Cruises are a surprisingly cost effective way to see the world, that’s if you’re disciplined and keep to your budget. There are the obvious, easy ways to avoid spending and saving for more memorable moments. The casinos aboard are an obvious way to lose a lot of money. Buying souvenirs in the duty free shops is another way of paying more than you want for a cruise vacation.
There are, however, subtler ways to needlessly part with your money. Things that don’t really add anything to your cruise, but do lighten your wallet.
Don’t Book too Many Excursions
We know you’re not on the islands every day, you want to make the most of your time there. You can’t see every single last thing in Bermuda, or the Bahamas in a single day. Pace yourself, review what each stop offers and decide what you most want to see in advance. Plan alternate activities in case the one you wanted isn’t available.
Not only will this save you money, it will also give you plenty of time to really enjoy yourself ashore. It beats running around in a frenzy trying to get your money’s worth from different tour operators. If you need to go to your backup, you’ll save time and energy by having planned things out in advance.
Carefully planning out your activities ashore will help you avoid being that person dashing down the pier as the ship pulls away. You hardly want that as your most remembered cruise moment. After all we live in the age of YouTube and your mad dash after the boat is bound to be a highlight of someone else’s vacation.
Telephony
Communication have come a long way over the last two decades. You can stream video and live chat with someone across the ocean for pretty much free these days. The exception is at sea. The dreaded roaming charges of decades past still haunt the air at sea, and they are truly terrifying.
If you really have to keep in touch while at sea buy an internet package, budget your data, and stick to your budget. Save calls and internet for when you are in port. Many bars and restaurants in port cater to cruisers, and provide Wi-Fi for your use. Using it to make telephone calls is a simple matter of having the right app installed. The price to use it will be far more reasonable than what you can get aboard the ship.
Super Savings Tip: McDonald’s provides free wifi, maximize your savings on data usage!
Dining
When you’re on vacation its tempting to live the high life. That goes double for when your vacation is on a ship. With their variety of fine restaurants aboard, modern cruise ships are a gourmand’s delight, and their accountants nightmare. Instead, stick with the buffet. Its free, its all you can eat, and there are healthy options like fruits and salads available.
The Card
Your room key isn’t just a room key. It’s how you pay for everything on the ship. Unfathomably, when debit and credit cards are everyday items everyone is familiar with people will still treat the Sign and Sail card like a magical device that gets them things for free. In fact, the card is tied to your account, and you’ll have to settle up before you disembark. Effectively your room key is the same as your debit or credit card. You should treat it as such.
Plan in Advance
Cruises are adventures. Once cruisers are set free up the open ocean there is a tendency for them to think they should be go wherever the wind would take them. In fact the adventurers of old planned ahead, whether they were climbing Everest or exploring the headwaters of the Amazon. You should too.
Start saving before you cruise. Book a hotel near Port Canaveral with a package designed for cruisers. The fly snooze cruise includes a roundtrip airport shuttle, hotel stay, and cruise transfers. Or for you ground travelers, book a snooze park and cruise package for cruise parking and a hotel night for the amount you’d pay on just parking!
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