to it, another $5 each = $520 more $ that covers excursions

& tips.

[floridaken77]

A couple of things:

 

(1) think of the Latte factor -- what is there that you can cut out on a daily basis? Coffee? Thats $80/month (at one per work day) for two of you.

 

(2) Make sure you have a savings account set up! Here is how I do it: I pay all of my bills online, and then when I get paid, I figure out how much is set aside for bills, how much to set aside for gas/expenses (being conservative) and then transfer the rest into a savings account. If you need to transfer money back and forth , its not a problem (unless you go over the max). That way, if you dont need more than you minimum, you will have saved a bunch.

 

(3) The other option is to charge it, and set up a plan immediatly how to pay it off with in a specified time!

[smurd83]

Luckily we don't drink, so we don't have to worry about that expense! Unfortunately we're kind of blowing the whole inside cabin idea out of the picture since I reserved a corner aft balcony on our upcoming cruise :rolleyes: I guess we'll just have to see how much time we actually spend in the room vs. out of it.

 

I wish my bank had the Keep the Change program! Before I used my check card to pay for everything, I used to save up all of my extra change I had laying around, and it usually ended up to be about $150 (for a college student, that's a fortune!) So I would treat my fiance to dinner and a broadway musical that happened to be in town. Now that I use check card for EVERYTHING, I have maybe $10 laying around :(

 

I love the idea of putting money in weekly towards a "cruise fund," my only concern is I'm going to start saving for retirement here soon.. I keep hearing to start saving early for retirement, so even though I'm only 23, I figure why not, I'll have a BLAST when I finally retire in about 40 years! :eek: But maybe I could put a little there and a little in the cruise fund, and keep my wallet even tighter..

[Happy ks]

I see you are already booked, so your plans are set. So, I'll just stick to the onboard stuff.

 

Gratuity to the staff should never be cut, unless there is a huge problem with the service provided and it is the direct fault of the service provider. That's pretty rare on a cruise ship, even the cheapest of cruises we have taken we have gladly tipped the full amount, sometimes over.

 

As for the rest, well, you can actually cruise for a lot less than what a lot of people do. Forego the fancy drinks, photography, souvenirs, expensive shore excursions and you have very little left that needs to be paid for.

 

Although we won't give up our wine with dinner, I've found that I can do without the umbrella drinks by the pool. We wait until after the second formal night to decide if we really want a formal picture and buy one. We have found that any souvenir, no matter what it is, is thrown out soon after returning home, so we just don't buy any more. I don't drink sodas at home, just water, so I stick with that all week, the ships water is fine to drink.

 

Don't be lured into any of the sales, bingo or other expenditures that are hawked all week. We've been on cruises where they don't hawk at all and it's quite pleasant, but when we cruise RCI, we just ignore all but the Captains announcements.

 

We budget about $10 each for gambling for the week, not finding any great joy or fun in it, we prefer to walk up on deck at night or find a piano bar. The casinos always smell of smoke, anyway, so it's easy to forego.

 

So, we end up with a budget of around $100 per day, including all wine and photo purchases, plus a few cocktails for my husband and our shore budget. I will shop for makeup onboard, if I happen to need something at the time, you do save tax on those items. If you aren't a wine or cocktail drinker, you can actually cruise for only the fare plus gratuities.

 

Be creative with your shore stops. Read all you can about the port you're visiting and really see the port, not the shopping mall next to the port. We love to visit old churches, take a walk through a park, go to the beach, sometimes rent a car and get out of town for a couple of hours. Lots to do without spending a bundle.

[smurd83]

Happy ks: Great advice! We pretty much just drink water too, can't afford to gamble (and never have anyways, so why start?), I did the prepay gratuities thing (that way my dad's paying for that part of the honeymoon:D), and we love piano bars so we could probably just sit in there for hours and enjoy sipping our water while enjoying the piano and each others company.

 

We'll probably save most of our money (the little bit that we'll be able to use) on shore excursions...but I find $35-50pp to go to a beach through RCCL is a bit much.. Any suggestions on how to go about finding cheaper excursions? Our stops include barbados, st. lucia, antigua, st. martin, and st. thomas.

 

BTW, I guess I should have explained myself a little further, the main reason for the post was for cruising in the future (excluding the honeymoon cruise coming up). But it was VERY valuable information, so thanks a ton!!

[JRA382]

I will be getting married this coming summer and finishing up grad school next year, so I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to afford to go on cruise vacations with a very limited budget?

 

We live in Ohio, so getting down to ports like Miami/Galveston aren't so financially friendly, so I'm guessing there's not much that can be done to save on airfare there. But, I just wondered if people have certain methods of getting their cruises paid for? (paying a little bit month by month, etc.) Thanks!

 

We live in Ohio also(Columbus) and between Southwest, jetblue and the competion btwn the carriers we can usually find good deals. You can fly to Ft lauderdale for $59-$79 each way on Southwest the trick is to leave on Wed (or other off times/days) there are also great deals to Tampa, you just have to be flexible and watch for deals. For florida spring and winter is always the highest while summer is relatively cheap (have gotten round trip for $ 135 to tampa, but have seen it as low as $44 each way.

This spring we are taking a cruise out of Galveston, because my son is in 2nd grade, we have to go over his break (the flight to FLL were over $320 * 4 people), anyway found flights to Houston $99 each way. We are flying down on Continental and back on Southwest (it was cheaper than doing round trip).

 

Also (not sure where you are in Ohio) don't forget about Dayton Airport (good specials through airtran) and if you are close to Cleveland, the Akron/Canton airport tends to have cheaper fares than Cleveland. Overall, at least in my experience Cinci airport is usually the highest.

[smurd83]

We live in Ohio also(Columbus) and between Southwest, jetblue and the competion btwn the carriers we can usually find good deals. You can fly to Ft lauderdale for $59-$79 each way on Southwest the trick is to leave on Wed (or other off times/days) there are also great deals to Tampa, you just have to be flexible and watch for deals. For florida spring and winter is always the highest while summer is relatively cheap (have gotten round trip for $ 135 to tampa, but have seen it as low as $44 each way.

This spring we are taking a cruise out of Galveston, because my son is in 2nd grade, we have to go over his break (the flight to FLL were over $320 * 4 people), anyway found flights to Houston $99 each way. We are flying down on Continental and back on Southwest (it was cheaper than doing round trip).

 

Also (not sure where you are in Ohio) don't forget about Dayton Airport (good specials through airtran) and if you are close to Cleveland, the Akron/Canton airport tends to have cheaper fares than Cleveland. Overall, at least in my experience Cinci airport is usually the highest.

 

I'm from the Columbus area too (although in Athens for grad school right now). Ever since I'd been vigorously shopping for airfare to San Juan, I had forgotten about Southwest since they don't fly there. I'll have to keep them in mind! And I've never flown Jetblue, are they knew to Columbus?

 

P.S. - I can't stand the Cincinnati airport..too many luggage issues

[Leafpeeper]

We have an NCL credit card we use to earn points for cruising. We pay almost everything we can with it. I don't spend anymore than I did before the card. I pay off my balance each month but find it easier than writing out so many checks like I did before.

 

We also look for last minute cruise bargains. If I lived in Ohio, I'd search for last minute cruises out of NYC. You could drive to that port very easily. Royal Caribbean has 5 night cruises to Bermuda from NYC on its megaship, Explorer of the Seas. I saw a 5 night Bermuda cruise this past October for $399 plus taxes. They even post hot deal specials on their website.

 

Don't forget that NY has year round sailing on NCL, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean.

[UDcc123]

- Don't drink...or limit yourself to one drink per day

- Drink water instead of coke

- Avoid the casino, you'll almost always look back and say "I could've saved $50 and spent the hour laying in the sun by the pool instead"

- If you really want to play bingo, play the cheaper rounds and share a card with your travelling companion

- Take part in the organized activities...they'll take you away from cost-associated features of the ship...and they're fun!

- Don't go with the ship's excursions...book privately...there's plenty of posts on this site about private companies to use. Not only are they cheaper, but the group sizes are almost always smaller and the guides are more friendly since they need to rely on word of mouth for their business.

- If you want to buy formal pictures, take a lot of them. On picture nights, go to every photographer (there's usually close to half a dozen on the ship) and get pictures. Then compare the different ones to get the best picture...plus it's fun to get your picture taken with your travelling companion