To any penny pinchers...

[tessky]

LOL...I am definitely not one of those ppl. I will probably never get above 3000 room and never spend thousands of $ on excursions! The only way I am going on a cruise next summer is that I am using my gov't assistance for school (we call it OSAP) that I have tiresly saved.

 

Wow - as a tax payer, a person who didn't qualify for OSAP and a person who hires many of her fellow students (I'm assuming from UWO) and watch them struggle I have alot to say but in the spirit of the holidays I'll keep it to myself!

Maybe if you had left that part out you would have got the advice you were looking for.

[tessky]

LOL...I am definitely not one of those ppl. I will probably never get above 3000 room and never spend thousands of $ on excursions! The only way I am going on a cruise next summer is that I am using my gov't assistance for school (we call it OSAP) that I have tiresly saved.

 

Wow - as a tax payer, a person who didn't qualify for OSAP and a person who hires many of her fellow students (I'm assuming from UWO) and watch them struggle I have alot to say but in the spirit of the holidays I'll keep it to myself!

Maybe if you had left that part out you would have got the advice you were looking for.

[lahore]

I am an Aussie and we also travel a great deal, to the horror of my partner's children (there goes the inheritence!). I trawl the web for specials (got a week Singapore to HK on Norwegian Wind for USD $86 each on Skyauction, that was my all time best deal). We NEVER go on a cruise tour; for one thing it's not our style but also I adore doing the research prior to the cruise - I think half the fun is the expectation and planning. The amount some people spend on cruise tours would more than fund our next entire cruise; and I guarantee that we often see more into the bargain. Basically we cruise because flying is such a pain in the butt these days, but then we act like backpackers. I sometimes eat in the cabin because I can't be bothered dressing up (or dressing full stop). We go to bed early on the evenings prior to port days as we want to make the most of our time in port. We do our research on backpacker websites like Lonely Planet Thorn Tree and we often book local drivers over the internet based on recommendations from backpacker types. We always have an inside cabin - I simply don't see the point in paying for a view that you can get for free on every deck of the ship (and you can see if you turn on the in-cabin TV anyway). A balcony would be nice I must admit; but given the choice between a balcony and another cruise in the next year...I know what I chose! You could call me tight, or you could just call me well-researched: either way I am proud of it :D

[EinDog]

We went shopping for some formal clothes for our upcoming cruise. Our local Goodwill store has thousands of suit jackets and dresses. Plus we had a blast trying to find a jacket that fit. (Found three funeral bulletins plus one 'outstanding lawyer of the year' speech.) It was more fun than people should be allowed to have shopping!

 

Bought a suit jacket, two or three dresses, a jacket, and a sweater for $21.

 

When we went on a cruise two years ago we bought suit jackets for our two boys, same kind of deal.

 

We donate items to Goodwill, and shop for clothes there evry now and then.

[moonlit]

Are you seeing the inside room "window" tips. Seriously, every cruise ship has a webcam on one of it's TV stations.....leave it on all night. It is dark outside so there won't be much light coming from your TV, but when you wake in the morning, you will be able to see what the weather is like outside. (More important in Alaska than the Caribbean.) Horn, you won't feel as claustaphobic when you can see outside.

There is no such thing as a bad cruise because of a stateroom!

Have a wonderful cruise and many, many more!

[Horn]

Are you seeing the inside room "window" tips. Seriously, every cruise ship has a webcam on one of it's TV stations.....leave it on all night. It is dark outside so there won't be much light coming from your TV, but when you wake in the morning, you will be able to see what the weather is like outside. (More important in Alaska than the Caribbean.) Horn, you won't feel as claustaphobic when you can see outside.

There is no such thing as a bad cruise because of a stateroom!

Have a wonderful cruise and many, many more!

 

What a fantastic idea!! I have written it down in my cruise notebook so I won't forget! Now I just have to remember to pack this notebook! :p

[pugparents]

We have the NCL card too, and it is WONDERFUL. We went on an 11 day Norwegian Wind Hawaii cruise and paid only $196 for an outside cabin w/o balcony. We paid $100 for our balcony aboard the Norwegian Sun for a 7 day caribbean, and this May we are going on a 5-day pacific coastal on NCL and are being paid $49 for our balcony because our coupons exceed the cost of the fare, port charges, taxes and insurance. No other card has the rate of return that this one does, and we earn about 1500 points each year, which is equivalent to $1500 dollars credit towards a cruise. My parents have two different cards because they kept reaching the 3000 point annual maximum. My mother-in-law is wants to get this card if she can talk my father-in-law into it (he is stubborn and thinks that airfare miles are more valuable, although we have gone on more discounted cruises than they have discounted airplane trips during the same period).

 

We don't carry balances, so we charge everything to our card so we can get the cruise points. It's nice to know that when you spend $100 you get $3 towards a cruise:) Also, it doesn't hurt so much when we have unexpected expenses (like medical bills) because we at least can get the cruise points.

 

So, if you like NCL then this is a great way to cruise for a lot less. However, we do worry that NCL will cancel or reduce the benefit:eek:

 

--Michael

[cruisin_fanatic]

Yes, there are many of us out there who can travel quite a few times per year (not only on cruises) because we budget our money and don't throw it away.

 

I think you are being quite nasty and judgmental to assume that the poster or someone is just throwing their money away. Unless you know what their situation is, you may want to keep those comments inside. Now had someone stated that they waste their extra money on booze or cigarette's then in ones opinion you could make that statement, but I highly doubt that people just throw money away. The first poster stated she was a student, so with that being said...students cant just get money and go cruising many times a year.

[cruisin_fanatic]

I would venture that the OP is from Ontario Canada (OSAP = Ontario Student Assistance Program) and she states that she is using her gov't assistance for schooling - not to be too harsh but that is why it is called what it is called. I am not aware of a parallel program called OCAP (Ontario Cruising Assistance Program)

 

You would not have qualified for it if you had not shown a need for it to pay for your schooling. The question you need to ask now that you see that you will not need all of it in addition to your other sources of income is if a cruise is the best use of your extra cash or should you concentrate on paying back your OSAP loans as quickly as possible.

 

I think that the majority of us cruise as much as we do because we are not in school, we have jobs/careers or are retired and have spent our life balancing the pros and cons of debt and otehr expeditures with the pleasures that cruising and other past times can provide to us.

 

Good luck as you try to figure out the best balance between these and other life decisions in the future.

 

 

 

Just a thought! Perhaps the repeat cruisers of this board could set up some type of "cruising fund" for kingsgirl and contribute monthly so that she can take a cruise without abusing the govt assistance....:confused:

[lahore]

Hey, I think you guys are also being a bit tough on the OP. I am a university lecturer here in Australia so I don't have a stake in the OP spending her US taxpayer dollars on a cruise. But I see what our students spend our government funds on every day (see, ah, booze, dope, cigs, junk food, more booze...) and I reckon if the O.P. wants to forego those 'pleasures', stick to a budget and go on a cruise instead; more power to her. I think she is actually off to a great start in life.

[MLM23]

I feel that cruising is a treat to ourselves. Most people, like myself, save up for a vacation. If it takes 2 years or 3 months, I still save and enjoy putting money away in special savings account. Most of the time when I travel I stay somewhere cheap and then go all out and see everything I can. This is the same with cruising. I get a cheap cabin, but go all out on excersions, food, drinks.

[Adeena62]

My husband and I booked a balcony cabin but that is only because I have never cruised before, and I don't expect to take another vacation for at least a few years. We are young, and don't have a huge income. We are going to start a family soon, so we know we will have to make a lot of sacrifices after that, lol. We will NOT be one of those couple who will be cruising each year, although I would LOVE it if we could;)

 

The balconey was the big splurge. We are only doing two excursions, neither through the cruiseline, which saves money. The other two ports are just going to be sight seeing and lazy beach days.

 

I don't drink, which saves a lot on booze, DH only drinks occasionally.

 

I bought my luggage from Wal-Mart, because as I have said, we don't plan on doing much more traveling in the near future, so as long as it just holds up for this trip, I'll be happy. 7-pieces for $69.99.

 

we have cut a few corners to make this cruise possible.... :)

[Adeena62]

Yes, there are many of us out there who can travel quite a few times per year (not only on cruises) because we budget our money and don't throw it away.

 

Oh please! There are plenty of people who cannot afford to go on many vacations PER YEAR because they simply cannot afford to do so. Who said anything about being irresponsible with their money? My husband and I are both in our early twenties. We both have student loans, car payments, a mortgage to worry about. We apologize for not pulling in the 'big bucks' that others may. Our income is modest. After being responsible and paying our bills, we are simply not afforded the luxury of spending thousands of dollars on SEVERAL vacations a year.

 

The OP was asking a simple question. No need to be condescending.

[Adeena62]

I don't believe that anyone was intending to lecture....However, in addition to asking for other penny pinchers, the OP mentioned hearing people talk of nice cabins, float-tours.....and it sounded as though she were envious. The point being....that most of us did not take cruise vacations in our 20's....we pinched our pennies to pay for baby sitters when we wanted to go to a movie....or we didn't go.

 

Just a sign of the times....[/quot

 

I do think all of this talk about being older and affording more are good points. I think that when people see others who have many cruises listed under their names, they forget to take into account that many frequent cruisers are retired, or older couples with grown children, etc.

[Liz54]

I would venture that the OP is from Ontario Canada (OSAP = Ontario Student Assistance Program) and she states that she is using her gov't assistance for schooling - not to be too harsh but that is why it is called what it is called. I am not aware of a parallel program called OCAP (Ontario Cruising Assistance Program)

 

You would not have qualified for it if you had not shown a need for it to pay for your schooling. The question you need to ask now that you see that you will not need all of it in addition to your other sources of income is if a cruise is the best use of your extra cash or should you concentrate on paying back your OSAP loans as quickly as possible.

 

I think that the majority of us cruise as much as we do because we are not in school, we have jobs/careers or are retired and have spent our life balancing the pros and cons of debt and otehr expeditures with the pleasures that cruising and other past times can provide to us.

 

Good luck as you try to figure out the best balance between these and other life decisions in the future.

 

 

I think the poster using OSAP, probably just decided to forgo beer and partying. I know from the many students I know that OSAP provides a very modest amount of money for the student to manage with and that these a loans and the majority pay them back in a timely fashion. If this student has saved from OSAP I'm betting she is just a great money manager!

[misty57]

As previous replies have stated, most of us did not cruise frequently in our 20's. For the first few cruises we also had inside cabins. We especially had to have inside cabins when we took our 4 children with us as we had to have 2 cabins. Since those days, we do book balconies, but we now use our RCI visa points to upgrade from an oceanview to a balcony. I don't forsee ever upgrading at this point as we are happy with the balcony cabins. We went many years without taking vacations, and when we did it was usually to a theme park and only lasted a few days with coupons for the hotel stay, packing lunches and breakfast foods etc. Many people have to pinch pennies to afford some of the things they want. It is a matter of choice and also of financial capabilites. We feel blessed that we have been able to cruise every 1-2 years. Some people wait until they are retired to go on their dream vacations, but we feel that we want to spend the time and dollars now while we are younger and still healthy. If the time comes that we can't afford or are unable to cruise for other reasons, we will still have had some wonderful times together. I work at paying for our cruises with overtime and by saving a portion from every paycheck. Our airfare comes from credit card points from my husband's business. If we couldn't pay for the trip ahead of time, we just wouldn't go, but that's just our preference. Have fun on your cruise no matter what kind a cabin you book.:)

[bandnmarquis]

Well...I wasn't really looking for someone who wants to tell me about their Penthouse, but thanks anyways.

 

Look - you'll eventually get to the point where you can afford the nicer cabins - no need at all to be rude to people who take the time to answer something you have posted.

[Rick-cruiser]

This is a great thread. I sign up for all the web travel agents e-mail specials and I have the saying "You can't afford not to." I recently received a princess 7 night for $349. I received an e-mail from a fellow cruiser that I really didn't know but had gone on a tour with set up by another cc member. He told me that his TA and booked a section of rooms for a 14 night Celebrity ancient Empires cruise. I booked an inside room for an outstanding price of $723. "Couldn't afford not to." My airfare will be high because it leaves out of Rome but I figure I can pick up some overtime shifts as a nurse and all extra money will go to travel. The same man is setting up tours at all the ports. There is an all day tour to the pyramids and sphinx for only $40. I have a full year to save and put away extra money. There should be a place for CC members to pass on these great deals. I wouldn't have know had he not had my e-mail address from past tour. Janice

 

 

Hi Janice (zetnic). I'd love to find out more about that Ancient Empires cruise you are going on. Can you please tell me the TA that booked the section of rooms so that I can contact them and see if there are any cabins left? When is the sailing? That cc-cruiser who sets up tours at all the ports sounds like a great guy! It's always great to save money whenever possible.

 

Can you please email me with whatever information you have about the cruise? Thanks!! ... :)

[cruzin w chris]

Kings girl what are you doing using OSAP for a vacation!! Thats OK if you have been working hard at school treat your self to a break. What school do you attend!

 

We are from Waterloo and we have take or boys on several cruise. They, one of them has also taken one with some college friends.

 

I don't suggest you do what some are talking about and skip out on tipping, a lot are in the same position as you students and if they work for the money PAY THEM!!!

 

A couple of things to save money.

 

Drive down to Florida to get you cruise. You can easily drive from Toronto to Miami 24 hour straight! With a couple of friends on problem. That way you can include a nite or two before or after.

 

Pay your sea pass with cash, don't let them down load on to a credit card as it can run up pretty quick.

 

Before you go have an idea of what islands you are stopping at and decide what you want to sea. A cheap beach day at a lot of ports is easy. However treat yourself to one nice day. IE in St Thomas we rented a car for $60 and went to the beach for $5 and went to the mountain top for free. In total the day cost us less than $100 or $25 each.

 

If you are planning on a lot of beaching, pick up your own umbrella at a WalMart to take with you. Then just leave it on board ship. When going to the beach stop by a store to pick up a few drink before leaving coke beer what every.

 

Most of all have fun and don't feel the need to spend lots it can add up quick.

we drive down to miami for our cruises from buffalo, ny and we save a very nice chunk of change. we have an indian reservation right by our house so filling up the gas tank to start our trip is quite cheap and the wife packs plenty of snacks and drinks for the kids so we really only stop for fueling and a descent dinner. and by driving we are in no hurry either way.

[phill369]

I must say that is a very intense thread.

 

I guess I feel some desire to chime in here, being from that sinful 21-year-old college student group. My parents decided to introduce me and my sister to cruising in 2005 after going on a handful alone. Now I'm absolutely addicted. I better admit that my parents have blessed with me with great financial assistance due to a great self-owned business they put their heart, blood, sweat and soul into right about the time I was born. I do not have any loans for my school. But I better also add that I have worked my entire life, starting at their business at about the age of 12. I now work 15 hours a week at a great job on campus, while taking at least 15 credits a semester, being president of a student group, and taking on freelance projects as often as I can handle for extra bucks.

 

Getting closer to my point, I booked a cruise on my own for my senior year spring break in a couple weeks, and I'm going with my boyfriend. While his parents are paying for half as a birthday present (he turns 22 on the cruise), I have put everything on my credit card and am making sure to keep it separate from any money I receive from my parents. I am making sure to pay at least double the minimum monthly payment, and am pinching as much as possible in day-to-day stuff. I have a planner laying out how much I have to work and pay towards the card throughout the summer, when I will only be taking one course. I will make sure I have no debt going into my last semester in August.

 

And now to the real point, the defense. While I understand the peoples points from the decades ahead of us, please don't judge us too harshly. I have been very fortunate to not deal with as much struggle as others, but I'm aware of that. While my parents have given a lot of financial love, their emotional love is lacking. I am constantly pushed to work hard, do as much as possible, and nothing is ever quite good enough, so cruising is one of the few places where I am not stressed or over anxious. The two main things on my credit card right now are the cruise fees and my counseling fees. I also know that my career field is a harsh one, I'll be lucky to start out at $25k, and a vacation won't be possible for a long time once I enter into a company.

 

Alright, I'll shut up there. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, I just want people to try to understand from our perspective.

 

Thanks!

[boowaaccaa]

[quote name='kingsgirl']I'm Canadian, you're probably American, no worries.

I'm here on bursary's and money that I have to pay back with insane interest. It's not like I'm getting this for free. In 3 years I'll be up to my ears in debt that I can't bankrupt away.[/quote]

I just had to say something...sorry not to pick on you BUT that OSAP money IS interest free while you are in school. Yes, later you have to pay interest (but it is not backdated)--I know all about it as I owed $25000 after I was done school on OSAP. The interest while you are in school is subsidized by the tax payers. This is why they don't give loans to everybody---it costs a lot of money to give out OSAP! NOW, the insane interest part--well that part is up to you too. The actual rate is not bad: prime plus 1 and prime plus 2---this is a good rate! BUT, if you do not pay it back fast you will pay a ton of interest---and the way OSAP is set up (very minimal monthy payments) yes you will pay a ton of interest--BUT this is decreased if you double or triple up your payments.

NOW..back to the orginal topic---yes I am one of the most frugal people out there to an extent....now I do splurge, but I work an average of 50 hours a week--some weeks (usu summer or around x-mas) I work up to 90! So..I feel that I can afford to travel more--travel is one thing I will spend money on (however I usually do several cheap A.I. trips instead of one super expensive one) becuase it forces us to not work (hubby and I are workaholics and our work can't find you to do overtime when you are on vacation!)
SO....that ramble...what I am getting at is that you are young, you are still in school BUT one day you will be able to travel lots and get that suite--if that is what you want, BUT it just takes time. Remember most people on these boards are older and are not in school--this is why they can afford to travel!

[Donna - dsw]

Do you take booze onboard and how to you get it on the ship?

 

Thanks!