Have you ever taken out a LOAN to pay for your cruise?

[paul929207]

I would NEVER take out a loan for any vacation. If We can't afford to pay for it, we are not going.

 

Thanks to that attitude, we have built up a nice savings over the years and can now go on multiple vacations each year. (about 10 weeks out of the US each year) and pay upfront for them.

[cruzermon]

Are you sure this is a real WSJ reporter, because the question is awfully naieve for a financially oriented publication? If I could get a loan at 2%, I would charge everything possible, and pay it off over the longest period possible, and make money off the interest spread.

 

For a low interest rate, say 6-8%apr, I'd be willing to pay over time. For 18%, no way. There is a cost of credit, and my decision to utilize it or not is based on that cost.

 

Debt per se, isn't necessarily bad. It's the price you have to pay for that debt that should be the deciding factor.

[RMVET]

I think the only time taking out a loan or using a credit card that won't be paid off immediately would be if you wanted to take a loved one with a terminal illness on a trip and there isn't time to save for it.

 

One of my friends took her terminally ill husband on a cruise about a year ago. They had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, he recently died. I don't know if she had to take out a loan to make the trip, but if she had, it would have been money well spent. Once the loved one is gone, you can make payments on a loan, but you can't make up for the memories that the trip would provide.

[momofmeg]

Never! that is why we did not cruise years ago. We don't believe in doing things you can't afford, we are NOT the average American family with $10,000 of credit card debt, thank goodness!

[momofmeg]

As prior posters have said, I put the deposit on a credit card that earns points. I pay the balance off in full when it comes due, including using the accrued points towards that balance. I then sock money away in savings. When final payment is due, they put that on my credit card, and I use the money that I've been earning interest on to pay off the cruise in full. If I can't afford to pay it off in full, I can't afford to go, so I don't book it until I know I will be able to pay for EVERYTHING before the credit card is due. That includes tax, tips, money for excursions, spending money - everything! Then I can go and relax, and just enjoy myself, knowing my trip is already paid for.

 

We pay off our american Express when the bill comes in every month but we just flew to Europe for $25 because of the skymiles we had acrued! I believe in "working the system" not letting the system work me!

 

The only time we would not pay off a credit card bill monthly is an unexpected expense came up, for example the car's motor be blown-even in such a case as that-we would pay it off as soon as we could.

[jay sabaugh]

i must confess that yes i did. took a credit card with no interest for one year. and yes it was paid off with in that same year. that was for my first cruise. i would'nt do that again nor would a recomend this to anybody. this time it a few years to save and alot of overtime but it will be all worth it soon.

[Jimmers]

We charge all our cruises and on board expenses to our Royal Caribbean Visa. We get double royal points toward future cruises ($2 on every 100 spent). Most of the time we pay the card off each month so we avoid the interest. Right now we have over $600 we can use whenever we want. We may use it on our next cruise or bank it for another. For us it's like free money.

 

Jimmers

[kasaba]

We charge our cruise payments to a credit card that earns points. I charge the payments throughout the year and we pay off the credit card every month. No debt.

 

No other way to do it.

 

The first one, we paid cash (DH worked a second job for a year -- isn't he adorable?). This one, we put on the cruise line card to earn points but paid for it ASAP before interest kicked in. More credit than I like, but come on...it's a CRUISE!

[kasaba]

I think the only time taking out a loan or using a credit card that won't be paid off immediately would be if you wanted to take a loved one with a terminal illness on a trip and there isn't time to save for it . . . Once the loved one is gone, you can make payments on a loan, but you can't make up for the memories that the trip would provide.

 

Our rationale was similar. DH had bypass surgery at an unusually young age; it made us realize how fragile life can be, and how important it is to live NOW :)

[beth4652]

Actually I said yes, because we do put our cruise on a credit card and don't always pay the whole thing off that very month. I guess that is what is meant by taking a loan out. We do pay the card off prior to our actually cruise

 

Nita

 

 

We do it the same way.

Beth

[Dani24]

While I do use my credit cards to pay for cruises, we never take a cruise that we can't pay for in cash. Any charges made to our credit cards are paid off quickly to avoid paying interest. I'd find it hard to relax on a vacation know that when I return I'll have to figure out how to pay for it.

 

My fiance and I started a joint savings account 6 years ago solely for vacations. We each put in an equal amount each month (right now we contribute $100 each per month). Sometimes, instead of buying each other gifts for our anniversary or Valentine's day, we contribute a pre-determined amount to our vacation fund. This is a quick and easy way to save up for cruises. Even if you can't do $200/month, you can save whatever you can afford. It adds up quickly!

[cruisegirl1]

NO – one should never take out a loan for a vacation. If you can’t afford the (expensive) vacation switch so something cheaper that will not require a loan. Bottom line – If you cannot afford a luxury, simply don’t buy it!

M

[okgirl]

I recently got a Seamiles card which I paid off my FEB/08 cruise, and I also just charged the deposits for my May/08, Aug/08 b2b's to the toon of $1500. But for me I get a big bonus on March 5 each year so I just pay everything off then.

[DanJ]

Well, I guess when you get right down to it, any of us that have a mortgage or car payment or anything like that are, in effect, taking a loan out to cruise. I mean, my car loan is open and can be paid down or off at any time without penalty, and could have been easily paid off instead of taking 2 cruises. I can pay 10% of my outstanding mortgage off every year penalty free. I could be saving almost $40 a month in mortgage interest if I simply put my cruise money down on that every year instead of cruising.

 

But I choose not to live like that. I consider mortgage and car payments to be monthly bills, not debt (or , "bad" debt, I guess I should say). I have a friend who's life's goal is to pay off his mortgage. He will have it gone 4 months from now, 11 years early. Good for him. But he likes to poke fun that we are going on another cruise - "Must be nice to have money" he says. Well, sure, and I think it must be nice to have a house paid for, but his problem is after the house, it will be saving for retirement. He's in his early 40's and will never feel comfortable spending money on "luxuries" like a vacation. Well, he did take his kids to Disney once, and they are just about teenagers LOL.

 

Anyway, to make a short story long, we don't carry credit card or line of credit balances for vacations anymore. We did for a cruise that we booked very shortly after we just got home from one when we found out my wife was pregnant, in 2001. We had said that when she got pregnant, we would take another cruise, as a sort of "last chance" to enjoy the freedom of being childless. We just figured it would take a little longer than it did, and we had just come home from a 10 day Panama canal cruise, and we cruised again 7 months later. We carried that on our low-interest Visa for a few months (as we spent money on kids things, we found out she was carrying twins LOL) and it was money well spent.

[Aussie Cruisers]

If I had to pay off a debt for a holiday, it would ruin the effects of the holiday and I would be in bad shape! :eek:

 

Book early, enjoy the anticipation and pay for it all in cash! :)

 

Mark.

[bubbles1209]

How relaxing can a vacation be if you know it's gonna cost you interest when you come back, and you know that you're gonna have another debt with interest to pay off? We go through enough stress at work without stressing over going into debt to go on vacation. Nope, would never take out a loan or put myself into debt to take a cruise. If we can afford it, we go, if not we don't.

[ancldaca]

My first cruises were paid by my parents. Now, 8 years+ later, I'm paying my own way.

 

In between, I got into a horrible debt problem and I will NEVER take a loan out again in my life (including home/car). I have an AMEX and a pre-paid Mastercard. Everything else is cash.

 

It may have taken me this long to cruise again but I still had a great time in between doing other things.

 

Best thing is that after all the trials I've gone through (self inflicted of course), I've invited my parents in December to a mini on the Crown Princess while I'm on a balcony.

[DanJ]

I'll say for one that it's admirable to want to never have a loan, but you also have to take into consideration what the loan is for. Having a loan for a house (or even a car) is not a bad thing. I mean, how are you living now? Unless you plan on staying under your parent's roof until you can pay cash for a house, then you will be paying to live somewhere.

 

Rent is debt, no matter how you dress it up. I mean, you may not get a mortgage statement from the bank that you still owe them $100,000, but you still are forking out the cash. Rent is paying the landlord's mortgage and there is no return on it. In 11 years of paying a mortgage (on 2 houses), the increase in property value has superceded the interest I've paid over that time. In effect, I've lived for free. I doubt it will stay that way over the 12 years I have left on this house's mortgage, but you never know. I doubt that if I had invested that mortgage payment over those years instead of buying a house that I would have averaged that return. And I still would have been paying rent along the way as well.

 

That's what I meant in my last post about considering mortgage to be just another weekly bill. "Good debt". It's not like going to Best Buy, and taking a 60" plasma TV off their hands and getting a BB credit card at 28% to pay for the thing (and god knows I've done that in the past - boy the TV I could have had with what the one ended up costing me LOL).

 

Good for you for taking your parents on a cruise (and for getting them the better cabin too). Have a great time.

[DanJ]

deleted, duplicate post

[codyboy]

NO, I tried my best and so far successful paid cruise off in despite with rought spring and summer year, cruise is actually paid for now, I do have credit card with max $$$ but with ZERO BALANCE.:) :D I do put "advance money" on the card so I can use that on cruise. SO I will have less bill when I get home.:o

[phish tales]

my wife & i always put our cruise on our credit card (rccl credit card). this way we get double points towards cruising. we have done 40+ cruises and have never paid one penny intrest on any credit cards we use. i agree when you say , if you must pay intrest to cruise, please don"t. paying for it later must be he**.... :eek: :eek:

[Trekker954]

seriously, if you can live with an inside cabin (I love inside cabins and I've had them all), and limit yourself to a 5 night cruise, and don't need to fly across the country to your cruise ship, cruising is such an inexpensive way to vacation. If you need to take out a loan, you shouldn't be taking a vacation period. Get a job.

[DanJ]

seriously, if you can live with an inside cabin (I love inside cabins and I've had them all), and limit yourself to a 5 night cruise, and don't need to fly across the country to your cruise ship, cruising is such an inexpensive way to vacation. If you need to take out a loan, you shouldn't be taking a vacation period. Get a job.

 

 

Well, I sorta followed along until the "get a job" statement. What's the point of that charming little addition?

 

And some will still find an inside cabin for 5 days leaving from the city 5 miles down the street an expensive vacation. Even if they have a job.

[momofmeg]

seriously, if you can live with an inside cabin (I love inside cabins and I've had them all), and limit yourself to a 5 night cruise, and don't need to fly across the country to your cruise ship, cruising is such an inexpensive way to vacation. If you need to take out a loan, you shouldn't be taking a vacation period. Get a job.

 

You are so right-some people love "putting on the dog"-you get the impression they are wealthy-but really they are so in debt they will never see their way out. I don't understand those kind of people. Do they feel their self worth has something to do with how expensive a vacation they take?

 

I, myself, would cruise less, or as you said, take a less expensive cruise before I would go in debt for it.

 

The only exception I would make, as others have said if I am crusing with a family member who is terminal and I want to give them a wonderful gift-in that case I would not mind paying it off.

[DanJ]

You are so right-some people love "putting on the dog"-you get the impression they are wealthy-but really they are so in debt they will never see their way out. I don't understand those kind of people. Do they feel their self worth has something to do with how expensive a vacation they take?

 

 

Or some people just like to cruise a lot? It's not pretending to be anything they aren't. I mean, most of us wouldn't go in debt, but it doesn't bother me at all if they do. If they have the cash flow to pay interest by cruising every year, or every few months, have at it. The more interest they pay, the less money the banks will have to try to pry out of me later LOL.