Wife cannot cruise due to Easter 2024

[ShipsandDipper]

1 minute ago, ldubs said:

 

It looks like our approach is not viable.   From what I read, because the deadline has passed,  it is no longer an option for the OP to switch the FCC's to another cruise.  This looks like it has become one of those between a rock and hard spot situations.  

Ah, ok. I thought the loss would be limited to the on-board credit. 

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, drsel said:

She says that she will fly alone to Sydney  and join me for the second Cruise 8 days later, but 4 days before Easter.

She says she can manage to deliver the marzipan orders 4 days before Easter, but not 12 days before Easter.

 

But I would love her to be with me for both the cruises, because it will be boring to Cruise alone (1st cruise) and also a waste of her cruise ticket + $80 penalty 

 

Sounds like it might be the best you can do.  I hope it works out for you.  

 

BTW, I'm kind of craving cake now, thanks to your question.  

[ldubs]

5 minutes ago, ShipsandDipper said:

Ah, ok. I thought the loss would be limited to the on-board credit. 

 

Me too.  It was clarified after our posts.   

[sanger727]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

This is what she would never do.

she does not want to lose her customers to another competitor

 

This assumes that she isn't better than her competitors. Your claim is that she makes the best cakes and sweets. Her customers wouldn't abandon her because she missed one holiday. And frankly, people who use small and locally owned businesses understand that they aren't big corporations that can hire people to work 24/7.

 

It's your money. It strikes me as odd that you would have scheduled a cruise during a holiday if that's her busiest time. It makes me wonder if this business didn't exist 2 years ago when you booked it. She may be taking undue pressure on herself for what seems to be a very seasonal business. 

Edited July 14, 2023 by sanger727

[drsel]

11 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

This assumes that she isn't better than her competitors. Your claim is that she makes the best cakes and sweets. Her customers wouldn't abandon her because she missed one holiday. And frankly, people who use small and locally owned businesses understand that they aren't big corporations that can hire people to work 24/7.

 

It's your money. It strikes me as odd that you would have scheduled a cruise during a holiday if that's her busiest time. It makes me wonder if this business didn't exist 2 years ago when you booked it. She may be taking undue pressure on herself for what seems to be a very seasonal business. 

Actually her business is growing.

2 years back it was mainly Christmas sweets. 

 

Easter orders only increased this year 2023, so she expects even more orders in 2024.

Since last Christmas she told me not to put any ads on WhatsApp groups anymore, because she has enough orders and limited capacity 

[Toofarfromthesea]

4 hours ago, drsel said:

She says that she will fly alone to Sydney  and join me for the second Cruise 8 days later, but 4 days before Easter.

She says she can manage to deliver the marzipan orders 4 days before Easter, but not 12 days before Easter.

 

But I would love her to be with me for both the cruises, because it will be boring to Cruise alone (1st cruise) and also a waste of her cruise ticket + $80 penalty 

 

I have to ask the question, didn't you know about the cruise/Easter conflict before you booked?  Because I'm pretty sure the date of Easter didn't change.😉

[Mum2Mercury]

Thoughts:

 

Has she already accepted orders for Easter 2024?  If not, you have no problem!  Just don't accept orders.  Her regular customers may be disappointed that their favorite treats aren't available, but her reputation will not be damaged.  If her business is growing as you say, people will still want sweets in future Easters.  

 

If she has already accepted orders, let's think about timing:  When would you need to fly out vs. when is Easter?  Surely you're not talking about more than a week.  If she delivers /ships them the day before y'all leave (along with a note about storing them in the refrigerator), they should still be good.  

 

Your wife says they need to be last-minute fresh (and she knows the ingredients), whereas another poster here says they should be good for six weeks.  You need to NOW, while you have ample time to make decisions, test the product!  Have her make up a dozen of her Eater candies and taste them ... one each week for six weeks.  The she will know what happens to the quality over the course of several weeks.  

 

Last thought:  With business growing, has she considered taking on a partner for busy holiday times?  She could train someone to use her methods ... or she could do the preparation /store them in your refrigerator and hire someone JUST to manage distribution this one year.  

 

Okay, the REAL last thought:  With this business in mind, don't book another holiday cruise in the future.  It seems to be very, very important to her (and I get it because I have a similar business), and she doesn't have to choose ... she just has to plan ahead.  

[drsel]

27 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I have to ask the question, didn't you know about the cruise/Easter conflict before you booked?  Because I'm pretty sure the date of Easter didn't change.😉

I didn't realise that it was clashing with Easter.

Many years ago we holidayed during Easter, but at that time she used to get orders only for Christmas sweets.

So almost all of December we are at home for the main Christmas season 

[drsel]

24 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Thoughts:

 

Has she already accepted orders for Easter 2024?  If not, you have no problem!  Just don't accept orders.  Her regular customers may be disappointed that their favorite treats aren't available, but her reputation will not be damaged.  If her business is growing as you say, people will still want sweets in future Easters.  

 

If she has already accepted orders, let's think about timing:  When would you need to fly out vs. when is Easter?  Surely you're not talking about more than a week.  If she delivers /ships them the day before y'all leave (along with a note about storing them in the refrigerator), they should still be good.  

 

Your wife says they need to be last-minute fresh (and she knows the ingredients), whereas another poster here says they should be good for six weeks.  You need to NOW, while you have ample time to make decisions, test the product!  Have her make up a dozen of her Eater candies and taste them ... one each week for six weeks.  The she will know what happens to the quality over the course of several weeks.  

 

Last thought:  With business growing, has she considered taking on a partner for busy holiday times?  She could train someone to use her methods ... or she could do the preparation /store them in your refrigerator and hire someone JUST to manage di

It's only a matter of 12 days before Easter, not 6 weeks

[Ashland]

OP...best of luck to you in whatever you decide works best.

It seems that you've been given several options...make a decision so you don't have to keep posting in what now seems a very defensive response about the situation that's been created.

[Mum2Mercury]

3 hours ago, drsel said:

It's only a matter of 12 days before Easter, not 6 weeks

So Easter falls at the end of your cruise. 

 

What I meant was, go ahead and test her sweets /make a dozen of them so you can each test one a week for six weeks.  Then you'll have solid knowledge about how long they "stay good".  You can't go wrong by testing /knowing.  

 

But the biggest question was the first one I asked:  Has she already accepted orders for Easter 2024?  

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Mum2Mercury

[Toofarfromthesea]

7 hours ago, drsel said:

I didn't realise that it was clashing with Easter.

Many years ago we holidayed during Easter, but at that time she used to get orders only for Christmas sweets.

So almost all of December we are at home for the main Christmas season 

 

I guess that's a mistake you won't make again.  And a good cautionary tale for the rest of us.  I hope you can come to a resolution that fits both of you.

[drsel]

8 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

So Easter falls at the end of your cruise. 

 

What I meant was, go ahead and test her sweets /make a dozen of them so you can each test one a week for six weeks.  Then you'll have solid knowledge about how long they "stay good".  You can't go wrong by testing /knowing.  

I am sure they will be quite okay to eat,  because Christmas marzipan has lasted more than a month anyway inside the fridge;

but she doesn't want them to sweat when taken out of the fridge.

8 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 But the biggest question was the first one I asked:  Has she already accepted orders for Easter 2024?  

No she accept orders 20 days prior only

Easter falls during the second Cruise.

See accepts orders only 20 days prior to Easter

Edited July 15, 2023 by drsel

[2wheelin]

OK, I’ll take the opposite view to most of you. She knew about the cruise before expanding her business. It may have been the logical thing to do to her but that’s on her. It’s up to her to be more flexible and work with you to find a solution. If her business is that important to her, she should not be upset if she won’t accept any of the many perfectly logical solutions. It then is not unfeeling of him to go alone if he is comfortable with that.

And I would say the same if it were the husband who did not want to leave his work or business. We see that all the time where the wife goes alone because he needs to work.

[drsel]

32 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

OK, I’ll take the opposite view to most of you. She knew about the cruise before expanding her business. It may have been the logical thing to do to her but that’s on her. It’s up to her to be more flexible and work with you to find a solution. If her business is that important to her, she should not be upset if she won’t accept any of the many perfectly logical solutions. It then is not unfeeling of him to go alone if he is comfortable with that.

And I would say the same if it were the husband who did not want to leave his work or business. We see that all the time where the wife goes alone because he needs to work.

I feel sorry for her because she works so hard for her money, (it's takes a lot of effort to stir the marzipan and a lot of skill for the artistic decoration) ;

while I prefer to make money work for me.

[Turtles06]

33 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

She knew about the cruise before expanding her business. It may have been the logical thing to do to her but that’s on her.

It’s not clear exactly when the OP’s wife knew what.
 

In any event, what I find rather astonishing is that the OP actually booked these cruises without first discussing them with his (or her) wife and having it be a joint decision. (If I’m mistaken about that, I hope the OP will correct me.) I know everyone’s marriage is different, but my wife and I plan our trips together; I can’t imagine booking a trip unilaterally. 

[Turtles06]

The OP’s post number 40 above says of his wife “it takes a lot of effort to stir the marzipan.”  Sounds mocking to me. It’s possible this is all made up. 

[drsel]

29 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

It’s not clear exactly when the OP’s wife knew what.
 

In any event, what I find rather astonishing is that the OP actually booked these cruises without first discussing them with his (or her) wife and having it be a joint decision. (If I’m mistaken about that, I hope the OP will correct me.) I know everyone’s marriage is different, but my wife and I plan our trips together; I can’t imagine booking a trip unilaterally. 

Okay so it's a little complicated.

these 2 Carnival Cruises were booked in 2019 along with a Princess cruise from Brisbane.

Both Carnival & Princess cancelled all 3 cruises due to covid.

And all 3 were rescheduled for 2022.

 

And then (only) Princess again cancelled 2022 and offered a lift and shift of the same itinerary to Mar 2023.

So we had to also change the 2 Carnival Cruises to just before the Princess cruise in Mar 2023, because we can't visit Australia twice in 2022 & 2023.

 

And then Princess again cancelled 2023 and offered a lift and shift to April 2024 with 5 nights extra thrown in for free. 

So we again had to transfer the 2 Carnival Cruises to March 2024, just before The Princess cruise left Brisbane to go to Tokyo.

It had to be in Mar 2024, else the holiday would be too long

 

But Carnival had a deadline for using the FCCs on cancelled Cruises and that deadline was October 2022.

 

[CunucuMom]

50 minutes ago, drsel said:

Okay so it's a little complicated.

these 2 Carnival Cruises were booked in 2019 along with a Princess cruise from Brisbane.

Both Carnival & Princess cancelled all 3 cruises due to covid.

And all 3 were rescheduled for 2022.

 

And then (only) Princess again cancelled 2022 and offered a lift and shift of the same itinerary to Mar 2023.

So we had to also change the 2 Carnival Cruises to just before the Princess cruise in Mar 2023, because we can't visit Australia twice in 2022 & 2023.

 

And then Princess again cancelled 2023 and offered a lift and shift to April 2024 with 5 nights extra thrown in for free. 

So we again had to transfer the 2 Carnival Cruises to March 2024, just before The Princess cruise left Brisbane to go to Tokyo.

It had to be in Mar 2024, else the holiday would be too long

 

But Carnival had a deadline for using the FCCs on cancelled Cruises and that deadline was October 2022.

 

Sounds like you had some compelling reasons (not your fault) to book the March 2024 sailing.  That said, you've received several wise suggestions in this thread and it seems you lean towards prioritizing your wife's business over the opportunity to travel together.  If that's the case, enjoy a wonderful cruise and hopefully your next vacay will fit both of your schedules. 

[drsel]

19 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

Sounds like you had some compelling reasons (not your fault) to book the March 2024 sailing.  That said, you've received several wise suggestions in this thread and it seems you lean towards prioritizing your wife's business over the opportunity to travel together.  If that's the case, enjoy a wonderful cruise and hopefully your next vacay will fit both of your schedules. 

Thanks.

She is planning to miss/waste the first cruise and fly to Sydney alone to join me for the 2nd Cruise.

[GeezerCouple]

3 hours ago, drsel said:

I feel sorry for her because she works so hard for her money, (it's takes a lot of effort to stir the marzipan and a lot of skill for the artistic decoration) ;

while I prefer to make money work for me.

This sounds incredibly condescending.

 

OP prefers to have his money "work for him", rather than what...? needing to "work so hard for money", as his wife needs to do?

Wow.

But it goes along with the general theme, unfortunately.

GC

 

 

[drsel]

38 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

This sounds incredibly condescending.

OP prefers to have his money "work for him", rather than what...? needing to "work so hard for money", as his wife needs to do?

Wow

She doesn't *need to*, but she wants to work so hard, because it gives her self satisfaction and fulfillment 

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, drsel said:

She doesn't *need to*, but she wants to work so hard, because it gives her self satisfaction and fulfillment 

Decide already !!! 

[Mary229]

4 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Decide already !!! 

I think she did, he just doesn’t like the answer 

[drsel]

20 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I think she did, he just doesn’t like the answer 

Yes you are right, she decided that she will miss the first cruise and join me for the second one. (back to back, same cabin same ship, different itinerary)

 

But I am still trying to convince her to follow the good advice of so many on this group and give early deliveries (12 days earlier) in zip lock plastic pouches in sealed containers, so as to keep the marzipan fresh.

 

I also requested her to make some marzipan now and taste it everyday and see if there is any change in taste or appearance over 12-14 days.

Thanks everyone for your valuable advice and good wishes  🙏

Edited July 15, 2023 by drsel