Loulani, I hear ya -- I'm trying to save up for the same reason. For me, I'd rather just pop the money in a savings account for now, so I've got possession of it (and earning that tiny bit of interest). I've actually opened a separate savings account at my bank, so I'll be sure not to touch it! LOL!

Once on board, I'm just going to charge things like that to my cabin and pay with my credit card, and then when I get the bill I can pay it off all at once from the money I saved. This way I also get all the points on my card, w/o having to pay any finance charges. I suppose you could also bring your saved funds with you and put them towards a shipboard credit, but I don't know how that works.