Very personal question for all of you.

[cruizeblues]

Made the mistake of booking a Balcony cabin for our first cruise last year thinking it would be a "Once In A Lifetime" trip! LOL, currently planning my third--To say I'm Hooked would be putting it mildly!! I'd like to cruise more often, but finding it difficult to consider inside cabins--one of our fav. things about the cruise is coffee on the balcony in the a.m.:)still in our jammies!

[happy1]

We're a single income family with two children. We live frugally but enjoy cruising. We watch the internet sites for inexpensive cruise rates off-season, and always book the cheapest cabin on deals where the third & fourth people are at a greatly reduced rate or free.

We don't spend money on extras (outside of tipping generously) while on board the cruise ship, and take private excursions or find free things to do while on shore. To save the money of 4 airfares, we drive to the port (15 hours) which may sound arduous to some, but it enables us to cruise more affordably.

Reading the boards there are people who cringe at the idea of going 4 in a cabin due to space concerns. While it is tight, we prefer to cruise more often than to spend the extra dollars for a balcony cabin or suite. Some day I will be in the position to do that, but for now this allows us to cruise more frequently.

My daughter is 9 & has been on 5 cruises (along with camping vacations throughout the country, and a trip to Hawaii.) Everyone has to decide what is most important to them, and make choices accordingly.

[TahoeBob]

I'm on the other side of the coin. I had so save every cent I could get my hands on to go on this cruise Vision 12/19. My wife can not work, and I have a second Job (sell stuff on ebay) and I watch every cent that I spend, and I look for good deals. Inside small rooms are ok with me. Two years ago when we went to New York for 5 days, we spent very little time in out small hotel room so teh small room on a ship will be ok with us. I just don't plan to take any of the ships tours, they all seem to be overpriced anyway. walking around the port towns, and beaches will be a fine thing to do. I stay away from the casinos, (I live at Lake Tahoe and there are casinos one mile away from my house) I drink very little, and from what I have read that can get very costly.
the bottem line is I have to cruise on a tight budget, but I get to eat the same food, see the same shows, and be treated the same way as someone who can spend more on a big room with a view.

we are all in the same boat when on the cruise.


Bob P.

[sgttami]

Have a friend from high school who got married right after grauation (1971) to a childhood sweetheart. ..Their dream in life was to retire before they turned 30!!! Maybe they would work part time but their goal was to be financially secure so that they didn't have to. They worked day and night..2 jobs each, bought a house and never had kids. Travel was minimal, no dinners out, no frivolities...They did it!!!

Bought their 2 family home for $15,000, (1971) rented one unit that paid the mortgage, refinanced and bought a second home ($19,000) that they also rented out. Sold the first house 10 years later for $250.000 (NY real estate) and the second shortly after for $275,000. They paid cash for a "dream house" in PA for $50,000 (1982) and relocated. Through the years they invested wisely and are still in the PA house. They spend a few months a year in Europe and the rest of the time..here and there. AND..they never worked past age 30..They are now 52 and have been retired for 22 years.

My girlfriend still saves change, has no cable TV and will only book trips when prices are low..

Point being....you can do whatever you set out to do. It's all about discipline and attaining goals, no matter what they are..

[RatherBCrusin']

....never spend more on your credit cards than you can afford to pay-off when the bill comes (in other words...don't pay interest!); resist impulse purchases (do you REALLY need that hi-def TV when you can only get a half-dozen hi-def shows on your cable?); book guarantees (got a much sought-after "aft" suite at a guarantee rate); try to avoid "high season" travel.

[Catnip]

sgttami,
You are exactly right. People can do anything they want, as long as they have the right motivation and will-power. Sometimes you have to "do without" (no movies, no manicures, no new shoes, etc) for awhile till you can save enough $$ to do something really cool--like a cruise!!
(and not having kids sure does help!! ;))

[Jacquelyn11]

and I'll be 45 years old. One of my coworkers asked me. "What are you going to do when you retire in 20 years?" After a moment's thought, I replied "Go on a cruise every 3 months!"

Now, with 2 kids about to be teenagers and a DH who's job searching at the moment, we cruise every other year. I use points from the Hilton Vacation club and usually have enough for a cruise one year and a land based vacation the next. This year we went to Las Vegas and we are driving to Marco Island for a few days at Thanksgiving.

Being a hospital pharmacy manager, my job can get quite stressful. Between keeping up with the house and the kids, I feel like I work 3 jobs! My treat to myself is a balcony cabin every 2 years where I can, like others, have coffee on the balcony in my pj's! Be pampered by having just about everything else done for me, no major decisions, no TV, no contact from the outside for a week, THAT is a true "vacation" from life for a while. From the day I book our cruise I'm researching ports, visiting the CC board daily (an addiction!) and counting down the days till we drive to Port Canaveral. My cruise brochure stays with me at work, so when it gets crazy at work, I can look at it to remind me what I'm working for. I "memorize" the feeling of inner peace I get when I'm on the balcony, watching the sea go by. I call upon it when life gets too hectic. It keeps me off the anti-depressants! :o

Jacquelyn :D

[Croozer101]

We have been on 4 cruises in 7 yrs with our grown kids and other family members. We feel lucky to be able to do this. Cruising 2x a yr or sometimes even 1 times is not possible but we go when we can.

[jimbulger]

[quote name='GreggNKara']As delicatly as I can put this, Im in a boat where I can afford to spend $4k - $5k for a cruise for the two of us, but before we were we used to keep a piggy bank. All change goes in it as well as extra $1, $5, $10 and sometimes $20's go in. in about 6 months if you are dilligent you can have quite a nice nest egg. Then find your best deal..

Ive also put a weekly goal on myself. I pick my cruise about a year away and I do the math to divide the cost out by the week, and by the end of the week I have to put X amount away tword the cruise.

If you cant afford to cruise 2 times a year, make 1 time a real doozey.

G-

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=800080&cdt=2004;08;27;07;15;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img] Days Till We Leave For THE Cruise[/QUOTE]

i follow a similar theory book early pay monthly my ta is a walk in office up the steet from me so i just budget and i book cheaper cabins and pray for an upgrade

[KJHorton]

My husband teaches spinning classes at our gym. All of that money goes into our "slush" fund to pay for vacations, Christmas gifts, and only fun things (unless an emergency of course). We should have rename this our "cruise" fund years ago!

[hermang]

Several ways to save for a yearly cruise.
I am at the moment between jobs but we are still going on our second cruise this year. This was paid for before the ax fell. Wife works so we take part of her salary and bank it towards the vacation fund.

Dump our change every night - adds up - Fun money for the Casino and Shorex

Stock dividends go to the Cruise Fund

I am drawing a small pension from a company I worked for eons ago.
since I normally work full time - and don't need the money to live on -
Vacation fund.

I do some consulting work - Vacation Fund

IT ALL ADDS UP

The fact that we have both of our kids out of the house doesn't hurt either

Most important - a one week cruise is cheaper than Therapy.
I have a friend of mine who is 38 and currently is on what may be very long term disability for a stress related illness. He has been out of work for almost 3 months. even with health insurance - I am sure what he is spending out of pocket will far exceed a cruise.

A great way to get in the mood - we bought the CD's from the pool band
middle of winter - we turn on the Steel Band and NO PROBLEMS MON

[SUSIEK]

We usually take 1- 7nighter and 1- 3 or 4 nighter each year. We live in Ft. Lauderdale and sail out of here or Miami which cuts out any airfare. We budget for these two vacations each year. We cruise usually in March for 7 nights, then in November or December for the shorter one. These timeframes are usually offering good rates. We pick a ship, then we start checking out all the cruise websites for the best deal. We are spoiled and do usually get a balcony.

Right after we book, I start taking $$ out of each of our paychecks to put toward onboard expenses and on shore excursions. We decide before we go how much we will allocate to photo's, drinks, spa etc. I have envelopes for each. For whatever reason, having the cash in the labeled envelopes helps us not to go way over our budget. If we don't spend the alloted amount on something, then we use that $$ for something else. We give a credit card when we check in just in case we go over. At the end of the cruise we make a cash payment... that leaves very little if anything on our credit card and not much of a bill when we get home. Sounds very structured, however; this works great for us.

We are also Diamond member on Royal Caribbean, which gives you some freebies.

[slotaddict]

We always cruise on the cheap. I have never had a balcony or suite, but someday we will treat ourselves and do so. I think that if we are are going to cruise Alaska, we definately need a bacony. We usually book inside cabins, and sometimes get outside cabins that are a great deal. I am always looking for the deal. We just came back from the Voyager, had an outside cabin cost was 450.00 pp. I understand that there were people on the ship that actually paid less than that. I would rather forget the luxury and cruise as often as possible.
Happy Cruising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[llanning]

Two income empty nesters but when he left the nest he went to work for a cruise line. We cruise cheaply with him. I carried him for 9 months, he can carry me at least once a year.

[MrsPete]

[quote name='shelby2002']I see many of you cruise more than once a year. How are you able to afford this, do you give up other things to cruise? [/QUOTE]

We don't cruise multiple times each year, but we do travel a good bit to a variety of places.

We're able to do this because we had a good financial start. When we were first married, we decided that we wanted to be debt-free as soon as possible. We both worked, but we lived as if we only had one paycheck -- we figured that there were other couples living off what he was making, so we could too. We shared one car for years. We never ate out, and we bought only used clothing. It wasn't really all that difficult because we did this right out of college, so we were used to living poor! We never had to "adjust down".

We met our debt-free goal before age 40 (in fact, DH is 40, but I'm not). Today we live in a nice paid-for house, drive paid-for cars, and have no credit card debt. We're able to add monthly to the kids' college funds and our retirement accounts. Being debt-free makes a HUGE difference in what we're able to spend on fun. Those early years weren't easy, but getting a good financial start has made all the difference in the world for us.

[voyagerclassfan]

Man, after listening to all you "empty nesters" and how much you cruise, I am REALLY looking forward to shipping the kids off to college..:) We love cruising and do it as much as possible. Just got off the Voyager Bermuda and DH and I did that one alone. First one alone since the honeymoon. The kids have come with us the other times. My 4 year old has been on 2 already...I never had a vacation growing up with my family...they did the best they could. I think with us, we only sail when there are great deals and do the cheapest room possible. We are in it so infrequently. And we are on a VERY fixed tight income. I am not sure when we will go again with the kids though. This past time there were a lot of teenagers on their own. I am overprotective but they really had no supervision. At one point, there was a teenage girl sitting on the very top rail of the ship waving her arms in a kind of tempted to fall way. I almost had a heart attack. We may do Disney next but its so much more expensive than a cruise. DH and I cant wait to cruise everywhere...We want to do Mediteranean, Hawaii, Australia, Alaska, etc.....Its just the best way to go.....Not sure if our budget will be able to handle that and college so those may be quite a ways away....But the caribbean ones have such great deals.

[cruislovin]

[quote name='slotaddict']We always cruise on the cheap. I have never had a balcony or suite, but someday we will treat ourselves and do so. I think that if we are are going to cruise Alaska, we definately need a bacony. We usually book inside cabins, and sometimes get outside cabins that are a great deal. I am always looking for the deal. We just came back from the Voyager, had an outside cabin cost was 450.00 pp. I understand that there were people on the ship that actually paid less than that. I would rather forget the luxury and cruise as often as possible.
Happy Cruising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]
What a fantastic price!!!:) Do you work or know someone who works in the travel and/or cruise industries? How did you book such a great deal?

[voyagerclassfan]

Thats another good point cruiselovin....We always do the "guarantee" cabins and almost always get a complimentary upgrade. Definitly worth the chance. We just got off the Voyager for the 5 night and paid $1750 total for both including all taxes and insurance. We did a balcony this time but I must say I missed teh Atrium view room we usually get. Those were going for about $600 per person when we booked. The week after we booked, all the prices went sky high so we were lucky we booked when we did. Another thing is we also like to go during the fall and dreaded hurricane season. The rates are soo low then. The ship can always reroute and you can get some fantastic deals. I once paid more for the port charges than the cruise itself. A 7 night was only around $150 for an inside guarantee....So, it can be done.

[char64]

We are a varied family - we have 3 daughters ages 20, 18 and 3 ( yes 3!). Sometimes we cruise will the older girls - little one not old enough yet and sometimes we cruise as a couple. We always book WAY AHEAD for best prices, i.e. we booked last august 04 for November 05 cruise on the LEgend 7 days and got it for just 500.00 each. I always use my trusted TA and she checks all dates for lowest prices and we arrange our schedules to go when prices are down and if Crown and Anchor coupons come after we book she always finds a way to use them AND once while we were on a cruise it actually went down in price the day we embarked SO when we got back she issued a partial refund!
As we live in Florida we have much flexibility for this and we almost always cruise during hurricane season - WE HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM - but cruise ships are prepared for this and if we ever have a little detour it will be an unexpected adventure! Also of course we drive the ports so we dont have airfare costs. We save all our change from the moment we book a new cruise until we go and use that money for out excursions which we always book our own excursions as they are cheaper than through the cruise lines. Also, we save ALL aluminum and sell it right before we go and use this as our tip money. We take out own alcohol, water and sodas on board ( don't tell!) and I always pack a collapsable cooler so when we get off in ports we order room service lunch on board then pack it in our cooler and head off the ship for the day with our lunch already packed! We always book cheap cabins because we just dont spend that much time in them and the room is not the fun of the trip it's the all over adventure. We have been able to afford one short and one long cruise annually this way. We skip the FLorida attractions that are so appealing - since we live here Disney World just doesnt have that pizzazz for us and we save money by not having these little side trips all year and strictly planning on cruising which we all enjoy more anyway.
Multiple cruising can be done but it does take financial planning and frugality at some times especially if you have a family. I am a recently unemployed nurse - now a stay at home mom - and budgets are tight so I started selling my hand crafted body treats ( [url]www.feelsgoodnaturally.com[/url] ) and put all the money in for cruising as well as mystery shopping ( I usually do about 10 - 20 shops a month ) and put this money away for cruising.
ALSO, We try to book groups of friends....if enough people book after us in our " group" through my TA, one of us goes FREE! Can't beat that. Hope some ofthese things will be feasible for others to do! Happy cruisin'

[cruislovin]

[quote name='voyagerclassfan']Thats another good point cruiselovin....We always do the "guarantee" cabins and almost always get a complimentary upgrade. Definitly worth the chance. We just got off the Voyager for the 5 night and paid $1750 total for both including all taxes and insurance. We did a balcony this time but I must say I missed teh Atrium view room we usually get. Those were going for about $600 per person when we booked. The week after we booked, all the prices went sky high so we were lucky we booked when we did. Another thing is we also like to go during the fall and dreaded hurricane season. The rates are soo low then. The ship can always reroute and you can get some fantastic deals. I once paid more for the port charges than the cruise itself. A 7 night was only around $150 for an inside guarantee....So, it can be done.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, voyagerclassfan, for some great suggestions! If you have others, please let us know!!!:cool:

[Girlsnightout]

[quote name='shelby2002']I see many of you cruise more than once a year. How are you able to afford this, do you give up other things to cruise?
Crusin on the Radiance 2/20/05
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Maybe some people here are maxed out on their credit cards and have no savings? Just a thought...

[PelicanBill]

We went in January on Carnival Glory because it had a great discount for a balcony cabin... again in October with a great deal on a balcony cabin on Voyager out of New York, and we can drive to the port.

We plan ahead and scrape it together, and try to be smart about on-board and port spending.

[Iamthesea]

We normally take about 2 - 10 day trips a year and a few long weekend trips. Since discovering cruising, we take those days and turn them into a 10 day cruise and a one week cruise per year. We continue to spend a week at the beach and take long weekends for other land vacations.

[Zeno]

[quote name='shelby2002']I see many of you cruise more than once a year. How are you able to afford this, do you give up other things to cruise? We have been cruising once a year but would like to cruise twice a year but there just doesn't seem to be enough money for us to do this yet. Our next cruise we're in a D1 for 4 of us would love a junior suite but at $5000 we just can't do it so a D1 is fine with us as long as were on the boat I must mention that we only do school vacations or summer so we are traveling at the most expensive times of the year.

Crusin on the Radiance 2/20/05
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I guess we can afford to take a couple of "travel' vacations every year because travel is our only "vice". (Actually though -the only time I took 2 CRUISES in one year was last year. Our usual pattern is one cruise, one other holiday (Caribbean island or Europe or out west), one ski vacation for my husband and a vacation for me with my widowed friend (she and I are ruins addicts)). To afford this:
My husband drives a sensible paid-off older car. We only have ONE car - I am lucky to live in a city with a good transit system and I use it.
We never do more than one "house" project per year (this year we paint the exterior)
I am the anti-shopper - I find it boring and tedious (unless it's a book store). Basically I just don't 'get' consumerism - I mean how much "stuff" do you need. I like to acquire memories and experiences.
Fashion bores me. I probably spend no more than $200-$300 on clothes per year.
We are virtually non-drinkers (my husband has the occasional beer and I have about 5 foofoo drinks a year)
We do like to eat out but limit ourselves to twice a week.
We have no debts.
Our house is completely paid off.
We shopped around and got a great deal on our health club memberships.
We have no children.
My husband works full time. I am pretty much retired with occasional part time contracts with my former employer.
Basically it's just a question of knowing what you REALLY want to do in terms of discretionary spending and what you can do without. Unless you are fabulously wealthy or are comfortable being in debt up to your eyeballs, you can't have it all.

[DD]

[quote name='shelby2002']I see many of you cruise more than once a year. How are you able to afford this, do you give up other things to cruise? We have been cruising once a year but would like to cruise twice a year but there just doesn't seem to be enough money for us to do this yet. Our next cruise we're in a D1 for 4 of us would love a junior suite but at $5000 we just can't do it so a D1 is fine with us as long as were on the boat I must mention that we only do school vacations or summer so we are traveling at the most expensive times of the year.

Crusin on the Radiance 2/20/05
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;2;20;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img][/QUOTE]

that's a fair question considering this is somewhat of an anonymous forum. For me, travel is my #1 priority for my disposable income. We seldom go out to eat. We seldom buy clothes unless it's off-season on clearance. Our day-to-day life does not involve a lot of spending or entertainment. That translates into our being able to take 2 good trips a year plus generally 1 or 2 other smaller trips when deals come along. We also try to travel in low season or shoulder season. Onboard, we don't rack up a ton of charges at bars & gift shops. I'd rather go more frequently than spend more on one trip.