We went "overboard" for our first cruise, and probably wont do that again..

[graphicguy]

13 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I am almost 60, with a nice military retirement (27+ years) and now 9+ years in a good post-military job. I considered dropping to part time/32 hours per week.  My company is very open to it - as low as 20 hours per week.  But I realized still working 32 hours per week will not allow me to travel more since I would still need to use vacation but will reduce 20% of my non-retirement income.

 

For now, I will keep working full time. taking ~3+ good vacations/year (1-2 being cruises), and making a good wage. When I go to part time, it will probably be a drop to 3 days/24 hours a week.  Then my banked vacation will stretch even further needing to only use 24 hours per week.

It took my former company and myself a while to find a happy medium regarding work.  The positive part of it was I wasn't inclined to take them up on their contract offer.  So, it wasn't one of those "you have to do this even though you may not like it because you're our employee".  For me, it was more like "nah.....I'll pass on this contract.  But, thanks for asking".

 

They finally came back and asked me "what would make you happy?"  What a novel approach.  Thanks for asking.

 

I'm working about one week a month....straight 9-5.  Before 9, I'm not in my (home) office.  After 5...same thing.  You won't find me answering phones or responding to emails., sending spread sheets, doing ZOOM, and explaining my Power Point presos.  On occasion they ask me to help with remote customer visits to present the Power Points in support of the sales team.  But, those are usually only one day trips.  If it's overnight, I require at least a week of warning.

 

Cheaper than paying someone to do the same thing full time, but in my estimation, they are overpaying for the privilege.  Still, it's easier to pay me on a contract basis than to justify hiring someone and doing all the justification that requires. Eventually, someone in HR is going to ask "why are we paying this guy?"  Until that time, good work if you can get it.

 

But, I'm turning really lazy and wondering if that's something I want do in 2024.  They're pressing me for an answer and I keep putting them off.

Edited December 13, 2023 by graphicguy

[RocketMan275]

18 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

But, I'm turning really lazy and wondering if that's something I want do in 2024.  They're pressing me for an answer and I keep putting them off.

My company made me a very nice offer when I retired.  Work at home.  Ten to fifteen hours a week.  Incredible pay.  After six months I was working 30 to 40.  In the office twice a week.  I quit.

[insidecabin]

2 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

My company made me a very nice offer when I retired.  Work at home.  Ten to fifteen hours a week.  Incredible pay.  After six months I was working 30 to 40.  In the office twice a week.  I quit.

Workload management is a skill,  knowing what is important and saying no to the stuff that really does not matter or easily done by others(often the person asking) and delegated.

Strict boundaries are very important to avoid creep.

Creep can happen with cruises,  it's only a few $ to add this, that next grade up...., stick an extra night pre and post cruise and lounge for the airport, premium economy......

 

Before you know it the cost of a cruise is double or triple from the min it could be.

[schmoopie17]

22 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

My company made me a very nice offer when I retired.  Work at home.  Ten to fifteen hours a week.  Incredible pay.  After six months I was working 30 to 40.  In the office twice a week.  I quit.

I can relate (sort of). I retired 5/15/15 (I like symmetry...our dog was born 1/21/21)...but I digress.

When I announced that I would be retiring, the company offered me a pretty good incentive to stay on. I said, "No, thanks". Didn't have the option to work from home...kind of hard to work from home when you're in day-to-day hospital clinical management. So I took the leap to a life of leisure.

[graphicguy]

23 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

Workload management is a skill,  knowing what is important and saying no to the stuff that really does not matter or easily done by others(often the person asking) and delegated.

Strict boundaries are very important to avoid creep.

Creep can happen with cruises,  it's only a few $ to add this, that next grade up...., stick an extra night pre and post cruise and lounge for the airport, premium economy......

 

Before you know it the cost of a cruise is double or triple from the min it could be.

Agreed.

 

Price of VIBE=$230/pp

Price of Thermal Spa=$200/pp

 

That's $860 for 2, just for those 2 amenities.  

 

The other cruise lines do the same.  Afore mentioned Carnival "Faster to the Fun", Royal's Drink Package is normally way more expensive than NCL's FAS and they charge for their Thermal Spa, too....just as random examples.

 

Point being, you can drive up the price of your cruise pretty darned quickly on all the cruise lines after you pay your fare.

Edited December 13, 2023 by graphicguy

[complawyer]

well, if the cruise isnt departing from your home city ,you'd need to book a flight anyway, if you're flying from any city in the u.s. to europe, believe me the upgrade to  premium economy or higher is well worth the price .Those 10 + .hour flights can be murder. when traveling to a foreign country, who wouldnt want to stay for a few days before or after.

imagine leaving from rome, or southampton, and not seeing rome or london. we've stayed in venice, trieste, athens, and book hotels in most of the cities that are embarkation and disembarkation points.

 

in april we're staying in rio pre and lisbon post cruise. i dont call it creep, i call it part of our vacation.

 

it's like the old commercial "try it! you'll like it"

 

we're not interested in either the "vibe" or the spa, instead of taking most of the shore excursions, we hire a cab. they're usually flocked outside the pier, they'll take you wherever you want to go (we usually show them the ship shore excursions, and they almost always can do it for 1/2 price.)

 

yeah, it kicks up the total price, but for me it's a great way to see the world. finally, before booking, wouldnt you look at all the options, choices, and costs prior to booking a cruise, then decide if you want to spend the money. For the budget minded (and im not knocking them at all) you can book an inside cabin, waive the liquor option. That alone will take off about $500 from the price, fly economy, and try and book a flight that arrives early on the day of  departure, and leaves after noon and the last day of the cruise. There are a great many ways to save money, if you're looking for a bargain.

 

that being said, however, most posters, and cruise lines will advise you to come into the port a day or two early, in case there's a problem with your flight. so a night in a hotel is really a must for your own benefit.

[graphicguy]

Depending on the excursion, if you have FAS and are Latitudes for 15% off plus $50 off/excursion, the ship's excursions aren't necessarily a bad deal.  But, you can find some really  inexpensive excursions in the Caribbean from those folks hanging out by the pier.  Mediterranean, Bermuda, etc?  Not so much.

 

Saw a  thread here not long ago that someone got lost looking for their excursion bus on a Mediterranean Cruise in Italy.  I think the ship's personnel went looking for them, which wouldn't happen if it wasn't booked through the ship.

 

I have seen the MIA, FLL, MCO ports so many times, nothing there interests me.  So, if I can get an early direct flight to those ports, I won't stay overnight.  But, other ports I am not familiar with? Yeah...I'll be happy to spend the night for a Benjamin or two.  Doing that exact thing in Galveston in a couple of months sailing the Prima.  Looking forward to that..new port and new ship.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by graphicguy

[itsnotjustme]

8 hours ago, complawyer said:

upgrade to  premium economy or higher is well worth the price .

For the first time ever, I bought an annual subscription for premium economy for me plus 1.  With round trips to Athens and Australia/New Zealand for two, and Denver for one, it was well worth it.

 

We have credit cards that give airport club passes (and of course miles), and another that gives free hotel nights (and hotel points).  We spent three nights at a nice hotel between the Acropolis and Syntagma Square in Athens using the new member free nights.  The hotel would have been over 400 euro/night.

 

This has actually been a really good thread.  Much better than which restaurant is best.