How to Cruise Without Spending A Lot

Brian and I went on a cruise in April to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. By this point, you all know that we were married in July, so how could this be our anniversary cruise? As you will see, many of the choices we made were financially based so we could have the time of our lives but not break the bank.

Acquire Help

Do you know of an great travel agent? Someone who can you help you navigate the scary ropes of booking a relaxing getaway? We have a great travel agent who was able to help us book our cruise and found information that was necessary for us to get discounts and make our booking easy. I would highly recommend her. She is a traveler herself, so she is definitely well acquainted with the little details that many of us would over look and can give recommendations on what you need to see and what to skip. (Her button is also located in the sidebar. I am receiving nothing for this endorsement.)

Time of Year

When you go and how long you go for has a lot to do with how much you will pay.  Our anniversary is in July, but that is peak season for vacationers. Peak season means peak prices. We chose a 5 night cruise in April at $299 a piece. In July our only option of cruises was a 7 night cruise (starting at $698 per person- prices taken from priceline.com). Being that this was our first time leaving the kids with family for an extended period of time, we opted for a 5 night.

Parking

There are options for parking other than parking at the port parking lot for $15 a day. We found a "Park by the Ports" parking lot for $5 a day. We paid a total of $30 for our use of the parking lot, the shuttle to take us and our luggage to the port, and the return trip back to our vehicle. We chose to tip the driver of the van for his services.

Keeping On-Boat Costs Down

Once you are on the boat it is easy to lose track of spending because commerce on board is done by swiping your room key, which has been electronically attached to your credit card. It is very easy to become unaware of how much you are spending if you go into "financial vacation mode." Here are some ways we did not spend extra money on our cruise.

• Drinks- Water (from the dining rooms and cafeterias NOT your room), coffee, tea, and (for breakfast) orange juice are completely free, so if you are thirsty take full advantage of these beverages. Specialty coffees, sparkling water, alcoholic beverages, slushies, and sodas are all charged much more than you would normally pay for a beverage of the boat.

• Casino- I almost laughed out loud when I saw a commercial on our room's TV for the now "easy way" to play at the casino- cash free! Just use your room key! That is one area we choose not to go in to, but once evening hits, it is a very busy place. Save your money and your regret when the final bill hits. Remember, since you are using your room key, you can easily lose track of how much you have spent.

• Your Room- Another frugal choice when cruising is your choice of stateroom. Considering that you are probably not likely to spend the majority of your time in your room, is it necessary to have a window or balcony? Interior rooms cost much less. When we wanted to sit out on a balcony, we went to the deck that had the wrap around deck, brought a book, sat back, and relaxed.

• Pack Thoroughly- Forgetting something at home can end up costing more than you bargained for. Make your list before packing and check it two or three times before leaving.

• Dining- Cruise lines offer amazing dining experiences as part of your package. From the breakfast and lunch buffets to the nightly four course dinner, you will never be hungry. However, there are usually a couple of restaurants on board your ship as well. On our cruise, for $25, you could have dinner at one of these restaurants. We heard from others that had tried these, that the food was not at all better than the dining room food. Why pay an extra $50 per couple to eat at an on board restaurant when your food has already been paid for?

• Wi-Fi- We chose to disconnect while on board. The purpose of this trip was to connect with each other- not the rest of the world. The ship did have it's own Wi-fi for a fee, but we chose not to use it. Instead, when I wanted a quick update on the kids, we found a coffee shop when we landed at Grand Cayman (the half way point of our cruise) and, for the cost of two small iced coffees, we were able to text my Aunt Elsa (who had Ian) and Facetime with my sister Faye (who had Addie).

Excursions- Depending on where you go and what type of experience you want to have, there are a wide variety of excursions (field trips that you pay for when you get off the boat at your stops) and prices to match. If you are going to spend any money, this is where I would recommend you do it. Some ports do not offer anything in themselves, and the only way to get anything out of your visit is to take an excursion.

When we stopped at Grand Cayman, we chose not to book an excursion. The only excursion that we liked was one we had already done, and we wanted to have a new experience. The prices for the other excursions did not seem worth the cost to us. We chose to wing it (not recommended by cruise lines for safety reasons). We got on a local bus for $2.50 a piece and asked to be taken to Seven Mile Beach. We were dropped off and walked along the beach (about 3 1/2 miles) back to our ship. A purchased excursion to Seven Mile Beach cost about $50 per person.

When we went to Mexico, we chose to purchase an excursion to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum (a once in a lifetime, check it off your bucket list kind of thing). It was definitely worth the price ($85 per person). The excursion itself was 8 hours long, included a round trip ferry ride, round trip bus ride, plus a 3 hour visit to the ruins.

As with anything, cruises can be either as expensive or cost effective as you choose to make them. What other type of vacation can offer you for one price your lodging, transportation, all the food you care to eat, entertainment, a break from everything, and a chance to travel the world at the same time? Just keep an eye on that room key of yours, and don't let it get carried away.

A Hands-On Thanksgiving

As a homeschooling mom, there are times when I get this complete burst of joy and pride over the fact that our children are having an educational experience that most children will not have. A couple of weeks back, we had that type of experience which gave me that type of feeling.

One of the moms at our co-op opened up her property for a Thanksgiving dinner. Her property had several acres of land and woods and an area for their livestock- 2 cows, about 6 free range turkeys (who I do not expect to survive the week), 5 horses, and more chickens than I could count.

We went, excited to be with our co-op friends, but not expecting the wonderful experience we were going to have.

While the moms who signed up to help with the prepping and serving of the food were working, there were teenaged girls that were helping by watching the smaller children.

I was so in awe of these girls who weren't hanging out in some secluded area of the property looking depressed like the entire teenage world was resting on their shoulders and threatening to fall off. They were smiling, playing with the babies, and doing their part to help this event be a success. Some of these girls were even helping in the kitchen and enjoying conversations with the adult women they were helping.

During this time, as people began arriving, the kids were playing. There was no organized game of any type. No groupings of children by ages. Just kids playing. Together. Across the ages.

And I never once heard anyone arguing!

Five minutes after we arrived, I lost track of Addie. She had run off with several girls who were in older elementary grades. I knew she was safe and wasn't worried in the slightest. I just kept my eyes opened for the occasional flash of brown corduroy as it flew passed.

Once the women who had signed up to help with the food were just about ready, Miss Sandi had all of the children come to an area that was already set up for a lesson on the history of the Pilgrims voyage, first year in the New World, and the first Thanksgiving.

The children all sat on blankets. Again, not grouped by ages, but every one learning together.

When Miss Sandi taught the children that Pilgrim children had to help with the chores, she put the kids to work. She gave grain sacks to a few of the older kids and then told all of the children to go around the property looking for pine needles to stuff the sacks with. A girl in Jr. High took Addie by the hand and the two of them ran off to collect pine needles. A few boys came over, climbed up in a tree stand, and pushed down a bunch of needles for the girls to give them a hand.

Everyone was called back together, and some of the dads were asked to test out the sacks which would have been used as pillows and beds.

Then the kids were given another job. They were sent to find large sticks that could have been used to build a simple home for the Pilgrims. Again, the kids were off in search of these long sticks and sturdy fallen branches. As they would find the branches, they would bring them back to Miss Sandi, who showed them how to lay the sticks on top of each other in order to make a simple structure. The project ended once the kids had built the "house" about a foot tall.

After the lesson was over, we prayed for the meal and enjoyed an early Thanksgiving.

All 70 of us.

During the clean up time, once again the teenage girls were right in the mix of things, helping with babies or in the kitchen along with the adults.

As I watched Addie interact with her co-op group that day, I got this overwhelming feeling of love for what I do as a homeschooling mom. There are definitely things that I lack and areas that I lack in. Yet God fills all of the gaps with others whose strengths are my weaknesses. As the teacher/mom, my job is to look for the opportunities that God is affording me. Sometimes it means that I have to step out of my comfort zone. Sometimes it means just being open to an opportunity I see.

The gift of being able to homeschool is definitely on my list of things that I am thankful for.

National Field Trip Month



October is National Field Trip month, and I must say we celebrated in a very big way this year.

 

We started out our month with a field trip to the Florida Aquarium.

 

 

We are so blessed to have a Grandma who joins us on our adventures (and keeps me from getting lost!)

 

 

This was my favorite photo from the entire day (thanks, Mom L!). I love field trips because they take us out of the house, away from our normal chores, and create a block of uninterrupted time together.

 

 

Over the summer, I had gotten Addie a book on Sea Life (knowing that we would be studying sea life at some point in science). I gave it to her the morning of our field trip, and she looked through it the entire drive down to the aquarium. Then, when we were at the aquarium itself, she matched the fish she saw to the ones in her book.

 

 

Ian was mesmerized by all of the "Fish!" If it swam, it was a fish. Sharks included.

 

 

The day after our trip to the aquarium we headed to Georgia for a mini-vacation, but I snuck a field trip to Stone Mountain in. A definite "must see." We plan on going back when the kids are a bit older because there was so much we didn't see because (age wise) they are not ready yet.

 

 

 

Last Monday, the kids and I headed to a local farm for their fall corn maze and other fun farm activities. This totally has the makings of a yearly tradition.

 

 

 

There was a little hay maze that the kids tried out. Ian got so frustrated that he couldn't find his way out that he stopped, looked at me, and emphatically said, "Mommy, I get out!"
 

 

 

Tuesday was our last field trip for the month of October. It was a Mother/Daughter Tea at a local tea room with our homeschool group.

 

We have a couple more field trip to take this fall even though technically they will not be in National Field Trip month. Brian and I are taking a trip to Sea World with the kids. Ian is at the age where he loves animals (as we saw at the aquarium and farm), and Addie has been studying killer whales, walruses, penguins (the Antarctica exhibit opened this spring), seals, and sharks in science. It is the perfect way for us to end that unit.

We also have other trips to another farm and then a wildlife sanctuary. Field trip days equal busy days, but we are learning so much in some pretty fun, hands-on ways.

Guest Blogging

Yesterday, I was the guest blogger over at the Frugal Homeschooling Mom. In the post, I am sharing a field trip idea for the Florida Aquarium. Why not hop over and check it out!

If you missed the field trip post about Busch Gardens, here is the link for that, too :)

Have a great Wednesday!

Guest Blogging

 
 
 

Good morning my fine friends!

Today, you will find me guest blogging over at The Frugal Homeschooling Mom. The post is all about making Busch Gardens an affordable field trip destination for you and your family. Click on the highlighted words above to visit.

I hope you will check it out!http://www.thefrugalhomeschoolingmom.com/2013/08/frugal-field-trip-to-busch-gardens.html

Programs for the Kids

Lately we have been taking advantage of several programs provided by local businesses and comminuty services.

We have been going to Home Depot on the first Saturday of each month for their Free Kids Workshops. We have had a great time building, using hammer and nails (yes, I've gotten my thumb smashed once. OUCH!), and painting. Addie loves making stuff and this works out great as calling it our art class for school. Hey, you can't get any craftier than Home Depot, right?

I also like to keep a look out for events happening in our area that are free and are still fun to do. With little ones, anything that gets them out of the house constitutes fun.

Recently our local high schools teamed up with our library to host the yearly reading festival. Kids could play games to earn books, library books that were being circulated out were on sale for very reasonable prices, and students from the high school earned credit for reading to the little ones. I even saw one of my former 5th graders-now a high schooler there reading to the kids. How old did I feel!

If you notice in these photos, my kids are not fans of the Cat in the Hat, Dr. Suess's most famous character. Addie wouldn't even get in the picture, and Ian is obviously not liking the cat being so close. BUT they loved the paper mache sculpture of Horton, the styrofoam "stone" circle with the word UNLESS written on it, and the wooden cut out of the Lorax (and these things didn't even move!).

Around Easter time, the Publix stores in the area have Easter egg hunts in the store for the children. I think this may be an Addie and Mommy only trip since it starts at 6:00 a.m. Check with your Publix for the date of when your store will be hosting theirs. Two years ago, Addie and I got our picture taken with "the rabbit." Ian was there too but you couldn't see him :) I was pregnant.

We are looking forward in May to the kick off of the "Reading with the Rays" program that we did last year. (You can read more here )

There are always programs going on, whether through your church, local library system, local businesses, your Christian radio station, your homeschool group, etc. There are so may options available.

It's time to go out and have some fun!

The Alpaca Farm

Last year, you'll remember that we went on our first home school group field trip. So much has changed in that one year span of time.

Ian is mobile. Last year I had to push him in the stroller (which got stuck in the sand and I ended up carrying him anyway). This year, he got to walk a bit. But being the fearless almost 18 month old that he is, he wanted to be right in the middle of the alpacas... and I was NOT going to allow that.

Last year, Addie stayed right beside me the entire time. This year, I was glad I had her wearing bright pink so I could see where she was because she WAS in the thick of things. She hand fed an alpaca and pet several of them. She walked behind the farm owner as we moved from pen to pen.

On the way home all she talked about was alpacas. And now they rank up there as one of her favorite animals along with horses, unicorns, dogs, and cats.

Field Trip

We had a great time yesterday at a local farm. We enjoyed a corn maze, playing on hay bales, taking a hayride, and pumpkins. Checked three things off of my fall "to do with the kids" list!

Enjoy!

Make a picture slideshow

Fun Times

Yesterday we went on an adventure.

 

To the Florida Aquarium!

 

We had a great time and there is definitely more to this story......

 

......but for today (because I am about to fall asleep sitting here)

 

Here is this picture that is my favorite from the day.

 

Tomorrow's post will be on Childwise. 

Our Trip to Tropicana Field

Earlier this summer, Addie and I began reading our way to Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. We completed our 24 hour required amount and sent in our ticket form. Because one of the dates was on Ian's actual birth date, September 21, and because Brian always takes off on our birthdays, we decided to make Ian's birth date our day to go to the Rays game.

 

For Father's Day this year, I had purchased through Groupon a gift certificate for Brian to receive a sports massage (he does a lot of driving, and his back and shoulders are often in pain because of it). Because the location of the spa was in St. Pete (where Trop Field is) we scheduled his appointment for earlier in the afternoon. While he was getting his sports massage, we all went shopping at a nearby shopping center.

 

 

After picking him up, we headed to Applebees for dinner. We were given a huge corner booth. Despite all of the room we had, Addie had to sit as close to Daddy as possible! Don't know if you can tell, but she is giddy happy about the entire day!

 

 

Then we went to the Pier of St. Pete. It was beautiful just to walking and around the Pier, see the pelicans, watch the boats on the water, and just watch the many people coming in and out.

 

 

 Ian loved seeing the birds. He would point and make noise until we all acknowledged that we had the bird or plane, too.

 

 

And then we took pictures.......

 

It's not really sitting on Addie's head..... it just looks that way.

 

We went inside for ice cream and smoothies. This boy can eat! He tasted every one's smoothie and Addie's ice cream, but he loved Daddy's mango smoothie best of all..... until he finished off Addie's ice cream.

 

Then we headed to the game. Of course, you know I had to let everyone know that it was my boy's birthday and that big sister had gotten us to the game. Ian wore a nice, tall, pointy birthday hat. Sigh..... so cute! And he got lots of attention because of his hat.

 

Both Ian and Addie were given buttons that said that this was their first Rays game (in the scrapbooks already) and Ian got one that said it was his birthday. All of us received a t-shirt which was the fan giveaway that evening. 

 

One of Addie prizes for reaching one of the goals was a cow bell (a Tropicana Field tradition). We brought the cow bell, and Addie had fun ringing it when the rest of the crowd rang theirs. She was really great about ringing it at the appropriate times and not overdoing it.

 

I am so thankful for photos. Ian will probably never remember this evening down the road, but he can always look at the photos and see what big sister did to get here and that mommy totally embarrassed him with a big birthday party hat when he was one. 

 

My cousin Belinda had come to spend a few days with us and was able to join us on our day's adventure.

 

I am so exceedingly thankful for the little family that God has blessed me with.

 

Because we had been out all day, Addie hadn't gotten any rest during the day, and we were gearing up for a big birthday party the next day, we thought the better of staying until the end of the game and left early (we were winning 12-0 when we left and ultimately won 12-1). At the entrance of the stadium, there is a little floor tile field. Brian and Addie "ran the bases" there together since she would not be able to run the real bases later on.

 

The kids' first trip to the Trop was a huge success. I look forward to future adventures in Tampa Bay baseball with our little ones.

Buccaneer Fan Fest and Night Practice

If you have followed  me for very long, you know that we are a sports family. Brian loves his sports. In fact, the year that the Bucs went to the Super Bowl (2002-2003 season), my parents hosted a Super Bowl party at our house in hopes that Brian would come to it, for my sake. He stayed home!!!!!! He wanted to be able to watch his beloved Bucs without distraction (which apparently, I would have been).

Despite his "first choice" before we began dating, I have embraced the Bucs, and have even helped our children "support" Daddy's team. And this Saturday was a perfect example of that.

The Bucs opened up their practice to their fans and held their annual Fan Fest and a free night practice as a joint event. We all decked ourselves out for our team- the kids in their shirts, Brian in his jersey, and I just used one of Brian's older jerseys.

Seating was on a first come first served basis. One of Brian's co-workers was there and saved us some awesome seats 10 rows up from the field on the 15 yd. line. We were able to see our team up close.

Before the praactice, soldiers from the Wounded Warrior program came out onto the field. The stadium erupted in applause and cheers and within moments "USA!" was being chanted. My USA loving 4 year old got right into it (after all she has practiced for the last week whenever she sees the American flag) and cheered with all her heart.

Addie had a great time. She was so excited that as we were walking up to the stadium, she heard the sounds of music and the announcers on the speakers and she got nervous. "Mommy, hurry! They're starting without us!"

Even our little guy loved his time there. It must be a boy thing! He was looking everywhere and pointing at things and even clapping.

It was pretty hot out there, but I have been blessed not to have a whiny baby. We just fanned him down and he was content.

Addie and I had our own little fun time. Our dear cousin/friend/encourager Victoria who is an intern for a local sports website was down on the field working. Once we found her, we waved our hearts out. It was pretty ironic that there were about 90 football players and stars out on the field, but we waved at Victoria and cheered when she saw us. She was our star!

Then a deep rumble of thunder went across the sky. The team was aken off the field and the fans were asked to take shelter in the covered areas of the stadium. We decided to call it a night. We made out way back to our vehicle, got just a little wet, but it did help to cool us off.

We are looking forward to this event happening again next year, and making another memory as a family.