IF you are thinking about a cruise and want to get the best out of your holiday budget or maximise your time, the followers of cruise.co.uk, the UK’s biggest online cruise community, have the answer for everything.

With figures showing that the UK cruise industry is expected to increase to 1.65 million passengers next year, cruise holidays continue to grow in popularity, but passengers are looking at ways to cut costs onboard without sacrificing fun.

Here’s a top tips round-up from cruisers.

1. Get the free drinks – attend the captain’s cocktail party, welcome party or past passenger party, as the drinks are free.

2. Do formal on the cheap – if you are going on a formal cruise, buy a tux from Asda for less than £30.

3. Keep the weight off – walk down the stairs (forget walking up as you are on holiday).

4. Sneak drinks onboard – drinks onboard are expensive. Take a bottle of squash for the kids in your suitcase, it’ll save you loads of money onboard and on shore too.

5. Don’t get stuck without money – make sure you notify your bank/credit card company that you are going away as they will see transactions from many countries and may block your card.

6. Get your money’s worth – to save money when going ashore, time your return for lunch or afternoon tea, and you may also avoid a funny tummy.

7. Research always pays off – trips and tours operated by the cruise lines are very expensive but you could cut the cost and go DIY. Many places are easily accessible using local transport and guides.

8. Try everything onboard, you’ve paid for it – take a highlighter pen so when your daily schedule is delivered you can highlight the activities that you want to do and where to eat.

9. In case of emergency – don’t forget to take few copies of your passport as well as copies of insurance and important contacts.

10. Beat the crowds – when you embark on the first day put valuables in your cabin safe, go for the buffet lunch and then a walk around the ship before it gets busy.

Lastly, ask the experts at cruise.co.uk

cruise.co.uk is the UK’s most popular cruise-based website, with more than 62,000 cruise reviews, 100,000 members’ question and answers, in addition to reviews from Berlitz and the Official Guide to Cruising.