Dreaded question every time I plan a cruise

[no1racefan1]

Might use this one the next time someone from church asks me

 

 

Some of the rudest remarks I have heard were from family - Actually had someone tell me yah we were all talking and think you hit the lottery

 

Hahaha, I wish I had won the lottery. I could take more cruises!

[evandbob]

I cruise 3 or 4 times a year, and sometimes the cruises are for extended sails of 10 or more days or B2Bs. I also go on land vacays as well. Since Jan. 1, 2017 I've done an NCL 2 weeker, spent 6 weeks in Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands, and just came back from an 8 day Conquest cruise.

 

I get this question often, and my reply is since I stopped drinking and smoking over 30 years ago, I saved up all that money so I could reward myself.

[no1racefan1]

Speaking as someone who may be guilty of saying the same thing to someone about cruising, it's just envy. I would love to cruise more if I could get the time off work and hope my time is coming someday. BTW my biggest obstacle to cruising is airline flight prices. If I lived within easy driving distance to a good port I would probably be able to squeeze more than one in a year.

 

Same here. I live in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, so I have to take about $1000 right off the top of my budget for airfare before I even look at anything else.

[lady_cruiser]

All I say is "I guess I'm just lucky". Then change the subject.

[Biff Cruizer]

People always ask why I cruise so much. I say cruising is very affordable if you plan ahead. We normally plan our cruises a year in advance. It gives us time to pay for it over the span of several months. I also say, for cruising, that each day is a different port with a new adventure waiting for us. We also cruise at off peak times. People think we can cruise and go to Walt Disney World often because we don't have kids and have that extra disposable income. I let them think that. The truth is we budget for our vacations. We have expenses too (home, car, medical bills, etc). We have our next 3 cruises planned out. Sept/Oct on Sensation - booked last April while on the Pride. Back to back on Vista in Feb 2018. 2nd part of the cruise was booked in March 2016. The 1st part of the Vista cruise (to make it a back to back) was booked Feb 2017. So yes, we really plan ahead and love the early saver.

[gwsster]

A good response to the rude question of "how can you afford to cruise so much"? Is "Why do you need to know?" " Are you writing a book?"

 

 

[cmukid87]

it's typically jealousy on the part of others so it really doesn't bother me.

 

The only part that does is when people scoff at the fact I take the kids out of school to cruise. My kids are in elementary school so 4-5 days out of school isn't the worst thing. Plus I guarantee they are gaining more from traveling, seeing and learning about other cultures, etc than they would in school for those few days.

[mimirdh]

I have people say "Another One" and I kind of want to scream.:D

 

I get that remark from others too. My hubby and I chose careers that really won't allow us to "work for 25/30 years and retire" so we work, and use our vacations to enjoy ourselves while we can and have the funds to pay for it. I don't get my nails done, don't buy myself new clothes that often, don't spend $200 on groceries each week, and our cars are old but get us from point A to point B.... We love cruising, and plus my husband will not be able to relax on a land vacation due to his phone and email going off 24/7 (work related).... When the kids were little he'd try to turn his phone off but it never failed that at some point, part of the vacation was the family sitting quietly while dad spent 30 minutes or more on the phone navigating a work related issue, then led to the stress level increase for the rest of the vacation...

Problem solved: Cruising with NO data roaming and NO internet package! The family is together, but each doing their own thing and having a blast!

 

Plus besides the fact that it's none of their damn business when/where/how many cruises we go on!:rolleyes:

 

Iv'e tried to explain to them: Look for a sale that has minimum deposit required, and make payments each month in replacement of one of your interests (new car, boat, camp, hair & nails, professional sport season tix, etc...) We choose to cruise rather than sit and watch a pro sport event for $200/pp for 3 hours"

Bottom Line: We never say to them- "How can you afford those Carolina Panther tix? In addition to the season tix you pay $50 to park, $50 on food and drinks PER GAME! To me that's easily a 3 say cruise!"

 

Maybe next time I will :confused: LOL

[mimirdh]

it's typically jealousy on the part of others so it really doesn't bother me.

 

The only part that does is when people scoff at the fact I take the kids out of school to cruise. My kids are in elementary school so 4-5 days out of school isn't the worst thing. Plus I guarantee they are gaining more from traveling, seeing and learning about other cultures, etc than they would in school for those few days.

 

AMEN to that!!

[GlamorousGirl]

Petty jealousy. I just try to keep toxic people like that out of my life. I am not rich, but I am resourceful and I do research to make the most of the hard earned money I do have, and as a result my husband and I have four comped cruises this year so you can imagine the sneers we get. As for time, I worked my way into a flexible schedule telecommute job by doing a great job for my employer and earned his trust, plus I'm attending college for grants and scholarships (3.9 gpa) to help with living expenses so I have more money for travel, including cruising. I work hard for it - full time work and full time college. When I'm going to be traveling I work extra weekends to make up the time. So I say ignore the haters - they have no business judging you and are just jealous!

[Florings]

Lots of research, planning, and saving.

 

Savings - I have a savings account that is vacation (cruising) only and never gets touched except when paying off a vacation. Cash is automatically directed from my paycheck into the account.

 

Research - look at all the options, all the sales. Once booked, check out the rates of our cruise every day to see if the price has gone down, to earn a lower fare or OBC.

 

Planning - once a decision is made, book 18-24 months in advance when the prices are generally the lowest.

 

And continue to work hard to enjoy the good things in life....

[larrymeador]

My response is "I book early and book cheap". I also explain how a cruise vacation compares financially to other vacations. Usually, folks who don't cruise, don't really know how inexpensive cruising can be. It doesn't have to be honeymoon suites and champagne breakfasts to make a good time. "Toes in the sand and margarita in my hand" is all I need....

[ssolomon56]

I just did some quick math (well, the calculator did), and with that strategy, it's going to take 8 years to pay for my next cruise. [emoji24]

 

 

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Why do you need $8320 to take a cruise?

[Ask4Jay]

The short answer for us:

We've saved and lived below our means while we were working, period. Now, in our retirement, we loosen those purse strings a bit.

[richfret]

I use a different approach than most Cruise Critics. When asked "How come you cruise so much?", my reply is that now that I am doing so well, I cruise when ever the mood strikes me.

 

Then I get the look. Is he kidding or is he now rich? Did he inherit money? Did he win a lottery? Is cruising less expensive than I think?

 

Then I just smile and tell them of my next cruise date followed by a second date. ................................ Utter amazement!

[Irie]

I love the comeback the late great Ann Landers advocated for a rude question or even one you just don't want to answer.."I can't imagine why you would want to know that"....then change the subject

[dna529]

It is definitely becoming a dreaded question. Even my kids teachers are starting to ask how we cruise so often. I get so tired of explaining that we are both self-employed, so we can take off whenever we want to. We both work hard when we aren't cruising and we don't go to the beach every weekend like everyone around us does. I try to explain that a week at the beach is more expensive than a cruise and people just don't get it. We always drive to our ports and book a year in advance to get good prices. Inside cabins means I can cruise more often! My kids friends call them "rich", even though they take beach trips, go to concerts, go to Disney, etc. I think I will start saying that we save up for what is a priority for us.

 

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[dna529]

it's typically jealousy on the part of others so it really doesn't bother me.

 

The only part that does is when people scoff at the fact I take the kids out of school to cruise. My kids are in elementary school so 4-5 days out of school isn't the worst thing. Plus I guarantee they are gaining more from traveling, seeing and learning about other cultures, etc than they would in school for those few days.

Exactly! !

 

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[cruiselover57]

I am so tired of friends/family or even just random people whom always feel the need to say or ask "How can you cruise so much?"

 

It's gotten to the point I don't even like telling people I am going on a cruise because they are like of course you are, you cruise all the time, how can you afford that, take me with you blah blah

 

I know the feeling! I feel that when I go on a cruise, I don't even tell my family I'm going! LOL If they don't hear from me, it means I'm busy! When I told someone I took 6 cruises last year, they said "oh, you must be retired" and I said "nope, I just know how to manage my time off!"

[iheartmarshall]

I get this quite a bit, too. We're coming up on our third cruise and already have one booked for September 2018. DH and I are right at 30 and we don't make a huge amount of money. We're comfortable for just us, but we're not on the same level as our parents or even some of our friends. And yet... we cruise! So it doesn't make sense to some people when I have to turn down conferences for an organization I'm in because I can't always afford to go -- it doesn't make sense and they think I'm lying because we cruise almost every year.

 

But here's the thing -- we book at least a year out and make monthly payments so that we CAN afford to cruise. If we didn't do this, then we couldn't go! But the cruise cost becomes part of our monthly budget and we only book what we can afford to pay in the months leading up to it. It's not hard to comprehend but so many people don't get it.

[Ozzie26]

I get so much it has become a running joke in our family. If I'm not on a cruise I have one booked. This is a big year for us. Already did 2 weekends and have 2 weeks on 2 different cruise lines before end of year. Like the rest of us cruise addicts we work hard and choose where to spend our money.

 

 

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[8 Westies Mom]

You should make up a cool story to tell them. Something like it's how you dispose of all the income you make off of the moonshine that you brew and distribute. Tell them that Moonshiners show on TV is actually about your life, those people all work for you.

 

Or how you were strolling down the beach and tripped over a piece of wood on one of your first cruises, you dug it up and it was filled with gold doubloons and now you travel on the cruise ship trying to find the tribe this gold belongs to in order to give them back the gold and remove the curse. (This way if they ask you for some you can say I wouldn't wish this curse upon you)

 

 

I love this response! What a creative sense of humor!

 

I tell people that cruising is a very good value for the money. And I highly recommend it. [emoji7]

 

 

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[deborahjo]

I am so tired of friends/family or even just random people whom always feel the need to say or ask "How can you cruise so much?"

 

 

 

It's gotten to the point I don't even like telling people I am going on a cruise because they are like of course you are, you cruise all the time, how can you afford that, take me with you blah blah

 

 

I tell people exactly what I spend on our cruises. They are shocked it is so cheap.

 

 

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[gina2526]

A cruise is actually the most affordable inclusive vacation our family of six and with extras nine has ever been on. Our first family cruise was to the 5 days to the Bahamas inner rooms very affordable. We did not book shore excursions simply took a bus to the beaches, explored shops on our own, in addition, childcare, transportation, food, entertainment for our family was all included and it was approximately 2200. (gratutities, taxes, everything). How can you not afford it? Trip total by 7 on this one. Second cruise a bit more elaborate but you get hooked by the ease of everything and space enough for all to do their own things. Don't explain educate others explain in more detail maybe they will catch on and thank you.

[gina2526]

I tell people exactly what I spend on our cruises. They are shocked it is so cheap.

 

 

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Agreed... but many people do not belive until they explore it themselves.