Cruise with/without a mask

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Hank - you've posted exactly the same message as previously. Obviously this high end living has got to you!

   

Unlimited booze 🙂

[clo]

3 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

You think that discussing luxury items that the vast majority of people cannot afford is fine,

Do you not remember that @Hlitnerwas who mentioned that and I replied to him. And that he then mentioned the more expensive wine and caviar?

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

Unlimited booze 🙂

I'll drink to that!

Unfortunately,  it does make all your previous arguments appear to be influenced by drink, and not worthy of consideration. 

[frantic36]

7 hours ago, jwattle said:

which I do not understand; I quite like their input).

 

I used to and now their politicising and grandstanding has made me put them on the avoid list.

[ilikeanswers]

6 hours ago, SelectSys said:

I have long believed that just about anyone on Cruise Critic is a member of the global 1%.  

 

That might be you but I'm no 1%😂 I have to save and budget to afford my luxuries😉. Besides I'm pretty sure most of the 1% own their own ships and would unlikely be scrolling this site for tips on how to maximise their booze package😜. 

 

3 hours ago, clo said:

What on earth would those be? Hurtigruten and Oceania.

 

If Carnival is mass market I would say Oceania is higher end category, may not be uber luxury like some European river cruises but it is not a cruise that everyone can afford without checking their budget but most importantly there is nothing wrong with that. If high end is your style embrace it🤗. 

 

3 hours ago, clo said:

Horses were middle aged, RV is used and the place in Brazil was bought when their market was in the toilet and I see people here who spend more on a cruise than we did on that apt.

 

In Australia if you are not a working farmer owning a horse is considered a high end luxury. Looking after horses is extremely expensive so it would be pretty irresponsible to own a horse if you were not comfortably well off enough to ensure its lifetime care. I can only speak to my social circle but if you have no business overseas than owning a property just for pleasure is considered a massive luxury. 

[clo]

2 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

That might be you but I'm no 1%😂 I have to save and budget to afford my luxuries😉. Besides I'm pretty sure most of the 1% own their own ships and would unlikely be scrolling this site for tips on how to maximise their booze package😜. 

 

 

If Carnival is mass market I would say Oceania is higher end category, may not be uber luxury like some European river cruises but it is not a cruise that everyone can afford without checking their budget but most importantly there is nothing wrong with that. If high end is your style embrace it🤗. 

 

 

In Australia if you are not a working farmer owning a horse is considered a high end luxury. Looking after horses is extremely expensive so it would be pretty irresponsible to own a horse if you were not comfortably well off enough to ensure its lifetime care. I can only speak to my social circle but if you have no business overseas than owning a property just for pleasure is considered a massive luxury. 

In your opinion. I respect and like you too much to argue. BTW my dogs and cats over the years cost me far more than my horses. 

[clo]

5 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

If high end is your style embrace it🤗. 

Ports/destinations. We wanted to cruise only from Rio to Buenos Aires.

[SelectSys]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

That might be you but I'm no 1%😂 I have to save and budget to afford my luxuries😉. Besides I'm pretty sure most of the 1% own their own ships and would unlikely be scrolling this site for tips on how to maximise their booze package😜. 

Your point of reference is way off.  I not talking about the elite of Sydney, San Francisco or London,   I referring to CC members relationship to the world's population at large.  You may not be in the top 1%, but you are likely north of 97.5%.

 

Realize those luxuries you scrimp and save for are simply beyond the comprehension of most people alive today.  No emoticons needed.

 

Here is the link if you want to put in your own income and see where you rank:

https://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2016/10/what-is-your-world-income-percentile.html#.YIob2rVKgsU

 

A$40,000 puts you in at 96.4% and A$60,000 puts you in at 98.2%.  At A$80,000 you make it into the global 1%.  The data is a bit old, but you get the idea...

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by SelectSys

[Hlitner]

My goodness, stop with the class shaming.   So lets correct some stuff we see in the press on a daily basis.  In my country (USA) we traditionally reward excellence and success).  Folks that are able to save, earn, and put themselves into a good place (financially) should be celebrated...not  trashed. Once upon a time DW and I met a true Billionaire (while in small Charleston, SC inn) and we were delighted to accept his invitation to join them for dinner. I was eager to learn about his career and his was typical of most successful folks in that he worked hard, had several failures, and eventually struck it rich with a company that manufactured hard drives and other computer products.   We were not jealous and we were not angry to learn about his path to success, but simply enjoyed our evening.  The folks we have met on medium priced cruise lines are often more snobby then those we meet on the more upscale lines.  Go figure.

 

I would love to be the person that booked the largest suite on the Crystal world cruise.  That is not going to happen in this lifetime but I would probably enjoy having dinner with those folks,   So enough of this class warfare.  Personally we have cruised on 16 cruise lines ranging from the budget lines like Regency (long bankrupt) and Carnival to Crystal and Seabourn (and many in between).   We have enjoyed every cruise be it on the Regent Spirit where we had to go down a ladder to get to our small cabin right on the water line, to a nice suite on Seabourn.   If a budget cruise line had the itinerary we wanted to try, we would have no problem booking that cruise.  But I will be honest and say that being on upscale cruise lines (and at decent resorts) is a nice experience and preferable to the budget options.  

 

So I am guilty of triggering this class warfare thing within this thread because I dared to utter the words, "upscale." But that was an accurate remark and quite relevant to the topic.  I do not apologize, and am happy that we can afford to be where we are, and am still in mild shock at how everyone here is very comfortable ignoring most of the COVID trash talk.   I heard a joke (perhaps it was not a joke) tonight about the CDC telling folks they need to wear seatbelts...even when they are not in a vehicle!  And that is about as silly as telling vaccinated folks that they need to be wearing masks, social distancing, and pretending that they are not vaccinated.  Now the CDC has created a real problem for themselves.  How do they convince vaccine resistant folks to get shots when the CDC says that those shots change nothing!  My own DD (under age 40) had her 2nd Pfizer shot yesterday which caused her a very nasty reaction.  She is going through what will likely be a miserable 2 days after which she will have temporary immunity to COVID.  But telling her that going through the side effects does nothing (she should still wear masks, social distance, lock down, etc) only supports the idea that she would have been better off taking her chances with COVID.  And that is the real message for our own CDC.  I spent over 35 years in the government healthcare business and have never heard such awful messaging from a government agency.  These so-called professionals cannot get out of their own way when it comes to COVID messaging.  What is said today will likely be contradicted tomorrow.  

 

Perhaps it sound biblical but I can hear the cruise line executives saying to the CDC folks (I will not use the word idiot because if offends one poster) "please let my ships cruise."

 

Hank

 

Hank

 

 

 

Hank

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, SelectSys said:

You may not be in the top 1%, but you are likely north of 97.5%.

 

Turns out I am not 😂. Either way I don't think comparing someone in Australia to somone in India is very accurate. What the 1% in India can afford to what the 1% in Australia is apples and oranges. If I lived in India with my income in Australia I would be living like royalty while a billionaire in India won't find a whole apartment block quite the bargain as one in Bangalore😉. And what is your hate with emoticons? It is the language of young people 😁. 

[ilikeanswers]

2 hours ago, clo said:

In your opinion. I respect and like you too much to argue. BTW my dogs and cats over the years cost me far more than my horses. 

 

Actually it was less my opinion and more the race horse industry. They say they struggle to find people to take on retired race horses because of the expense and resources needed. The average Australian can't afford to look after the creatures and the few people who can have a limit as to how many they can take in😔. 

[clo]

1 minute ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Actually it was less my opinion and more the race horse industry. They say they struggle to find people to take on retired race horses because of the expense and resources needed. The average Australian can't afford to look after the creatures and the few people who can have a limit as to how many they can take in😔. 

Ah gotcha. Mine were retired, local, amateur 'show horses.' And we had six acres of land about half of it fenced for the horses. And truly a lifelong dream. I loved them so much. And the Quarterhorse mare lived to be 32!

[ldubs]

On 4/27/2021 at 2:02 AM, sverigecruiser said:

 

I never wear a mask because that is never required here. I should wear a mask if it was required if I couldn't avoid the situation. Cruising is something I can avoid so I will not cruise as ong as masks are required.

 

Yep, I think we are on the same page.  It really is as simple as that for me.   

[clo]

8 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Yep, I think we are on the same page.  It really is as simple as that for me.   

Ya know, I think the mask thing has so loosened up to barely be a problem. I don't know what it is where you are in the SFBA. But it seems like masks are only required indoors and that's even gotten looser. When I walk into a restaurant or out or go to the restroom or elsewhere I wear my mask. Outside in groups six or fewer no masks required. Social distancing in restaurants means moving the tables farther apart. And so on. Compared to a year ago it's way better.  Yes?

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, clo said:

Ya know, I think the mask thing has so loosened up to barely be a problem. I don't know what it is where you are in the SFBA. But it seems like masks are only required indoors and that's even gotten looser. When I walk into a restaurant or out or go to the restroom or elsewhere I wear my mask. Outside in groups six or fewer no masks required. Social distancing in restaurants means moving the tables farther apart. And so on. Compared to a year ago it's way better.  Yes?

 

But on cruiseships masks are still required. MSC has confirmed to me that masks will be mandatory during the summer.

[evandbob]

I wonder if any of the anti mask posters, (esp. those claiming "medical" exemptions) have gone snorkeling on their previous cruises? 

[navybankerteacher]

10 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

That might be you but I'm no 1%😂 I have to save and budget to afford my luxuries😉. Besides I'm pretty sure most of the 1% own their own ships and would unlikely be scrolling this site for tips on how to maximise their booze package😜. 

 

 

...

Given the world’s population of 7,674,000,000, that  1% consists of 76,400,000  people.  I do not think that many have “their own ships”.

 

In fact, since about 28,000,000 cruised in 2019 (about 1/3 of 1%) - you are surely among a minority.

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, evandbob said:

the anti mask posters, (esp. those claiming "medical" exemptions) 

 

Here we go again....  🙄  Please just stop.

 

I have no idea whether you are referring to me or others. I am not "anti mask", I am very much "pro mask".  I just find it difficult and uncomfortable to wear them. So I avoid the situations where they are required as much as I can because I do not want to endanger others, and I do not find it easy to wear a mask.

 

Is this really so difficult to grasp?

 

(And no, I have never done snorkeling, my interests are ABOVE the water line....)

 

 

[2wheelin]

2 hours ago, evandbob said:

I wonder if any of the anti mask posters, (esp. those claiming "medical" exemptions) have gone snorkeling on their previous cruises? 

Ignoring the snark, what’s your point? I’ve always been provided a breathing tube when snorkeling.

[clo]

8 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

But on cruiseships masks are still required. MSC has confirmed to me that masks will be mandatory during the summer.

But not all the time. Once you're seated for a meal. Or you're outside but socially distanced. Etc.

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, clo said:

But not all the time. Once you're seated for a meal. Or you're outside but socially distanced. Etc.

 

I haven't seen the exact rules but for me all maskwearing on a cruiseship is too much.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I haven't seen the exact rules but for me all maskwearing on a cruiseship is too much.

And you're certainly entitled to that. We've been doing some version of this for a year so no biggie.

[sverigecruiser]

1 minute ago, clo said:

And you're certainly entitled to that. We've been doing some version of this for a year so no biggie.

 

I understand that it's different for you and I'm glad that you understand that it's different for me.

 

Even if I had to wear a mask here I shouldn't want to cruise with a mask because I prefer not to pay for an experience I won't enjoy. I can wait. 

[SelectSys]

13 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

I don't think comparing someone in Australia to somone in India is very accurate.

Why?  Are people outside the traditional first world somehow different than you or me? I am simply reminding you that you are extremely fortunate.  Things that you and I take for granted take aren't available to most. 

 

Your relative wealth is nothing to feel guilty about, but it's something to feel fortunate about.  I am pretty sensitive to this topic because I have spent quite a bit of time with family that live in middle income countries.  My firm belief is that the only difference in people is the access to opportunity/education.   

 

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

In my country (USA) we traditionally reward excellence and success).

Corporate world in the US is increasingly moving away from this.  I wonder if there will be consequences of putting activism ahead of performance?

 

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I met a true Billionaire ...  We were not jealous and we were not angry to learn about his path to success

I always appreciate the opportunity to learn from successful people.  There's a reason why envy is one of the 7 deadly sins!  It simply leads to destruction.  Anger is also on the list.

 

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others He who envies others does not achieve peace. - Buddha

http://www.deadlysins.com/envy

 

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I do not apologize, and am happy that we can afford to be where we are,

Nor do I.  

 

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I heard a joke (perhaps it was not a joke) tonight about the CDC telling folks they need to wear seatbelts...even when they are not in a vehicle! 

A friend sent me this as a text message this morning.

Edited April 29, 2021 by SelectSys

[getting older slowly]

horses, cars, food... haves and haven'ts....

 

I thought we were talking about cruising with or without a mask...

 

What about beings from another planet....????

Edited April 30, 2021 by getting older slowly