by Adam Dawson
What?! They’re going on a cruise?!
We are extremely lucky this year that Emily’s grandmother has paid for the whole family to go on a 4-day cruise to Mexico! She is so generous with her family and we all love to spend time together. We’re also blessed because this is not a luxury we would indulge in ourselves while we’re in debt. I know that if we end up in a comfortable financial position in time, we will want to follow her example of generosity with our loved ones.
Emily’s been on a cruise with her family before, but it was before we met. This is my first cruise and I’ve always wanted to go. I’ve heard the horror stories of bedbugs, seasickness, and of course the horrible things that happened earlier this year, but I’m excited nonetheless. However, we are trying to figure out what activities we’ll want to do that are somewhat budget-friendly. The activities sponsored by the cruise line seem pretty expensive. Do you have any tips for having maximum cruise fun on minimum dollars?
Emily’s family are all on the way to Texas to spend Christmas with us before the cruise. The house is modestly, yet beautifully decorated and we’re running around doing last-minute shopping and preparing. All of my family’s gifts are in the mail and I think we might actually be ready on time this year! It beats paying Amazon 4x as much for overnight shipping on Dec 23!
I hope everyone is getting some time with family and friends, and reflecting on a rich 2013. We’ve had a great year with lots of changes and I think this will put a wonderful finishing touch on an exciting and adventurous 2013 for us!
Why are you two even participating in a ‘get out of debt’ blog?? You should instead be participating in a “how to justify everything” blog. Frankly I feel this post, and your participation on this blog is an insult to those who are struggling with debt.
Merry Christmas, reader. I don’t understand your comment as this was a post about going on a cruise that someone else paid for. But I hope you have a happy holiday season nonetheless.
P.S. Yes, I read the part about Grandma paying for the cruise … (the cruise only. That’s part of the justification. But there will definitely be expenses incurred by the two of you).
Keep spreading the cheer.
Keep living in delusion that you are serious about getting out of debt.
LIke, whoa! That is all.
As someone who IS in debt, I don’t find their reaching out for suggestions on how to make the most out of a gifted family vacation insulting. I think it’s SMART that they reach out to their readers for ideas.
Everyone’s path to being debt free is different. Some people consider car debt ridiculous. Some people might think if you can’t pay for 50% of your home out right, you shouldn’t buy it. Some people think using credit cards at all (even if you pay it off completely every month) is a huge NONO.
Point is – constructive criticism is great and useful. Name calling NEVER helps anyone.
Merry Christmas, Emily & Adam. Have a fantastic time with your family!
Perfectly stated!
In terms of the cruise activities….I agree that the cruise-sponsored stuff is kind of pricey. That being said, that’s what I’ve always done (although, the 2 cruises I’ve been on were both way pre-debt days). Maybe you could try to make it more about relaxation than outings. Like, get some books/magazines (could get from the library free!) and plan to spend a good deal of time laying by the pool? Or get off at the ports and plan to just walk around and sight-see/window-shop instead of doing the expensive excursions? Whatever you decide, I’ll be excited to hear about it!
I cruise a lot but not on mass market lines, only on all-inclusive (no charges for drinks, tipping.) Our agent gives us a generous ship-board credit so by the end of the cruise, our account is zero.
On a mass-market ship you are going to have a harder time. If you have a soda habit, either smuggle on soft drinks or buy a soft-drink card.
You’ll have to budget for alcohol and keep to that (or abstain for a few days.) And avoid the restaurants with surcharges.
You will have to set aside a large amount of money for tips – research this ahead of time so it doesn’t hit you at the end.
On a four-day cruise, given the more ordinary locations you are going to, just wandering around a port on your own (and going back to the ship to eat since it is included in your fare) will be cost efficient and still fun. When we went to Mexico I had researched that beach fronts are public so you can go to a beach hotel, walk through and enjoy the beach in front (but none of the perks for the hotel guests like towels or chairs) for free. Use Cruise Critic to research your ports and things to do that are inexpensive or free.
In Spain and Canary Islands, I’ve used the hop-on, hop-off tour buses for inexpensive city tours. They cost about $15 – 20 vs. $49+ for a tour from my cruise line and have stops right next to the port. In other cities, I’ve just walked and taken public transit to explore. On the other hand, to tour Ghana, I used the cruise line tour because I wanted a guarantee that I would be returned to the ship in time (nearly didn’t make it once in the Philippines but the ship waited because so many of their tours were caught in the traffic.)
I understand what NotinDebt is so untactfully getting at. Aside from the cost of travel to the port, your daily expenses on the ship will likely be well over $100, even if you don’t take any tours from the ship. The cruise is ‘free’ but there will be a huge hit to your budget for this month if this hasn’t been a planned and saved for in advance.
Thanks for all the tips!
“Untactfully getting at” is right. Wow. I’m not speechless often but some people are amazing.
When someone in your family pays for a cruise and all you have to do is tip, you go. I can’t imagine explaining to my family that my debt repayment plan has a higher priority than spending time with them because I have to come up with a few bucks to tip, which is probably less than the gas money it would have cost to go see family in another city. I have never been on a cruise, but I assume the best way to save money is to abstain from drinking. Merry Christmas!
Yes, exactly. We are grateful for the gift. I should have mentioned that there was also a cash gift to help defray incidentals.
I totally forgot about the expensive tips that are paid for out-of-pocket. Certainly research those! It’s been almost a decade since my last cruise so its been awhile, but CanadianKate gave some awesome tips! When I’d cruise, my bf and I would just skip sodas for the trip (tea, water, and lemonade was free, as were various juices at breakfast – just no soda). I almost always stuck to water and as a tea-drinker, my bf was fine without.
Alcohol is very expensive. You can purchase duty-free out of country, but they confiscate until the last day. You can choose to abstain. I personally just paid the hefty mark-ups (again – pre debt days), but I met a couple of people who managed to smuggle it on in their suitcases and bought the unlimited refill soda cup (I wanna say about $20) so they could drink “for free” the liquor they smuggled, and just have the soda filled up in their cups. Warning, though, I believe that the cruise checks passenger’s bags, so the smuggling cannot be as simple as just putting a bottle in your bag. The guy telling me about it actually poured it into a (clean) Listerine bottle. I’m sure there are other tactics, too. Ethics/morality is a whole other issue, but if we’re just talking about saving money, that’s something to consider. : )
How cool and fun! Enjoy this wonderful gift guilt free and I love your idea of gifting your loved ones something similar in the future – that’s something hubby and I want to do someday too!
Merry Christmas to all!
You’ll be charged quite a few fees and tips. For two of you, automatic tips will be about $25/day. You are also expected to tip the steward for taking care of you, and of course you are charged 15% for all extra food and drinks. The basic price of a cruise is pretty low because they expect you to spend quite a bit in extras. All excursions are expensive – but you’ll also pay to just sit on the beach in the port. You might get to the beach, but will pay for lounge chairs. You might consider not disembarking in port, or doing research to find out what is truly free.
Most cruise lines allow some amount of alcohol/wine to be brought on board; ours was 2 bottles/person. Even soft drinks cost extra. There will also be transportation to and from the the port. For instance, on my cruise two years ago I spent $900 for the room, and an additional $750 on incidentals. And I didn’t go over the top. But you can do it pretty cheaply if you don’t allow yourselves to be tempted by anything above “basic”. And don’t use it as an excuse to buy new swimsuits or evening wear. And finally, stay away from the casino and other ship-board entertainment!It’s all extra.
Good luck – let us know how it goes.
I’ve only been on one cruise, my honeymoon cruise.
I know that cruise expenses can be high but with Emily’s Grandma paying for the tickets, the next expense is tips, which you said you had received a cash gift to help defer costs. Having read your plan for being out of debt in 2 years, I am sure you’re going on this cruise with your eyes wide open and aware of potential damage to the budget that could arise while on the cruise and in port.
All that’s left to say, is have a wonderful trip and Merry Christmas!
Lana
I get so frustrated for you guys. The negativity about your personal decisions has got to get old. Yes, I know this is a get out of debt blog as I have followed since the original blogger BUT I think you can have a different approach and be serious. Stay positive!
thanks kim! it gets to us sometimes but we’ve gotten a lot better at brushing it off. the difficult part for us is coming up with stuff to talk about week in and week out between the debt updates, and making every post have something to do with our budget or debt journey. we’ve been quite busy these last few weeks but after the new year i think we’ll be starting to inspect our budget a little more thoroughly, so maybe it will come easier then. we’ve been on travel essentially since before thanksgiving. ready to get back to a routine
I’ve never been on a cruise, so I think keeping a transaction by transaction diary of the cruise spending would be extremely interesting. I have no doubt you’ll have some great stories about how you were able to avoid extra charge on the cruise.
An excellent suggestion for a follow-on blog post. Helpful to others considering cruising for a vacation.
I second (or third!) the $$ log/diary from the cruise. Would be so informative and helpful to see for others planning such trips! If you can stand the inevitable trolling, that is.
That is such a nice gift! We are thinking about going on a cruise sometime this year. It would be our first as well. Have fun!
Merry Christmas! I am glad that you will be able to take a break with the generosity of your Grandma. I find the first commenter a bit insulting. I agree that getting out of debt requires serious commitment but that does not necessarily mean you have to deprive yourself. Small expenses can be built into the budget and life can still be enjoyed. Hope you have a nice yet frugal time!
Have a great trip!! Enjoy it all and don’t worry about those who feel the need to bash you and your Christmas presents on here!
Only been on one cruise (to fill in for my sister who really wanted to back out), but I didn’t really like it. I liked hanging out with relatives, and I liked waking up in a new port every morning, but the other passengers and the chaos around getting meals at the buffet was terrible.
Lesson one about money on a cruise is don’t drink alcohol.
In my experience you can cruise for very little extra except the daily tipping charge they add to your bill , as long as you always eat on the ship (so many options- shouldn’t need to eat at ports), don’t buy achohol (this is where they really get people) and in my experience the cruise excursions at ports where overpriced and not worth it. We much preferred to explore the port on our own and go to the beach.
There will be some additional expenses (tips being the big one), but if you don’t drink beyond the “free” beverages (usually iced tea, lemonade, milk, coffee, tea and orange juice – not fresh squeezed – that one they charge you for), or spend on pricey ship sponsored excursions you can do just fine. Walk around in port, or take a cab to a beach to relax and the expense for that is minimal (may need to pay to rent chairs or umbrella). Going to cruisecritic.com is a great suggestion – just search for the ports you’re going to and you’ll get some great advice.
You don’t mention the age of Emily’s grandmother – but the fact some people might be overlooking is that trips of this type, where the whole family is together, aren’t always something you can do later, when you are out of debt. We don’t know how long we have our loved ones with us – sometimes you have to live life in the moment.
Enjoy your cruise!
Susan this made me tear up…the underlying truth is that money (while debt free or not) is not everything is so important. People matter, and the time we get with them is truly a gift 🙂 Thank you for this reminder…
It is so nice Emily’s grandma is doing this for the family. I really do think that aside from this being a wonderful family vacation, it is also an excellent opportunity to see your budgeting skills come into play. It is so easy for me and my husband to keep our nose to the grindstone while we are in a familiar environment, but when we are out of town or if we have guests it certainly can get a bit hairy. I think many of us are excited to hear about how this time went for you two personally and debt-wise like Walnut expressed.
Have a great Christmas and a safe trip!
What a generous gift and wonderful opportunity, so what if you’re in debt? We’re in debt, and we went on a wonderful cruise in October, and have NO regrets (other than our toddlers sea sickness!) I know people are saying tips are an expected expense, but many cruise lines now include the tips in the ticket price. Not sure if that’s the case for the one you’re going on, but if so, you really only need to worry about room service/alcohol tips on board. Some cruises are independent restaurants on board as well, that’s extra. Excursions of course. We spent 7 days away, no excursions, and spent right around $500. That doesn’t include tickets, but does include tips, food, shopping, gas, and a hotel stay for the three of us. Enjoy your trip and have an awesome Christmas!
I don’t see how this blog is helping you or any of the readers. You’re doing absolutely fine without it. As you stated above, it’s even hard for you to come up with things to write.
I concur. I’ve been a huge supporter of Adam/Emily in the face of many (in my opinion) unwarranted negative comments on this blog. I think it’s awesome that there is an opportunity to go on a cruise and it’s a total no-brainer to me to go.
Having said that, if there is nothing to blog about, or if it’s really difficult to come up with topics to write about, then I would say why bother? Financially everything seems to be headed in the right direction, and I don’t think that this blog is worth stressing out over. Best to turn it over to someone (another couple?) that are still trying to figure things out and can harness the energy that comes from the collective brainstorming here.
Just one person’s opinion.
Firstly, I appreciate the respect that Joe had in his comment (I like to say “its fine to disagree, but to disparage is unacceptable”).
That being said, I have to (respectfully) disagree with the suggestion that Emily/Adam don’t need the blog. Sure they’re doing fine financially this second, but who knows what will happen along the way!? We can stand to learn something from them in their good times and if (heaven forbid) something unexpected and costly pops up along the way (e.g., need new car, get pregnant, loose job, health issues, etc etc etc), then they can rely on their readers for some useful suggestions of how to handle things, where to make further cut-backs, etc.
It’s all a process, right? There are ups and downs. Right now they’re set to pay off their debt at an incredibly fast rate. Let’s cheer them on! And, if something comes up and it doesn’t work out, then let’s help them figure out where to go from there.
Just my two cents.
also, didn’t mean for it to sound like “heaven forbid, if you get pregnant….” lol : ) Just, that would certainly be something unexpected and costly!
I don’t get it, Merry Christmas to all the negative nancies out there. Adam and Emily are doing GREAT at creating a budget, a debt payoff timeline which adds an extra challenge, and blogging about the good, bad, and ugly with the whole experience so far. I started reading since the previous blogger and came to the conclusion that no matter who is blogging, there is .01% of the community who just cant be happy with whoever gets to share their story on this journey and will always find something to complain about, oh and you drove her away with your rudeness. Suggestion to the negative nancies, remember that everyone has their own plan for their success with paying off debt, and when good things happen, be happy for them… it’s really that simple.
I worked as a cruise ship nurse for ten years. I don’t know where in Mexico you are planning to visit, but since it’s a four day cruise, I presume it is Cozumel. Don’t buy onboard excursions. They are too expensive. You can arrange with a taxi driver to take you to the same places for a much better deal. You can take the quickie ferry over to Playa del Carmen and go to the state park. You can rent a car and drive around the island. You can arrange a snorkel tour when you go into the town. A couple nice places to eat are Gerardo’s which is downtown and Pizza Rolandi’s which is a bit of a walk, but well worth it. Do not think of it as a typical pizza joint. It isn’t. Their linguini alfredo is very good. Both places have a nice court yard in which to eat. I don’t know which pier your ship will be docking at, but if it’s not the downtown pier, take a taxi or rent a car and turn right and you’ll come to a very nice beach and park. Feel free to contact me for more info. I will be glad to answer any questions
it was Cozumel and we definitely went to the state park! we took a local taxi and it was only $3/person. what a beautiful park, too. we loved it. thanks for the tips.