I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – cruises are by far the most budget friendly way to travel because you can book them in advance and prepay in installments. But the base fare is not the only thing you can prepay. There are several other trip costs you can pay in advance so that the majority of your vacation costs are paid before you even sail away!
1. Cruise Fare
The base cruise fare is practically all-inclusive since it covers meals, accommodations, and destinations. You can travel to multiple countries while only unpacking once, and, unless you book your cruise at the last minute – you don’t have to pay your entire fare costs up front like when booking an airline ticket. Instead, you can pay in installments, make it much easier on your wallet.
2. Excursions
Although the cruise fare includes transportation to the destination ports, you probably want to do more than get off the ship and walk around aimlessly, which is where excursions come in. Not only can you pay for excursions in advance, but being able to choose between booking an excursion through the cruise line or through a third party like cruisingexcursions.com also helps your wallet by giving you more options that fit your budget.
3. Alcohol
The drink packages offered by cruise lines these days are perfect for those cruisers who are known to get carried away running up a bar tab. Prices and package details vary across cruise lines, but typically the top packages that include beer, wine, and liquor are around $50 per person per day plus gratuity. That sounds like a lot when you say it, but if you think about it, the package typically pays for itself in about 5 drinks in a day, and most packages don’t cap out until 15 drinks per day. And the best part of it is the peace of mind in knowing that you won’t have to go home with a bar tab because you will have prepaid it already! And you thought those drinks couldn’t taste any sweeter…
4. Soda
Cruise lines also offer super affordable unlimited soda packages that typically cost only a few bucks per person per day. Similar to the alcoholic drink packages, prepaying for this means you can sip on as many sodas as you want without worrying about what it’s costing you to order another.
5. Gratuities
If you don’t prepay your gratuities, they get tacked onto your bill at the end of your cruise. And since debarkation is depressing enough as it is, don’t make it worse with one more bill that you could’ve easily paid in advance.
Why do you think cruises are budget friendly? Leave a comment below.
