The one negative to cruises

[Kato27]

As far as changing land vacations, that is NOT all that easy either.

It depends on your land vacation.

I always buy cancel for any reason insurance. They have alot of clauses.

I'm not sure that, well my boss won't let me go anymore is actualy insurable.

Then again, never had to claim for that.

[tak81288]

To the OP - While I appreciate your concerns, I don't fully understand how a land vacation would provide that much more flexibility, unless it's one you're driving to. If you need to change/cancel airfare, there are penalties involved and most vacation packages have cancellation penalties. Unless you're just planning to drive somewhere, rent a hotel room and take in the local sites, most any other vacation plans would carry some time of loss if you were to cancel.

 

I agree with this. Pretty much every vacation I book is non refundable for the most part whether its by land or sea. The flights I book are non refundable, I usually book hotels/resorts at non refundable rates to get the best deals, tickets to shows and such that I purchase in advance are non refundable...etc....I do purchase insurance when appropriate, but if I had to cancel for whatever reason, no matter what type of vacation, I would still have some sort of loss and inconvenience.

[<3 2 Cruise]

I look at the price difference between ES and the next category. I assume I will lose $100 because I frequently need to make changes, so if the savings is more than $100, I take my chances. It has worked both ways. One cruise droped in price 5 times, so it was worth it. Others, I have had to change and lost $100.

[mitsguy2001]

To the OP - While I appreciate your concerns, I don't fully understand how a land vacation would provide that much more flexibility, unless it's one you're driving to. If you need to change/cancel airfare, there are penalties involved and most vacation packages have cancellation penalties. Unless you're just planning to drive somewhere, rent a hotel room and take in the local sites, most any other vacation plans would carry some time of loss if you were to cancel.

 

That was what I was referring to. Most hotels allow cancelling with no penalty up to the day before the start of your trip. Also, even if you are flying, the airline change fees are usually not the full cost of the flight. Remember I mentioned that with a land vacation, you can slightly adjust the days if needed, but a cruise is (for obvious reasons) fixed dates and all or nothing.

[mitsguy2001]

The world must have changed since I got on almost 60 years ago! Certainly if one is an employee at will, a company can do many things that they probably should not. I would expect that most companies however, don't do these things. They certainly don't make for good employee relations.

Kevin C

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the poor economy gives employers a lot more power than they've had in the past. When the economy is strong, an employer would have to think twice before asking an employee to cancel a vacation, knowing that the employee can easily leave and find a new job. They'd rather lose that employee for a week rather than permanently. But with the poor economy, knowing that we are in constant fear of losing our jobs, and knowing that we can't just easily leave and find a new job, employers gain a lot more power over their employee.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, emergency situations do occur (such as a major client throwing a new deadline at you, an employee becoming seriously ill, etc), and those are often when an employer would ask employees to cancel a vacation. Part of it is the employer's fault, since (again, due to the economy), they tend to hire as few employees as possible, and not have enough redundancy. They expect overtime to be a way of life, rather than the exception to deal with the emergencies I mentioned above. And then a new deadline is thrown at you, or an employee quits or becomes seriously ill, and then you have a problem.

[mitsguy2001]

I haven't read all the postings, but I really don't think your company was fair with you, but that happens on jobs.

 

I don't know how long you have been with the company, and if you were a new person, and hadn't been there for a year, that may have had something to do with it. I wonder if your company took into consideration when you were working, and everyone else was OFF???:(

 

As for cruising, (I have never done the land thing) I normally book at least 3 - 6 months out, and YES with insurance for just in case.

 

I have been here for nearly 5 years. I also think there may be some confusion: I was never asked to cancel my cruise, nor did I cancel it. My point is that I know very well that in the future, I will be criticized for not voluntarily cancelling it. If it were a land vacation that I could have very easily rescheduled a few weeks later (again, I'm referring more to the type where you drive a few hours, stay at a hotel, and take in the local sights on your own; I'm not referring to an organized tour), maybe I would have done so.

 

I know very well t hat in the future, I will be at a disadvantage compared to an employee who just cheerfully cancelled his/her vacation without even being asked to do so.

[mitsguy2001]

The set dates never really bother me. Thankfully I am an accountant with set busy dates and I schedule around it.

 

I have seen people say "If you want me to work fine, but the company is reimbursing me for my trip" and if its that important they will.

 

I will definitely ask for reimbursement if I'm ever in a situation where I'm asked to involuntarily cancel a non-refundable vacation. Whether or not I'd get that reimbursement is another question. But keep in mind that even being reimbursed doesn't make you whole. You still have spent a lot of time planning a vacation that you won't get to go on, and you will likely have to pay more money for an inferior room if you try to re-book in the near future.

 

Also keep in mind that by being asked to cancel, and asking for reimbursement, I'd still be at a diasadvantage compared to the employee who cheerfully cancels his/her vacation without being asked to do so and without expecting any compensation.

[CharlesKru]

Unfortunately, in the real world, a scheduled vacation means nothing. They can revoke it at any time, and most company handbooks specifically mention that.

 

Wow... What company do you work for?

 

There are labor laws that protect you from being forced to work excessive OT, and from not being allowed to take time off. I know I have a good job, that allows me more flexibility that other jobs, but I would probably leave if I was lectured about not working enough OT, and if they really believe that when they agree to let me have X days off at a set time, that they can just resend that on me at will.

[mitsguy2001]

As far as changing land vacations, that is NOT all that easy either.

It depends on your land vacation.

I always buy cancel for any reason insurance. They have alot of clauses.

I'm not sure that, well my boss won't let me go anymore is actualy insurable.

Then again, never had to claim for that.

 

With cancel for any reason insurance, any reason is insurable; you don't need a reason. The catch is that you are not refunded 100%. The most I was ever able to find was 90%.

[mitsguy2001]

Wow... What company do you work for?

 

There are labor laws that protect you from being forced to work excessive OT, and from not being allowed to take time off. I know I have a good job, that allows me more flexibility that other jobs, but I would probably leave if I was lectured about not working enough OT, and if they really believe that when they agree to let me have X days off at a set time, that they can just resend that on me at will.

 

First of all, as an "exempt" "professional" employee, I am not protected by most labor laws (and my employer makes that very clear). Secondly, even if you do exercise legal rights, you will always be at a disadvantage compared to an employee who chooses to waive those rights.

[Galatz]

I have been here for nearly 5 years. I also think there may be some confusion: I was never asked to cancel my cruise, nor did I cancel it. My point is that I know very well that in the future, I will be criticized for not voluntarily cancelling it. If it were a land vacation that I could have very easily rescheduled a few weeks later (again, I'm referring more to the type where you drive a few hours, stay at a hotel, and take in the local sights on your own; I'm not referring to an organized tour), maybe I would have done so.

 

I know very well t hat in the future, I will be at a disadvantage compared to an employee who just cheerfully cancelled his/her vacation without even being asked to do so.

 

It might be easier to cancel a land vacation, but not 100% easy.

 

If airfare was involved they charge you a fee to change flights. Additionally they make you pay the fare difference. But that difference is from what you paid to buying the new tickets now. If you change flights that close to the trip your new air fare would be so crazy high. You could possible be paying 2-3 times your original fare to change it.

 

Your hotel may have a 24-48 hour cancelation fee, making you pay for the 1st night and using none of them. Being that its the summer, the hotel might have also been charging more now than they were when you booked it.

 

You might be able to change everything, but it definitely comes with a very expensive price!

[CharlesKru]

First of all, as an "exempt" "professional" employee, I am not protected by most labor laws (and my employer makes that very clear). Secondly, even if you do exercise legal rights, you will always be at a disadvantage compared to an employee who chooses to waive those rights.

 

 

You are correct, deciding to fight for your time would be a disadvantage compared to other employees that just roll over.

 

What I was really getting at, is after 5 years in what ever industry you happen to be in, can you not find a job with an employer that actually respects its employees? The way you have explained it at the beginning I get the feeling that your current employer only views you as slave labor to do what it wants when it wants.

[H82seaUgo]

used to be a very short list:

 

- getting on

- getting off

 

that list has grown over the years, mostly in the past 5.

[Another ship trip]

From reading other posts of yours, it seems that you mostly book 1A's. Maybe those rooms are available later on. But I can assure that you on any Magic cruise in the near future, the cove balconies (at least the ones in quiet locations) would have been long gone. And I've heard not so good things about the 8A's and 8B's.

 

Not true. I got my current cove balcony for this coming week-- a very busy cruise week--13 days before sailing. I had booked almost two months ahead but changed my outside to a balcony since prices dropped. It is not dead midship but is by the aft stairs. I love being by any of the three sets of stairs. I always book late if good deals come up and only once did I have a cabin with lots of noise. It was my first time on the NCL spirit and we had a balcony directly below the kid's club. Every night around 2-3 am they sprayed down the ball pit above us and made enormous racket. I got moved by night 4 about 6 doors down.

 

Don't sweat booking late if you don't have flexibility. Get a wave machine if worried about noise. People sail in all those rooms every week so they are probably generally okay.

 

The worst thing about a cruise for me is if it rains the whole time (and you can still do stuff inside-just more crowded), and having to repack at the end. Oh, an missing my pets which I do anytime I travel!

[jonbgd]

Its good to be the boss and as the boss......... .

If an employee has vacation planned you give it to them. You dont cancel it. There should be another person that is covering for them during vacation anyways.

And if not maybe the boss should do some work instead of delegating everything;)

[mitsguy2001]

You are correct, deciding to fight for your time would be a disadvantage compared to other employees that just roll over.

 

What I was really getting at, is after 5 years in what ever industry you happen to be in, can you not find a job with an employer that actually respects its employees? The way you have explained it at the beginning I get the feeling that your current employer only views you as slave labor to do what it wants when it wants.

 

The scary part is that my employer treats its employees far better than most other companies in my field. :mad:

[Another ship trip]

First of all, as an "exempt" "professional" employee, I am not protected by most labor laws (and my employer makes that very clear). Secondly, even if you do exercise legal rights, you will always be at a disadvantage compared to an employee who chooses to waive those rights.

 

You are right. Both husband and I are exempt and we both work long hours.

Husband has 5 weeks of vacation that he must take by year's end as company is reducing the maximum amount of stored hours. No way will he be able to take it due to what is needed at work. We imagine he will lose about 120 hours (three weeks) of that time before year end. If you can't take off, well, you can't take off. This is the nature of many businesses these days.

Of course I tell him to take an extra day a week off, but if he does, he just works 16 hours on the other days anyway. IT is what it is.

[LHP]

To me the one downside to cruising over a land trip is the fact that IF you have the bad luck of getting people in cabins around you that do not know how to behave....you can not move.

 

At a hotel, you can always leave. Not so on a cruise ship...you are pretty much stuck (because most times the cruise lines will not do anything).

[brooklynfc]

I've planned my last two cruises a year in advance and most of them at least 6 months in advance. I always try to work around my busy times for my work and busy times in my department when others might need my help. I also make sure that I specify to my boss that it is a cruise and that I won't be able to be reached for a week (unless they want to pay for my cell bill or internet).

 

Things happen in life, you can't see the future, you can only do your best to cover all your basis. I actually, never tell my boss that I have an insurance policy that would allow me to cancel my trip..........b/c as long as I went by company protocol they should have no reason to ask me to cancel. But, its there just in case........

 

In my job, deadlines can pop up. I have a calendar of deadlines, but new ones can sneak in whenever. Case in point, about 2 weeks ago my boss found something she wanted to go after and it had a deadline for when I was headed to the beach with my family. I of course would have access to internet etc., but I would have to use half the week to work on the project.........I scheduled this vacation in April. I merely mentioned to my boss that I would happy to get this put together for her, but it would have to be finished a week before deadline, which gave her 1.5 weeks to figure out the project information. For right now, she decided it was as important as she thought.

 

The company does have a right to revoke vacation etc. b/c this country really doesn't have laws about time off. But most companies are good about it, as long as you follow protocol. And if you do your job well and go by the rules, then I wouldn't worry about repercussions. If a company lets you go over taking earned vacation time that was scheduled by protocol, then they were just looking for any excuse to let you go.......for their own reasons.

[jdeville71]

IMO the only bad thing about a cruise is that it ends!:D

 

I totally agree with you on that one. I can think of no other negative about a cruise.

[CaribbeanLuver]

Reading these posts remind me why I am still working at a small, family run business 12 years later. The raises haven't been great but they come EVERY year, I am a person not a number, I have great health insurance and no one would DREAM of telling someone they couldn't go on a scheduled, paid for vacation. I'm counting my blessings!:)

[ccruisequeen]

Due to Medical problems at the last ninute, my parents had to cancel our cruise (ES/ no Travel Insurence) I had to travel alone. We book Past Guest from now on!

[DreadPirateRobert]

 

The one bad thing about cruises, especially Carnival and RCCL, is that you almost always leave too early in the day. They say it is so they can make their next port on time. BS, it is so we wil spend more $$ on the ship. How cool would it be to stay in a fun port until later, especially when the next port is only a couuple hours steaming time? Instead we leave at 5 pm and crawl all night.

It's a pet peeve but obviously not a big enough one to keep me from cruising. But if I ran the cruise line...... :D

[Starfire_rules]

Two cruises ago we (best friend and also co-worker but in different area) booked waaaaay in advance and even talked to our manager before we booked to make sure the date was ok. Six months before our cruise we found out inventory was moved to 2 weeks after our cruise.

An assistant manager refused to approve our vacation and basically threatened our jobs. It took a meeting with the manager (the one we talked to beforehand and assistant manager's boss) to get the time approved.

 

 

 

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[larkz]

Mitsguy2001, I can certainly empathize with that conundrum.

 

I've been booking 6 to 13 months in advance, and with the economy we've had over the last decade, I always have to wonder whether I'll even be working, or working for the same employer in the near future. Let alone, getting major work projects to do at the last minute. I have the great fortune to be able to work from a laptop in a pinch (graphic art and web development), and perhaps the great misfortune to have to rely on the ship's Internet at times.

 

Every year for the past five years, we've had some critical project that reared its ugly head in the weeks or days before my vacation. Last year I stayed at work several extra hours the night before an early flight, just to help a particularly ungrateful client with her silly restaurant Christmas photos that had be be posted before I left. The nicer I was to her, the more she complained. Interestingly, she still hasn't paid her bill -- I've noticed an undeniable connection between arrogant, demanding pigs and failure to keep their own end of the bargain, by the way. Hence, my harsh skepticism of people who want to remove their autotips... but that's another topic.

 

In the end, you cast your lot and take your chances. Every time I step onto a cruise ship, or set foot in Colorado or Utah or Washington DC or West Virginia, I remind myself of all the things that could have prevented me from getting there, and that adds to the pleasure of being really, truly, on vacation.