Just returned from the Mexican Riveria on the Sun Princess... Periodically, people have posted questions or opinions about methods of saving money on cruises and I personally talked to 3 people on this cruise who each had come up with their own &quot;money saving&quot; idea, so had to post them. <BR><BR>1) Young couple (under 30) brought their own blender, mixes, rum and glasses on board. Made their drinks in their cabin and brought the blender pitcher full of pina colada, margarita, etc. with two glasses onto the decks; perched their blender on the table and poured their drinks.<BR><BR>2) Older couple (55+) brought a case of spring water on board with them. As husband said, &quot;I dropped my wife off at the pier, along with a case of spring water. Put a cabin sticker on the case of water and it was delivered to our cabin.&quot;<BR><BR>3) Middle aged man (40-ish) saved his cruise card from his previous Princess cruise that had the &quot;Coca Cola&quot; sticker on it and flashed that at the waiters when he ordered sodas on this cruise. Waiters typically just look for the sticker and don't inspect the card, so he wasn't caught (at least, not as of Day 9). <BR><BR>Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

And your point is?<BR><BR>You aren't under the misconception that typical cruisers are wealthy are you? I can't think of any other reason why these moneysaving tips are surprising to you then.<BR><BR>I say good for them, maybe they don't like or have money to throw around.

Personally... i usually bring a 6 pack of water along to take into port and bring along some alcohol to mix drinks for in my room only... when i am out and about on the ship i'll buy drinks at the bar.... i dont want to waste money.. buy am i cheap for not wanting to spend $2.00 for a bottle of water when i can get a 6 pack(same brand, same size) for $2.99 at home???

Did you know that the reverse osmosis process for water purification used on most ships makes it cleaner, clearer and better tasting that any of the bottled stuff? All you have to do is bring your own bottle and fill it from the tap before you go ashore.

I also bring a 6-pack of bottled water onto the ship. I personally like the squirt bottles that I buy verses the ones the ship sells. Never had a problem bringing it on the ship and never concealed it.<BR><BR>Princess alternates colors of their &quot;coke sticker&quot; each week. I know this because some how I accidently got the wrong color sticker and people were constantly looking at my card to see that it was valid. I guess the guy got lucky and had the right color.

I wonder if the under 30 couple make their own bed and clean the bathroom themselves so they do not have to tip the cabin steward.

Yes, believe it or not there are people who make their own beds so they don't have to tip their room steward! Two years ago I took a 3 day cruise with a group of girl friends and one of our friends brought along someone the rest of us didn't know. Big mistake! It started at breakfast the morning we boarded when she refused to leave a tip for our waitress. We left her a $10 tip on a $30 bill just to piss her off. While on the ship she refused to let the room steward in her room because she thought he was going to look at her underware! She was a nut case. <BR>Our waiter on board was one of the best waiters I've ever had land or sea so we all went above and beyond the required tip. After we all handed him our envelopes on the last night and thanked him she rummuged (sp?) around in her purse and gave like $2 in change! Let's just say we won't be traveling with that lunatic again.

But Rachel, she was probably just being frugal, and didn't have money to throw around.

What's wrong with trying to save money on drinks? We bring a disposable plastic bottle and fill it with ice<BR>water from the room and carry it around<BR>when we stop at the islands. You're not<BR>supposed to drink water at some of those<BR>places anyway.

I agree - bringing a reasonable amount of water (not a case!) on board makes sense and certainly, filling a bottle on-board instead of purchasing it for shore excursions or work outs is smart. I was just amazed by the couple who brought their own blender et al - it truly does take all kinds!

REgarding Rachel's story: if she could afford the cruise I'm sure she could afford the tip money for a 3 day cruise ! What a cheapskate! People like that should just stay home.<BR>I agree, nothing wrong with bring some water or a bottle of wine on board though. Most cruiselines don't care if you do.

You know, these people who call those who make their own drinks or bring their own water cheap are probably same one's who can't pay cash for their cruise or finance it because they don't have the money. I see it all the time.<BR><BR>Consider this, I have plenty of money, like to save it, and like to take many vacations every year, so a cruise isn't a big splurge for me. Am I cheap? That's subjective. Am I wealthy? relatively speaking, absolutely. Do I tip well? Yes. But I don't believe in throwing money away on overpriced drinks or water, which is while I'll be enjoying a very comfortable retirement while the other big spenders try to stay out of debt and rack up the interest charges.

There is a big difference between cheap and frugal. Most people can tell which is which.

I wouldn't be caught dead on vacation (or elsewhere)with someone who would want to make their own bed to avoid tipping the staff. People like this should stay home. Remember, these people get paid next to nothing.