Newly wed, nearly dead or over fed

I DVRd the "Cruising Do's & Don'ts" from the Travel channel and just watched it today. I had never heard the perception that people who take cruises are either newly wed, nearly dead, or over fed (haha!). Has that been a common assumption? It was kind of funny.

If you're a first-time cruiser, I recommend watching that show. I found it fairly helpful.

I DVRd the "Cruising Do's & Don'ts" from the Travel channel and just watched it today. I had never heard the perception that people who take cruises are either newly wed, nearly dead, or over fed (haha!). Has that been a common assumption? It was kind of funny.

 

If you're a first-time cruiser, I recommend watching that show. I found it fairly helpful.

Yep... that's a very common perception of cruising that people who have never cruised hold.

It amazes me how rapidly their opinion changes once they're on a ship... I've talked to literally hundreds of first time cruisers who thought they'd have a terrible time and are now hooked on cruising...

PS... LOVE that avitar!!!

Thanks - he's a cute little buggar, isn't he? (not mine, but I wish he was)

HA! I haven't heard that one in a long time......

Back before the 1970's, cruises were mainly the choice of the rich, famous and old. Britain and the U.S. had the market cornered pretty much and they marketing to the above mentioned. The idea that regular folks like us could cruise was simply not considered. It was so terribly expensive that most of us couldn't afford it and, if we did go, we'd be confined to certain areas of the ship because most ships had "classes". You needed to stay in your own area of the ship...unless, of course, you were a mucky-muck who paid top dollar....in that case, you had run-of-the-ship.

It took the innovation of cruiselines like Carnival and NCL to buck the trend and bring "cruising to the masses". I've been around since Carnival's inception (shows how much grey I have in MY hair). Everybody laughed at them; the Cunard's, the Princesses... Those in the mainstream cruise business made fun of them...said they'd never make it. They brought cruising to everyone....made it reasonably priced so almost anyone could afford to cruise....and they made it a fun and wonderful experience.

Carnival and NCL hit the streets marketing to travel agencies and worked their sales reps sometimes 6 days a week to get the word out.... For a long time, you could only buy a cruise through a travel agency....and we marketed these cruises to the public.

It was a hard sell. Many people thought cruising was for "old fogeys", thought there was nothing to do on a ship, thought they'd be board - or seasick. But, all it took was one time....and we, the masses, were sold on it.

The people who still remark that cruising is for the old and the rich simply have never been on one...have they? Don't you find it interesting that Carnival now OWNS all those Cunards and Princesses and others....those same cruiselines that made fun of the upstart and it's young company President???

HA! I haven't heard that one in a long time......

 

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The people who still remark that cruising is for the old and the rich simply have never been on one...have they? Don't you find it interesting that Carnival now OWNS all those Cunards and Princesses and others....those same cruiselines that made fun of the upstart and it's young company President???

Carnival saved Cunard. Had it not been for the vision and passion of Mickey Arison there likely would be no Cunard today. Even some of the most ardent Cunard fans will admit to that.

Certainly' date=' Carnival is a mass market cruise line and there's not a thing wrong with that. The more people who have a chance to be exposed to cruising the better it is for the industry and, ultimately, for us cruisers....[/color']

We sure need to give recognition to Princess and "The Love Boat" tv show for introducing many of us to the adventure of cruising...

This is why I've loved taking first time cruisers with us over the years. What a thrill to watch the perception change in one weeks time......AND LESS!

A lot of folk buy into that perception. What a shock when they fnd out what cruising is all about. I love cruising with first-timers.

When I got married the first time in 1986. We went to the travel agent not really sure whee we wanted to go for our honeymoon. Our TA started telling us about a cruise. The old RCCL "Song of America"

Sounded great to us and we booked it.

When we told people our plans , they told us to reconsider , we were only in our early 20s, we'd be bored, we'd be with a bunch of old folks. All the cliches. We were told this by either people who never cruised or people who cruised back in the "Golden age of cruiseing" when this was probably true.

Despite all this we went ahead anyway.

We had a blast!!!!!!!!!!!:)

The funny part was that particular cruise was filled with newlyweds our age. So we had a ball meeting and hanging out with a lot of couples.

That was the cruise that started the addiction.*LOL*

Now granted today there are still lines that are "Old School" and more sedate and cater to an older crowd with the old traditions. But there are so many lines out there geared to so many, anyone can find something to their liking at sea.

I DVRd the "Cruising Do's & Don'ts" from the Travel channel and just watched it today. I had never heard the perception that people who take cruises are either newly wed, nearly dead, or over fed (haha!). Has that been a common assumption? It was kind of funny.

 

If you're a first-time cruiser, I recommend watching that show. I found it fairly helpful.

Christy, I saw the show the other night. I got a chuckle out of it. What a misconception that is, huh?

This is why I've loved taking first time cruisers with us over the years. What a thrill to watch the perception change in one weeks time......AND LESS!

Pete - you know something? You are absolutely correct with that statement.

We had to force people to at least try it. The difference between pre-cruise of "this is so stupid", "I can't believe I'm wasting my money on this", "I'm not going to enjoy being on the ocean for 7 days".......

....and post cruise of "that was the best vacation I've ever taken", "when are we booking again", etc, etc.

They were all of my comments, believe me.

I have hooked about 30 people on cruising who would have never done it. I have heard all of those things...crusing is for old people..GIMME A BREAK :) ....cruising is for everyone.

There was one couple who were my biggest challenge. It took me 3 years to convince them to do. I even told them I would pay for one fair if they honestly did not like it, other than sea sickness (my disclaimer). :)

I finally talked them into it. The came back and booked two more within a couple of months and now they are our cruising partners...oh, and I throw it in their face every chance I get....LOL :)

I work in retail, and make a modest wage. When I tell my co-workers about going on a cruise I get comments like "Must be nice" or "must be nice to be independently wealthy".

Many still have no idea what cruising is about, and have the old misconceptions that many do. They don't realize that if they shopped around for a cruise deal, that they could have this incredible tropical vacation, for around what they pay to go to the beach for a week (2 hrs. away).

Oh well more room for us.

MAC

When we honeymooned on our Jubilee cruise, the CD said there were over 1400 passengers on board... over 80% were NewlyWeds. He said even the ship's state of the art stabilizers would be having trouble on that voyage... :D

I work in retail, and make a modest wage. When I tell my co-workers about going on a cruise I get comments like "Must be nice" or "must be nice to be independently wealthy".

 

Many still have no idea what cruising is about, and have the old misconceptions that many do. They don't realize that if they shopped around for a cruise deal, that they could have this incredible tropical vacation, for around what they pay to go to the beach for a week (2 hrs. away).

 

Oh well more room for us.

 

MAC

Exactly! Cruising is the cheapest vacation that I have found. I've had people suggest an AI Resort and when I check the prices, cruising always come out as the cheaper trip. Sure, I would love to fly to Cancun or Cozumel for a week, but the plane tickets cost more than my cruise.:eek:

I so agree, I wasted not only $$ (enough for a 5 day) but 6 vacation days on a land beach trip a couple of weeks ago. Never again!

BTW when I saw the title to this post I thought people were confessing which one they were LOL Kim = over fed lol

I work in retail, and make a modest wage. When I tell my co-workers about going on a cruise I get comments like "Must be nice" or "must be nice to be independently wealthy".

 

Many still have no idea what cruising is about, and have the old misconceptions that many do. They don't realize that if they shopped around for a cruise deal, that they could have this incredible tropical vacation, for around what they pay to go to the beach for a week (2 hrs. away).

 

Oh well more room for us.

 

MAC

Exactly! Cruising is the cheapest vacation that I have found. I've had people suggest an AI Resort and when I check the prices, cruising always come out as the cheaper trip. Sure, I would love to fly to Cancun or Cozumel for a week, but the plane tickets cost more than my cruise.:eek:

And at a A1 Resort, you are stuck there the entire time where as on a cruise you get to go to several ports of call. Cruising is the best and far cheaper than a land vacation and you only unpack once.

This is why I've loved taking first time cruisers with us over the years. What a thrill to watch the perception change in one weeks time......AND LESS!

I agree with this; I love being on a cruise with a first timer tagging along!

I don't know, but the people who live in Florida (of all ages) go on cruises all the time. I guess different perception here. Although, it could be the people I know..LOL

I live in NEW ZEALAND

down under we get old ships and high prices.

Next year we are flying to Los Angeles and doing 3 cruises.

We have 4 timeshare weeks but these you can't always get into where/when you want - and yes to go on to Mexico- (we had 3 great weeks there 2006 in Yucatan timeshare- fabulous) there are the cost of flights-

We can do 4 nights on Paradise Baja for not much more.

We are doing Carnival Splendor 26 April- 3rd May Mexican Riviera

Baja - Paradise 4 May -8 May

And Sapphire Princess Lax- Vancouver May 9-May 16

Then a weeks timeshare in Ocean Shores Washington.

Cruising is neat because I am paying thre travel Agent $100 per week after paying deposits in December and January.

I know that if we don't get a lot of spending money saved after cruises,

airfares, extra accommodation and car rental, transfers etc that at least we will eat while we are cruising and we will be safe with a bed and place to land:)

Our friends think we are extravagant and must be rolling in dough-

but if you consider the price of hotels in downtown cities Cruise stops are an inexpensive way of touring

I work in retail, and make a modest wage. When I tell my co-workers about going on a cruise I get comments like "Must be nice" or "must be nice to be independently wealthy".

 

Many still have no idea what cruising is about, and have the old misconceptions that many do. They don't realize that if they shopped around for a cruise deal, that they could have this incredible tropical vacation, for around what they pay to go to the beach for a week (2 hrs. away).

Modest wage! Try min. part-time wages and I still go cruising. Right now I am trying to book two cruises by this year's end. The really funny thing, is I made lots of money when I was a computer tech but I was so busy working I never went on any of the trips I dreamt about. No I make fraction of that money and plan trips all the time.

PS, I am taking three months off work to go to my cabin up north. Again something I could not do when I worked full time.

I work in retail, and make a modest wage. When I tell my co-workers about going on a cruise I get comments like "Must be nice" or "must be nice to be independently wealthy".

 

Many still have no idea what cruising is about, and have the old misconceptions that many do. They don't realize that if they shopped around for a cruise deal, that they could have this incredible tropical vacation, for around what they pay to go to the beach for a week (2 hrs. away).

 

Oh well more room for us.

 

MAC

Oh I so agree!! I work for a regional airline loading and uploading planes. I make a decent living. Not rich, but do well. Every year I take a cruise. I also have quite a few non-cruisers make the comments "Oh you must come from money" or "You must max your credit cards" or "How do you cruise, because it cost so much". They don't realize that a cruise is alot cheaper than most land trips.

I use to enjoy going to the Oregon coast yearly. If you add of the cost for a car rental, gas,hotel, two meals a day and one or two souviers. I could book a balcony cabin solo. The daily cost on a cruise is alot cheaper than land trips.

I also get remarks that "It's only old people", there are some, but you have a wide range of ages on ships.

Cruising is for everyone, with every type of budget! It's a great way to spend a vacation!!!

Exactly! Cruising is the cheapest vacation that I have found. I've had people suggest an AI Resort and when I check the prices, cruising always come out as the cheaper trip. Sure, I would love to fly to Cancun or Cozumel for a week, but the plane tickets cost more than my cruise.:eek:

I too agree with this. We just took our two daughters to Disney World for five days in April, and I think that we could have cruised twice for what these five days in Disney cost us. Cruising truly is a value.

Exactly! Cruising is the cheapest vacation that I have found. I've had people suggest an AI Resort and when I check the prices, cruising always come out as the cheaper trip. Sure, I would love to fly to Cancun or Cozumel for a week, but the plane tickets cost more than my cruise.:eek:

My DW and I have done AIs all over Cancun and the Riviera Maya in Mexico, and we're cruising for the first time next week (woohoo!). So far, our cruise vacation has cost us more than any AI trip we've taken (save the one where we stayed 8 days and went "all out"), and that doesn't even count drinks, soda cards, fuel surcharges, tips, etc...all things that are included in the cost at an AI (save the fuel charge, haha).

I'm not saying AIs are better than cruising (I haven't been on a ship in 25 years, so I have no real basis for comparison). But costwise, you CAN do a 4* AI cheaper than a cruise, even with the more expensive airfare that comes with flying to Cancun, Jamaica, or the DR (as opposed to flying to Florida). Just like cruising, it's about being a smart shopper (one thing that helps this is that the TAs are not locked into one price on a resort, so shopping around can get you a better price on the same dates - unlike cruises where all TAs have to abide by a certain price structure for each sailing, and can't undercut each other).

I can stay at a nice 4-4.5* AI for about $90 per person per night, everything included - the Cat 6A on my cruise next week went for $699pp for 7 days - $100/night (we did a balcony, which was $200pp more). My airfare to Miami is about $100 r/t less per person than it was on my last trip to Cancun. And I had no S/S account to balance at the end of the trip.

Sorry to hijack, but I think AIs get a bad rap on this board (and understandably so - everyone here is a fan of cruising!). I may come back a big fan of cruising (I fully intend to), but it's not a slam-dunk that a cruise vacation is necessarily cheaper than a quality AI vacation. It just depends on what type of vacation you want to have, and how much effort you put into getting that vacation at a price you can live with.

As for the poster who's friends say "it must be nice", you've got nothin' to apologize for. If you've earned the money, and you played your cards right in how you travel, don't listen to the jealous folks who aren't as disciplined with their money.