How does everyone cruise so FREQUENTLY?

[Stockjock]

Quote: "But at the end, all you have is a sad lonely life. No one to share all your fun travel memories with. No one that gives one iota for you."

 

Let me add an additional comment regarding the above remark. I dated a woman for 3.5 years. She did several cruises with me and we had some fun travel memories together. However, not long after my father died, things changed dramatically.

 

We traveled to San Francisco for her birthday and I took her to a nice restaurant for dinner. She told me how full she was and to illustrate the point, lifted her shirt exposing her tummy. I politely suggested that she lower her shirt, suggesting that perhaps it was best to leave the shirt down in a nice restaurant. She said, "I'll bet you wouldn't say that if I was a skinny 25-year old". I told her I would, but she insisted on trying to pick a fight. I told her it was her birthday and I didn't come to SF to fight, so if she wanted to fight she'd have to do it by herself. She tried and tried to further provoke me, but was not able to do so.

 

The next night, she picked the same fight. I did not participate in it saying that the issue was over and perhaps we should try to forget about it and enjoy our vacation. I did not say anything mean, use bad language, stick out my tongue, or anything like that. I simply sat on the hotel bed in my sweat pants and a t-shirt.

 

She picked up a wine glass unexpectedly and threw it at me. It shattered in front of me on the nightstand and the razor sharp bowl clipped my wrist, slashing it open. The damage? A severed radial artery, a severed wrist flexor tendon, a severed thumb flexor tendon and a severed thumb extensor tendon as well as a severed major nerve branch.

 

After many hours of surgery and considerable rehab, I've had a nice recovery, but it was a lot of hard work. The scar still looks like hell and while I've recovered most of the feeling in my left hand, there are some areas at and above the wound with considerable numbness.

 

You see, this was my fun travel partner who did this. The one I dated 3.5 years who I thought that I knew. The one who supposedly cared more than one iota. As bad as things were, can you imagine what I would have to had gone through if I had been married to this woman?

 

Of course, I dumped her, healed up and moved on. Now I have a new travel partner. Here's a photo (link below) of her and me on a NCL cruise this past Feb. We're doing a CCL cruise in Oct and a Celebrity Greek Isles cruise next year.

 

I hope to keep her around for quite awhile, but hopefully the story does serve to illustrate my point. I had fun with her during the good times and I have nice travel memories, but thank God that I never married her.

 

Here's me and the new travel partner:

[KenMo]

Stockjock: I'm a female and I agree with what you're saying.

 

You sound just like my brother, who lives in SRM. There is some radio guy there (I don't recall his name) who my brother is always quoting. Perhaps you know who I'm thinking of.

 

My brother and cousin (who live in the Bay Area) have both gone through divorces. I totally understand why they are soured on marriages. There are some vicious females out there that give the rest of us a bad name.

 

I know this is off topic, but wanted to throw in my .02.

[kebboli]

My dh and I never been married 17 years, never had a honeymoon, we have 2 girls (17 & 10) and the only vacations we really went on over the years were camping trips. They were a good time but about 3years ago I got tired of listening to everyone talk about going on a cruise so I came home turned on the computer and started looking and told my husband I was tired of thinking we couldn't afford it and that I really wanted us to go so within an hour we had booked our first cruise and our flights. 1 1/2 months later we went on that cruise and we were hooked!! Now they are all I think about....LOL So we have been going atleast once a year and I even snuck in an extra 5 night cruise this year with a lady friend I met on here and on a cruise last year to Hawaii (never thought I would have made it there...it was great). I shop for the cheapest deals and the cheapest add ons, its alot of work but I have planned some great cruises that I never thought we would have ever been able to afford. I work 3 part time jobs and clean a house and put all that money in the cruise fund and we live off my DH check. I am working on paying off some more debt to free up more money and have stopped shopping for the most part and try to save as much as I/we can. Over the past 3 years or so I have lost alot of my family and just this last year my father at age 54 of Cancer. It was horrible and it has showed me how short life really can be so I will get on atleast one cruise a year and try for more if I can for as long as I can.

[Stockjock]

Stockjock: I'm a female and I agree with what you're saying.

 

You sound just like my brother, who lives in SRM. There is some radio guy there (I don't recall his name) who my brother is always quoting. Perhaps you know who I'm thinking of.

 

My brother and cousin (who live in the Bay Area) have both gone through divorces. I totally understand why they are soured on marriages. There are some vicious females out there that give the rest of us a bad name.

 

I know this is off topic, but wanted to throw in my .02.

 

Thanks KenMo. I think you're referring to Tom Leykis. I had never heard him and friends used to tell me that I sounded like him. Finally, his show came to San Diego and I thought he sounded like me!

[Wennfred]

 

Are you Jared from the Subway commerical?

 

 

Fred

[Stockjock]

Are you Jared from the Subway commerical?

 

 

Fred

 

Nope, although I do enjoy the new $5 foot long menu!

[KenMo]

Thanks KenMo. I think you're referring to Tom Leykis. I had never heard him and friends used to tell me that I sounded like him. Finally, his show came to San Diego and I thought he sounded like me!

 

 

Yes....that's the guy!!

[Umbarger]

We usually book insides to be able to cruise more. Last year we booked a B2B for 14 days in an inside for the same price as a balcony for only one week.

 

Drive a 91 Jeep, Husband drives a 64 Chevy PU, both paid for.

 

No debt - only debt we have is our mortgage.

 

Rarely eat out etc.

 

It pays to be frugal if it means being able to cruise more. :D

 

Stockjock,

I think if you find the right girl you will want to marry her. Perhaps you just havent found the right one yet. Good luck to you.

[Texaslandshark]

Some people just have more money.....period.

[Toddcan]

Why do some people drive $80,000 cars?

Why do some people live in $1,000,000 homes?

etc etc.

 

It's all about what you can afford. We are all from varied stations in life. Some of us make $20,000 per year, and some of us make $200,000 per year.

 

One thing to be sure: DO not live beyond you means. If you really cannot afford that $4,000 annual cruise, don't take it.

[MaryZ]

Quote: "But at the end, all you have is a sad lonely life. No one to share all your fun travel memories with. No one that gives one iota for you."

 

Let me add an additional comment regarding the above remark. I dated a woman for 3.5 years. She did several cruises with me and we had some fun travel memories together. However, not long after my father died, things changed dramatically.

 

We traveled to San Francisco for her birthday and I took her to a nice restaurant for dinner. She told me how full she was and to illustrate the point, lifted her shirt exposing her tummy. I politely suggested that she lower her shirt, suggesting that perhaps it was best to leave the shirt down in a nice restaurant. She said, "I'll bet you wouldn't say that if I was a skinny 25-year old". I told her I would, but she insisted on trying to pick a fight. I told her it was her birthday and I didn't come to SF to fight, so if she wanted to fight she'd have to do it by herself. She tried and tried to further provoke me, but was not able to do so.

 

The next night, she picked the same fight. I did not participate in it saying that the issue was over and perhaps we should try to forget about it and enjoy our vacation. I did not say anything mean, use bad language, stick out my tongue, or anything like that. I simply sat on the hotel bed in my sweat pants and a t-shirt.

 

She picked up a wine glass unexpectedly and threw it at me. It shattered in front of me on the nightstand and the razor sharp bowl clipped my wrist, slashing it open. The damage? A severed radial artery, a severed wrist flexor tendon, a severed thumb flexor tendon and a severed thumb extensor tendon as well as a severed major nerve branch.

 

After many hours of surgery and considerable rehab, I've had a nice recovery, but it was a lot of hard work. The scar still looks like hell and while I've recovered most of the feeling in my left hand, there are some areas at and above the wound with considerable numbness.

 

You see, this was my fun travel partner who did this. The one I dated 3.5 years who I thought that I knew. The one who supposedly cared more than one iota. As bad as things were, can you imagine what I would have to had gone through if I had been married to this woman?

 

Of course, I dumped her, healed up and moved on. Now I have a new travel partner. Here's a photo (link below) of her and me on a NCL cruise this past Feb. We're doing a CCL cruise in Oct and a Celebrity Greek Isles cruise next year.

 

I hope to keep her around for quite awhile, but hopefully the story does serve to illustrate my point. I had fun with her during the good times and I have nice travel memories, but thank God that I never married her.

 

Yes, I could relate to being happy you never married her.

There are theories why people attract certain types of people tho ;)

The new travel partner looks normal. You need to lose that shirt.

[G'ma]

Now if I ever win the Powerball, I'm looking into ResidenSea (sp?). DH probably wouldn't live on a ship, but he can come visit me occasionally!

 

Oh, this is soooo my fantasy. Win the lottery and I'm am so gone. I'd be on one of those ships in a heartbeat!!!

 

I understand, however, that I am required to actually buy a lottery ticket in order to win..... Hmmm.:rolleyes: Maybe that's the trickt....:D

[Toddcan]

I hope to keep her around for quite awhile, but hopefully the story does serve to illustrate my point. I had fun with her during the good times and I have nice travel memories, but thank God that I never married her.

 

Here's me and the new travel partner:

 

StockJock, maybe it's just me, but you seem to be trying to justify remaining single. Don't justify it. If you want to remain single, more power to you. IMO, you are not marriage material, and should most certainly avoid it. "If things go wrong, we can more easily go our own ways" sums it all up for me. So, I applaude your choice to remain single.

 

Personally, I prefer what you might call the old-fashioned lifestyle of family and kids. I'm an engineer, so I live and die by data. I need the data. However, there are choices in life that are not data-driven. Getting married is one of them. Having kids is another. Personally, I cannot see my life without my wife and kids. "Daddy" & "Dear" are the two most fufilling words to my ears. Yeah, I can have kids without being married. Yeah, I can have someone to call me "dear", even if it's for up to 3.5 years. But, the personal commitment, and the satisfaction that comes from marriage, is, for me, my reason for being.

 

Again, that's me. You are obviously much different, and have found what works for you. Stick with it. Just don't feel you need to justify it. You're story of the broken glass seemed, to me, to come across as an attempt to justify being single. Don't do that. We all have our stories. I'm not going to post stories of my successes in marriage to justify my choice to marry. It's a personal choice.

 

I am sorry if I read too much into your post.

 

Now, do I pay off my remaining mortgage or throw more into my RRSP (sorry, I am Canadian, so I am not sure if you have RRSPs (tax sheltered retirement savings plan) ) :D

[Stockjock]

Quote: "There are theories why people attract certain types of people"

 

I don't think that any of us deserves to be the victim of violence. It was unexpected and I'm thankful that I could dump her sorry arse swiftly, without a lawyer, and without adding insult to injury by handing her alimony, half of my 401k and more.

[Stockjock]

StockJock, maybe it's just me, but you seem to be trying to justify remaining single. Don't justify it. If you want to remain single, more power to you. IMO, you are not marriage material, and should most certainly avoid it. "If things go wrong, we can more easily go our own ways" sums it all up for me. So, I applaude your choice to remain single.

 

Personally, I prefer what you might call the old-fashioned lifestyle of family and kids. I'm an engineer, so I live and die by data. I need the data. However, there are choices in life that are not data-driven. Getting married is one of them. Having kids is another. Personally, I cannot see my life without my wife and kids. "Daddy" & "Dear" are the two most fufilling words to my ears. Yeah, I can have kids without being married. Yeah, I can have someone to call me "dear", even if it's for up to 3.5 years. But, the personal commitment, and the satisfaction that comes from marriage, is, for me, my reason for being.

 

Again, that's me. You are obviously much different, and have found what works for you. Stick with it. Just don't feel you need to justify it. You're story of the broken glass seemed, to me, to come across as an attempt to justify being single. Don't do that. We all have our stories. I'm not going to post stories of my successes in marriage to justify my choice to marry. It's a personal choice.

 

I am sorry if I read too much into your post.

 

Now, do I pay off my remaining mortgage or throw more into my RRSP (sorry, I am Canadian, so I am not sure if you have RRSPs (tax sheltered retirement savings plan) ) :D

 

I made a point that staying single has worked for me and another individual came out with a comment that staying single means, in essence, growing old and alone. I disagree with that as both married and single individuals can have terrific or terrible relationships. I think most would agree that marriage comes with considerably more strings attached. Whether that's a good thing or not is open to interpretation.

 

While I can't give specific advice on the internet, with respect to your question, here's something I sometimes ask my clients:

 

Q. Do you want to own good quality companies or low quality companies?

A. Good quality companies.

 

Q. Do you want to pay a very high price for those companies or a low price?

A. A low price.

 

Q. So you'd prefer to buy good quality companies at a low price, correct?

A. Correct.

 

Q. Do you think that the prices of good quality companies are low when the news is great or when the news is lousy?

A. Probably when the news is lousy.

 

Q. Does that sound like now?...

 

Speaking generically of retirement plans, if one is adding to a retirement account on a regular systematic basis (aka dollar cost averaging), a comment I've made is...

 

"How would you like to be smart enough to always buy more shares when the markets are low and always buy fewer shares when the markets are high?"

 

Of course, when you invest systematically, i.e. invest a fixed amount on a regular basis, then that's typically what's going to occur.

 

Example: $300 invested monthly into a hypothetical mutual fund that has fluctuated between a 12 month high of $30 per share and a low of $15 per share.

 

When the shares are $30, you're buying 10 shares that month, but in the month that the shares are $15, you're buying 20 shares or twice as many shares as you did at the peak. Assuming that this hypothetical fund generally has a reasonable positive total return over time, this is more often than not a winning strategy. The key is to look beyond the bad news of the day and look forward to a time when some of the current problems are either resolved or improved upon.

 

Of course, my understanding is that the economy in parts of Canada is actually pretty good. I met with a friend visiting from Calgary week before last and he told me that their local economy was booming, mostly due to strength in the oil and energy sector.

 

Disclaimer: The preceeding information is not to be construed as a buy or sell recommendation for or against any security, an offer to buy or sell any security, or a solicitation.

[ctsally]

We live frugally...plus I hate to shop. The law says I have to be covered, not that I need designer clothes.

 

I don't use a credit card (except for HAL !) so no interest accrues.

 

The ONLY reason we can take cruises is that we got a reverse mortgage a few years ago. Our adult "kids" told us to spend it before a nursing home gets it. As one of our sons said, "What will the nursing home do with the money...give us a week of free enemas?". We haven't looked back!

[HJK001]

I love all your posts! It's fun to see how and why so many people cruise! My DH and I have always put vacations first and have even held off building a new home so that we can afford vacations with each other and with our kids. We didn't cruise for the first time until 2005 on the Disney Wonder, and we were HOOKED after that. Unfortunately, so were the kids (now 6 an 10). Loving to have family trips, we have been including them in our plans, so it gets more expensive than just for two of us....but the memories are wonderful!!!!!!!

 

Happy and safe travels to all!

Heidi

[pungo3]

We live way below our means and always have. My DH is a born 'saver' and his frugalness has paid off after 34 years of marriage. We always pay off credit cards at the end of the month, drive cars that are paid for and have an extremely modest mortgage that will be paid off in 18 months. The only problem is my 'land vacations' keep getting in the way of cruising. I'm hoping to remedy that soon. In fact, I sail in 2 days.

[Uncle Doug]

As the wife and I have grown older we find that memories are more important than objects. I have 6 weeks vacation a year and work in a very demanding and stressfull job. It helps that it is a well paying job. My wife has been a domestic goddess our 23 plus years together. I drive a 10 year old pickup and have no man toys other than my tractor. We have one fairly new modest family car.

 

We take a vacation each year with each of the 5 grandkids. Sometimes it is all together (Disney), sometimes its a couple of different ones. We have taken all of our kids when they were growing up on nice land based and cruise vacations. Most of the grankids have been on one or more cruises with us. The bonding that goes on especially when children are a young age is increadable. My grandparents were very involved with me as a kid and it made a strong impression on me. My wife never knew any of her grandparents so it is so enjoyable now.

 

We have just downsized in housing to a small 800 square foot 1BR with no morgage. Our utilities costs have been cut by more than 50%. We have managed to stick away a modest amount in our 401K. Hopefully we will continue to enjoy nice vacations in our retirement years.

 

Our moto is to live cheep and travel well.

[linda_22003]

I made a point that staying single has worked for me and another individual came out with a comment that staying single means, in essence, growing old and alone. I disagree with that as both married and single individuals can have terrific or terrible relationships.

 

You're absolutely right. I get the same sort of comments because my husband and I made the conscious decision not to have children. People feel free to tell me that I'm going to be in a nursing home all by myself someday, whereas I've known people who couldn't be PAID to visit their parents once they became adults and moved away. :p

[Payd]

I've been noticing on the boards that so many of you cruise multiple times a year...sometimes even monthly. Does everyone live close to the ports so that air travel, taxis, car rentals and hotels don't play into the cost therefore making it more reasonable to cruise? And do you get balcony rooms/suites or settle for cheaper, interior rooms? My family lives in WI, so we incur all the extras (hotel, air, car, etc)...which add up fast! And then we opt for suites (sometimes) or balcony rooms (always)...maybe that's our problem...takes longer to save for a cruise that way!!!!

 

Heidi :)

 

We are finally cruising twice a year.

 

Same story as many others. No mortgage, car payments, credit card debt etc.

 

We live in Canada and have to fly to every port, so that adds up to more than the cruise fare itself. If I lived close to a port - watch out!!!

[Stockjock]

You're absolutely right. I get the same sort of comments because my husband and I made the conscious decision not to have children. People feel free to tell me that I'm going to be in a nursing home all by myself someday, whereas I've known people who couldn't be PAID to visit their parents once they became adults and moved away. :p

 

I get the same thing. I think that the bottom line is that we all try hard to make the decisions that are best for each of us respectively and hopefully they play out as planned. One person wants to be married and have children, you want to be married with no children and I don't want to be married or have kids. Different approaches work for different people and it's potentially all good.

[Stockjock]

We are finally cruising twice a year.

 

Same story as many others. No mortgage, car payments, credit card debt etc.

 

We live in Canada and have to fly to every port, so that adds up to more than the cruise fare itself. If I lived close to a port - watch out!!!

 

There seems to be a common theme here.

 

I have a relative who likes to do whatever she wants to whenever she feels like it. She likes nice dresses and countless pair of pretty and expensive shoes. She thinks that credit cards are for buying things that make her happy regardless of whether or not she can actually *afford* these items.

 

She bought a house, maxed out her credit cards, refinanced a number of times, and now her mortgage is almost double the initial level of indebtedness where I've paid mine down to almost nothing. As a result, she cannot afford to do a thing, even though she still does much of what she wants to.

 

At some point sooner than later, she will likely and unfortunately face "The Day of Reckoning", at which point her credit score will blow up and she'll probably lose her house. Of course, she's hoping that a "buffed" and handsome Prince Charming rides up on a white stallion, pays off her debt, and moves her into a home with an ocean view, but I don't think that she should hold her breath for that to happen.

 

Being smart with money will often allow you to do some of the fun things like cruising, while being a big spender and carrying a lot of debt will keep you from doing these things. It's not just about income either. I've know people with very high incomes, well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, who are financial trainwrecks.

[farler05]

I suppose frequently is in the eye of the beholder. We cruise once a year & our friends think that's pretty frequent. By our calculations, cruising is cheaper than a land based vacation. We like to have a vacation every year, so cruising is it for us. We try to cruise during the "off" times when it's cheaper. We watch for sales. We are driving to Port Canaveral because it will be cheaper than flying.

[glrounds]

If I could have eliminated a disastous divorce from my life (by not marrying :D ), I would be through working, cruising every week with tons of money in the bank. AND I MEAN TONS AND EVERY WEEK ! ! :D

Although I was never physically assaulted, marriage is just not for some. I'm not good at marriage, PERIOD.

Just got off the phone with my last ex-wife who called me to wish me what "might have been" our 30th anniversary today. A real sweetheart, smart, beautiful, great wife, and great Mother . . . but I always put my business FIRST, unfortunately, and as I said, I'm not good at marriage. :(

 

I know better now. :)