Want to know how to cruise more often? Do what we do, put your cruises on “lay-a-way”! I think one of the most important cruise tips we can give you is to put your cruise on “lay-a-way”. What do I mean by layaway? Well let me tell you!
Sit down and plan out the cruises you want to do over the course of whatever time … let’s say 2 years. Once you know which cruises you want to do and when you want to do them start booking! Since you will most likely be booking far in advance a great cruise tip is to wait for a deposit sale. This will enable you to spend less now on that future cruise … and use the money you saved to book another dream cruise for the future!
Did you know you can have as many cruises booked as you want? Just make sure to check the cruise line’s cancellation policies first. Some cruise lines offer penalty-free cancellations while others charge you if you cancel. I personally like the cruise lines that don’t charge you for cancelling, it makes life much easier and flexible.
Now that you have your first cruise or two booked you can figure out your payment plan. See, when you book a cruise you put down a deposit. After your initial deposit you aren’t required to make any payments until final payment day, which is usually 90 days before sailing. After final payment date you are in lockdown … if you cancel your cruise you lose everything you paid on it, unless you have travel protection (which I highly recommend).
The way to make this lay-a-way work though is to make payments. It can be hard because there isn’t a set due date for payments (actually that’s the hardest part). Paying when you don’t have to … but you need to or this method just won’t work right! Look at your balance due and the amount of time you have before final payment date. Once you figure it out divide the balance due by the months or weeks you have to pay in full and make those payments every single month (or week, it’s up to you). Of course in real life things happen and most likely you will miss some payments, but it’s okay, just catch up if you can and continue on. Next thing you know it will be final payment date and you will already be paid in full (feels great, trust me)!
It’s important to recognize your budget monthly and only book cruises you can afford to pay on. You don’t want to go putting lots of cruise deposits down and then not be able to make your monthly payments and be hit with big bills all of a sudden. That leads to cancellation, which means no cruise(s), and the goal here is to cruise a lot!
In a nutshell:
• Determine how many cruises you want to do in the future
• Watch for cruise sales, or cheap cruises and reduced deposits
• Start out by booking one cruise then add more as your budget allows
• Calculate your monthly payments for each cruise and pay them on time
• Continue the cycle as your budget allows … the sky is the limit!
Remember reduced deposits and cruises on sale equal more cruises in the future! Since you are booking in advance you have the upper hand here. Cruises are usually cheaper the farther out they are, unless you find a super last minute cruise deal (which are good too!).
We hope that our cruise tips will help you take more vacations and cruise more often. Have fun and happy cruising!!
~ The Donoho Sisters
great advice, ladies. off to check out a few….
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Amy and Elizabeth,
Great idea about the lay away idea! Wouldn’t it be the same if you put the whole thing on your credit card? That would make it easier to make monthly payments because you would have reminders via mail or email. Then when it’s paid off you not only on your way to cursing but get credit card points as well🤔
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Then you have interest charges to think about. We use our credit card for the lay away payments then also pay off the credit card monthly. That way no interest and you still get the points.
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We pay with cash (debit card). We don’t like charging stuff.
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I always pay the entire balance when the bill is due…I do not like interest.
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If you don’t mind paying the extra interest unless you have 0%. I just put my $ away in my savings each month, then when final payment is due put it on my CC that would give me the highest % cashback. When that bill comes due(20+ days later) I transfer the $ to checking and pay it off. Since I keep a 0 balance on my cards this is pretty easy.
Trust me, if you are paying 10%+mo on CC w/balance you are loosing $ if you have a savings gaining less then that.
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We pay in cash (deposit into your bank and put on debit card) not credit so we save money 🙂
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ALWAYS pay balance when comes due…no interest, only points!
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Thanks for the info, I always check cruises for deals… I found a great deal on NCL for a 9 day cruise for $579/pp! I booked that right away! The rate has since gone up to $879/pp… So it’s important to keep checking.
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What a great idea! We have always just booked with deposit them paid in full at 90. This idea will allow me to book more with less hit at the 90 day point. My husband loved to cruise but not plan, it all falls to me so maybe I can sneak in a few more with this idea! Thanks so much – he’d thank you too but I am not telling him!! 😎
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Thank you for your words of wisdom. I have always wondered how you go on so many cruises. Do you save a lot of money by booking cruises while you are on a cruise?
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It helps with deposits. The cruises aren’t cheaper … but the deposits are.
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Also, keep an eye on your cruise. If it goes down in price you can contact the cruise line for the lower rate.
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Yes, but sometimes the rates are locked in, depending on the deal you got (this is really common with Carnival).
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I did this on one of my last cruises. Booked an inside with obstructed view window on Carnival. Original booking was 1330ish for 2. Prices went down for my room, substantially so I called in and I just had to pay the remainder of the current deposit amount(booked at 50$pp deposit, rebooked with 250pp deposit) so another 400$ and it saved 300$(I think the new price was about 1040ish for 2). Also helped a family member get the same since that is a substantial amount.
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I think its a great idea….never thought of doing it that way
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why di you cancel some of your cruises like independence epic and vista
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We just made a blog post about it, check it out! 🙂
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