How will you cruise next year due to the economy?

[kborth]

I agree too

[ssbeagle]

We are booking fewer cruises a year and now only do one cruise per year. I also watch for prices to come down before final payment and then get the TA to get us the lower price.

[Searider]

We have booked a "once in a lifetime" cruise and will stick with it even though we have lost plenty from our retirement funds. We figure with the money already pouring out of there, why not actually enjoy a little of it:D

[nchank]

I suspect the recession will get much worse and last for at least 12 months more. Our local GM dealer had all of the cars on his lot taken by the GMAC repo man so now a lot more local folks unemployed. GM said today that they may run out of cash by year end. The cutbacks and layoffs will trickle down through the economy. Maybe Obama can perform a miracle or else we will have to cancel our 2009 cruise.:eek::eek::eek:

[explodr]

The economy hasnt hit us much we have booked and paid in full a cruise in march tring for the splendor in april and a week in cancun first of december. like the guy before said you cant take it with you and the kids get the house so keep on cruising besides our house payment is only 340.00 per month so it makes vacations easier

[sappygirl]

We have one booked for Feb.09 and doubt we will be doing anymore in the near future. I am getting laid off in Dec. so it will be a while before we can take any type of vacation.:(

[pris993]

We have 2 cruises booked. One for $250 each and the other $500 each per day for all expenses. We used FF miles for air on the first one. That kept costs down. One cruise is a TA and the other is a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern trip out of Rome. We always watch our expenses on board and plan ship tours in only a couple of ports. We are retired so we generally watch our expenses and save to travel.

 

Our long range retirement investments have been hit with the economic down turn, we are fortunate we can sit tight and wait for the economy to recover. We live simply and enjoy traveling, so as long as we have our health and our retirement pensions we will continue to travel. Do feel for folks that are having a difficult time these days.

[ducklovemama]

The part that makes me so angry is the outrageuos airfares. We're booked on a New Years cruise and we're paying almost as much to get to Miami on a crammed airplane as we are for the 7 day cruise (room and board!!!).

 

 

 

I agree with you 100%. I booked a short cruise for me and my daughter to go on and the airfare to miami cost more then the cruise does not to mention all the extra fees with most of the airlines. What gets me the most is that airlines charge a cheaper price at certain times of the day then other times. 72.00 for 5am flight, 151.00 for 11am flight. It seems to me that it would cost them the same for gas reguardless.So why not the same price.

[D & D]

We're booked on a 7 day Western Caribbean in January but plan to cut back on shore excursions. Also booked for January 2010 on a 14 day Panama Canal and plan to go on a lot of excursions. That gives us time to save. Hopefully by that time things will have settled down.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Due to the financial situation, I will:

 

PRAY for a quick economic recovery. We don't want to make any changes to our habit of 2 - 3 cruises per year and won't do so until we absolutely have to. (We used to joke about it, but now we really are spending our children's inheritance.) I'm seeing some great bargains out there now. Hopefully there will still be some available when we can work another cruise into our schedule.

[sammamishcruiser]

We had to cancel our med cruise next October on the Equinox, the air fare was just killing us!! We are now booked on the Infinity in September to the Panama Canal; mainly because it leaves from Seattle - just a short trip downtown and we are on the ship! Also just one way airfare from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle. We most likely will not do any excurisons, just explore the ports on our own, do a little shopping and of course eating the local food!!

 

We have nothing else booked, will wait to see how the economy is looking in a year, would still like to get to the Med one of these days!, it might just be Alaska again for the third time. that's ok with me, it's still a cruise LOL

 

Melody:D

[Kennykat]

We're on the Feb 09 Diamond Princess from AUS to Bangkok. We will probably book a Mediterranean next year. It will have to begin or end in Rome and or Athens as I want to stay at least a week in each to make the travel worth the trouble of getting there. I can't see the point of going all that way for less than a month (obviously pretty much retired). Ken Weger

[forensic]

Like some of you we too need to cut back on our cruise/vacation spending. We were going to sail a B2B the week before and Christmas week on the Solstice. Because of the controversy etc. about the 12/14 week that WAS suppose to be the inaugural and the higher cost of cruising Christmas week we canceled that cruise. Our DD and wonderful SIL and fabulous Grandchildren have invited us to spend Christmas week with them. As this is the last Christmas they will be living in our area for at least the next 3-4 years, we agreed that this is a MUCH better choice. Next summer they will be moving to Florida. (currently they live in VA and we live in MD)

We also canceled our 2 week Equinox cruise next fall in the Med. Airfare is just too high and so are the tours, which would be a must. My DH's job is too risky with our new President's "promises".

In place of those cruises we are going to cruise the end of January '09 on the Solstice, they are having a good price and a good "resident's rate" on top of that. We feel that we got "cheated" out of the inaugural so if we could not do the inaugural it really did not matter what week we sailed on her. We just want to try her out and see if we like her as much as we like the M class ships. We LOVE the Constellation but are excited about a number of the "new" items on the Solstice class. This is the first time in a long time that we did not have 2-3-4 cruises booked at once, but times are too risky for us.

[memphislonghorn]

I am single so the economy hasn't hit me that hard. Plus, I'm in the grocery business, which just keeps on going....everyone's gotta eat.:D

I will keep on cruising, just look for great deals as I have in the past.

[hubofhockey]

The part that makes me so angry is the outrageuos airfares. We're booked on a New Years cruise and we're paying almost as much to get to Miami on a crammed airplane as we are for the 7 day cruise (room and board!!!).

 

Cruise and airfare are up for me. I'll cut back on other things and not a cruise. But I did scramble to get a websaver one-stop flight on AirTran to FLL for more than I paid this year. On the bright side, it costs $25 less in gas to fill up.

[Go-Bucks!]

I don't plan, at this point, on taking a cruise in 2009 because I'm taking 2 land vacations - one to Europe (yea, the dollar-to-Euro price is better than back in 2005) and one to Las Vegas. Next cruise is planned for Apr. 2010 and likely to be one in Dec. 2010 too. As long as my 2 jobs don't change, I'll be taking 2 vacations per year.

[murcielago]

That would not go under other, that would be under showing off which is filed under lack of humbleness.

Have a nice cruise.

 

 

 

 

quote=firefly333;16919431]I dont know what to check. I have 5 cruises booked and plan on going on them all. Some are home port and a couple are not. Is that "other".

[Carol Anne]

DH and I are stilling planning to do the 3 cruise's we have booked for next year. We may have to stay away from purchasing large ticket items (ie. jewelry and electronics) while on vacation to be a bit more conservative with our money though.

I have done other things to off set vacation $$$ also. Just found a wonderful lady to watch the three pups rather than the expensive Pet Resort and took a travel insurance plan that is still more than adequate but not as extensive as the ones we have had in the past.

Additionally might get a ride to the port unstead of paying $15.00 a day. Those three items this next cruise on Solstice 12/7 will keep about $450.00 in pocket toward a deposit on our first for 2010 cruise on (Oasis of the Seas :))

Crusing is our passion and what gets us out of bed at 5:45 to go to work. Unless one of us loses our jobs we will continue to cruise.

[TEXASMUNK]

we are taxed out of existance!!!!!!!

BOHICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lvcruises]

We were suppose to go on the Celebrity Solstice in March doing the AquaClass..Just couldn't justify the $3300 cost. So we are on the Pearl March 29, currently we have the cruise paid for and we have a OBC due to the special. We will try to keep cost down and hope we get the fuel credit. We are going to drive to Miami, since airfare and luggage fees puts that at over $800. Our last day to cancel is Jan 10, so if things get worse we will cancel the trip. My husband is self-employeed so if the economy gets worse it hits us hard, since people might decide not to paint or fix up their homes.

[Barbee524]

OK, you got me....I'm curious....how did you win TWO CRUISES?????

 

Google winner barbee524, and you'll see where and how I won.

[Twinsmomct]

We're scheduled to sail in February from our closest port (Bayonne) and even with driving there, it's expensive for a family of 4. I would rather have the money to pay two months' mortgage than take the trip and need the money a few months later. We still have a month to decide, but I'm leaning towards cancelling. We can always cruise again when the economy picks up.

 

I also think it's a good lesson to our kids about prioritizing. While it would be wonderful to get away from the northeast in the middle of winter, we can survive if we don't.

 

Patty

CT

[ssrcmom]

With the economy as it is, we booked our next cruise a year in advance so we could have it paid for before we go. This way we are not over by whelmed by the final deposit and airfare 3 months before hand. We will also cut down on the on board spending.

 

Cruiseing is still the best vacation options for our family.

 

Susan

[m steve]

2 years ago and pulled my money from funds and put it in CDs and recently on the first day of the big drop closed out my IRA from the market to CDs as well. Ended up avoiding over $100000 loss so I can travel as I wish.I loved seeing my funds rise but felt we were in a bubble like housing. The only stock I own is Carnival bought for OBCs and that's off 50% from my purchase.

[Budget Queen]

Fortunately, the economy has no impact on my job, so my plans aren't changing for my two booked cruises next year, Alaska and 14 day Med- with another 2 1/2 weeks extended Europe, since I am there. Will be picking up a last min deal for the Caribbean in Jan.

 

I find that mostly, I do late book, which has offered some fantastic deals. Just did that last month with a 10 day prior to sailing, booked Panama Canal cruise.

 

My cost savings are in cabin selection, I don't care what cabin I get. I am very fortunate not to need purchased air, which greatly opens travel opportunities for me as well.