IS there a secret to taking SOOO many cruises?

[jbmanuel]

I have taken 2 cruises and loved every minute of it. Its all I want to do now. Is there a secret to doing it more often! I see people on here with 2 or 3 cruises a year under their belts(whats the most amount of cruises anyone has taken).....I am thinking hmmm these people know something that I don't. Do you cut back on the shopping before you cruise, less groceries,no movies,less fruit and veggies, no entertainment (hehehe) I am not being silly, just wondering thats all. Is there a secret combination...pay a little now a little later,credit cards and cash...I want some tips I WANT TO CRUISE more often thats all. I buy lottery tickets. (lol):p I am addicted ...PLEASE help me.....It's only getting worse!!

I even dream about cruising............seriously:eek:

[Serendipity50]

Hi, when we went on our first cruise, [ coming from England cost mega bucks!!] we were amazed at how many Americans were on their fifth or sixth cruise!

We have to book our cruises, especially with Princess all in airfares etc, so it whacks it up a bit [ although I must say that this year they are droping a bit]

When we look at the US internet sites and see how cheap some of these cruises are, we now know how they go on them all the time,

six years ago DH and I had the money to go on lots of holidays but not the time, now he is retired we have the time and not the money!!

ah! such is life.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Being retired helps us to cruise more than once a year. Last year we did four back-to-back cruises for a total of 68 days. Plus we always go to our embarkation port a few days early and stay over at the end of the cruise before flying home.

[breenw]

We are not retired - still working unfortunately! We cruise 2 times a year on average. We have a Christmas Club savings account at our bank and have a certain amount of money taken directly out of our paychecks for this account. We actually use it as our Vacation Fund Account! You don't notice the money difference each paycheck, and we always have that money there to travel with.

 

Also, book as far out as you can - if prices drop, you can call the cruise line, TA, or whoever you booked with and get the price that you have reserved changed. Also, look at off season - the prices are always the best. Especially the first two weeks of December.

[Riotgrl13]

we also set aside a certain amount each week. this helps to defray the cost of the trip, especially not that we like suites. Our first cruise in 98 we were in an oceanview room. We have only gone up since then. Unfortunately, once you experience the butler, separate bedroom etc, its hard to go back to a regular room. Especially since my spouse and I like to spend time in our room just relaxing and sitting out on the balcony.

[travel girl23]

When we cruise, we take advantage of the military discount that Carnival offers. Also, the earlier we book, the less expensive the rooms are. Our son is a Marine and my DH is a Marine veteran and both qualify for the discount. Our last cruise in Dec. 2004, we booked 8 months early with military discount and it was $299 (including port charges) for a 7-day cruise! We have a PVP with Carnival (personal vacation planner) and she sees to it we get the best price. She's great!! I know exactly how you feel - we have been addicted since cruise #1!!! Definitely members of OATC Club (Openly Addicted to Cruising).

[biggerbearmom]

as I too have wondered the same thing many times.

I will be taking my 3rd cruise in Feb. & have marveled many times

at the signatures noting numerous cruises. It is something to strive for once we are finished getting our 4th child through college.:)

[tinsel57]

The key?

 

Having a good TA.

 

Not having kids in college or having to finish paying their college tuition.

 

More expendable income as you become older.

 

:)

[catnt2]

We started cruising when we were "dating"!! And cruised Crystal on our Honeymoon and then took a few yrs off.

 

When my SIL surprised my daughter (his wife) with a cruise, we got hooked again.

 

Booked a Valentine cruise on Sov of the Seas and have been cruising since.

 

We just keep an eye open for specials and book!!

[VentureMan_2000]

I have taken 2 cruises and loved every minute of it. Its all I want to do now. Is there a secret to doing it more often!

 

 

Yeah... Don't have kids!

 

It is cost prohibitive to cruise with my kids, and legistically, it's hard to find a relative to watch them at home so that you can cruise. When ther're 18, I will be in cruise heaven... except I will be spending all my money on their college... :(

[love2vacation]

I have noticed that some of the people who cruise often live in Florida, East Coast or Texas.

 

Just guessing, but I bet they can drive to the ports and don't have to figure in airfare and hotel everytime they cruise. For us that adds and extra approx. 1000.00 to our vacation. :eek:

[cruisegirl1]

We usually book just a window room on a 3 day cruise (have had an inside) and (hopefully) a standard balcony for 7 days. Only been in a JR suite once (on the Sovereign). We would rather sail several times in a regular room than once or twice in a suite. We are Diamond on RCCL and the difference in price for a window and balcony (for Diamond members on our cruise Jan 2006) was only $100 per person. If I had the choice of several cruises in an interior room or one in a suite – I would take the interiors.

 

As for the clothes shopping prior to the cruise – I find that I wear the same cruise clothes from (Caribbean) sailing to sailing as we meet different people. Sometimes I bring photos home and see myself in the same dress from a previous cruise. I can usually keep the cruises straight with my hair cut or color! Also – I shop for cruise clothes sales. As I know I will cruise soon - I watch good sales and just hold on to an item for an upcoming trip (No last minute shopping).

 

After a few cruises, souvenir shopping is non existent. Also – we are comfortable booking some independent excursions.

 

OK – I’ll admit - I do save change for gambling. Luckily we are not big gamblers!

 

BTW – We still work but have lots of vacation time. Also – the kids are grown and generally don’t travel with us. It made a big $$$ difference when we cruised as a family.

 

Finally - we drive older cars. Mine is an 1996, husband's is a 2000. I guess basically I using the "car payment" for the cruise costs.

 

Marci

[tinsel57]

I have noticed that some of the people who cruise often live in Florida, East Coast or Texas.

 

Just guessing, but I bet they can drive to the ports and don't have to figure in airfare and hotel everytime they cruise. For us that adds and extra approx. 1000.00 to our vacation. :eek:

 

That's very true.

 

But you can also do a lot more caribbean cruises as they're a dime a dozen or a lot more short cruises as they're the least expensive vs doing multiple Alaska or Hawaii or European trips.

 

You can do more Carnival than you can Radisson too!

 

I had someone try Crystal for the first time last year. I warned her, that it was a mistake! LOL!

 

Once you find the differences it's hard to go back and sometimes it's just the quality vs the quantity that many look for.

 

I personally wouldn't consider a short cruise unless it was free, I even find the 7 day cruises too short! There's too much competition to do things vs relax and for those of us still working, I need some of that time to relax. It's hard on a 7 day to get the balance but much easier on a 12-14 day. - Even if that means 1 cruise a year.

[jbmanuel]

I have noticed that some of the people who cruise often live in Florida, East Coast or Texas.

 

Just guessing, but I bet they can drive to the ports and don't have to figure in airfare and hotel everytime they cruise. For us that adds and extra approx. 1000.00 to our vacation. :eek:

 

I never even thought of that...good point. TIME to relocate:D

[jbmanuel]

We usually book just a window room on a 3 day cruise (have had an inside) and (hopefully) a standard balcony for 7 days. Only been in a JR suite once (on the Sovereign). We would rather sail several times in a regular room than once or twice in a suite. We are Diamond on RCCL and the difference in price for a window and balcony (for Diamond members on our cruise Jan 2006) was only $100 per person. If I had the choice of several cruises in an interior room or one in a suite – I would take the interiors.

 

As for the clothes shopping prior to the cruise – I find that I wear the same cruise clothes from (Caribbean) sailing to sailing as we meet different people. Sometimes I bring photos home and see myself in the same dress from a previous cruise. I can usually keep the cruises straight with my hair cut or color! Also – I shop for cruise clothes sales. As I know I will cruise soon - I watch good sales and just hold on to an item for an upcoming trip (No last minute shopping).

 

After a few cruises, souvenir shopping is non existent. Also – we are comfortable booking some independent excursions.

 

OK – I’ll admit - I do save change for gambling. Luckily we are not big gamblers!

 

BTW – We still work but have lots of vacation time. Also – the kids are grown and generally don’t travel with us. It made a big $$$ difference when we cruised as a family.

 

Finally - we drive older cars. Mine is an 1996, husband's is a 2000. I guess basically I using the "car payment" for the cruise costs.

 

Marci

 

Thank you for all the information... I like the whole saving change..got to start that now

 

16 cruises wow...I bet you have some great stories and pictures!!

[PurpleCow]

I think that perhaps so many frequent cruisers live in Florida has more to do with the fact that there are more retirees in Florida than that it's close to the ports. We're done the Caribbean 3 times and don't have any desire to cruise there again, so we do have air fare, sometimes to Europe or even farther, and hotels to pay for. We can afford to travel because all the children are grown and their educations and weddings are all paid for. At the same time, the house is paid off and we have no car payments. DH is retired and I'm self employed so we have the time. Getting older does have a few benefits to offset the wrinkles and creaky knees!

[Phoenix cruiser]

I find the length of the cruises and the available vacation time can also be correlated. We have taken fewer cruises (about 7) but almost all have been 10-14 days with extended time in port at one or both ends. With 3-4 weeks of vacation available for cruisng each year, we could have been at 20+ cruises if we stuck with 3,4 and 7 day cruises. However, each cruise has been more memorable than the last.

[L0204]

We recently learned that NCL is partnered with MBNA (I think that's the bank) and if you use their credit card you earn points that equate to $ that can ONLY be used for a cruise with NCL. So if you are self employed, using that credit card, paying it off monthly, can actually get pay for your cruise!

 

I don't know if other cruise lines offer this, but it's certainly worth looking into.

 

We met one lady on our last cruise that had her two children with her, and that's how she paid for her entire 7 day cruise for 3!

 

........we signed up:D

[SPARKLE10]

Hi:

 

We live in the midwest (not close to any ports of departure) and my DH and I, we're in our 50's and we go about twice a year, and yes, we're still working full time. We're getting ready to go on our 36th cruise in 7 weeks and we have another one booked for New Years Eve. We are middle class, very average people. I had twins at an early age and when they finished college, we started to take cruises. We couldn't afford to go anywhere when they were little, so we had to wait. You would be surprised how much money you have once you're kids are out of the house and through college. We don't have new cars or a new house; we don't eat out a lot and we don't spend a lot of money on entertainment the whole year. I know a lot of people who buy new cars every year and spend a lot of money on cigarettes and going out to bars and then they say they don't have the money to go on a cruise. I guess it's just where you put your priorities.

 

Happy Cruising.....Sparkle 10

[cusyl]

Fortunately, living in Florida we can drive to the ports, so no airfare. All but one of our cruises have been in the Caribbean. We don't care about the ports, we just want to be on the ship. We book inside guarantee usually a year out to get the best deals.

We don't drink alcohol and we don't smoke...drive older cars and don't go to movies. You would be surprised how much you can save this way.

Usually we have 2 or 3 cruises each year.

[kitty9]

I have cruise number 43 coming up in February and number 44 in April and they are both 14 day or longer. My longest cruise was 35 days, Hong Kong to Dubai and it was wonderful. How to cruise so often? My first cruise was in 1975 on Carnival Festivale and cost only $399 for 7 days including airfare from Milwaukee to Ft Lauderdale. The cabin was upper and lower bunks, so tiny you could stretch your arms out and touch both walls, and a bathroom the size of a phone booth. But guess what? It was a great cruise. If you aren't related to Donald Trump, my best advice is to budget, find bargains, and take rooms that don't cost an arm and leg. You can do some really nice cruises, with an inside room, for under $600 if you can cruise at any time and aren't particular about the location of your cabin. And if you can drive to a port, that's even better.

[critterchick]

We didn't start "serious" cruising (how can you call it serious when it's so much fun?) until we were in our late 40s, and we've never looked back. We live very close to the port, so our transportation costs to get onboard are usually minimal, and we are able to take a lot of 3-night cruises instead of going up or down the coast or to Las Vegas for a long weekend. The economics are comparable. We try to get at least one week-long or longer cruise in annually.

 

We're in our peak earning years, only have 4-legged kids so no braces, dance classes, college tuition (although the Border Collie mix has applied to Princeton ;) ), and don't have a lot of hobbies other than cruisng & ballroom dancing classes. We brownbag our lunches and have done so for 12 years (wish I'd started sooner), don't eat out all that much, don't buy a lot of clothes, jewelry or shoes, clip coupons, etc. I have a little coffeemaker in my office that cost me $10, and I brew my own instead of going to Starbucks for $10/day. Put that money in a piggy bank and watch it grow!

[LV2COOK]

We took our first cruise in 1982. Cost us $1250 each including air. We were addicted. We have take last minute cruises and long planned ones. Now #22 is coming up, (few years off for our daughter)... our planning method... we do not eat out, I love to cook so we almost never go out, but we do put $100 per week away for vacation... also when I shop and I'm at the checkout thinking... magazine, candy bar, diet coke etc.... I write the check for approx that amount over and put the $$ in a big bottle for mad money. Also, use same cruise clothes for years. We book a mid line cabin, not the bottom or the top. Never book tours from the ship, we hire a driver for the day and see what we want when we want.... for 3 people this is usually about $100 for a whole day versus a 3 hour $50pp tour. We enjoy drinks, spa treatments and whatever else we want onboard. I too often wonder where folks get the $$$ for lots of cruises so your not alone. HOpe this helps.:p

[lv2crooz2]

I have gotten great fares a few times by last minute bookings. Luckily, I live within driving distance to the ports and I just block two weeks at a time for vacation and, the week before, call my TA and see if there is anything available. My best book was an outside cabin, eastern run for $309 pp:eek: We do book ahead for our fall cruise which gives you plenty of time to pay it off and save some up for the slots. Can you find 20 dollars a week to drop in a piggy bank? That is almost 1,000 at the end of the year! Start now...you're 3 weeks behind:D Have fun dreamin'-we ALL do!

[Spender Nui]

Study hard and retire early!