Cut costs on a ‘budget’ cruise

The Associated Press

Published Sunday, February 1, 2009

The cruise industry bills cruising as a great value. For one upfront price, your accommodations, meals and trip are paid for.

But Wendy Perrin, consumer news editor at Conde Nast Traveler magazine, cautions that "the cruise fare you see advertised is not the price you’ll end up paying. The advertised fare, which is usually for the smallest, windowless cabin, does not include mandatory taxes and port fees, mandatory gratuities or highly recommended additional charges, such as cruise insurance."

Here are a few ways to keep costs down:

Cabin selection: The cheapest cabins will be inside - no balcony, no windows. This might sound depressing, but on many cruise ships, public spaces are so vast and appealing that you won’t want to be in you’re room unless you’re sleeping.

There are multiple decks with pools, atria and libraries - all to be enjoyed for free - not to mention the scenic views.

Free activities: Plenty of things to do on a cruise ship are free, like using the fitness center or catching live performances, from comedy to musical variety.

The Celebrity Solstice, which launched in November, features the first "Hot Glass Show" at sea, where glass blowers from New York’s Corning Museum of Glass give free glass blowing demonstrations. The Solstice also has a deck with real grass called the "Lawn Club" where you can play bocce or croquet or putt golf balls for free.

On Princess Cruises, one way to lure you out of your room is a giant poolside screen, 300 square feet, that shows feature films, concerts and even telecasts of events, from the inauguration to the Super Bowl to the Oscars.

Avoid temptation: Give yourself a daily budget for extras, and if you skip a day, you’ll have that much more to spend the next day.

Sightseeing: Do your homework about different types of cruises. For fun in the sun, cruise to a beach destination or warm island. A cruise can be a "wonderful way of island-hopping," Perrin said.

But to explore a destination in depth, a cruise might not leave you feeling satisfied and could entail hundreds of dollars extra for ground transportation and tours, Perrin said.

"You might have eight hours in port or 11 hours in port, but depending on the destination, it could take hours to get from the port to the city," leaving much less time for sightseeing, Perrin said.

Shore excursions booked through cruise lines are usually priced higher than if you make arrangements yourself. "You can often have a better time for less money hiring a car and driver," Perrin said.

But there are advantages to booking excursions through the ship. Cruise lines screen tour companies for quality, and if there’s a delay in ground transportation, the ship will wait for you if you’ve booked the tour through them.