Find out how to save money on a cruise! 5 simple tips from my own experience.
You will notably spend money if you lean on paid additional services on board the liner. I will tell you about cheaper alternatives.
1. Stock up on alcohol
Let's start with the main thing - alcohol!
A cruise is a holiday and a holiday, so you can hardly survive without alcohol. Even I, a person quite cold to alcohol, succumbed to temptation on the very first day of the cruise and took a bottle of wine. And then six more ...
By the way, drinks on Costa liners cost quite adequate money, no more than in a regular bar or restaurant on land: a glass of wine, a can of beer or a cocktail - from 5 €, a bottle of wine - from 20 €. The prices are normal, but the store is still three times cheaper. But it is forbidden to bring your own alcohol on board. Scared? Relax now: a little smuggling is okay. In each port we bought and brought on board a can of beer and a bottle of water. There are no questions at the inspection: we are all human, everyone understands everything. The main thing is to observe the measure. We didn’t risk bringing wine from the shops, believing that there would certainly be questions about the large glass bottle during the inspection. But once in Tenerife they took a wine after the bag check line, in duty-free: it turned out 9 € versus 25 € on board.
If smuggling is not your level, or, more likely, you have already drunk all of it, look for day discounts in bars and restaurants or alcohol packages (cheaper in bulk). We took a package of 6 bottles of wine and 7 bottles of water for 110 €.
By the way, if you haven't finished your bottle of wine at the restaurant, don't worry - it will be reserved for you until the next evening. We drank every bottle in two evenings.
2. Stock up on water
Water in the buffet is free, and in the restaurant and in the minibar of the cabin it is chargeable: 3 € per liter. It is officially forbidden to fill a bottle with water in the buffet, but people do not recognize such rules and calmly pour. You can also bring water from land in reasonable amounts.
3. Forget about the internet
On board, it is kapets how expensive! Just forget about it while you are at sea, connect to the network on land: through your operator or look for Wi-Fi. I got 4 GB of free internet on a premium Mastercard card from Tinkoff, so at all stops I could work and communicate with my home. And in the sea, I rested offline.
On the liner, I caught a cold and I had to buy Internet access to contact the insurance company. I chose the cheapest option: 5 € for access to social networks for one day + 3 € for the first internet activation. These expenses were reimbursed to me by my insurance along with the costs of treatment. I have free insurance from Tinkoff - I recommend it.
4. Don't buy their excursions
Everyone knows that the most expensive excursions on vacation are from tour operators. It's the same on a cruise. Organize your walk at the stops on your own, you are not small children, by God. If you like excursions, then book them yourself on the Tripster or Sputnik - and there is more choice and prices are lower.
The transfer from the cruise terminal to the city center from the cruise company is also always 2-3 times more expensive than from local carriers. You can often walk to the center.
During the cruise, we visited Marseille, Barcelona, Tenerife, Barbados, Martinique and Guadeloupe. We walked everywhere on our own, and rented a car in Martinique and Guadeloupe and rode well.
5. Do it yourself
Do not use the laundry service on board - for each item they charge from 3 €. Just take some T-shirts, shirts and linen with a reserve, and small items can be washed in the sink, a drying line is provided in every cabin.
