1. Research--once you have found your cruise, research the boat, the ports you are stopping in, and the excursions. There are many cruise review web sites that talk about things to do and people's recommendations. The boat excursions are convenient but also more pricey than doing it on your own. I weigh the cost and pros and cons of dragging my kids all over a strange country vrs. having the tour group meet you on the pier. When we went swimming with the stingray in Grand Cayman, we set up the tour online and had a great time, but when we got to Ensenada it was much easier to book the tour on the boat and not have to worry about getting around.
2. Saving some moola---you know once the real way that the cruiseline makes money is not from the price of the cruise, but from the on-boat expenses. Most people blow all their cash on alcohol, at the casino, and in the shops. They give you a card when you get on the boat that is your room key and credit card--no cash is exchanged. This makes it very easy to not notice the purchases adding up. I think the key to this is planning ahead. Here's an example...we don't drink alcohol, so that's not an expense, but on our first cruise we purchased an "all you can drink soda cup". They give you a mug (not a very big one by the way) for $25 a person and you can get a soda at the pool, shows, dinner, etc. We quickly realized that to get our monies worth we would have to drink something like 10 sodas a day, which is not only not good for you, but you will quickly get sick of soda. On subsequent cruises, we have skipped the soda card and just had water most of the time. Once in a while if we felt like it we would order a soda (I think they charge $2 a drink) but found that it was not often enough to justify the mighty soda cup--plus we didn't have to carry the dumb cups around everywhere.
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