The CHEAP Challenge: Results in from the Sky

[yoyocruiser]

The Situation: A couple of weeks ago I posted here regarding my decision to take the four day SKY cruise to the Bahamas in an inside cabin with no excursions, no up-charge restaurants, and no shopping—in other words—as cheap as possible. Budget airline, budget transports, no pre-cruise shopping for the new bathing suit. Many people from CC encouraged my efforts, asking for a report back.

About Us: My favorite part of cruising is having a balcony and especially enjoying coffee in the morning on my balcony. In the past years we have been fortunate enough to have suites, and greatly enjoyed the perks. I totally bought the line, “Once you cruise in a suite you’ll never go back.” And I myself had often said, “I cannot cruise without a balcony.” Well, not sure if some of you have noticed that the economy has not been so great lately. So in my winter doldrums I was dreaming of a cruise, really wanting to spend some time with my kids (home on college break). But I just could not rationalize spending that much money. I was also noticing that the four day cruise prices were dropping drastically about two weeks out from sailing date. So I decided to closely monitor the only week that would work for us—January 9th. Low and behold prices fell. With great encouragement from CCers I decided to go for it.

Questions We Had: As I contemplated the “cheapo challenge” some interesting questions arose. I wondered if my positive feeling about NCL service was because I had been in suites, where it is reasonable to assume that service would excel? Had cruising gone to a “class system”? Or was service good regardless of your room type? Also, on a personal level, how much had I convinced myself that I needed to have the balcony, this amenity or that amenity? What was most important—enjoying my kids and spending time together or being in the best suite?? Did I HAVE TO have a balcony? What WAS the real value of having a concierge to make my restaurant reservations? And food snob that I am—did I really want to eat in buffet lines and MDRs for five days? Would an inside cabin drive me crazy, or would it drive us out to more and broader experiences? Was a four day cruise somehow “less” that a 7 or 10 day cruise in terms of service?

So this is what we did: We booked the absolute bottom price—a guarantee inside room. Price: $179 each for two of us, and $109 for the third plus the port charges and $12 per da/person service—about $900 total. No insurance—we were 10 days out, it was a four day cruise, and only to the Bahamas. A risk I know—but one I was comfortable taking. No day ahead flight with added hotel and meal charges. Again—a risk—but one worth taking since I was able to get a direct flight. Discovered that a limo pick-up was cheaper than pay parking and taking a bus to airport—some of my price research surprised me. We were hoping for a room upgrade—didn’t get one—but did get on the 7th deck which was actually a great location—near elevators, and on deck with dining room, shops, and casino (oh no!!)

And this is how it went: No kidding, it was the best cruise of my life. Even I am not believing I am saying this. The service was fantastic—no way I felt that anyone looked at my key card thinking “cheapo lady”—LOL. The room was adequate, tough for storage, but there actually was sitting space and the beds were very comfortable, and the bedding was of good quality. I cannot say enough about the food on this cruise. The buffets were kept in perfect shape, good variety. Table cleared quickly. Service in MDRs was incredible. Even the much maligned lobster was really good—but salmon was the real winner. Caesar salads incredible. I could go on and on. Being in an inside cabin definitely meant we stayed out of the room. We took advantage of everything—kids pored over the schedule and planned every day out. They LOVED all the entertainment. Shows, games, activities—gosh, everything was just so much fun.

Top Ten List:

10) Two for one martinis at aft bar between 6 and 8 —never listed in the daily—but I read it here on CC

9) Workout room with great views

8) Caesar salads

7) Great Stirrup Cay beach to the far left

6)Sail away party on deck

5) loungers by the pool (very few towel hogs)

4)discovered breakfast in IlDagio (Italian restaurant) that no one seemed to know about

3)DJs and dance parties each night—fovorite of my kids

2)White Hot Party (everyone was up and out and dancing like CRAZY)

1) Buffalo chicken wings at Longboards every morning at 1AM with my two faves

Over the Top Experience:

There was a note in the daily that you could register to have dinner with one of the ship’s officers and they would have a drawing. Well we registered and on Wednesday morning received a lovely invitation. A Guest Services rep met us and then took us to our table with the Captain of Staff—(under the Captain there is the Chief Engineer, Hotel and Food Director, and the Captain of Staff). He was a wonderful gentleman from Croatia who answered all of our questions and was really interesting. The meal was in the MDR but included lovely wines and then he ordered deserts for us from Cagney’s that they brought in and served. It was just us, a lovely woman from Jamaica with her college age daughter—I had mistakenly expected a big table of people. It was just one of the most lovely experiences!!

What We Learned: As many CCers suggested, we found that we really did get out and about and really participate much more in the ship activities. For instance, I always sat on my balcony for sail away. But this time we were up on deck, with a great band, everyone dancing—so much fun. We definitely found that we could have great food and great fun without adding a lot of charges. I am thrilled we ahd this challenge—and am totally thrilled that I did not dismiss this opportunity because I could not afford a balcony. I did not NEED a balcony. We learned that a four day cruise attracts a bit of a younger group (though all ages were represented) and to me this is great and means high energy and great entertainment and participation (for example, I have been to a couple of really dead White Hot parties).On the other hand—I encountered no rude or drunken behavior. But there is just a nice high energy feel to this cruise. Finally, who you cruise with is much more important than all the rest—and I value every moment I was able to spend with my two kids who have now both gone back to college. We danced every night, went to all the shows, ate great food, laughed ourselves crazy, and ate us a fare’s worth of hot chicken wings.

[WaldosPepper]

That is absolutely fantastic, and I'm grinning from ear to ear. So glad you had such a fabulous cruise! :D:D:D

[computerworks]

Bravo! ;)

[LaCal]

Great to hear you had fun and the Challenge was Met....

 

Weve never done a inside room only started at Balconys then Moved to Mini-Suites and Now even a PH Suite on NCL....

 

But if times get tough I know We'd save money and still cruise and try a inside room and till have a BLAST....

 

Thanks

[PCLMassachusetts]

I am so glad you posted this update. I had read your earlier post about wanting to try the "budget" way of cruising and have been wondering how you made out.

 

We have 3 kids and have booked 2 connecting balcony cabins for the 5 of us. As the cruise gets closer and the anticipation grows we have been saying how we really want to go on more cruises with the kids. It is great to hear how much fun you all had and what a great experience it was doing it "on the cheap".

 

Perhaps our next cruise with the kids will be a last minute booking in a couple of inside cabins. We live close enough to either Boston or NY to be able to do it without flights.

 

Thanks again!!

[Partyatsea]

 

 

 

Finally, who you cruise with is much more important than all the rest!

 

This is what we say when people wonder why we do the same itinerary often:). So glad you all had a great trip.

[yoyocruiser]

I hope this does encourage people. CC by nature attracts people who love cruising and thus a high percentage who cruise in suites (myself included). You can begin to think that it isn't possible to cruise without all these amenities--at least that is what I was thinking. If I had continued with that line of thinking I would not have booked this cruise and would have missed out on a great experience.

[che5904]

Thanks so much for coming back and giving us the results of your challenge. Sounds like many memories were made.

[jdvmd]

Yay! So glad the experiment worked and you had a great time!

[biker@sea]

Good for you glad it all worked out. :)

[russianmom]

Outstanding. Glad it worked out so weel for you.:D

I'm still trying to convince my husband to try an inside out of NY for Feb break!!!

[NJsharon]

Oh I am so glad you had a great time & thank you for reporting back to us!

[ansmom]

Thanks for the update sounds like you all had a fantastic time! I'm thinking of taking my dd on the sky this summer for some mother/daughter time

[Sunkissed Mommy]

Your feedback makes me so happy! We are typically inside cruisers. We'll have a balcony on Epic because of luck in March. That being said I have never understood why people complain about how horrendous an inside cabin is. Hey DH and I spent 11-night in an inside cabin for our honeymoon!

 

I can understand if people have severe claustrophobia, but most people don't. Glad to hear you had a great time. We loved the Sky last year. Had a great time :)

[ictcruiser]

What a great story! Thanks for coming back and sharing your impressions.

[buckirj1]

So glad you had a nice time. You've given a lot of people something to think about regarding what really makes for a great cruise.

[fsuhockette]

:D So glad you guys had the time of your life and I love the fact that just being with your kids helped it to be so fabulous!

[Sauer-kraut]

Thank you for sharing your 'life after balcony' cruise!! :D

 

So....did you sleep well in the dark, tomblike atmosphere, or did you leave the ship's channel on all the time so you could tell when the sun was out? :)

[sdmike]

The part about your kids heading back off to college after a great time with you brought a tear to my eye. A happy one. Thank you for sharing your great experience with us.

[firefighter15]

What times are the chicken wings offered?

 

Thx :D

[mpk218]

Wow YOYO , thats not what I was expecting . I'm happy to hear it was a wonderful cruise . I may have to give it some thought one of these days . Sounds intriguing but I dont know , I'm scared :D Reminds me of the good old days backpacking across country..;)

 

Hhmmmmm

 

peace

[mom for life]

Love it!! Just goes to show how easy it is to enjoy the simple life when we have our priorities in line.....hope you have many more trips with your favorite people!

[hawaiilvr]

We had a similar experience on the Sky in February 2009. We had been given free airline tickets to Miami as part of a promotion here in Salt Lake. We were short on funds, so we decided it would be cheaper to take a three-day cruise than to try to stay in Miami. We didn't eat in any pay restaurants, no excursions, nothing upgraded. We stayed in an inside cabin (we usually do, anyway). Our travel agency had given us a $75 onboard credit. Our DSC was $60 (before the price changed to $12 per day), and we actually had to go find something to spend the other $15! Our whole trip ended up costing $450 - and part of that was for the Hampton Inn in Miami and the shuttle to/from the airport.

 

BTW - it was a fabulous trip and we had so much fun!

[yoyocruiser]

Thanks for all the kind comments. I am glad it is giving folks some ideas to consider. We did not put the TV on. But I did have to dig my watch out!! And sleeping in that dark cabin was indeed a treat I had never considered!

[sparks1093]

Thanks for the update!