How to save up and pay for your next cruise holiday

Ambassador Cruise Line & Moneyfactscompare have teamed up to provide their top tips on saving and preparing for your next cruise holiday.

Review your current income and spending

Scrolling through the last full month of spending on your credit card or current account can be a revealing and useful exercise. Are you overspending in areas that don’t add value to your quality of life? Are you getting a good deal when it comes to utilities and insurances? Are your savings and investments working hard enough?

Reviewing these areas can be a good place to start, as any surplus money created by changing contracts or getting a better rate on your savings can be put towards to your holiday.

A no-spend challenge could also be an interesting test if you’ve never tried one before, cutting out all non-essential purchases for a week or month to save extra money. Often tough, especially if you haven’t tried one before, but they can be an excellent way to put your spending habits in the spotlight for a time.

Create a budget and savings plan

Once you’ve reviewed your current spending habits, you can form a budget and then create a savings plan.

A budget forecasts your future income and outgoings and will show you how much you can expect to save each month (the positive difference between income and outgoings). Google sheets or Microsoft Excel are excellent programs in creating personal budgets, and there are a number of templates you can download online.

A savings plan maps out how to achieve a savings goal. If you already know the total cost of your trip, and roughly when you’re planning to set sail, you can ‘work back’ to calculate what monthly saving amount is needed. In 2025, Ambassador Cruise Line has no-fly sailings from just £199 per person for 4-nights, or 14-night fly-cruise sailings in the Caribbean from £2,399 per person. So as an example, if your cruise is in a years’ time and costs £1,200, you would need to save £100 a month for 12 months, to achieve the £1200 needed. Breaking a total cost into monthly amounts can make things feel more manageable and achievable, and is a popular way to create a savings plan. 

When looking at which cruise you’d like to book, also consider the Ambassador Price Promise, which ensures guests get the best value possible. Ambassador will price match any deal you see on the same day of your booking – simply let them know and they will happily refund the difference. When making a booking with Ambassador, a 15% or £200 per person (whichever is greater) deposit is required for no-fly cruises, and a 20% deposit is required for fly-cruises. The balance payment is due no less than 90 days prior to departure.

Alternatively, if you already have an established portfolio of savings and investments, you may want to consider withdrawing from existing accounts or funds, particularly from those that are underperforming (especially if rates or returns are under the current rate of inflation). Withdrawing from your current savings to secure your cruise booking early, could protect you from price rises in the future too. Early booking prices tend to be lower, and special seasonal campaigns can also offer great additional benefits such as discounts on drinks packages, half price second guests, free car parking or coach travel, and more.  To receive special offers directly to your inbox, sign up to receive Ambassador’s emails here.

Be sure to consider additional related holiday costs in your savings plan, which are typical of holiday experiences – such as spa treatments or specialist onboard dining, destination experiences, insurance, port parking, and holiday-related-spending such as purchasing souvenirs and gifts, doing laundry, or Duty-Free shopping.  But also remember that travelling for a longer duration can help save money at home, avoiding costly heating and food bills, particularly in the winter months.

Choose the right savings account for you

Its common for UK savers to open a savings account specifically for an event or occasion coming up. It normally only takes a few clicks to rename a savings account using online banking, and this can be a useful way to stay motivated, or to visualise what you’re saving for.

Easy access savings accounts offer a lot of flexibility and may be more suitable for holidays and cruises coming up soon, as you can withdraw the savings instantly, when the time suits you. Having instant access is useful, but the downside is that the majority of these accounts have variable rates, and so the banks or building societies behind them can change / lower rates at any time.

If your holiday plans are further ahead in the future, 1-5 years away, you may want to consider fixed rate savings. Fixed rate savings or fixed rate ISAs, as the name suggests, offer you a fixed rate of interest for a specific yearly term. They aren’t as flexible as easy access accounts, but they guarantee you a specific rate and can be helpful in terms of planning. Unlike variable rates, you’ll be able to calculate exactly how much your savings pot will be worth after the yearly term finishes.

Peace of mind is a priority at Ambassador. They know how important it is to feel financially protected and to be able to book with confidence, and as an ABTA member Ambassador are part of the UK’s leading travel trade association, widely acknowledged as the mark of trust and reassurance associated with travel brands. In addition to being ABTA members, guests are financially protected by a Financial Failure Insurance policy which is managed by TMU Management Limited and underwritten by Accelerant Insurance Europe SA who are regulated by the Financial Services and Markets Authority. So you can book with confidence, knowing that your deposit and balance are safe and secure.

Payment plans

Many of Ambassador’s travel agent partners offer direct debit payment plans to help spread the cost of the trip over time. They can not only help you ‘shop around’ for the right holiday for you at the right price, but many have instalment plans in place for those looking to progressively contribute towards a holiday experience, rather than pay the full amount in one lumpsum.

Get excited for your cruise!

Cruise holidays are a great way to discover the world while relaxing onboard with a dedicated team looking after your every need. You have put in the hard work to save for your holiday, so now you can get excited and prepare for a trip of a lifetime. Ambassador prides itself on providing the ‘warmest welcome at sea’ and there is plenty to discover whilst on board. Ensure you register your booking on the ‘My Ambassador Sailing’ app or webpage, which has all the pre-cruise information you need to get your holiday started in the best way possible. And to make things even easier, Ambassador’s onboard currency on its ex-UK ships (Ambition and Ambience) is Sterling, so there is no need to take out foreign currency unless you wish to use it in the port locations during your cruise.

Ambassador Cruise Line launched in 2021, offering the UK market authentic no-fly cruises, affordable quality and the warmest welcome at sea. Based in Purfleet, Essex, Ambassador provides adult-only experiences combined with a selection of multi-generational itineraries to multiple destinations including the Scandinavian, Iceland, the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Africa.

The cruise line’s first ship, Ambience, entered the fleet in May 2022, operating from her home port of London Cruise Terminal. From the 2023/24 season, guests have sailed on board Ambience as well as Ambassador’s second ship, Ambition, whose maiden voyage in May 2023 heralded the launch of sailings from seven regional UK ports from seven regional UK ports: London Cruise Terminal, Newcastle, Dundee, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol and Falmouth – with Portsmouth added to the offering from the 26/27 season.

Following the announcement that Ambassador Cruise Line and French cruise operator Compagnie Française de Croisières have merged, marking the creation of a leading European affordable quality cruise line for the silver market, Renaissance took her place alongside Ambience and Ambition in the Ambassador Group fleet in January 2025.  She will welcome UK customers on board fly-cruise Caribbean itineraries from October 2025 through March 2026. The inaugural winter season sees Ambassador enter the fly-cruise market for the very first time under ATOL license 12713, flying with Virgin Atlantic from Manchester and London Heathrow to Barbados every other Monday and homeporting in Bridgetown. Each itinerary will be for a 14-night duration with the exception of two repositioning cruises at the beginning and end of the season.

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