How will you cruise next year due to the economy?

[donaldquackers]

I've been dreaming of cruising the Panama Canal. I've decided now is not the time for something like that, so instead I'll save a bunch of money and go to Alaska again.

[Cruz-On]

We are used our NCL certificate and booked when they were having a sale last month. We also used our coupon we received from NCL for a free upgrade. We decided to sail from home port in Florida instead of our initial plan to sail to Hawaii. Oh well next time...A cruise is a cruise to us and w eare just glad to be on the water cruising....

[Vectorboy]

Let's face it, most of us are unaffected by the "economic downturn". Speaking personally, I still have my very safe job and if anything, things are looking up as it's costing me 20$ less to fill up my car with gas than it did a few months ago.

 

I'm looking forward to great cruise deals because of the "crisis" and plan on cruising more than ever.

 

VB

[bruce-r]

So how will you cruise in 2009?

 

No change in the way we'll cruise in 2009. Our personal financial situation is as good or better than it has been in years.

 

You neglected to have a such a choice in the poll. Is that because you think everyone is suffering financially?

[fredman]

I will try to utilize airmiles to travel to the port or better yet if I can save enough Airmiles, pay for the cruisefare that way.

 

Unfortunately, Vancouver is the only port that I could realistically drive to - not that Vancouver is not a great port city, but limits your ability to take an affordable Caribbean cruise. Choices are Hawaii, Alaska, Coastal, Mexico cruises. Not bad, but for my first few cruises, I want to get a feel for the Caribbean.

[DavidJrandRichard]

I will keep my cruise plans for 12 nights in May/June of '08. However if I knew then what I know now when I booked the cruise, I wouldn't have booked it.

[chester3]

Unless something special (deep discount) falls in our laps, we have no plans to cruise in 2009. We are saving instead to go on the Oasis of the Seas in January of 2010.

[Northshorecruisers]

We just got back from the Oosterdam a few weeks ago, but that cruise was budgeted and paid for quite some time ago.

We won't be cruising in 2009 unless I happen to find a lot of money buried in the backyard. Friends we cruise with that live in Vancouver will be coming to visit us in Minnesota in the summer - so at least we'll all have our week together even if we're not on a cruise ship.

Next cruise will be Jan 2010. It's to celebrate my 50th birthday and originally we thought of doing a 10 day. If airfares continue to rise we may cut back to a 7 day as we are paying for my two sons to go with us.

We work hard all year to be able to cruise. Maybe we'll have to work a little harder or cut back on some other areas like eating out.

[travelingirl70]

We have a cruise to Alaska booked for next August. We have a deposit on the cruise, but are holding off on any decisions for a while until we can see how the economy will affect us. There are 4 of us on this cruise, so when you factor in airfare and excursions (it isn't worth going to Alaska if we don't do the excursions), this is going to be an expensive trip. Fortunately, we have 2 other land vacations booked for 2009 which are basically non-refundable (airfare was steep and that part is non-refundable, so we are sticking with those.) DH and I are both in careers that are likely to be impacted by the economy - we just don't know yet to what extent. I can already tell you that my bonus next year won't happen. We are fortunate that even if we did go, we would still be able to pay the mortgage, buy food, etc. For us it is a question of SHOULD we go - or is there a better time? We don't want to skimp on the kids' college savings, our retirement savings, or rack up any debt.

 

Of course, if we wait too long to decide, the airfare may make the decision for us. I've checked flights and there aren't any bargains out there now anyway.

[Hornet84]

We have booked only one 2009 cruise. A 10 day cruise on the Norwegian Jewel to Canada in September. I have switched from RCI to NCL as the pricing is better and you don't lose much in service. RCI's pricing is getting to high and the pricing on the Oasis is outrageous. We will cut back on the amount of cruises in 2009. We went on four in 2008. We will also cut back on on-board spending, shore excursions and port side shopping. We will also eat in the main dining rooms more rather than paying the cover charge at the alternative restaurants. Money is getting tight and I believe the economic recession will get worse in 2009 before it gets better.

[m steve]

due to health and the Euro. We may book it for 09. Planned to use airmiles for 1st class flight over and back. Our other option is to Hong Kong and Singapore and cruise between them. Love flying 1st on Singapore Air. Unfortunately we need to fly United to the west coast and they stink. Afraid if we wait too long the miles will disappear with United.

[Mexfolkart]

We had to cancel a cruise 6/2009 becuase the extremely high fuel charges added to the other charges just put it out of our reach unfortunately. If they go away and there are still 2 for 1 deals with airfare we would love another cruise. If not we will fly someplace and stay in a hotel and take day trips from there. We will not go on a shorter cruise as we feel it takes 12-15 days to settle in and really enjoy!

Sherry

[hightownCO]

Need to do several things in order to cruise next year. Unfortunately, with DD 15, we can only go when school is out and prices are high. I so envy you who can go when prices are at their lowest.

 

First, could not do both a NYE this year and Spring Break '09 cruise. While NYE is costlier, I kept that one because it's also more fun, more meaningful. So this is sort of my resolution. If we cruise next New Years, will do the following:

 

o I will probably not be able to cruise Princess as their NYE pricing has gotten higher and held the higher price. Probably look to Carnival for a 7 day as the more reasonable $ wise.

 

o Could consider RCCL but would have to reducing # of days to 5.

 

o I will make myself book an OV instead of BAL. I've done this before but just couldn't see it through and upgraded to Bal. Need to give up the balcony for now.

 

o If doing Carnival, will look to book at about 60 days out. Using this year as a guide, there's still good availability and good pricing for NYE.

 

o Will consider non FL ports as air is a little better to places like Houston.

 

o If I do find a good price and book before final pmt will do everything possible to find a deal with reduced deposit. I have a FCC with Princess if their prices were to come down, otherwise watch for RCCL deals. Don't think Carnival has offered those.

 

For 2010, looking at a couple of CC Group cruises for the summer. Hopefully good pricing and LOW deposits!

[fdh0721]

I just put a deposit down for a cruise next November. If nothing drastic happens with my job within the next year I will be on the ship! If something comes up I will have to cancel the cruise and wait until a later time. The only good thing is that as the economy tightens the deals will probably be better for those that can still afford to cruise.

[CruiseHealing]

I may cruise in late 09. I going to try and get a private pilot license in 09. Of course, if the economy gets real bad, cruises maybe so cheap I may have to book numerous cruises for late 09, 2010 and 2011. Just have to wait and see.

[Cruise Junky]

We haven't suffered any financial loss due to the markets, but we both work in the financial industry and have no idea what effect that will have in the next year. We cut back for 2009. We were looking at either Tahiti or a Australian Land Trip. Air Canada still has the $450 per per fuel surcharge on the Australian Flight, which sucks!! So we ended up booking the coastal and mexican riviera with only a one way flight back to Vancouver. We'll do something big again in 2010.

 

We do completely budget and have our trips paid for in advance, but you never know when that money might have to be used for something else, so we'll be a little frugal next year and stay closer to home.

[alibubba]

We will spend 2009 saving as we just took our biggest cruise ever. Then we will either take our dream Greek Isle tour or the Baltic capitol tour. It has nothing to do with the current economy other than needing to save for it.

[toby #1]

we are very fortunate, we have two cruises booked for 09 and will book a third in a couple of weeks. We budget our money and don't do a lot of things that cost a lot of money for entertainment, go to movies etc. therefore we can cruise. It is worth it to us.

I don't know people with small children do it, I know if our kids weren't grown we wouldn't be able to do it.

[Florida Sunlover]

Will cut out the spa visits while on board, look for shore excursions from local vendors, study up on ports ahead of time and use more public transportation.

[camNaud]

No change to our plans although we are now likely to spend more due to the weaker pound to dollar / euro. We do enjoy beer, wine and cocktails at night.

 

Cruising in Far East in 2 weeks, going to Gran Canaria for New Year, cruising from Fort Lauderdale to LA plus staying in LA in April / May and finally we have 2 weeks in Olu Deniz Turkey booked for September.

[muffydawg]

We've been booked for the Emerald in February 2009 and we are still sailing. The airfare has already been paid for and so has the hotel room. We won't cruise again until at least the fall of 2010, but that is due more to some home improvements we want to save for and make to our house.

[jaw62901]

We are paying cash for everything, so there is no outstanding bills later. Sure we charged the cruise and plane tickets to our credit card, but when it came time to pay the credit card bill, we completely paid it off. Same will go for our on board purchases. Once we get home, the credit card will get completely paid off. We don't expect that to be to much since we got an OBC of $300 when we booked.

[OperaJoe]

For me, the biggest expense is the airfare and overnights in precruise hotels. Toronto is not a "home port", so I don't really have a choice but to fly. However, I might investigate sailing out of New York- about a 10 hour drive away. But more likely I'll fly to ports in Florida where the airfares are generally more reasonable and certainly cheaper than Europe. Another big expense for me are the shore excursions. Will be sailing on Voyager of the Seas to western Med. later this week from Barcelona, and the cost of the excursions are very, very high. This is one area that I think I'll try to cut back :(

 

Joe

[World_Citizen]

We are actually choosing to cruise in 2009 to SAVE money. We had been planning a London/Paris adventure, but the high cost of flying to Europe and the weak dollar sent us in search of a cruise on this side of the hemisphere. We'll go to London/Paris when conditions improve.

[SHayesShip]

I am split. I have a cruise booked in April '09 from my homeport and it is well under $1000/person.

However, I have a family cruise that I am sponsoring in November '09. It is very rare because it is my Mom and I on the West Coast meeting my Sister and her family in Florida going on a ten day and it is well over $1,000/person. I started saving 4 months ago for this cruise and hopefully, we will be able to all be together.