Paying for a cruise

[STEVENJAN]

How does everyone pay for their cruise?

I was wondering if cruiselines have a way to bank funds for a next cruise.

The sportfishing business in San Diego sets up an account and when you have enough money "banked" it pays for your trip.

I know that some of you just flip out the Hundreds(or thousands) and don't worry about it, but I'm just a working stiff with a Mortgage and other bills.

I'm also sure that there will be some very inventive responses to this thread.

Thanks ahead of time to Pipedreams, Steve

P.S. Already thinking about our next trip.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I just go down to the sub-basement in our house and crank up the printing machine.

I do have to admit that the government is making it harder and harder to get the colors just right. :D

[STEVENJAN]

KK, That sounds like a Lee Child (Jack Reacher) Novel.

[sail7seas]

We go out to our yard and pull how ever many $100 bills we need off our 'money tree'. :D

 

The best way I would suggest is to set up a bank account for which the funds set aside are to pay for cruises. When you budget your groceries and mortgage etc, budget your cruise savings deposit. When you have enough, you get to book a cruise.

 

[Roz]

I've read on these boards that there are travel agencies and/or cruise lines that allow you to pay on a monthly installment plan. Every month they bill your credit card a certain amt. so that by the final payment date you're paid in full.

 

What I usually do is save up $500-600 for my deposit. I book the cruise I want, and then divide the balance by the number of months left until final payment is due. I take this amount and have it automatically debited monthly from my checking account into a special cruise savings acct. I've set up.

 

Roz

[CowPrincess]

What I'm going to do after our upcoming cruise is get a new credit card, and make payments on it without charging anything, so I'll be building up a credit. Then when we have enough $$$ credit on it for a cruise, I'll use it to pay for the cruise we want. Yeah, yeah, I know -- I'll not be earning that big ol' 1.25% p.a. interest in the bank, but I think I'll manage without it :D For me, with a variable, sometimes non-existent income, this will work better than having money moved automatically into a savings account.

[debnjoe1438]

We go out to our yard and pull how ever many $100 bills we need off our 'money tree'. :D

 

The best way I would suggest is to set up a bank account for which the funds set aside are to pay for cruises. When you budget your groceries and mortgage etc, budget your cruise savings deposit. When you have enough, you get to book a cruise.

 

 

While you're pulling money off the tree, will ya send me some:rolleyes:;)

Actually, my husband and I have saved and the funds are set aside. Now, in this less than great economy, we have to get brave enough to spend it. :eek:I'm just crossing my fingers and saying my prayers that some day (in the next week or so) we'll book a January 2009 cruise to the Panama Canal.

[sail7seas]

CowPrincess....... Sometimes when you run a credit balance like that, the bank will send you a check to zero out the account. I had that happen a few times. I paid a Macy's bill, then made a return and had a credit balance. I didn't shop in Macy's for several months so they sent me a check.

 

Happened on a Visa bill once, as well.

[mudscraper]

You may apply for funds under the 2008 Federal Cruise Bailout Act.

Ask for Fannie or Freddie when you call.:)

 

Rich

[CowPrincess]

Happened on a Visa bill once, as well.

 

Oh crud! Because of my erratic income, in the past I've paid substantial amounts on my Visa to offset known upcoming expenses, e.g., car & house insurance. They've never sent me a cheque but Iv'e only had the credit balance for a couple of months.

 

Well, I guess if they send me a cheque, I can use it to make a payment on my "cruise" Visa :D

 

Mudscraper, VERY funny!

[usha]

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions,

but if all else fails, there's always...

[Pam in CA]

My suggestion would be to open a money market account just for your travel and put money into it regularly. Even though the interest paid is miniscule, at least it's something and might buy you a drink or two by the time you board the ship.

 

As was said, if you pre-pay your credit card and leave a positive balance in it for very long (maybe a month?), your credit card company will send you a check and -0- out the account.

[jcrandle]

Anyone remember Christmas Club accounts at your local bank or S&L? You would open one in Jan or Feb and put $10 or $20 a month in them. Then in December, you would draw out the money to spend on Christmas gifts. The banks loved them, because most would not pay any interest on the deposit and they had the free use of your money for the duration.

 

Let's assume you have a cruise 18 months out, and plan to save $2500 to cover the final payment. My handy dandy financial calculator shows that if you deposit $138.89 per month for 18 months in a savings account earning 3% compounded monthly, at the end of the 18 months you will have deposited $2500, but you will have earned another $54 in interest. That could buy a dinner at the Pinnacle Grill or a couple of bottles of wine at dinner. Much better than stuffing it in a sock, or prepaying on your credit card!

 

On the other hand, if you already have $5000 in credit card debt with finance charges at 18%, you are paying $900 a year in finance charges. Pay off your credit card before you think about cruising.

 

No, I'm not Suzie Orman, nor do I play her on TV, but I do agree with her approach to sensible finances.

[kryos]

How does everyone pay for their cruise?

I was wondering if cruiselines have a way to bank funds for a next cruise.

The sportfishing business in San Diego sets up an account and when you have enough money "banked" it pays for your trip.

I know that some of you just flip out the Hundreds(or thousands) and don't worry about it, but I'm just a working stiff with a Mortgage and other bills.

I'm also sure that there will be some very inventive responses to this thread.

Thanks ahead of time to Pipedreams, Steve

P.S. Already thinking about our next trip.

I take long, and thus expensive cruises ... and I am not, by any means, rich. I'm a working stiff in a blue collar job.

 

It's all about choices and budgeting. I'm a single woman and my cruises can cost more than those for a family because of the particular sailings I like to book.

 

I know what's important to me, so I plan my lifestyle with that in mind. I don't often do expensive nights on the town. I don't buy things that I don't really need -- such as expensive flat panel TV sets or nice cars. Heck, I don't even drive, so I take the bus everywhere anyway.

 

I save almost all of my discretionary income to cruise and don't spend it on things that don't bring me much pleasure anyway. I take my dad out to eat a couple of times a week, because that is something we both enjoy. But we don't go to Ruth Chris. Instead we're perfectly happy with Denny's, Red Lobster or the Olive Garden on a Sunday. On Wednesday evening, it's generally the local diner for their "early bird special."

 

I also generally cruise once a year ... maybe a real nice cruise (i.e., longer one) every other year with a decent cruise in the intervening year. For example, I just got back from a 35-day Hawaii/South Pacific cruise. Next year will be a 15 day Hawaii only. Yes, these cruises cost money, but I know that and I plan accordingly.

 

That's how I, at least, afford to cruise. I do without a lot of other things such as that fancy home in the suburbs (the city is fine with me), the nice car in the driveway (the bus works great for my lifestyle) and all the expensive electronic gadgets that many of my friends have. Instead I stay focused on my next cruise and remember that it will bring me far more pleasure than those other things anyway, so I am spending my money in a smart way.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Anyone remember Christmas Club accounts at your local bank or S&L? You would open one in Jan or Feb and put $10 or $20 a month in them. Then in December, you would draw out the money to spend on Christmas gifts. The banks loved them, because most would not pay any interest on the deposit and they had the free use of your money for the duration.

My credit union still offers them ... vacation clubs too. Only difference is they will pull the weekly "deposit" for the club directly from your paycheck, making it easy to set up a vacation or Christmas Club account.

 

While I don't use these personally, I think they're a great idea. They help people to save over time in a reasonably painless way.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[COLandlocked]

We use our FSA (Flex Spending Accounts) as our vacation clubs. We take pretax deductions for medical and dependant care. Since we use up all the deductions taken we can have a great cruise without really seeing it out of our wallets. I guess you can call it a christmas club as previously stated but with a twist.

 

It works for us!

[ctsally]

Our younger son is a financial advisor and insisted that we get a reverse mortgage. Once we had it, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that we wouldn't have to worry about taxes, etc.. Our son then said, "Oh, no...now you have to spend it before a nursing home gets it. After all, what will they do with your money...give you a week of free enemas?". Needless to say, we went on our first cruise within a year!

 

We haven't looked back since.

[UtterCaro]

We go out to our yard and pull how ever many $100 bills we need off our 'money tree'. :D

 

Got seeds? :D

 

Caro

[STEVENJAN]

I have been meaning to join a Christmas fund but haven't. My place of work allows us to cash out 1 week of leave time at the end of the year if we haven't used it all. I've used that in the past to buy gifts.

For our current cruise we have charged it on very low interest charge cards 1.9%. and 0% for a year ...that's almost a government cruise bailout plan. Yes one of the cards was from a bank in trouble...until it got bought out.

However, I would like to have the next one paid off before we go. I don't mind putting incidentals on the charge card during the trip but the next one I would like to go worry free. I am planning a cruise(short) for next summer to celebrate wife's birthday, daughter's college graduation and son's junior college graduation. I am also paying extra into the credit union account (auto deposit) that is holding our car note (auto deduct.) and will probably dip into that for the cruise unless we need it for immediate needs.

Sorry KRYOS we have the gadgets too. Probably if I was as well budgeted as you I would have the problem (addiction) solved.

[cruzincurt]

I've read on these boards that there are travel agencies and/or cruise lines that allow you to pay on a monthly installment plan. Every month they bill your credit card a certain amt. so that by the final payment date you're paid in full.

 

What I usually do is save up $500-600 for my deposit. I book the cruise I want, and then divide the balance by the number of months left until final payment is due. I take this amount and have it automatically debited monthly from my checking account into a special cruise savings acct. I've set up.

 

Roz

I personally would never give any money to any TA that is not charged direct by the cruise line to my credit card. I certainly would not give a TA monthly installments for them to save up for my final payment, that's what banks and credit unions are for. I would never give anyone my debit card number for their use on a monthly basis. All CC charges should be the cruise line not the TA.

[STEVENJAN]

This too would make me nervous. We have had TAs go out of business in the High Desert and people got ripped off.

[crusinbanjo]

I just whip out another credit card, I don't pay those bills anyway..... ....and I heard yesterday that the US Government was goig to bail me out, so I just booked 4 more cruises, paid in full !!!!!(LOL) Actually, I do use my Amex card to pay for just about everything. Using this card forces me to pay off the balance every month and I collect the points as well.

:D

I just go down to the sub-basement in our house and crank up the printing machine.

 

I do have to admit that the government is making it harder and harder to get the colors just right. :D

[kryos]

Actually, I do use my Amex card to pay for just about everything. Using this card forces me to pay off the balance every month and I collect the points as well.

:D

Same here. And I got a free iPOD with my last batch of those wonderful points! Makes those flights to the embarkation pier so much more pleasurable! :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

It's just a matter of disipline for us. We 'dump' $1200 -$1600 a month into a ING internet savings account for cruises and land based trips via electronic transfer. We have a similar account with ING for property taxes and the insurances (house, auto).

 

We usually book another cruise while on a HAL cruise at least a year out for the 20+ day cruises and use the $100 reservation deposit thing. Needless to say, money isn't really tied up until final payment is due (approx. 70 days or so prior to embarkation).

 

We also stay either on the Dolphin or A deck so accomodation costs are kept fairly low & budgeting is fairly easy (yes, we're both full time work'in folks).

 

Although the current savings rate ain't so hot these days (I believe the ING account is in the 2.75% neighborhood) at least it's something (a few Wang-Wangs maybe after taxes?).

 

We pay for the trip using either AMEX (Delta miles), VISA (United miles) or Visa (Choice Hotel rewards) depending where our points are at. Most cruises we will either have a freebie night at a hotel or freebie flight / upgrade to the port of embarkation.

 

When the cc bill for the cruise shows up we just pay it off with the funds that have been accumulated in the ING account.

 

Our next "float" we have the $250 CCL stock credit, $100 OBC for the original reservation & a $100 credit from our TA as a thank you. Works for us.

 

In any event, I hope this helps. I'm sure others will contribute some great advise.

 

May your next cruise be your BEST CRUISE!

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

[Catnip]

KK, That sounds like a Lee Child (Jack Reacher) Novel.

 

I love those! :)