Is anyone else a "Cheap Cruiser" who doesn't buy all the extras? Tips?

[Russ Lomas]

You're not the only one. We are the same. We are coming from Canada (and our dollar doesn't help!) and have to pay for airfare plus cruise for four of us. On Allure,

- we had a Promenade room (which we loved by the way)

- we brought our own 2 bottles of wine for MDR and only had a few additional "fun" drinks

- DH got soda package since he's a big soda drinker but that's it

- we did pay for 1 excursion only since we were only at that port for a short time and wanted to ensure that we caught the ferry with Royal

- we also went to the character breakfast (which is a small fee around $10 per person)

 

Not any other extras that I can think of. No speciality restaurants, spa packages, etc

For the other two ports, it just cost for the taxi and lunch (and one of them we returned to the ship to grab lunch)

 

We currently have Symphony booked for March break 2019. We did "splurge" on a Boardwalk room but it wasn't much more than the Promenade or Interior room. I can see us maybe booking one excursion but rest will be out of pocket. (Soda package is already included)

 

P.S. - We also do not get wifi as I like us to be totally disconnected from the internet

We too rarely spend lots on extras on the cruise and often walk off with a zero bill. We use our OBC that we have and do not go beyond that.

 

Remember you can bring those 2 bottles of wine per cabin (list one adult in each cabin if you are traveling with kids and EACH adult can bring 2 bottles, so you will have 4 bottles to take to the dining room with you).

 

In ports, we try to do a walk to a nice local beach if there is one available (Smith Cove is great in Cayman and the opposite way most cruise ship passengers go) or we look into a local bus service that is often only a dollar or two per person to a nice beach. Our excursions are always non-ship excursions (better value and a lot less people on them usually - use Tripadvisor to research them).

 

We put our electronics away for the whole trip to enjoy it more (though the kids are finding this harder and harder to do - but still we refuse to purchase internet on the ship for them) - we will leave them back home with the grandparents and their wifi if they need it that badly instead of taking them on the cruise with us.

 

We too had the Symphony booked on the same cruise as you (March 2019 Ontario break week) but switched over to the Freedom out of San Juan for less than half the price. Even after paying the difference for flights to San Juan, we will still be ahead several thousand dollars. We will save the Symphony for a few years til it is not "as new" and prices decrease.

[LuCruise]

Russ Lomas, isn't it 2 bottles per stateroom? (i.e. not per person). I could be wrong as it's been a year since we sailed but that's what I thought.

 

Yeah...the Symphony is quite pricey (but cheaper than Harmony same week). It's like Allure + slides so our kids will love it. And not sure how often we can cruise so we went for it. Totally get it though...even with the flight outside of Florida.

[sfaaa]

Go with the attitude that none of the extras on the ship or ashore is a 'Must Have' and you'd rarely exceed your spending. Preset a budget and stay with it.

[Markanddonna]

I most recently traveled on cruise #15, but it was my first time in a suite (penthouse), BUT it was paid for as a gift from my daughter and SIL. We usually are "value cruisers" who have no problems staying in well placed inside, OV or rarely balcony cabins.

Here's how we do it:

 

We use the fish website to get an idea of when the lowest price might be offered on a sailing and have had good luck with finding "the sweet spot". Our last 14 day transatlantic on RCL was $479, so we are getting pretty good at inexpensive cruising.

 

We decided what excursions are worth it to US (not what everyone else thinks). The Caribbean, Mexico and Central America all sort of look alike after a while, so I rarely do much in these ports anymore. I LOVE to go to Europe and try to prioritize my excursions. For example, in Malaga, Spain the big excursion is to see the Alhambra, the largest Moorish castle in the world. We arranged a private CC group tour. Other ports have lots to see right around the port area, so we do walking tours (on our own) and may pay to go into some really interesting historical site. In Dover, we took a train to Canterbury by ourselves which was easy. We always prefer private or ship excursions.

 

We have learned to pack wisely. Be sure to bring a small supply of necessary medications to cover all the basics so that we don't need to purchase a small bottle of Tylenol for $15.

 

Bingo, art auctions, the spa purchases, and most things from the stores only bring regret, so I don't go there. Also, I often don't buy souveniers unless I REALLY want to remember the place. Most items from Mexico and the Caribbean just don't fit with my decor.

 

On the last cruise, I had the drink package and the SDP so I ate in specialty restaurants for six days. Only Cagneys' dinner was absolutely superb. I tend to make better healthy eating choices in the MDR. The drink package is a waste for me as I don't drink much. The mixed drinks are VERY watered down.

 

We do our own laundry for personal items and package strategically for the rest. On a longer cruise (14-19 days), I pay for laundry on shirts and pants.

 

On longer cruises, we may purchase a bottle of wine and have one glass per night. The waiter tags it with your cabin number and can retrieve it another night.

 

I don't get sucked into other people's advice on cabin selection musts. I think the idea of feeling claustrophobic is overplayed and an inside cabin is just fine for us. We get out and socialize, dance, play card games, etc. during the day. A balcony cabin on a Panama Canal or Alaskan cruise is nice, though. We take transatlantics and find the weather a bit cool and misty and our one balcony experience for 16 days was a waste.

 

All of this is IMHO. I am just happy and thrilled to be able to cruise!

[notentirelynormal]

I work (well before I retired) 50 out of 52 weeks a year. I saved for my cruise the entire year before. We didn't go out to dinner all the time or away for the weekend. We saved. Any extra money went into the cruise fund. So when I go on a cruise vacation I deserve to splurge a little. I buy that one thing I've always wanted to have. I bet $50 a week at the casino. WooHoo!

 

We don't pull back on shore excursions. If I want to try scuba diving for swimming with the sting rays I deserve that for ME. If I see a cheap bobble that I want I buy it. I didn't eat out at fast food restaurants or any other restaurants for the past year anyway. I earned that bobble.

 

Now, this is how I feel about excursions either bought through the ship, bought from the shore or however you happened upon them. You come home. Your friends, family and co-workers all ask you how you loved St Thomas. Did you see Blackbeard's Castle. What about this. No? Nothing? How about when you were in Barbados. What did you do there. You walked 50 feet from the ship then got back on? So you saw the shore line? Why did you bother going if you weren't going to see any of the island. Go to the beach near your house and look at the water. Done. No need to ever cruise again.

[Tatka]

Questions from my friends or other people why we do this or that are the least of my worries unless they need to get information for their future travels.

 

They still don't understand why we are trying to drive to Cape Cod even during the winter just to see an ocean. :)

[LovedTheStarsTooFondly]

I've noticed that too. Some people seem to drop hundreds or even thousands of dollars while onboard. That would ruin my entire vacation to get a bill at the end for that much money.

 

The fact that cruising can be cheap is one of the reasons we love it. To us, spending money does not necessarily equal fun or enjoyment.

 

Interior cabins are fine with us. We're only in the room to sleep, shower, and and change clothes.

 

The food in the MDR is as good or better than any restaurant we've been to at home, so we are perfectly happy with that.

 

I don't drink at all, and my husband drinks once or twice a year, so we'd never get our money's worth out of an alcohol package. He does get the soda package because he's addicted to Diet Coke. Lol

 

The casino just isn't my thing. I've been gambling I think twice in my life.

 

I don't go to the spa at home (I'm a low maintenance kind of person), so I see no reason to go to an overpriced one on a ship.

 

We don't do shore excursions in every port. For us, the ship is the vacation. Ports are just a bonus. We only do excursions that we really, really want to go on. If we don't see anything we're just dying to do, we just walk around.

 

As for wifi, another reason we enjoy cruising is because we can truly get away. No drama, no work, no stress. I can post pictures when I get home. If there's a real emergency, we can be reached through the cruise line. Everything else can wait.

 

We consider the gratuities part of our fare. Granted, we haven't cruised enough to have a problem yet, but I can't think of any reason we would ever remove them. I know some people choose to remove them and tip personally in cash. I think that leaves a lot of "behind the scenes" people out. If someone goes above and beyond, I have no problem personally tipping them extra, but the recommended gratuities are a minimum for us.

 

So other than gratuities, my bill has been less than $20 at the end of each cruise. All the money we saved can go towards the next one.

[SuiteTraveler]

fl-girl are you doing the Eastern or Western Caribbean? I may be able to help you with ideas about free stuff to do ashore. But, I agree with everyone else here, you don't need to pay for anything extra to have a great time on Harmony. The entertainment on that ship is awesome (DO make show reservations online though - especially for the comedy club which is quite small but they usually have a comedian onboard who you have actually seen on TV!), the adults only solarium is awesome, there is so much to do that is included that really you just don't need to buy a bunch of extra stuff. I always enjoy watching people on the flow riders. Mini golf is included. There's so much to do, you can't do it all in a week! Everything at Labadee except cocktails and soda is free, so you won't need to buy anything there and RCCL puts out a big buffet lunch (note: try to go just before they open because the lines get really, really long and who wants to stand in line at the beach on a beautiful day? It's ok to grab 2 plates and fill both of them for 2 people in your group.) Don't forget there are lots of included restaurants on the ship and that Johnny Rockets is free at breakfast and often there are only 1 or 2 tables taken. Breakfast in the MDR is awesome as they have a buffet and then table service with omelets and other hot breakfast items and it's included.

 

There are ways to do some of the specialty restaurants on the cheap. Izumi sushi can be done on the cheap as their edamame, salad with ginger soy dressing and vegetable fried rice are included, so you would only pay for the sushi you eat which is $6 - $14 per roll and with all the extra included food, you might only want 1 - 2 rolls for 2 of you max. Johnny Rockets is $6.95 per person for burger and fries. BUT there are burgers and fries in the buffet and at the Wipeout Cafe for free. At Sabor, tableside guacamole is $6 and comes with chips - plenty of food to share for a snack. The menu in Vintages is actually food from Jamie's Italian where you can get items such as Crispy squid $5 or Jamie's Meat board $5 or bruschetta $4 and share them while sharing a wine flight - it can cost as little as $11.50 for a wine flight (3 smaller glasses of wine) and you can share the wine flight. We've done that for dinner before. It's plenty of food for very little money.

 

My favorite place for lunch though is the Park Cafe - which is included. My second favorite place for lunch is Cafe Promenade - which is also included. There is also the Dog House on Boardwalk that is included and Sabbatini's which has pizza and usually 1 Italian specialty that changes each day and then various desserts - all included. Also, don't overlook the Solarium Bistro for breakfast or especially lunch while your kids are in the kids clubs! It's included as well. You can always get extra juice in the morning and put it in the refrigerator in your cabin to drink later or bring some of those little drink mixes to add to water. It is possible to get a pitcher of lemonade or tea and keep it in your cabin refrigerator. You can bring on reusable water bottles for the whole family.

[57redbird]

Echoing what another poster said....check your roll call to see if anybody has posted any private tours in your ports. I organized one in Cartagena & the cost per person was $65....much less than the HAL-sponsored one that went to fewer places.

[griffy116]

We save like crazy to pay for our cruises. We don't do expensive restaurants, concerts, etc during the year. When we first started cruising, we fell victim to the photos. That ceased after we ran out of room to put them.We've never had a bad meal in the MDR or the buffet so we don't do the specialty restaurants. Some things, however, have changed. We used to book inside, OV...didn't matter. We do mostly prefer a balcony, but would do a Promenade or OV. We used to wander around on our own to a beach or to shop and couldn't understand why everyone loved X island while we didn't enjoy it at all. It was because they got away from the port to see some of the sights and enjoy some of the things that we couldn't do for free and on our own. We were missing out on some wonderful experiences by not doing excursions at certain ports. We do enjoy the occasional frozen drink and we do love the special coffees. We're now Diamond so we get free drinks in the lounge, we usually get OBC from the cruise line and from our TA so we use that for an excursion or in the casino. We spent a lot of money on excursions and meals taken in port cities on our Med cruises, but we knew that going in and saved for these as well. I still think we are careful with our money. We just use it for the things we think are important and worth it and skip the things that aren't. Tips of course are ALWAYS paid.

[paul929207]

Generally, the only thing on our room account os:

 

-autotips

-wine for dinner

-coffee card.

 

Our OBC reduces that to little or nothing.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We don't spend too much extra on cruises either. We have only done one specialty restaurant and that was included; it wasn't so great that we would have paid extra for it. We are perfectly fine with the included food. We always keep the tips on and usually tip our steward a little extra. We don't drink, don't want soda, spa, etc.

 

We do buy (often it's included) internet time due to elderly parents and I usually buy a photo or two. Since we almost always have some OBC, we usually use it for those things. We don't gamble, buy stuff in the shops or most extras. We do independent excursions almost exclusively and in some ports just walk around town or to nearby beaches.

 

It's not so much that we are trying to be cheap as that we don't need/want a lot of these extra. It's a lifestyle choice for us. We have a great time doing what we like and have had extra OBC refunded at the end of several of our cruises.

[h_blond2]

You're not the only one who keeps a budget while on a cruise. I think my bill at the end of the last cruise was only $30. That didn't include the stuff we did in the ports, but even that wasn't very much. I still have a great time without emptying out my checking account.