You’ve booked your cruise and are looking forward to an amazing vacation on the high seas. However, keep in mind that, beyond your cruise fare, there’s likely more you’ll need to pay for during your trip, such as specialty dining, drinks, shore excursions, etc.
Luckily, there are a few easy ways you can save money before you cruise. From traveling light to DIYing your shore excursions, here are my 10 top recommendations for saving your cash for the cruise experiences that matter.
1. Think About the Best (cheapest!) Way to Get to the Cruise Port
If you don’t live in a major cruise port city like Miami, then you’ll likely be traveling to the port before you embark. If you’re coming from more than a few hours’ drive away, you’ll likely automatically assume you’ll fly to the city, to save time.
Or if you’re trying to save money, you might think you’ll just drive to the port, even if it’s a lengthy trip, so you can avoid pricey airfare.
However, hold up a second. There are multiple factors to consider.
One, driving to a port isn’t always as cheap as it seems. You’ll need to pay to park your car somewhere while you cruise. Additionally, there’s the energy cost you’ll pay when driving a long distance to port.
I always feel a little worse for wear after driving more than a few hours in one go, and that’s not the energy you want to bring to your first day at sea.
Two, flying to the port city isn’t always as convenient as you think. I always (and always advise other cruisers to do the same) arrive in the port city the day before embarkation, if I’m flying. This is because you can never know when a flight might be delayed or cancelled altogether.
If you’re flying in on embarkation day, you could easily miss the ship at the airline’s whim. However, this safe choice comes with an added cost. You’ll need a hotel room for the night.
Is it Better to Fly or Drive to the Cruise Port?
So how do you decide the best option for you? It’ll take a little detective work.
Look at drive times to the port, as well as parking fees. Cruise Hive publishes parking guides for a range of popular cruise terminals, complete with pricing, so you can find the most affordable option, whether that’s parking at the cruise terminal itself or with a third-party parking provider.
Then, look at airfare, as well as hotel rates near the port. Ideally, find a hotel that offers cruising packages that include shuttle service to the port, to save you extra cash that you’d otherwise spend on a rideshare.
Depending on where you live, there may also be another option: the train. Florida’s Brightline, for example, connects Miami and Orlando, which could potentially take you from your home elsewhere in Florida, or from an airport in Florida, to the port in Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Port Canaveral.
Similarly, if you’re going to the Manhattan cruise terminal, you can take Amtrak and NJ Transit trains from parts of Upstate New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, to get as close to the port as possible, and then take a rideshare the remaining few miles.
Whichever option ends up being cheapest, that’s the route you want to go.
2. Pack Light and Pack Smart
If you’re flying to the cruise port, one very easy way to save a little cash is to not check extra baggage. If you’re flying with a major airline like American Airlines, Delta or United Airlines, you can easily rack up hundreds of dollars in checked baggage fees, if you’re traveling as a family.
So, pack light with just a carry on. Believe me — I’ve packed for week-long cruises with just a carry on and it is definitely do-able, if you make a few smart decisions.
Read Also: Things You’ll Wish You’d Packed for Your Cruise
Bring outfits that you can wear multiple times or layers that you can remove or add for different looks on different days. Only bring one swimsuit. Don’t pack excess toiletries that you don’t need, as you’ll already have some in your stateroom.
Though make sure that if it’s an item you do need and that the cruise line doesn’t include for free, that you pack it. Buying extra toiletries like deodorant or toothpaste on the ship can be very costly!
3. Avoid Excess Prep Ahead of Your Cruise
I find it a little strange how some first-time cruisers think they need to show up on the cruise ship looking fit, tan and like they spend every day on the beach. We all know you don’t. We’re all vacationing to get away from a colder climate or our ho-hum daily mundane existences. We’re all in the same (pardon the pun) boat.
As such, don’t spend your extra money before the cruise on a membership at the tanning salon or the gym. If you fear that you’ll be extra pale as you lie out in the Caribbean sun, don’t worry. Plenty of your fellow cruisers are the same. Slather on the sunscreen and soak up the rays without fear.
If you do want to lose a few pre-cruise pounds, do so at home. There are so many free ways to exercise and cut back on the calories without spending your precious vacation funds before you even leave home.
4. Book Certain Items Before the Cruise Leaves
As soon as you book your cruise, you need to ensure that you’re signed up to receive all of the cruise line’s promotional emails. While this can feel like a pain at first, keeping an eye on those emails can help you find good deals on purchases that’ll cost you more later.
Typically, cruise lines offer discounts on shore excursions, beverage packages, dining packages and more, if you buy them well before your embarkation date.
For example, if you purchase the Carnival Cruise Line Cheers! beverage package before your cruise, the price starts at $82.54 per person per day. If you wait to purchase the package until after the cruise leaves, you’ll pay an increased fee of $88.44 per person per day.
5. Research Your Itinerary’s Ports of Call in Advance
While we’re on the topic of booking shore excursions, don’t just book a shore excursion with the cruise line because you think you’re getting a good deal.
Instead, thoroughly research your port of call and see if you could possibly book excursions with a third party and save, or simply explore on your own. In many instances, you don’t need a guide to take you around to popular restaurants, shops or museums. You can go all on your own, saving your money.
For example, Carnival Cruise Line offers shore excursions during stops in Iceland that take you from the cruise port in Reykjavik to the nearby Blue Lagoon in Keflavik. The shore excursion costs $275 per person aged 13 and up for transportation and entry to the famous lagoon.
Worth Reading: Cruise Port Pitfalls That You Really Should Avoid
However, if you just go to the lagoon on your own, you’ll pay just $71 for a ticket, and then, the lagoon also offers round-trip transportation between Reykjavik and the lagoon, for about $63. That means, if you go on your own, you could keep your costs at about $130 per person, rather than $275 per person — that’s less than half!
This is exactly the kind of thing you’d want to book in advance, before your cruise, to save some money during your cruise.
6. Make Sure You Can Easily Go “Off the Grid”
While you can get WiFi during your cruise, internet packages on cruise ships can be pricey.
On Holland America, as an example, the internet packages start at $36 per day, and that’s just for a basic package that doesn’t include streaming video or audio. For those features, you’ll have to upgrade to a package that’s $46 per day. For a week-long cruise, that puts your WiFi costs at over $300.
As such, consider doing whatever you can ahead of your cruise, to be sure that you can easily go “off the grid.”
Tell your work colleagues that you’ll really be unable to answer or even check emails, even if that’s the norm for you while on vacation otherwise. Give the pet sitter an emergency contact that’s someone local, like a friend or family member.
Let those friends and family members know you may only be reachable while you’re in port (and give them a copy of your itinerary, so they know when you’re in port).
These efforts can help you avoid the need for a pricey WiFi package. Plus, you get the added benefit of truly unplugging, for ultimate relaxation.
Save money on cruise ship booze by bringing your own. Many cruise lines will allow you to bring small amounts of alcohol on board, which can negate the need to buy a beverage package before your cruise or spend as much money on alcohol at the ship’s bars.
Royal Caribbean, for one, allows passengers to bring a single, sealed 750 ml bottle of wine or champagne on board, on embarkation day.
Read Also: Can I Take a Wine Opener on a Cruise?
Of course, if you’re saving money for your cruise by flying with a carry-on bag, you won’t be able to bring the wine or champagne from home, so plan to pick it up in your port city before you board. Each adult of drinking age in your party can bring their own bottle.
8. Sign Up for a Travel Credit Card
Travel credit cards are a great way to earn freebies, so long as you pay off the credit card at the end of each month rather than letting debt accrue. Which travel credit card you sign up for will depend on where you’d like to save money.
If you sign up for a travel rewards credit card with, say, United Airlines, you’ll receive special perks as you spend money on the card over the course of each month, like miles you can redeem to save money on your next flight to a cruise port city.
You’ll also get free checked bags, which could help you save money if you absolutely must bring a larger piece of luggage with you, on your cruise.
If you plan to cruise fairly regularly, though, you might sign up for a cruise line-specific credit card. Even if you’ve already booked your next cruise, going ahead and signing up for the line’s card can come with cash-saving benefits.
For example, the Carnival World MasterCard will give you $300 of onboard credit for your cruise, if you spend $1,000 on your card in the first 90 days.
Spending that amount is totally possible if you put your daily costs on the card, from gas to groceries to even rent. Then, you can use the onboard credit to pay for dining, drinks, spa treatments and more.
Plus, most travel credit cards eliminate foreign transaction fees, saving you even more money while you’re in port, as those foreign transaction fees can really add up.
9. Invest in Travel Insurance
While travel insurance isn’t always a necessity, there are some times that I think it’s a worthwhile consideration. While, yes, it is an upfront cost, it can really help you save money when the worst happens.
Let’s say you booked your Caribbean cruise during the height of hurricane season. Sure, you got a great deal on the fare…but what if a hurricane does indeed cancel your cruise?
While some cruise lines may give you a full refund depending on the exact situation, others may just give you a partial refund or credit to use for a future cruise.
Additionally, if you have any health concerns, even mild ones, and you end up needing medical care while you’re in port, that travel insurance is a must to avoid pricey international medical bills.
Travel insurance can cost as little as 4% of your trip’s total cost, so weigh the pros and cons, and see if it’s right for you.
10. Cut Back on the Little Things
Last, but certainly not least, if you’re still looking for ways to make your cruise more affordable so you can spend money where you like — such as at the spa, on specialty dining or even just at the casino — follow some good common sense.
Read Also: Cheapest Cruise Lines for a Budget-Friendly Vacation
See what ways you can cut back on the little things leading up to your cruise, whether that’s canceling Netflix for a few months or avoiding DoorDash for a while.
If it feels like too much of a sacrifice, just think about it in terms of what you’ll get on your cruise, for each thing you give up before your cruise. If you easily spend $150 on DoorDash per week, that’s a luxurious spa treatment you could be having during your vacation.
