The Ultimate Guide to Cruising Without Paying Extra

I’ve taken enough cruises to know that you can enjoy life at sea without spending a single extra dollar beyond the cost of your cruise fare. In fact, I’ve been on trips where I didn’t pay extra for food, drinks, specialty restaurants, gifts, or entertainment—and still had an incredible vacation. 

FLYING SPIRIT AIRLINES - Luggage Allowance & Covid

 

My daughter and I spent spring break in Orlando and domestic tickets have been super cheap during Covid.  Currently there are tickets available from Dallas to Orlando for around $34 round trip.

I was not sure what to expect since I have not flown in the past year.  Especially when dealing with a budget airline like Spirit.

11 Things That Surprised Me About Malta: A First-Time Visitor’s Guide

One of the things I love most about traveling is discovering how different each country can be. Every place has its own traditions, food, language, customs, and little quirks—and honestly, those differences are part of what makes traveling so much fun.

Malta was no exception.

This was my first visit to Malta, and I came away with a few things that surprised me, along with some practical information that may be helpful if you're planning your first trip. Keep in mind that some of the information below is based on what I experienced during my visit, so it's always a good idea to check current information before your own trip.

7 Reasons I Still Love the Carnival Breeze

If you have booked a cruise on the Carnival Breeze, you are in for a great time.

I first sailed on the Carnival Breeze and absolutely loved it. Since then, I've had the opportunity to sail on quite a few other ships, including smaller Royal Caribbean ships, Harmony of the Seas, and MSC Seascape.

Sailing on those ships has definitely changed the way I look at cruising. I've experienced larger ships with more activities, different layouts, more dining options, and amenities that weren't available on the Breeze.

The last trip I took involved eight flights, and the trip before that, to Europe, involved seven. So, over the past few years, I have spent a lot of time making my way through international airports.

Of all the airports I have traveled through, London took the longest to get through—and it actually caused us to miss our flight.

And the reason?

A tiny little tube of antibiotic cream.

Yep. A tiny tube of cream that wasn't in my clear liquids bag. It was tucked away in my regular toiletry bag.

Seven airports hadn't had a problem with it.

One did.

And that one little tube of cream started a whole series of unfortunate events.

BACK IN BARCELONA

When I went to Europe in 2014, I honestly thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

I was completely enchanted by Europe. For the entire 16 days we were there, it felt like I was living in a dream. It was just my daughter and me, traveling together on what felt like the biggest adventure of our lives.

I raised her as a single parent, and in many ways, we lived vicariously through Rory and Lorelai Gilmore. We dreamed about going somewhere exciting and far away, never really imagining that we would actually get the chance to do it.

I should probably say that I never dreamed it would happen for me.

My daughter had always wanted to study abroad and knew that, someday, she would travel. For me, Europe was more of a dream than a realistic possibility.

Then, somehow, we made it happen.

HOW I CRUISE FOR FREE!

I just got back from a an eight day cruise to the Caribbean and it cost me absolutely nothing.  That's right.  It was FREE.  

How did I do this?  I used credit card reward points.  I used 35,000 points to get $550.00 off my cruise.  Since my ticket was $463 (oceanview in the off season), I used the rest of the money to pay toward my grandsons ticket.  

8 PLACES OUTSIDE OF THE US YOU CAN ACTUALLY AFFORD TO TRAVEL TO IN 2017

I have said this many times....Travel doesn't have to be expensive.  If it was, I would never leave my house.  I live in Arkansas where the minimum wage is $8.50, so many of us have to work extra jobs to earn travel money.  Some work three jobs!

The good news is that there are some places where you can consistently find cheap flights and lodging.  Places like Spain, Italy, France, Ireland,  many Caribbean islands, and almost all of Mexico.

One of your biggest expenses is airfare so be sure to check out my post on Finding Cheap Airfare HERE.

My travel companions and I have put a list of some of our favorite budget places to travel.

#1 ROME   I don't remember ever seeing Rome and a list for budget travel.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe because flying directly into Rome can be expensive.  If you fly to a cheaper destination like Barcelona, you can fly on to Rome for around $25.  Once you are in Rome, there are tons of things to see for free.  We paid to get into the Colosseum but you can walk to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, and many more places for free. 

The public bus cost €1.50 for 100 minutes or €24 for a week so you can travel around Rome cheap.  There are tons of places to eat in Rome but if you are looking for someplace inexpensive, pop into one of the pizza shops where you can get a huge slice of pizza and soda for around €5.

#2 BARCELONA I never realized how popular Barcelona was as a travel destination until I traveled there the first time.  Barcelona is fairly easy to get around and there is always something to do.  Buses to and from the airport are very affordable (I think we paid ­€7) and if you stay in a hotel (or use Airbnb like we did) near the Placa CAntalunya, it's just a short walk to everywhere.  If you really want to eat cheap, find a tapas bar where you can pick up a tapas for €1 each. 

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!

It's never too late to follow your dreams....

At 51 years of age, I can say this is true.  I spent my married life sitting at home the first few years taking care of kids, his & mine, and the second half traveling with my husband who fished bass tournaments.  Several months out of the year we spent two weeks on the road traveling to various state while my husband fished in BASS and FLW tournaments.    

                                          

We were in southern Florida in January, by February we were in another state, and March a different state.  We traveled around Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Michigan just to name a few.  

AIRBNB EXPERIENCE IN SENGLEA, MALTA

We decided to use Airbnb for our lodging in each country we visited.  I have never used Airbnb before but had heard about others having great experiences with it and the cost was much cheaper than staying in hotels.  And let's face it, staying in a hotel doesn't really give you an authentic experience.  

For detailed information about pricing and apartments we rented, check out my post Booking Unbelievably Cheap Lodging in Europe...Yes, It's Possible ! 

If you have never registered with  AIRBNB  and use THIS LINK you will receive a discount on your booking and I will get credit toward a future booking.  

We chose Kavall Apartments in Senglea. The price was great and the location was fantastic. The apartments are located just two minutes' walk from the Bus Terminus and 5 minutes away from the Sea, in one of the Three Cities in the historical part of Malta. Quiet and peaceful, yet only twenty minutes from the Capital City - Valletta.

The two photos above are of the deck off the living room.  It wraps almost completely around the apartment.

Everything was immaculate and beautiful.  The pictures really don’t do the place justice.

BOOKING UNBELIEVABLY CHEAP LODGING...Yes, It's Possible !

Next to airfare, lodging can be one of your largest expenses when you travel.  While searching for  lodging in Europe, we quickly realized that Airbnb was the way to go.  You can stay in an entire apartment cheaper than you can stay in a hotel.  Of course, since we haven't stayed in any of these places, we will have to wait for the final verdict.  

We rented apartments in all three countries.  Here is what we have booked so far:

Update:  I wanted to update our experiences at each of these places and  give you honest reviews.

The first place we booked is in Barcelona.

The description was accurate and it was well worth the $134 for four people.  You can read the entire review of this apartment HERE along with photos of the apartment and lodging information. 

The Space

Accommodates: 5

Bathrooms: 1

Bedrooms: 2

Beds: 3

Check In: Anytime after 2PM

Check Out: 12PM (noon)

Property type: Apartment

Room type: Entire home/apt

 The cost for 4 people ...$134.00 ($33.50 each)

SECRETS TO FINDING CHEAP AIRFARE

Since I always have people ask me how I find cheap airfare, I thought I would write a post about it. Below are some tips to the sites that I use and why I use them. I'm not going to go into earning airline miles in this post, I'll save that for a later post.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how I fly cheap on Spirit Airlines. There are other airlines that have similar cheaper flights and you can save a lot of money using them. Just keep in mind that there are trade-offs for the cheap fares such as no free food or beverages. I have listed links to some of these airlines below.

Check Fares Often
Airlines change fares constantly, often multiple times a week. So when it comes to buying an airline ticket, timing is everything. To get the best deals you will need to check airfare sites often. I have about three sites that I check at least once a day. The price of a fare can change in a few seconds (many times the price will change while you are looking at the fare). I was looking at an airfare to Morocco which was listed at $167 and the price jumped to $850 within five minutes.

Be Flexible
You can save hundreds of dollars by being flexible on your dates and destinations. Here is a random example I pulled up on Skyscanner

BUDGET LODGING IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA

How do you find budget lodging in Orlando?  That's one of the most asked questions when planning your Orlando vacation.  

There are several budget hotels near the attractions and you will need to consider if you plan to visit several attractions or if you plan to stay in one area.  We planned our trip around visiting Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  The hotels around this area can be expensive, especially if your have specific needs.  For example, we needed a hotel with a kitchenette since we had a baby and needed to be able to keep and heat formula.  We were also planning to be there 5 days and wanted to be able to prepare food in the room.