Anyone cancelling cruises for late 2020 out of uncertainty?

[handbellplayer]

So many here are saying, "I'm not going to cancel; I'll just wait for the cruise line to do it so I'll get FCC."  Am I the only one that's concerned about the cruise lines going into bankruptcy and losing my deposit?  If I had 28 cruises booked  I would be very concerned about losing that much $$.  We only one cruise booked at the moment (Oasis in November) and we will probably cancel in the next few days. Am I being unreasonably pessimistic?  I don't know a lot about business, but how can the cruise lines survive with no revenue for months (maybe many months)?

[cured]

We have a cruise scheduled for 1st week of August. Unless there is a miracle between now and May 10th and the scientists have a proven vaccine, we will not be making final payment. With every summer event being cancelled such as the Olympics and Wimbledon, the odds the ship will sail is 50/50 at best.

 

I am not handing over thousands and thousands in this economic uncertainty,  especially with all the complaints of delayed refunds for the currently cancelled cruises. Especially for a product that is a huge maybe. I have already cancelled all our cruise planner purchases like our drink packages, coco cay beach club, etc. This was awhile ago and still haven't seen a refund.  Money will go back into the cruise budget and will rebook for 18 months out (anticipated vaccine completion.)

Edited April 2, 2020 by cured

[ARandomTraveler]

2 minutes ago, cured said:

With every summer event being cancelled such as the Olympics and Wimbledon already being cancelled, the odds the ship will sail is 50/50 at best.

The Olympics being cancelled really helped tip the scale for me in accepting that our trip to Japan wasn’t going to happen this summer. I cancelled our June cruise from Singapore as well. 

[trey420]

So far I am still booked for November san Juan cruise.  I got an air b&b already no plane tickets yet.  I'm gonna hold out till final payment see what happens.  I have alternate plan to go to PR do the 3 days may up it to 4.  Then fly to Florida do universal maybe Disney.  Sounds like just as much fun.  Not as cost effective though. 

[nbsjcruiser]

On 3/28/2020 at 12:55 PM, TRAVELBUGCRUISER said:

Hi Everyone

We have a cruise booked for the Fall and are feeling uneasy and uncertain about everything right now. Has anyone else cancelled their cruise for later this year based off sheer uncertainty?

Cancelled our November 2020 cruise. Wont be going back on a cruise until there is a vaccine.

[justKirbo]

58 minutes ago, handbellplayer said:

So many here are saying, "I'm not going to cancel; I'll just wait for the cruise line to do it so I'll get FCC."  Am I the only one that's concerned about the cruise lines going into bankruptcy and losing my deposit?  If I had 28 cruises booked  I would be very concerned about losing that much $$.  We only one cruise booked at the moment (Oasis in November) and we will probably cancel in the next few days. Am I being unreasonably pessimistic?  I don't know a lot about business, but how can the cruise lines survive with no revenue for months (maybe many months)?

No. When all this started to really go down, my first thought was that many of the cruise companies could go into bankruptcies. I canceled a cruise we had scheduled  for next year in April. My TA pointed out that I'd gotten a screaming deal and it would cost more to rebook later. Fine by me. I'd rather be wrong and pay $300 more than be right and be out my $1000 deposit (it was on two rooms).

 

Do I hope I'm wrong? Yes. I truly do. But if I'm right, there are a lot of folks that will have FCC that aren't good for anything. 

 

(My TA cancelled for me on 3/16 and I think the refund hit my credit card on 3/23.)

[handbellplayer]

7 minutes ago, justKirbo said:

No. When all this started to really go down, my first thought was that many of the cruise companies could go into bankruptcies. I canceled a cruise we had scheduled  for next year in April. My TA pointed out that I'd gotten a screaming deal and it would cost more to rebook later. Fine by me. I'd rather be wrong and pay $300 more than be right and be out my $1000 deposit (it was on two rooms).

 

Do I hope I'm wrong? Yes. I truly do. But if I'm right, there are a lot of folks that will have FCC that aren't good for anything. 

 

(My TA cancelled for me on 3/16 and I think the refund hit my credit card on 3/23.)

Thanks for the sanity check!  Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way.

 

11 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Cancelled our November 2020 cruise. Wont be going back on a cruise until there is a vaccine.

This is exactly what my husband said.  We will wait on a vaccine. He has promised me a fall vacation anywhere I want to go by car.

[ARandomTraveler]

1 hour ago, handbellplayer said:

So many here are saying, "I'm not going to cancel; I'll just wait for the cruise line to do it so I'll get FCC."  Am I the only one that's concerned about the cruise lines going into bankruptcy and losing my deposit?  If I had 28 cruises booked  I would be very concerned about losing that much $$.  We only one cruise booked at the moment (Oasis in November) and we will probably cancel in the next few days. Am I being unreasonably pessimistic?  I don't know a lot about business, but how can the cruise lines survive with no revenue for months (maybe many months)?

I would be worried about that if I were receiving an FCC, but for some, it’s the best they can hope for because without the FCC option, they’d have lost their money entirely for cancelling their cruises. 
 

I cancelled my June cruise last week (it was a refundable deposit and the cruise, as of now, is still scheduled to sail). I haven’t gotten my cash back yet. I was told it would come between 7-10 days. I’ve seen people post that they’ve been told it could be 60, or even 90 days, so I’ll probably wait a full 3 months for my refund before doing anything about it.

 

I don’t think they’ll go bankrupt before then. If they do though, I have 2 safety nets. One is my travel insurance which covers me in the event the company I paid money to goes bankrupt. The second is my credit card company, which I used to pay the cruise in the first place. If RC goes bankrupt before my refund comes through, I’ll use one of those 2 routes (which ever is easier) to get my money back. 
 

I think people are safe for the next 6 months. I wouldn’t feel confident about the value of that credit after that, but most of the people getting these FCC’s didn’t buy insurance and didn’t have refundable deposits and have no other option but to hope. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[justKirbo]

33 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I would be worried about that if I were receiving an FCC, but for some, it’s the best they can hope for because without the FCC option, they’d have lost their money entirely for cancelling their cruises. 
 

I cancelled my June cruise last week (it was a refundable deposit and the cruise, as of now, is still scheduled to sail). I haven’t gotten my cash back yet. I was told it would come between 7-10 days. I’ve seen people post that they’ve been told it could be 60, or even 90 days, so I’ll probably wait a full 3 months for my refund before doing anything about it.

 

I don’t think they’ll go bankrupt before then. If they do though, I have 2 safety nets. One is my travel insurance which covers me in the event the company I paid money to goes bankrupt. The second is my credit card company, which I used to pay the cruise in the first place. If RC goes bankrupt before my refund comes through, I’ll use one of those 2 routes (which ever is easier) to get my money back. 
 

I think people are safe for the next 6 months. I wouldn’t feel confident about the value of that credit after that, but most of the people getting these FCC’s didn’t buy insurance and didn’t have refundable deposits and have no other option but to hope. 

I canceled a cruise that doesn't sail for a year, but I thought that the folks that are on canceled sailings were offered the choice of 100% refund or 125% FCC. I didn't know they were all losing their deposits. That would be a tough one for me to deal with for sure.

[ARandomTraveler]

32 minutes ago, justKirbo said:

I canceled a cruise that doesn't sail for a year, but I thought that the folks that are on canceled sailings were offered the choice of 100% refund or 125% FCC. I didn't know they were all losing their deposits. That would be a tough one for me to deal with for sure.

If the cruise lines cancels, then people are offered the cash refund. However a lot of people want to cancel cruises in May and June (or later) that haven’t been cancelled by the cruise line yet, and those people can lose a large percentage of their money. Depending on how many days away their cruise is, they may only be eligible to receive 50% or 25% of their money in the form of an FCC if they cancel. Or, they may be eligible under the ‘cruise with confidence’ policy to “keep” 100% of their money by moving to a new cruise date (which, like the FCC, keeps their money tied up with the cruiseline). That’s how I understand it anyway.

The only way to get actual cash back is to cancel before final payment and get the deposit back minus a $100/person penalty for non-refundable deposits, or to have had a refundable deposit and cancel before final payment to get 100% of the cash back, or to have the cruise be cancelled by the cruiseline, or to have had cancel-for-any-reason insurance (which gives you a 75% cash refund if you bought 3rd party insurance - cruiseline insurance still only gives you a 75% FCC)

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[justKirbo]

31 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

If the cruise lines cancels, then people are offered the cash refund. However a lot of people want to cancel cruises in May and June (or later) that haven’t been cancelled by the cruise line yet, and those people can lose a large percentage of their money. Depending on how many days away their cruise is, they may only be eligible to receive 50% or 25% of their money in the form of an FCC if they cancel. Or, they may be eligible under the ‘cruise with confidence’ policy to “keep” 100% of their money by moving to a new cruise date (which, like the FCC, keeps their money tied up with the cruiseline). That’s how I understand it anyway.

The only way to get actual cash back is to cancel before final payment and get the deposit back minus a $100/person penalty for non-refundable deposits, or to have had a refundable deposit and cancel before final payment to get 100% of the cash back, or to have the cruise be cancelled by the cruiseline, or to have had cancel-for-any-reason insurance (which gives you a 75% cash refund if you bought 3rd party insurance - cruiseline insurance still only gives you a 75% FCC)

 

I did know all of that, but I was under the impression that most folks that had their cruises canceled by the cruise line have been opting for the 125% FCC. (I had a refundable deposit and my PIF date wasn't for months, I got it all back.)

 

It's funny, in the past, I often thought nothing of having a non-refundable deposit and it was just luck that the cruise I canceled was such a good deal that I went for a refundable deposit. Now, however, I will never do a non-refundable deposit again. It never looked like a bad idea in the past. The world has changed.

[ARandomTraveler]

46 minutes ago, justKirbo said:

I did know all of that, but I was under the impression that most folks that had their cruises canceled by the cruise line have been opting for the 125% FCC. (I had a refundable deposit and my PIF date wasn't for months, I got it all back.)

 

It's funny, in the past, I often thought nothing of having a non-refundable deposit and it was just luck that the cruise I canceled was such a good deal that I went for a refundable deposit. Now, however, I will never do a non-refundable deposit again. It never looked like a bad idea in the past. The world has changed.

I guess I don’t really know the statistics on how many are taking the 125% FCC or are taking cash for cruiseline cancellations. I don’t feel like I’ve read an overwhelming number of posts from people preferring the 125% over the cash, but I definitely have seen some from people who are optimistic about their ability to take a cruise in the next year and aren’t worried about the company going bankrupt. 
 

From the non-scientific sampling of posts I’ve been reading, it seems like there are more people cancelling their own cruises vs people being affected by the cruiseline cancelling them. Mathematically, this would be supported by the fact that the cruiseline has only cancelled 2 months worth of cruises out of the 18 or so months of available cruises. So anyone outside of mid-March to Mid-May is making the choice to cancel, and have to take an FCC because their only other option is to forfeit at least some of their money. A lot of those people are saying they would rather get cash back, but it’s not an option. 
 

Similar to you, I’ve personally changed the way I look at paying extra money for more flexibility in my vacation planning. Since the non-refundable option became a thing, I’ve been paying more for the refundable option, but that’s because I learned prior to this that really unexpected things can de-rail my plans. I learned the same thing about buying insurance from watching a lot of people lose their money when the hurricanes hit and the cruise lines didn’t cancel sailings, and wouldn’t refund anyone’s money. I’ve never taken a vacation without the cancel for any reason insurance since then, and after this coronavirus thing, I’m all but guaranteed to continue doing so.  

Edited April 3, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[zalusky]

We cancelled our cruise on March 6 the day they announced their new policy. The problem is they required 48 hours notice and we sailed the next day. I saw how fast things were changing and my wife had many of the risk factors.

The travel agent said we would get FCC but not the confidence version that expires end of 2021. We still have not received our port fees,taxes, reservation money or the FCC so I don’t know what’s going on.

We have another sailing for next March down under and there is no clarity things will not rear their head again.

Unfortunately it’s a NRD booking but if I don’t have clarity by final payment I may have to eat it.

Refundable deposits from now on.


Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ARandomTraveler]

6 minutes ago, zalusky said:

We cancelled our cruise on March 6 the day they announced their new policy. The problem is they required 48 hours notice and we sailed the next day. I saw how fast things were changing and my wife had many of the risk factors.

The travel agent said we would get FCC but not the confidence version that expires end of 2021. We still have not received our port fees,taxes, reservation money or the FCC so I don’t know what’s going on.

We have another sailing for next March down under and there is no clarity things will not rear their head again.

Unfortunately it’s a NRD booking but if I don’t have clarity by final payment I may have to eat it.

Refundable deposits from now on.


Sent from my iPad using Forums

Your situation is uniquely unfortunate. You got caught in that small window right before they finally started offering some options. You would have been too late to cash in on insurance as well, because they require 48 hours notice too. 

Given the risk to your wife, you made the right decision. The money was lost, but it was already spent anyway.

[Iamcruzin]

I think when all is said and done the cruise lines are really going to have to change some policies in order to get us to cruise. One would be dropping the NRD in order to receive a better price. When the dust settles there will be many who will have to rebuild financially. Myself included. Then you have the 70 and over crowd who will either be afraid to cruise or won't be able to get a doctors note, which I think will eventually end but time will have to pass as we gradually get back to life as we know it. The cruise lines can't rely on those with FCC's as that is money already spent and will not contribute to new cash flow. They have basically purchased passengers on credit by offering additional FCC's. As this develops further and as more and more cruises get  canceled they may not even be able to offer the additional FCC's

[zalusky]

7 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Your situation is uniquely unfortunate. You got caught in that small window right before they finally started offering some options. You would have been too late to cash in on insurance as well, because they require 48 hours notice too. 

Given the risk to your wife, you made the right decision. The money was lost, but it was already spent anyway.

Not only that they made clear it was not retroactive so if I had canceled on March 4 or 5 they would have said the policy did not apply as well - kind of sleazy IMHO.

 

Oh well my loyalty to them has been eroded somewhat.  There are other cruise lines and other vacations to consider. 

[Hoopster95]

29 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I think when all is said and done the cruise lines are really going to have to change some policies in order to get us to cruise. 

 

For me the change would need to be this....

How do I know if any on of the hundred people rubbing shoulders at check-in have this virus or not? What if I'm asymptomatic, and I haven't been tested but I'm a carrier.... and I'm standing right beside you? And we're talking... and we shake hands... and....

 

I just came back from Brazil in Feb, and I had to be vaccinated for yellow fever. It was mandatory. There were a few other recommendations so I got vaccinated for those as well. I carried a vaccination booklet with my passport during my travels just in case I was asked to produce proof at the ports of call.

 

So I'd want to ensure every single one of the 5000 people I am rubbing shoulders with on an RCL ship, receiving their airborne saliva after they sneeze, touching the tongs in the WJ after they went to the bathroom without washing hands... I want to know every damn single one of them have been vaccinated. And if not, RCL and every cruise line must not let them board. Period. Furthermore, I think to prevent the spread, you may find that countries will not allow anyone entry anyways, which may then force a home country (ie. for US and Canada) not to allow us through our own airport to even leave in the first place (ie. land vacations).

 

I can tell you that if cruises open up again too fast (ie. in June or July), and another Princess or HAL Zaandam situation occurs, it could be the last straw for the average person who are not cruise addicted like those of us here on CC.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Hoopster95

[ARandomTraveler]

15 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

For me the change would need to be this....

How do I know if any on of the hundred people rubbing shoulders at check-in have this virus or not? What if I'm asymptomatic, and I haven't been tested but I'm a carrier.... and I'm standing right beside you? And we're talking... and we shake hands... and....

 

I just came back from Brazil in Feb, and I had to be vaccinated for yellow fever. It was mandatory. There were a few other recommendations so I got vaccinated for those as well. I carried a vaccination booklet with my passport during my travels just in case I was asked to produce proof at the ports of call.

 

So I'd want to ensure every single one of the 5000 people I am rubbing shoulders with on an RCL ship, receiving their airborne saliva after they sneeze, touching the tongs in the WJ after they went to the bathroom without washing hands... I want to know every damn single one of them have been vaccinated. And if not, RCL and every cruise line must not let them board. Period. Furthermore, I think to prevent the spread, you may find that countries will not allow anyone entry anyways, which may then force a home country (ie. for US and Canada) not to allow us through our own airport to even leave in the first place (ie. land vacations).

 

I can tell you that if cruises open up again too fast (ie. in June or July), and another Princess or HAL Zaandam situation occurs, it could be the last straw for the average person who are not cruise addicted like those of us here on CC.

Bonus if we can get parents to vaccinate their children before being allowed to enroll in school. We haven’t figured that one out yet either.

 

Your last point brings up a thought I’ve had this week about the general public and cruising: do you think people who aren’t on cruise critic have given much thought to the potential risks of taking a cruise in the near future? I don’t know if the average person would think to consider a cruise ship any more or less of a danger zone as anywhere else. Or maybe they would, I guess it depends on how much attention they’ve paid to the issues faced by people on the last few sailings. I wonder how much affect it will really have on future cruise bookings, especially if cruise lines start discounting and/or incentivizing bookings. I just don’t think the general public is all that informed, or wants to be, and people love a good deal.

Edited April 3, 2020 by ARandomTraveler

[bgoff60]

Not cancelling - in fact, we book a new cruise on the Grandeur for late September.  

Cruising for most really is a first world problem and when you get right down to it, cruising is a bit of a gamble these days.  And as the saying goes, if you cant afford to loose the bet, you shouldn't be at the table.

Not trying to be a d!ck but If RCI goes belly up, somebody will buy them up.  They have over 5.2 Billion in market capitalization so they might be a fire sale but someone will buy them and the first thing the new owners will want to do is NOT piss off the current cruisers.  Just my opinion - YMMV

[B-52]

13 hours ago, handbellplayer said:

So many here are saying, "I'm not going to cancel; I'll just wait for the cruise line to do it so I'll get FCC."  Am I the only one that's concerned about the cruise lines going into bankruptcy and losing my deposit?  If I had 28 cruises booked  I would be very concerned about losing that much $$.  We only one cruise booked at the moment (Oasis in November) and we will probably cancel in the next few days. Am I being unreasonably pessimistic?  I don't know a lot about business, but how can the cruise lines survive with no revenue for months (maybe many months)?

Absolutely Not....People are ignoring this fact. There is no bailout for the cruise industry.  Declaring bankruptcy is a common business practice to protect them selves from outstanding Debts...meaning US!
Leaving everybody screwed with their worthless FCC
FCC is only there to keep $$ in bank, delaying inevitable.  If everyone cancelled today, they would go bankrupt tomorrow.
I can always re-book at a later time.

[nbsjcruiser]

13 hours ago, handbellplayer said:

Thanks for the sanity check!  Glad I'm not the only one that feels that way.

 

This is exactly what my husband said.  We will wait on a vaccine. He has promised me a fall vacation anywhere I want to go by car.

Pretty much sums it up here too. Wherever I feel we can safely go in a car is where we will go.

[island lady]

15 hours ago, handbellplayer said:

So many here are saying, "I'm not going to cancel; I'll just wait for the cruise line to do it so I'll get FCC."  Am I the only one that's concerned about the cruise lines going into bankruptcy and losing my deposit?  If I had 28 cruises booked  I would be very concerned about losing that much $$.  We only one cruise booked at the moment (Oasis in November) and we will probably cancel in the next few days. Am I being unreasonably pessimistic?  I don't know a lot about business, but how can the cruise lines survive with no revenue for months (maybe many months)?

 

Thank for caring about my financial situation.  Yes, I am the one that has 28 cruises booked, most of them for next year and even into 2022.  Those cruises were booked long before this virus craziness happened.  

 

The actual situation is this:  

If I cancel all of them now, I lose all the NFD deposits right now.  If I wait until just before final payment for each one...to see how the world is doing, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  Bottom line..if I cancel each one at that time...same situation..I lose those deposits.  Same total loss. 

 

If the world gets back on track...and I am one that looks at a glass half full...then I have nothing to lose and a lot of happy cruising to do in the future. 

 

If indeed your worse scenario happened...we will all have far more to worry about than losing deposits on cruises.  

[nbsjcruiser]

10 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

I can tell you that if cruises open up again too fast (ie. in June or July), and another Princess or HAL Zaandam situation occurs, it could be the last straw for the average person who are not cruise addicted like those of us here on CC.

This right here is my worry. I can imagine the scenario. Cruises are opening back up, the virus is in retreat but not fully, people begin to put their guard down and out of the blue a ship has people with flu like symptoms. The news agencies will be on that like stink on a dog. Even if it turns out not to be Covid, it will be wall to wall 24hr coverage and as you say, that will be the last straw for many. As it stands now, you can forget about attracting any new customers to cruising who were on the fence about it. That ship has sailed (pardon the pun) and cruise lines will need to rely on past passengers to keep them going but many are leery right now and will be for sometime.

 

Whatever the Cruise Lines do, they need to have a 100% handle on whether or not people are healthy BEFORE they board. I know there are machines that can return Covid tests in 45 minutes so they might have to buy a bunch of those for each terminal. Additionally, they have to have a plan in place and approved by several port authorities that will allow them to get into port in case of a breakout on board. I wont be  cruising again until there is a vaccine and a plan in place to handle a breakout - a plan that I feel wont leave me and my wife stranded for weeks on end while all the ports play hot potato. 

 

And lastly, until my faith is restored in political figures in the US and I know I'm getting competent and honest information, I wont be cruising out of Florida, our usual spot. That right there is the largest hurdle and it may take regime changes to restore that faith.

[mac_tlc]

6 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Thank for caring about my financial situation.  Yes, I am the one that has 28 cruises booked, most of them for next year and even into 2022.  Those cruises were booked long before this virus craziness happened.  

 

The actual situation is this:  

If I cancel all of them now, I lose all the NFD deposits right now.  If I wait until just before final payment for each one...to see how the world is doing, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  Bottom line..if I cancel each one at that time...same situation..I lose those deposits.  Same total loss. 

 

If the world gets back on track...and I am one that looks at a glass half full...then I have nothing to lose and a lot of happy cruising to do in the future. 

 

If indeed your worse scenario happened...we will all have far more to worry about than losing deposits on cruises.  

I have 9 future cruises booked through March 2022, and my thinking is very similar. I’ll wait it out and decide each one as the situation unfolds. If I cancel now it’s a guaranteed loss of $100pp, and an FCC that may (or may not) be useless in the future. If I wait, my financial outcome my improve. 
 

Sort of like selling stock because it has gone down , locking in your losses. 
 

Everyone's situation is different and their particular circumstances should dictate their actions, not what I or anyone else does. 
 

Similarly, everyone’s response is the correct answer—- for them. It’s a bit disheartening to read others invalidating others responses or actions, with absolutely no information about the other person’s particular situation. 
 

mac_tlc

[handbellplayer]

7 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Thank for caring about my financial situation.  Yes, I am the one that has 28 cruises booked, most of them for next year and even into 2022.  Those cruises were booked long before this virus craziness happened.  

 

The actual situation is this:  

If I cancel all of them now, I lose all the NFD deposits right now.  If I wait until just before final payment for each one...to see how the world is doing, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.  Bottom line..if I cancel each one at that time...same situation..I lose those deposits.  Same total loss. 

 

If the world gets back on track...and I am one that looks at a glass half full...then I have nothing to lose and a lot of happy cruising to do in the future. 

 

If indeed your worse scenario happened...we will all have far more to worry about than losing deposits on cruises.  

Please don't take what I said as criticism - I didn't mean that at all.  I forget that folks make non-refundable deposits - we never use them because of responsibilities at home that make it difficult to commit.  I buy insurance, but only at the time of final payment. 

 

10 hours ago, bgoff60 said:

Not cancelling - in fact, we book a new cruise on the Grandeur for late September.  

Cruising for most really is a first world problem and when you get right down to it, cruising is a bit of a gamble these days.  And as the saying goes, if you cant afford to loose the bet, you shouldn't be at the table.

Not trying to be a d!ck but If RCI goes belly up, somebody will buy them up.  They have over 5.2 Billion in market capitalization so they might be a fire sale but someone will buy them and the first thing the new owners will want to do is NOT piss off the current cruisers.  Just my opinion - YMMV

 

As far as it being a bet - for me, it seems like a really dangerous bet at this point in time.  I'm sure there are many on these boards that can afford to LOSE $500 per cruise, but I (with my rapidly dwindling 401K ) am not one of them.