Family Fun on the High Seas: A Princess Cruise Experience
I love traveling the world using points, miles, and travel hacks to make my travel dreams come true. My boys are getting older, and I am at a crossroads. They don’t need me as much as they used to, and I still want to spend as much time with them as possible. A 7-day cruise on the Enchanted Princess is the perfect way to get more time with them and see the world. Luckily, both of my teenage boys are trip-motivated.
HOW WE SAVED BIG ON THIS TRIP
To make this dream a reality, I utilized points and miles for my flights and pre-cruise hotel accommodations. We stayed at the Hyatt Place Dania Beach. For our cruise, I used a casino deal. I am not a big gambler. However, in 2023, I got a Wyndham Business Earner credit card. This card granted me Caesar’s Diamond status. (Update: This card no longer grants Caesar’s Diamond status.) I then completed a casino status match with Princess Cruises based on my status with Caesar’s. Princess offered me an interior room for free, all I had to pay was taxes and fees. They also wanted a $200 per person down payment, which we received back through onboard credit.
FLights
We flew from Nashville to to Ft Lauderdale using Southwest Rapid Rewards. I transferred points from my Chase Sapphire card to Southwest. I love how versatile the Chase Sapphire Ultimate rewards program is. You can use those points to transfer to a list of travel partners that includes Southwest. We both flew on points, so we were out $22.40 for our flights to Ft Lauderdale. We had to pay taxes and fees.
Hotel
For our hotel pre-cruise, we used a free night certificate from my Chase Hyatt card. This card costs me $95 a year. Each year, I get a free night certificate. I haven’t seen a hotel room for $95 in years, so I keep this card in my wallet. We ended up staying at the Hyatt Place Dania Beach. I like Hyatt Place when I travel with my teens. The rooms are large, and you can usually get 2 queens and a pull-out couch (perfect when I have both of my boys with me).
Cruise
My youngest agreed to spend 7 days with me at sea. I started getting nervous about the interior room, so when it came to bid on upgrades, I took a chance, and we got lucky with an unobstructed balcony for an additional $230 total. When we boarded the ship, we agreed this was money well spent. I am sure an interior would have been fine, but it was nice sitting on the balcony, even though it was partially obstructed; we didn’t mind at all.
We both agreed we had a great time, and I recently asked if he would go with me again and he said “Yes” immediately. Lucky for him. I decided to spend a little time in the casino. I love blackjack, and I spent enough time this trip that they have already started sending me more offers from the Casino to come back and sail.
UPdate
We both enjoyed sailing on Princess Cruises. Since this post was originally written, we have gone on an Alaska Cruise together on Princess. You can learn more about that trip here:
How I saved big on our Alaska Cruise
What I wore in Alaska - shopping guide
Our next Princess cruise is in August, and we are heading to Norway! You can see how I booked that with points and miles here: Norway Cruise
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