Retirees.."whats the best way to do it"

[bunkrest]

Ok....so I will be retirng sooner rather than later,I also want to enjoy myself and use my time to do things that I want to do.

I love cruising and since my first ever cruise in 2001 I try to go away at least once a year, I would go more but work always gets in the way.

I'm lucky that I have a final salary pension that's geared towards 55 as a retirement age,sounds great and it is, but of course I am paying for it on a monthly basis,anyway back to the question,what is the best way to get 3-4 cruises a year,the cruise I want, the stateroom I want without breaking the bank...:)

[capnpugwash]

Ok....so I will be retirng sooner rather than later,I also want to enjoy myself and use my time to do things that I want to do.

I love cruising and since my first ever cruise in 2001 I try to go away at least once a year, I would go more but work always gets in the way.

I'm lucky that I have a final salary pension that's geared towards 55 as a retirement age,sounds great and it is, but of course I am paying for it on a monthly basis,anyway back to the question,what is the best way to get 3-4 cruises a year,the cruise I want, the stateroom I want without breaking the bank...:)

 

Don't pay too much for them.

[pris993]

I retired early in l999, since then we have travelled about 2 times, sometimes 3 times a year.

 

I work part time to supplement my travel budget and work at a job where I cover others when they take off. I work for extra "fun money". :)

 

We look for bargins, book on board because we get OBCs, look for cruises from a nearby homeport (San Francisco), use frequent flier miles as much as possible and hotel points.

 

We keep in mind that we are lucky to have our health and traveling keeps us healthy. We know we can't take anything with us when we leave this earth, so it is best to enjoy ourselves as much as possible.

 

Being retired we plan ahead, often booking well in advance, generally find we get good deals. Of course, being in the US if cruise fares come down be get the lower fare which helps too.

 

Wish you all the best in retirement. Happy cruising. You will figure out what works best for you. Where there is a will there is a way. :)

[Essiesmom]

Don't be too particular in your cabin requirements. You can cruise much more if you are willing to take an inside cabin. I cruise solo a lot so have to think about single supplement.

Watch for bargains. Go to each cruise line website that interests you and sign up for both snail mail and email notifications of sales. I have a great rate coming up on Caribbean Princess I got from a snail mailing brochure. I had a terrific rate on Solstice that I happened to find online, when I wasn't really looking. Living in Europe, you have some great options that we don't have across the pond. EM

[paul929207]

We retired 6 years ago and take three trips a year. We average about 2 cruises and one land or river cruise tip. We plan way in advance. In addition to our remaining trip this year, we have three booked for 2012 and one for 2013. We sail with Princess, so we always have enough Future Cruise Credits when we get off the ship to cover anything we will book before the next cruise. This gets us $100 or $150 OBC each on each cruise. We own stock in Carnival Corporation. This gets us $100 or $250 OBC on each cruise. I have a list of about 40 TA's that claim to be discount. I check each one for the price before I book. Princess allows discounting of the fare. We rarely take ship's tours. We sometimes just wander around on our own. Often we take private tours with people from our Roll Call.

[firefly333]

Don't be too particular in your cabin requirements. You can cruise much more if you are willing to take an inside cabin. I cruise solo

 

Lots of good advice here. Im not working and cruising 6 to 8 times a year, but Im being extremely flexible ... and even more so since I started cruising solo.

 

If you are flexible about dates, and jump on bargains .. lots of good cruises to be had for on the cheap.

 

For instance there are TAs who specialize in groups, and giving greatly discounted rates. If you are willing to go when the deals are, and not be so picky about cabins .. you can cruise on a low budget. For instance I do some in insides, but have done JS on RCL just last fall and upgraded from a OV to a JS on one of the upcoming JSs, because the price was right.

 

There are certainly deals out there. PS the groups Im booking are thru a UK TA.. so I know you can book these deals too .. they exist.

[navybankerteacher]

We take, on average, about 4 vacations a year -- at least two are planned well in advance, and two or three are "targets of opportunity": last minute deals, usually cruises, which represent deals too good to pass up -- which we will book on as little as five or six days. We always seem to catch one -- and have often gotten three.

 

The main things are:

 

a) budget so you have available funds;

 

b) book what you want -- but not excessive luxury (we generally have a verandah -- but would never bother with a suite)

 

c) watch out for wasteful extras -- book your own - not ship's - tours

[eh2zed]

Like resorts and other travel destinations there a high and low seasons. These seasons can vary by the part of the world involved. Low season cruises can get very economical to the point you can cruise twice low season for the price of one high season. Be flexible with your dates and cabin selection.

[okgirl]

I'm retiring in 81 days and had hoped to be able to cruise 4-6 times per year, but until my 401K recovers a little it looks like it will be more like 2ish times per year.

 

I am going to be a long days drive from either of my 2 home cruise ports of Galveston and New Orleans, so I will look at the cheapest B2Bs.......

 

My sister and I may do some part time work to supplement our cruise dollars and I'm starting to look at 1A's instead of regular insides. We always book ES, so we can get any price drops.

 

My disappointment about the future is somewhat eased by the fact that I've got 3 cruises booked and paid for that takes me into March 2012....but it looks like the TA on the Breeze next fall is probably out and won't happen until Carnival brings out another new ship after 2012. That could be awhile :(

 

At this point I'm playing Scarlett and saying "Oh fiddly dee. I'll think about that tomorrow"

[crzndeb]

It helps if you live close to a port also. Those cruisers don't have to worry about airline flights and they can pretty much go when those last minute deals come up.

 

I retired last year, and I will probably just take longer cruises, not several short. I have my first TA coming up in Oct. and next year, I am doing a B2B repo of the Carnival Spirit to Australia, 29 days total on the ship.

 

Now that I'm retired (last Sept.), I want to see new places, and if that costs me more, then I guess I will just go once a year. I also sail solo now and I have to take that into consideration...visiting all the continents is next on my bucket list, whether it be by land or sea.

[janina]

Many cruises discount greatly within 45 days of sailing. If your flexible this is a great option. Most air is still priced good at 14 days out..so you have some time to find air if needed. More savings if your close to a port.

[surfsidemary]

If you really want 3/4 cruises per year, I can't help you. The biggest luxury I have in retirement is time - for the longer cruises. I prefer Holland America's Grand Voyages of 60-70 days for several reasons:

 

-If there's R/T cost to the port, I pay it once. Airport hassle - once.

 

-Luggage - FedEx takes it from my house to the ship. It's waiting for me in my cabin.

 

-All the planning/packing/house caretaking arrangements only have to be made once a year.

 

-The "settling in" to my cabin and surroundings is done before we arrive at any ports.

 

-I believe they are more cost effective. Sure, it sounds like a lot of money in one chunk, but the math tells me I visited 12 Asian countries and Australia/28 ports in all, for $1500 per country, all costs included. I certainly couldn't visit any one of them for $1500. I haven't priced it out but I'm fairly certain a 70 day cruise comes out costing much less than ten 7-day cruises.

 

-The mood doesn't get broken - one can really unwind in 60+ days.

 

-I really get to know my fellow passengers, as they are "neighbors" for 2 1/2 months.

 

-Although I have always found the service to be excellent, it becomes even more so on a longer voyage. The sense of community carries over from passengers to staff.

 

My not-yet-retired friends envy me because although they may have more money than I, they do not have that wonderful retirement luxury of time.

[sail7seas]

Ok....so I will be retirng sooner rather than later,I also want to enjoy myself and use my time to do things that I want to do.

I love cruising and since my first ever cruise in 2001 I try to go away at least once a year, I would go more but work always gets in the way.

I'm lucky that I have a final salary pension that's geared towards 55 as a retirement age,sounds great and it is, but of course I am paying for it on a monthly basis,anyway back to the question,what is the best way to get 3-4 cruises a year,the cruise I want, the stateroom I want without breaking the bank...:)

 

 

Best way is to not want what you can't afford.

 

Want the cabin that fits into your budget.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Inside cabin book asap go lean

[Sea42]

When we first retired we would do several trips a year because we had all the free time we could ever want so why not get away as much as we can! Now we focus on 2 major trips a year and maybe 1 or 2 long weekends. The difference? A grandchild! Once I saw that little guy I told my daughter there was no way I was going to have some stranger watching him when I was available! So for the first 4 years we were his caregivers so we scaled back on our trips to match Mom and Dads vacation time. Now that he's starting kindergarten this fall we'll be back to more frequent trips. My point being enjoy your life as it comes along, I'll never regret giving up a few years of vacationing to spend time with the wee one. As we retired quite young, it also helped ensure that our retirement funds would hold out that much longer!

[fleckle]

Easy solution -- Move in with your kids. ;)

Tell them you are not capable of driving anymore and sell your cars. They will feel sorry for you so the kids or grandkids will drive you around wherever you want to go.

With no housing or auto expenses, you can spend all your money on cruising.

[caribsun]

We have a good financial planner. He/she will help set up short and long term goals.