From cruise ships to eating out in China to travelling around Spain, these tips from Escape readers will help you cut your holiday costs.

TIPS FOR CRUISES

Thank you for the 21 answers to cruising questions. There are a few more that your readers may like some answers to.

Laundry facilities: Having travelled on Celebrity Eclipse on a Baltic cruise, the cost of having a T-shirt washed (and not ironed) was more expensive than just buying new T-shirts at each port of call. This meant we usually washed smalls in our cabin.

It was very pleasing on a cruise out of Singapore on Sapphire Princess that they had passenger-use laundries. They also offered discounts to ex-service personnel, for which I was most grateful.

Tipping: With Celebrity, it was automatically included in the fare, a handy way of subsidising the wages bill of the entire ship.

I asked how it was divided up but that was “confidential”. You could NOT opt out. I still tipped the cabin and wait staff.

With the Princess Cruises, you could opt out by advising the Concierge Desk. This meant staff with whom you had most dealings could be rewarded.

Shore excursions: Yes, the ship won’t wait if you book a shore tour using other than the ship’s tours. However, what is not said is the cost of doing it yourself is far cheaper.

John Blakey

media_cameraKinkakuji Golden Temple is one of Kyoto’s top sights - and easily accessible by bus.

ON THE KYOTO BUSES

The easiest and cheapest way to see the sights of Kyoto is by bus using the Y500 Day Bus Pass. It’s available from the kiosk adjacent to the Kyoto station bus terminal. Each departure point at the terminal is signposted with the names of its destinations in English and it’s nearly impossible to board the wrong bus. From here it’s just a case of getting on and off at must-see places such as Kinkakuji temple, Nijo Castle and Gion Corner.

Garth Clarke

WAY TO GO EATING

We recently returned from a wonderful trip to China where we ate in the local cafes. We had an app called Waygo which translated the menu into English for us. It was invaluable.

Rhonda Stephan

media_cameraTrain travel is a convenient way to explore Spain.

SPAIN BY TRAIN

If you are planning to travel to Spain and use the train network, book directly through Spain’s official website, renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

There are discounts if you book early (between 60 to 90 days before travel). You get confirmed tickets with no other charges, unlike some websites that charge a booking fee.

The site may be a little awkward at first but be persistent and it will pay off. I booked six train trips and all went well. Having a PayPal account worked every time to pay for the tickets.

Wayne McMullan

ANIMAL AWARENESS

Thanks for the article explaining to readers to be careful when booking elephant rides or photos with tigers. This was a great article and I will share it with anyone I know who is going to Thailand or Africa. Your magazine is the perfect place for this sort of article to spread the message.

Janine Musgrove