Anyone putting off booking a cruise until the Sept financial crisis settles?

[Canadianhey!]

Personally, it seems to me that it is the attitude of Americans that spend spend spend, is that they put all that spending on credit cards that causes the problems. Many Americans live FAR ABOVE their means, and in turn, they get into big financial trouble for this very reason.

 

Unfortunately you are not alone, we Canadian aren't that far behind

[mpwarder]

I will do absolutley anything to make sure I can keep taking vacations. I have lots of debt and stress to go with it. I am paying it off consistently, but took on a second stream of income specifically so I could continue to take vacations. It is probably what keeps me sane enough to claw my way out of debt.

[bjkTX]

I guess it all depends on your financial situation whether the expense of a cruise can be justified. For those that can afford it there should be some good deals if the ships have trouble filling cabins. If they don't - well then I guess that says a lot about the real world situation.

 

If you can afford it I'd say go for it. DW had a customer come in a few weeks ago to take care of some financial affairs after the death of her husband a few days earlier. She told my wife they really hadn't ever done any traveling, they planned to do that once her husband retired. He retired on Friday - and didn't wake up on Sunday. She wishes they had done some of the things they had dreamed about while they could.

[LARGIN]

No change of plans here.. Have 3 cruises booked and plan to buy more FCC's on our October cruise.. I see no reason to panic....... Yet!!

[camNaud]

No plans to change either - despite the current financial mess across the globe. Its really all down to individual circumstances and ability to plan out ahead in a sensible way. This appears to be something many large Financial Institutions have forgot to do.

 

The current problems are having some impact on us personally, but at the moment it is just an increase in grocery and fuel costs. Fortunaetly we can live with these increases and they dont cause us any hardship.

 

In light of that and with good forward planning we have 4 trips away booked already. A 14 night Far Cruise in November, a 7 night resort based holiday to The Canary Islands at New Year, a 17 night Panana Canal Cruise next April and a 14 night resort based break in Turkey for next September booked.

 

Life is too short so we plan to enjoy ourselves, without amassing debt or spending money we dont have. Contingency plans are still also made by taking out adequate insurance / protection is in place should something change. No one is guaranteed a job for life these days and a number of flight carriers and tour companies have recentley gone bust too. So if anything changes we wont be out of pocket with the adequate protection we have. All our holiday / cruise arrangements are ATOL / ABTA bonded. This means that any moneys paid would be returned if the tour company goes bust. It also guarantees your flight home if the tour firm were to go bust while abroad. Our Travel insurance policy we have also covers refund of moneys paid in the case where your employment is terminated.

 

The biggest joy of getting away means we don't have to listen to the constant negative bombardment we are getting from the media and press relating to the problems we have today. Sometimes I feel the press almost love reporting crisis situations.

[Colo Cruiser]

Cheers! :D

 

oops, I thought you said you were "Drinking" more to ease the pain.... :rolleyes:

 

My Bad :cool:

 

Could be seen both ways. ;)

[Colo Cruiser]

hope we see you in March?

 

 

It is not dead in the water yet. ;)

 

Even though my laptop is. :rolleyes:

[blueclawfan]

not putting off plans but i had booked a suite and now have decided to go to mini suite and save some money

[Spikesgirl]

When we got married, my DH decreed that we would buy nothing until we had the money to pay for it beforehand. A creidt card could be used for convenience sake, but only if we had the money to cover the purchase initially. At the time (31 year ago), it seemed a little restrictive and silly, but we today have no debt, own everything free and clear and have an extremely substaintal retirement fund in a nice safe place. And we both continue to work and save dilligently for the future.

 

So to answer your question - no, our plans haven't changed. We will continue to cruise yearly as we do now.

[Times Prince]

We will continue to book cruises and take vacations. While the state of economy looks gloomy, life goes on.

 

We own a home, have no credit card debt or student loans, have life and health insurance and are a long, long way from retirement (in our 20's). Until something drastic happens (we all have our own benchmarks), we'll be cruising as much as we can.

 

-Andrew:)

Well said and pretty much matches our situation as well, even if the life insurance is with AIG...:(

 

It really comes down to the fact that when all is factored in many cruises cost the same or less than a vacation to a major vacation area in the USA or reasonable resort in the Caribbean. We ALL need some vacation time as a break from everyday trials and work pressures ("get this done by tomorrow") and if one can afford something other than tent camping in a state or national park (yes we did this for many years) cruising is probably in your financial range.

 

Just check my signature below to see how we are reacting to the issue...

[OuiOnboard]

We will continue to cruise. We might reduce the level of onboard accomodations and the frequency of our cruises, but we will continue to cruise as far as we can predict at this point.

We haven't locked in our 2009 holidays yet (unlike in previous years), but we continue to dream.

Y'all cruise well.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Yes, our plans have changed - for the better. :) I thought we wouldn't be able to cruise next year at all and as of now, it looks like we'll be doing two cruises! :)

 

The financial situation isn't permanent. Things will look up within the next year I believe. There is no way I'm cutting out vacations - in our fast-paced So. Cal. life, they're our sanctuary! ;)

[A Sixth?]

Why don't you start a thread to talk about your daughter in Canada somewhere else? This is what you keep telling other people to do, isn't it? You are off topic now so take your own advice.

 

No WinnieinWA 's on the mark.

 

She was responding to a quip I made.

 

Time to relax, re-read (read :D ) the posts, and ask for the Pope to forgive you! :cool: LOL!

[venusbello1]

I am definitely not waiting to book another cruise... I figure once the time gets here I'll figure it out. Love those FCCs!

 

Happy cruising everyone!

VB1

[Toto2Kansas]

For us it's not the fact we aren't booking a cruise, we have just began booking better category staterooms, longer cruises but fewer cruises. It isn't the cruise, but the air price and schedules that have made us decide to cut back on the number of cruises we take. No more 7 day cruises for us, just too much of a hassle to get there and pay the horrible airfare for only 7 days.

 

We planned a long time ago for the economy taking a nose dive, we have expected it for the last 7 years, and what we have accumulated is very safe. But I will not continue to pay as much for airfare as I do for a cruise.................I just refuse to do this.

Therefore, less and longer cruises in a better class of stateroom for the future.

[crcossel]

This just cracks me up and drives me nuts. The economy is getting worse because the media is freaking everyone out so they stop spending money so the economy gets worse. We own our own business and we are seeing the crunch. However its not because people lost their jobs and can't afford it, its because people are AFRAID because the watch the NEWS whose job is to have the best story so people watch. Then they cancel or downgrade their orders with us because of FEAR! The people making money are the media! ARGH!!!!

 

We are still cruising!!!!!

[Host Kewlguy]

I had so much fun on my Grand British Isles cruise this past June my wife and I were thinking of booking a Princess European cruise for May/June 2009. But let's face it, if it weren't for bad news these days there'd be no news at all.

 

At this point, we have delayed booking until we see if our retirement savings are going down the stock market and bankers toilets. :eek:

 

Are we the only ones delaying travel plans until this mess is over?

 

We're still booking as many cruises as we always have. Actually this is the best time to book a cruise. Lots of great last minute bargains out there right now. :D

[Jade13]

We will continue to book cruises and take vacations. While the state of economy looks gloomy, life goes on.

 

We own a home, have no credit card debt or student loans, have life and health insurance and are a long, long way from retirement (in our 20's). Until something drastic happens (we all have our own benchmarks), we'll be cruising as much as we can.

 

-Andrew:)

 

Well, you are in good shape. Most people in their early 20's do not own a home outright without a mortgage.

[jagergirl55]

We're still cruising! I couldn't imagine stopping! My boyfriend and I are in our mid 20's and both work for the fire department, so we have pretty stable jobs, (we don't see the highs in the economy, but fortunately we don't see the lows either.) We also are homeowners, have no other debt (besides the mortgage) and no children, which helps us to be able to afford to cruise.

We actually just booked a 7 day mexican cruise last minute, and leave in less than 2 weeks.

I think it's smart to be concerned about the economy, but if you were planning on taking that cruise anyways, and have the money... DO IT. Life is all about making memories!

[rcacace]

We're still cruising! I couldn't imagine stopping! My boyfriend and I are in our mid 20's and both work for the fire department, so we have pretty stable jobs, (we don't see the highs in the economy, but fortunately we don't see the lows either.) We also are homeowners, have no other debt (besides the mortgage) and no children, which helps us to be able to afford to cruise.

We actually just booked a 7 day mexican cruise last minute, and leave in less than 2 weeks.

I think it's smart to be concerned about the economy, but if you were planning on taking that cruise anyways, and have the money... DO IT. Life is all about making memories!

 

That's great, you should do it. You're certainly not the typical American who has debt way beyond their means & still goes out & takes out a loan for a cruise just because they need a vacation. There's a big difference between needing & wanting something such as a vacation.

[GORDONCHICK]

When we got married, my DH decreed that we would buy nothing until we had the money to pay for it beforehand. A creidt card could be used for convenience sake, but only if we had the money to cover the purchase initially. At the time (31 year ago), it seemed a little restrictive and silly, but we today have no debt, own everything free and clear and have an extremely substaintal retirement fund in a nice safe place. And we both continue to work and save dilligently for the future.

 

So to answer your question - no, our plans haven't changed. We will continue to cruise yearly as we do now.

 

 

We are in the same boat, though not married as long. We live well below our means. But we had been trying to decide on a cruise we'd like to take in March of 2010 and decided to put off the decision since there's still quite a bit of time until then. It would be right up there with the cost of our Alaskan cruise a year ago. So we'll just wait and see. DH's parents both went through the Great Depression, and he was ingrained with the don't spend it until you have it mentality. I wasn't raised that way so it was quite an adjustment for me. But I get it now, and I'm so glad I do.

 

Still going in January and will have a land-based vacation in 2009 as well. DS may finally be ready for Disney World.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I had so much fun on my Grand British Isles cruise this past June my wife and I were thinking of booking a Princess European cruise for May/June 2009. But let's face it, if it weren't for bad news these days there'd be no news at all.

 

At this point, we have delayed booking until we see if our retirement savings are going down the stock market and bankers toilets. :eek:

 

Are we the only ones delaying travel plans until this mess is over?

 

We already have several cruises booked through the end of 2009.

When we cruise in November we are going to book 2 cruises for 2010.

[happy cruzer]

Well, I do see last minute deals on cruises. But if I look out about a year or so, the prices look firm. So to me that means the cruiselines think there will be cruisers and bookings must be ok. So maybe alot of what is in the news is very localized or maybe exagerated???? The market will tell us the answer.

 

Two booked. And like someone said, you can always cancel and get your deposit back (at least if the cruiselines don't get into financial trouble, uuughhh).

[JanineM]

We're not booking anything until things settle down a bit. I lost my job 2 weeks ago, and rumour has it that DH's employer is doing big layoffs on Thursday. We have loads of savings and no debt (except for the mortgage), so there is certainly cash available. But we are extremely frugal and don't want to take on any financial commitments until we're certain of our income in the next several months.

 

Regardless of what stupid things Congress does (and how much they indebt us for the future), the economy is not going to magically turn around in the next several months. Once we're both bringing in a salary again, we'll take advantage of the low prices.

[linda_22003]

Personally, it seems to me that it is the attitude of Americans that spend spend spend, is that they put all that spending on credit cards that causes the problems. Many Americans live FAR ABOVE their means, and in turn, they get into big financial trouble for this very reason.

 

 

And they are taking those of us who have always made a habit of living within our means, down with them. :mad: