8 easy strategies I used on my recent Royal Caribbean cruise to save money

I can remember cruising when they did not have specialty dining.

awesome! im going on a cruise! thanks mat

You speak so fast that i sometimes can't understand you. I watch a lot of your videos as we're doing a transatlantic next April.

We'll be sailing on the Oasis on June 9th. We booked a gty ocean view in April of 2022, and repriced twice in May and July of 2022, saving close to $300. In January of this year, we put a minimum (as in, as low as you can book) Royalup bid, and a month ago were accepted into a Neighborhood Balcony for $130. So, $170 less than our initial fare by being prudent.

We always book an inside cabin and we avoid all alcohol and after trying specialty restaurants in the past we now eat at the regular dining venues as we just didn't feel the charges were equal to the value. We probably seem cheap to many, but we prefer thrifty. You might be surprised how many of friends routinely ask how we travel so much...

you can send me & my husband on a cruise and ill give you feed back from Australia lol😀

Hi Joe much tip do you give your stateroom person in addition to the prepaid gratuities

Never bother with the Elemis sales lounge - sorry, I mean the spa! (Seriously ALL they are interested in is selling you Elemis products, and it's pretty hard sell, at that!)

Did not purchase any pictures, and stayed away from the shops

I had a rotten experience with a Guaranteed cabin, as we got the smallest cabin on the ship (based on looking at deck maps) and the smallest balcony (again, based on deck maps). We had booked cruise early, we were and still are Diamond level. Maybe for an inside cabin, they are pretty much the same, it might be alright. But if you want a Balcony room, DO NOT DO IT. I think the risk is too high, for the $100-$200 you save.
Your other tips are pretty good. Especially on excursions. DO YOUR research. You can save big bucks.

I book my cruises more than 1 year in advance. I am traveling with a family of 7 and like to have the vacation paid off before we go.

For a tour we select a taxi driver for 1/2 day and split it with friends. better than and less expensive most port tours.

Most times an Airbnb is less expensive that a hotel especially for just an overnight stay.

Here are a couple of negatives: I booked 5 months early on HAL and the price dropped several hundred dollars 2 months ahead. I did a guarantee inside on Carnival and got one just below and near the main stage, so had to listen to the lousy music of the terrible shows even though we did not attend.

Never ever buy water! Bring an empty waterbottle and fill it everywhere. Yes the buffets say no filling water bottles so you fill glasses and transfer it at your table. Also, all the restaurants will fill them for you if you ask

tip nine don't go

Just found out Royal changed their policy in February on their best price guarantee or whatever its called where if your room rate drops they give you the difference in on board credit up to 48 hours before you sail, they officially changed it to 48 hours after you book, so now if 49 hours after you book the room drops 300 bucks, you are SOL.

Has Matt gone to the dark side and now doing ads for travel companies??? Not sure I would trust Priceline as not knowing what hotel brand I am working with concerns me as to really what the hotel is like. A 3.5 Star hotel is a very broad range of what could be bad.

Hi Matt! I did not know about Priceline Express. I would just add to be careful how far you book your hotel away from the cruise port or airport. I live and work in the Miami suburbs and can tell you that a 1-2 hour commute to downtown is not uncommon during rush hour, plus there are always construction issues. Take care. 🚢

A few years ago some one suggested that if you go to the office and complain about the change at the end of the cruise they will cancel your charges. They did but this was about 7 years ago. I think maybe they don't like the embarrassment of having this discussion while other customers are listening. This was cruise add on many years ago.