[KevinP]

$3250-- Paid for 2 person cabin by myself

By choice?

Yeah--hey I was on Holiday! :) I didn't want to be in the bowls of the cruise ship--needed comfy

That's some serious coin to be dropping to "rub a few out" in privacy. But whatever makes ya sleep at night I suppose

[cowboy71]

For the two of us:

$4,500 Cabin, Junior Suite
$500 Onbroad spending (about $400 on merch and souveniers, $100 on foods and drinks)
$7,000 Travel agent (Flights, 6 nights hotels in Miami, 3 nights hotels on Orlando, 7 days rental car)
$3,000 Spending money, food, drink, etc.

So about $15,000 Aussie Dollars all up. NOT something we can afford to do every year

[Leonardo]

You can stay for free in the sewers...and you got about 70000 tons of METAL pipes.

[MrsAceMasterHan]

700 total for flights
500 on hotel rooms 1 night before, 2 after
3,200 on nice cabin
100 or so on transportation
200 food
250 spent in cozumel (trinkets, drinking)
600 or so for sea pass bill (includes 200 for Cozumel jungle buggy excursion)

Total (Very rough est) 5,550 USD

This is all for 2 people and it was our honeymoon so really, not so bad!

[doomguy]

For the two of us:

$4,500 Cabin, Junior Suite
$500 Onbroad spending (about $400 on merch and souveniers, $100 on foods and drinks)
$7,000 Travel agent (Flights, 6 nights hotels in Miami, 3 nights hotels on Orlando, 7 days rental car)
$3,000 Spending money, food, drink, etc.

So about $15,000 Aussie Dollars all up. NOT something we can afford to do every year

But it doesn't have to be that expensive, unless you want to travel like a celebrity.

I know when I go i'll be backpacking, or sleeping on a park bench/beach. Eating out of a dumpster. Whatever it takes to keep costs to a minimum.

[cowboy71]

For the two of us:

$4,500 Cabin, Junior Suite
$500 Onbroad spending (about $400 on merch and souveniers, $100 on foods and drinks)
$7,000 Travel agent (Flights, 6 nights hotels in Miami, 3 nights hotels on Orlando, 7 days rental car)
$3,000 Spending money, food, drink, etc.

So about $15,000 Aussie Dollars all up. NOT something we can afford to do every year

But it doesn't have to be that expensive, unless you want to travel like a celebrity.

I know when I go i'll be backpacking, or sleeping on a park bench/beach. Eating out of a dumpster. Whatever it takes to keep costs to a minimum.

Absolutely - this was our honeymoon so a bit different

Doing it again, obviously wouldn't stay so long, nor spend so much, wouldn't book flights so far in advance, wouldn't go for the Junior Suite etc.

[stoverkill]

it's only money

I had fun

EXACTLY!!!

I think I got off easy.... (that's what she said )

1 person
Round trip airfare DFW to MIA - $320
2 night's hotel in South Beach - $280
Food/Drink in Miami - $300
Crusie Ticket - $1,300
Food/Drink on broad - $250 (I swore this number should have been way higher)
Merch - $190 (I would have bought more but they ran out, ugh)
Cabs/Buses - $80

so $2,700 - $3,000 for one person. I thought it would have been more.

[doomguy]

For the two of us:

$4,500 Cabin, Junior Suite
$500 Onbroad spending (about $400 on merch and souveniers, $100 on foods and drinks)
$7,000 Travel agent (Flights, 6 nights hotels in Miami, 3 nights hotels on Orlando, 7 days rental car)
$3,000 Spending money, food, drink, etc.

So about $15,000 Aussie Dollars all up. NOT something we can afford to do every year

But it doesn't have to be that expensive, unless you want to travel like a celebrity.

I know when I go i'll be backpacking, or sleeping on a park bench/beach. Eating out of a dumpster. Whatever it takes to keep costs to a minimum.

Absolutely - this was our honeymoon so a bit different

Doing it again, obviously wouldn't stay so long, nor spend so much, wouldn't book flights so far in advance, wouldn't go for the Junior Suite etc.

What wrong with booking flights in advance? I thought the more you book in advance the cheaper they'd be.

it's only money

I had fun

Thats easy to say if you have the money, but for me it's a bit different, I have to figure out ways of saving this money, budgeting etc, just so I have enough to be there.

[Ravenlord]

What wrong with booking flights in advance? I thought the more you book in advance the cheaper they'd be.

Yeah, that's what I thought but I already looked up flights for around the time of next years cruise and they are 20-30% more expensive than the ones I booked 2 months before this years cruise. I would guess it has to do with a lot of different factors. For that reason I'm not going to get too worried about it right now.

[ShoreSlayer]

What wrong with booking flights in advance? I thought the more you book in advance the cheaper they'd be.

Yeah, that's what I thought but I already looked up flights for around the time of next years cruise and they are 20-30% more expensive than the ones I booked 2 months before this years cruise. I would guess it has to do with a lot of different factors. For that reason I'm not going to get too worried about it right now.

I got pretty cheap flights by booking WAY in advance and thought I was being clever in doing so but, once I realized I wanted to get to Florida earlier than originally planned, it turned out that better, more direct flights were even cheaper and this was at various times throughout the year. This time I'll take my time a bit more on that part of the plan for sure.

[WizardBeast]

What wrong with booking flights in advance? I thought the more you book in advance the cheaper they'd be.

Yeah, that's what I thought but I already looked up flights for around the time of next years cruise and they are 20-30% more expensive than the ones I booked 2 months before this years cruise. I would guess it has to do with a lot of different factors. For that reason I'm not going to get too worried about it right now.

I got pretty cheap flights by booking WAY in advance and thought I was being clever in doing so but, once I realized I wanted to get to Florida earlier than originally planned, it turned out that better, more direct flights were even cheaper and this was at various times throughout the year. This time I'll take my time a bit more on that part of the plan for sure.

as a rule of thumb, from someone who has flown a lot, never book a flight more than 6 months in advance - always costs more. i usually shoot for around 90 days out.

[ShoreSlayer]

as a rule of thumb, from someone who has flown a lot, never book a flight more than 6 months in advance - always costs more. i usually shoot for around 90 days out.

Thanks for that. Yeah, round 1 was very much about Live n' Learn for me. Now that I'm an international jet-setter, future trips will be much smoother and efficient

[mooyagi]

as a rule of thumb, from someone who has flown a lot, never book a flight more than 6 months in advance - always costs more. i usually shoot for around 90 days out.

90 days seems a bit excessive. I usually book 4-6 weeks in advance, sometimes only 3 and have gotten many fantastic flight deals. Also, try to book on Tuesday or Wednesday, as those tend to be the cheapest. Also try to fly out during the middle of the week as well.

[ShoreSlayer]

Also, try to book on Tuesday or Wednesday, as those tend to be the cheapest. Also try to fly out during the middle of the week as well.

Easy to see how those would be cheaper but just not doable if the cruise is Monday to Friday again unless I book 3 weeks off work instead of just 1

[mooyagi]

as a rule of thumb, from someone who has flown a lot, never book a flight more than 6 months in advance - always costs more. i usually shoot for around 90 days out.

90 days seems a bit excessive. I usually book 4-6 weeks in advance, sometimes only 3 and have gotten many fantastic flight deals. Also, try to book on Tuesday or Wednesday, as those tend to be the cheapest. Also try to fly out during the middle of the week as well.

Easy to see how those would be cheaper but just not doable if the cruise is Monday to Friday again unless I book 3 weeks off work instead of just 1

Yeah I hear ya. Just something to keep in mind for future travels. I've also flown a lot. Actually looking to make a trip to Boston in early April, myself for the Red Sox home opener versus the Yankees. I think Kevin should come for that trip

I think we can all agree, no more coming out the day of the cruise. We need social time in Miami!

[WizardBeast]

Also, try to book on Tuesday or Wednesday, as those tend to be the cheapest. Also try to fly out during the middle of the week as well.

Easy to see how those would be cheaper but just not doable if the cruise is Monday to Friday again unless I book 3 weeks off work instead of just 1

actually it's often cheaper to BOOK flights on a tuesday or wednesday. don't know why, but i learned that from my travel department.

cheapest days to fly are usually tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays.

cheapest deals are usually around 2 months before the trip, but international might be different. i would still not book much more than 90 days in advance.

[mooyagi]

Also, try to book on Tuesday or Wednesday, as those tend to be the cheapest. Also try to fly out during the middle of the week as well.

Easy to see how those would be cheaper but just not doable if the cruise is Monday to Friday again unless I book 3 weeks off work instead of just 1

actually it's often cheaper to BOOK flights on a tuesday or wednesday. don't know why, but i learned that from my travel department.

cheapest days to fly are usually tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays.

cheapest deals are usually around 2 months before the trip, but international might be different. i would still not book much more than 90 days in advance.

I usually see the prices the same on Tuesday and Wednesday flights. Forgot about Saturday, but that's true too. Surprised to see Thursday there.

Definitely book on a Tues or Wed though.

[ShoreSlayer]

Ahh... guess I misunderstood that you meant to book on those days. Anyways, great info guys, thanks. Gonna bookmark this thread for future flight planning.

[mooyagi]

Ahh... guess I misunderstood that you meant to book on those days. Anyways, great info guys, thanks. Gonna bookmark this thread for future flight planning.

Glad to help! Try looking into one of the sites that compares airfare for most airlines. Some, like Bing and Kayak will give you a prediction on prices rising or dropping, historical data so you can see cost trends, and other options like looking for different airports or setting number of stops and whatnot. No need for a travel agent, just use that trusty interweb thingy.

[doomguy]

Yeah thanks for the extra tips guys. I love travelling so as a fairly frequent flyer myself, like rhiawiz I've never booked a flight more than 3 months in advance, usually aim for about 2-3 months. But theres been many times I've booked a couple weeks or so before departure and have ended up having to pay 4 times as much as I normally would have booking 2 months in advance, which is why I've always been under the impression that booking in advance is a good thing, but I guess there are many factors involved in getting the best deals.

[longhairedaaron]

Combined a golf with a heavy metal vacation (yes I love both). Total of 15 days. Please note these prices are for my and my girlfriend:

Airfare and luggage fees $800
Boutique hotel in Miami for 2 nights $750
Cruise tickets $1900
Cruise bill $480
Rental car (suv) $450
Another night in miami $380
Golf in miami $240
Hotel and golf in west palm beach $$1200
Hotel and golf at bay hill in Orlando $2400
Spending cash for the whole trip (a lot of food mostly, some trinkets and gifts, cabfare, a bit of gambling on cruise, various other things) $2600

Note these hotels were all top of the line and damn we ate good every day! What a trip! Now if I could just get my g/f to chip in :)

Total $11,200

[sabaton]

8000 dollars for the 2 of us !!!


3 weeks holiday, cruising in Florida.

[waldmensch]

1100 $ the cruise, deck 3
830$ Flight
821$ Hotel 8 days in Miami Bitch
300 $ on the cruise, merch was 30 $...
400 $ for the car, we shared the care, so it cots 50 $ for every person, thats cheap
846 $ for food and drinks on 8 days on miami

it makes
3947 $

[Metalwrath]

$ 2320

849 for my cabin spot
150 for hotels and hostels
620 for return flight from Ireland
700 on booze and food and other random crap

Extremly expensive.


With about 3000 dollars i managed to travel to 6 festivals in July last year and spent the entire month in Europe drinking every day traveling from country to country.
Europe FTW!

[STACH100]

I definitely want to get a better cabin next time.

[WallieWallie]

8000 dollars for the 2 of us !!!


3 weeks holiday, cruising in Florida.

Damn! Welcome back buddy. I hope you both had a great last week.
Maybe catch up soon at a gig or just have a beer? You have the number.

[Disaster Area]

$5139 for everything: tix, cars, hotels, booze, spending cash etc etc for me and the lady. WELL WORTH IT!

[stoverkill]

cheapest days to fly are usually tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays.

Saturday is cheaper for sure (cheaper than Friday anyway).

Plus, I got to spend 2 nights in Miami.

[Zirconia]

Well I did get a shock when most peoples sea pass bill was one page and mine was 2! But it wasnt too bad. All in all about 2200euros done it! But wouldnt you pay that for a week in the USA or on any decent sun holiday anyway?? And most was paid well in advance of trip. :)

[wildchild]

Mine was roughly $ 3400 including everything( cruise, flights, hotelrooms, spendingmoney,excursions, seapass, merchandise etc etc ), 3 days in Miami prior the cruise and 1 week in LA after the cruise.

Well worth the experience ! And I´ll be there nexyt year and spend some more !

[Captain Metal]

$2057 for a two person cabin
A little over $300 for on broad expenses (Merch and booze for both of us)
About $170 for our scuba adventure in Cozumel
$30 for a cab to and from said scuba adventure

In the end, it was somewhere upwards of $2600 for us

Being that we actually live in Miami helped by cutting out that big chunk concerning airfare and such. And by the way, Miami isn't so bad, but DOWNTOWN Miami is a whole other story. I'd hate to think people were making that judgment based on that. Unless I absolutely have to go there, I avoid the downtown area like the plague (same with South Beach), which is unfortunately where most of you were staying. Shitty area with WAY overpriced hotels. I'm gonna do some research and see if I can't find something a bit better for some of you next time around.

[Metalwrath]

To be honest i didn't have my hopes up high for Miami considering things you had said about the place before we even flew over for the cruise.
As you said it's not really a place for metalheads.
I have to say though as shitty as the area around the port was it was still a lot better than the area i stayed along the beach after the cruise.

[cowboy71]

To be honest i didn't have my hopes up high for Miami considering things you had said about the place before we even flew over for the cruise.
As you said it's not really a place for metalheads.
I have to say though as shitty as the area around the port was it was still a lot better than the area i stayed along the beach after the cruise.

Absolutely agree with you.

If we had our time again we would have given Miami Beach a miss and spent more time in Orlando - really loved that place.

[Zeh]

I have no idea of how much I did spend. I've also brought lots of useful craps that are way expensive here. But I think it was like 15000 BRL (almost 10k USD).

Useful craps:
Xbox 360
Kinect
Rock Band
Keyboard for Rock Band
Roland AX-09 to play live
Lots of small electronics (GPS, Electronic Picture Frame, camera, cables)
Lots of games
Lots of clothes
Lots of Victoria's Secret stuff
Camping Tent
Dive Goggles
Liters and Liters of Booze

Ah, and a new Wardrobe to store it all. My next step is a new house also

[mooyagi]

$2057 for a two person cabin
A little over $300 for on broad expenses (Merch and booze for both of us)
About $170 for our scuba adventure in Cozumel
$30 for a cab to and from said scuba adventure

In the end, it was somewhere upwards of $2600 for us

Being that we actually live in Miami helped by cutting out that big chunk concerning airfare and such. And by the way, Miami isn't so bad, but DOWNTOWN Miami is a whole other story. I'd hate to think people were making that judgment based on that. Unless I absolutely have to go there, I avoid the downtown area like the plague (same with South Beach), which is unfortunately where most of you were staying. Shitty area with WAY overpriced hotels. I'm gonna do some research and see if I can't find something a bit better for some of you next time around.

I rather enjoyed staying in Miami beach, but that was only because of all the metalheads stalking about. I don't think I'd ever want to go there for a proper vacation. I never paid more than $30 a night for a hotel, so there are deals there, granted a couple nights were hostels.

[debborah1]

My trip including
Flight,
Hotel in Ft Lauderdale,
Pre-party,
Limo there and back,
onbroad spending (merch & drinks)
souveneirs in Cozumel

I spent just under $2,500.00 for my self

and I honestly didnt feel like I held back because of cost and indulged in everything I wanted.....I did get 2 70,000 TOM shirts....and wold have definatley bought more if they were available.....
so I really feel I got way more than my money's worth in "total experience" thats for sure!
CMON 2012 announcement!!!....this week would be VERRY nice!.....Im ready to through my money at you!!!

[tmcasper]

400-place tickets from New York to Miami
25-cab fare from airport
0-hotel(had points for Marriot Biscayne Bay)
60-drinks and appetizers at Marriot
90-burger and beer joint in South Beach (we went to the wrong location but enjoyed the NFL play off games anyway)
100-pre-party
50-cab fare (we had no frickin' idea where we ere going in Miami)
2015-cruise tickets
863-on board charges(100 duty free, 90 in merch)
120-at Margarita ville in Cozumel
40-cab fare in Cozumel
75-crap in Cozumel
60-cab fare day we got into port
0-hotel(more free points for Marriot)
50-burger and beer joint(correct location this time!)
70-more drinks and sushi
25-cab fare to Miami airport

Total damages=3558 (we will do it again!!)

Hey??? don't I know you??

[BierVulf]

$1250 for a three bed cabin

$400 for gas, food and booze on the way to miami

$50 for booze at the pre party

$300 for booze onbroad

$100 for booze and "party favors" in mejico

barely skimmed by on $300 for gas, food and booze on the way home

total of $2400 for myself
next year I fly

[viathyn]

Hrmm, by the looks of this thread, some people were spending wayyyyy more than I thought even possible on this!

I think I'll just budget the exact same amount next year... with a cheaper cabin and more booze!

[KevinP]

Actually looking to make a trip to Boston in early April, myself for the Red Sox home opener versus the Yankees. I think Kevin should come for that trip

I've always wanted to go to a game at Fenway. If you have access to free room-n-broad and can actually get tickets let me know.

MDF in May an then the next cruise are taking up a lion's share of my budget. Not to mention 10 year wedding anniversary right before Xmas.