Is anyone thinking of canceling due to the economy?

[Commieri]

We're booked for April 5th on Westerdam... first HAL cruise as we usually go Celebrity or Princess. There are 6 of us going but it now looks certain that my husband's company will become yet another victim of the credit crunch and economic mess. If we have to cancel, we will- I just can't see going if he's unemployed. But it suprised me to see no discussion of the economy on the boards... Is everyone else ok or are others concerned about layoffs or company closings?:confused:

[GmaPajama]

There have been discussions, Camille, and they've been interesting. We did cancel a cruise because we were worried about the economy - but then quickly found other ways to make do and booked another cruise for the very same dates.

We are SO hooked.

[Commieri]

There have been discussions, Camille, and they've been interesting. We did cancel a cruise because we were worried about the economy - but then quickly found other ways to make do and booked another cruise for the very same dates.

We are SO hooked.

 

Well, I guess I'll check the boards more closely to follow those discussions. If I knew he'd get a job by April, I would do it but it's likely he could be looking for quite some time as he's in a specialized field and had reached a fairly high position. It will be difficult to duplicate his salary and we sometimes wonder why we don't feel rich even now, with two good salaries.

 

Glad you figured out a way to go.

[GmaPajama]

Here's a link to what I thought was the most thorough of those threads.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=857306

 

[cruz chic]

I usually have 2 cruises booked at any given time. Right now..only one. I may get another one booked in the next few months but the economy and the oil price (I work for an oil company) have me worried.

[sail7seas]

I'm sorry to hear of your husband's situation and hope it resolves well and quickly.

 

To answser your question, barring something very unforeseen, we intend to go forward with the cruises we have booked.

 

None of us have any guarantee of what the future holds.

 

[Commieri]

Here's a link to what I thought was the most thorough of those threads.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=857306

 

Yes, I found that and read it. Most posts were from Oct when we were just dealing with mortgage and stock market debacles. Now I think things are really worse with unemployment.

 

I have to call my Trip Insurance tonight- made sure I purchased cancel for work reason but I got nervous when I looked at the documents and didn;t see that expressly written. As for airfare, I had only booked flight down to FLL ( $360 for two tickets) hoping for fares to go down before I booked our return. Now, I;m kind of glad I did that because if I have to cancel, I will only have to deal with a credit of $360 vs... more than $1K. If the job market is as bad as I think it is, it;s doubtful we could afford any vacation even with a credit for 1/2 trip of airfare.

 

Just when I got my DH hooked on cruising - we did three in the past two years - we'll probably have to forgo this one. But, I hope and pray that we and everyone else affected by this horrid mess will be ok.

[Steamboatin]

We probably will be increasing the number of cruises we take if the prices keep decreasing.

 

It is nice to be retired and receiving multiple government retirement checks plus other government income.

 

By the way - thanks to you all for paying for our cruises.:D

[ekerr19]

We just made final payment for our next cruise, thankfully the economy is not effecting our travel plans.

 

We wish the best for all our fellow cruisers during these difficult economic times.

[ekerr19]

By the way - thanks to you all for paying for our cruises.:D

 

Wow... okay. Many folks have taken huge hits to their savings and 401K plans. Glad to hear it doesn't concern you.

 

Since the "bailout" I will work extra hard to ensure I get every possible tax deduction. When a bailout bank CEO takes home $84mm annually, I have a a pretty big problem with it....

[BalconyBumz]

Because they eliminated the unfair fuel surcharge, now I'm looking and watching and about ready to book us another cruise. I refused to book a cruise with the fuel surcharges, but they finally smartened up.

[HWH]

 

By the way - thanks to you all for paying for our cruises.:D

 

Please don't thank me for something that I have been coerced into doing.

Sorry, Steamboatin, I know you meant it as a joke, but it caught me the wrong way.

[herb]

We probably will be increasing the number of cruises we take if the prices keep decreasing.

 

It is nice to be retired and receiving multiple government retirement checks plus other government income.

 

By the way - thanks to you all for paying for our cruises.:D

 

I guess in another time or era we may have gotten a chuckle out of your post, but not really nowadays...

[sail7seas]

We probably will be increasing the number of cruises we take if the prices keep decreasing.

 

It is nice to be retired and receiving multiple government retirement checks plus other government income.

 

By the way - thanks to you all for paying for our cruises.:D

 

 

Happy to make you happy.

 

In the same way I am sorry for those who are struggling now through no fault of their own. We have all heard of those who are in tough times right now.

 

I send good wishes to you and especially to them as well.

[TCF]

Unless you fall into the," independently wealthy", category and your investments are bullet proof...I think everyone is having at least some ongoing concerns about cruising.

We're ok with income and pension...but the exchange rate between the US$ and CDN$ is the thing that is worrying us.

We have a reposition booked with only one way air airfare to book...but when we booked the the exchange was about 5%....today it is 23%!!!! That means it would add almost $1000 CDN to the original fare budget!!!

We have pretty much decided that we will cancel if the exchange does not drop to 15% by February final payment date. I think we're dreaming...but who knows with this economy.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

We have cancelled all travel plans for the immediate future, and are hunkering down to ensure we have enough of a buffer in our savings accounts. We still have two daughters living at home, and their education to pay for. I'm grateful my husband has a good job as a programmer for Microsoft. But that is no guarantee of anything.

 

(If the so-called $850 billion "stimulus" package is approved by congress, every single one of us will be in debt way above our heads. There are no "bail-outs" for the average, hard-working, honest Joes, only for the fat cats with the "right" connections).

[Miata]

We probably will be increasing the number of cruises we take if the prices keep decreasing.

 

It is nice to be retired and receiving multiple government retirement checks plus other government income.

 

By the way - thanks to you all for paying for our cruises.:D

 

 

While I feel that Steamboatin was trying to be funny regarding his last statement we all must remember that to get that retirement he or she had a much lower income than the private sector.

 

Larry

[NevadaHiRoller]

Happy to make you happy.

 

In the same way I am sorry for those who are struggling now through no fault of their own. We have all heard of those who are in tough times right now.

 

I send good wishes to you and especially to them as well.

 

Bravo on your response.

[Cruzman]

Like Steamboatin, my income is almost totally from government sources so I'm not too concerned at this point. I am also a cruise addict, so I'm not planning to reduce how often we cruise. I may cruise closer to home and book in lower categories if necessary.

[Nutrioso]

We usually have one long cruise (21+ days) and a shorter one each winter. This year we had to cancel the long one and just took a 10 day cruise to Sea of Cortez. As for the future winter 09-10, we cancelled our fall cruise booking but are still holding on to the March 2010 33-day Rotterdam cruise booking. ----Penny

[CowPrincess]

We only ever take vacations when we can pay for everything in advance. Many years, that means NO vacations, or vacations near home. Given the cost of airfare, we won't be doing any exotic cruising in the near future, that's for sure. We have one cruise deposited for February 2010, and I've been instructed :D to watch for good deals for late spring/early summer. No kids to worry about, no debt (thank goodness), and relatively stable employment. Investment income has evaporated, but our reno is nearly complete, so we are okay. Frugal, driving old vehicles, watching an ooooolllllddddd TV, but okay.

 

My heart aches for everyone who's not been through an economic downturn, who thought that the "boom" would be never-ending. Made that mistake in my 20s, won't make it again.

[niborHS]

Steamboatin, I don't find what you had to say very funny. If you took a look at the income taxes we pay, and the fact that we pay tax on every penny, without looking forward to a pension, I am sure you would not take it as a joke.

It is scary to think about all those who are either out of a job already, or who are thinking every day that they may be the next one. It is the talk of every event that we go to. I have one son who has only been working for a little over a year, and one still in college. The 23 year old and his friends have to live with the reality that if they have a job, they have to stick with it whether they like it or not, because they don't want to take a chance with changing. Plenty of their friends have been let go, and have trouble finding another position. Not the way you want to start your way in the job market. On the other end, I know of some in the 50+ category who have lost jobs, and they are having a very hard time finding something to replace it with.

[rocknrobin]

We cancelled our 01/09 B2B due to the economy; however, we did book a 12 nighter in 02/10 on Celebrity out of Baltimore - and we can drive down, eliminating airfare. We, too, make sure we have the $$$ up front; play now/pay later is a big no-no in our book. Good Lord willing, we'll be cruising again next year; nice to have something to look forward to (it's flipping freezing here in Jersey)...

[kryos]

We're booked for April 5th on Westerdam... first HAL cruise as we usually go Celebrity or Princess. There are 6 of us going but it now looks certain that my husband's company will become yet another victim of the credit crunch and economic mess. If we have to cancel, we will- I just can't see going if he's unemployed. But it suprised me to see no discussion of the economy on the boards... Is everyone else ok or are others concerned about layoffs or company closings?:confused:

I have a couple of cruises booked for 2009 and 2010, and I guess if I'm out of work by then, I would probaby cancel or at least downsize them to something far cheaper. In fact, I probably would have to since one of them is 33 days long and if I am with a new employer by that time, it is doubtful I could get that amount of time off.

 

But I guess I just refuse to think about it. If it happens, I'll deal with it then. But I doubt there are very many people on this board who are not at some sort of risk for layoff these days ... at least not many who are still in the workforce anyway.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Plenty of their friends have been let go, and have trouble finding another position. Not the way you want to start your way in the job market. On the other end, I know of some in the 50+ category who have lost jobs, and they are having a very hard time finding something to replace it with.

I have two friends who were laid off in March 2008. They are still looking for work.

 

It's bad out there ... no question.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita