How do people afford $20,000 suites?

[orville99]

When we booked our cruises, we could get a GS on Mariner, Serenade, Adventure, or Grandeur for substantially less (~$1,000 on average) than a standard balcony on Wonder or Symphony sailing at the same time and duration. We cruise to relax on our balcony, not for bells and whistles, so of our 24 booked cruises, 22 are on ships other than Wonder. 

Edited March 31, 2023 by orville99

[CFLRetired]

Because they can.  🙂

[LobsterStalker]

21 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 definitely missed the mark on the not sounding like you are bragging thing !

 

Cheers

[LobsterStalker]

21 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

If I had a dollar for every "I'm rich" thread I've read on CC, I'd now have a dollar.

>>>What he said 

[KansasK]

21 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. 

I enjoyed reading this.  We don't live like this and it was fun to read about what it like! People are not usually this honest about what they have and spend their money on. 

 

We stay in balconies and on our next cruise, we will reach Diamond Plus on the fifth day of our cruise in April.  It won't count on this cruise, though.  We kept my last car for 19 years and my "new" car is now 7 years old. We are now retired and happy with as much as we have - I can still go on cruises - : ).

[Magicat]

20 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Every single one of my clients at work could easily afford this. It blows my mind the amount of money some people have. Most of my clients have $1billion or more, and got it from being owners of huge mega corporations, inventors of popular products, or investors in major real estate and tech companies.

 

3 of my current clients are single men with no wives and no children, and they're happy as can be 😂. One of them owns a mansion and a yacht on the coast of Italy (as a 3rd home) that he spends several months on, but has never been on a cruise ship. But his "regular" house is just 20 minutes down the road from mine, it's a tiny 1500sqft ranch house that only cost him $1.5mil, and you'd never know a billionaire lived there. 
 

It's crazy to me how many people have that kind of money. 

Reminds me of Elmer Fudd, "I am Elmer Fudd.  Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."  😂

[Blur]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

While I'm not trying to say you are wrong, argue, or anything else, I think that is a matter of perspective and very subjective.  What's worth it for me may not be worth it for you.  Star Class, on occasion, is well, and I do mean well worth it to us.

 

Why?  Well many reasons. But, the big one is I feel my wife deserves the luxury every now and then.  She raised two very good kids basically by herself while I was out playing in the woods while in the Amy for over 20 years.  She sacrificed a lot for this family.  When we go on land based vacations, she never stops working for us/me.  So, Star it is when we can afford it.  

 

BTW, RCCL isn't making it any easier to afford these days. The price is getting crazy, seriously crazy.

Yeah I wasn't talking about your situation since you are getting a steal at 2500 a person... I would do that in a heartbeat for Star class!  I was responding to the OP who was talking about 20k suite for 2 which is 10k each. Unless it was 20k pp which is even worse!  

 

And of course if you're making family memories and only cruising every couple years even 10k pp isn't bad.  I was just saying yes relative to how much net worth you have... If you have 5 mil that's basically 200k of free money that your wealth is generating a year without you doing anything.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Blur

[Magicat]

9 hours ago, njsmom said:

I get that. My ex-husband died young, leaving our son without a dad. I believe in living life to its fullest, and not saving money for my kids to inherit. But also being sure I have enough for a nice retirement, and retiring young enough so that I can enjoy it. 

It's definitely about setting priorities and what matters. I told our financial advisor that I'm happy as long as I have a nice house, a newer model car, a long weekend trip to Napa every year and a longer vacation each year, too, and the ability to go to Europe every couple of years. He laughed. It's the simple things, amiright? 😂

Luxury. We used to hafta get 'out the lake, 3 am, clean the lake, eat a handful 'o hot gravel, work 20 hours a day at mill, for a penny a month, and dad would beat us about the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were lucky.

[nelblu]

22 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. 

It's the same people that spend $3k+ for an over the water cabanas in Coco Cay.😁

[mac_tlc]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

When we booked our cruises, we could get a GS on Mariner, Serenade, Adventure, or Grandeur for substantially less (~$1,000 on average) than a standard balcony on Wonder or Symphony sailing at the same time and duration. We cruise to relax on our balcony, not for bells and whistles, so of our 24 booked cruises, 22 are on ships other than Wonder. 

At current suite prices, I’ll never see Wonder or Icon — and that’s OK.

 

mac_tlc

[nelblu]

5 hours ago, PompeySailor said:

YMMV

The hot tub thread is way more fun 🤩 

Better than "Minors losing their Diamond Status."🤪

[orville99]

35 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

At current suite prices, I’ll never see Wonder or Icon — and that’s OK.

 

mac_tlc

We sailed on Wonder for the first time in January. As soon as we got home We moved all of our Wonder bookings to other ships. Unfortunately, we still have a B2B in two weeks on Wonder (originally a B2B on Harmony but they moved it to Wonder when they switched out the two ships) that we couldn't move, but I will never book that ship again.

Edited March 31, 2023 by orville99

[LobsterStalker]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

We sailed on Wonder for the first time in January. As soon as we got home We moved all of our Wonder bookings to other ships. Unfortunately, we still have a B2B in two weeks on Wonder that we couldn't move, but I will never book that ship again.

Reasons ?

I sailed her last month

[cruisegirl1]

If I spent $20,000 or more for a week-long trip for 2, the last place I'd be was on a mass market cruise ship.

 

M

[orville99]

13 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Reasons ?

I sailed her last month

Ship was designed for the Oriental market, we found it to be sterile, cold (design wise), and poorly engineered to the point that you could not use any of the venues on the aft of the pool deck without risking ruining your clothes, could find few areas of the pool deck that you were able to see the ocean, let alone experience it. The 16th deck had glass walls that were so high that it was impossible to even get a sea breeze. The redesign of the WJ was completely dysfunctional, and they replaced open areas with specialty restaurants and dead ends. Quite literally, the only deck where you could walk completely around the ship without encountering a dead end was the running track on deck five. 

 

Even the gangway portals were designed 6-8 feet to high to be used by anyone with a walker or scooter in most of the ports we visited.

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by orville99

[poocher]

What would make you ruin your clothes?

[PompeySailor]

By chance if you stayed in a GS on Wonder 

With the new design of a public walkway passing all Grand Suites to get to CK & SL (Deck 17)

Was there any noise issues ?

[RoperDK]

 

9 hours ago, Pandamonia said:

I often wonder who pays 20k for a suite on a floating budget hotel (which is what cruise ships are) 

 

You essentially pay 20k for the almost same experience someone who paid $600 gets. 

 

 

 

 

I disagree.  Suites on Royal have more amenities than inside cabins. On newer ships ( where you are more likely to pay that $20k) suites have many amenities that add dollar value to your cruise.  Star class has included drink packages, ultimate dining package, internet, a private Genie to cater to your wishes, the private suite restaurant, the private suite lounge and pool deck.  The suites are spacious and have luxurious added touches.  We personally have never splurged for Star class, but we always travel in at least a Junior Suite and mostly Grand Suites.  We look for bargains and have a dollar limit for our cabin costs.  That works for us.  

[orville99]

50 minutes ago, poocher said:

What would make you ruin your clothes?

Tar from the stacks covering every surface aft.

[DirtyDawg]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:30 PM, 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. 

Do you really want to know this because I know exactly how people afford those $20,000 suites, and who they are. 

 

But it's going to cost you ...

 

...  $20 Gand sounds like a reasonable price. 😊

 

[Ret MP]

7 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

 

I disagree.  Suites on Royal have more amenities than inside cabins. On newer ships ( where you are more likely to pay that $20k) suites have many amenities that add dollar value to your cruise.  Star class has included drink packages, ultimate dining package, internet, a private Genie to cater to your wishes, the private suite restaurant, the private suite lounge and pool deck.  The suites are spacious and have luxurious added touches.  We personally have never splurged for Star class, but we always travel in at least a Junior Suite and mostly Grand Suites.  We look for bargains and have a dollar limit for our cabin costs.  That works for us.  

Star class as you stated but much more, tangibles and intangibles.

 

Your suite is stocked every day, all day with non-alcoholic drinks and beer, no limit.  The suite is stocked on regular bases or as needed with cold cuts. sandwiches, cakes, ice cream sundae bar, finger foods, pizza, meals from whatever restaurant you want.  All handled by the Genie.

 

Some of the intangibles:  Priority access to almost every activity, and reserved seating in almost all activities, shows, and events.  Genie is always there to sort out any and all issues that may arise.  Escort to events, shows, and off the ship at ports of call.  Need to do something with the Customer Service desk, Genie will take care of it.  Genie will meet you upon embarkation day in front of the terminal with a ship's porter, not a port porter, who takes your luggage directly to your suite after security.  That is done while your Genie escorts you to your suit and giving a little tour of the ship.  Your suit and luggage are waiting on you when you first get on the ship and several welcome fruit plates (including chocolate cover strawberries), cold cut plates, and whatever you specifically asked for to be there.  And so so so much more.  Every Genie we've had so far gave every member of our party a fairly decent gift, not just a key chain type thing.  On Symphony each of us got one of those ceramic models of the ship.  Can't remember the others right now.  And, from what we've experienced, the word NO isn't spoken by a crew member, that would be handled by the Genie, but they are there to say yes.  

 

[Ret MP]

25 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Tar from the stacks covering every surface aft.

That was a small issue for us on Ovation, Star Loft Suit.  But, it was just an inconvenience, we just didn't sit on that balcony. 

[RoperDK]

3 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Star class as you stated but much more, tangibles and intangibles.

 

Your suite is stocked every day, all day with non-alcoholic drinks and beer, no limit.  The suite is stocked on regular bases or as needed with cold cuts. sandwiches, cakes, ice cream sundae bar, finger foods, pizza, meals from whatever restaurant you want.  All handled by the Genie.

 

Some of the intangibles:  Priority access to almost every activity, and reserved seating in almost all activities, shows, and events.  Genie is always there to sort out any and all issues that may arise.  Escort to events, shows, and off the ship at ports of call.  Need to do something with the Customer Service desk, Genie will take care of it.  Genie will meet you upon embarkation day in front of the terminal with a ship's porter, not a port porter, who takes your luggage directly to your suite after security.  That is done while your Genie escorts you to your suit and giving a little tour of the ship.  Your suit and luggage are waiting on you when you first get on the ship and several welcome fruit plates (including chocolate cover strawberries), cold cut plates, and whatever you specifically asked for to be there.  And so so so much more.  Every Genie we've had so far gave every member of our party a fairly decent gift, not just a key chain type thing.  On Symphony each of us got one of those ceramic models of the ship.  Can't remember the others right now.  And, from what we've experienced, the word NO isn't spoken by a crew member, that would be handled by the Genie, but they are there to say yes.  

 

Thanks for adding in all of the extra details.  We will hopefully be able to try Star Class one day!  

[diesel1973]

6 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

Thanks for adding in all of the extra details.  We will hopefully be able to try Star Class one day!  

 

[Pratique]

You can't spend it when you're six feet under.