Is the suite life too rich?

[Pet]

Hi - Can anyone offer some words of advice please?

 

When we started cruising a decade or so ago we were happy with an ocean view cabin and subsequently graduated to balconies. Then, around the middle of 2010 an opportunity arose to splash out on a Sky suite (retirement pot) which was very much to my wife’s liking. On our subsequent cruise we returned to a balcony cabin, but the genie was out of the bottle. Recent cruises have been in either Sky or Celebrity suites and my wife will not entertain anything less, at least on Celebrity and now has eyes on an Oceania penthouse for 2016.

 

Lovely though these suites are the price of them seems to be sky (excuse the pun) rocketing every year to the extent they are becoming a major drain on our resources (I’m not looking for sympathy, by the way, as I appreciate the vast majority of cruisers are more than satisfied with non-suite accommodation).

 

I love cruising as much as anyone and want to continue. What I am asking is whether anyone out there has had any success in trying to wean their other (better) half away from the suite life, and if so what tactics did they use. Otherwise, will I have to continue to bite the financial bullet each year and look forward to bankruptcy with a smile on my face!!:confused:

[Moonlitherial]

You could try offering 2x the cruises in balcony cabins, that might do the trick!

[neverbeenhere]

time to do a little financial analysis. Extrication from spouse :rolleyes: vs Suite cost.;) I personally would go with the veranda stateroom w/daily spa visits strategy. Best of luck, BTW bankruptcy doesn't include as much the social scorn as in the past.;)

[Phxazzcruisers]

Once we got a panther on the M Class for a special occasion we have never been able to go back to anything less than a Royal Suite. Now with the new Suite benefits, it is even more difficult. It is easy going up, going back is another story. Lucky we have the resources, I thank my lucky stars each cruise. Sorry I have no ideas for you.....

Edited June 8, 2015 by Phxazzcruisers

[chemmo]

Just bite the bullet and keep the wife happy!

[ghstudio]

Present it as a trade off.....less cruises in suites or more travel including some places one can't really get to by ship (india, africa, china). Reach some agreement on a rational travel budget considering your assets. Assuming she realizes that you can both live to be 100 and you need funds to cover that possibility, let her make the decision. If she wants to do it all, suggest that SHE is spending your children's money (appeal to the mother instinct).

 

Fidelity has an excellent retirement planning application where you can make some assumptions and it will give you a good view of what might happen to your assets in the future (there are lots of programs that purport to do that...fidelity actually does a better job than most).

 

If that all fails, there are two choices:

 

suggest that the cost for two of you is too high so she should find a friend to travel with....or divorce may be cheaper in the long run....

 

I've found the "children's money" card to work the best.....

Edited June 8, 2015 by ghstudio

[DYKWIA]

Normally I pay the holiday bills and my wife is unsighted of the cost of the nice hotel rooms, limo transfers, flight upgrades etc that she has grown accustomed to. If prices are on the high side and i'm looking to cut costs I usually suggest she pays on her credit card and i'll settle up with her later..... this usually brings about some inspection of the details and suggestions of cost cutting ;)

[C-Dragons]

Present it as a trade off.....less cruises in suites or more travel including some places one can't really get to by ship (india, africa, china). Reach some agreement on a rational travel budget considering your assets. Assuming she realizes that you can both live to be 100 and you need funds to cover that possibility, let her make the decision. If she wants to do it all, suggest that SHE is spending your children's money (appeal to the mother instinct).

 

Fidelity has an excellent retirement planning application where you can make some assumptions and it will give you a good view of what might happen to your assets in the future (there are lots of programs that purport to do that...fidelity actually does a better job than most).

 

If that all fails, there are two choices:

 

suggest that the cost for two of you is too high so she should find a friend to travel with....or divorce may be cheaper in the long run....

 

I've found the "children's money" card to work the best.....

Sorry, but a lot of us belong to the SKI Club (Spending the Kid's Inheritance) so that won't necessarily work. ;) :D

[kenevenpar]

Normally I pay the holiday bills and my wife is unsighted of the cost of the nice hotel rooms, limo transfers, flight upgrades etc that she has grown accustomed to. If prices are on the high side and i'm looking to cut costs I usually suggest she pays on her credit card and i'll settle up with her later..... this usually brings about some inspection of the details and suggestions of cost cutting ;)

 

Great suggestion! Unless the cost cutting impacts my Bombay Saphire :eek:

[cruisingsince94]

For us a suite has always been out of reach financially unless we caught a great price for a junior suite on Royal. I am hoping that sometime down the road I can find a cruise that we can do an actual suite. Until that day comes it's a balcony cabin for us.

[Constance331]

[/b]

Sorry, but a lot of us belong to the SKI Club (Spending the Kid's Inheritance) so that won't necessarily work. ;) :D

 

I am a card-carrying member here. Other than the costs of a college education & wedding, that's all my kids will get from me! FAR more than I received upon the passing of my parents - which was absolutely nothing. Something I attribute to this day toward the building of my character.

 

My children's money? HA!! Give them the means, I say, and let them pursue the dream for themselves!

Edited June 8, 2015 by Constance331

[AZ Ocean Lover]

Tell her that you would be happy to continue to travel in suites but she is going to have to (keep) or go back to working in order to pay for it.

 

That would work for me.

[Iamcruzin]

Here is what you tell her. I"m booking a cruise in an inside stateroom. When she starts to whine and moan tell her that you will be happy to go by yourself. Even if you have to pay the single supplement it will be less than the price of of a suite. Why coddle her? You just have to rip the bandaid off. My guess is that she will not stay home and let you have the run of the ship without her and at that time you can compromise on a Veranda.

[DancerOT]

As an adult child in her 30's, I am in full support of my parents being members of the SKI club. They have no responsibility to pass any money onto me. I want them to live their life and have fun!! I am my own responsibility, not theirs. So go ahead and spend your kid's inheritance. It is yours to spend, not there's!! Go out! Have fun! Live life!! You earned it!!!

[Can'tstopcruising]

It may not be so much a matter of spending your kids' inheritance.

 

Many seniors are living longer today and reach a point where they need private care, which costs a fortune. You don't want to have to depend on your children for the $$$.

 

It's a catch 22. If you don't spend and die too soon, your kids will spend it.

If you do spend it and live very long, you may run out.

 

Everyone has to find their comfort level of spending.

 

I am still very happy with insides. I won't even spring for a balcony, let alone a suite!

Edited June 9, 2015 by Can'tstopcruising

[Redtravel]

When I started cruising many years ago, I booked suites. I thought I needed more space. I don't spend much time in the cabin. After a few cruises, I realized that I would be fine in a smaller space. Recently, I read an article about people in suites. It said that if you are booking suites, you are on the wrong cruise line. For the cost of a Celebrity suite, you could be on a more luxurious cruise line or take longer cruises in a regular cabin on Celebrity. I often tell people to book the cheapest/smallest cabin that you would be comfortable in. Each person has to make choices. What works for me may not work for you.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Is this just about square feet? I didn't see any mention of Luminae vs the MDR. If food is part of the equation, maybe you could offer AquaClass as a compromise (with Blu instead of MDR). But if space is the issue, you should start researching other cruise lines -- Celebrity's suite prices (with Luminae and other amenties) put them in the same price class as some of the luxury cruise lines. For example, Regent has very large staterooms plus they are all-inclusive even including basic shore excursions in every port.

[hughdm]

Here is what you tell her. I"m booking a cruise in an inside stateroom. When she starts to whine and moan tell her that you will be happy to go by yourself. Even if you have to pay the single supplement it will be less than the price of of a suite. Why coddle her? You just have to rip the bandaid off. My guess is that she will not stay home and let you have the run of the ship without her and at that time you can compromise on a Veranda.

Is that your wife in the picture? Mine would rip my head off if I said ANY of that!

[Iamcruzin]

Is that your wife in the picture? Mine would rip my head off if I said ANY of that!

 

 

Actually I leaned that tactic from her. She uses it on my son. It's quite effective. But in all honesty if you can't afford something you can't afford it. Sometimes people need a wake up call to reality.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Iamcruzin

[tarheelmjm]

I guess I used the bandaid strategy for hotels in the opposite direction...

 

I'm quite into going to Disney World, and really enjoy the Disney Resorts Club Floors' amenities and security, as well as the unique resort suites (generally have Club access as well, FYI). I generally only book very special deals, but even at 35% off, a room like that can still fetch 500-ish on the weekends.

 

New Hubby has always stayed in decent places while travelling, Hampton, Sheraton, and the like...but even in the nice areas, they only hit the 250-350 mark.

 

We stayed in one of the Garden Suites at the Boardwalk for one of our first trips to Disney (2 floors, tub/shower!). Since I knew that he might be taken by the rate, I didn't try to be swift about grabbing the bill on the last day, because I didn't want him to think that there was any shame in the investment. He looked at it, handed it to me just like it was anything else. Neither of us said a word about the bill then. Don't get me wrong - I don't have (or care to have) many lodging bills the size of my splurges at Disney. But if you're trying to introduce the concept of a different level of accommodation very quickly...that's definitely one way to do it.

 

These days, I do think that I see a little relief in his eyes when we get that bill under the door and it's not upwards of US$2k for 4 nights...Honestly I'm a little bit relieved as well.

 

 

We take a lot of disney trips with friends and family to the Value resorts (sometimes under $100) in between so I can go all out when it's just he and I.

 

Maybe OP could get Wife to agree to Suites on the Milestone Trips. Graduations, Big Anniversaries, Vow Renew/2nd Hmoon type stuff.

 

 

 

If it were 100% up to Husband, you could replace all the "Disney" above with "Cruises" and all the 'resorts and parks' to 'Ships and Ports'.

[Project_gal]

OP, sorry, but we cannot help! We started cruising around the same time as you but it only took us one cruise [our first] in a CC stateroom to confirm that we loved cruising [never thought we would] but could not do it in a room that small again. Strange because our trip immediately prior to our first cruise was a train journey across the USA in cabins where we could stand in the middle and touch all four sides. Earlier we had spent many years camping.

 

Our next cruise was in an M-class CS and we thought it was wonderful. We would have been happy in a CS forever until there was a really great price on a RS ...

 

For our 40th wedding anniversary we decided on a one-off splurge on a PH on Eclipse. You would have thought we would have learned but, no, there is no turning back ...

 

Still, there was hope! After a couple more cruises the shine had started to come off. We had more space but there was something missing. Perhaps our cruising was coming to an end. I started thinking what else we could do with the money ...

 

Then, Celebrity proposed their new Suite Class. It would be a year before it was implemented but there was an immediate change in how they interacted with us. On board they implemented Michael's Club and a few other perks early. Wow, this was more like it ...

 

Then our first cruise following the full roll-out of the new Suite Class Experience ...

 

We did not really want to spend the money on other things did we?

 

Now, it is just waiting to see what happens first - the money runs out or we tire of suite-style cruising again ...

[excitedofharpenden]

OP, sorry, but we cannot help! We started cruising around the same time as you but it only took us one cruise [our first] in a CC stateroom to confirm that we loved cruising [never thought we would] but could not do it in a room that small again.

 

To those of us who can't do the suite life all the time and just for some perspective I don't think the standard rooms are small. I'm happy to mix it up. Just get me on the ship!

 

There. I think that was an answer closer to what the OP needs!;)

 

Phil

[ladylemondrop]

Its not always simply the extra space you get as much as the feeling of special , we only once had a suite, we had dinner on our balcony, which I will never forget. Now that they have introduced more suite benefits (Luminae etc) I think its even more attractive.

 

Keeping wife happy is very very important. Otherwise you might need that money you 'saved' to buy another house. :D

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1%ers problems are such headaches

I am happy for you, :D

[Velvetwater]

Partners need to voice their concerns to each other, thats simple.

 

Tell her about how you are feeling about it in honesty. If that doesn't work essentially tell her that its either suites and no dining our/luxuries at home etc. Something will have to give.

 

I my husband is glad he married an outdoorsy type who will happily do most holidays as long as I don't have to share my bedroom with anyone but him. That means camping is completely okay...but it has to be abroad, in a country we haven't visited yet. :D