For background: On this this cruise is me(50), DH (52) and DD (20 college student). We booked our cruise directly through Carnival's website. Last year was our first cruise, on the Sensation and we loved it. This year, things were really tight (two kids in college) and we had a lot of expenses. However,since, DH has had some major health issues, I am determined to create life memories that we both can cherish, and make the necessary sacrifices so that it happens.So I will put in my budget friendly tips and hope that you will add yours as we go!Our Cruise on the Destiny departed on May 21. Our ports are Ochos Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman.We live outside of Chicago and flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise. I was able to get us a room at the Holiday Inn (Port of Miami) for points! First Budget hint : If you have points use them... if you don't have quite enough for a "free room", some programs let you use a combination of points and cash.We flew Southwest, because, I have about three RT tickets... Here's the kicker though. My tickets were under the "old program" and we were a little restricted.. so if you are going to use a reward program for flights, book as early as possible. We ended up having to purchase a one way fare, but still saved a bunch of money and best of all, I still have a Ticket left! We used SAS for ground transportation from FLL to MIAMI. There were on time, courteous and engaging. The driver was really engaging and the trip took about an hour.... We paid our $15 per person and were in MIAMI...Mind you it was about 50 degrees when we left Chicago, so the 85 degrees in Miami felt great! What didn't feel great was Chicago Bulls vs the Miami Heat.. LOLAnyway, Do you have any hints on booking hotels for your cruise? Do you participate in rewards programs to help your cruise budget? More later.. gotta get on a conference call for work! (yes, a slow day before a long weekend, figured I would save the vacation day for later)