How to Save Money Onboard Your Cruise (CruiseCompete CruiseBite #7)

Sophisticated cruisers know that you have to shop around to get the best cruise deal. But saving money when you book your cruise is only part of the equation. It also pays to be smart with your money during your cruise vacation as well. We’ll be talking about how to save money onboard your cruise in this CruiseCompete Cruise Bite.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hi, Bob Levinstein here with the cruise compete cruise bite. Sophisticated cruisers know that you have to shop around to get the best cruise deal, but saving money when you book your cruise is only part of the equation. It also pays to be smart with your money during your cruise vacation as well. We'll be talking about how to save money on board your cruise in this cruise compete cruise bite right after this cruise. compete.com is a simple concept. We give you the tools to find the perfect cruise and request quotes. Independent travel agents can then see your requests and they respond with the best custom cruise offers they can all competing to offer you the best deal. You compare these offers in one convenient place along with consumer ratings and reviews of the agencies as only the best agents survive in this competitive environment. You'll have some great options to choose from you then remain anonymous unless or until you decide to contact an agent by phone or by email to ask questions or to book. Find out why more than a million cruisers are members of our free unique service and start saving both time and a significant amount of money on your cruise vacation via cruise compete today. One of the great things about cruising is that your cruise fare includes your cabin meals and a tremendous variety of activities and entertainment all for one price. However, that doesn't mean that everything on the ship is free. Here are some tips on saving money and avoiding unpleasant surprises when you close out your ship port account. The biggest revenue generators for cruise lines on boar are alcoholic and premium drinks, which are usually specialty coffee drinks and sodas, shore excursions and casino gambling. Add in spa treatments and shopping on board and in port, and these make up the lion's share of a typical cruise vacation or spend before you sale. Set budgets for everything and keep track of your spending once on board. The goal is to find a balance between being in vacation mode and just indulging in everything you want and pinching pennies to avoid overspending on gambling. The easiest thing to do is just win, but if you can't count on that set limits on both the time and the money you plan to spend in the casino onboard. Spa treatments tend to be pretty expensive, so do check prices online before you sale and have a realistic expectation of what you want to spend. You can sometimes find special deals on spot treatments at less popular times, especially when the ship is in port. Alcohol is one of the biggest onboard revenue sources for cruise lines, which is why they don't let you bring your own liquor on board. Yes, a bottle in your luggage that doesn't look like a liquor bottle is likely to make it to your cabin, but I don't recommend doing this. The carnival owned lines, including carnival princess and Holland America allow you to bring wine and champagne on board to enjoy in your cabin. Personally, I recommend wine in a box. Yes, some box wine is, well, let's face it, some box wine is vile, but there are certain higher end brands that have a quality product. A box allows you to get the equivalent of several bottles in a corner of your suitcase without the added weight or breakage risk of glass. And since the dispenser doesn't let air into the wine, it keeps the wine fresh longer. Once opened

Speaker 2: 3:54

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Speaker 1: 3:54

most cruise lines offer beverage packets that can potentially save you money on drinks. Soda packages for kids often pay off, but as far as alcohol goes, really think through how much you plan to drink, especially on a port intensive sailing your break even maybe seven or eight drinks in a day, not that much for a day by the pool, followed by a night out, but maybe a bit much seven days in a row, especially when you're spending a good chunk of the time in port. Speaking of port, you can save a lot on shore excursions by booking through a third party consolidator rather than through the cruise line. Cruise compete offers excursions through a partner that can not only save you significant money, but will also avoid the crowded cattle calls that you often get when you book through the cruise line with everyone else. Our partner also guarantees she'll be returned to the ship on time or they will pay to get you to the next port call. Finally a word on souvenirs before you buy anything, picture where you would display it in your house or how many times you'd really wear it. What we've all felt the euphoria of a great day and an exotic place and what it's something tangible to remember it by. Keep in mind it's not a bargain if you don't want it when you get home. I'm Bob Levinstein and this has been a cruise compete cruise spice.