How We Fund Our Travels – A Bit of Transparency from Cruise Escapes
- George and Dan
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
We often get asked how we afford to travel as much as we do - especially with cruising being the main focus of our adventures. So, we thought we’d write a quick blog to be totally
open about how we fund our trips, what we get for free, and where your support goes.
We want to be really clear from the start: you’ll never need to pay to access our content.
Whether it’s a detailed cruise guide on our website, a day-in-the-life vlog on YouTube, or a fun reel on Instagram or TikTok - everything is freely available. We don’t believe in paywalls or subscriptions for travel information. We’re just here to help you cruise smarter.
How We Make Money
We don’t make loads, but we do earn a small income from a few sources - and that money goes straight back into what we do.
Here’s where it comes from:
YouTube: We earn a little money from ad revenue when you watch our videos. The more views, the better!
Website: Visits to our site also help generate a bit of ad income. Every click, scroll and share helps.
Facebook: Engagement in our Facebook groups and on our page sometimes contributes to earnings via Facebook’s bonus or ad programmes (when available).
Affiliates: We work with a handful of trusted partners like Amazon, Cruise Maps, and TUI. If you click our links and make a purchase or booking, we might earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra - and we’re always picky about what we recommend.
Every penny we make is reinvested into what you see:
🛳️ Paying for cruises
🚐 Booking shore excursions
🎥 Filming gear and editing software
🧳 Even new bits of kit like luggage or accessories
What We Get for Free
We’re not full-time travel influencers, so we don’t often get offered free trips - and when we do, it’s usually part of a partnership with a cruise line or brand who wants us to feature something in a vlog, blog or post.
Occasionally, we’re gifted items like a Cruise Map or a piece of luggage to try out and talk about. If we’ve been gifted something or we’re working with a brand, we’ll always label it clearly with #Ad. You can see more details on our ad disclosures here.
We want you to trust that if we recommend something, it’s because we genuinely like it - not just because it was free.
Our Cruise Funding Breakdown
We’ve always been upfront that most of our trips are completely self-funded. That means we’ve paid for the cruise, flights, hotels, excursions, food, drink - everything - out of our own pockets (or from the small amount we earn through Cruise Escapes).
🎁 Cruises or trips where we were hosted or received a discount in return for content:
VIVA One - July 2022
Marella Voyager - July 2023
VIVA Gloria - December 2024
VIVA Enjoy - May 2025
Why We Do It
Running Cruise Escapes isn’t just a hobby - it’s a passion. We spend hours each week managing our Facebook groups, replying to messages, writing blog posts, editing vlogs, and putting together helpful guides.
There’s no team behind us - just us, doing our best to make cruise planning easier, friendlier, and a bit more fun.
Whether it’s our Norwegian Fjords guides, cruise port guides, or travel tips, we genuinely want to help people have better cruise holidays. We’re not about clickbait or cash grabs - we just love cruising and sharing what we learn along the way.
How You Can Support Us
If you like what we do and want to support us, here are a few simple (and free) ways:
• Watch our videos on YouTube and give them a like 👍
• Click our affiliate links if you’re booking or buying something we’ve recommended
• Share our posts or tag your friends
• And of course, keep being part of our lovely cruise community
Thanks for sticking with us - and thank you even more if you’ve supported us in any way. Whether it’s a comment, a like, or just watching along quietly in the background - it means the world. 💙
See you at sea,
George & Dan
Cruise Escapes – Helping You Cruise Smarter
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