How LITTLE we actually spent!

[Cruise Junky]

im surprised how ppl seem to be jumping all over the OP, nitpicking their post! no need to critique everything!

 

Me too, and now it's even her fault that other people can't read :rolleyes:

[CruisingChristians]

Thanks, everyone.

 

After all of the hair splitting, I was wondering what kind of community this is...and whether or not to share more.

 

Yes, we are Canadian and I guess I thought my comment about the expense of flying out of Toronto communicated that...sorry, my mistake. I did not make the link about why some were so surprised about our insurance cost until after I last posted...and realized the same is not true in the US.

 

Insurance is much cheaper in Canada, and if you under 50 and do not smoke there is really not a policy that you would not qualify for....hence the $9.77/ month for millions in coverage.

 

Here is what that entails:

 

Year-round protection for your entire family, from $115 per year.

Unlimited trips of up to 60 days outside your home province for clients age 59 or under.

Unlimited trips of up to 30 days outside your home province for clients age 60 or over (can be extended).

Hospital and medical expenses covered for up to $5 million.

• Emergency Air Evacuation
  
• Diagnostic & Paramedical Services
  Prescriptions.
  
• Free international assistance, 24 / 7.
  
• Trip cancellation for medical reasons, unforeseen work transfer, involuntary loss of permanent employment, or because trip destination becomes uninhabitable: up to $2,500 per insured / $5,000 per family.
  
• Trip interruption, up to $5,000 per insured.
  
• Treatment of dental accidents, up to $5,000.
  
• Child care benefit in case of hospitalization, up to $2,500.
  
• Transportation and assistance in the event of claims to home, automobile or small business up to $5,000.
  
• Incidental expenses while hospitalized (e.g. phone, TV fees): up to $50 per day, maximum of $1,250.
  
• Transportation to bedside (1 person): up to $5,000.
  
• Return of a deceased person, up to $10,000.
  

It's a great deal....and a wise investment.

[Mikayla's Mom]

Me too, and now it's even her fault that other people can't read :rolleyes:

 

AMEN!! I am new to message boards and I love CC because it's just a wealth of info. But some people just look for something to zing people on or to gripe about. Opinions are just that- opinions. Doesnt mean they are wrong or trying to push theirs onto you. Have some respect for your fellow cruiser. ;)

[Mtyek]

Good for you Cruising Christians!!! Glad you came up with a good response. We, like you, always cruise on a budget. There are many, many ways you can save, and that doesn't mean cutting back on tips. We pay what is asked, and usually try to book a cruise with pre-paid gratuities. We do offer a small amount over the top for our room steward, but we do not leave the room looking like pigs have been in either!! We clean up after ourselves and we treat the staff with the dignity they deserve - they work very hard. Because we watched our spending, we were able to cruise usually two times a year. Sadly, my Darling Partner died while we were on our last cruise......... and i will add - that Celebrity Cruise Line went beyond the call of duty in every way they could to help me with all that needed to be tended to.

[Roz]

Give the poor poster a break! They were trying to be helpful and provide useful information. If you want to fly in a day ahead (I do), so be it, but don't beat up the OP because they didn't.

 

Roz

[jd_nunn1]

I completely agree about the flying out of Buffalo, I have been trying to educate my fellow Canadians on this for the past year! When we went to Jacksonville for our Carnival fascination cruise we flew out of Buffalo for 420$ return. It would have been 800$ more out of Toronto!

 

However I do tend to have to fly in the night before though and pay for a hotel since it is generally a connecting flight out of buffalo and I'm to scared to leave it to the last minute! lol Plus its a 6 hour drive to Buffalo for us so we pretty much need to do a hotel park and fly in Buffalo too. Adds 2 days off and 2 hotel stays to our trip

[broberts]

I completely agree about the flying out of Buffalo, I have been trying to educate my fellow Canadians on this for the past year! When we went to Jacksonville for our Carnival fascination cruise we flew out of Buffalo for 420$ return. It would have been 800$ more out of Toronto!

 

However I do tend to have to fly in the night before though and pay for a hotel since it is generally a connecting flight out of buffalo and I'm to scared to leave it to the last minute! lol Plus its a 6 hour drive to Buffalo for us so we pretty much need to do a hotel park and fly in Buffalo too. Adds 2 days off and 2 hotel stays to our trip

 

I keep doing the math and when one takes into account the drive, hotel and parking in Buffalo, it always seems to end up costing about the same as flying out of YYZ. Plus I can fly direct to MIA, FLL and MCO. Flying direct is really worth it to me.

[luckycruzer]

is $199.00 ($17 a month, if you break it down) From USA's Insure My Trip dot com... it is allll medical..up to 70 days per illness each claim. Pretty much what OP's covers as well. As I fly non-rev, airlines wont cover bags..home owners does some, I only check 1 smaller bag what I wouldnt care to loose if it happens . Even $$ from Ins Co. cant replace that year old special evening gown,...plus my carry-on. I drive to ports too, so am there in good time. So no missing the boat. So bout the only way I'd miss my cruze is to be in my grass overcoat..then..who cares! so in the large scheme of things.. ie: Last year I was insured for 10 cruzes and 2 trips to Europe/Alaska for $199, and if I become too ill to travel..and miss my cruze, I'm insured well at home, and my cruze amt paid is lost, but that amt is way less than what I would have paid separetly for all those cruzes and Euro trips. Just my thoughts for me. different circumstance for diff folks travel needs..

[banilla]

Thanks for your post I found it very informative. My husband and I are fellow Canucks and were hoping to do this exact cruise next year as our first cruise. I was hoping you could tell me how early out you booked your cruise and flight out of Buffalo to get such incredible deals and if you booked online or with a travel agent? Also did you fly direct to Miami from Buffalo or was there a connecting flight? I’ve been watching the prices closely and right now if I were to book it would be double than what you have quoted. Wow a balcony for $399 and airfare for $181 per person, those are my kind of numbers!! Thanks again for all you information.

[La Jollans love to cruise]

I found the thread very helpful. Thank you.

[Heimey]

Who did u fly with out of Buffalo. I checked there over Detroit and couldn't find anything close to the price i got out of Detroit.

 

thanks in advance

Heimey

[Grammee 3]

Did you get special discounts in getting a balcony room for $399? Our inside stateroom is $469

[CruisingChristians]

Hi Everyone:

 

Let me see if i can remember all of your questions :)

 

We took the cruise the second week in January 2010, the 11th to 15th. Perhaps this helped because it was so soon after Christmas holidays and the prices were cheaper. We booked about two months in advance....so the end of October/ early November. At first we booked an oceanview room for $319. The inside rooms were $289. Then when the balconies went on sale, we upgraded the $80 each and reserved one for $399 each. And because we upgraded, we got a $75 onboard credit!

 

We booked online.Try Hotwire.com

 

We had connecting flights on Delta/ Northwest Airlines. We flew from Buffalo to Charlotte to Miami. On the way home, we flew from Miami to Detroit to Buffalo. Our layovers were about 1.5 hrs each time, which we did not mind. The airport in Charlotte is massive and great for browsing and shopping!

 

Hope this helps!

[Adri204]

Thank you for all your comments. This has helped me quite a bit. I dont understand the need to zap others when thier only trying to be helpfull. So thank you for your full break down it helps me understand a lot more about budgeting for a cruise.

 

Thanks,

 

Adri

[delaford321]

Thank you for sharing, cruising christians, you make lots of good points about how to save money. it is great to read other peoples tips about saving money, I wish instead of nitpicking your tips apart that more people would have shared how they try to save money. :)

[cdncruzer]

We often fly out of the US to take advantage of cheaper flights. You can't beat the price if it's 50% less than flying from Canada. We always factor in gas, lodging, time of year (re: weather) etc to see if it is, indeed, worth it.

Sometimes the drive isn't worth the worries if there are weather concerns, esp in those Jan or Feb winter months.

 

We generally fly in the night before and will try and book hotels through Priceline or take advantage of Air Miles to get a room for little or no extra cost.

[louisiana-girl]

Who do you use for the travel insurance? BTW - I think you did great to spend as little as you did and still have a great time:)

[hockey grannys go 4]

Your right on about the savings. Flights 50% cheaper from mnsp around 35% out of grand forks. How ever check west jet seat sales every week and you can get some pretty good cheap flights. Our next fligt in Sept is just as good as the US flights to San Diego

[cdncruzer]

WestJet has had some really good sales lately, across Canada and into the US, but none that fit into our travel plans so far.

 

But it gives me hope! ;)

[banilla]

The insurance information you gave was fantastic. I inquired about a similar policy thru our insurance compnay (State Farm) and they did not have anything close to what yours offered. So I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with the name of the insurance company that you are insured with and I could inquire thru them?? Thanks in advance.

[Arzeena]

OK...so first off:

 

We have an annual travel policy that we pay monthly: $9.77 each month because of our age and health through our insurance company..we are covered for trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical, weather, loss of luggage and all of the added bonuses. Look into this...it can save you much.

 

Second:Thank you to the Service charges person who defended us :) Our service/ charges (which according to the cruise brochure fine print in) were $12 each pp/ per day. We had a $75 credit....which brought it down to $47 at the end of our trip.

 

"The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports.

 

"Guests should not feel obliged to offer a gratuity for good service. However, all of our staff are encouraged to "go the extra mile," and so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities entirely at the discretion of our guests who wish to acknowledge particular staff members for exceptional or outstanding service. In other words, there is genuinely no need to tip but you should feel free to do so if you have a desire to acknowledge particular individuals."

 

Also, certain staff positions provide service on an individual basis to only some guests. We encourage those guests to acknowledge good service from these staff members with appropriate gratuities. For example, for guests purchasing bar drinks the recommended gratuity is 15 percent. For guests purchasing spa treatments the recommended gratuity is 18 percent. Similarly, for guests using concierge and butler services, we recommend they consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

 

We purchased none of these services.

 

Third, to the disgusted one at our tips, let me explain because your comment is harsh. It was a 5 day cruise. We do not drink alcohol, so no need to tip bar staff. We got our own water and teas and even cleared our own tables because the buffet was so busy and people were always waiting for tables. We only had the cleaning staff in our room about twice all trip...not daily- because we can clean up after ourselves and just ask for towels in the hallway if we need them. We don't have cleaning staff at home....so to me, to ask a very busy person to come make my bed when I can do it in two minutes is not always the best use of their time and energy. And they seemed a little relieved not to have to clean one more room everyday. Otherwise, the service was not that great...and we served ourselves a majority of the time. We do not tip because it has become an automatic expectation...we tip when people serve us and do so well.

 

We have family in Florida: can help with avoiding overnight hotel costs.

 

We were with NCL.

 

I think the comment that we have not been on to answer questions was most interesting...don't people come on these forums when they have the time? Been busy the last couple of days....

 

I quite liked the way you broke down every cost and I am sure my husband will love it when I show it to him! I think you are a very nice person the way you took care of your own room and your buffet table. Your room steward and waiters must love you for it or at least thank you for it. In a world when people have too much expectations, it is nice to come by simple people like you.

[CruisingChristians]

The insurance information you gave was fantastic. I inquired about a similar policy thru our insurance compnay (State Farm) and they did not have anything close to what yours offered. So I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with the name of the insurance company that you are insured with and I could inquire thru them?? Thanks in advance.

 

Hey:

 

We are with TD Travel Insurance. Our rates recently increased to $10.48 per month with the new HST.

 

Hope this helps.

[CruisingChristians]

I quite liked the way you broke down every cost and I am sure my husband will love it when I show it to him! I think you are a very nice person the way you took care of your own room and your buffet table. Your room steward and waiters must love you for it or at least thank you for it. In a world when people have too much expectations, it is nice to come by simple people like you.

 

Thank you very much. That was very kind of you :)

[CruisinChris412]

Well, I always clean my tables up at buffet style restaurants and make my bed when on vacation, but I always leave extra for the workers. I do this because it may not be that they gave ME the best service, but they are working hard at their job. Simply put, most people don't tip (well) than do tip. So, unless I was insulted or disrespected, I tip extra for these services because they tend to be working hard, in general, and working hard for everybody else, which I appreciate because I like to see people working hard!

[banilla]

<p>

Hey:</p>

<p> </p>

<p>We are with TD Travel Insurance. Our rates recently increased to $10.48 per month with the new HST.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hope this helps.

</p>

<p> </p>

 

Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into it right away as we have just booked our first cruise. It's nerve racking and exciting all at the same time!