Excited to go on this cruise .. but how can we go on even more cruises.

[LaMchop31]

My BF and I have a cruise booked on the Carnival Pride leaving March 12th from Baltimore. We are almost at single digits on the count down :D and very excited. But we have a big problem, even prior to stepping foot on the boat I have been browsing other cruises to take in the future already. We tend to book our vacations in two different ways. 1. Over cocktails, :wine-glass::tropical-drink::beer-toast::beer-mug: and you know where this is heading ... An idea is floated, the laptop comes out, buttons are clicked and voila, we leaving on a trip to Cuba 48 hours later. The mutual admiration society jumps on our band wagon and we are pleased and happy in the results. Thumbs up .. no regrets. It was a good holiday.

or

2. Long conversations - lots of internet surfing, planning, air fare site date exploring, etc. and we planned a trip to Paris that we had to wait a lot of sleeps to go but it was very exciting to look forward to. Months and months of museum, castle, art galleries and metro investigation. It was an amazing holiday and the pre-planning was almost just as much fun as the holiday.

 

I have exhausted cruise critic and have been trying to read everything and I have not seen this information before I ask any questions but here we go.

 

What tips and tricks do you use to book your cruises to make them slightly more affordable?

 

We are driving down to Baltimore, MD from Toronto, its an easy drive to save a grand after the hotel, parking and gas is paid for. - So that's an example of a big savings, that with a little bit of a time investment is hard to resist.

 

Can everyone offer any tips on $$$ avoidance

 

Are there months to go that are a little better,?

Is there a website that you use to get good prices or is booking thru Carnival something that pays off?

Do you wait for the sales?

Do you book months in advance and pay it off in segments?

Do you book the cruise part first and wait until the last minute to add the booze.

 

 

But if there are ways to save $$ and allow for more vacation fun we are interested.I notice some folks have cruises every couple of months, and also a year or 18 months in the future. i would love to have a rolling list of holidays to research, plan and get excited about.

 

 

any advise is gratefully received :)

[hotsauce126]

January, February, September, October, and November are the cheapest months to go

[scoggins84]

It looks like you guys are cruising right in the heart of Spring Break season here in the good ol' US of A. If you will price cruises that happen after school goes back in session: Sept- May (minus spring break and holidays), you will probably see really reasonable fares.

[Homosassa]

OP, please, change your screen name from your email address. It just isn't a good idea to have your address as your screen name on a public forum

 

Contact one of the Cruise Critic hosts; they can do it for you.

[TomAceEsq]

My wife and I love cruising, and go twice a year religiously even though we both work full time and are far from rich.

 

Our trick is to sacrifice going to new places every single time, and to book on the same ships and same months for most of our cruises.

 

We have found the best months that work for us economically are February and September. Both months everyone else's kids are in school, it's slow times for us in our work, and it isn't peak flying times so it's very comparable to driving.

 

Imagination is our home away from home and the ship we have most of our days on. We're actually going on her again in August which will make 16 days on her in just over 10 months.

 

Our philosophy is we'd rather cruise more often, on the same ships doing the same itinerary, than not cruise for a year or longer. Who wants to wait that long between cruises?!?

 

 

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[riffatsea]

We book far ahead most of the time as we want specific cabins and we want FTTF .

One way you might considering saving money is to NOT buy the booze program Cheers! You don't have to drink 15 drinks a day per person in order to enjoy a cruise!! You can save hundreds of dollars by just drinking less!

[GeorgiaMomof4]

You could look at booking while you are on the cruise you are about to take. Depending on what "sales" or specials they have going on you could get a reduced deposit or maybe even some good rates - plus you get some on board credit for the cruise you book.

 

Less expensive months are definitely January, February, September - November. Just be wary that September is prime hurricane season and your ports could change but rarely is the entire cruise cancelled.

[Schoifmom]

1. Purchase the discounted gift cards ... 10% savings right off the bat (if you can in CA ... sorry I don't know).

2. While we still have a great time, we forego a lot of the "extras" ... we don't purchase more than 1 photo, drink lightly, don't play bingo, budget money for casino.

3. We decide on excursions based on what we like to do and factor in the cost, and shop around. Sometimes a ship's excursion with price match is a better value than DIY, sometimes DIY is a better value.

4. We always sail in September/October. This is hurricane season, but we have never had an issue, and the price is great.

 

If we didn't do these things, we could cruise as often as we do ... and that's not often enough!!

[Saint Greg]

As Mentioned, Sept-Feb seem to be the lowest priced months. I've gotten into going on one in early Sept and one in late Feb. That's about a vacation every 6 months. Another bonus (for me at least) is less kids on board those months. I would suggest researching your next cruise before you go on this one because they will offer you On Board Credit if you book while you are on a cruise. Last week I was on Freedom and Carnival sent me an offer that included OBC. I checked prices and the fare was $100pp cheaper than it was when I cruised last September. I went ahead and booked onboard and got both OBC offers. Part of the deal was a reduced deposit and I only paid the deposit. I have until sometime in July to pay the rest. In the meantime as gift card sales come up I'll buy them and put them towards the cruise. I should save 10% that way.

 

If you're going to purchase cheers, it's cheaper if you do so before you board. You can also use the gift cards to pay for cheers now so you can save another 10% on cheers if you are able to get enough gift card deals to cover it....If you can figure out what you're going to spend on board you can also load gift cards to your account from a kiosk or at guest services.

[SadieN]

My wife and I love cruising, and go twice a year religiously even though we both work full time and are far from rich.

 

Our trick is to sacrifice going to new places every single time, and to book on the same ships and same months for most of our cruises.

 

We have found the best months that work for us economically are February and September. Both months everyone else's kids are in school, it's slow times for us in our work, and it isn't peak flying times so it's very comparable to driving.

 

Imagination is our home away from home and the ship we have most of our days on. We're actually going on her again in August which will make 16 days on her in just over 10 months.

 

Our philosophy is we'd rather cruise more often, on the same ships doing the same itinerary, than not cruise for a year or longer. Who wants to wait that long between cruises?!?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Someone asked how we can cruise so often.

We cruise from Los Angeles, our home port. Do not have a boat, RV or a second home. Figured out it's cheaper (for us) to cruise than to go anywhere else for the weekend. Much cheaper than that cabin in the mountains.

The next question is usually, don't you get bored going to the same places. It's no different than going to a second home. The added benefit is that DH can instantly relax because we've been there, done that. Do not have to worry about maintenance, insurance or busted water pipes.

 

***

We typically sail when most schools are in session.

[Saint Greg]

I use the Carnival Fun Points credit card for pretty much all of my purchases...They will offer you some stuff (bag, lanyard, maybe a ship on a stick) if you apply while on board. I use mine like a debit card and pay it off weekly. You don't want to maintain a balance on it and have to pay interest. If you have 10,000 points you could get $100 towards a cruise. If you have 75,000 points, you could get $750 towards a cruise. I'm set to hit at 100,000 points by the end of the year...at that point it escalates to $1,500 for 100,000 points. That's going to be a free...or mostly free cruise for me.

[ImaginationCruiseBride]

Every time we find gift cards available on Verizon for the 10% discount, we buy as many as we can afford at the time. Then when the urge to cruise hits we pull them out. We have 5 cruises in 14 months starting with our Mediterranean on the Vista last October and ending with a 15 day Hawaiian this coming December. We are retired so that allows us more freedom. Also my husband works as an usher for our AAA ball team in the summer and that pays for one cruise and I substitute teach to pay for cruising. We always book way early because cruise prices tend to go up. We usually just pay the deposit upfront and then use the gift cards we've hoarded to pay the balance later. We aren't big drinkers so do not buy the drink packages. We also do our research and either do private excursions or take advantage of Carnival's price match.

 

 

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[JillK]

Unfortunately most of the bonuses suggested on this thread aren't available to Canadians (ie - we cannot apply for Carnival's credit card, access the AmEx promo or Verizon).

 

A time that I have found good pricing that hasn't been mentioned is early December if it's do-able for you. It's a nice break before the hectic holiday season but you do have to face the entire winter afterward (not too bad this year though here in Toronto).

 

I tend to book well in advance and then just monitor the price, but I have heard lots of stories of folks getting incredible last minute deals, if you are capable of being flexible and travelling with little notice.

 

I always build a realistic budget and save my loonies to cover the anticipated costs. A big hurdle right now is the exchange rate. Just remember to budget 30% more for everything.

 

On a cruise there are some expenses you can control so that's where you can realize a savings in your overall vacation cost (casino, photos, drinks, shore excursions, shops on board, specialty dining). I tend to keep the exchange rate and my budget in mind when deciding on the incidentals.

 

On my last two cruises, I pre-purchased OBC (on board credit) before cruising since both of those cruises I had booked in Canadian dollars and the exchange rate was better with the cruise lines than at the bank. I bought according to my budget anticipating my expenditures on board. As it turns out I overbought on both cruises and just rolled that amount into the next cruise. Although I have booked my Vista cruise in USD, I anticipate that I will probably pre-buy some OBC as money to do so becomes available.

 

My family has decided that vacations are a priority so we save towards them and make choices that help us put more money into our vacation budget such as eating out infrequently or waiting for a movie to come out on DVD instead of going to the theater (we are a family of six so those types of outings get expensive).

 

You are already a step ahead in that you are cruising from a port you can drive to, eliminating airfare costs. I hope to use that tactic in the future too. Please report back after your cruise and tell us about the experience.

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise and no doubt you will find strategies that work for you for saving for the next one!

[cynt]

LAST MINUTE LAST MINUTE!

 

I book after final payment. I have found many deals booking this way.

 

Home ports- I can drive to Galveston, NOLA and Mobile. I watch these three ports like a hawk.

 

Book Out of season Sept, oct, nov, jan, feb and may.

 

No loyalty. I love RCCL. But my motto is a good deal on any ship and any cruise line works for me.

 

FLL & MIA - I select an out of season month. Check itineraries that interest me. Select 3 to 6 ships that leave on a particular weekend. Book a flight on Southwest. SOUTHWEST ALLOWS REFUNDS, CHANGES OR A CREDIT.

 

I watch all 6 ships looking for a deal. If a deal happens b4 final pymt I jump on it. Otherwise after final pymt I select the best deal for me.

 

It has worked for me. But I'm a free spirit, risk taker and go with the flow kind of person.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

[mebjar]

I second the idea of using a rewards credit card. We use the Barclay Plus Arrival Card to earn travel credits. And like one of the posters above, it gets used for all expenses and paid off before the balance is due each month. It's fun money for free! And it makes it SO much easier to pull the trigger on a vacation when you have points sitting there burning a hole in your "pocket".

 

We also tend to book far out, cruise in the off-season, and watch for price drops. On our last cruise, I was able to pay for parking and a Bubbles package with the money I saved from price drops. I know that's not a huge amount, but it's all part of the big picture.

[nhsails]

Well,

[telebax51]

I book my cruise when Carnival offer $50 pp deposit I have 3 cruises booked 2017, 2018, 2019 and i travel April and November when they have another reduced deposit i look for more try to do 2 a year

[nhsails]

For Caribbean with just Hubs and I:

1. We do week after Thanksgiving up to week before Christmas. Love weather, less kids, decorations without the price.

2. Have cashback CC put monthly expenses on, that's the play $>

3. For us: budget, islands, Cruise line then ship.

4. Book on Cruise, OBC, cabin selection, reduced deposit.

5. Average about year out.

6. Pay off except last $100-200 monthly.. Pay final amount when due.

7. Prepay what you can - OBC you have. Example: if have $100 OBC and know you are doing 2 tours for $300, beverages at $300 and a specialty at $60, pay off all but specialty. In ship book specialty. No surprises.

8. When in doubt, book a cruise or two when they come out on different lines for reduced deposit, watch pricing and trends, cancel when you make final choice.

If not Caribbean we do same, except book day itineraries come out. Then cancel one when we book airfare.

Enjoy

Dee

[Nic6318]

Hi there

 

As well as the in fall, the first few week of Dec. have low prices as well. I am sure that if looked for the same cruise that you are currently booked on for a Dec. sailing date you would find it to be hundreds less per person, from what you are paying. Generally avoid cruising when school is out.

 

Book well in advance. As soon you are able to make a commitment, a year or more in advance, is not unreasonable. Make sure you understand all the terms of the ticket class, in case of possible cancellation and you should also make sure you are able to benefit from any price drops, as well as understanding how to apply for the credit.

 

If you like drinking, consider your options. $800 for a couple might seem like a lot for drinks for a week, for others it is not. Put into perspective, that is just a little less than you might pay for a 7 day cruise for two, for an inside cabin. There is always the thought that if you don't drink a lot on board you might find that while at some of the ports you may be able to enjoy drinks a much more reasonable cost. Just make sure you get back to the ship on time. If an alcohol package is a must, then make sure you look into other cruise lines (besides Carnival) a lot of companies are making up package freebies where an alcohol package is included. So even if the up front price of a cruise might be lower when you add in the "freebies", you might find better value with another cruise line. Again, make sure you understand what you are getting and the total cost.

 

I mentioned the cost of a inexpensive cruise with an interior cabin. You do have the option of other cabin choices, but there is a substantial cost associated with each upgrade. If all you are going to do there is sleep, then it would be low on my priority.

 

I see that you are from Toronto, leaving from Baltimore, there is the option of driving to the port. Make sure you understand all the cost involved, but if you can avoid airline costs, it might make sense driving.

 

With the exchange rate being so poor, I would also suggest getting a U.S.$ credit card and savings account. Put away money when you have the opportunity. You will get a better rate on the exchange than you would using a CDN $ credit card and paying the credit card exchange rate.

 

hope this helps