What's your story?

[Sirwinston]

My name is Tom and I am a cruise-a-holic. We are dual income gay couple in our mid 40s with an adopted 12 year old son. I work in fine dining and other stuff, my partner is a Rad Tech for a hospital. Sometime we cruise together (my fave) Sometime it is myself and our son, Somtimes I cruise with friends....

Being in customer service I really really enjoy the role reversal. :D

I am cruising with my son in 23 days :) Partner can not get the time off work.

[pe4all]

Took our first cruise for our 1st anniversary. Took a break to do land-based all-inclusives - seemed easier after the kids came. We then re-discovered cruising, and are totally hooked. Both work - I teach, dh is a CPA. Our Dec. holiday cruises are to settle dh down for a long, stressful tax season. I have a special needs 19 year old dd - and a "normal" (is there such a thing?- lol) 16 year old dd. Cruising meets both their needs. Love different ports, different foods, and being "waited on" for a whole week!! And we get quality family time without running one teen to varsity practice, the other to tutors, both to social engagements, etc. We also had quite a shock when our 40 year old perfectly healthy SIL passed away quite suddenly last year. Put things into perspective for us. We now take BIL and his 2 young kids cruising with us. Nothing like having extended family together. Also important - we have found cruising to be a good value for our money.

[WishIwerethere]

Not to mention there's not much (unfortunately) to chose from out of NY

[MaryZ]

we just like to vacation....lol

we've been cruising a long time, before kids, with kids, by ourselves, with extended family, with friends.

Now the kids are older, we leave them home for some, take them for others.

We also travel other places. We do about 4 major vacations a year and we spend our summers in our rv, boat or beach house. We both work, but we have really excellent salaries which pretty much makes us more than comfortable.

We also both get 6-8 weeks vacation a year. Our jobs are high stress, but then so are our nearly 18, nearly 21 and 24 yr old kids...lol

We don't believe in waiting to live our life, we've always done whatever it is we want to do. Our kids have travelled the world, starting with my oldest who left for hong kong with me on business when he was 3 months old. We are into adventure and into doing nothing at all.

There is no way I will ever die and say on my deathbed, damn I shoulda, coulda, woulda. Nope, not us. We are doing all along the way because the most fun you can ever have is living your life and not waiting till...the kids are old enough to appreciate it, the kids are done with college, till we have more money, till we are retired etc etc etc.

our life is fun. And we enjoy it all, every single day.

That's my story...and it's a really good one...:D

[Grits53]

DH and I are both retired school bus drivers :eek: (in our mid 50's), now commercial poultry farmers. Needless to say, we didn't have "luxury money" to spend when we were bus drivers and the kids were growing up. We took the kids on vacations that were nearby, mostly to amusement parks. Our vacations without kids were taken on the Harley, because we could really travel cheap that way. We toured most of the western half of the US and even rode up to Canada, just to say we had been there. We packed our tent on the Harley and had very few expenses but had a blast. (NO, we are not typical partying, drinking, heck raising bikers!)

 

When we got into the poultry business and retired from bus driving 8 years ago, we suddenly found ourselves with "luxury money". First, we travelled by RV (pulling the Harley in a trailer behind it) and had fun doing that, but it was really tiring, staying on the road every day. (We're getting older!) Just over a year ago, we were making plans for another RV road trip, when DH mentioned that he might like to take a cruise. Within minutes (well, almost! LOL!), I had a cruise booked! I had always wanted to take a cruise, since my grandparents took one when I was a child. That cruise was the highlight of their lives! They talked about it for years. So I wanted to experience cruising, too.

 

We took our first cruise in Oct. 2006 on the Conquest. The PVP talked us into getting a cat. 11 suite that first time, which we have stuck with since then. We were blessed with PERFECT weather and glassy smooth waters for the entire trip. Our shore excursions were wonderful, too. We were definitely hooked after that! We did not want that cruise to end, and DH actually tried to figure out how much money it would take to just live onboard the Conquest. :cool: As soon as we hit land after that first cruise, I was booking another one on the Conquest for the very next month! Yeah, we had it bad.

 

Now, DH tries to act all responsible and everything and says he doesn't need to leave the farm that often. (He thinks things will not run without him, even though we have lots of good help and friends to run the farm when we're gone.) He says one cruise a year is enough. I say NO IT ISN'T!! So I asked my BFF to cruise with me last March. Now, another friend is cruising with me Feb. 9. I'm working on getting DH to cruise on the Conquest again (I miss that ship!) in March. First, he said yes. Now, he's dragging his feet again, saying he'll just wait for our Miracle cruise next Oct. Who do you think will win this one? ;)

 

OK, was that a little more info than you asked for? :o I tend to be a little too wordy when it comes to subjects that I love!

[tershall]

We are in our early 50's. We love cruising for so many reasons:

• pack/unpack once but see many ports
  
• no contact w/work - cell phone doesn't work/won't allow him to purchase any computer time to check e-mail
  
• love being on the water
  
• I can be lazy one minute and the next flying around on a parasail
  
• we have amazing advenutres
  
• meet fun, unusual, and entertaining people from all parts of the world
  
• usually dh and I cruise once a year
  
• we have a great time
  
• we reconnect with each other

this list could go on forever so I better stop here:D

[skiorcruise]

Empty nesters, mid 50's. Live in Utah, so travel to ports is a concern.

My parents are into cruising big time, and we decided to go with them one night to a precruise planning session at their home in Phoenix. I thought it sounded great, and planned a short trip to see "if we liked it" I am hooked.

 

One pack / unpack cycle for the trip.

Different places every day

Adventure or sit on a beach, your choice daily.

good value for the money - I also ski alot, and I can cruise for about half the cost each day versus a ski trip.

Don't have to worry about finding a "good" place to eat (high on DW's list)

 

I could go on and on. The attraction of the ocean is also a part of it, since I was raised in South Dakota and live in the mountains of Utah.

 

We have taken two trips with my parents (Conquest and Pride). One solo (Paradise) and have two planned (Paradise - getting one of my ski buddies hooked) (Fantasy - 80th birthday party for my Mother Family Reunion cruise to get the rest of the family hooked).

 

Gee - only two planned. I'm slipping. Got to go get another trip planned - LOL

[buddyjo143]

We are Dinks with high stress jobs, we mostly go on cruises to get away from our 2 upto no good beagles :D

 

 

Fred

 

Those beagles will get you every time ;). For us it's the beagle and the cat.

 

DH and I are also 40 something, Dinks. I work in a school and get set vacations per year. DH spent the last year traveling extensively for work.

 

We found we can truly relax on a cruise. We still love land vacations but tend to go-go-go and get no-no-no rest when we take a land vacation.:rolleyes:

[Classynfun1]

BF and I are also dinks who have high stress jobs with way too much responsibility! We both travel every week, M-F, all year long. It actually costs us *a lot* more to cruise than take land vacations since land vacation are usually free (with points). The thing is, when I'm not traveling for work, I have no interest in planning hotels, rental cars, can rides, limo rides, hotels, airfare, meals, things to do, etc.,etc.,etc! I want it all done for me! A cruise is perfect - choose a cabin type, date, itinerary, and then ships and voila - a vacation is complete!

 

I love everything about cruising and can't wait to get back on the Victory...

[bonniemari]

I always come here to visit about 2 months before we cruise (this will be our 5th) and I notice most folks have several cruises under their belts. I'm wondering what type of people we all are cruising with. Are you retired and cruising is your travel choice? Are you a professional with a high stress job and find it the most relaxing vacation? You get what I mean...

We own a store and have 2 young children, so pretty much all we do is work. We cruise because it's an amazing value, and the kids get time apart, we get time apart from the kids, yet still plenty of family time.

Leaving in 38 days to sail on the Pride - I can taste the pumpkin soup already!!

Anni

 

My DH & I also own retail stores. We are empty nester so we are able to go when we want. We are together 24/7 (well almost) so we like cruises because we are still together but are not tied at the hip. Some days we do different things. I might go to a show while he is in the casino. We have togetherness but seperatly. Plus to me cruising is one of the most relaxing vacations there is.

 

When some of our friends comment about us going on another vacation or cruise (we take a few days every 2-3 months) I have to nicely remind them that most of them have 9-5 jobs but owning a retail business it more like 12-13 hrs a day six days a week.

 

We have been very blessed with a good business and great employees that allow us to cruise when we want. One of the benefits of working for us is I am a little more liberal about the paid vacations days that our employees have. We have decided to retire and sell the business but one thing i am planning on doing when we sell is to take our employees and their spouses on a short cruise for giving us all these years of loyalty.

[Maxax]

We're in the DINK group too!!! Late 30's...4 Cats, 2 Dogs....and two high stress jobs! Engineer in Corporate America, and a Teacher!

 

We cruise because its a good value for your money...but MOST of all...because you have EVERYTHING at your finger tips. If you're on a cruiseship...and want something, food, drink, entertainment, pool, casino, coffee, food, drink, sunshine, new interesting places you've never been to before, lots of activities, sight seeing, shopping, food, drink, amazing surroundings every where you look, romance of the seas, food, drink....well...you get the idea.

[sptree]

We found cruising to be the perfect vacation to take with your family. My parents live in Nevada and my daughter and I meet them at the pier and spend a great week cruising together. Everyone gets to do what they want to do and we come together every night for dinner. What a great vacation!

[bplazo]

We both work full time nothing to stressful...DH works for a city Parks Department and I have my own Grooming Shop...We travel alot showing our Bulldogs and Japanese Chin. Cruising is a time for us to unwind and do some mindless traveling..All our decisions are made before we sail so all we have to do is be swept away...

 

Kelly

 

I also have a couple of Japanese Chins!

 

Forgot to add that I gave a cruise to my 11 year old daughter for xmas one year and now that is the only type of vacation she likes!

[redskin80]

We are in our mid 40's, no kids. We cruise about every 2 years. The value, the fact that we get to go to see several places instead of just one. Both professionals, find that cruises meet everything we need in vacations. Husband gets to gamble, I get to sun bath. Meet new and exciting friends.

[pacerzfan]

I am a single dad with 2 DD's (but hopefully soon to be wed to my ex-girlfriend from 30 yr ago, so I gain another daughter....I love it.). I am a poor folk and this seems to be the cheapest way for me and my crew to do a vacation every few years. This will be my soon to be's and her DDs first cruise and I hope to make it as exciting as possible. She had never even been out of Indiana until I took our families to Branson over last spring. Unfortunatly we lost her 17 yr old DD a few months later to a bicycle accident, so I also am trying to get us away for awhile. Wish I could afford to go sooner but we have less than a year to wait....LOL

Don't get me wrong I have loved my "special" time on the cruises with my DD's but this one with someone that I should have married 30 yr ago and our family will just be a little extra special to me.

Oh and I just hit 50.....shhhesh

[LambKnuckles]

I guess that makes me a SISG -- Single Income, Sandwich Generation. I have Mom living with me and daughter. I work, but have 4 weeks vacation. Living in Texas makes it a short drive to Galveston -- but darn, I discovered cruising after my husband died. We first cruised in 06, to celebrate Mom's birthday... fell in love with it.

 

With Mom in a wheelchair, cruising lets me have the freedom to do what I want, and gives her a confined place to wander and sit in the spa and play cards and eat and sleep in the sun... She'll make friends and chat and enjoy, then can head back to the cabin to rest. And I don't have to worry about her wandering/wheeling down the wrong street or getting lost. I have her wear her S&S card around her neck -- and figure a crew member can aim her in the right direction if needed -- so far, she's taken care and not gotten lost!

 

This cruise I'll decorate the door. It'll help her find her way home!

 

AND, I love being taken care of and pampered for a change! I don't have to be the daughter or caregiver and I don't have to be the Mom or responsible one. I can be the kid and be silly and have FUN!!!! And I'll keep trying to win the "24 carat plastic Ship on a Stick!"

LK