Cruising, like life, is all about choices. Our income is limited, so we choose to spend our money on what is most important to us. We save money by:
- Staying in an inside cabin. We don't spend much time in our cabin anyway.
- Not doing a lot of ship's excursions. We have had a lot of luck finding a local taxi driver who can give us a nice tour and drop us at a good restaurant. We also like to find local places to hike, and we like to just walk around cities looking at architecture. We found a pilot in Alaska who gave us a fantastic personalized tour for just over half of what the ship was charging.
- No soda cards. Sodas aren't good for you anyway...
- No specialty restaurants. It's pretty easy to find good food at the restaurants or at the buffet. If the food isn't good, maybe you're on the wrong cruise line!
This leaves us money to spend on what we like - the occasional shore excursion that's really special, like snorkeling offshore; a little fun in the Casino; an occasional drink; a great restaurant ashore...
If we didn't do the things that save us money, we would be stuck at home, and that's no fun at all.
One thing I got rooked into once was the $25.00 discount book in the Caribbean. Never again! The free "charms" were cheap trinkets that couldn't have cost more than a penny or two to make. Maybe some people ended up with a good deal, but we were very disappointed.
Welcome to Tightwad Cruising - What Do You Do?
in Saving Money on Your Cruise - Tips & Advice
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Cruising, like life, is all about choices. Our income is limited, so we choose to spend our money on what is most important to us. We save money by:
- Staying in an inside cabin. We don't spend much time in our cabin anyway.
- Not doing a lot of ship's excursions. We have had a lot of luck finding a local taxi driver who can give us a nice tour and drop us at a good restaurant. We also like to find local places to hike, and we like to just walk around cities looking at architecture. We found a pilot in Alaska who gave us a fantastic personalized tour for just over half of what the ship was charging.
- No soda cards. Sodas aren't good for you anyway...
- No specialty restaurants. It's pretty easy to find good food at the restaurants or at the buffet. If the food isn't good, maybe you're on the wrong cruise line!
This leaves us money to spend on what we like - the occasional shore excursion that's really special, like snorkeling offshore; a little fun in the Casino; an occasional drink; a great restaurant ashore...
If we didn't do the things that save us money, we would be stuck at home, and that's no fun at all.
One thing I got rooked into once was the $25.00 discount book in the Caribbean. Never again! The free "charms" were cheap trinkets that couldn't have cost more than a penny or two to make. Maybe some people ended up with a good deal, but we were very disappointed.