It is typical for cruisers to watch the cruise rates and flight rates and request the lower rate when available. Being that we anticipate not having internet frequently, it made sense to have someone on land manage this. I will have one of my children do so for me, giving them 25% of anything they are able to save us.
The assumption is that the deposit for the cruises would be $125/person/cruise. The full amount of the cruise will be due 90 days prior to departure and only one price change after that time. This may differ from cruise line to cruise line, but these are the assumptions we are going to make.
We opted to get credit cards with the major cruise lines. This way we would get any additional perks through their cards. We also have a credit card that has a favorable rate for foreign purchases. Payments to the credit cards would be automatic.
We own stock with the major cruise lines which provides us with additional cruise credits. If you own a certain number of stocks, you get cruise credit on each cruise you take. For this virtual cruise, we are going to make the assumption that this is not our first cruise – in fact, we will say that we’ve done one 7-day cruise with each of the major cruise lines. We can then investigate the perks that we would gain as we go through our adventure.
Additional expenses to consider will be per diem tips on the cruise. Travel & excursions while at ports. Hotel, food, & expenses on nights not spent on a cruise ship. Ongoing necessities such as hair cuts, laundry, etc. Flights from one location to another as needed. Cell phone and insurance expenses. Without maintaining a car, we figure we will need non-auto car insurance for at least one driver. We will also need health insurance, prescription costs, and co-pays. We will have a monthly fee for our storage unit.
Finances we won’t have will be our mortgage, utilities, groceries, cleaning supplies, lawn care, car repairs, home upkeep/repair expenses, appliance repair/upkeep, cable/internet, pet expenses, or streaming services. Since we won’t have much suitcase space, we will not be purchasing many souvenirs (and if we do they will be wearable or small).
The idea is that by eliminating regular day-to-day expenses that we would be able to afford this perpetual cruising lifestyle. The emphasis is on having experiences, not possessions. Today we fly down to Miami. And it begins…..