Pay This Before You Cruise

What should you pay before you cruise? In today's cruise tip video I offer three things that you should pay before you cruise. This is day 21 of our cruise count up. 10 more days until we cruise on the Carnival Breeze.

Here is the video Don't Pay Off Your Cruise early:

See the rest of the tip videos in this series:

[stephaniem]

I prepay anything I can. I enjoy the stress-free trip when everything is taken care of and I have no surprises.

[DiacriticalOne]

I am uncertainty-averse, so I prepay for as many things as possible. Drinks package, tips, specialty dining, internet. excursions, insurance, everything. This way, at least while I'm on board, I can pretty much eat, drink and be merry without worrying about racking up a large bill. I have some cash for tips, tchotchkes, geegaws, curios, baubles, and incidentals (most of that will go on the card), but the big-ticket stuff is all done. I also paid very early so I can watch the cruise planner to see if prices go down. I saved several hundred dollars this way on my cruise coming up next week.

[barbarataylor]

I’ve my last cruise n this cruise this July I pre paid my gratuities and excursion I’m the type of person to know what I’m doing before hand. I also pre-order water and soda for my cabin; the social plan as well as the photos. The more that I have paid before hand the more money I’ll have n the better I feel! I’m not a big drinker but I do plan to purchase bar cash. I’m happy that I have that option! Thank you for all of your advice and tips I’m loving it!!

[katiewhalen-rust]

Pre pay tips, drinks anything we possibly can transportation to/from port. Anything to make things less hassle or worry free... It's vacation baby!

[eloise]

The internet package is definitely cheaper if you prepay before the cruise! I saved a lot on my last cruise! Thank you for you informative commentaries!

[ArielBos]

When you book your cruise, I believe you should also purchase your cruise insurance at that time. Although you may purchase it at anytime prior to your cruise, I believe you may run a risk on cancelling for any reason, work reasons, pre-existing coverage, financial default, etc. Many travel insurance companies require you to purchase your plan 10-14 days after the initial deposit of your cruise in order to be in effect. Hope this helps!

[blancapabon]

I am cruising in July on the new Carnival Sunrise, I prepaid my gratuities, got gift cards for my sign & sail account on a discount & prepaid my picture package, purchased 2 cases of water, purchased tote n towels !! I am so ready🛳

[CraftingWithStoney]

If you're not going to drink 15 drinks a day, every day, instead of getting the drink package purchase a bottle of liquor from the fun shops (Carnival, not sure about other cruise lines) to be delivered to your stateroom. Not only will you save some money on drinks but you can not purchase bottles of liquor once you are on the ship to have in your stateroom.

[tod]

I've posted on other videos. I prepay my sail and sign card up to $400. No bills due at the end.

[ronniegilbert]

Hey tony You are so right with prepaying excursions They fill up fast and you may miss out My advice is not really a prepay but a don’t over pay Make sure you bring everything you need Medicine, sunscreen, ...you don’t want to pay for them on the cruise Thanks tony

[musketeermefranks]

I'm going to pre-pay our photo package, getting a flash drive of every single photo the ship photographers take of us. That way I won't feel guilty for asking for a couple more photos, right from the start. I like the idea of paying for tips and excursions and EVERYTHING before getting onboard. I like not having to worry about money because I do that enough! :) THANK YOU for posting this vlog!

[kathleenweber]

We prepay the gratuities, excursions, and the drink packages. As soon as there is a discount on the excursions and drink packages I book them and then keep looking to see if they go down even further.

[diana]

We have always purchased our excursions and beverage packages before. Sometimes we can get a really good deal purchasing them on black friday!! I have not seen any prices as low as the beverage package I purchased last year on good friday for our transatlantic cruise coming up in a month. I love to save money when I can, gives me more money to spend on souveniers.

[yeniffergarth]

Hi Tony, great video. We prepay our gratuities, excursions, drink packages, specialty dinning and internet before the cruise. It makes it feel like its all inclusive. Also if you forget to prepay your gratuities when you first book your cruise, you can always pay for it anytime before your sailing by going online with your cruisline or giving them a call. I like to spread out our cost so although we haven't made the final payment on the cruise we will start purchasing some of the things we know we want. Also if your crusieline offers a perk program, like Faster to the Fun on Carnival or the new Key Program on Royal Caribbean, you have to purchase it ahead of time. There's often a limited number available so purchase it as soon as possible if you know that's something you want to splurge on. Of course, like everything else, make sure that it's something that is worth it to you and your party. Happy Cruising Everyone!!!

[Travelwith_Adrienne]

I pay all that I can, gratuities, photo packages, water, exscruison and even on board credit. However I learned the hard way that on Carnival that the Gratuities have to be prepay before final payment or you have to wait until you on board. Lesson learned not all cruise lines allow you to pay the gratuities after final payment. Next time I check.

[paulthefish]

The reason I pay them with a credit card is you can use a different card for each one. That way if you are a little short when they come in you can pay off some and not others..I use 3 cards one for the drink package, one for the gratuities, and the 3rd for the cruise.

[jerrystewart]

I like to have everything prepaid, Don't drink, so that's not a problem. I just want to get there and not worry about anything. Good tips; thanks Tony.

[lynnfarmer]

We prepay everything we can, then we watch for price drops & that’s our on board credit for spending😊 Great Job all the cruise tips!

[elizabethshampine]

Sometimes we prepay for a rent-a-car on an island-for as little as $25 for the day- you can go explore at your own pace-the rent a car places have free maps (at least that's our experience) and on occasion hand out free coupon booklets for the island.

[kamloopscruiser]

If you live outside the United States, most cruise lines give a better exchange rate than the banks do. For example our next cruise is booked at $1.30 CDN to the US dollar. The bank fluctuates between $1.32 and $1.36 CDN to the US dollar. Saving is about $2 to $6 CDN for every hundred dollars we prepay.