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Looking to book a cruise but want to know how to save money on a cruise? This post is full of cruise tips to save you the most money possible when going on your vacation.
Cruises are sterotypically known as affordable vacations. However, this is not always the case and they can actually cost a good amount of money.
After the cruise is booked you have tons of additional services you can book that really drive the price up. From shore excursions, drink packages, specialty dining and more.
This post will go over the top tried and tested cruise tips on how to save money on a cruise.
12 Money Saving Cruise Tips
1. Don’t buy the drink package
This is a tip that is obvious, well known and comes with a lot of controversy because so many cruisers will say you HAVE to buy the drink package.
If we shift focus into “I’m trying to save money” it is easier to understand and realize the drink package might not be worth the cost for everyone.
A cruise drink package can be almost as much as the cruise fare or more in some cases! They are extremely expensive in most cases.
Most cruise lines will allow you to bring alcohol on the ship. This does vary but a common rule is allowing 2 bottles of wine or champagne up to 750 ml. You are not allowed to bring beer, seltzers or hard liquor.
You are also allowed on most lines to bring 12 bottles up to 17oz each of a non alcoholic beverage such as sodas, juice, water bottles, etc.
An important question that might influence this decision as well is:
How much will I be off the ship where I can’t use my expensive drink package?
If you have a cruise itinerary that is heavy in port stops, it might not be worth it to buy the drink package because all of the time you’re off the ship you won’t be using it.
2 money saving tips on the ship:
-Buy a bottle of wine on the ship instead of buying it by the glass. You can have the bartender uncork and recork the bottle if you don’t finish it. This will save you a few dollars compared to just buying glass after glass.
-Look at happy hour or drink of the day specials. Sometimes cruise lines will offer a discount on a particular drink every day. This won’t save you much money but it is still a savings.
2. Bring your own snorkel gear
If you are going on a tropical cruise and wanting snorkel at one or more port stops, a great option is to bring your own snorkel gear.
Do research on the ports you are going to to see if there is a decent public beach access that people commonly snorkel at. This is a great way to save money, especially for a family instead of booking a snorkeling excursion.
You can also apply this to still booking an excursion at a beach club or a private island for the cruise line but still not having to pay the extra money to rent their equipment.
3. Drive to the cruise port instead of flying
When trying to save money it is important to be aware of the cost it will take to get to your cruise vacation.
Sometimes, especially with a family, flying could be 3 or 4 times more expensive than driving. Price out the difference, don’t forget to potentially factor in:
-a hotel the night before if you fly or hotels along the way if you’re driving a very far distance
-how much parking your car will cost if you drive
If you are comfortable driving and it makes a huge difference in your budget, I say go for it!
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4. Book everything before the cruise
If you’re wanting to book things such as:
-Shore Excursions
-Drink Packages
-Wifi
-Specialty Dining
-Spa Services
-Etc
You should book these before your cruise. After you have booked your cruise go to your reservation on the cruise line’s website and see what they have to offer.
It is common for cruise lines to offer sales off of their most popular add ons you can purchase before the cruise.
You can save hundreds and hundreds of dollars just by booking these services for a discounted price instead of waiting until you’re on the ship and they are full price.
5. Reprice your cruise
If it is possible for your specific cruise, you 100% need to reprice it if the overall cost has gone down.
The best way to do this is to periodically check the price of your cruise to see if it has gone down. If it has, reach out to your travel agent or call the cruise line’s customer service and see if you are able to reprice your cruise for the cheaper price.
Sometimes you are unable to do this if you are after final payment date, it really seems to vary but it doesn’t hurt to try.
I have saved myself hundreds of dollars doing this for every single cruise I have gone on.
6. Book an interior or oceanview room
If you have never been on a cruise before, it seems like the only choice you should make is to book a balcony stateroom.
While a balcony is a very nice room, it has amazing perks, it is not necessary for every cruiser. If you are trying to save money one HUGE way to do this is to book a cheaper room.
An interior room is going to be the best bang for your buck. It is the smallest room type for 2 or more people that cruise lines offer. (They do have select solo/studio cabins for single travelers but these are very hard to come by).
It doesn’t have a window or balcony. This is a great choice if money is the most important factor and/or if you don’t plan to spend a lot of time in your room.
Cruises offer so much so you can easily spend 95% of your time outside of your stateroom, making paying for a more expensive room the wrong choice.
Another option is booking an oceanview room. This type of room will have a window you can look out of but still is on the lower end of the price range so you’d still save money compared to a balcony.
Looking for the top cruise must haves for your vacation? Click here to see the full list
7. What is the best way to get to/from the port
Some people think the transportation that the cruise line arranges is the best option. An example of this would be a shuttle to and from the airport via the cruise line’s company.
This is usually only a good option if you have 1-2 people. If you have more than that it most likely is going to be cheaper to just take an Uber. Be sure to check all of your options if you are trying to save money on transportation.
Other tips:
-Park at off site cruise parking instead of the cruise port’s parking. It will be cheaper.
-If you are staying at a hotel the night before pick one that lets you leave your car there while you’re on the cruise & has a free shuttle to the port. This will save you tons of money to not have to pay for parking at a different lot.
8. Research the cruise port stops
You don’t have to do an excursion at every port stop, this will save more money.
You can do a combination of things:
-Book an excursion on sale at every port
-Book excursions just at your favorite port stops and explore on your own for the others
-Research and do your own thing at every port stop
One example of how to save money with a common cruise line excursion is a walking tour. The cruise line will offer a walking tour of several commonly visited areas at the cruise port. For them to guide you and possibly transport you, they will charge you a fee.
You can always do this tour on your own and not pay any money. I have done this before. One example was in Nassau, Bahamas, a common cruise port stop.
The cruise line was offering a tour of 4-5 places I believe. I was interested in a couple of them but not others so I didn’t want to pay money to not love it.
I decided to do research on Nassau, choose everything I wanted to see, mapped it out by what route would be best and then we just did it on our own!
Here is a video of that day if you want some inspiration:
9. Bring your own over the counter medications
It is common when going on a cruise that you could get sick. Whether that is motion sickness or an illness such as a cold, covid or the flu.
You should prepare for your cruise by buying some common medications to bring with you. This might sound like you are spending money instead of saving it.
If you were to buy these items if they are even available on the cruise, it will most likely be more expensive or they’ll make you see the doctor which could be a huge cost.
Common medications you might want to bring:
*disclaimer to buy and use medications at your own risk. I am not responsible for any side effects, etc from these suggestions. These are just the products I bring for my cruise but that does not mean they will work well or are right for you. Consult with your doctor before trying any new products.
1. First Aid Kit
2. Motion Sickness Medication
3. Sinus Medication
10. Get discounts through a travel agent
Sometimes booking with a travel agent can get you amazing perks! A lot of the time (but not always) travel agents will have discounted room rates through their companies.
I would look at what the cruise would cost you to book through the cruise line’s website and then work with a travel agent to see what deals they can offer you.
My travel agent has access to group blocks that have saved me hundreds of dollars in the past off of the advertised price on the cruise line’s website. If you would like a recommendation feel free to send me a message or leave a comment!
Travel agents sometimes can also get you other perks such as free specialty dining, cover your gratuities or onboard credit just for working with them.
Be sure to pick a travel agent that does not charge you to work with them. Some will charge a fee but they all get paid from the cruise line to manage your reservation so I would choose one that is free, there are a million of them out there.
11. Purchase wifi under one name
One way you can save money (on most cruise lines) is to buy multiple devices under one person instead of each person buying one device access.
Example: Say Royal Caribbean has their wifi listed for $17.99/per device per day. If you need to buy for 3 people you would have to pay that price 3x and each person would have their own wifi login.
Another way and a cheaper way to do it is to purchase multiple devices for just one person because they give you a multi device discount making it cheaper than the first option. This way you will all just login using the same credentials.
You need to do research beforehand to know which cruise lines allow you to do this and which do not. For example MSC once you login to a device you can’t logout and log into another device. You’re stuck on that one device vs. on Royal Caribbean you can just buy one device and log in and out of any device you want using that login.
12. Get a massage off of the ship
One add on that is always expensive are massages on the cruise ship. They do run some specials throughout the week that could save you some money but even then, there is no comparison.
Example: If you’re going on a cruise to Mexico you might be offered a massage on the ship for $180. The same type of massage you could get off of the ship anywhere from $25-60. A HUGE difference.
This post was all about cruise tips and how to save money on a cruise.
