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Don't be taken in by expensive 'extras'! Plan your cruise carefully with these money-saving tips instead.
Cashless cruising – whereby you sign for everything on board with a cruise card and settle up at the end of the voyage – is a marvellous system in that you don’t need to carry cash around on board. This is, of course, its downfall as well, as you merrily order cocktails, book shore excursions and treat yourself in the spa. The day of reckoning at the end can be a sobering moment!
Plan wisely, though, and you’ll have more to spend on the things that really matter:
- Inside or out? Some people like to party hard, spend all day on deck and only use their cabin for sleeping. If this is you, then why not save money and book a basic inside cabin? Inside cabins are also great on summer midnight sun cruises – unless the ship has blackout curtains, you won’t get much sleep in Norway in June!
- Get the best from your balcony. If you’re tempted to spend money on a veranda, think about what use you will get out of it. On a transatlantic voyage, maybe not much. Ditto on a port-intensive cruise, where you only sail at night. On a more leisurely voyage around the Mediterranean in summer, possibly quite a lot.
- Excursion economy! Shore excursions can be booked ahead online if you’re sailing with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, NCL, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line or Carnival Cruises. Booking ahead means you know how much you’re spending and you’re guaranteed a place on the tour – they do often sell out. Don’t, however, go crazy. A tour a day is not only costly but will leave you worn out. Save money and take a day off every now and then to hit the beach, explore independently, find somewhere good for lunch or just relax on board.
- Spa savings: A wonderful indulgence - but not a cheap one! Don’t waste hard-earned money on mundane things like waxing and nails. Have both done before you leave and spend spa money on exotic facials and massages instead. Keep an eye out for special offers on board – sometimes early morning or evening treatments are cheaper. Think very hard before spending money on fad detox programmes that you have to continue at home, using expensive products.
- Exercise extras: The trend nowadays is to charge $10 (£5.50) a class for popular things like yoga, pilates and spinning. But there are always free classes as well, so you could stick to these. The bigger and newer the ship, the better the gym, is a general rule of thumb.
- Kids go free on cruises! If children share a cabin with two paying adults, there are usually big discounts. Children’s clubs, too, are free. Royal Caribbean, P&O (on some ships), Carnival, Princess and NCL all have excellent clubs, and several of these also offer free group babysitting in the evenings until around 10pm, so you can save on babysitter charges if you don’t mind your children staying up or sleeping in the night nursery. After 10pm, budget about $5 (£2.75) per child per hour for a babysitter.
- Fine dining: There’s no need to budget anything extra for food, which is included in the cruise price, although there are plenty of ways to spend it. Most cruise lines now have an ‘alternative’ restaurant with a cover charge, which ranges from a few dollars to a whopping $35. Use these alternative restaurants as a treat, rather than somewhere to eat every night, if you’re on a budget.
- Other extras to watch out for include ice cream on deck, cappuccinos and other speciality coffees (ordinary tea and coffee are free) and soda packages – for a set amount paid upfront, you can have unlimited fizzy drinks throughout your cruise. Do you really need this?
- Staying in touch on a cruise: Don’t use the expensive satellite phone in your cabin – get your cellphone enabled for roaming instead for calling home. On-board, email prices vary enormously. Some ships charge per kilobyte, rather than by time online, so long emails cost a fortune. There are cheap cyber cafes in nearly every port if the bills are mounting up.
- Unwelcome extras: Pet hates of regular cruisers include: A fee for a shuttle bus into town when you’re docked miles outside; charges for bottled water when the cabin water tastes foul; long cruises with steep laundry charges and no self-service launderette on board; pay-per-view movies in the cabin; and ships where you have to pay for peanuts and crisps in the bar!
The copyright of the article Saving Money on a Cruise in Cruise/Island Vacations is owned by Sue Bryant. Permission to republish Saving Money on a Cruise in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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