Tuesday Travels – Cruisin’ Away Part III

 

You can read all about our Cruise Part I where I talk about the excursions we took and Part II where you can find out all about the things to do on board while at sea.

When it comes to vacations money seems to be a key factor that determines where you can go, what you can do and so on. I know quite a few people who believe that Mexico is the only affordable vacation, since you can get an all-inclusive hotel and a flight for under a $1000 a person for 7 days. However, I’m here to tell you that cruises are quite affordable as well, especially if you keep your eye’s peeled for a great deal.

This are some of the current deals on Royal Caribbean

On our last cruise we decided to splurge a little, since it was our first anniversary, however we could have done the whole thing for half of what we paid.

Here are a few tips…

Don’t be hesitate about inside cabins – while they are dark with no windows, these cabins are very, very affordable. You can find deals for as low as $350 a person for a 7 night cruise. My brother shared an inside cabin with my brother-in-law this past trip, and they barely spent any time there, other then to sleep. There are so many things to do on the ship, that you spend maybe 8 hours in the room, and all 8 hours are devoted to getting your beautify sleep. Aside from the lack of windows, these rooms were the same size our our balcony room and had the same exact shower, couch and dresser. hence you really aren’t loosing out on anything by getting an inside cabin, but saving a TON of money.

Our balcony room cost us about $1250 each, so a total of $2500, but the brothers’ room was $600 each, which was a grand total of $1200. Also, keep in mind that our cruise was during Thanksgiving, which is one of the most popular cruise times, add in the holiday and the prices double.

Here is the basic layout of an inside cabin. The bed’s can be pushed apart, and the couch usually opens up into a sleeper.

The more people in one room, the cheaper the cruise!!! – Cruises are an awful deal if you are going by yourself, unless you’re working on the ship. The cabins are almost always priced for double occupancy, hence if you are alone, you have to pick up the coast of that second person. Hence, if you are going with some girlfriends try to get 4 of you to share a cabin. The 4th person will be practically free, and the 3rd is at half cost (usually).

This was a picture from our last trip to Cancun with a couple that we met there. After we met them our trip was much more entertaining, and full of funny stories that we laugh about now.

So if you have a room that will cost $700 for the first two people, the third person will pay $350, and the fourth less then that. And BOOM, you have a trip with all meals included for 4 people at the cost of under $2000. Split this 4 ways and it is $500 a person.

Preorder your alcohol – it’s very true that drinks aren’t cheap, however they are also not ridiculous like some people think. On average a cocktail cost us anywhere from $4.00 to $7.00, which is a pretty rational price. However, if you want to drink wine at dinner, it is a better deal to order one of the wine packages which are anywhere from $50 to a $200. This way you can have a bottle to enjoy at a bit of a discount, rather then paying per glass or bottle while at dinner.

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Make sure to plan your excursions a head of time – when you book the excursions before you live on your cruise, you can insure that you have a spot as well as paying up front. The costs of excursions varies, but they range anywhere from $20 to $100 (on average). When you book these ahead, you pay them and can keep it within a budget, unlike when you are on the cruise and book a last minute excursion. The price may be the same as booking it ahead of time, but it really is an unexpected expense that added to your sea card.

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Finally, bring cash with you – bring a bit of cash is a great idea, because you don’t have to pay the “set” tip, and can simply put the appropriate amount of cash in the envelope and hand it to your waiter, your room Stuart and so on.

    

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Do you have any other tips for taking a cruise? Do you have questions? Please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Tuesday Travels – Cruisin’ Away Part II

 

Last Tuesday I told you all about the fantastic excursions we did while on our Anniversary Cruise in the Western Caribbean. You can read all about them here, and while you read that keep in mind that there were a ton of other excursions that you could choose, such as diving in a submarine, or going to the Sting Ray Cove in Cayman, or even visiting a Rum Cake Factory in Jamaica. Since we only had enough time in each port for two dive we chose to dive.

In Part 2 of our cruise adventure I’d like to tell you a little bit more about what you can expect on the ship. It really was very different from what we had in mind, and exceeded our expectations by leaps and bounds.

I never got a picture of our stateroom, but it looked something like this. We had a balcony room which I’d highly recommend if you have scuba gear with you that needs to be spread out to dry, otherwise an inside cabin (which are much cheaper) is fine since you end up spending very little time in the room.

Our room attended was also amazing and I wish I had brought along more cash to give him extra tips. Our room was always made and ready to go. I felt that if we stepped out of the room even for half an hour we’d come back to our clothes folded, the bed maid and anything extra removed from the room. Not to mention we kept coming back to these babies:

      

 

The only complaint I had about our room was that the shower was TINY, and if you tried to shave your legs you encountered a bit of a problem. But I can’t really complain since we were in the middle of an ocean and had the ability to have hot water to shower with.

The room service was also excellent and you could order food at almost any time of the day and night. Of course tips were always welcomed by the room staff, so again I wish our travel agent had told us to bring more in cash with us.

Speaking of room service and food… the food was AH-Mazing, way better then some of the expensive restaurants we had dined at. Every night we had a more formal dinner, with two nights of black-tie dinners. You also had your choice of several buffets you could go to for breakfast, lunch, dinner and anything in between.

At the first formal dinner, I wore my wedding dress

      

And this is what we had, lobster ravioli for me and pot roast for Donald. Both were fantastic, and we both wish we had some wine to go with it, but since we were diving the very next morning we strained ourselves from putting alcohol into our system.

 

The last formal dinner, with my parents.

At our last dinner with our server, Guro who was fantastic. We also got a Royal Caribbean cook book.  

 

The buffets had a tone of food, and always fun decorations with fruits and veggies to go along with it.

 

There was also a ton to do on the ship while out at sea. On our first full day at sea we explored the upper decks were you could find the pools, hot tubs, gym, spa, recreation room, several bars and lounges. There was also an ice skating rink, a theater, and a movie viewing room.

There was lots of drinking and some karaoke singing

 

     

There was also some laying out by the pool and enjoying the sunshine

Not only this, but the ship was HUGE!! And it was constantly being cleaned.

This is the Royal Promenade where you could shop, eat, hang out and so on.

Over all, this was one of the best vacations we’ve ever been on, and one that was very affordable, even with a balcony room. 

This picture pretty much sums it all up.

OH… and we got to witness one of the most beautiful sunrises in the world.