Cruises... love 'em or hate 'em?

**97guns** · 08-02-2015, 01:35 PM

i like them a lot, been on 4 cruises and am planning to go on one again later this year. i see last minute deals for as cheap as $50 a day and thats a deal for room and meals. i find cruises the most relaxing kind of vacation but you may see different if your the adventurous on the go type because theres really nowhere to go until you hit a port.

once your on board you really dont need to spend a dime unless you like to drink alcohol, for frugality cruises are pretty tough to beat

**BuckyBadger** · 08-02-2015, 03:11 PM

I love cruises. You can participate in the commercialization aspect as much or as little as you want. We treat them as relaxing vacations with good sites to see, good food, and no need to pack and unpack. We don't drink much and don't buy extra stuff, so it's a real value vacation for us and we love them!

**disneysteve** · 08-02-2015, 05:30 PM

I love them. We've been on 4 and have one booked for next December. It's a great way to travel and see different places in a frugal way. There is a lot of stuff that you can spend extra money on, but you don't have to if you don't want to. That's the beauty of cruising. Everything you need is included. The extras are up to you.

**FLA** · 08-03-2015, 04:23 AM

here is my approach to cruising:

I've probably done 5 or 6. When you can get the right price, they are frugal trips, especially if one is within driving distance, no airfare. I hated a 7day Caribbean one, expensive (I didn't know I could've saved more), RC, beautiful ship, good food, clean. Had to reserve your meal times, did not like being locked into that. But what I disliked most was going to an island and having to leave after 8 hrs, bopping over to another one the next day, etc. I felt like I got nothing out of the islands, too many too fast. RC did have a private island we went to for one day. gorgeous beach, chaise lounges with umbrellas, waiters walking around for drink orders, we ate lunch there, as well so it was totally free if you didn't drink. The jumping to islands, never resulted in a day like on their private island, my party ran around trying to see as much as possible and of course, the dreaded Island shopping. Everything supposed to be such a great deal. Only thing I ever bought was my favorite perfume so big, it was the size of probably 5 bottles, so cheap.

So my hands down favorite is Bermuda, the boat parks there for days, you can go back for meals during the day so you save even more money. Bermuda is stunningly beautiful. Rent a moped and skip ship's pricey excursions in a big group, tourist office has people outside selling excursions much more reasonably. I have a file of the best off the track beaches, if you go there let me know. We always did Norwegian, no flying needed. It used to be a small, not fancy ship but I loved it. Bigger, nicer ships now. I've gone 3 times.

Best thing about Bermuda and Norwegian? Incredible deals. I once got it for $450 for 7 nights, just before or just after hurricane season, very cheap if you do that, if you are worried, get trip insurance, I guess. Kids were B1G1 free and half price. So my small part of the family paid $675. Everyone says you need an exterior room with porthole, done both, don't care, wouldn't pay more to be on outside, unless it's not too much more to get a balcony. Norwegian lets you eat without making a reservation, LOVED this. Kids program is free and great, often staffed with teachers from other countries, age groups separated appropriately, I felt comfortable letting them go to that. They loved it so much, they never wanted to come "home". Our bill stayed low, I didn't barely drink because of kids present. oh, ship shopping, I have never been in one that had great deal, lots of crappy logo stuff. I went again with ex-DBF on bigger, nicer ship, $500 for 9 nights! Our toilet didn't work, so we got upgraded to a suite!

I like cruising because you drive, walk on ship, get your room. It forces me to relax while at sea, I'm not frantically planning what we should do because I know what I like on Bermuda. I'm a planner but really frugal, which is not relaxing and I always want to see everything when I travel, so I come up with researched plans. There is nothing to do at sea but relax or do any of the new fangled stuff now on ships. I would never, ever spend the kind of money they do on food, we'd be eating at cheapie places I tried to find with decent reviews if we weren't on a cruise. So I like that that decision making is already done, we can eat very well and I can enjoy it because I am not worried about the bill.

Cruising, to me, is the ultimate frugal travel, ($675 for a week with 2 kids, how can you beat that?) all the included perks, being in a gorgeous place that I could never afford to fly and stay in hotel there. And it's already paid for, so no money worries of splurging too much on things like on a regular vacation. It is perfect for a frugal person who can't turn off her frugality even in paradise (that would be me, lol).

I've gotten those deals through BJ's travel dept, I got a quote on cruise compete that Norwegian actually matched. Just make sure it's a safe website, if not sure, call the ship company and ask for a price match, can't hurt. Cruise critic is a good place to read reviews

**FLA** · 08-03-2015, 04:27 AM

one last thing- my mom wanted the three of us to swim with the dolphins, " a child will never forget that!" I said no, even if she paid for us because that 1/2 hr with the dolphins a kid will never forget cost $50 more than our cruise!

**ua_guy** · 08-03-2015, 07:09 AM

I'm not sold on cruises. The idea of being held captive on a boat with less than stellar private accomodations (unless you spend a fortune), where everything besides drinking water and breathing costs extra (ok, meals are generally included, but that's it) --really isn't appealing to me. Cruises are a very social event it seems, and when I go on vacation, I generally want to get away from confining spaces and people that I didn't personally choose to bring with me.

That said, there have been two mildly enticing cruises that my friends want me to partake in.

One is to cross the atlantic from the US to Europe (Queen Mary?). This is supposed to be a very old-style, legacy-type cruise, also rather expensive.

The other is to cruise Alaska-- prices are generally cheap(er) but there's so much I want to see up there that I'd be willing to set aside my angst about being stuck on a boat with people.

**disneysteve** · 08-03-2015, 07:41 AM

One thing to be aware of with cruises and shore excursions is you can save a ton of money by booking them yourself rather than through the cruise line. The ship takes a big cut when they book for you.

One of my favorite stories on this topic:

We had a cruise stop in San Juan. We wanted to tour the Bacardi factory. The ship excursion was $40/person. There were 6 of us, so $240. We passed on that.

When we got off the ship in San Juan, I asked a taxi driver at the pier how much to take us to the Bacardi factory. He said $20/person, so $120. A lot better but still more than I wanted to spend.

I went to the info desk at the dock and asked what was the cheapest way to get to Bacardi. She directed me to the next pier where we took a commuter ferry across the bay for $.50 each roundtrip. On the other side, away from all of the tourists, we got a taxi for $5/person.

So what the ship wanted $240 for, we were able to get on our own for $32.50.

**bjl584** · 08-03-2015, 08:34 AM

I get horribly motion sick. Cruises, amusement parks, and back seats of cars are all off limits for me.

**disneysteve** · 08-03-2015, 08:52 AM

Originally posted by ua_guy View Post

The idea of being held captive on a boat

One is to cross the atlantic from the US to Europe

It's interesting that you don't want to be confined to a ship but would consider a cruise where you are confined for 5 or 6 days straight.

At least on a typical cruise, you dock and get off the ship every 1-2 days.

For folks who aren't sure if they will like cruising, I think a great "starter" cruise is Bermuda. The ship usually takes 2 days to get there but then it docks for 3 days. During those 3 days, you are free to come and go on the island, doing whatever you'd like, touring, sightseeing, dining, shopping, lying on the beach. The ship basically serves as your hotel. You can eat onboard if you'd like or not. Then the ship sails home and takes a day for that. It's a good hybrid vacation.

**ronb** · 08-03-2015, 10:00 AM

I'm convinced. I'm gonna try a cruise. Because at the end of the day - they can be really cheap! Trying cheap things is always fun because even if they are a bust - at least there's no significant money wasted.

At $50/day that would be dang near what I pay to live at home. Haha.

One quick question though... what do you guys think about buying after a scare? Like after that costa concordia sank. Fewer crowds and lower prices? Or am I just being too cheap and should be a little fearful instead (before cruiselines get reexamined for safety, etc.)?

**disneysteve** · 08-03-2015, 10:10 AM

Originally posted by ronb View Post

At $50/day that would be dang near what I pay to live at home. Haha.

I've made that comment more than once.

what do you guys think about buying after a scare?

I think you book when you find a good deal on a cruise that interests you at a time that works for you.

**Petunia 100** · 08-03-2015, 12:30 PM

The website vacationstogo.com sells discounted tickets from all cruise lines. In my experience, the closer it is to the date of departure, the lower the fare goes.

Discount Cruises, Last Minute Cruises, Cruise, Cruise Line, Cruise Vacation

http://vacationstogo.com/

I love cruising. I don't know about other cruise lines, but on Princess there is plenty to do at no extra cost. After you sail with them once, you receive all sorts of email and snail mail ads offering discounted fares.

**disneysteve** · 08-03-2015, 12:47 PM

Originally posted by Petunia 100 View Post

I don't know about other cruise lines, but on Princess there is plenty to do at no extra cost.

We've sailed on Carnival and Norwegian and were never bored. We're sailing on Royal Caribbean next year.

We did do some things that cost extra, like playing Bingo, going to the casino, buying drinks, etc., but we could have had just as much fun not doing those things.

Of course, on one cruise, we played Bingo and won a free cruise for two which we took the following spring.

Regarding drinks, watch for drink specials that can actually be pretty reasonable. On our last cruise, for example, they had 2-for-1 martinis every night from 8-10pm at one little bar on an upper deck kind of out of the way. So you got 2 martinis for $10 which is actually a very good price.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 08-03-2015, 03:03 PM

Dying to try alaska and greece. Only way to see both places.

Cruises... love 'em or hate 'em?