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How do people afford $20,000 suites?

Sigyn

By Sigyn,
in Royal Caribbean International

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barbeyg

barbeyg

Posted
Posted

We don’t spend $20k on suites, but do stay in suites as often as we can. Travel is literally our one big splurge. We don’t buy cars every 3-4 years, our home is paid for, we don’t eat out a lot, we don’t even have cable (rarely watch tv). I hunt for travel bargains, and get the best price we can for what we want, but travel is where we enjoy spending our money. 🙂

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monorail81

monorail81

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, dateacher said:

Count me in that group.  My kids know there won't be much left for them but I am spending  it on them now.

I’ve told my parents I don’t want or expect their money. I want them to live their life the best they can and not to worry about me. 

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Orsino

Orsino

Posted
Posted

I happened to do my first suite experience earlier this month in a 20k room (anthem, royal loft, so the big one). It’s kind of crazy that we did it, but we took our moms and the great big space was perfect because they didn’t leave the room as much. So it was worth it for the views for them and I wanted to be in the same room so I could keep an eye on my mom. (We slept on the couch!)
 

We would not get this room for just the two of us, though having done it, it is very tempting. 
We also lucked out with the anthem engine troubles and skipped port canaveral and got about 3k back. Perfect for us since the whole point was to look at the ocean from the suite, so we got an extra day to enjoy the massive balcony and ocean views. 18k for 4 people. I can live with that. 

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Jeremiah1212

Jeremiah1212

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I own part of a company that plans luxury travel. There are a lot of people who travel in a manner where $20k doesn’t come close to covering airfare alone. I don’t know what all of our clients do but we definitely do not have a shortage of business. During spring break season this year a family of five going to Maui in a condo, not a high end resort, plus air would hit $20k very easily before any other expenses. The tech/finance/medical clients sometimes approach closer to seven figure budgets. There is definitely no shortage of people willing to spend. 

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edwrawhide

edwrawhide

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Posted
2 hours ago, njsmom said:

I keep trying to figure this out. Who is it paying $15,000 and $20,000 for suites on cruise ships and going multiple times a year? Are they putting it on credit or are they paying cash? 

 

Since this is an anonymous board, I can say that my spouse and I are very successful without sounding like I am bragging. No one knows me here. 🙂 

 

We each make well over six figures and our income easily places us in the top 3-4% of all households in our state. I am a vice president at my company, and my husband is quite successful as well. And it's not just our annual income. We have over $2 million already saved for retirement and we're still many years away from that time in our lives.Yet, I can't fathom spending $20,000 on a suite.  It's not that we're against spending. We love fancy things. We live in a lovely home, we drive luxury cars and we have taken our three kids to Europe and we go regularly to Napa and drop $600 a night for a 4-5 night stay, and do $300 dinners. But again, $20,000 on a suite? That is another realm of spending. 

 

Who is it spending this much on a suite? If my husband and I can't afford to do it, who can? There's not that many people who make more than us, to be frank. I just don't get it. 

You have three kids? How much does that cost?

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smokeybandit

smokeybandit

Posted
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59 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

We don’t spend $20k on suites, but do stay in suites as often as we can. Travel is literally our one big splurge. We don’t buy cars every 3-4 years, our home is paid for, we don’t eat out a lot, we don’t even have cable (rarely watch tv). I hunt for travel bargains, and get the best price we can for what we want, but travel is where we enjoy spending our money. 🙂

That pretty much describes us, too.

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klfrodo

klfrodo

Posted
Posted

When I was still working, I could have afforded a $1M home, but chose not to. I could have afforded an RV, a boat, a truck, 2 Cars, and jet skis.

I chose instead to choose to invest in the market, max out 401K, live comfortably, and travel in comfort.

yes, I cruise in suites and fly up front.

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twangster "Live from...." Rare

twangster

Posted
Posted

I guess I could afford to stay in suites more than I do but the value equation isn't satisfied for me when solo.  When cruising with family I'm more likely to crack the wallet open a little more but when it's just me a plain cabin by myself works out quite nicely.  

 

I have occasionally sailed in suites solo.  Maybe 30% of the time mostly when I see a suite deal.  Other times I see a JS for $1,500 or a balcony for $700 and go with the balcony because it's just me.  That's a whole lot different than $20k though.  

 

A lot depends on the ship.  I don't see value in full suites on older classes.  

 

Icon and Wonder?  Big suite nope for me.  I'm having a hard enough time dealing with the balcony rate on Icon.  Yet every suite is booked on many Icon dates.  Somebody is willing to spend more money than me. 

 

So be it.  Great for them.  I'm sure they will love it.  No ill will. 

 

Since we are talking about folks spending gobs of money how about $4k cabanas?     O. M. G.  Most of my cruises aren't that much yet folks are jumping on crazy cabana pricing.     

 

So be it.  Great for them.  I'm sure they will love it.  No ill will. 

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BND

BND

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, njsmom said:

I keep trying to figure this out. Who is it paying $15,000 and $20,000 for suites on cruise ships and going multiple times a year? Are they putting it on credit or are they paying cash? 

 

Since this is an anonymous board, I can say that my spouse and I are very successful without sounding like I am bragging. No one knows me here. 🙂 

 

We each make well over six figures and our income easily places us in the top 3-4% of all households in our state. I am a vice president at my company, and my husband is quite successful as well. And it's not just our annual income. We have over $2 million already saved for retirement and we're still many years away from that time in our lives.Yet, I can't fathom spending $20,000 on a suite.  It's not that we're against spending. We love fancy things. We live in a lovely home, we drive luxury cars and we have taken our three kids to Europe and we go regularly to Napa and drop $600 a night for a 4-5 night stay, and do $300 dinners. But again, $20,000 on a suite? That is another realm of spending. 

 

Who is it spending this much on a suite? If my husband and I can't afford to do it, who can? There's not that many people who make more than us, to be frank. I just don't get it. 

The same way people afford 100K cars and 2 million dollar homes.  Choices.  I would say most people on these boards make six figures (it's very common now).  DH and I just moved.  We bought our new home before selling our last one.  Once we close as we have a contract, we'll have a very small (if any) mortgage.  We have no other debt.  Our household income is over 200K and I'm retired. Our net worth is north of yours.  When DH retires, we'll prob still be close to that number.  But, we live in a fairly high cost of living area.  We have multiple sources of income.  While we don't spend 20K on a suite, we do always cruise in a JS.

 

If you spend $600/night on a hotel, you can do a 20K suite.  You just choose not to.

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crzndeb

crzndeb

Posted
Posted

Let’s hear it for the poor folk! I was a single mother by choice, raised 2 daughters alone, retired at 59, no mortgage, a small home equity loan I opened to buy my 2019 Buick encore, and am on the Ovation right now on a B5B in a Virtual balcony interior…oh and since people are listing numbers. I make a little over 1/2 of 100k a year. No problems, no drama, no health issues, just a happy little clam with my single life. 🤪

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Georgia_Peaches "Live from...." Rare

Georgia_Peaches

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, RFerrington said:

A lot of high end Suite passengers get very good rates using casino discounts so while it may look like they are spending big $$ they are not spending exorbitant amounts.

 

Some people book their high end suites and pay small amounts over time.

Where does one find such casino discounts on  on said high-end suites?  Enquiring minds…

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fsjosh

fsjosh

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, njsmom said:

I keep trying to figure this out. Who is it paying $15,000 and $20,000 for suites on cruise ships and going multiple times a year? Are they putting it on credit or are they paying cash? 

 

Since this is an anonymous board, I can say that my spouse and I are very successful without sounding like I am bragging. No one knows me here. 🙂 

 

We each make well over six figures and our income easily places us in the top 3-4% of all households in our state. I am a vice president at my company, and my husband is quite successful as well. And it's not just our annual income. We have over $2 million already saved for retirement and we're still many years away from that time in our lives.Yet, I can't fathom spending $20,000 on a suite.  It's not that we're against spending. We love fancy things. We live in a lovely home, we drive luxury cars and we have taken our three kids to Europe and we go regularly to Napa and drop $600 a night for a 4-5 night stay, and do $300 dinners. But again, $20,000 on a suite? That is another realm of spending. 

 

Who is it spending this much on a suite? If my husband and I can't afford to do it, who can? There's not that many people who make more than us, to be frank. I just don't get it. 

 

Put your $2 million in a 5% cd and you can take 5 trips in the $20k suite a year. 

 

You can afford it. You are just choosing not to do it. 

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RockHoundTX

RockHoundTX

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Considering how much money I have seen people spend in the casino, $20k for a suite is absolutely nothing. I watched one person on Quantum loose over $46k on a slot machine in about an hour or so. Started with $10k when I walked up, burned through that. Pulled out a $20k ticket, burned through that, and pulled out another ticket with another $26k on it. He was playing $97 per push (and I think there was a double or triple function so sometimes close to $300 per button push). He mentioned that he was not concerned since he had won something like $50k on a jackpot the day before. Found out later that he was a really famous celebrity (host of a "major" TV show in the UK).

 

Watched another lady on Liberty play two of the high-roller machines at once at max bet. She was getting hand-pays about every 10-15 minutes. The attendant would bring out a stack of $100s 3+ inches high. After every hand-pay, she gave the attendant $100. She had over 100,000 points the first night. By the 3rd night she had something like 550,000 points (she had over 300k on one card and 250k+ on another). Not sure what she had at the end of the cruise (million plus?). I talked to one of her relatives that said Royal flew out the entire family in a private jet and that they were staying in the two top suites. Said that they did this 2-3 times a year. 

 

I was on another cruise where Stevie Wonder and his family were in the big suite (he came out for pictures the last night of the cruise).  

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Silver Sweethearts

Silver Sweethearts

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, poocher said:

And you don’t have to spend $20,000 to stay in a suite.  I think you are using the extreme end of the scale.  I stay in a suite every cruise, probably twice a year and, with all the related expenses, don’t spend $20,000 total.

 

Please define what you consider a "suite".

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