Do you cruise within your means?

[NMLady]

I guess there wasn't much chance someone was going to come to this thread and say "As a matter of fact, I'm currently running about $20k of debt on my Norwegian Visa and the interest rates are brutal, but I'm going to just keep booking more, thanks for asking!"

 

That's what I was thinking. Who is going to admit that they just charge their cruises to the credit card and just make minimum payments on the card?

[Knobhdy]

I would say I "stretch" for my cruises, or vacations in general. I don't get a lot of vacation time and there are so many places I want to see that when I do get to go away I splurge.

 

A few years ago I picked up a groupon for a stay at a resort in Morocco. Since I was traveling all the way over there (from the US) I decided to extend the vacation with stops in Rome, Casablanca, and London. It as a pricey trip and we had to cut back on other "extras" (expensive restaurants and bar tabs) for a while leading up to the trip to be sure we wouldn't go into debt, but we didn't have to eat ramen or anything as drastic as that, and we didn't have any cc bills afterwards, so I would call it within our means. Others might think we were over-extending ourselves.

 

I have over-extended myself for a vacation. Last year we spent a week at an exclusive resort on Jamaica in their second most expensive room. We ended up putting it on a cc and were paying it off for several months.

Was it a dumb idea; yes. Was the trip wonderful, enjoyable and something we would love to do again; absolutely! We just know not to be lazy about our finances and budget around vacations anymore. We have much better things to spend out money on than interest.

[iancal]

Yes, however we view a cruise as simply one of many competing vacation options. We often do a land vacation and add on a cruise.

 

Our currency has dropped about 25 percent vis a vis US dollar. For us, this means that other travel options not priced in USD have become much more attractive. We probably would not consider a winter trip to the US. So this fall it is Greece and in the winter it will be Mexico, Costa Rica, or Thailand. When our currency was high and the world economy poor we did multiple cruises in Europe at prices that we could hardly believe.

Edited August 11, 2015 by iancal

[Misskitty72]

My husband and I are DINKS (dual incomes no kids) so we don't have that many bills to begin with.

 

That said, I will admit that I won't travel unless I can travel the way I want to travel and that means going all out. (Within reason, of course) I have yet to take a cruise, but I know that if I had to do it on a tight budget I would just stay home.

 

My husband calls me a travel snob, but to me that's the fun of traveling!! I still take advantage of deals when I find them, but if I have to pay more to fly economy plus or business I'll do it. If I want to stay at a four or five star hotel ...then I will put it on my credit card and pay it off later.

 

So I have a couple of thousand on a credit card, I don't really care. I make sizable payments and actually --it's only helped my credit score. As a result, my interest rates are super low. Go figure.

 

But that's me. And I know I'm extremely lucky to be able to travel the way I do. Different strokes for different folks. :)

[twcricket]

My husband and I don't use credit cards, so if the money isn't in the bank, we don't cruise. We are also last minute travelers, so no payment plans for us. We like nice vacations and usually don't skimp on the luxuries.

Edited August 11, 2015 by twcricket

[geoherb]

We cruise well within our means. I always have paid off the cruise when the bill comes. (I don't understand people going into debt for vacations.) I look for bargains. We have never booked a suite. DH likes balcony cabins, and we usually can get one. But we have also sailed in ocean view and inside cabins. If it comes down to a choice between going in an inside cabin and not going at all, we'll take an inside cabin.

 

One of our hindrances is DH's vacation schedule. He teaches at a community college, so we can only take cruises during his big breaks.

 

Our last cruises were New Year's (two short cruises back to back). We haven't been on another one this year. Last year we managed to take four (including the New Year's cruises). I'm hoping we'll be able to take one in December. I started a spreadsheet of prices. I'll track trends between now and the fall. It's more expensive during the holidays, but I've found bargains. We've taken seven Christmas cruises and two New Year's ones since he started teaching.

Edited August 11, 2015 by geoherb

[rockdoctor]

It may be a pragmatic answer, but I have always held that cruises should be paid for on a credit card to protect from bankruptcy and other unforseen eventualities. Given this, your credit card company will tell you if your cruise is within your means.

[OCruisers]

We've been on cruises with people who really should have spent their money at the dentist rather than on taking a cruise. :rolleyes: .. :D

[Warm Breezes]

For us it has always been about priorities. One of our priorities, since our honeymoon 27 years ago, has been vacations (both as a family and as a couple). DH and I dated for 3 1/2 while I got my BSBA and DH worked full time. I came out of school with $4k in student loans the rest paid by work, scholarships, and grants. We got married and waited 5 years before having kids while I got my MBA while working full time and saving. My job paid for my MBA. We took at least 1 week long + vacation every year with some long weekends thrown in. We bought our house which was 1/2 completed and did most of the inside finishing work ourselves after 2 years of marriage. Our priorities at this time in our life was getting me through school, saving for retirement, buying a house, and vacationing together.

 

On our 5 year anniversary trip we found out I was pregnant with DS. 2 1/2 years later it was DD. We doubled the size of our house by building an addition to it ourselves doing everything but the foundation, heating, and carpets. I became ill when DD was born with a Peripartum Cardiomyopathy and came extremely close to dying. I was off work 5 months for DD's birth then another 4 months for my heart. Luckily I had awesome Short Term Disability and a great employer. I also had an Aunt who was caretaker for my kids while we worked. We were extremely blessed. As our kids grew our money priorities included saving for college, saving for retirement, paying off our house, dance/soccer/basketball for the kids, and vacationing together.

 

It wasn't always easy. We didn't always buy new cars and when we did we kept them for over 10 years. We did a lot of camping when the kids were younger. We always seem to be behind in the latest technology (we have used Trac phones for years, no iphones for us, we were about 5 years behind the flat screen TV and computer trends and just upgraded our internet). I taught my kids to look for the deals when shopping for anything we are purchasing. I am pretty good at researching for the big stuff and bargain hunting for the small stuff. We always paid our bills on time and our credit cards in full. We took advantage of 0% financing when it made sense. We put away money weekly for church, retirement, college, and rainy days. I do use my credit cards to purchase almost every thing. I then use the rewards points as our vacation spending money. I have been lucky to get bonuses on an almost yearly basis. Those bonuses are put away for our vacations. The bigger the bonus the more we could vacation for the next year.

 

When I first started working out of college, 27 years ago when we first married, our family income was around $30k. We now make well over $100k with 2 kids in college (paid for by our 529 plans), our home (the same one we bought in 1990) is just a couple years away from being fully paid for, no other debt and a healthy retirement and savings fund. We can probably afford to go on more expensive vacations than we do. But I am a bargain hunter at heart and DH is a saver and I will always be looking for the best deals. Besides, I plan on vacationing a lot in retirement and I want to retire early to do it so I need to save for that now :D.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Warm Breezes

[sail7seas]

It may be a pragmatic answer, but I have always held that cruises should be paid for on a credit card to protect from bankruptcy and other unforseen eventualities. Given this, your credit card company will tell you if your cruise is within your means.

 

Good point but that doesn't mean we cannot pay the credit card bill in full when it arrives.

 

Also...... I wonder if most third party travel insurance (if one buys insurance) covers for bankruptcy of the travel providers?

 

[candycaramel]

OP,

I love how well everyone posting is doing and how much disposable income they have. Some of us are in the middle life and mid career and don't have the cash that retirees have.

 

I am also amazed at the amount of cruises some folks go on until I talked to a co-worker. She informed me that many folks work for the travel or airline industry and get substantially reduced fares at for cruises.

 

This co-worker's husband is an airline mechanic for a major airline. They get fares that those outside of the industry would never qualify for plus they fly standby. She's been on over 25 cruises over the years.

 

My point is...enjoy your life. If you want to go on a cruise, make it happen. If you have to finance it do so.

Edited August 12, 2015 by candycaramel

[dreamer320]

We do, but we're low-maintenance people. We don't like or do specialty restaurants, we maybe have one drink each a day, we don't shop on board and relatively little on shore. We don't scrimp on excursions, but we also don't tend to want expensive ones, or only one per cruise. Balcony cabins only, no suites.

 

I usually pay off at least 70% of vacations, cruise or land, before the trip itself, and pay any remainder when the bill comes. I usually squirrel away money throughout the year in a separate bank account for vacations, but don't always need to dip into it.

[LittleMissMagic]

I moved to Los Angeles from South Carolina, and my cost of living increased significantly. I'm actually visiting my family in SC right now and can't help but be incredibly jealous of the low gas prices ($2.06 today.... compared to $4.30+ in LA right now). And don't even get me started on rent - I pay more for my studio apartment in Westwood than I did for my 2 BR/2.5 BA condo in SC. Like someone else has already said, don't underestimate the cost of living in Los Angeles. It's among the highest. (But I love it here.)

[SadieN]

I moved to Los Angeles from South Carolina, and my cost of living increased significantly. I'm actually visiting my family in SC right now and can't help but be incredibly jealous of the low gas prices ($2.06 today.... compared to $4.30+ in LA right now). And don't even get me started on rent - I pay more for my studio apartment in Westwood than I did for my 2 BR/2.5 BA condo in SC. Like someone else has already said, don't underestimate the cost of living in Los Angeles. It's among the highest. (But I love it here.)

 

 

About the gas. We have very few toll roads (we are getting some) so our road monies comes from our gas taxes. (We pay about $.76/gal taxes.) Then add the cost of making our summer fuel (cleaner air, yeah!) and a huge refinery fire that knocked one of them out. It'll get better when the winter fuel comes in.

[mudscraper]

We've been on cruises with people who really should have spent their money at the dentist rather than on taking a cruise. :rolleyes: .. :D

 

Teeth like baked beans. I know what you mean. :)

[bplazo]

I skimp and save until I can splurge on my vacation.

[cruisemom42]

These kinds of threads attract posts from all the cruisers that DO manage to cruise or travel within their means. That's not to say some of the info might not be helpful to the OP. ;) As I am in a somewhat different situation, it may be worth giving my experience fwiw.

 

Travel has always been an important part of my life. My parents began taking us on cruises and other land travel with them from a young age. They weren't wealthy but travel was viewed as something that was almost a necessity and was budgeted for. High school and college graduation presents for me were trips to Europe and Asia, respectively.

 

Around 15 years ago I found myself a divorced single mom of one, with responsibility for paying bills, mortgage, saving for college and retirement all on my shoulders. Travel slowed (but didn't completely stop) for a few years until I worked out a "new" balance of spending and saving. I've taken my son on numerous cruises as well as several trips to Europe and one to Asia. I also travel solo both for work and for pleasure. Traveling solo is not a challenge for me in terms of comfort level, but it is a commitment financially since solos almost always pay more for the same trip, whether on land or on a cruise. :cool:

 

DS just graduated college (with no debt) and I am still working -- I don't expect my travel "budget" to change much though, as I'm saving for retirement. Also I only have a certain amount of vacation time per year.

 

I don't really splurge when I travel, outside of occasionally booking a very nice hotel in a prime location if I'm on a land trip. I am very comfortable with what I need and what works for me -- I can happily fly Economy, book inside cabins, take public transportation. I suspect that's partly due to a certain comfort level with figuring out things on my own, and partly due to being used to the challenges of travel from a young age. The thrill of travel isn't wrapped up in the perks but in the places seen.

 

I thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to travel early. I've tried to pay that forward. Also, I don't want to wait until I retire to travel -- too many stories of people who did that and then died or became unable to travel due to poor health before they really had a chance to fulfill their dreams.

[wwcruisers]

 

 

 

The thrill of travel isn't wrapped up in the perks but in the places seen.

Also, I don't want to wait until I retire to travel -- too many stories of people who did that and then died or became unable to travel due to poor health before they really had a chance to fulfill their dreams.

 

Love your post (especially the sentiment highlighted above)! :cool:

 

And, I totally agree about not waiting until you're retired to travel -- might be too late, by then. :eek:

[Sandy Sails]

Funny, I remember once talking about cruising at work and this one co-worker complained to my boss, who then asked me into her office to tell me not to talk about it because that co-worker was jealous. I proceeded to tell her that I work hard all year to save money for a once-a-year cruise and that just because she's married to an alcoholic husband who can't work is her problem, not mine. We all make our choices in life. Deal with it. My boss then took my side, lol.

[cbr663]

To the OP, travelling within your means is important, but I also think that it is more important to understand that different people have different means to travel.

 

There are regular CC posters who frequently write how often they have travelled and how they always travel in suites. What they fail to write is that they reside in a major cruise port, do not have any kids, live in a very modest home and drive older vehicles.

 

The average cruiser has the means to travel because the average cruiser is in their 60s, have their homes paid for, kids raised and are in their highest income earning stages of their lives.

 

As a couple in your 30s with kids, you are not the average cruiser. Your means to cruise will be different than most as you have very different priorities right now than the average cruiser.