Help! My husband wants to cancel!!!

[Timmys_mom]

Some of you may recognize my name - my DH works for Northwest Airlines. Many of you have probably read about the current labor situation there. Our final payment is due 8/12 and the DH called me today to tell me he thinks we should cancel. :( He fully expects to either go on strike or get laid off, and while we have saved all the money we need for the tickets, etc., he is concerned about how much we will need to spend aboard the ship. Losing his job will be uncomfortable for a while, but not devastating.

 

I don't think it is necessary to spend an additional $1,000 on-board. I'm not a big drinker, I don't gamble and any souveniers will be purchased in the countries we visit - not at the ship's gift shop. Our excursions are booked privately. But his argument is that he doesn't think he will enjoy the cruise if he is keeping a budget.

 

We scheduled this cruise with two other couples to celebrate our 10th anniversaries and I WANT TO GO!!!! I need some solid advice from all the veterans!

[L2J]

Some of you may recognize my name - my DH works for Northwest Airlines. Many of you have probably read about the current labor situation there. Our final payment is due 8/12 and the DH called me today to tell me he thinks we should cancel. :( He fully expects to either go on strike or get laid off, and while we have saved all the money we need for the tickets, etc., he is concerned about how much we will need to spend aboard the ship. Losing his job will be uncomfortable for a while, but not devastating.

 

I don't think it is necessary to spend an additional $1,000 on-board. I'm not a big drinker, I don't gamble and any souveniers will be purchased in the countries we visit - not at the ship's gift shop. Our excursions are booked privately. But his argument is that he doesn't think he will enjoy the cruise if he is keeping a budget.

 

We scheduled this cruise with two other couples to celebrate our 10th anniversaries and I WANT TO GO!!!! I need some solid advice from all the veterans!

 

Has he completely LOST HIS MIND? :eek: :D If you've already saved the money for the cruise then go. You don't have to drink, do shore excurions or utilize the casino or anything else that may require you to pay.

 

Strikes don't last forever and if he's laid off, then it would be a good "de-stresser" IMO.

 

I say GO GO GO and ENJOY.

[KenMo]

Timmys_mom: Believe me....I know how you feel. My husband works for American and it's tough all over the airline industry. However....I think you should go!! Sounds like everything is paid for. The first time we went on a cruise, we spent less than $200 on the ship. Really, you don't have to buy anything on board. Bring your own liquor/soda, stay out of the casino, no bingo, don't have to buy the pictures. You can still have a blast! We don't know what the future holds with the airlines....I think you should go and enjoy. Not trying to be a bummer, but if he's laid off.....it might be awhile before you can go again.

[AppleValleyCruisers]

Shelly, how can we meet at the Lakeville Applebees to share pics and stories if you two cancel??

 

 

I wish you and your husband the best, but I would have to agree with Liv. Of course, I am not in your situation (other than we are flying out on NWA 8/27 to TPA- Moved it from Sunday just in case). Let us know what's decided.

 

Tim

[themom]

Sorry to hear that your dear Hubby may be unemployed. But tell him you think it would be a good way to relax before he must strat the job search and have no vacation time for a year.

If you put back a little extra between now and then you will have the spending money for ports.

What a way to reflect on what he will want to do for a job. Being out to Sea is a great way to let all of the tension and pressure from our jops be released.

 

Dreaming of cruising and cruising to make my dreams come true.

[jcs56]

That really stinks!!! I know how you feel and I know how he feels. We are going this November and wouldn't you just know it!! the "family" is planning a cruise for a year from this November...hubby says NO WAY not that soon. So I'm thinking if we can save enough for the cruise and not do any excursions (cuz we've been to all those ports before) maybe we can swing it!!! It's tough but I certainly know what its like to be short on cash.

[mahreeya]

A 10th anniversary only comes once (hopefully) in a lifetime. Keeping on a budget shouldn't be too difficult. You can go whole hog, or be very comfortable and happy without spending an extra dime. DON'T GO TO THE CASINO, walk a lot instead of shore excursions, sneak in a few of those little bottles of booze.

 

My cousin is a flight attendant at Northwest. She doesn't know what to expect either. My brother is a pilot at Spirit. They call him alot on his days off because they are short handed. Go figure the industry. It is so uncertain.

 

What is certain is that you planned this, it is a special occasion, and your friends are expecting you. I believe you can't put your life on hold waiting for things that might or might not happen.

 

Funny, right now I want to leave my husband home, instead of taking him on my 8/28 Alaska cruise.

[Leo Jay]

Some of you may recognize my name - my DH works for Northwest Airlines. Many of you have probably read about the current labor situation there. Our final payment is due 8/12 and the DH called me today to tell me he thinks we should cancel. :( He fully expects to either go on strike or get laid off, and while we have saved all the money we need for the tickets, etc., he is concerned about how much we will need to spend aboard the ship. Losing his job will be uncomfortable for a while, but not devastating.

 

I don't think it is necessary to spend an additional $1,000 on-board. I'm not a big drinker, I don't gamble and any souveniers will be purchased in the countries we visit - not at the ship's gift shop. Our excursions are booked privately. But his argument is that he doesn't think he will enjoy the cruise if he is keeping a budget.

 

We scheduled this cruise with two other couples to celebrate our 10th anniversaries and I WANT TO GO!!!! I need some solid advice from all the veterans!

 

Well, even if you have the money saved, I can understand him not wanting to spend extra money unnecessarily when you have no idea how severely his job situation might impact your finances.

 

Having said that, if he's comfortable with the ticket cost and is simply reluctant to spend extra money, you certainly don't need to spend very much on board, especially if you're going with good friends who will be understanding of your desire not to join them throwing their money into the toilet at BINGO. Unless you're heavy drinkers, you're just talking tips, right?

 

Hope you come to a mutually agreeable solution. Good luck!

[mc'smom]

Shelly

 

I cannot imagine the position you are in. My husband is self employed and that position really stinks..

 

You are very fortunate to be able to travel with friends to celebrate something very special..

Being self employed in a seasonal business we must travel between Jan.~ March... Our friends can only travel in the summer.. LOL

 

If the trip and excursions are already paid for I say go for it...

 

Life is short, this experience may never come along again. As everyone has stated there are ways not to spend money on this cruise...

 

Skip the money pits ( aka.. Bingo & Casino ) Smuggle your alcohol, drink the lemonade and iced tea offered... Buy a souvenir photo from the cruise ship of your group split the cost 3 ways and then scan it when you get home for your own copy, buy the Carnival T-shirts on the second last day of the cruise when they are offered at 50% off... I am sure there are many more suggestions out there for you... to save on this cruise...

 

Good luck and keep us posted...

[JoyAnn]

Won't you lose some of your deposit by cancelling? I'd tell him to consider factoring this amount in to your decision.

 

We met a couple who went on a discounted cruise when he got laid off unexpectedly.

[Juliadlf]

:( Sorry to hear of your situation. I think there are alot of people in the same situation not just in the airline industry.

I completely understand your husbands concern. Money you spent on the cruise could be put towards keeping a roof over your head, paying the utilities, etc, etc. Since you haven't finalized then I am assuming you lose nothing if you cancel and rebook when things stablize financially again.

Hopefully you will have many more anniversaries and I am sure your "friends" would understand.Be glad you have the money in the bank to see you through the storm and one less thing to stress about.

The other side is they may not strike, he doesn't lose his job and you missed a wonderful cruise....

If only we had the ability to tell the future.......

Best wishes for whatever decisions you both make.

[Timmys_mom]

You guys are the best. I was so shocked when he sprung that on me that I didn't know how to respond. Your comments have helped me to at least formulate a coherent reply - other than "But, but, but, I already bought my bungee cord!"

 

Since neither of us has ever cruised before, he is relying upon information from some rather doubtful sources. Even I was surprised to hear that we would be spending $1,000 on board. That's a lot of foo foo drinks! :D His favorite drink is vodka/lemonade - so if we manage to BYOB - even the drinks will be free!

 

I have passed on some of your thoughts/suggestions to the DH. The other two couples we are travelling with are two of his sisters and their DH's. One sister and her husband work for Delta (another airline on the verge). I'm sure they will be very understanding of our situation and not pressure us in any way to spend, spend, spend. We are supposed to attend a pre-cruise gathering this weekend, so we can talk about everything then.

 

I know he is just stressing out about what might not happen. It is hard to talk him down off the ledge when he is in Detroit and I'm here in St. Paul. I have gotten him to agree to discuss this further with an open mind when he gets home this weekend. I can do a better job explaining our budget if he is sitting next to me. :)

 

Hey, Tim - that's the Applebees in Rosemount, not Lakeville. Either way, I want to see the pics!

[elaineb]

Shelley - Rather than expensive excursions, you can just take a taxi to the beach in whatever port....

Also for tip money - how about a yard sale? Spare change - put it in a jar until the trip and cash it in. It adds up fast. Hopefully he'll come around after your "talk" this weekend!!! :o

[AppleValleyCruisers]

Hey, Tim - that's the Applebees in Rosemount, not Lakeville. Either way, I want to see the pics!

 

Oops! My faux pau:D

[mc'smom]

Isn't your final payment due on Friday the 12th ?

 

Will talking about it on the weekend not be too late to cancel and get your money back by then ?

[thehittgirl]

Has he completely LOST HIS MIND? :eek: :D If you've already saved the money for the cruise then go. You don't have to drink, do shore excurions or utilize the casino or anything else that may require you to pay.

 

Strikes don't last forever and if he's laid off, then it would be a good "de-stresser" IMO.

 

I say GO GO GO and ENJOY.

 

I agree with Liv! We are a family on a budget and we only ended up racking up over 200.00 in charges on our account. It can be done. Definitely go!

[Timmys_mom]

Yes, the final payment is due Friday and I won't see him until Saturday. We will lose some of our money if we cancel after Friday, but it will still be less than what the cruise costs.

 

thehittgirl: I am so glad to hear that a whole family was able to spend less than $300. We had already planned to sell our snowmobiles this September (no snow for several years) and also the 2000 Chev Astro van (hint, hint - it's in great shape:D ). That is in addition to the 80 hours working security at WeFest in Detroit Lakes this past weekend. I didn't bake in the sun and argue with drunks for three days for nothing!

 

SO THERE, DH! TAKE THAT! I'M GOING ON MY CRUISE WHETHER YOU GO OR NOT! :p

 

Okay, I'm calmer now. He is just in panic mode right now. I have every confidence in my powers of persuasion!

[BlueHerons]

If it were my husband, he would be miserable on the cruise worrying about work.

 

However, I would really try and weigh out how this is going to affect him on the cruise and afterward.

 

My husband's mental health and state of well being isn't worth any cruise.

 

Just my two cents.

[DEL67]

You can cruise without spending much money beyond your fare. The food and the entertainment are free. You are not obligated to buy the pictures. Carnival provides 24 hour coffee/tea/ice tea/lemonade, etc. You can go to the beach or tour ports independently for relatively little money. You do not even have to eat ashore. Who needs much lunch when you have a big breakfast and big dinner? You can bring bottled water or even empty bottles aboard with you so you do not have to buy the water that is always sold as you leave the ship.

[Fern Crest]

ABSOLUTELY go for it!

 

We'd scrimped and saved for last year's cruise ... money was so tight you could play the violin on it! We walked or took open-air taxis to the beach in ports, we made ornament/souvenirs out of interesting rocks in one port, we bought a $3.00 keychain for an ornament in another, and we allotted $20 for the casino and the one Bingo game that let you play ten games for ten dollars.

Just *being* on the cruise is enough for most people, believe me. You get on the boat, lose sight of land, and the stress just melts away. You don't need frou-frou drinks with umbrellas or the $200.00 hot stone massage to enjoy your cruise.

DH has an enormous amount of stress at work, and I had brain surgery the December before the cruise. We decided that life was too uncertain to put off making some truly unforgettable memories.

Best wishes on whatever you decide.

[derf5585]

Have you shown this thread to your DH? Maybe that would help.

[Timmys_mom]

Derf - I will be printing the thread on Friday so he can read it when he gets home. He doesn't have internet access at the house he stays at in DTW.

 

I agree with Fern Crest - life is too short. There is always the saying about only regretting the things you didn't do, not the things you did.

[mnsawyer]

This is a tough one...I think too, it depends on your financial situation as well. I know from experience over the years that being in a money crunch isn't fun and if you don't have a lot to spare, even spending money for the cruise is stressful but that's just us. On the other hand, the older I get, the more I realize that no one knows what tomorrow will bring either. How about doing something smaller for your anniversary instead of a cruise. I will say from experience, that a cruise always costs more money than you think. If you are disciplined about not spending any money on clothes, etc., before your cruise you will be okay. For me, that's the costs that you don't budget for and we're not clothes hounds but we always seem to need new stuff, etc., before we go. Also, you don't want your husband going if he is going to be worried all the time about how much money you are spending...if he's anything like my frugal DH, it wouldn't be much fun being around him! Hope I haven't discouraged you but assuredly wish you all the best!

[winewanderer]

I agree, you should go. Hubby and I have been on upteen cruises and our onboard account generally only has tips on it. You really don't need to spend a lot.

 

Bring your own booze and public transit is a great alternative in many locations.

[flashdog_1]

I, too, like your hubby, am a worry wart. Last year on the way to the Ft Lauderdale pier our vehicle broke down. Luckily we were only 10 miles out of town so had it towed back to the garage that had supposedly just fixed the clutch, and got another vehicle which had also been rennovated (thank goodness for cell phones). The second vehicle made it all the way to Palm Beach where we were to stay with friends. They said they'd take care of the vehicle, to go and have a good time etc.

 

So we went and I fell in love with cruising. I called them periodically and nothing was getting done. I was worrying and yet having a good time simultaneously. My main worry was that i did not have my check book with me and didn't know if I had enough dollars available on the credit cards I was carrying, so we didn't go to bars, casino, spa etc.

 

As it turned out we had to rent a car to return home (FYI only National Car Rental will allow you to take a vehicle out of state!), and later DH had to fly back to Palm Beach when the vehicle was repaired.

 

Guess what. It broke down again on the FL turnpike & the turnpike police adivsed us to abandon it. We did as he said, and removed the tags etc. Months later I received a card from the towing agency who takes the abandoned cars and said we owed them hundreds of dollars for storage! I took the receipts to my insurance agent who reimbursed me for the towing we'd already had done, but by the time I got the card, I'd cancelled the insurance on the vehicle so it did not pay for the final bill.

 

Turned out to be a very expensive trip, even though we had economized on board.

 

So ask yourselves, what if something untoward occurred, unexpectedly, like our broken down vehicles, could you handle it financially? Is there a plan B if the airline goes on strike, or if there is a layoff, like another job?

 

They say that losing a job is one of the most stressful things a man can endure, right up there with death of a spouse or child. So think long and hard about how he is feeling about it.

 

Yes, you can always go on another cruise at another time if things get better. But if you think you may need the thousands of dollars you have already spent just to make ends meet, then cancel and rebook later. But do it before the deadline so you won't lose anything. If you wait til Saturday and have a big penalty you'll resent it, especially if things are worked out in arbitration and there is no loss of job!

 

If you have enough in the bank to cover a short lay off, and can soothe your husband's stress right now, then go ahead & go. I really commisserate. I love travelling and would HATE to be in that position, but I'm also practical enough to know that I have to put food on the table.

 

Best Wishes!