I have to admit, four years ago when I went on my first cruise, I was brought to the ship kicking and screaming. I was never on a cruise and the only thing I ever heard about cruising is that the food is plentiful. That by itself is not a bad thing but flying a family of four to Miami and the cost of the cruise plus excursions was going to set us back a bit. My good friend who joined us and talked us into going, poor girl, thought she was going to have a break down worrying about us having a good time.
Wow! Talk about money well spent. My family and I fell in love with cruising that week. We were on Royal Caribbean's Navigatior of the Seas and boy, did we have a great time. We didn't know what we were doing but had fun figuring it all out.
I tell my friends that we all loved this vacation and we each had different reasons. One of my daughters and I loved the water stuff. Snorkleing, playing with stingrays and even sitting by the pool with the "drink of the day". My wife and other daughter loved the tours of the cities and of course everyone loved the shopping, much to my wallet's dismay.
The ship itself was a blast. Ship, heck, it was a floating city. One of the things I learned for future cruises is that you don't have to get off the ship when it docks at a port. Duh! Casino gambling, ice skating, shows and lots of interesting people. I loved it.
The title of this article sums it up for me. If we could afford it, we would be doing the cruise of the month club or at least cruise of the year. So, for now, our vaction fund jar has become our cruise fund jar and we are ready, willing and hopefully soon, financially able to go again. Oh, and by the way, the food was not only plentiful but wonderful too.
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Comments: 12
Linda, we just started talking about Alaska. Not sure yet.
I am not independantly wealthy, but have learned over the years via conversations with other cruisers, there are indeed ways to save on your cruise costs.
RCCL which also owns Celebrity and the new Azamara Cruise lines has one of the best, and I do mean BEST customer Loyalty Programs on the high seas. You already qualify as a member of the RCL Crown & Anchor Society having completed your first cruise. If you log onto RCL's website you can see the benefits offered for different levels of membership. You attain higher levels with more cruises. Immediately, you can avail yourself to member discount coupons on many cruises offered. In addtion to that, there are coupon books delivered to your stateroom with additional discounts on pictures, gift shop purchases, casino coupons, spa coupons, etc.
There are many other ways to also save significant dollars with RCL. One of the best benefits we have found is that they have a 'shareholder benefit'. If you own 100 shares of RCL stock, you are entitled to 'on board credits' (great way to reduce your costs of excursions). These credits vary based on length of cruise up to $250.00.
In addition to that, there is the RCL credit card where you can earn points for on board credits or even a free cruise. Then too there are the 'on board' booking discounts, again here up to 200.00 if yuo book your next cruise while on line. If you utilize all that is 'out there' as part of getting out there, you can significantly reduce costs. In addition, although the cruise line requires a deposit, if you book early, you normally get the best pricing, as prices continue to go up as the cruise date starts to approach. Also, have confidence in the fact that should for some reason the prices come down, if you booked directly with RCL, you can call them and get a price adjustment without any hassle.
Hopefully some of these thoughts will help to get you on board again sooner!
Blessings,
Mary Mc