How do y'all afford to cruise so often??

[auburnfan]

Ok, I've seen everyone's posts listing all their past cruises and upcoming cruises. Most times, they're only weeks or 2-3 months apart. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??? There's no way I could afford that! My family and I generally take one big vacation a year in the summer, and maybe 2 short trips (2 or 3 days) in spring and fall. Does anyone vacation doing something else besides cruising, or is cruising the ONLY WAY to vacation to the majority on these boards? My husband and I are planning on a 7 day cruise on the Mariner in Nov. 2007, and I have to start planning and saving NOW! Anyone else out there in my shoes?

[sha88]

Ok, I've seen everyone's posts listing all their past cruises and upcoming cruises. Most times, they're only weeks or 2-3 months apart. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??? There's no way I could afford that! My family and I generally take one big vacation a year in the summer, and maybe 2 short trips (2 or 3 days) in spring and fall. Does anyone vacation doing something else besides cruising, or is cruising the ONLY WAY to vacation to the majority on these boards? My husband and I are planning on a 7 day cruise on the Mariner in Nov. 2007, and I have to start planning and saving NOW! Anyone else out there in my shoes?

 

I am so happy that so many people can cruise as often as I see on these boards, but for me, I am in your shoes. We are cruising next month and our last cruise was in July 2005. I started saving about nine months in advance for this October cruise including enough to put a deposit on our next cruise since I plan to book while I am oboard (had to save gambling money, too :eek: ). Plus, my husband will only do one cruise a year - can't seem to get him to do more. Another factor, limited vacation time, so several factors beside the money for us.

 

Have a great cruise...........

[TEXASMUNK]

Cruised a bunch back in the 70's when people were just discovering what a great vacation and value it was.

 

Then we raised kids, paid for college, etc,etc,etc.

 

Now, we cruise 2 or 3 times a year. We worked for it, we earned it and we darn well will not become worm food without wearing these bodies out and we are not that old....we put the wimps to bed most nights and are already finishing breakfast when they come in to the dining room in the morning!!!

[Aleciajoyful1]

One of the reasons we can cruise often is we have no kids yet. Just me and the hubby so we spend our money on ourselves! I work in a hotel, so I prefer cruising for vacations, although my hubby would love me to book a land trip sometime soon.

 

I also book a lot weekend cruises which means only 1 or 2 days off of work. Living 1 hour from Port Canaveral is also wonderful. We don't have to fly so it is more economical for us.

 

Plus I have a frugal husband so he only lets me book when the rates are low. :)

[Casey2]

We also go on 1 vacation a year. We will be going on our fourth cruise in Dec and have been saving all year. We got away for a long weekend in June but that was it.

[Nitra]

I used to cruise more, but now have a house, have a more expensive car, more obligations so cruising has taken a back seat. I do cruise one time a year minimum, but I have no kids. My hubby does not cruise since he works on the ships.

 

I book for the price, not the itinerary. I book close to home, saves on air.

 

I get lots of vacation time, about 6 weeks a year, and it is hard to use it all, but if I could afford to cruise 6 times a year I would!

 

I prefer to cruise over any other vacation, no one can reach me! No phones, no fax, no emails, no conference calls, no internet, no nothing! I know I can have all them on board, but I am on vacation! I refuse to work while Im on a cruise. I have 3 computers going all day every day at home, 2 phone lines, cell phone, and fax machine, not to mention all the email accounts. I can shut out the world on a cruise!

 

It is all about what you want, if you want to cruise more then choose less expensive options, and take say 2 cruises a year instead of one big one and 2 smaller trips a year or wait till the kids are older and do like my parents, leave the kids at home and cruise without them! My parents cruised for years without us kids.

[gojojo]

I too am in your shoes. I plan my vacations about a year in advance. Hopefully I get a good bonus and that pays for the vacation. I might be able to squeeze one more out if I budgeted good and got a really great bonus, but can't seem to logically rationalize 2 large vacations when there's other things to pay for.

 

My parents, though are the ones that cruise every few months. Of course they have no house payment anymore, no kids to raise or put through college. A few years ago my mother worked part time solely to help support their cruising habits. They have saved their money over the years and are "spending the kids inheritence" now. I'm amazed at my mom when she comes back from one cruise and had to book another while on it because "it was such a good deal!"

 

I think when you get in the groove of cruising, you learn when it's a good time to go, when it's cheapest and you don't always feel the need to do shore excursions so you save money in a lot of places.

 

For now, I have to be content to doing one really nice trip a year, but my goal is to cruise more often.

[RCCLCARIB]

We won the lottery of $25,000,000 in Florida last year...so that solves our problem!! JUST KIDDING.......but boy to I wish it would happen.

 

My wife retired at 40 when we had out child and I retired at age 49. I am 18 years old with 32 years of experience...simply put!!!

 

All my life, I have saved, saved, and saved. I first started cruising in 1996, and found that I took a liking to the cruising idea. Once again, I saved and saved and then retired. I have done 11 cruises in about 11 years, but have usually done about 2-4 a year. We like to cruise ALOT, and we only sail in Veranda or JS categories..............I am not trying to brag, but if I have saved all these years of my life, I think it is time I enjoy it with my lovely wife and child. Afterall, I can't take anything with me money wise when I die, but only the great memories of cruising!!

 

My advice, save, save, and save some more, and then you can cruise ALL you want to!!!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We are retired and are within easy driving distance of four ports. We can go almost any time. We don't always take long cruises. We've done two, four, five, six, seven, eight and ten-day cruises. Because we don't need to fly to ports, that saves a lot of money and time.

 

We've done three cruises a year since we retired, not be desgin, but more by opportunity. It has just worked out that way. It has worked out to be one long, one medium and one short cruise a year and most have been when the cruises are cheaper. We don't cruise during the height of the season which families must do because of children's school vacations. Off season prices are so much better, you can often have a balcony for the cost of an ocean view in high season!

[cruising lady]

I think if you did a poll you would find that most of the people who cruise once a year or more have grown children, both work or are retired. I know when I was younger it was not something I would do yearly. I think it is alot easier to cruise than going to a resort, you kind of know what to expect on a cruise.

[cruising lady]

I think if you did a poll you would find that most of the people who cruise once a year or more have grown children, both work or are retired. I know when I was younger it was not something I would do yearly. I think it is alot easier to cruise than going to a resort, you kind of know what to expect on a cruise.

[Davey Interweb]

A guy we know pays our cruise fare in exchange for our delivering gifts to his family members in the Caribbean. I always wondered why he doesn't deliver them personally, but he tells me that he's a really busy guy. He sure is nice to his family!

 

Okay, I made that all up. Ours is a pretty simple formula; practically free airfare to wherever and deeply-discounted interline rates from the cruise lines. Occassionally cruising winds up being cheaper than living at home. We're both DINKs with good jobs and flexible bosses.

 

Two years, seven cruises, and 59 days at sea! :D

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Off-season is the big key for us. :)

[Host Kewlguy]

I'm able to cruise 4-5 times a year because I'm self employed and can take off whenever I choose. I don't drink, gamble or buy souvenirs so my on board expenses are low. I also don't waste money on cruise insurance I'll never use.

[cusyl]

Early booking or fire sales, cheapest cabin on the ship, inside guarantee usually get upgraded.

[breal6]

House is paid, kids are grown, cruise off season, now it's time to vacation. :D

[Hflors]

I'm with the OP. I had a cruise booked for my 35th ann this year, but my daughter ran out of money to finish her college education. She is in her last semester and just ran out of money (she had done it all on her own, with this last semember she will have her 4 year degree in paralegal studies - so dad and I cancelled our cruise and am pitching in for the last semester) By the way when I say she has done it all on her own I mean all. She is married works full time has a nine year old and goes to a very prestegious college part time has a 4.0 grade point average. she plans to sit for the L-sat's in June on 07) She says she will take off a year and then hopefully be accepted in to law school here in Baltimore. I'd love to take a cruise for my Annaversary, but my daughter's degree just became for important this year. So maybe next year I'll be able to do it.

 

Hubby and I both work but he only gets three weeks vacation a year, I get seven weeks a year and can use them about any time, but his time is very limited. After this year things should be better since our mortgage will be paid for. Now we save for Retirement! My goal is from now on one cruise every year!

 

You people who can do more than one cruise a year give me a page out of your books, PLEASE!!!!! Ha! Ha!

[GMoney]

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about cruising is that it's expensive.

 

I'm not saying it's cheap, but if you learn the ins and outs, you can cruise very economically. Combined with repeat cruise discounts and upgrades and stock owner credits, it can be even more reasonable.

[waterbound]

Some years we do cruise more than once a year.. Last year we were lucky to cruise one month after we took our family cruise.. that was because my fiancee got a bonus at work.. We do one family vacation every year but no more than every other year and in between he and I do our own trips.. so its just us two..

 

We look for deals mostly and go when we can get a deal.. we generally stay in an inside cabin as we figure we're never in there anyways other than to sleep.. I put money back every check for our vacation fund..

 

If we chose to stay in a balcony each time or in a suite we wouldnt be able to cruise as often, but we'd rather do more cruises the way we do them..

 

It doesnt hurt that my fiancee loves cruising.. If I mention to him about cruising I have no problems convincing him.. I dont get as many vacation days as him so that does not work in our favor, but I cant wait till 2008 when I will get another week.. then I'll have 3 1/2 weeks vacation a year.. Im sure we'll definitely be able to get 2 in then..

[sgttami]

I think you will find that people on these boards have varied reasons for being able to cruise and vacation often.

 

Some people's priorities are travel over other things. I have friends who go out to dinner 5 nights a week, have new cars all the time, buy lots of clothes etc.and could care less about travel....I have other friends that go nowhere and save every penny they make.

 

Falling somewhere in between, (and not in the saving category!!) I was able to retire 2 years ago at 51..(hubby still works). I saw so many people say that when they retired they would travel and a few months later they were dead.

 

So in a two year frenzy since retiring, I'm more vacation crazy than when I worked!! Caribbean land trips and cruising, Vegas, Alaska, Bermuda. Now I know that it's time to switch gears (after my October cruise) and will take a break for awhile and put the $$ towards the more practical...new car, house stuff..etc.

 

I may have had a lot more money saved if I stayed home, but don't regret a single trip....

[lovebug33]

I've wondered that too! DH and I normally take the old tent out and camp somewhere (our big day is when we will be able to afford the trailer). We have been saving for the cruise for a year and a half. I doubt we'll go on another cruise for years!

[ckrobyn]

Until our first cruise 2 years ago, DH and I had one previous vacation....our honeymoon! We actually went 10 years without a holiday of any kind. I finally convinced him we needed to get away - our DD is almost 10 and a terrific little traveller......so now we are committed to at least one major vacation a year, and so far for us it has been all about cruising!

 

We both work hard for a living - and have decided to actually LIVE :)

[samtig]

We book early, drive to port, cruise in off-season (Nov. - Feb.) & avoid holiday weeks. So far we have usually booked in Feb. as it seems prices have been lower then. Cruising to the Carribean in winter is great. Temperatures in the mid-80's - wonderful!

[emilygrace]

When my brother died in his sleep at the age of 58, I decided life was just too short to put off all the things you want to do. When they offered early retirement where I worked I jumped at it and never looked back. If a chance to take a cruise presents itself, I grab it. DH is still working, but he gets 5 weeks of vacation a year. We usually do one cruise together and other short vacations (getaways, if you will). But I also do a Chick Cruise with my girlfriends every year.

 

As far as the finances, we don't eat out often, I'm not a shopper, our house and cars are paid for and the daughter is self supporting.

[jdh]

Hubby and I are retired as of 2000 for him and 2004 for me. I was lucky, able to retire at 57. Dear hubby has been battling prostate cancer since 2000 but is doing great and believe me when you are hit with something like cancer, you make the most of every minute. I work a part time job that is extremely flexible just so we can cruise. We have done a yearly since 2001, with our next being on the Explorer Dec 10th. While on board in Dec I plan to book an Alaskan cruise on the Vision or Radiance for 2007. If traveling is your thing, do what you have to do to enjoy every minute. One never knows what tomorrow will bring. We always have inside cabins and don't do too many excursions mainly due to there being very few handicapped accessible excursions. We usually just putz around for a few hours, shop and go back on the ship and relax. Hubby also has rheumatoid arthritis so uses a scooter for getting around. Sounds like a sob story but actually we are very blessed indeed. Happy cruising to all.