How do you fund your cruise?

[miry]

In real life I have a mortgage and school loans that are still in deferrment. I'm also a single parent and we live paycheck to paycheck, but we are very well budgeted and I take my income tax refund and use that for our annual vacations.

 

[TXDCLfan]

We've been obsessive budgeters for the last 13 or so years. We put everything on a credt card and it gets paid a couple of times a week so we get the airline miles and a lot of our flights end up being free.

Mr. DisneyFreaks (who first started this account and always gives me a hard time about stealing it ) is also a CPA and in Finance, so he plans a lot of it out.

Same here I am a mile junkie and like you said everything goes on the card and we send in payments weekly so the card is always paid off.We use our miles wisely and get the flights when the requirements are low mile redemption. With proper planning we have gotten many of free flights over the last few years. There are web sites that track/provide great info on earning airline miles through credit card, face book aps ( American recently was giving 500-5000 miles for liking their FB page), store promotions and more.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I voted for scrimp & save. We have a small amount on an old cc promotional rate of 2% so it's very low interest. We also have dh's truck & mortgage. (We each keep our cars for 10 yrs so we only have 1 car payment at a time.)

Dh works LOTS of OT. I swear he's crazy and would do anything to make me happy.
Also I've decided I don't need any more "stuff". Any birthday or Christmas gifts he gives me are usually cash toward a trip which makes me happier than anything else he could buy in a store.

We try to always rebook at least a dummy date onboard so we don't have to pay full price. We use the SWA cc which we pay off online every 3-5 days, which makes it very easy. Now I'm trying to save up SWA points to use for a future flight to Seattle for an Alaskan cruise.

Most important part is booking extremely early, usually 1st day of release. I like knowing I got the absolute cheapest price I could for my cabin.
We don't spend a lot onboard even though dh suggests sometimes I should treat myself to a massage or something. I'd rather plunk it down at the future cruise desk.

Like PP said, Blood Money. Not exactly getting paid for donating but I work in a large hospital with its own blood bank and despite the 5 weeks of vacay time I get, I'm still running short so each time I donate, I get 3 hrs comp time that can be saved for future use.

If I could donate every 56 days like I theoretically could, that would add up to over 19 extra hours of vacay time each year. In reality I can't always get there as often as I like to.

So while part of me subscribes to the "they're only young once" philosophy, I couldn't just charge up a vacation. Then again, I can't just work all the time and have no major fun things to look forward to, just to pay off our mortgage extra early.

 

[wannagoback]

Good question, I have often wondered this too! I refuse to "charge" a vacation - the stress of having to pay it off later would severely eat into my enjoyment of the trip. It feels so good to know that it is paid for! Of course, I have plenty of other debts, so that's probably not a rational decision on my part! We did some stupid spending early in our marriage and now I pay way too much money each month trying to get us out of that hole. Fortunately, DH has a pretty good job so there are funds to pay the bills and pay down debt while still saving for vacation. (I seem to be moving backward on the salary scale, so that's not doing much good for my financial goals.) Sure, I could put more toward debt but I think it is important to have fun too. And yes, they are "only young once."

 

[Tracykim]

Book on board
Couponing like crazy - I can save up to 80% every trip and I have a stockpile.
Give Disney gift cards to each other as gifts for every holiday
Budget vacation money out of each check
Mypoints for gift cards for the gas money to the port
Kids have yard sales for their spending money
Income tax to pay off what is left right before we cruise.
All "free" money goes for the pet sitter and parking. (Surveys, AFLAC etc.)

We are also kinda debt free, except the house. NOTHING goes on a credit card!! That is only used when something is needed for the house, ie... new water heater.

 

[Webmiester]

......

 

[ValentineJulie]

We usually plan way more in advance what exactly we're doing. Went to Disney in 2010, so knew that 2011 was out for a "big" vacation. Got a wild hair one day and called a TA about "regular" cruises (Carnival, etc.) and Disney cruises-knowing that we could probably never afford DCL. She pretty much refused to give me DCL prices and pushed Carnival down my throat. Well that doesn't go well with me, I became determined at that point. I eventually talked to our current agency and they played around with months and prices and turns out, we CAN afford DCL if we don't go in the summer months! Long story short-my friend had a Gold Party and I had lots of gold!! This was our deposit on our Disney Cruise, so no $$ "officially" left our accounts! We never charge vacations, or borrow so we will put a large portion on our cruise from tax refunds and just save the rest, if we do use a credit card at all while on board, I can guarantee it'll be paid for as soon as we return. I hate debt!!! Gosh I wish I had more gold though.....my husband and I saw how much I got, and we started looking down at our wedding rings...LOL I swear I'm just kidding on that last part!!! All of that leftover gold jewelry that I had from the 80's just paid off....

This is exactly how I have funded my cruises the last 2 years except I do the gold parties! Given your location I'm pretty certain that the lady I work ( or someone in her circle) for probably did your sister's party! It's an awesome way to make extra cash for your vacation....I have helped so many happy people! I'd love to help any of you if you like

I'm getting so excited.....I have less than 2 weeks!! We are now entertaining the idea of a few days at Disney after the cruise

 

[MadtownMama]

All of our vacations are paid for by our quarter bonuses, in full before we take them. We hate monthly bills/debt so we make sure that our bonuses pay most of the yearly bills (minus house and electricty) and cover our vacations so we do not need to charge anything then what is left at the end of the month from paychecks is put in savings for emergencies. Works great for us.

 

[mmouse37]

This is exactly how I have funded my cruises the last 2 years except I do the gold parties! Given your location I'm pretty certain that the lady I work ( or someone in her circle) for probably did your sister's party! It's an awesome way to make extra cash for your vacation....I have helped so many happy people! I'd love to help any of you if you like

I'm getting so excited.....I have less than 2 weeks!! We are now entertaining the idea of a few days at Disney after the cruise

Please remember there is no self-promoting on the Dis. See the board guidelines.

MJ

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We have debt (cars, students loans, mortgage) but nothing I feel like I'm drowning in. We put aside money each month for savings and we use part of that for vacations. The kids are only young once and I don't want that time to pass us by. My parents spent my whole childhood talking about the vacations we'd take "someday," and of course that day never came.

 

[ValentineJulie]

Please remember there is no self-promoting on the Dis. See the board guidelines.

MJ

Sorry I wasn't really thinking along those lines when I said that.....won't happen again.

 

[Maddies Mama]

My parents spent my whole childhood talking about the vacations we'd take "someday," and of course that day never came.

I can so relate to this. I'd only left the state of Illinois once before I went away to college because my parents were not good with managing money (still aren't) and we never got to go on trips because of it. After I got married, we aggressively paid off all of our debt except for 1 student loan and we save save save for vacations. Some people like fancy new cars, some people like big screen TVs, some people like huge homes with lots of fancy furniture - but I like vacations, so that's what every extra penny we have goes toward.

 

[pdwimmer]

I can so relate to this. I'd only left the state of Illinois once before I went away to college because my parents were not good with managing money (still aren't) and we never got to go on trips because of it. After I got married, we aggressively paid off all of our debt except for 1 student loan and we save save save for vacations. Some people like fancy new cars, some people like big screen TVs, some people like huge homes with lots of fancy furniture - but I like vacations, so that's what every extra penny we have goes toward.

That is awesome! I am so glad you took control of your future. My husband was also a limited traveler before we got married. His parents always left him at home with the grandparents. While growing up my grandma always felt she'd rather spend time with us while she was alive rather than giving us a big inheritance. She always made sure we took a family vacation together every year. God bless grandparents. They teach you the "important" things in life. God, Life, Family, Friends and community!

 

[RedSox68]

We started a vacation savings fund years ago and that gets distributed to us in May. So we use the Disney Visa to pay off the cruise to get the reward dollars, then use the vacation funds to pay off the Visa. That way we earn dollars to spend onboard.

We use our tax refund for the airfare

Throughout the year we put any monies we get from rebates, extra pay checks, coupon savings, etc. aside for souvenirs.

Every pay check I put $10 aside for taxis/towncar/transfers/porters/tips. You'd be surprised how you don't miss it and how fast it adds up!

 

[kristieseem1]

We did our first cruise this past February on the Dream. We LOVED it so we booked onboard for the discount and lower deposit. We pay $100/wk and put a little on the onboard credit account too. Would really love to get into couponing to save more money, but working 60-70 hrs a week doesn't really allow that! We'll be sailing on the Fantasy 5/5/12 and we're almost paid off so we can start saving for the week in WDW before the cruise!

 

[kristieseem1]

BIG planner.

We can only afford to cruise about once every 3 years...so we do a lot of saving & planning inbetween. First, we rebook onboard for the extra OBC and 10% discount and the smaller deposits and we give it straight to Dreams to get their onboard credit too. I have a bank account that I use strictly for vacation funds. I stash a portion of our tax refunds every year and whenever I come in under budget at the grocery store I buy a $25 Disney gift card to support our Disney habits. They can be used at the parks in the US or on the ship. I will also deposit "found money" in the vaca account like if I get birthday money or money for Christmas or something. I have a jar in the kitchen for loose change or singles from when I get change for something and whenever it gets full I deposit that. It might be $80 or so at a time but I save it all.

We really LOVE our TA thru AAA, but are you saying you get the $200 credit that DCL offers, PLUS more from DU? I may consider using them instead if this is the case!!

 

[BethC1952]

We are 100% debt free at last. We're an older, post-kid couple who don't exchange gifts. Instead we put that money into a "vacation savings", along with all of our loose change and $1.00 bills at the end of each day. That adds up very quickly, and with other money that we set aside r travel, we book as soon as there's enough to cover all the costs. Everything is paid before we set foot on the ship, and our shipboard expenses are paid before we leave the ship. No bills, no worries, just fabulous memories.

 

[Fjobe]

We save any extra income. We don't take any money from our regular monthly budget for vacations. It is only our extra income that we use to pay for vacations (bonus at work, OT, summer work, ebay, etc.). We used this method to pay for our Disney vacation last June, and it felt so good.

 

[NWmom]

I didn't get to vote, but we do the pay for it in cash method. Cruise, tips and excursions all have to be paid off before we set foot on the ship. Kids will earn their spending money by doing extra chores. One likes to throw garage sales. (not my genes, lol)

We use any OT or extra money to go into its own account for vacation.

Made some mistakes in our early married life. Paid all that off finally. Did not vacation for a while as we couldn't afford it. Now down to the mortgage, and car.

Dave Ramsey followers now, no credit cards anymore. It is really a very freeing thing. There is no emotion to saying No- I can't do that. The money jar makes the decision.

Our first Disney vacation years ago we paid for it for months afterward. That erased some of the good memory for me.

This time-Just felt wonderful coming home and knowing we would not be paying for anything later. It made the vacation all the more sweet.

 

[Goldeelox9]

I am a Travel Agent. My husband and I use the money I make working to make other people's vacation dreams come true to fund our own! It's win/win!