Hi...new to this forum and to cruising

We are planning to take our first cruise for our honeymoon in October. We will probably go with Carnival and I am hoping someone can share some budget friendly tips so we can have an awesome time. Thanks!

Welcome to Cruise Critic & congrats on your upcoming honeymoon.

Most cruise lines now offer some packages on board. They can be a way to save money IF you would utilize it. For instance for something like $5 to $8 dollars per day a person can get unlimited sodas. These are usually those served from a fountain gun. Individual sodas are about $2 to $2.50. So if you will drink at least 3 sodas per day they package would be good for you. If you drink less, then not a good idea. BTW. Most cruise lines carry coke products. So if you must have pepsi, it will not be good.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Since you think you will sail Carnival, you might post on the Carnival forum here at CC, under Cruise Lines A-O. There also is a forum here for weddings and honeymoons, under Special Interest Cruising. You might get some tips there. EM

Hi,

Run, run away now, you'll love it, get hooked and then spend a lot of money on cruising over your lifetime.

:)

Pete

Pete, I wish I had heard that advice 25 years ago!

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

Choosing a cruise for a honeymoon -- excellent.

Carnival board at this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

Honeymoon cruises link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

Like you, our first cruise was our honeymoon. Carnival is a great choice for a first cruise. Fun, somewhat younger crowd, reasonably priced.

You don't mention where you live,or when in October you are cruising. If you need to be flying, book this early for best rates and ensure that you have good connections.try and get there a day early in case of delays.

Give us a bit more details, we'll all be glad to suggest something that works for you.

You may want to look at sailing on the Liberty out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 7 nights to the Southern Caribbean, awesome ports, and almost no chance of being affected by hurricanes.

We loved it so much, we are going back this October. :D

Remember that Carnival allows you to bring 2 bottles of wine on board and sodas if you like. Soda cards and drink packages are a personal choice. Unless you plan on having more than 6 or 7 cocktails each per day, they will not be worth it.

Buying photos on board is also something to consider. One nice one at a formal night is enough for most folks, but you can go way overboard on this. Again a personal choice.

When you choose your cruise, do join the roll call on these forums to meet fellow cruisers, and get lots of ideas for excursions and things to do on board and at the ports.

Have fun planning your honeymoon, and welcome to cruising.

Be careful. It is very addictive! :D

As for saving money, draw up a budget and stick to it. Monitor your spending as you go along to be sure you are on budget.

Learn to say No. No you don't need to make a purchase at the art auction. No you do not need to buy every picture and video that the ship photographers take. No you do not need the fancy (expensive) after dinner drink. No you do not need to take a full day ship excursion in every port.

Excursions really can max out a budget....get a guidebook, read up on where you're going, and you'll find that many things are easy (and cheap) to do on your own. You do NOT need to pay guides to do stuff ashore! But, you DO need info, so head to your library, and get a guidebook!

thanks everyone for the warm welcome and great advice. I live in the Ft. Lauderdale area and the port is a very short drive from our house. We did book a 5 night cruise on the Carnival Conquest! I appreciate the links to the other boards and will check them out. I intend on getting addicted to cruising. lol

thanks everyone for the warm welcome and great advice. I live in the Ft. Lauderdale area and the port is a very short drive from our house. We did book a 5 night cruise on the Carnival Conquest! I appreciate the links to the other boards and will check them out. I intend on getting addicted to cruising. lol

Welcome to cruising!!! It took me 8 years to get DH to cruise and now he is completely addicted!

Money saving - I am seconding several people above!

Look up each port here on cc and on travel guide sites. I do this and then splurge (maybe) on one thing we really want to do in one port - and book with an outside agent. Search each port forum on what outside group has good reviews for the activity you want to do!!! We've done this every cruise and not only save money, but end up with a smaller group (which we like very much). Sometimes we go to our roll call and group up with another family or group!

Then every other port we do on our own. There are lots of "walking tours" and ideas about how to do things on your own. "Not all who wander are lost!"

Just make sure your watch is set to the ship's time in each port!

Book early saver. Check the price by doing a fake booking every couple of days. I just got $40 off our current cruise. That's not much, but that will more than cover our costs in one port "on our own".

Take on the wine and sodas. We do indulge in a few beers, but this keeps our cost down. Also I have a couple of times bought a bottle of Irish Whisky for DH from the gifts section of Carnival. He likes his Irish Whisky. Though it is much more expensive than on land, it is cheaper than him getting it at a bar or getting other drinks.

We also take on some individual packaged "nut mix" or granola or the like for port days we are on our own. So that we don't randomly purchase food in port because lunch didn't happen when we thought it would. :)

We never buy photos (yeah, that's us). But on a night we dress up, we hand our camera to a couple of other guests and have them shoot a few - on deck if possible. Just make sure you have more than one person do it, so you have a choice.

Take an "emergency" stash of over-the-counter meds and such, just in case! Learned this the hard way! Antihistamine and Asprin is VERY expensive on the boat and a pain to find in port. :)

And then, after the planning phase - stop thinking about it and enjoy the idea of cruising! I do this 3 weeks out (I'm an over-planner), then I'll only allow myself to check the price-drop situation. I just spend 3 weeks dreaming of the fun!

Cheers,

chimerix

And I'll say, I just checked on my first (ever) price-drop - it is actually $100 - that is at least 2 ports on our own (possibly 3) - since it was early and it came straight off of what I owed for the cruise! :)

 

We also take on some individual packaged "nut mix" or granola or the like for port days we are on our own. So that we don't randomly purchase food in port because lunch didn't happen when we thought it would. :)

 

If you do pack some food to take off the ship into port, make sure it's factory-sealed packages that are unopened. Else, you may get flagged by the food-sniffing dogs who work with port security. That won't be good.

If you do pack some food to take off the ship into port' date=' make sure it's factory-sealed packages that are unopened. Else, you may get flagged by the food-sniffing dogs who work with port security. That won't be good.[/quote']

 

Indeed - factory sealed individual packages was indeed what I meant. :)

We don't do the photo package either. We don't do Bingo, but we do budget a little time in the casino. We don't do the specialty restaurants because we've never felt the need. We do excursions if it's our first time on an island. We usually do a half-day tour, return to the ship for lunch and a bit of a rest, then go close to the port to do a little shopping. Because they serve Coke products on the ship, we carry a couple of six packs of Dr. Pepper and we've never had a problem with them taking them. We put them in a carry on bag. Take two swimsuits. One to wear while one is drying.

I am hoping someone can share some budget friendly tips so we can have an awesome time. Thanks!

I am an expert on budget-friendly.

First off, since you're new to cruising, be aware that the price of the cruise includes everything essential except tips. Tips I think run about $12 a day. You can refuse to pay tips, but unless the service is really abominable, which it won't be, it's a cheesy move.

When I say "everything essential", I mean their choice of essential, not yours. They are required to give you something to drink, typically lemonade, water, iced tea. It doesn't include carbonated beverages or alcohol. You pay stadium prices for those. Gambling and specialty restaurants are extra too. Entertainment is free.

So if you can do without booze, syrupy drinks and gambling for a few days you can literally get away without spending another dime on board. Or you could end up spending a lot. Many people do, which is why the base price tends to be so cheap.

In port, a little research can save a lot of money. The ship will offer excursions which get you on and off the ship and everything in between. You can sign up for it and have a great time without devoting any further effort. "One-stop shopping".

However by investing your own time you can often save a lot of cash. Frequently the places where excursions go are easily and cheaply accessible by other means. If you go to the "port of call" forum for that destination you can get money-saving tips.