We’re baaaack! Looks pretty good right? We took our own advice and planned a cruise with twelve of our closest friends to Mexico, Honduras, and Belize. Since we’re still pretty jazzed about how much fun it was, I figured it’d be a good time to share some pictures, plus a few tips for saving money and surviving in close quarters with all of your friends.
First, the breakdown:
The cruise was seven nights, left out of Orlando (Port Canaveral), and cost us $520 per person, which includes our rooms, food and beverages (not alcohol or soda), and basically all on-board entertainment. We booked three rooms, two with five people, and one with four. Our four ports of call were Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico, Roatan Island, Honduras, and Belize City, Belize.
Here’s our cruise “family photo” courtesy of Carnival:
Aren’t we an adorable bunch? Now, living in close quarters with that many people can be fun, but it can also lead to some very annoyed friends if you’re not careful, so here are our top five tips for making it work:
- If you’re getting busy, leave a sign on the door. The “Do Not Disturb” sign, a sock, anything to let your roommies know they should come back a little later. Saves a lot of embarrassment.
- Share, share, share! If you feel sea sick, if you have a headache, if you need a tampon, etc, just ASK! Chances are good that someone else you’re with has had a similar problem or came prepared for the problem you have. Instead of buying fourteen separate packages of dramamine, when the boat started rocking, we shared. When allergies started acting up, the allergy meds were passed around. We all spent less money and walked off the boat with fewer unnecessary items.
- Don’t expect everyone to do everything with you. When you have a big group, you inevitably have a diverse set of interests. With all of the options available for onboard entertainment and shore excursions, it’s silly to assume everyone in your group will want to do the same thing. We made a Google Sheet for excursions as we bought them. Everyone added to it as they planned their trip. That way, we knew who was planning on going where when, and anyone who was interested could join in.
- Allow for some alone time. This sort of goes along with the last item, but lots of people need some time to themselves to recharge their batteries. Whether they choose to take it as a nap in the middle of the day when the room is otherwise empty or as an opportunity to stare at the sea from the back deck late at night, make sure you let them have it. Everyone will be happier for it.
- Keep an open mind. There is literally ALWAYS something happening on the boat. They make sure to plan a ton of varied activities to keep cruise-goers occupied while at sea. They may not all be something you are interested in, but if a friend invites you to go with them and you don’t have anything else in mind, give it a try! I usually hate karaoke with a burning passion, but I went with 8 people from our group and though I didn’t sing (because nobody deserves that kind of punishment) I still had a good time watching and supporting my friends. Plus you never know what you’ll find in port. We went horseback riding and ended up playing with a white-faced Capuchin monkey!
So, now that everyone is more likely to have a good time, how do you keep from breaking the bank while on the boat?
- Take as many of your own pictures as you can. The cruise line will offer to take your picture on the boat and in port, and that’s free. But buying those suckers? Crazy expensive. Unless it’s a picture you really like or can’t take on your own (such as pictures of Seth, Chris, and I riding horses in the ocean, where our phones would not fare well), skip it.
- Skip the spa. Lots of people spend crazy amounts of money on spa treatments on a cruise. I can’t for the life of me understand why. The treatments are always more than you’d pay at home (at least in my experience) and they always try to sell you really expensive salon products at the end of your treatment by telling you your skin is dry or you have dark circles or you’re going to die or something. It’s just not worth it.
- Booze it up in port. Buying a drink or two on the ship isn’t going to break the bank. If you follow the daily specials you can even drink for prices comparable to home. But if you really want to party, save it for a day in port. The prices are way cheaper, the specials are better, and you get a taste of the local flavor too. For example, I drank a concoction of whiskey, crushed kiwi, and OJ on the beach for $4 each in Mexico. The cheapest liquor-based drink I had on the boat cost almost double that. Plus everything tastes better on a beach.
- Buy your excursions waaaaayyy ahead of time. Usually, when you book your cruise, there’s a window of a few days to a week when you can bundle your excursions to get a discount. Seth and I got 20% off by buying 3 excursions, all of which we thoroughly enjoyed. Plus excursions will sell out, so you get a better selection when you book early.
- Don’t feel like you have to buy excursions. Most ports of call rely on tourism as a large source of income, so don’t be afraid to hail a cab, bargain for a good price, and ask the driver to take you to the best beach around, their favorite restaurant, or the most interesting attraction. Lots of people in our group did that and had nothing but good things to say about their experiences.
- Bring essentials. This is different for everyone, but you know what you need. If you are prone to allergies, make sure to bring your allergy meds. If you are prone to headaches, don’t forget your meds. If you have very fair skin, make sure to bring a ton of sunscreen. All of these things are cheaper to bring than they are to buy on the boat, so try to make sure you remember them when you leave home!
That’s all the advice I have for you for now. We had an absolute blast on this cruise and are already trying to figure out when we should plan the next one! I hope anyone who uses these guidelines to plan their own getaway feels the same! And please feel free to comment or email us if you have questions about how to pull off a similarly epic and cheap vacation.
