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.

Disney on a Dime

Last year after throwing a "small" family get together for Ian's birthday, Brian and I looked at our receipts and said to each other, "We are halfway to Disney. For Addie's birthday, let's just go!"

So we did!

Now, the thought of Disney naturally comes with a huge "cha-ching!" sound effect. So I am going to share with you how we were able to take a 4 day vacation to Orlando without going into debt or having credit card bills to dread next month.

Look into resident discounts.

As Florida residents, we are eligible for the 3- or 4-day pass (good through June 6, 2014). I didn't just take that discount as being our only option, though. Because we are AAA members, I looked on their website. Not only do they offer the same Florida resident discounts, but they were $160 cheaper than if we had just purchased our tickets through Disney!

We purchased the 4-day passes for Brian, Addie, and me (which brought the tickets down to about $45 per day), but because Ian is only 2, he was free. Bonus! We only used two of our days this time around, so we still have two more days that we can enjoy at "the happiest place on earth."

Hotels. Lots of choices.

We decided that we would take our $160 savings from our ticket purchase and use that as our hotel budget. We looked at the Disney hotels first and checked out their Florida resident discounts. At the rate they were charging, we would only be able to stay 2 nights and that would be slightly over our designated hotel budget.

We then went on Kayak.com and searched for hotels in the Kissimmee area (where Disney is actually located) and requested 3-5 star hotels in our search.

We found a great hotel for (drum roll please) $25 per night and it was 1 mile outside of Disney! We were able to stay for 4 nights and we stayed under budget. (Note: We stayed at the Maingate Lakeside Resort. We received the price mentioned because we booked our stay through an online comparison site for a weekend in February which is off season. Typically, hotel prices are cheaper during the off season- which is another great way to keep costs down! The closer you get to the regular vacation season, the higher the price will be.)

Food. Avoid eating at the parks.

Before we even left for our trip, I packed tons of snack foods. Granola bars, gummies, different types of chips, a few candy items, cookies, water bottles, and juice pouches. These foods were designed to feed us throughout our day at the park.

On both mornings, we went to Cracker Barrel and, using gift cards that we had, we ate a huge breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, COFFEE, and milk. In the parks, we ate from our snack stash. (I went onto their website before we went on our trip, and Disney DOES allow its patrons to bring their own snacks and drinks into the parks.)

On our 2nd day at Disney (Magic Kingdom), because we were planning to stay until closing, we stopped at 4 o'clock and picked up one of the huge turkey legs they sell for $10. We all ate from it, were fully satisfied, and went back to our snacks.

In the evening, after we left the parks, we used gift cards that we had been saving to different restaurants for our dinner. There is nothing like sitting down to Red Lobster or Olive Garden after a day at the parks and knowing you don't have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

Determine how much you are willing to spend before going on your trip.

Because we were going for Addie's birthday, a few of our relatives had given Addie some money to buy whatever she wanted at Disney. We were also prepared to purchase a little trinket for Ian so he would not feel left out. We decided before hand how much we were willing to spend before we ever left our house.

Try not to make purchases at Disney itself.

For our day at the Magic Kingdom, we wanted to wear matching t-shirts (Brian was actually on board with this idea!). We opted to go to one of the many shops around the Kissimmee/Orlando area that sold t-shirts, and purchased ours there instead of purchasing our shirts at Disney itself.

Because Addie had been given some money to buy something from Disney for her birthday, we had her wait until the last day of our trip when we went to Downtown Disney. Our reason for that was, after you come off of each ride at the parks you have to walk through a little shop selling items pertaining to the characters on the ride you were on. If she purchased something while coming off of the Winnie the Pooh ride and later saw something she liked after meeting the princesses, she would have had no money left.

At Downtown Disney, she was able to see everything being offered in one huge store and could decide with no regrets what she wanted.

Take your own photos.

Our kids love the Disney characters (even if they haven't seen some of the movies), so we took a lot of character photos. What you may not realize, though, is that although there is a photographer there ready to take your photo with his high tech, fancy-schmancy camera (that can make coffee and do your laundry), you can give your own camera to the attendant standing next to him and they will use your device as well.

We now have many wonderful photos of our whole family that we did not have to purchase from Disney's kiosk because we passed off our camera. These photos not only show us posing as a family, but also show us being the family we really are when no one is posing.

The most important thing about taking a trip to Disney is to plan for it. It is doable on a budget. It does take some work and effort on your part, but your smiles will last after the trip is over as you remember your trip through pictures and not bills.

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Memorial Day Weekend 2012

We had a wonderful weekend in Fort Lauderdale for the Memorial Day weekend. We decided to head down on Friday night instead of Saturday morning which was our original plan. Looking back, we are glad we did. We were able to spend 2 full days with our family and our stay was so much more relaxing.

Saturday morning, Cousin Belinda had an art project for Addie to do. She had gotten several blank art canvasses and had Addie paint to her heart's content. One painting was sent home with us for Addie's room and the others were given to different family members to display on their walls. Belinda is so creative! I would never have thought to do that.

It was then time to enjoy the pool. Ian enjoyed himself very much and Addie had a great time showing off what she could do with her floaties.

On Saturday evening, GrandTiti (my mother's sister) and Uncle Jack had a wedding to attend. (Doesn't she look stunning!) We all just hung out and relaxed. It was a great way to end our evening.

On Sunday, Ian met my grandmother (my mother's mother) for the first time. Grandma did get a little emotional when she saw Addie and later when she told me, "I wish Ana could have seen them."

Memorial Day was Belinda's birthday, so we celebrated it a day early with Grandma and cake. Then Belinda took Addie to Toys R Us to pick out a toy of her choosing. She picked a tea set and Belinda also got her some plastic pastries. We have had so much "tea and cake" since then.

For dinner we went to P.F Chang's, also to celebrate Belinda's birthday. We each chose a different dish and then shared around the table. The food was awesome!

On Monday morning we decided to take one more dip in the pool. I'm so thankful that my aunt grabbed the camera and took this photo.

At 1:00 p.m. we were on the road heading home. Because of the swim, the sun, the excitement of the weekend and the need for sleep, the kids fell asleep almost instantly and slept for the first 3 hours of our 4 1/2 hour trip home.

We hit a few patches of rough weather, and then found out when we arrived home that we had driven through an outer band of Tropical Storm Beryl. But that didn't phase the kids as long as they had their things (Ian's binky and Addie's ladybug pillow, Taffy, and Goldfish crackers), they were completely happy.

We had a wonderful weekend together and are well rested for this coming week's activities. Thank you for the hospitality, GrandTiti, Uncle Jack, and Belinda.

Sea World

When we first had Addie, Brian and I decided that we would use our birthdays to do something fun as a family. We didn't want to focus on ourselves individually but on "us" as a family.

This year we decided to use Brian's birthday to go to Sea World. For Florida residents, we have the option of adding Sea World to our Busch Gardens tickets, and because the parks have a "free two park pass" for children 5 years old and younger, Brian and I decided to upgrade our tickets this year.

The first thing we did upon arriving was visiting the sting ray petting pool. Brian did all of the petting. Addie was only interested in watching.

Addie was fascinated by it all......

......and this is what Ian thought of it.

Then, of course, the "teacher" in me came out as we looked at the baby rays.

Next, we moved on to the dolphins. We were able to watch them play, and they blew water on us with their blow holes.

And with all that was going on.... this rock was more interesting to Bud. Go figure!

After watching the dolphins play from above, we went down to the observation area and watched them play under the water. Addie was amazed by the hugeness of it all. And there is just something about watching these beautiful animals play so close to you.

While we were watching, I noticed one dolphin moving a lot slower than the others. It appeared that the tail wasn't working correctly. It swam to the wall and sank to the bottom of the pool (you can vaguely see it in the photo below).

It bothered me, because dolphins are mammals and breathe air. Other dolphins swam over to it and began trying to help push it to the surface. I told Brian there was a problem and ran to the park worker at the entrance to the area.

I felt like Dora the Explorer and Diego Animal Rescuer wrapped up in one (yep, they are our heroes right now).

The worker sounded very patronizing as I told her what I had seen. I went back to Brian and saw that the dolphin was still on the bottom. People began video taping the dolphin. Other dolphins kept coming around to it to try pushing it up.

Addie was watching all of this.

I felt sad and hopeless. Hands were just above it from people trying to pet the dolphins and lots of people were on its level watching it. Suddenly it made a push for the surface and took a breath. Then it swam very slowly at the surface. Brian decided it was time for us to move on, but as we left, I saw that same worker on the phone system talking to someone and she seemed concerned. Finally!

We headed for the dolphin show (absolutely spectacular!). And we got to enjoy the dolphins doing what they do best- play as a group- with an awesome soundtrack in the background.

My favorite part? Seeing the awe and excitement in Addie's eyes.

We headed for the Shark Encounter after making our reservations for dinner at the Underwater Shark Grill.

We went through the tunnel that goes through the massive shark tank. Sharks swam above and beside us. Addie held on tightly to Daddy the first time around. By the fourth time (yes, we went through the exhibit four times!), she was such a pro that she practically had her own stand-up comedy act going on and had other park goers laughing.

The quality of the photo below is horrible, but it will give you some perspective as to the tank and our restaurant. I Photo shopped some words onto the photo itself to show you where the window wall was. We were seated right next to the window to look right into the tank!

Brian's birthday dinner.

We also went to see the Shamu show and the otter and sea lion show, but we were all beginning to wilt and were very ready to head home.

We will be returning at least one more time this year- possibly two more times. We had a great time celebrating Brian's birthday as a family.