Wife cannot cruise due to Easter 2024

[drsel]

We have booked a Carnival cruise from Sydney  just before Easter 2024, sailing 8 months from now.

 

I am in a strange dilemma.

My wife cannot come because she needs to accept paid orders from her regular customers to make marzipan Easter eggs, bunnies, etc 

(I know it sounds like a silly reason to miss a  cruise booked 2 years ago, using FCCs of 2 previous cruises cancelled due to Covid)

 

If I transfer this Cruise booking to any other date, I will lose the on board credit of 900 Australian dollars and the FCCs used expire on 31st March 2024 anyway.

 

If I sail alone and inform Carnival right now 8 months in advance, Carnival will charge a $80 penalty and reduce the taxes and Port fees of $118 for the second person

so net net I will have to pay 38 dollars less if I travel alone.

 

What do you think ?

Do you have any suggestions how to convince my wife to deliver marzipan Easter eggs and bunnies *12 days prior to Easter* or should I sail alone, waste her cruise ticket and allow her to deliver the orders on Easter Sunday itself ?

Thanks for responding to a rather unusual query

Edited July 13, 2023 by drsel

[mom says]

Home made marzipan will last up to 6 weeks in fhe fridge. Tell her to deliver it the day before you leave. Or just sail without her.

Edited July 13, 2023 by mom says

[GeezerCouple]

37 minutes ago, drsel said:

...

Do you have any suggestions how to convince my wife to deliver marzipan Easter eggs and bunnies *12 days prior to Easter* or should I sail alone, waste her cruise ticket and allow her to deliver the orders on Easter Sunday itself ?

Thanks for responding to a rather unusual query

 

Does she *personally* need to do the deliveries, and right ON Easter, or "how many days before"?

Couldn't she have an assistant, even if a very temporary "assistant", do the deliveries on the "appropriate" day(s)?

 

GC

[drsel]

6 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Does she *personally* need to do the deliveries, and right ON Easter, or "how many days before"?

Couldn't she have an assistant, even if a very temporary "assistant", do the deliveries on the "appropriate" day(s)?

She couriers the orders or the customers come and pickup.

She says she can't deliver marzipan eggs, bunnies etc 12 days prior to Easter because her customers need to gift them to family and friends on Easter Sunday itself.

Hence they will not be fresh after 12 days, and she will ruin her reputation and goodwill 

Edited July 13, 2023 by drsel

[LHT28]

Find someone to travel with  & they can take over her ticket (probably for  a small fee  for the name change )

 

 

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

We have booked a Carnival cruise from Sydney  just before Easter 2024, sailing 8 months from now.

...

If I transfer this Cruise booking to any other date, I will lose the on board credit of 900 Australian dollars and the FCCs used expire on 31st March 2024 anyway.

If I sail alone and inform Carnival right now 8 months in advance, Carnival will charge a $80 penalty and reduce the taxes and Port fees of $118 for the second person

so net net I will have to pay 38 dollars less if I travel alone.

What do you think ?

Do you have any family member that would like to cruise with you?

[CunucuMom]

Perhaps your wife can inform her regular customers that she's planning a family vacation over the Easter holiday and let them know she won't be doing Easter Sunday deliveries.  Give customers the option of early delivery with storage instructions.  My guess is her customers would be very disappointed if they knew your wife considered passing on this cruise to stay home and fill orders. If the situation were reversed, I doubt her customers would opt to miss out on an Easter cruise because they were worried about disappointing your wife by not purchasing the eggs and bunnies, right?

[navybankerteacher]

How important to your lifestyle is that seasonal marzipan income?

[ldubs]

The third option would be to take a hit on the OBC and rebook a cruise both of you can enjoy together before 3/31/24 FCC deadline.   I personally would not enjoy going on a solo cruise while Mrs Ldubs was at home working (and I'm pretty sure vice versa).  

Edited July 14, 2023 by ldubs

[GeezerCouple]

55 minutes ago, ldubs said:

The third option would be to take a hit on the OBC and rebook a cruise both of you can enjoy together before 3/31/24 FCC deadline.   I personally would not enjoy going on a solo cruise while Mrs Ldubs was at home working (and I'm pretty sure vice versa).  

 

Something like this would be my strong recommendation.

If you lose any credits (?), then that should still be much less expensive than going on this cruise with someone else - or alone - and then paying for another cruise for the two of you to share *together*.

 

GC

[drsel]

6 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

How important to your lifestyle is that seasonal marzipan income?

Good point ☝️

it is not so much the income, but the importance of giving the freshest products to her customers.

If they are not fresh, it would harm her business and reputation.

 

She gets a lot of fulfillment and satisfaction by being in demand for cake and sweet orders for Christmas and Easter, because she makes the best sweets with less sugar and more nuts

 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by drsel

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, drsel said:

Good point ☝️

it is not so much the income, but the importance of giving the freshest products to her customers.

If they are not fresh, it would harm her business and reputation.

 

She gets a lot of fulfillment and satisfaction by being in demand for cake and sweet orders for Christmas and Easter, because she makes the best sweets with less sugar and more nuts

 

 

So this is not an economic decision.  I understand growing a business especially one that requires unique creative and intellectual skills.  Have you actually talked to someone at the cruise line?  I have been able to switch weeks penalty free.  You might want to try. 

[drsel]

55 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

So this is not an economic decision.  I understand growing a business especially one that requires unique creative and intellectual skills.  Have you actually talked to someone at the cruise line?  I have been able to switch weeks penalty free.  You might want to try. 

Yes my agent and I had a 3 way conference call with a Carnival manager.

All FCCs had to be utilised /applied to any Cruise booked by December 2022 and sailing before Mar 31, 2024.

 

Hence, in Dec 2022 I booked this Cruise in March 2024 which was the last month for using FCCs .

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by drsel

[sparks1093]

If she has a client list, or a place where she can make announcements, I would suggest that she lets everyone know that this cruise is booked and she will fulfill orders ahead of time if the client so chooses. I am pretty sure that is what my DW would do (and does do, with her daycare since she lets the families know when she'll be closed for trips or whatever in ample time for them to obtain coverage).

[ShipsandDipper]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

The third option would be to take a hit on the OBC and rebook a cruise both of you can enjoy together before 3/31/24 FCC deadline.   I personally would not enjoy going on a solo cruise while Mrs Ldubs was at home working (and I'm pretty sure vice versa).  

This would be my vote.  My relationship with my husband is worth more than $900 Aus. worth of cruise credit. And I would be VERY unhappy with a spouse who booked a cruise that conflicted with one of my two busiest times at work, called my business a “silly reason” to not cruise (rather belittling), and went without me.  

[drsel]

26 minutes ago, ShipsandDipper said:

This would be my vote.  My relationship with my husband is worth more than $900 Aus. worth of cruise credit. And I would be VERY unhappy with a spouse who booked a cruise that conflicted with one of my two busiest times at work, called my business a “silly reason” to not cruise (rather belittling), and went without me.  

She says that she will fly alone to Sydney  and join me for the second Cruise 8 days later, but 4 days before Easter.

She says she can manage to deliver the marzipan orders 4 days before Easter, but not 12 days before Easter.

 

But I would love her to be with me for both the cruises, because it will be boring to Cruise alone (1st cruise) and also a waste of her cruise ticket + $80 penalty 

Edited July 14, 2023 by drsel

[ShipsandDipper]

2 minutes ago, drsel said:

She says that she will fly alone to Sydney  and join me for the second Cruise 8 days later, but 4 days before Easter.

Then I guess that’s the solution, if you really don’t want to lose the onboard credit. 

[sanger727]

This is still several months away. Why not take on an assistant in the meantime that she can teach the recipes to? If this business is so important to her that she would rather miss a cruise than disappoint her customers, having someone to assist if there is an illness or injury would be a good investment. 

[drsel]

19 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

This is still several months away. Why not take on an assistant in the meantime that she can teach the recipes to? If this business is so important to her that she would rather miss a cruise than disappoint her customers, having someone to assist if there is an illness or injury would be a good investment. 

Actually her mother is an expert at making marzipan and taught her everything.

Her mother is available to make marzipan, but is unable to write the fine wordings and decoration which is so important for presentation.

She also hires three maids to assist her, but they are not able to manage without her.

Edited July 14, 2023 by drsel

[sanger727]

41 minutes ago, drsel said:

Actually her mother is an expert at making marzipan and taught her everything.

Her mother is available to make marzipan, but is unable to write the fine wordings and decoration which is so important for presentation.

She also hires three maids to assist her, but they are not able to manage without her.

 

To me, this wouldn't be an issue. she offers a product for sale. Taking sales and not fulfilling them would disappoint her customers. Advising her customers many months ahead that she will be unavailable for Easter orders might be a little disappointing but would certainly give them time to make other arrangements.

 

But it seems to be an issue to your wife and you seem to be ok with that. So the only thing left is to reschedule the cruise. 

[mrgabriel]

I completely understand your wife wanting to maintain the integrity of her business. It's her reputation. 

 

I would hope that my husband would take the  hit on OBC and travel with me. And check the calendar before booking the next cruise. (BTW - this is a constant issue in our household. One books something at a time when the other one can't go and we then have to scramble to change plans.)

Edited July 14, 2023 by mrgabriel

[drsel]

8 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

I completely understand your wife wanting to maintain the integrity of her business. It's her reputation. 

 

I would hope that my husband would take the  hit on OBC and travel with me. And check the calendar before booking the next cruise. (BTW - this is a constant issue in our household. One books something at a time when the other one can't go and we then have to scramble to change plans.)

We all need to enjoy life to the fullest BEFORE we run out of good health or time, both of which are inevitable and a certainty

[drsel]

16 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

. Advising her customers many months ahead that she will be unavailable for Easter orders might be a little disappointing but would certainly give them time to make other arrangements.. 

This is what she would never do.

she does not want to lose her customers to another competitor

[Ashland]

So sorry you didn't think the dates out and the Easter holiday when you booked the cruise.

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, ShipsandDipper said:

This would be my vote.  My relationship with my husband is worth more than $900 Aus. worth of cruise credit. And I would be VERY unhappy with a spouse who booked a cruise that conflicted with one of my two busiest times at work, called my business a “silly reason” to not cruise (rather belittling), and went without me.  

 

It looks like our approach is not viable.   From what I read, because the deadline has passed,  it is no longer an option for the OP to switch the FCC's to another cruise.  This looks like it has become one of those between a rock and hard spot situations.