Welcome to Tightwad Cruising - What Do You Do?

You can always buy a soda or other non alcoholic drink. That is what I do (on land o't on a cruise) if i go to a club and want to enjoy the entertainment but don't choose to drink alcohol.

There are quite a few people who apparently have the funds to cruise a great deal and be able to stay in higher end cabins. Of course there are always the folks who are maxed out on their credit cards to pay for a lifestyle they otherwise would not be able to afford. That being said, I am not an arbiter of people's monetary positions, and really wish them the best in enjoying their cruises.

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I cruise 2-3 times a year and lean toward longer cruises - our record so far is a 49 day cruise around the Horn. We are both retired. We know from side comments that lots of our friends don't "get it" and a few have even joked about our backyard money tree.

Here's what most people don't "get". We lived below our means the whole time we were working and maxed out our 401k plans. We bought a smaller house than we could afford. I'm a shadetree mechanic, so I'm a stickler about maintenance - with the result that SWMBO drives a 10 year old Subaru with over 200K miles on it - and it still looks and runs brand new. I drive a 12 year old pickup with 150K on it - and it still looks and runs brand new. No car payments in over 8 years.! The kids are long out of college and they went to state schools where the tuition was less and we paid their schools bills from the college fun savings that we started when they were born. We don't need the latest gadgets and tend to "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"

Thus, we can travel and cruise whenever and wherever we want - and believe me, I search out every bargain and benefit that I can. That's the Tightwad Way!

I hear what you are saying! We are young retirees--raised 4 children all now on their own. We live very modestly--saved and contributed to our 401K from a young age--not drinkers, we don't eat out that often--if so it is a local chain or maybe a pizza. We just paid off our home--a very modest 3 bedroom ranch. Like you my hubby is very handy and will remodel or fix anything he can. We had downsized a few years ago--We know how fortunate we are that he is gifted that way. We also have an RV & mix up our vacations--we are doing an Alaska cruise in August--booked it last year and pay every 2 wks / monthly --treat it like a bill so it doesn't impact the budget--much easier for us this way!

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She Who Must Be Obeyed and I cruise 2-3 times a year and lean toward longer cruises - our record so far is a 49 day cruise around the Horn. We are both retired. We know from side comments that lots of our friends don't "get it" and a few have even joked about our backyard money tree.

 

Here's what most people don't "get". We lived below our means the whole time we were working and maxed out our 401k plans. We bought a smaller house than we could afford. I'm a shadetree mechanic, so I'm a stickler about maintenance - with the result that SWMBO drives a 10 year old Subaru with over 200K miles on it - and it still looks and runs brand new. I drive a 12 year old pickup with 150K on it - and it still looks and runs brand new. No car payments in over 8 years.! The kids are long out of college and they went to state schools where the tuition was less and we paid their schools bills from the college fun savings that we started when they were born. We don't need the latest gadgets and tend to "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"

 

Thus, we can travel and cruise whenever and wherever we want - and believe me, I search out every bargain and benefit that I can. That's the Tightwad Way!

Good for you!! That's awesome!

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I'm a pharmacist and I work a 2nd job. That money is set aside specifically for vacation. I've also had breast cancer twice and now realize that I can't take it with me so we are splurging on our next cruise. It is a 15 day TA. We also live below our means, eat out occasionally and maximize our credit card points for airfare and hotel stays.

I'm a pharmacist and I work a 2nd job. That money is set aside specifically for vacation. I've also had breast cancer twice and now realize that I can't take it with me so we are splurging on our next cruise. It is a 15 day TA. We also live below our means, eat out occasionally and maximize our credit card points for airfare and hotel stays.

Good for you!! Enjoy!

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I was just on a NCL thread with the topic " Why Do You Choose Cruising For Your Vacation Dollars? " One poster mentioned cruising can be rather expensive having spent $10000 on a haven cabin on the Epic .$10000 !! We spent a total of just over $2200 for our Med cruise balcony with drinks on the Epic ! (Perhaps the same cruise ?) Anyway it was no Haven but maybe they aren't tighwads . Just spendthrifts ! :D

I'm a Housewife, on a budget. We were able to book our cheap Carnival cruise for the cost of a week in a condo in FL in Oct. the cruise is paid off, thankfully. We were gifted cruise cash that's covering our tips.I also got a credit card with cash back as a perk.

Between now & our Oct sail date we have a plan to put X amount in our "mad money" bank account. It's at a totally different bank from our household expenses. I've found ways to cut corners on the home front. Upload more digital coupons to my loyalty cards, swapped laundry detergent to a cheaper brand that works just as good, look at purchases as a want or need.

Hubs & I set an alcohol limit. We plan to purchase Carnival bar cash cards to pay for it in advance. (We don't drink enough to justify the Cheers package) We're taking sodas. I did order a case of water through the Carnival website. I'll take some flavor enhancer sleeves.

Camping, in our used travel trailer, is our usual vacation. We're able to take a week long trip & lots of long weekends. Still plan to camp this year, but cut back.

I booked way in advance too. This way I can save. The way I see it is, You make happen what you want. If you want to travel, find a way. If you want designer clothes, find a way. I'm thrifty, but cruising isn't something we can yearly afford yet w 2 kids at home. If the kids don't like it, we've still only spent our planned big vacation budget. (We'd planned on a week in FL on the Gulf already)

 

 

You forgot one of the best FREE events " Captains cocktail party. Free drinks and you can have several ,Also free beaches on alot of the islands !!!!!!. Call me cheap but I will not pay to eat at a speciality rest. on board when there is so many other choices of food on board that comes with my cruise fare.;)

What is the Captains Cocktail Party?

Interesting read. Thanks to everyone for their hints and viewpoints.

My hobbie is being frugal and I find it exciting. I love the research, comparing prices and thrill of getting what I feel is a good vaule. I never seem to 'save' any money but I do stretch my budget by doing something I enjoy. Of course, I use my hobbie to get rock bottom price on travel including cruising.

My only suggestions:

1. Your spending should reflect your personal/family values.

2. Learn to save and don't live a credit driven life.

* a "free" member of every hotel, airline club I have preference for, and discount websites that I fell comfortable with.

* booking onboard for our Next Cruise 2 years in advance, then getting our agent to adjust price with extra discounts he finds, and he gives us extra OBC and a complimentary Specialty Dining.

* mostly book private excursion that is recommended on these boards. Only do ship excursion in sketchy ports (Categena, Columbia for example)

* don't drink alcohol, pop, juice...only free coffee. I do prepuchase online for a case of water because it helps with my feet not swelling to baseball size. (I found this trick on here....something to do with the ocean-recycle water that is served onboard)

* bypass the ship sales, shops, pictures, drink special cups, art auction, bingo, port shopping seminar. (all tempting)

Our last cruise on the Oasis B2B...1st week was $164 2nd week was $14

Note: We are Canadian, but have an agent in Miami. ADVANTAGE?...gives better perks/bonuses. The price is the same, whether you book with cruiseline, or agent in either country. It's the reputation/relationship of the agency to a cruiseline that makes the difference. PLUS, our agent is very good at looking out for price drops and specials for our booked cruises.

As we are retirees we tend to be careful with our costs and take the cheaper options, but only where we see the value verse enjoyment equation is not compromised. Ie: is the extra cost worth the enjoyment to us.

For example, most cruises we take, we go interior, thus giving us more money to enjoy excursions/specialty dining/etc.

However if we can get an OV at a reasonable additional cost we would chose the OV over the Internal.

We figure as we only generally spend sleeping/showering/changing time in our cabin,why spend the extra.

Although last year we did the Emerald relocation England to Australia and I treated my wife to an OV at the very rear of the boat looking over the wake, at marginally more than the internal cabin, and it was fantastic value.

For another I like to drink real orange juice not the watered down type, and love those mocktails, so the equation for me goes, per day 5 orange juices at around $2 each, plus 2 mocktails at $5.00 each, total $20/day, verses soda+ package at $10 to $12 per day, not a hard choice really, and some days I can even let myself, indulge himself an extra mocktail or two if I so desire, and finally it’s great for my mixer drinks just supply the spirit and get my free mixer coke/dry/tonic whatever.

But those all-inclusive drink packages seem well over the top, there is no way I could drink that amount of grog per day. So we stick to buying a bottle have a couple of glasses, and then getting the drink staff to put our cabin number on it and keep it for the next day, definitely works out cheaper.

We agree however with the general view that the art auctions are great for a free drink, but never buy, the spa treatments are definitely out, but do take advantage of our Elite standing by getting the ship to do our major laundry items for free, and our free internet allocations real help. So we do find that loyalty to a particular cruise line worthwhile.

We too like the longer cruises, so we need to be extra careful with costs as they can easily blow out to mind boggling amounts, if you don’t keep in mind your budget and how it’s going. We are forever going to those little statement printout kiosks every 4 or 5 days to check costs and that no extras are added to our accounts, we have several times picked up that someone else’s purchase has been misbooked to us, and it’s much easier to have it corrected if noted early.

So be miserly but don’t skimp on what you truly enjoy, or you’ll miss the purpose of going.

Regards

I don't know if this qualifies as tightwad.... but I got a great deal using a combo of my credit cards- brought the price for 4 people WAY down..... one of our cheapest trips yet,and it was so luxurious! We didn't buy any excursions,but planned different hikes etc in Alaska where we stopped. One day we spent like $20 per person to visit the raptor center and the bear center,and took the city bus when needed. it was the most amazing trip we've ever been on! We didn't buy anything extra onboard-not even in the lounges. water or tea was fine. We did leave our cabin attendants a nice tip at the end, but that isn't the same as spending. Heck, we even got a refund of some port fees,so that made our overall trip an even better deal!

I love how old this thread is... just thought I'd add my little bit as it may help somebody out and this thread seems to still be awake!

I... don't book cruise line excursions.

I... book flights separately (most of the time)

I... book an inside cabin.

I... travel off season

My favourite way to be a tightwad is to.. BOOK CRUISES ON CRUISES! I know it sounds mad, it also makes the post cruise blues a little more bearable.

Its best when cruise lines have another 3rd party based onboard as they often have cheaper prices than the cruise line, combining this with onboard 'deposit' bonuses can save you a ton of money! I would 100% recommend.

It is a little bit more work than booking on land, I on my last cruise had to buy a cruise next certificate from NCL and take that to the third party. (little more about what I did here incase you are interested: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2017/05/13/how-i-saved-618/ )

I'm only 23 so like to think I am a master of the cheapskate cruise. :)

For the "use it or lose it" OBC I had to force myself to buy a few items in the shops. The items were either over priced or I just didn't want or need them. I ended up getting a watch and pair of earrings, but still left about $20 on the table. The rest was credited to our account, which paid for our pre flight hotel and parking.:D

I like having a credit when I leave the ship. Its just fun.

I haven't gotten to the end of the thread, and I don't know if this poster is still around, so if anyone else can answer this, please do:

How do you use a "use it or lose it" OBC on pre-flight hotel & parking? Seems like OBC would have to be used once you're on the ship, and not before? And I assume the credit Misty is referring to is OBC left over, not spent, and cannot be used on anything after disembarkation?

I was just on a NCL thread with the topic " Why Do You Choose Cruising For Your Vacation Dollars? " One poster mentioned cruising can be rather expensive having spent $10000 on a haven cabin on the Epic .$10000 !! We spent a total of just over $2200 for our Med cruise balcony with drinks on the Epic ! (Perhaps the same cruise ?) Anyway it was no Haven but maybe they aren't tighwads . Just spendthrifts ! :D

I think that you are talking about me but missed my point and also misread what I wrote.

My point was that cruising can be expensive and I think that we can agree on that. Maybe it doesn't have to be expensive but it can be expensive.

I didn't said that I had spent $10000 for I week on the Epic, I said that's what it should cost. We planned to cruise on the Epic this summer but changed our mind when we found out how much it should cost. We are booked on a MSC cruise we paid a little less than $6000 for, two persons in the Yacht Club.

It's not about being spendthrifts, we are cruising for money we have and are prepared to spend on a cruise. Why shall we do something else with the money if what we want is the cruise?

Here is a few tips we use:

Cruise enough on one cruise line to get their perks

Use the Credit Card that accumulated cruise credits

Book early , get the free specialty dinning and free gratuities and OBC

On Royal we are Diamond Members so we have free cocktail ect daily

On Carnival we usually get free rooms from onboard casino , then pay for upgrade to balcony.

Always book next cruise (open date) while on ship for the OBC

NCL also gives free cruises from the casino ,

Try to cruise from ports close enough to drive to or book airfare early

Get spa treatments While ship is in port

Do Back to Back cruises or relocation cruises

I'm sure I will think of others ,

Young and Restless

Lots of great tips here!

We also don't do any specialty dining. I figure that we are already paying for the MDR and the food there is better and fancier than what I am cooking most nights (and breakfast and lunch as well).

We would never drink enough to utilize a drink package. I am a very light drinker, so one a day on vacation would be a max. I'd hate to feel like I have to drink to get my monies worth.

We love to walk and have no problems walking to statues, parks, museums, etc. We don't always need the official tour. We went geocaching in Victoria and had a great time. I'll also look for museum coupons--I'll print them out before we go. Same for restaurants at the ports-I'll see what gets good reviews online and see if I can print a coupon. Usually it's for like a free appetizer, 10% off check, etc. I will probably look at all of the excursions and pick 1-2 for the family. Paying for 4 adds up. Whatever we pick will need to be something memorable, so I would spend a little more for this.

I really don't need anything duty free. I've got enough stuff at home.

I'm using our OBC to pay for tips. I'm glad to have paid the entirety of our vacation before the sailing. Having enough OBC to cover this is nice.

We're sleeping in inside cabins. Would I like a "nicer" room? Sure! However, I'll get the same food, ports, shows, etc. as the suite holders. I don't think that we will be in there enough. Maybe one day.

We will take our own photos, and I will ask others to please take our picture with our camera.

Lots of great tips here!

 

We also don't do any specialty dining. I figure that we are already paying for the MDR and the food there is better and fancier than what I am cooking most nights (and breakfast and lunch as well).

 

We would never drink enough to utilize a drink package. I am a very light drinker, so one a day on vacation would be a max. I'd hate to feel like I have to drink to get my monies worth.

 

We love to walk and have no problems walking to statues, parks, museums, etc. We don't always need the official tour. We went geocaching in Victoria and had a great time. I'll also look for museum coupons--I'll print them out before we go. Same for restaurants at the ports-I'll see what gets good reviews online and see if I can print a coupon. Usually it's for like a free appetizer, 10% off check, etc. I will probably look at all of the excursions and pick 1-2 for the family. Paying for 4 adds up. Whatever we pick will need to be something memorable, so I would spend a little more for this.

 

I really don't need anything duty free. I've got enough stuff at home.

 

I'm using our OBC to pay for tips. I'm glad to have paid the entirety of our vacation before the sailing. Having enough OBC to cover this is nice.

 

We're sleeping in inside cabins. Would I like a "nicer" room? Sure! However, I'll get the same food, ports, shows, etc. as the suite holders. I don't think that we will be in there enough. Maybe one day.

 

We will take our own photos, and I will ask others to please take our picture with our camera.

You're a person after my heart. Could not agree more. I was not born wealthy nor am I wealthy in retirement. So we, just like you, have to watch our outgo carefully. ;)

We are definitely tightwads. We have cruised 7 times and we have never spent more than $1500 total for two of us for up to 8 day sailings. That includes cruise fare, port fees, gratuities, taxes, and onboard spending. I fully realize that the extremes we go to are not for everyone, but it has allowed us to take a cruise about every 18 months. Some of you will look at our profile and immediately think there's no way we cruised to Hawaii for less than $1500. That one was free because my wife won an internet contest on Norwegian.

Here are some of the things we have done to save money...

1) Book cruises in the off season. Weather is still good and a 7-day cruise can be had for less than $450 per person.

2) Book an inside cabin. We had a balcony on our Hawaii cruise and we loved it. But now that we are paying for it, we book as cheap a cabin as we can because we don't spend enough time in it to pay the extra. We actually have booked 1A cabins on Carnival. The bunk beds are not worth it, but 2 lower beds have worked for us.

3) We find the cheapest cruises on sites like Orbitz and Travelocity, but then look for discounts on those cruises by using Discover card credits.

4) We sign up for credit cards (i.e. Southwest Airlines and Marriott) and use the points to get free airfare and hotels. Southwest has non-stop flights for us to Fort Lauderdale. We usually fly in the night before just to make sure we don't have a delay or cancellation.

5) Discover card has a $40 credit for $20 on Alamo rental cars. You have to add taxes and fees of another $15+ but for less than $40 I rent a car to get us from FLL to MIA. Alamo has a free shuttle from MIA to the cruise port. It does take awhile to make the transfer and they stop running the shuttle in the early afternoon.

6) We plan our own excursions. Usually we rent a car and drive to a secluded but safe beach. I do a lot of research on CC for this. Renting/Driving a car in a foreign country can be a challenge. US ports like Hawaii are easy (except the road from Hana when you think you're going to be late for the ship). Puerto Rico was okay, St. Thomas (other side of the road) was nerve racking.

7) We have taken the local bus (Grand Cayman, Antiqua, St. Maarten). Not for everyone, but worked for us.

8) We walk to the beach (Junkanoo in Nassau, Browne's Beach in Barbados, Viggie Beach in St. Lucia) and walked around town at Old San Juan and Key West. Not for everyone.

9) We choose free activities where possible (usually a beach).

10) We don't eat or drink in port. We take a bottle of water with us. We are not usually hungry after eating on the ship and it lessens the chance of Montezuma's revenge.

11) We research where there is free wifi and call our kids when we find it. I found it once on park bench at Junkanoo beach.

12) On the ship we take advantage of free activities. We don't drink. We seldom shop or gamble. Main dining room and Carnival comedy works great for us.

13) We love free ports like Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk.

14) I carry a 12 pack of Coke on board.

15) We bring our own snorkels. We snorkeled with dolphins in Hawaii (a tremendous blessing that we didn't plan), turtles in Barbados, and fish in Grand Turk.

And we still try to see the best of every port. Takes a ton of planning, but I don't mind the research and once on board, we relax and enjoy knowing we will be back in a year or two.

 

We're sleeping in inside cabins. Would I like a "nicer" room? Sure! However, I'll get the same food, ports, shows, etc. as the suite holders. I don't think that we will be in there enough. Maybe one day.

Sometimes it's the same food but often it isn't. Lots of ships have restaurants dedicated for their suite guests and the food is better there. NCL have Haven restaurants on their newer ships and MSC have the Yacht Club on some ships with excellent food.

I don't say that a suite should make your cruise better but you are incorrect when you think that the food is the same, at least on some ships.

As we are retirees we tend to be careful with our costs and take the cheaper options, but only where we see the value verse enjoyment equation is not compromised. Ie: is the extra cost worth the enjoyment to us.

For example, most cruises we take, we go interior, thus giving us more money to enjoy excursions/specialty dining/etc.

However if we can get an OV at a reasonable additional cost we would chose the OV over the Internal.

We figure as we only generally spend sleeping/showering/changing time in our cabin,why spend the extra.

Although last year we did the Emerald relocation England to Australia and I treated my wife to an OV at the very rear of the boat looking over the wake, at marginally more than the internal cabin, and it was fantastic value.

 

For another I like to drink real orange juice not the watered down type, and love those mocktails, so the equation for me goes, per day 5 orange juices at around $2 each, plus 2 mocktails at $5.00 each, total $20/day, verses soda+ package at $10 to $12 per day, not a hard choice really, and some days I can even let myself, indulge himself an extra mocktail or two if I so desire, and finally it’s great for my mixer drinks just supply the spirit and get my free mixer coke/dry/tonic whatever.

But those all-inclusive drink packages seem well over the top, there is no way I could drink that amount of grog per day. So we stick to buying a bottle have a couple of glasses, and then getting the drink staff to put our cabin number on it and keep it for the next day, definitely works out cheaper.

 

We agree however with the general view that the art auctions are great for a free drink, but never buy, the spa treatments are definitely out, but do take advantage of our Elite standing by getting the ship to do our major laundry items for free, and our free internet allocations real help. So we do find that loyalty to a particular cruise line worthwhile.

 

We too like the longer cruises, so we need to be extra careful with costs as they can easily blow out to mind boggling amounts, if you don’t keep in mind your budget and how it’s going. We are forever going to those little statement printout kiosks every 4 or 5 days to check costs and that no extras are added to our accounts, we have several times picked up that someone else’s purchase has been misbooked to us, and it’s much easier to have it corrected if noted early.

 

So be miserly but don’t skimp on what you truly enjoy, or you’ll miss the purpose of going.

 

Regards

love your way of life, thanks for the tips

Will be going on my 26 cruise in three weeks on RC. I love all the ideas most we already do. We have been in inside cabins to suites and We have had a great time on every cruise. We love to get a deal and usually wait til 5-6 wks out to book...we usually get a great deal.

Only have a couple of additions I have not seen

Bring wine on board. Usually every adult can bring one bottle of wine on board. Use wine glasses in the room.

Instead of buying laynards I save some from meetings and use them for our cabin keys. $1.00 stores have them some times by eyeglass rack.

if you have a balcony

Bring an old tablecloth to put on the table for room service and throw away at the end of the cruise

Get the shareholders benefit from having 100 shares in the cruise line. 7 days usually get you $100 in credit.

Last seven day cruise we went on our account including tips was ~300.00

I enjoy finding ways to save money not because we have to but we spend on things we really want

* a "free" member of every hotel, airline club I have preference for, and discount websites that I fell comfortable with.

* booking onboard for our Next Cruise 2 years in advance, then getting our agent to adjust price with extra discounts he finds, and he gives us extra OBC and a complimentary Specialty Dining.

* mostly book private excursion that is recommended on these boards. Only do ship excursion in sketchy ports (Categena, Columbia for example)

* don't drink alcohol, pop, juice...only free coffee. I do prepuchase online for a case of water because it helps with my feet not swelling to baseball size. (I found this trick on here....something to do with the ocean-recycle water that is served onboard)

* bypass the ship sales, shops, pictures, drink special cups, art auction, bingo, port shopping seminar. (all tempting)

 

Our last cruise on the Oasis B2B...1st week was $164 2nd week was $14

 

Note: We are Canadian, but have an agent in Miami. ADVANTAGE?...gives better perks/bonuses. The price is the same, whether you book with cruiseline, or agent in either country. It's the reputation/relationship of the agency to a cruiseline that makes the difference. PLUS, our agent is very good at looking out for price drops and specials for our booked cruises.

Who do you work with in Miami to book your cruises? Don't like our TA.

Don't believe this has been mentioned yet....

I recently discovered that the travel agency arm of big box store (that sells $1.50 hot dogs) provides the best rebate for travel expenditures via a "cash card". The cash card can be cashed at the store so no need to spend all of it there. I transferred a cruise that I booked directly with the cruise line to them when I learned that the cash back card amounts to almost 8% of the cost of the cruise. This is much better than the $100 my former TA would give us.

I also get a rebate for using that VISA card to pay for the cruise. So, I'm no longer using the cruise line credit card since I can get more $ back via a cash rebate vs 2% in the form of OBC.