How do you people afford all those cruises?

[Denny01]

OP, Ithink you got the jest of how others can cruise more such as not getting the premium SRs and the one post on booking the last minute and mainly going on cheaper prepositioning cruises such as TA's (but the post had to toss in the 'herd' putdown).

 

The point most are making is, if cruising is the focus, we save for cruises by not spending on other things, or we don't go for premium SRs, or go for last-minute deals. There isn't a lot of secrets to it.

 

There are sites that give discounts, mainly for upcoming cruises which are not real popular.

 

Myself? I don't book last minutes just looking at the price. I find cruises and itineraries I want and book pretty early. I usually go for standard balconies, now that I've reached a higher loyalty level, I don't need drink packages, we go to maybe one Specialty restaurant and wait to do it onboard abd so on.

 

We are looking at a 'land' vacation next year and it is more expensive than cruising. So we see cruising overall as a discount. I also 'work to cruise' and set it as my priority.

 

I really don't make the cost a focus. If I wanted a Suite and a drink package, I'd do it and enjoy it and not worry or think about what others 'say' they pay or brag about paying. We each have our priorities. Waiting the last minute is OK but it limits you on what cruises you can take, getting lower airline tickets, and making plans. And in many cases, my cruises have gone up on price as the cruise comes up.

 

Toss of the dice.

 

Enjoy your cruise. I focus on the next cruise as the point, not the price, or how I'd get it cheaper or worry if someone paid less.....there is someone out there that did, or at least tell you they did.

 

Den

[dkjretired]

Huh?:eek:...I work to cruise:D.....I save $$ and have never booked a suite.

Someone metioned priorities earlier and I totally agree. It is about what

is important to each person. I don't care about a suite and it is way

beyond my budget. I thought about it a couple of times but never

ended up booking one...realized for the price I could take 2 or 3

other cruises.

I have no desire to go into what I call "cruise debt". I book what I

can afford and love cruising:).....like I said, I work to cruise;)

 

Same as Lois, we rarely spend time in our cabin and book an inside cabin. I then proactively look for upgrades and have received them, one time getting an AQ cabin for $100pp above an inside. I am not a suite person and could care less about a Butler. Its just our preference and as Lois knows I was lucky enough to win on a slot machine a life changing amount and can afford any cabin. Its just not for us.

[barbjd106]

It also depends on where people are in their lives. When we had a young son and looked forward to paying tuition, we travelled much differently. We have had inside cabins and ocean view cabins.

 

Now, we have one more year of graduate school tuition to pay, my husband just turned 65, and we are in a different position in life.

 

I would rather enjoy our time while we are both healthy, than watch our bank balance grow.

 

Barbara

[Athravan]

Husband and I are 31 and this is our fifth cruise coming up (1st with celebrity though). We both work hard and have no kids and that's unlikely to change, we're not big spenders on anything else, and we need our vacation time (10-14 day cruises in the med or from southampton usually) to relax and get away from work and to actually get some time together :)

 

Cruising doesn't have to be for the "rich" anymore, there are plenty of good deals to be had, especially if you are open minded & can be flexible with the dates/itinerary and spend time on research.

 

The celebrity cruise I am taking this year in the lowest balcony cabin, well I could afford two of those for a Sky Suite.. some things are just not that important to me personally, like the difference beween a suite and the cheapest balcony (even if it is partially obstructed). I honestly think that cruises can be a very competitively priced way of travel these days - obviously airfare can be a big impact, I am very lucky in that I live only a 90 minute drive from Southampton and med flights are pretty cheap too.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Athravan

[miched]

It is very easy.

 

Worked my tail off for 40 years, most times 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day and not spending the money that I made foolishly and many times doing without what others thought that they are entitled to or why not because everyone else does it.

 

Always traveled but never went overboard on "it is a once in a life time" and owe it to ourselves. We had tents, travel trailers and vans that we used. Been across the USA many times.

 

Bought good quality stuff and took care of it. Still have and use a lot of it. Had motorcycles, boats, snowmobiles, Air Stream Trailers, and etc. Bought them, took care of them, did my own maintainance and repairs and most times sold them years later for more than what I paid for them new.

 

Always did everything myself and never paid anyone to repair, remodel, for anything. Only thing that I didn't build was our house but have replaced the roof, windows, doors, remodled the kitchen, bath and anything else myself. 10 years ago I tore down our old garage and constructed a new one by myself. 6 years ago I replaced the engine in my 1993 Ranger.

 

Always invested the max in the 401k. Never lived beyond our means by buying the big mansion that everyone else had.

 

Now retired have no bills and am enjoying it. It all comes down to life choice and not how much you make but how much you save, and how much you were willing to work for it.

 

 

🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅🍸🍻

[GaryfmCol]

WE BOTH WORKED for these days...

and, SAVED.... :p

 

In my working days, I would be gone sometimes for a week or, more at a time.

I also, was sent to Europe to work, and, earned GREAT money over there, but, was gone 6 months at a time,

while the DW stayed at home and, tended to things with the 2 daughters.

Now, I am paying her back for doing a great job.

And, that's the truth! :-)

Edited March 4, 2014 by GaryfmCol

[Us Two]

Thought this was a joke :rolleyes:. Surely you cant be seriuos.

So there are some that their budget allows to do AQ or a suite, but I bet the majority on here are booked in much lower. We only ever get an inside as our budget only permits that. We will never go into debt to take a cruise and our air from Canada when taken into the cruise fare makes even an inside all we can do.

 

So I think you need to give your head a shake and come down to reality , then you too could see that not sailing with all the bells and whistles will get you a nice little cruise every year.;).

[yayvacation!]

Is there some secret to cruising regularly that I am not aware of? I just booked my second cruise in 10 years and it is costing me a fortune for a Sky suite, specialty dining and beverage package, let alone the flight and hotel stays. Is everyone out there a billionaire or am I just paying rack rates stupidly? I researched a bunch of online cruise sites, but Celebrity offered just the same price for the cabin I wanted. So what gives, get up off your secrets to great cruising, I want to join you....

 

Get a good TA and a good job? Those help me stay in really nice suites and vacation a lot.....

[emcee207]

Jayoldschool,

 

I get it, I am a TINC too! 2 incomes, no children, but I can't afford a cruise every year and I am "officially" a millionaire (though it doesn't feel like it).

 

You're "officially" a Millionaire and you're worried about all this?:rolleyes:

[rollingstone]

Miched,

This sounds like our life story too! We worked hard, (worked 30 yrs, hope to travel 30...12 down, 18 to go. LOL) raised & educated 3 children, (gave them the means to support themselves) still live in our original house and do our own repairs etc.

We have done almost 40 cruises, (never a suite) been to all the continents and have done numerous month long land tours. When we are gone our children will be left with what they can sell and memories of how to live life to the fullest.

 

 

 

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[OceanCruise]

It all comes down to what you prioritize, hard work, and making good career choices. We love to travel so consider that "our" priority as long as we pay our bills and save for retirement. We would rather put any extra money toward a cruise or 5 star hotel instead of spending it on a weekly cleaning woman, expensive car, designer clothes, or going to the movies. We vacation during off season times, book really early, look for great deals, use loyalty program perks, and are flexible about where and when we go.

[hulamoon]

Aloha!

 

We cruise off season, upgrade to suite if the price is right and take quite a few repositioning cruises which are less expensive.

The choice is more cruises in balconies or less in suites.

[DancerOT]

I work for the school system so I am limited as to when I can vacation. Unfortunately, the times I can travel are the expensive times so I spend a lot of time doing a lot of research. I have only sailed in a balcony once (when I went with an ex-boyfriend and took time off of work to go) and typically sail in insides or oceanviews, although I prefer an oceanview. I have only done a beverage package once and that was the premium non-alcoholic as that is what I could afford, but it was well worth it as I drank my weight in water that cruise along with the specialty coffees and teas (also the only time I haven't gained weight on a cruise). I have been to the specialty restaurants only twice in all of my cruises - once because my ex-boyfriend wanted to try the steakhouse so he treated and once because my mom wanted to try Qsine so she treated. FYI, I would definitely go back to Qsine! I also bring on my allowed amount of wine (sometimes I try to get on another bottle).

 

So basically, I do what I can afford and what I am comfortable with. If you search hard enough you can find more affordable options. For example, I just found a 12 day Baltic X cruise for my parents for August for 1799 a person with two of the 123Go Perks and $200 onboard credit in addition. It was an amazing deal and I still can't figure out how I found it. But, it is for an oceanview - with the intense number of ports they figure they won't use a balcony so they felt it was an easy place to save money.

[jkgourmet]

Yep, we're in the crowd that takes frequent vacations by booking inside GTY on cruises, La Quinta's when we're doing road trips, B&B's in Europe, and eating in restaurants where the locals eat. We consider ourselves blessed to be able to travel as much as we do.

 

The ONLY time we have booked an OV was to get the 123Go package for our 16 night repositioning cruise in December 2014.

 

Here's an interesting story: On one of our cruises, we went to the Meet and Greet and met a guy who had been all over the roll call bragging about his suite, butler, etc. One night, we caught him going into his actual cabin - an inside just down the hall from us.

 

Ever since. I've always wondered how many folks on CC embellish their wealth of riches about how often they cruise and which cabins they book.

 

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[jkrislc]

We average two cruises a year, but are very price conscious. While we've cruised in all categories and use to prefer balconies, we've found we don't use them as much as we use to perhaps because we now cruise with our DS and are busier. Thus, we'll take an inside provide it is a descent size. We will upgrade if the cost to do so is $100 per person. The only reason we wouldn't book an inside would be itinerary (e.g., Alaska) or if it didn't have a seating area and was extremely small (e.g., Carnival).

 

Our next sailing on Celebrity is costing us about $50 per person per day. Our last trip to Las Vegas without gambling cost us as much. We also don't buy alcohol, bring on our own soda, etc. we are trying the beverage package this time, but the non-alcohol one. Probably not a value for us, but we'll give it a try.

 

I also work overtime to fund our vacations, which I know isn't an option for everyone.

[jelayne]

No kids, worked 50-60 hrs a week, didn't spend recklessly,except maybe on shoes😉 and retired early with no debt.

 

Diagnosed with C, beat it & said what are we waiting for?? Started cruising - 19 cruises & 2 other battles with C later we have 5 cruises booked. Never in a suite but AQ when price is good, always a veranda, you will rarely see us in a speciality restaurants; but look for us in the Martini bar:D

Our priority - enjoy life while we can.

[beachchairs2]

we have acquaintances who laughed at us when we cruise twice a year....now they do a cruise every month ( expensive cruises and lines like Oceania) and insist they are doing it on a teachers pension ...yeah right.....the real answer is an inheritance from a mother that passed away.....and they dont want anyone to know that they inherited a bundle....well no one is stupid....

[kennetro]

Just lucky! We're about as middle class as middle class can be, however we both traveled extensively in our careers, never touched our miles, & retired with about 7-8 million airline miles & a ba-zillion Hilton points. Hence, we can fly anywhere in the world First Class anytime we want. We just can't afford to BUY LUNCH once we get there! LOL

[Hockeylovinmom]

It's all about priorities. When we were full time in the work force we got hooked on cruising but could only go once a year for a week! Now that we are retired and living comfortably but modestly we have more time to travel. Our kids are grown and out on their own, so no drain there. We had to wait for this opportunity and are grateful that we are physically and financially able to do it. We have been blessed. Yes it's expensive to cruise, but there is no vacation quite like it. you leave your troubles behind. So...best advice. Do what you can, look to the future, shop the sales!!

[CathyCruises]

This is our third TA in three years. Our friends look at us like we're gazillionaires with all this cruising around. Last year we did 15 days in a balcony for $699, this year we could only get an inside for $599. We wouldn't dream of getting the drinks package, mostly because we wouldn't want to be tempted to drink that much. We detest organized ship tours for many reasons and find great ways to DIY in almost every port. We dine in specialties once or twice per cruise when they offer 50% discount! because we enjoy the ambiance and festive atmosphere of the MDR on a nightly basis.

 

When we get to Europe we take a land trip, over a month one time, at least 10 days wandering about and exploring on our own. So it's not that we can't afford a better cabin or all the frills, we just don't choose to spend our vacation dollars that way.

[koolforkatz]

Like others, priorities. We both still work full time, no kids at home. We don't walk around in designer digs, my nails are my own, we both work at home so not buying premium coffee daily. It's all those little things that add up. We go out for dinner now and then, but most of our entertainment is with friends at our homes for lunch, dinner or appie parties. That we do a lot ;)

 

We cruise 2-3 times a year but have never booked a suite. I would love to, but one suite would likely mean one less cruise. I watch prices daily. We haven't bought an air ticket in years because everything we buy goes on credit cards (which are all paid off) which give us airline points.

[vermonter16]

I would love to book a suite! But, DH and I never have - we do get a balcony though. We usually take a cruise once every other year or once a year. We don't eat out and save our money to go on a cruise. We really don't shop or anything either. All of my coworkers go out to lunch, etc....I generally wait until I get home or bring a snack with me. I stopped going to get coffee every day years ago and just brew a cup at home. I try to get store brands of lots of items and really try and not buy anything I don't need or won't eat that week.

 

I wouldn't do a lot of these things if I just spent the money instead of cruised, but we don't make a lot either and DH is now disabled. In a few months our income will get cut again - but he loves to cruise (so do I) and we won't live forever so we make sure we include the cruise into our budget. This means sacrificing in other parts of our lives with every day things - but those every things really add up.

[Rachel302]

A coworker always complains to me that she can't afford to go on vacations. She never has any money, lives paycheck to paycheck, can't even afford lunch the days before payday and is very envious that I go on a cruise every year - despite the fact that we make the same salary. She doesn't recognize that we make different lifestyle choices and spend money on different things. She stops at the gas station on her way to work every morning and gets a coffee, a pack of cigarettes and some scratch off lottery tickets. She and her husband eat out at restaurants breakfast lunch and dinner on the weekends. Nothing wrong with that. Those are things she likes to do. I don't do any of those things. It's not as if it's a "sacrifice" I make in order to afford a vacation. I just don't like the same things she does. I like to cook for myself, don't smoke, don't like coffee, don't gamble.. I do like to put money aside in savings for a vacation every month. Everyone is different.

[C 2 C]

We hibernate 8 months of the year, don't eat, drink, drive, eat out… then come out of our cave and spend 4 months at sea… ;)

 

Can't afford to live in Hawaii, would not think of buying a premium drink package nor booking a suite unless on a great GTY.

Now we have cruised so often drinks are included…

 

For us it's more important to pick cruises carefully, live frugally but well.

 

Some pick their parents carefully or marry well. :eek:

There is no secret other than setting priorities.

 

(we're well shy of a million, have planned and invested wisely but intend to die broke)

[TeaBag]

OP are you aware of the Tuesday specials that Celebrity offers? They are often, last minute very good deals offered to fill the ship.

We usually get a balcony but we have sailed in inside cabins 2 or 3 times and o/v a few times. We have never had a suite. We wouldn't know what to do with a butler.

We have lots of air miles and hotel points in the Marriott system, so that helps too.

I guess it all boils down to what is important to you in vacation spending. You live in a part of the world that many would give their eye teeth to see so maybe you don't need to cruise as often as many of us do.