Cruising AGAIN! Are you RICH?

[betcat]

Hello there mamatrouble. I am a trucker too. But I only go out for 2 days or 3 days. I am a hourly driver. When I leave I get paid until I get back. So thats why I only work 2 on and 5 off, or 3 on and 4 off. I pull a 3million dollar medical trailer. But we cruise every year. I just got a 6 day/5 night on carnival for 199. Now thats a cheap vacation. Thats only 40.00 dollars a day. The extra is I have already upgraded to a cat 11 suite for another 430$. But for a suite that is still a deal. A Cruise is a good deal!!!!!!!

BOB

[momofmeg]

Hello there mamatrouble. I am a trucker too. But I only go out for 2 days or 3 days. I am a hourly driver. When I leave I get paid until I get back. So thats why I only work 2 on and 5 off, or 3 on and 4 off. I pull a 3million dollar medical trailer. But we cruise every year. I just got a 6 day/5 night on carnival for 199. Now thats a cheap vacation. Thats only 40.00 dollars a day. The extra is I have already upgraded to a cat 11 suite for another 430$. But for a suite that is still a deal. A Cruise is a good deal!!!!!!!

BOB

 

Bob, I do have trouble with the cruiselines selling thiei cruises as 6 day -5 night or 8 day -7 night etc.

 

That last morning you eat breakfast and then grab your bags and wait to disembark somewhere like the show lounge (as you can not stay in your stateroom as it is to be cleaned for the next group) and SOMETIMES they hasve a TV screen there with Headline news for you to watch while you wait for your "color" to be called-how is that a day of cruising?

 

Now I know that has nothing to do with the subject but I had to throw my two cents in on that as that has ALWAYS irriitated me. LOL!

[blondie512]

this is only our second cruise but it takes us a few months to save up, and thats with us not having to pay rent right now! but even when we are we will do whatever it takes to save the money to cruise! its really cheaper than going to a hotel. people dont seem to understand that.

[ash4020]

My parents were divorced when I was five and both went to college and worked two jobs to support my brother and I. I'm talking Spam and Mac & Cheese three times a week. I know what it's like to scrim and save.

 

Now that I am in college myself (21) my dad and stepmom have the money to take all 7 of us (2 parents, 5 kids) on a cruise. I was pretty shocked at first because I was thinking 'Titantic' regarding price as well, but my stepmom told me that the cost of the cruise itself, tips, excursions, and the gas to get there (we are from AR and leaving from NOLA) was only 300 dollars more than the cost of hotels and flying all seven of us to Disneyworld. :eek: :eek:

 

Besides, have you seen was a three day pass to DW is? Its a crime! And honestly, what is a better vacation for two parents, a 21yo, two 18yos, a 14yo, and 5yo? We are all excited about something different that we never could have combined into another vacation.

 

However if you had asked me six months ago what a cruise for seven would have cost, I would have guessed 15K easy. Not true!!

[melika091900]

alot of people who say things like that also dont know how inexpensive cruising can really be...

when i told our family that our recent cruise we booked to mexico was only 500 per person they thought i was lying !!!

alot of people just dont understand that it is doable.

[libracon]

This will be only my second cruise and I'm starting to hear it already. I just tell them that I live simple(don't go out much) and my kids are grown so its time for me. I spend my money the way I want. Don't You?:)

[MoneyGuy]

Every time I say I'm going on a cruise again or (Vegas:D) I get a smart answer. People always say, "Did you inherit money"? Are you rich? Did you win lotto? So I started telling people I was visiting friends out of state. But it always comes out. Either by pic's, my sons mouth, a slip of the mouth,etc. My neighbor knows because they watch my dog,take in mail, and I have to leave an emergency tel#. My own brother comments and says, "well I guess you don't need money)! Does anyone else go through this? I'm tired of the questions and sarcasm. I think maybe they are jealous.

 

Hey, are you rich, Wilson? :D

 

Seriously, we travel a lot but no one has ever had the nerve to ask me that question.

[Cojobro]

:p We travel with our best friends and hear the same stuff from others so we came up with this:

 

 

When people say "IT MUST BE NICE".....we say "IT IS!!!!!!!!"

It's just that simple, if we aren't asking others to borrow money for our crusies then why should they be anything but happy for us. My sister died in May at the age of 43, so we know that life can be too short. We should appreciate everyday and do things that we love. If we don't do things now than we may miss our chance to ever do them. My sisters favorite thing ever was going on her first (and only) cruise 4 years ago for my parents 50th anniversary. I have loved every cruise I've ever done and will never regret all the great times that have been had on a ship.

[tiyana4]

As a single parent, I have heard it all. Short of people asking how I can afford it, I have heard some of the following:

 

You have the same bills that we have, how can you afford to travel so much?

Wrong!:eek: I don’t have a $400-500 car payment to pay every month. I was fortunate to be able to pay off my 2004 SUV in 2 1/2 yrs. While others ate out for breakfast, lunch & dinner and ate at Ruth’s Chris every weekend, I doubled up on my payments. Instead of going to the movie theater, we do Blockbuster.com. I also didn’t spring for the $450k+ home in a new development. I purchased a pre-owned property in a desirable neighborhood before the housing market took off. Disposable income is how we can afford to travel.

 

You’re going away again?

We have 4 weeks of vacation every year. If they choose to spend theirs doing spring cleaning or visiting relatives - hurray for them. For us, we choose to travel. We don’t have to swing it in a courtyard villa or suite. Sub-par rooms;) (according to some) in an inside, ocean-view or balcony cabin affords us the ability to cruise 2-3x per year and do at least one land vacation.

 

So, you came back to work to mingle with us common folk, huh?

This was following the “Savor the Night” cruise in NY. We had the good fortune to meet a celebrity onboard.

 

It’s just you and your daughter?

As if being a single parent is a plague and does not afford me this privilege. I have been traveling with my daughter since she was a small child (6 mos.). Having family members in the military, it gave us the perfect opportunity to travel. Exposing my child to different cultures is not only fun but educational. When discussions come up in my daughter’s Geography class, she can better relate as she has been there. I work for a large brokerage firm but in no way do I bring home the huge annual bonuses that some of my colleagues do. It does, however, give me an opportunity to treat my mother to at least one cruise per year.

 

My best one yet is the couple who owns a timeshare and never tried cruising…… “We use our Timeshare to travel and it only cost us $15,000 on the front end”. I sold my timeshare several years ago when I discovered that cruising was more economical by FAR! Tally up the monthly payments to payoff the timeshare loan, annual taxes and maintenance fees, RCI or ICE annual fees, exchange fees, all-inclusive meal costs, airfare getting to timeshare…etc. The list goes on and on………not to mention the difficulty in getting reservations for a particular time of year. With cruises there is a never-ending supply of cruises available for the average cost of maintenance fees alone.

 

As another poster mentioned, just planning a cruise vacation can be very therapeutic. I’m already planning my next cruise mentally as I disembark from any ship.

 

I have never been mistaken for anyone rich. But if anyone ever asks, I will know how to answer. "If you say so.”:D

[LambKnuckles]

I'm a widow with a teenager at home and my mom who's in a wheelchair -- I'm the sandwich generation.

 

I'm in an office where we each cruise at different times during the year -- and even cruise together sometimes...

[EJ'S MOM-MOM]

I have always been careful with money, clip coupons, don't smoke ( at least for the last 26 yrs), made my kids, mine & my DH's clothes when I was younger, eat at home ( only go out to dinner ocassionally ), shop for bargains etc. I have family that make remarks like " she has her recess money" or "she's made of money". My husband has always had a decent paying job, we owned our own business for 10 yrs & then I got a job in govt. & was smart enough to put a part of my paycheck away in a 401K. We sold our house a few years ago & now live in a more economical apartment, it seemed dumb to heat & keep up a 4 bedroom house for 2 people, some people would not think of downsizing they think it looks like you can't keep up your house. How silly, our utilities are now about half what we paid before a big savings with today's energy costs. So all this planning paid off & now we can afford to cruise when we want & yes I shop for the best price & get the military discount. We even were able to treat our kids & grandkids this year to a cruise with us. We are by no means rich, we live on S.S., pensions & DH works part time in the winter months only as we live in a trailer in a campground in the summer, another good investment that we made 20 yrs ago. But I do believe those who talk about me are just jealous & also can't afford these things because of their lifestyles which are none of my business as my lifestyle is none of there's & I do not hesitate to tell them that when they make those remarks to me personally, which is not too often....

Our home sweet home at the shore...