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

[Cruise Junky]

I think a land tour of Europe can be more cost effective than a cruise with a lot of planning and of course it all depends on what you normally spend on a cruise. Our Greek Island one ran about $5,000 for the two of us just on cruise fare. We spent 3 weeks in France and Italy last year and only spent that. Add on to the cruise fare the shore excursions, on board bill, etc. and the cruise was definitely more expensive. We rented fantastic accommodations in both Provence and Tuscany and had a car for the entire time. Now, if you cruise in an inside cabin, those numbers just aren't going to compute.

 

We just did a pre-cruise in London...and holy cow, you're right, the prices are nuts. I too had to stop doing the math..... $20 for fish and chips is nuts.

[julieanne]

I think a land tour of Europe can be more cost effective than a cruise with a lot of planning and of course it all depends on what you normally spend on a cruise. Our Greek Island one ran about $5,000 for the two of us just on cruise fare. We spent 3 weeks in France and Italy last year and only spent that. Add on to the cruise fare the shore excursions, on board bill, etc. and the cruise was definitely more expensive. We rented fantastic accommodations in both Provence and Tuscany and had a car for the entire time. Now, if you cruise in an inside cabin, those numbers just aren't going to compute.

 

We just did a pre-cruise in London...and holy cow, you're right, the prices are nuts. I too had to stop doing the math..... $20 for fish and chips is nuts.

I don't think I agree with this. Now that the euro is dropping, it may be easier to travel across the pond, but hotels, food, etc are very pricey. We also looked for budget hotels and of course, you will not find a decent room for under $100 per day. If you'd like a shared bath, or a bad neighborhood, yes, you can find them. We usually take a repo cruise as this is our mode of transport "to/from". If you look for a deal or are not choosy when you travel, you can get a great deal. Especially now, too many ships, not enough passengers make it a cruisers market!

[momofmeg]

I think a land tour of Europe can be more cost effective than a cruise with a lot of planning and of course it all depends on what you normally spend on a cruise. Our Greek Island one ran about $5,000 for the two of us just on cruise fare. We spent 3 weeks in France and Italy last year and only spent that. Add on to the cruise fare the shore excursions, on board bill, etc. and the cruise was definitely more expensive. We rented fantastic accommodations in both Provence and Tuscany and had a car for the entire time. Now, if you cruise in an inside cabin, those numbers just aren't going to compute.

 

We just did a pre-cruise in London...and holy cow, you're right, the prices are nuts. I too had to stop doing the math..... $20 for fish and chips is nuts.

 

We plan on booking a tour to France and Italy next year-since we do not speak the languages we are not comfortable doing those cities on our own (Paris and Rome)-yes it is expensive, but the price I quoted was for 3 people, our daughter will be with us on this trip, It covered airfare, about half of our meals, and most of the tours, like the Effiel Tower, the Lourve, Monet's house, Pompeii, etc. I am sure though, we will spend a few thousand more over that figure for incidentals- meals not included, extra tours we may choose to take, souveniors,etc.

 

That is our hope, if we can't swing both we will just do the paris part.

[Cruise Junky]

I don't think I agree with this. Now that the euro is dropping, it may be easier to travel across the pond, but hotels, food, etc are very pricey. We also looked for budget hotels and of course, you will not find a decent room for under $100 per day. If you'd like a shared bath, or a bad neighborhood, yes, you can find them. We usually take a repo cruise as this is our mode of transport "to/from". If you look for a deal or are not choosy when you travel, you can get a great deal. Especially now, too many ships, not enough passengers make it a cruisers market!

 

It doesn't really matter whether you agree with it or not, I'm not making it up, we did it last year, so it's basically a fact. You mention $100 a day, we paid $5,000 for a 12 day cruise, that gives me $420 a day for my accommodation and breakfast and dinner. We rented a fantasic place in the south of france for 850 Euro for 7 days. I'm Canadian, the Euro is about the same now as it was then. We didn't share a bath and we had 800 sq ft balcony and a pool that we only shared with two other couples. The owners delivered baquettes and chocolate croissants to us every morning. In Tuscany we paid in US $, it was $1,200 for a two bedroom again, pool, our own bathroom, very large deck for a week. You don't always have to stay in 5 star hotels. If we'd have been able to see as much of Greece as we did on the ship, I'd have dumped the cruise in a heartbeat and done a land trip.

[Cruise Junky]

We plan on booking a tour to France and Italy next year-since we do not speak the languages we are not comfortable doing those cities on our own (Paris and Rome)-yes it is expensive, but the price I quoted was for 3 people, our daughter will be with us on this trip, It covered airfare, about half of our meals, and most of the tours, like the Effiel Tower, the Lourve, Monet's house, Pompeii, etc. I am sure though, we will spend a few thousand more over that figure for incidentals- meals not included, extra tours we may choose to take, souveniors,etc.

 

That is our hope, if we can't swing both we will just do the paris part.

 

Honestly, don't let the language stop you. So many Europeans speak english. But...you have to do Paris, it's my favourite city in the world, I could spend very large quantities of time there. Paris can be very expensive, I remember the first time my jaw dropping at 8 euro for a small heineken, but it doesn't have to be. The attractions are very reasonably priced. The Eiffel tower is only 11 euro to the top, the Louvre we did last year so I can't remember off the top of my head but I'm thinking around 7 or 8 euro. Paris and Rome I don't think you'll find too many people in the tourist industry that don't speak at least a little english.

[Cruise Junky]

To add to the Land vs. Cruise debate. As a post cruise stay after Greece last month we stayed at Le Meridien in Monaco for 5 nights. We paid 199 Euro a night including taxes but we had an ocean view with a nice balcony, you could get a city view for around 150 Euro. Getting around the french riviera is so easy and cheap, the bus to Nice, Eze, St. Paul de Vence, Menton, etc. is 1 Euro pp. and there's so much to explore in that area. Yes, we were there early October and was off season for Monaco, but we were in the pool or ocean everyday, the weather was marvelous. There was also a fantasic little place on the beach to eat, awesome pizza for 10 euro that was big enough to share. It doesn't have to be that expensive to do a land trip.

[momofmeg]

Honestly, don't let the language stop you. So many Europeans speak english. But...you have to do Paris, it's my favourite city in the world, I could spend very large quantities of time there. Paris can be very expensive, I remember the first time my jaw dropping at 8 euro for a small heineken, but it doesn't have to be. The attractions are very reasonably priced. The Eiffel tower is only 11 euro to the top, the Louvre we did last year so I can't remember off the top of my head but I'm thinking around 7 or 8 euro. Paris and Rome I don't think you'll find too many people in the tourist industry that don't speak at least a little english.

 

Crusie Junky, I am 50 plus, so I am not interested in stayaing at places that Jena M. did-I am too old and my understanding is- even the "better" hotels do not have air conditioning-so in my mind I will be still "roughing it", as far as TV, since I do not speak the language, I don't care about that! But my 50 plus bones needs a comfortable bed! LOL!

 

If only I was still 30-but the sad part is-at 30 we could barely afford groceries and rent-we could not even afford cheap vacations. No matter how cheap Europe could be done-we could not afford the plane fare back then.

 

We did meet a young couple who had done as Jena-they had recently graduated college and had spent 3 months in Europe, but they had gone to several countires, including Spain, Itlay, France, Switerland and England. They had "splurged" on the Stonehenge/Bath tour, which is how we met them.

 

Now our crusie was a repostioning TA which is why we got the price we did. Now if anyone can do a med cruise almost last minute- I found 2 deals, one RCI and the other NCL, who are doing round trip cruises from Barcelona, which includes airfare from NY for $2000-2500 per person. Both leave in January.

 

I found Celebrity Solstice has a nice repostioning TA from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale, November 30, 09. I suggested to my hubby that we fly into Paris for Thanksgiving week and then take a train to Rome, the Sat. after Thanksgiving, spend two nights there and then board for the cruise.

 

The problem is, our daughter wants to go with us, and she could only spend the week in Paris, as she works in the school system. She would have to fly home when we left for Rome, which is why we are looking at summer. We realize that time of year makes it more expensive-but who knows when the 3 of us could do something that great together again?

 

So, even though we could possibly do this for less, this is what works for our whole family to do this together and as this is a once in a lifetime type trip for us, we are willing to splurge a little for it.

[Cruise Junky]

Crusie Junky, I am 50 plus, so I am not interested in stayaing at places that Jena M. did-I am too old and my understanding is- even the "better" hotels do not have air conditioning-so in my mind I will be still "roughing it", as far as TV, since I do not speak the language, I don't care about that! But my 50 plus bones needs a comfortable bed! LOL!

 

If only I was still 30-but the sad part is-at 30 we could barely afford groceries and rent-we could not even afford cheap vacations. No matter how cheap Europe could be done-we could not afford the plane fare back then.

 

We did meet a young couple who had done as Jena-they had recently graduated college and had spent 3 months in Europe, but they had gone to several countires, including Spain, Itlay, France, Switerland and England. They had "splurged" on the Stonehenge/Bath tour, which is how we met them.

 

Now our crusie was a repostioning TA which is why we got the price we did. Now if anyone can do a med cruise almost last minute- I found 2 deals, one RCI and the other NCL, who are doing round trip cruises from Barcelona, which includes airfare from NY for $2000-2500 per person. Both leave in January.

 

I found Celebrity Solstice has a nice repostioning TA from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale, November 30, 09. I suggested to my hubby that we fly into Paris for Thanksgiving week and then take a train to Rome, the Sat. after Thanksgiving, spend two nights there and then board for the cruise.

 

The problem is, our daughter wants to go with us, and she could only spend the week in Paris, as she works in the school system. She would have to fly home when we left for Rome, which is why we are looking at summer. We realize that time of year makes it more expensive-but who knows when the 3 of us could do something that great together again?

 

So, even though we could possibly do this for less, this is what works for our whole family to do this together and as this is a once in a lifetime type trip for us, we are willing to splurge a little for it.

 

Oh, please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk you out of a cruise. I was merely pointing out that a Land trip is not as expensive as some people might think. And you have to do what you're comfortable with. We'll be heading back to Europe in 2010 and want to the western part, hopefully a Barcelona to London to see more of Spain and Portugal.

[momofmeg]

Oh, please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk you out of a cruise. I was merely pointing out that a Land trip is not as expensive as some people might think. And you have to do what you're comfortable with. We'll be heading back to Europe in 2010 and want to the western part, hopefully a Barcelona to London to see more of Spain and Portugal.

 

Oh the crusie would be our second choice-if we can't swing the land tour. What we would never do is Europe on our own.

[Girlfiend]

Just wanted to thank you for your post! I, too, am just out of college and therefore also have limited income. I use a lot of the same tactics to save for vacation, though I tend to prefer land-based vacations (that might be different if I had a cruise port I could drive to!)

 

Since I don't have someone to split rent with (that's one sacrifice I'm not willing to make), here are my cost-cutting suggestions so I have money for vacations!! ;)

• Put any unexpected money in a dedicated travel savings account - this includes work bonuses, tax refunds, etc. Also make sure the bank transfers money to this account automatically from your paycheck so you're less tempted to spend it on other things.
  
• Research how to do things independently. Cruise Critic is a great resource! For a lot of things, it's necessary to go with a tour (for example, my upcoming zipline excursion in Belize), but even then you can save money by booking an independent excursion not through the ship...but for my Spain trip, I have done a lot of research on how to use public transportation to get to attractions and I've even downloaded podcasts for walking tours of the Prado and historic neighborhoods. You save a lot of money by doing things on your own instead of taking a ship excursion or guided tours of the city.
  
• Walk or bike instead of drive as much as possible. Now that it's almost winter, this is less practical for me but during summer it saved a lot of gas money. If you can, get a gas efficient car!
  
• Brown bag lunch as much as possible and avoid sodas/snacks from the vending machine. Make dinner at home instead of eating out - it's cheaper and healthier, too! I also try not to go out for happy hours often or buy coffee in the morning. Sometimes it's GOOD to go out for lunch or after work as a networking tool, but mostly it's just an expensive habit.
  
• Save on salon costs by giving yourself a manicure (or trading with a friend!) and coloring your own hair.
  
• Use a credit card that offers rewards of some sort (hotel points, airline miles, cruise rewards, or my preference: CASH BACK!!). Pay it off in full and on time every month to avoid high interest and other fees.
  
• Use garage sales, secondhand stores, and Craigslist to find furniture or other items for cheap!
  
• Use generic brands if you can and use coupons when you can't. I love to shop at the dollar store - I regularly find name-brand items like cleaning supplies or toothpaste.
  
• Travel in the off-season to save money and as an extra bonus, avoid crowds. Also, stay at basic accomodations (inside staterooms instead of suites; Holiday Inn instead of Ritz Carlton) and instead spend the money on your next cruise!
  
• Rent DVDs from your local library instead of going out to the movies. It's even cheaper than Blockbuster.
  
• Don't buy cable TV. You can watch most TV shows streamed via the internet for free now (legally) if you are willing to wait a week for the episodes to be posted online.
  
• Be flexible with where you go! I am looking into where I want to go this coming fall, and since I have several options in mind, I can jump on a sale where I see it. I saw dozens of repositioning cruises this fall at unbelievably low prices, but unfortunately most of them were longer than the amount of vacation time I had available.
  
• Most importantly...make a budget and stick to it! I track expenses in a spreadsheet to make sure I don't overspend.
  

 

 

These are all great money-saving tips! More money in your pocket means more places to see and things to do. :)

 

I recently canceled my television service, because, as you pointed out, a lot of shows are available online now. And, as my girlfriend pointed out, a year of cable just about equals a cruise...

 

Thanks for sharing,

 

--Michelle

[julieanne]

It doesn't really matter whether you agree with it or not, I'm not making it up, we did it last year, so it's basically a fact. You mention $100 a day, we paid $5,000 for a 12 day cruise, that gives me $420 a day for my accommodation and breakfast and dinner. We rented a fantasic place in the south of france for 850 Euro for 7 days. I'm Canadian, the Euro is about the same now as it was then. We didn't share a bath and we had 800 sq ft balcony and a pool that we only shared with two other couples. The owners delivered baquettes and chocolate croissants to us every morning. In Tuscany we paid in US $, it was $1,200 for a two bedroom again, pool, our own bathroom, very large deck for a week. You don't always have to stay in 5 star hotels. If we'd have been able to see as much of Greece as we did on the ship, I'd have dumped the cruise in a heartbeat and done a land trip.

No, it doesn't really matter whether I agree with you or not. It all depends on WHAT people WANT out of their vacation. We did not pay $5000 for a 12 day vacation, we have been across the pond 4 times for less than $2000 per person. I had very simple places that I wanted to see and I think for a lot of us, as cruisers, we like to try a little bit of everything before going to some of the other areas where ships may not port. I have no desire to go back to France or to go to Tuscany. I think bargains can be found anywhere if you search for them. The cruise I did to Greece (many years ago) spent multiple nights in each country, they do not do that anymore so sadly, you may not get to see the most important historical sites. The important point I am trying to make here is that I did not accuse you of making it up. Chill......:D

[Cruise Junky]

No, it doesn't really matter whether I agree with you or not. It all depends on WHAT people WANT out of their vacation. We did not pay $5000 for a 12 day vacation, we have been across the pond 4 times for less than $2000 per person. I had very simple places that I wanted to see and I think for a lot of us, as cruisers, we like to try a little bit of everything before going to some of the other areas where ships may not port. I have no desire to go back to France or to go to Tuscany. I think bargains can be found anywhere if you search for them. The cruise I did to Greece (many years ago) spent multiple nights in each country, they do not do that anymore so sadly, you may not get to see the most important historical sites. The important point I am trying to make here is that I did not accuse you of making it up. Chill......:D

 

 

Your post leaves me confused as to what you didn't agree with me about in the first place. I said "I think a land tour of Europe can be more cost effective than a cruise with a lot of planning and of course it all depends on what you normally spend on a cruise" Isn't that what you just stated above? Now I'm off to "chill" ;)

[bqkali]

I don't think I agree with this. Now that the euro is dropping, it may be easier to travel across the pond, but hotels, food, etc are very pricey. We also looked for budget hotels and of course, you will not find a decent room for under $100 per day. If you'd like a shared bath, or a bad neighborhood, yes, you can find them. We usually take a repo cruise as this is our mode of transport "to/from". If you look for a deal or are not choosy when you travel, you can get a great deal. Especially now, too many ships, not enough passengers make it a cruisers market!

 

Sorry, I don't want to add to the debate of which is cheaper but I do want to give you a few money-saving tips for a land trip, whether it's two weeks in Europe or just a night or two pre-cruise.

 

For any major city, I would try to use Priceline to name your own price at hotels. I got great hotels in both Paris and London last fall for about $125/night, including all taxes and breakfast. In Paris it was a Sofitel and in London it was a Hilton, both more than adequate accomodations for a reasonable price, and both in great locations! Also, if you borrow a Rick Steve travel guide from the library, he offers a lot of budget options that have are great locations with "American" standards (private bath, clean, A/C). Many times Fodor's or Frommer's do not mention these places, but Rick Steve is geared toward a budget traveller.

 

Also, another easy way to save some money is to eat your big meal at midday and not at dinner. Many many restaurants in European cities offer a 3-course fixed menu at lunch for about 10-12 euro, including a drink. Then in the evening, you can get a sandwich or something for a reasonable price, or in Paris I think I lived off the crepes they made on the street for about 4 euro ;) I also just bought a baguette & some fruit a few nights, again for about 3-4 euro.

 

Another tip that works wonderfully if you have the time but not the money (such as in my case...) is to research ahead of time how to get to attractions using public transportation instead of pre-arranged tours. Europe has a large network of trains, subways, and buses that makes it possible to get to most places for 20 euro in transportation costs and admissions vs. $150 for a tour. If you have all the maps and directions figured out before your vacation, it can still be an easy, hassle-free way to get around.

 

Lastly, airfare does not have to be expensive. I flew to London for $500 round-trip including taxes and for my upcoming Spain trip, I got ROC-BCN + BCN-GRX + MAD-ROC for $675. You have to be patient and wait for sales, and yes, again it does take a lot of time to research all of your options.

 

Without getting into whether cruising or land vacations are cheaper (I could argue both sides of the spectrum!), I do believe that land vacations allow you to experience cities/regions and cultures in a way you can't do with only 10 hours in port and therefore are worth the time and effort it takes to research an affordable way to go...but maybe that's because I've never had the luxury of going without putting in all the work beforehand.

[julieanne]

Your post leaves me confused as to what you didn't agree with me about in the first place. I said "I think a land tour of Europe can be more cost effective than a cruise with a lot of planning and of course it all depends on what you normally spend on a cruise" Isn't that what you just stated above? Now I'm off to "chill" ;)

.

Because the greater portion of people on this thread are Americans the euro really fluctuated against the dollar over the summer, not so much the canadian dollar as you have stated. When you have to pay for all food, transportation, etc, that can be quite costly and many on here do not spend much at all onboard......I said I don't necessarily agree that a land based vacation is a better value nor do I want to have a confrontation with you as we're on a cruise board? 'Nuf said.

[Cruise Junky]

.

Because the greater portion of people on this thread are Americans the euro really fluctuated against the dollar over the summer, not so much the canadian dollar as you have stated. When you have to pay for all food, transportation, etc, that can be quite costly and many on here do not spend much at all onboard......I said I don't necessarily agree that a land based vacation is a better value nor do I want to have a confrontation with you as we're on a cruise board? 'Nuf said.

 

I don't think the .05 cents on the dollar would have made that much of a difference between the US $ and the Canadian $ against the Euro last year. As the poster pointed out above, doing your own thing on a land trip is far cheaper than trying to organize a shore excursion given a limited amount of time.

 

People need different things out of a vacation. Some people aren't comfortable travelling in a foreign country and like the "safety" that a ship provides, the familiarity, the same menus that are being served simultaneously in Alaska. Others tend to want to explore more, and stay in places longer to get to know somewhere. Neither is wrong. And remember, no said a land trip IS more cost effective than a cruise, we said it COULD be.

[momofmeg]

 

People need different things out of a vacation. Some people aren't comfortable travelling in a foreign country and like the "safety" that a ship provides, the familiarity, .

 

 

 

 

This is EXACTLY why we want to do a land tour next year. If we can't swing it, we may do another transatlantic that has several European ports before crossing-even though that will mean we will not see as much of the actual cities.

 

We did Brussels, Belguim on our own and we did San Jaun, Puerto Rico on our own. That language barrier does not make it that easy.

[camarodrivenrs]

My wife and I are both young travelers, in our early 20's. We dont go out and we dont waste money on movies, in style cloths, etc... So in the first year of marriage we pulled off one cruise and one week in DC and a week in NYC. Second year we've done two cruises so far and need to take it easy as we are planning a 21 night trans atlantic with some pre days in rome for Nov 2009. No car payments=low insurance, no kids, no comitments. Worrying about retirement is for when your in your 30's and 40's. Cruising makes more since for us because I am an amatuer bodybuilder which generally means I eat 8-10 meals a day, which add up real quick.

[Patmos Yannis]

War Eagle !!!

[Tmrlovesjr]

My husband works for the local school district (lots of good vacation time), I am at home. We live near a port. We save every penny we can, we don't go out to eat often maybe 1 time a month, don't buy new clothes unless they are needed and on clearance, don't waste food, power, gas in the car, no car payments, low car insurance, low taxes on the cars because they are older than God almost. But a couple of times a year, I sit on a lounge chair, and someone brings me a frosty drink, I don't make beds, do dishes, cook, drive, do laundry. It makes the sacrifices worth it the rest of the year.

[MrTenorio]

Well, I can agree that it totally depends on the traveler. I simply cannot do a land vacation anymore just because of the cost savings on a cruise. The cheapest hotel in any major travel city is at least $50 a night (for a run-down, dangerous tenement) plus the cost of food (even on the cheap is at least $20 a day) and this does not include the costs of land travel (busses, subways, taxis) and tourist fees like museum entrance fees, concert or theater tickets and icon tickets like taking the elevator to the top of the Eiffel tower. These extra expenses add up!

 

I simply cannot stay in a "budget" hotel because of safety, cleanliness and location, so my land-based vacation easily tops $150 a day. I can cruise for half that price. For $80 a day, I get round-trip transportation from my door to the port plus my cabin, all the food, entertainment and activity that I can handle. I do get the least expensive cabins because I spend less than 4 hours a day there (very little sleep - why spend money on it?), I don't spend money on drinks except for a $10 corkage fee for opening the bottle of my favorite dinner wine that I bring with me from home that lasts me the whole cruise! I usually win enough in the casino to pay for the bingo cards and often some of the cruise fare.

 

Having taken groups on international travel many times, nobody can tell me that a land-based vacation comes anywhere close to the inexpensive cost of cruising. It just doesn't happen. I do love to eat, and even trying to find a good restaurant that can serve lobster and steak with delicious desserts would be a challenge, but the cost would blow my daily cash limit through the roof. The lunch and dinner meals served onboard would easily top $30 - $50 in any land restaurant. Multiply this by two meals a day for five days and you can see how cruise beat land vacations every time.

[Cruise Junky]

Well, I can agree that it totally depends on the traveler. I simply cannot do a land vacation anymore just because of the cost savings on a cruise. The cheapest hotel in any major travel city is at least $50 a night (for a run-down, dangerous tenement) plus the cost of food (even on the cheap is at least $20 a day) and this does not include the costs of land travel (busses, subways, taxis) and tourist fees like museum entrance fees, concert or theater tickets and icon tickets like taking the elevator to the top of the Eiffel tower. These extra expenses add up!

 

I simply cannot stay in a "budget" hotel because of safety, cleanliness and location, so my land-based vacation easily tops $150 a day. I can cruise for half that price. For $80 a day, I get round-trip transportation from my door to the port plus my cabin, all the food, entertainment and activity that I can handle. I do get the least expensive cabins because I spend less than 4 hours a day there (very little sleep - why spend money on it?), I don't spend money on drinks except for a $10 corkage fee for opening the bottle of my favorite dinner wine that I bring with me from home that lasts me the whole cruise! I usually win enough in the casino to pay for the bingo cards and often some of the cruise fare.

 

Having taken groups on international travel many times, nobody can tell me that a land-based vacation comes anywhere close to the inexpensive cost of cruising. It just doesn't happen. I do love to eat, and even trying to find a good restaurant that can serve lobster and steak with delicious desserts would be a challenge, but the cost would blow my daily cash limit through the roof. The lunch and dinner meals served onboard would easily top $30 - $50 in any land restaurant. Multiply this by two meals a day for five days and you can see how cruise beat land vacations every time.

 

 

Just wanted to make a couple of comments as we seem to be turning more to land trips lately.... you mention the cost of museums, eiffel tower elevators... you'd pay that whether or not you were on a cruise... surely you'd do something in these beautiful cities that your visiting.

 

You bring up the cost of accommodations...you're lucky! You're fine booking the lowest price available. I won't do that, we would always have a balcony. My last two Europe cruises, both 12 days were around $2,500 pp just for the cruise fare... for the two of us that's $416 a day. I can do a lot in Europe for $416 a day. One of the draw backs of a cruise is sometimes the ship docks so far away from the Cities that you're spending an arm and a leg on shore excursions. It all adds up. Of course your food is extra on a land trip, but when you're on a shore excursion you'd probably be buying your lunch at least.

 

Check out my hotel in the Loire Valley... pretty nice for 130 Euro a night....

 

http://www.domainehautsloire.com/

Definitely not what I'd consider a dumpy hotel.

There's no right or wrong answer when it comes down to Cruising vs. Land Trips, it's all about what you want to get out of a vacation.

[casteenson]

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?

You are not alone. I look at some peoples lists in awe. I cannot work due to health problems and my partner works long hours as a cab driver ( and has just had to fork out £6000 for a new car ). But we could never afford to holiday as often as some people here. I am so jealous. We have only ever taken maybe one week long hol every year and then maybe a few days at a B & B in southern Ireland of Wales, finding the most reasonably priced place we can.

 

We have booked an inside cabin on Voyager rather than a balcony one for the simple reason it was cheaper allowing us more money to spend whilst on our cruise. Its not as if we plan on spending much time in it apart from sleeping.

 

Claire

[airlink diva]

My husband works for the local school district (lots of good vacation time), I am at home. We live near a port. We save every penny we can, we don't go out to eat often maybe 1 time a month, don't buy new clothes unless they are needed and on clearance, don't waste food, power, gas in the car, no car payments, low car insurance, low taxes on the cars because they are older than God almost. But a couple of times a year, I sit on a lounge chair, and someone brings me a frosty drink, I don't make beds, do dishes, cook, drive, do laundry. It makes the sacrifices worth it the rest of the year.

 

You are so much like me!

I'm a blue collar worker and my earnings are modest. I'm able to cruise at least once (and like this year) or twice a year. People at work always ask me how are you able to do so?

I very rarely eat out, or when I do, it by coupon or discounts. For example yesterday, I ate dinner at Costco for under $4 (two hot dogs and a soda with refills). My car is paid in full and have no need for a new one at the time. I can't recall the last time going to the mall to shop. I brown bag my lunches (this turned into extra income because people ask what I'm having and how good it smells!!). I go to a discount beauty shop for $10 that do just as well as the $50 I use to pay. I work extra anytime that it's offer!

By doing this, I pay off my cruises in full and use no credit on board. I get to enjoy being treated like a queen for my short cruises (5 days) and my longer ones (14 days).