Is anyone else a "Cheap Cruiser" who doesn't buy all the extras? Tips?

[fl-girl]

I'm going on my first RCI cruise in June and I'm a pretty new cruiser. I've only been on two short cruises before - on Carnival and Norwegian. I am reading everything I can on these boards to learn what I can about how to do this upcoming 7-day on the Harmony right, but I'm surprised at how much money everyone seems to spend!!

 

Are we the only cheap cruisers out there?

 

The price for 7 days for 4 people was a ton - granted we had to book when the kids were out of school, so the prices were up but I expected that. So we don't intend on eating at any of the on-board restaurants that cost money when we can eat for free in the main dining room or buffets. We aren't foodies at all, so I don't want to pay for food when our ticket price includes food. We have 3 ports on our cruise and we only intend on doing an excursion at one of them and walking around on the other two (for free). I doubt we'll purchase any drinks packages since you get free juice on board, from what I read and my hubby and I aren't big drinkers at all and rarely drink soda.

 

I really feel like we're the only ones on these boards who are trying to keep the budget down on the cruise. Are there any other budget cruisers out there who have tips and ideas for saving money? I just feel like these pricey summer cruises are "all inclusive" but by the time you add wifi, drinks, alcohol, excursions, restaurants, etc. it's not so "all inclusive" after all.

[BecciBoo]

If you mean can one cruise and end up with a zero balance on their account on disembarkation day.....yes. We've done 2 times.

 

We tipped the staff in envelopes, (used to be how you did back in the day) so not counting that. We ate and drank just what is included, did not purchase anything on board and walked the ports. I can be done, but is it fun....NO!

 

We haven't done it in years...and years;)

[dwayneb236]

We spend very little on extras. No photos packages, hardly any souvenirs, no upscale dining. Just a drink here and there and we have a blast. We'll do excursions but I always book independent. I think we spent $180 extra last cruise. We just don't need much.

[blackshirt]

I don't view myself as a budget cruiser but we don't do specialty restaurants or drink packages either. Our bar bill has never come close to the cost of a drink package and the 2 specialty restaurants we've tried just weren't worth the extra cost to us plus we love the whole MDR experience anyway. I think there are many cruisers that don't do those extras. As for excursions, it really depends on what you want out of your port stops. Not booking an excursion and just walking around is a fine option.

[Suzieanna]

Not in the slightest!

 

For wi-fi - do it in the ports. I cant think of anywhere I have been that hasn't had free wi-fi somewhere. Your room stewards and waiters will surely be able to point you in the right direction. I personally like it that I can detox to some degree from my internet whilst on board

 

Food - I think is purely subjective. I am not a foodie, and will eat what I am given. I also think that when I pay several thousands ££ for a fortnight in the sun, I resent very much the fact that RC approach me in the windjammer or MDR to try to upsell me a decent steak....( hey, are you saying you think your standard food ain't all that???)

 

If you aren't a drinker you might find the drinks package isn't worth having. Think about what you are likely to drink, cost it out and just see. - remember you can get all sorts of drinks on RC package now - but Drinks are expensive on cruise ships, I don't think anyone would argue that point.... I don't think it takes "that many" drinks to make it worth having. But I like a drink or several... some people may only have 2 or 3 drinks a day, so for them I would suggest don't bother.

 

Ports - do your own thing. ship sponsored excursions are great for those on their own, or those who are not confident about their ability to get around a strange place. I personally will only do a ship tour if there is no other option. Use your common sense, stay in safe areas and keep an eye on the time.

 

Wishing you and your family a great vacation!

[cocod08]

It can be done and I'm sure you aren't the only ones. I myself don't do the specialty dining I find the Windjammer and the main dining room is enough for me. But I do enjoy having a glass of wine at dinner so do buy s bottle of wine instead of buying by the glass as they will save whatever you don't drink for the next night. It's all in what is important to you. Don't worry about what others are spending just get on board and relax.

 

 

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[fl-girl]

Well you're all making me feel a lot better. Phew! Thanks!!!!

[Cigar King]

We have, on more than one occasion, gotten money back at the end of the cruise because we did not spend all our OBC.

[dwayneb236]

The Harmony is huge and there is tons to do. You should have a great time. One of our favorite things to do was watching the various sports tournaments they had. Just relaxing and people watching....

[Cruisegirl6]

If you think about it, if you go to Disney or fly to any island and stay at any hotel and then there is food, that trip is going to cost you a heck a lot more than what the cruise costs you.

 

No its certainly not "all inclusive" but go to those places you be paying a lot more there also. What I suggest, if your children drink soda do get the soda package, because each can of soda can sure add up. You do not need to eat in the specialty restaurants you can save that money and eat in the MDR and one great thing about RC there are many places to choose from to get different and complimentary food! As far as excursions your doing the right thing choose one place and do something. I do not know which ports your going to help give you ideas of complimentary things to do but you can go to a local beach and spend time there or like you said, walk around although I am unsure the ages of your children, they may be bored who knows? There is nothing wrong not leaving the ship either, I am coming up on my 70th cruise (I am turning 54 next month) and there are many ports that we do not get off at, although with me, I have seen it all and done it all but staying on the ship when the ship is nice and empty its like having the ship to yourself...the kids will have easy access to the swim slides and pools be empty pretty much.

 

Which ship are you going on and what are the ports your going to?

[nolimits]

Bring your own case of water,Water on ship is fine but I prefer bottled ,You can also carry that off in ports

[grandgeezer]

When we make our final payment to Celebrity 90 days out, it is truly our final payment. In the last three years, except for transatlantics, the obc we get from our online travel agency is credited back to our credit card, usually hundreds of dollars as we book longer cruises and do balconys. We used to play the game, buy drinks, tip extra, go to the casino, book tours, etc. After they started their cost cutting, so did we. Being Elite Plus, getting the free drinks, free internet, free laundry, etc sure helped. Since we've been on so many cruises, we seldom do tours but when we do, we either book them through people on the specific cruise blog or right on the dock. We don't think this cost savings have affected our cruise at all. It's not about having the money, it's about getting value for it. As of now, we don't see any value in spending money once we get on the ship.

[LuCruise]

You're not the only one. We are the same. We are coming from Canada (and our dollar doesn't help!) and have to pay for airfare plus cruise for four of us. On Allure,

- we had a Promenade room (which we loved by the way)

- we brought our own 2 bottles of wine for MDR and only had a few additional "fun" drinks

- DH got soda package since he's a big soda drinker but that's it

- we did pay for 1 excursion only since we were only at that port for a short time and wanted to ensure that we caught the ferry with Royal

- we also went to the character breakfast (which is a small fee around $10 per person)

 

Not any other extras that I can think of. No speciality restaurants, spa packages, etc

For the other two ports, it just cost for the taxi and lunch (and one of them we returned to the ship to grab lunch)

 

We currently have Symphony booked for March break 2019. We did "splurge" on a Boardwalk room but it wasn't much more than the Promenade or Interior room. I can see us maybe booking one excursion but rest will be out of pocket. (Soda package is already included)

 

P.S. - We also do not get wifi as I like us to be totally disconnected from the internet

Edited April 3, 2017 by LuCruise

[fungirl28]

This is exactly how I cruised on my first few cruises. I was not interested in Specialty restaurants and the only drink package I had was the soda package. By the time of final payment, I had purchased my airfare and hotel and only took $200 to spend. I used to always have money coming back at the end of the cruise. Your vacation should fit what you want and how much you want to spend.

 

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[lynncarol]

Once we sailed enough to reach diamond status (free drinks and some internet), we never incur onboard costs exept the tips. In fact in over 25 years of cruising we have yet to go to a specialty dining, we don't gamble or purchase anything onboard and plan our own excursions in port. Where we do spend money is for an experience that we know will never happen again: float planes in Alaska, our own driver/guides in the parts of the Caribbean/central America and Europe, independent tours in St. Petersburg, etc. People should put their money where their heart is.

[DonnaK]

I am a very frugal cruiser. We don't buy into the extras because there is enough "included" stuff to satisfy us. Our only expenses are the gratuities, and if we aren't traveling with our kids we also get the wifi (if our kids are with us, we use the wifi in the ports).

[kruzerci]

It totally depends on the cruise.

 

With a port intensive cruise, we have walked away with a zero balance (we only used the $100 OBC we got from booking onboard for a night in a specialty restaurant which was being offered BOGO and a few drinks since all our our nightly drinks were free in the concierge lounge).

 

Other times we have spent over $4,000 onboard in a week including drinks, gratuities, excursions, etc.

 

We generally spend much more on our summer cruises than our winter.

[Bootman4U]

You are, IMO, correct about cruises not being "all inclusive" as they used to be. When we first started cruising when "Royal" has exactly three ships, two of which had been drydocked and stretched for increased capacity, a lot more was "included" then. Retail? How about exactly one "gift shop" and that wasn't open every day, either.

 

Specialty dining? Never heard of it. Bingo? A wire cage with wooden balls. Midnight buffet? Every single night. Suites? There was one Owner's and it had a bathtub.

 

As to flying to some island and staying in a hotel costing a lot more than a cruise? That's a generalization that depends totally on where you fly, stay, etc., so I'm discounting that "answer."

 

NO, you are not "the only ones."

 

Face it: Some people love to come places like this and make sure everybody knows how much they spent. People also lie a lot, too.

 

When you sit down for the meal and the other people start asking, "Now exactly which cabin are you in?" so they can decide if you qualify for their attention, it's time to head to the Windjammer where nobody ever eats but us cheapskates. Hey, come join me.

[Tatka]

We are "cheap" :)

We do buy models of ships as we collect them.

We of course give tips.

Sometimes we buy ship excursions if they make sense, but this is about it.

 

As for additional restaurants we just never felt the need to attend them as there are plenty of food available. We are not big restaurant goers on land too.

 

It's not a money issues for us, just don't need all of this.

 

Oh... we buy wifi sometimes if needed for my work (IT)

[KMagz]

Love saving money! We are very much like you - you are not alone. Lots of good tips here already but here's another:

- If you're within 60 days of booking think about transferring the booking to a reputable travel agency who may offer you some On Board Credit or other perk. That's a personal decision but it could be worth a few hundred $$$$.

 

Enjoy.

[leela14]

We are going on the Anthem in June - and we are Canadian so that means we pay A LOT MORE for everything. Our feeling is that we can easily afford a lot of extras (DINKs) but the nickel and diming just leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Being able to afford it and feeling like you are being taken advantage of are two different things. Like $100 for the zip line in Labadee. I would have felt ripped off at $50, but $100? Never. Almost $700 for a drink package? We will book the things we feel like are a decent value. Bought the BOGO dining for nights one and two. I love my coffee so $45 for the 15 coffees seemed fair. We don't mind paying more as long as it feels like a value. Sadly though, most of the time it just feels, to us, like we majorly taken advantage of. So we only purchase items that feel like they are worth it to us, and most just don't.

[jdkbrim]

Cheap cruisers here as well. Our only on-board expense is the tips (which we fully pay). We always drive from Virginia to the cruise port, book the cheapest inside rooms, always eat on-board in the free venues, turn our cell phones off, and pick ports that we can enjoy without needing a paid shore excursion. I know other people choose differently to enjoy their cruising experience. We just don't need it for our family. However, someday I hope to go on a Mediterranean Cruise...then I'll pay for the shore excursions :).

[WillowHaven]

Count us in as cheap cruisers, too!

 

We've only been on 4 so far, three different cruise lines. Aside from tipping, our only on board expense has been for the arcade. Our kids are young and would probably never leave except for food if we let them!

 

We've only done west coast cruises so far, which is where we live. We've gotten off in some ports, and stayed on board at others. We haven't done any excursions yet, but we did pay for the shuttle in Victoria to take us downtown. The other two cities had free shuttles or were close enough to walk.

 

I am not a big drinker, so I didn't drink at all. I do like soda, but don't need enough to pay for the package. I tucked a couple bottles in my suitcase to drink when I needed one. With young kids, the buffet is our friend for meals. We haven't used wifi on board before. I use my phone in port if needed.

[ma23peas]

Bring your own case of water,Water on ship is fine but I prefer bottled ,You can also carry that off in ports

 

New to RCI, so we can just carry our own case of water bottles onto the ship? Or is there a way to ship it to the ship? :)

[ma23peas]

We consider it a challenge to pay nothing above the cost of the cruise + tips...we do it all the time! :) Only on a Mediterranean cruise did we invest in a tour guide because we had very limited time on an excursion day and really wanted to see Pompeii :)