No More $25 Casino Credit

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Hopefully we have not reached the point where those of us who cruise or vacation more often than some others (or the average), do not have to apologize for the ability to do so.  

 

I wonder if such a thing could be considered board (cruise line) specific?

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

4 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Shame on you……😎🤪

 

Forgive me Father, for I have... vacationed 

[jimbo5544]

13 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I wonder if such a thing could be considered board (cruise line) specific?

 

Tom

One never knows…..  On a semi serious note, when we cruised on Azamara in the med, we noticed on embarkation that staff was calling many passengers by name.  I asked on that and was told many time (maybe the majority?) people cruise B2B2B and on.  It was an eye opening experience, esp in reference to the cost of that cruise.  That said, it sure would be nice….. 

[jimbo5544]

18 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Forgive me Father, for I have... vacationed 

Go forth (not vacation) and sin no more….no wait, skip that, do NOT go forth.

Edited June 20 by jimbo5544

[aborgman]

21 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Hopefully we have not reached the point where those of us who cruise or vacation more often than some others (or the average), do not have to apologize for the ability to do so.  

 

I don't think there is any need to apologize for it - but there is a need, just like with wealth, to understand it is not the norm.

 

For example - Talking about how you can only afford two yachts while 90% of your audience can't afford a boat isn't elitist - but it's kind of socially tone deaf.

 

 

[aborgman]

19 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I wonder if such a thing could be considered board (cruise line) specific?

 

Tom

 

Absolutely.

 

When you hang out with your friends who all have yachts, it's acceptable to complain about the inflation in the cost of yacht maintenance.

 

When you hang out with your friends who are scraping by to make the payment on their house trailer, it's not acceptable to complain about the inflation in the cost of yacht maintenance.

 

The demographics of different cruise lines are different.

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, aborgman said:

 

I don't think there is any need to apologize for it - but there is a need, just like with wealth, to understand it is not the norm.

 

For example - Talking about how you can only afford two yachts while 90% of your audience can't afford a boat isn't elitist - but it's kind of socially tone deaf.

 

 

Do not want to make this a sidebar discussion, and for the record was not really referencing your post, but Tom’s expereince, or yours, or mine or Moz’s are in fact our collective experience.  Simply what it is. 

[jimbo5544]

2 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Absolutely.

 

The demographics of different cruise lines are different.

True enough….

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

14 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Absolutely.

 

When you hang out with your friends who all have yachts, it's acceptable to complain about the inflation in the cost of yacht maintenance.

 

When you hang out with your friends who are scraping by to make the payment on their house trailer, it's not acceptable to complain about the inflation in the cost of yacht maintenance.

 

The demographics of different cruise lines are different.

 

Slightly different ends of the spectrum there (I know some people who have fishing boats, air boats, bass boats, but no yachts), but I get your point.

 

For all of us here on CC - we like to cruise, and would all pretty much cruise more if we could. First world "problems" to be sure.

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

21 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

One never knows…..  On a semi serious note, when we cruised on Azamara in the med, we noticed on embarkation that staff was calling many passengers by name.  I asked on that and was told many time (maybe the majority?) people cruise B2B2B and on.  It was an eye opening experience, esp in reference to the cost of that cruise.  That said, it sure would be nice….. 

 

We sailed on the Reflection for a B2B (7+7) a couple years ago - and that was a time stretch for us (not so much $, as the casino gave us a GREAT deal). Online another person reached out to me before the sailing to see if I could bring him some supplies (bandages, Neosporin, etc). He was onboard for TEN sailings. Something about their own condo they come down to stay at was rented for a couple of months, and they had "nowhere to go". I thought that was interesting. 🙂

 

Tom

 

 

[jimbo5544]

3 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

We sailed on the Reflection for a B2B (7+7) a couple years ago - and that was a time stretch for us (not so much $, as the casino gave us a GREAT deal). Online another person reached out to me before the sailing to see if I could bring him some supplies (bandages, Neosporin, etc). He was onboard for TEN sailings. Something about their own condo they come down to stay at was rented for a couple of months, and they had "nowhere to go". I thought that was interesting. 🙂

 

Tom

 

 

Prob better than renting a house or condo……. What to do, what to do….stay in a house that does not really work, or be on a cruise ship….  

 

Without totally taking this off the reservation, we had a friend who worked for RCCL but left the business.  They were rebuilding their house on the intercostal in the FLL area, and they were homeless for almost 17 months.  They lived the dream in those months….it is true one has to afford it, but there is also a courage element on doing it.

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

On a semi serious note, when we cruised on Azamara in the med, we noticed on embarkation that staff was calling many passengers by name.  I asked on that and was told many time (maybe the majority?) people cruise B2B2B and on.  It was an eye opening experience, esp in reference to the cost of that cruise.  That said, it sure would be nice….. 

I'm not sure I'd like to be called by name on a cruise ship, unless there was a specific need for it (e.g., I lost something & GS somehow found it).  I think there's some value in the anonymity that mainstream cruises and cruise lines (like Carnival) provide.  Obviously, others think differently.

[StephPS79]

18 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm not sure I'd like to be called by name on a cruise ship, unless there was a specific need for it (e.g., I lost something & GS somehow found it).  I think there's some value in the anonymity that mainstream cruises and cruise lines (like Carnival) provide.  Obviously, others think differently.

 

It's very mixed, as evident by the repeated posts on John Heald's other forum.  I, myself, prefer to be recognized and called by name.  I mean, they aren't out there using my full government name, and they aren't out there spreading my confessions to a ship full of people, so I think it's still pretty anonymous and I'm okay with it.  If my room steward doesn't say "Hello, ********* when I pass by, I feel a little slighted.

 

Some people really get to know the crew, it's part of their experience.  In a few rare instances, crew has recognized us from a past cruise.  I don't know, it just feels friendly. 

 

Or maybe they have a blacklist of bad passengers, who knows! (I don't think this is the case.)

 

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, aborgman said:

 

As someone who also has a lot of vacation - it's important to remember it isn't the norm.

 

A week every 2-3 months is 20-30 days a year.

 

28% of Americans have 0.

The average American has about 12.

 

At 20 days, you're probably looking at top 10%.

 

At 30 days, probably top 1-2%.

Not all of us cruise on paid time off. I cruised the most when unemployed - more so than when retired.

 

Important to remember weekends and holidays when planning vacations. A week off only takes 5 vacation days.

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

We sailed on the Reflection for a B2B (7+7) a couple years ago - and that was a time stretch for us (not so much $, as the casino gave us a GREAT deal).

 

Celebrity offered me a free cruise on Reflection and I had never even cruised on Celebrity before. I took it.

[aborgman]

25 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Not all of us cruise on paid time off. I cruised the most when unemployed - more so than when retired.

 

Important to remember weekends and holidays when planning vacations. A week off only takes 5 vacation days.

 

Being able to cruise when unemployed is an even more privileged position.

 

A week off only takes 5 vacation days - and 28% of Americans (more than 1 in 4) have zero vacation days.

 

The average is 11 days of PTO... not 11 days vacation, but 11 days of combined vacation/sick time.

 

...and it surprisingly doesn't get much better on average even among older folks:

 

    18-24 years old: 6 PTO days
    25-35 years old: 8 PTO days
    35-44 years old: 9.5 PTO days
    45-54 years old: 11 PTO days
    55-64 years old: 10 PTO days
    65+ years old: 13 PTO days

 

 

 

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, aborgman said:

 

Being able to cruise when unemployed is an even more privileged position.

 

A week off only takes 5 vacation days - and 28% of Americans (more than 1 in 4) have zero vacation days.

 

The average is 11 days of PTO... not 11 days vacation, but 11 days of combined vacation/sick time.

 

...and it surprisingly doesn't get much better on average even among older folks:

 

    18-24 years old: 6 PTO days
    25-35 years old: 8 PTO days
    35-44 years old: 9.5 PTO days
    45-54 years old: 11 PTO days
    55-64 years old: 10 PTO days
    65+ years old: 13 PTO days

 

 

 

I could lay on the sofa and feel sorry for myself or I could live. Most professionals I know start with a minimum of 15 days PTO.  I was up to 30 days PTO. I earned it.

 

Being able to cruise at all is a privileged position. or post to an Internet cruise board.

[aborgman]

14 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I could lay on the sofa and feel sorry for myself or I could live. Most professionals I know start with a minimum of 15 days PTO.  I was up to 30 days PTO. I earned it.

 

Being able to cruise at all is a privileged position. or post to an Internet cruise board.

 

I'm at approximately 45 days PTO, and I worked to earn it - but I was also inherently privileged and lucky to be able and have the opportunity to earn it.

 

Being able to cruise at all is a privileged position... posting on an internet cruise board not so much.

 

95% of Americans have access to the internet, and almost 70% of the entire world adult population has access to the internet.

Edited June 20 by aborgman

[n6uqqq]

Is this still the loss of 25 dollar casino credit thread? Asking for a friend.

[BlerkOne]

41 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

I'm at approximately 45 days PTO, and I worked to earn it - but I was also inherently privileged and lucky to be able and have the opportunity to earn it.

 

Being able to cruise at all is a privileged position... posting on an internet cruise board not so much.

 

95% of Americans have access to the internet, and almost 70% of the entire world adult population has access to the internet.

Living in the US is privileged. Being able to read and write is privileged. Judging other people is very privileged.

 

After retiring the first time, I worked as a contractor for the same company with zero paid time off, but a lot more money. When a contract ended I had the time and money to travel until a new contract appeared. 

 

Hard work doesn't guarantee success. Luck certainly helps. Luck is not  privileged.

 

[aborgman]

10 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Living in the US is privileged. Being able to read and write is privileged. Judging other people is very privileged.

 

After retiring the first time, I worked as a contractor for the same company with zero paid time off, but a lot more money. When a contract ended I had the time and money to travel until a new contract appeared. 

 

Hard work doesn't guarantee success. Luck certainly helps. Luck is not  privileged.

 

 

Luck is not privileged. Privilege is something we posses due to luck.

 

Parental luck, genetic luck, nationality luck, health luck, etc.

 

...and I'd argue hard work is generally more correlated with lack of success. Most ditch diggers work a lot harder than your average office worker making 3x the salary. Financial success isn't about hard work - it's about having a high demand, low supply, skill.

[BlerkOne]

34 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Luck is not privileged. Privilege is something we posses due to luck.

 

Parental luck, genetic luck, nationality luck, health luck, etc.

 

...and I'd argue hard work is generally more correlated with lack of success. Most ditch diggers work a lot harder than your average office worker making 3x the salary. Financial success isn't about hard work - it's about having a high demand, low supply, skill.

What some consider luck might be considered being blessed by others. In many civilized countries paid time off isn't privileged, it's the law. The $25 isn't privileged or earned. It was a promotion and it is gone.

[aborgman]

2 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

What some consider luck might be considered being blessed by others. In many civilized countries paid time off isn't privileged, it's the law. The $25 isn't privileged or earned. It was a promotion and it is gone.

 

 

Being "blessed by others" IS luck by definition.

 

Any success or failure that didn't come about through your OWN actions is luck.

 

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, aborgman said:

 

 

Being "blessed by others" IS luck by definition.

 

Any success or failure that didn't come about through your OWN actions is luck.

 

That is your opinion. It can be argued there is no such thing as luck.

[starstruck05]

1 hour ago, n6uqqq said:

Is this still the loss of 25 dollar casino credit thread? Asking for a friend.

I've never wanted to remove my name from a post so badly.....