budget cruising?

[palavra]

Can a cruise be a budget vacation? I don't mean bare bones, but economical. We have a budget of about $1800.00. Will we be able to do anything more than a short cruise to the Bahamas?

 

[4Seasons]

How many people are you talking about and are you just meaning the cruise price only and no excursions, airfare, pre/post cruise hotel, insurance?

 

[abmitch01]

I've done many reasonable cruises in the off season to Bermuda. I like those because I live on the East coast and can drive to the ports in NYC or Boston, thus saving airfare. Cruisecompete.com has travel agents compete and they give you their best offers.

 

[abmitch01]

I don't do many excursions through the cruise line. Depending on where you go, you can make out better booking directly on the island.

We get inside cabins, too to save money.

 

[4Seasons]

We did Costa for spring break this year, 2 adults and 2 teens. They had kids sail free (just had to pay tax/port charges on them).
Sailed in an inside I3 stateroom, our cruise fare for all 4 including tax was $1415. Our gratuities were somewhere around $180. We didn't do any organized excursions just preplanned and did our own thing. Went shopping in St. Thomas, walked to El Morro (fort) in Old San Juan then walked the city and had lunch, in Nassau I went to Sandals while hubby and kids went to Cable Beach.
I'm not a huge fan of Costa, it was ok but I probably wouldn't sail them again.
MSC Cruises has kids sail free.

 

[palavra]

Sorry that I didn't give more information. We are a family of three-2 forty somethings and an 8 year old. We live in Georgia, so we are within driving distance of several ports-Tampa, Port Canaveral, Charleston, Mobile and possibly even Miami.

 

[doxdogy]

Also don't forget that you can also leave from Jacksonville. It all depends how long, what time of year, cabin type.

 

[youcansmellit]

We have been thinking of doing another cruise. The last one we did on Princess was out of control. It was just under $7000. We went all out but we have been hesitant since. If it would be possible for us to do a 7 day cruise under $2000 I would be ecstatic!

 

[Mom2aGoofyBoy]

We are a family of 3 as well and just got back from a 7 day cruise on carnival out of port canaveral a few weeks ago. We used cruise compete and got for an inside room it was about $1450. That doesn't include tips ($10/person/day) or excursions. We didn't do any ship excursions, we walked to the pirate museum in Nassau, took a cab to the beach in Saint Thomas, and did a island tour in St. Martin- maybe $200 total.

I you are ok with a shorter cruise we have done the 5 day out of Jacksonville a well, I have seen those down about $300/pp.

It definitely can be done, to kep everyone happy we do 2 vacations a year (disney and a cruise) so I try to keep them both to a budget! Have fun planning!

Julia

 

[HeatherC]

You can definitely do an nice cruise for that amount. I just did a 5 day Royal Caribbean cruise to Bermuda for under $400!

You should visit cruisecritic.com to check out the forum boards and ship reviews. It's like the DIS for cruising.

Also check out sites like travelzoo to find out the latest weekly deals.

Once you have a ship picked out, use cruisecompete to have agents give you their best offer. You can always get at least a shipboard credit that can help pay your bar bill.

I think cruising is a very good value for a family. We are doing a 9 night cruise over Thanksgiving for five of us for $3500 total! That includes all our tips and meals. I think that's a great value.

Have fun researching!

 

[louey]

I've done many reasonable cruises in the off season to Bermuda. I like those because I live on the East coast and can drive to the ports in NYC or Boston, thus saving airfare. Cruisecompete.com has travel agents compete and they give you their best offers.

May I ask how the cruises out of New York are? A cruise to Bermuda is something I want to do and being able to drive to the port is a definately plus. I don't think Carnival does any from NY only Royal which cruise line did you go on. Thanks, sorry for all the questions

 

[fletchers5]

Palavra.....Yes you could easily do a cruise for 3 for that amount..which would include everything. The one thing you didn't post is the time of year you would like to go. First off..summer is the most expensive. If you can cruise in Sept or Oct or early spring...those times are the least expensive. I have cruised many times and normally do the spring or fall. I have cruised as cheap as $250.00 per person to $600.00 per person. Inside cabins are the cheapest and my way of thinking is " you are never in your room anyways". Go onto Carnivals website and start putting in the port you would like to leave from..the month and see what comes up. When you find a cruise that looks good go to cruisecompete dot com. Plug in the info and all the travel agents will quote you. You will get some great prices that way.

We usually don't do the exursions..I do alot of investigating on the net and find out what there is do on the islands and we wing it that way. Always have had a GREAT time. If you go to cruisecritic dot com..they have loads of information about each port.

 

[fletchers5]

Loury.....about Bermuda....MY FAVORITE CRUISE...we have gone twice. Both times though were out of Boston. Norweigan Cruise Line seems to be the best price for Bermuda. Bermuda is always a little more expensive than your caribbean cruises.

You will leave port and sail for 2 days...arrive in Bermuda and the ship stays in port for 3 days. You use it as a floating hotel. Come and go as you please. WONDERFUL....on other cruises you may get to 3 islands but only have 6 to 10 hours on each island. Never seems like enough time. With staying in Bermuda for 3 days you REALLY get to see the whole island.

The best time to cruise to Bermuda in my opinion is September or October. First of all because it is CHEAPER in these months and also the WATER is WARM. You need to realize that Bermuda is basically straight across from North Carolina so the weather seems to be the same. The water has all summer to warm up. Going in April or May the water may not be warm enough to swim. Going in the summer months is Expensive.

Another great thing about Bermuda is the fact that Nobody bothers you. They don't drag you into their shops...they leave you alone. They are very friendly. I have been to 7 different islands and what a difference there is.

On the other hand....for shopping Bermuda is expensive. They ship everything in from the states. So if you are looking for a great port for shopping Bermuda is not the place to go. You go for the BEAUTY of it..the relaxation of the island.

Bermuda is always my top choice for Cruising.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Absolutely you can do it with that budget!

There's a 5 night Western Caribbean from Tampa. Radiance of the Seas, Royal Caribbean. Leaves October 30th. Total for all 3 people, $1,367.78, that's in a balcony stateroom. It would be much less for an inside or non-balcony outside stateroom.

Add to that your costs for drinks and excursions plus gas to get to Tampa.

Oh, or even better. A 7 day on Carnival's Legend from Jacksonville on November 14th is $539 pp for a balcony...although I can't seem to find the 3rd person charge.

 

[fletchers5]

Carnival Inspiration
5 night western out of Tamp
October 4th
Inside cabin

Total $855.52 includes taxes and port charges



Carnival Valor
7 Night out of Miami
October 17th
Inside cabin

Total $1171.00


Both of these are from Priceline...you can do even better if you go to cruisecompete.com

 

[HeatherC]

The 5 day Bermuda cruise I just did was out of New Jersey on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. It is a Voyager Class ship....rock climbing walls, ice skating, inline skating, etc..

These are awesome ships for families with kids.

This was our 3rd time on a voyager ship and we just booked the same ship for 9 nights over Thanksgiving. Can't wait!

You can go to RoyalCaribbean.com and do a virtual tour of their ships.

Hope this helps!

 

[abmitch01]

I can't remember what the port was called out of NY (it was NCL), but I do recall there is parking right there and the process was easy. I've done the Boston with NCL to Bermuda cruise 3x. I think getting on and off and home was easier from there even though I am closer to NY. But there wasn't a huge difference.

 

[4Seasons]

May I ask how the cruises out of New York are? A cruise to Bermuda is something I want to do and being able to drive to the port is a definately plus. I don't think Carnival does any from NY only Royal which cruise line did you go on. Thanks, sorry for all the questions

For 2011 Carnival has expanded their Northeast departures to Bermuda:

Carnival's 2011 Bermuda departures include:

Baltimore (7-day cruises on the Carnival Pride) - April 10 and 17, September 18, October 2 and November 6.
New York (7 and 8-day departures on the Carnival Miracle) - April 14 and 21, and September 11 and 27.
Norfolk (6-day sailing on the Carnival Glory) - October 16.
Charleston (6-day voyages on the Carnival Fantasy) - April 23, May 19, June 16, August 25, September 15 and October 6.

 

[Acklander]

We're able to drive to the ports as well, so we wait until about 3 weeks before the cruise to book and have gotten some fantastic deals. Check some of the cruise specialists websites for an idea of how much it would cost by waiting until the last minute.

 

[4Seasons]

Holland America just released some fall dates with 3rd/4th passengers are free (just pay tax).

I just booked a quad category VF4 balcony stateroom for us (myself, hubby and 2 teens) for $1915 total (Dec. 12 sailing)

This is on the Nieuw Amsterdam, their ship coming into service this July.