Planning/Paying for cruises

[dsu_2003]

This may be personal, but I see many cruisers have multiple cruises planned and others have a few years between cruises. So I'd like to know, if you charge the cruise and not worry about the cost,do you pay off one before going on the next, do you save up and pay for it first, or do you make sure that all costs are paid right after leaving the ship. Something in between?

 

For me, we make sure that we can cover all cruise expenses as they appear on the credit card bill. So what about you?

[paul929207]

We put aside money for our travel. We charge the final payment to a credit card and pay it off then the bill comes in

[dsu_2003]

Thanks Paul!

[cruisecrazy928]

Unfortunately, I've never had more than one planned at a time. But I have cruised with 2 or 3 years in between. I put a little in a separate bank account designated for vacations and other fun. I usually charge the deposit, final payment and onboard expenses in order to take advantage of cash-back incentives on my credit card. Always pay credit card balance in full from that "vacation" account so I don't get hit with interest. Currently don't have a trip planned, but the savings account will be ready when I am! Happy cruising to you!

[smalltownmomwa]

I think it really depends upon your budget. If I had the money, and time to vacation every year, or more often, I would just charge it and pay when I got the bill.

Some people have no problem putting the whole thing on credit and paying it off eventually.

We don't have the budget for that, so I am saving up now for a Europe trip in 2-4 years. It's in a separate bank account and I sock a few bucks away in there as often as I can. As soon as I have enough for the cruise fare & airfare, I will book, probably a year out. I will pay-as-we go for tips, excursions, etc.

 

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[Treven]

I'm a retired Sr. citizen on a fixed income. As such, I pay my deposit using a FCC ($100), then I pay off the balance over several months prior to the final pymt date. I generally get the cruise paid for two or three months before it's due. I'll then send myself money toward my folio costs. That way I won't owe much, if anything, by the time the cruise ends.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Treven

[ducklite]

We budget a percentage of our take home pay for vacations, and although it's co-mingled with other savings, it's earmarked for vacation spend.

 

In 2011 we took a cheap cruise so we could roll vacation funds over to 2012 to pay for three weeks in Europe. In 2013 we took another inexpensive vacation so we could roll funds over to pay for our 2014 vacations--a cruise and a short land-based getaway later in the year. Next year we are taking a land based vacation and it looks like we will come in under budget, so we'll roll that towards our 2016 vacation, which will probably be a cruise, not sure where yet.

 

We never go into debt for a vacation, although we do charge to our rewards card, which pays for some of our travel. We pay it off when the bill comes.

[Warm Breezes]

This may be personal, but I see many cruisers have multiple cruises planned and others have a few years between cruises. So I'd like to know, if you charge the cruise and not worry about the cost,do you pay off one before going on the next, do you save up and pay for it first, or do you make sure that all costs are paid right after leaving the ship. Something in between?

 

For me, we make sure that we can cover all cruise expenses as they appear on the credit card bill. So what about you?

 

I charge everything on my credit card and pay off my credit card bill in full every month. This means I need to have the cash to pay for everything I charge. Our vacations are paid for by my bonuses (along with major household repairs/updates like our roof job a couple years ago and bathroom remodel last year). As long as there are funds to cover our vacations in my savings account, that those bonuses go into, then we are good to book however many as we want. Vacation time is usually more of henderance to us in booking vacations than having the funds to pay for it.

[NMLady]

This may be personal, but I see many cruisers have multiple cruises planned and others have a few years between cruises. So I'd like to know, if you charge the cruise and not worry about the cost,do you pay off one before going on the next, do you save up and pay for it first, or do you make sure that all costs are paid right after leaving the ship. Something in between?

 

For me, we make sure that we can cover all cruise expenses as they appear on the credit card bill. So what about you?

 

We wait until we have saved enough for the cruise, air & gratuities/service charge before we book.

I also work out a budget for tours and onboard expenses before we book.

Sometimes that means it is more than a year between cruises.

[OCruisers]

We charge the cruise on our credit card and pay for it immediately when the credit card bill arrives.

LuLu

[Scratch12]

We have a special savings account that we put money into all year for the cruise we take every January. Anything that is charged on a credit card like parking, Amtrak to New Orleans or gas we pay out of this account when we get our bill the following month. This bill will be paid out of our special savings account. We just overlap our savings from year to year that way we always have money in this account during the year. We will be taking a trip to Destin this month with our daughters family and the expenses will be taking out of this special savings account. We also will be taking a trip to east Tn. in July and will be using this same savings account for this trip. It makes it easy to have money to use for special things. We don't use any of the money in this account for other things during the year unless it is an emergency. We are retired so all my Social Security goes into this account to use for our pleasure.

 

Happy cruising,

Katmama:)

[I_heart_vaca]

I would love to cruise more -- got hooked on the first go round -- but we pretty much do a large vacation every other year and we pay in cash (or on cards and pay them off in full). I used to charge everhything and pay over time, but its really hard to pay for trips after the fact. It just hurts my feelings. So now, my paycheck automatically puts some money in a seperate vaca fund. I pay the criuse all at once when I book it then save again for spending money. If I can't afford to do that - I postpone.

[Dayenu]

This may be personal, but I see many cruisers have multiple cruises planned and others have a few years between cruises. So I'd like to know, if you charge the cruise and not worry about the cost,do you pay off one before going on the next, do you save up and pay for it first, or do you make sure that all costs are paid right after leaving the ship. Something in between?

 

For me, we make sure that we can cover all cruise expenses as they appear on the credit card bill. So what about you?

 

I make sure we have enough money in our travel account to cover all cruise expenses. If not enough, we don't go. I do charge everything I can on the credit card (and not only travel) - to get points. Always pay off the bill in full not to pay interest.

[sapete]

QUOTE-This may be personal

 

Yes it is!

[onefine89]

We have started using tax returns (luckily) and saving a little as the year goes by.......starting to look at last minute sailings & deals (now retired) and pay the total amount at booking. Still pay on board expenses in full at end of cruise (cash/debit). Then start planning next cruise expenses:)

[pris993]

This may be personal, but I see many cruisers have multiple cruises planned and others have a few years between cruises. So I'd like to know, if you charge the cruise and not worry about the cost,do you pay off one before going on the next, do you save up and pay for it first, or do you make sure that all costs are paid right after leaving the ship. Something in between?

 

For me, we make sure that we can cover all cruise expenses as they appear on the credit card bill. So what about you?

 

We do two cruises a year generally. Just returned from a TA, 14 day on HAL, plus 3 days in Barcelona. Like you, we pay for the charges as they appear on our credit card. Will be making my last payment for hotel costs in Barcelona on my card this month. We pay off our card each month, have a no balance and pay no interest all year.

 

Next cruise in October. We have already paid for our air on Air France. In July we charge the cruise, will paid it off before we leave. Then we only need to cover charges for hotel and cruise expenses after we return home.

 

We save all year long.

[LHT28]

make sure money is in the bank then book the cruise

Pay off my CC every month

If we do not have the $$ in the bank we do not buy it

Edited June 3, 2014 by LHT28

[ducklite]

Sorry, wrong thread.

Edited June 3, 2014 by ducklite

[NIATPAC29]

QUOTE-This may be personal

 

Yes it is!

 

 

Oh well. Don't read it then !

 

 

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[olemissreb]

I book our cruises about a year out and then pay a little bit on it every month. Usually have it paid for 2 or 3 months prior to final payment. I also book our drink packages and prepay our gratuities so all of that is paid for before the cruise. I also book our excursions (independents) and those are also paid off prior to getting on the ship (if required). By the time we get on the ship, the only thing our empty credit card is used for is our onboard purchases and souvenirs in port and the excursions that weren't prepaid. When we get home, it all gets paid off. Usually DH has enough hotel points and frequent flier miles that we can stay/fly for free so there's no expense there (well very little anyway - airfare is $5/pp when using FF miles).

[Nebr.cruiser]

We charge the cruise on our credit card and pay for it immediately when the credit card bill arrives.

LuLu

 

That's what we do. I realize we're lucky to be able to do this. Actually, our main credit card bill comes out of our bank account automatically; I do check the statement very carefully though.

[dsu_2003]

Thanks for answering. While I was interested in seeing if I was missing something, I think it would help a new cruiser see how people afford to cruise. One my first cruise I couldn't imagine being able to afford to cruise on a regular basis.

[Treven]

Thanks for answering. While I was interested in seeing if I was missing something, I think it would help a new cruiser see how people afford to cruise. One my first cruise I couldn't imagine being able to afford to cruise on a regular basis.

Actually you can. It just takes some long time planning, which you may not be accustomed to doing. By long time planning, I'm thinking of 18-24 months out. Time to research when/where to cruise, and then time to pay for the cruise. At least that's my time line. I need an accessible cabin so I need to book 16-18 months out, or I probably wouldn't get to cruise as there aren't all that many accessible cabins on a ship.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Treven

[Padraic]

My wife and I have been very lucky in being able to take a transatlantic cruise almost every year, either spring or fall, for the last 10 years. We were able to do it for two reasons: (1) my wife took care of paying the bills so we have no more mortgage and (2) one of our daughters is a flight attendant so we fly to or from Europe fairly cheap.

[iancal]

We pay when the credit card bill arrives.

 

We are retired and often book cruises during the final payment window.

 

We have a bucket list of land trips and cruises. We select based on how good the particular offer is and how strong our currency is vis a vis where we are going.