Wife cannot cruise due to Easter 2024

[Mum2Mercury]

16 hours ago, drsel said:

See accepts orders only 20 days prior to Easter

So the bottom line is that she hasn't yet accepted any orders for Easter.  She will not be disappointing anyone by cancelling an order.  

 

I understand her emotional attachment to her growing business.  I've been making wedding cakes for four decades (and I'm only in my mid-50s).  I am incredibly picky about quality and people buy from me because of the taste.  BUT if I'd already booked a cruise and someone asked me to make a cake, I'd say -- without a moment's regret -- "Oh, I'm so, so sorry, but I have another obligation that week."  

12 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

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.

Yes, logical options have been presented.  I'd say the best two are ... 

- Deliver early with printed instructions on exactly HOW to keep in the refrigerator /how to bring to room temperature.  This can be done without sweating.  

- Hire a friend to do the last-minute deliveries.  

5 hours ago, drsel said:

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  🙏

I'm glad you're on board with the idea of testing the limits of the product's quality.  

[VMax1700]

15 hours ago, drsel said:

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.

OK here is my mediation attempt.......(If I have got some of the detail incorrect, I apologise)

She is expecting increased orders for 2024, which is normal, as 2023 was her first year to have a focus on Easter.  It is still early enough to advise potential customers of the situation and that she will be accepting orders, but they will be delivered early for self storage.  You and she will have test tasted a batch made earlier to ascertain the 'shelf life' of the product.

Obviously your wife will feel that the products are not her very best quality, so she will need to offer a discount to those who order on these terms.  Perhaps even go as far as offering a discount for Easter 2025 product to those who accept the 2024 delivery conditions.  

This discount will be covered by you, so at no financial cost to your wife.  You will just have to make your money work harder for you and get you out of the hole you have dug.  You want your wife with you on the cruise, so this is the cost.

 

 

[sanger727]

OP, you have gotten plenty of good suggestions. There are two sides to every issue. One is that her customers are disappointed they have to get different sweets for Easter. The second is that her family is disappointed she misses half of a family trip. This is simply a question of priorities. While I don’t doubt the dedication she has to this seasonal business; in my mind there shouldn’t be any question about putting family first. She has ample time to make arrangements with her customers.

Edited July 18, 2023 by sanger727

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, sanger727 said:

OP, you have gotten plenty of good suggestions. There are two sides to every issue. One is that her customers are disappointed they have to get different sweets for Easter. The second is that her family is disappointed she misses half of a family trip. This is simply a question of priorities. While I don’t doubt the dedication she has to this seasonal business; in my mind there shouldn’t be any question about putting family first. She has ample time to make arrangements with her customers.

We don’t know the backstory.  She may have been putting family first for a very long time and this business is a dream and a creative outlet.  It may be her first chance to really shine outside of her family obligations.  

[GeezerCouple]

I'm still wondering why this is only being delt with in the penalty stage.

I understand that it wasn't known when the original reservation was made.

But wasn't there a time when it was known, and could have been solved (= changed/fixed!) for a relatively modest fee such that both of them could have gone, or perhaps left it for just the second cruise together and maybe get some credit to change the first?

Was this really the "best that could have been done" if addressed sooner?

 

However, different people/couples have different patterns.  For us, if one couldn't go, the other wouldn't either.  I suppose there might be a situation where we'd do that, but I can't imagine it, and it's never come up, yet.

If the money is "gone" whether we go or stay home, if we'd need to split up such that only one had the nice trip... that's a no-brainer.  The money is "gone".  That's a sunk cost.  The situation then becomes:  Will we be happier with one away on the trip and one staying home, or both home?

Very easy answer!

 

And if even a small bit of the money could be recovered, all the better. 🙂 

 

GC

[drsel]

10 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

I'm still wondering why this is only being delt with in the penalty stage.

I understand that it wasn't known when the original reservation was made.

But wasn't there a time when it was known, and could have been solved (= changed/fixed!) for a relatively modest fee such that both of them could have gone, or perhaps left it for just the second cruise together and maybe get some credit to change the first?

Was this really the "best that could have been done" if addressed sooner?

 

However, different people/couples have different patterns.  For us, if one couldn't go, the other wouldn't either.  I suppose there might be a situation where we'd do that, but I can't imagine it, and it's never come up, yet.

If the money is "gone" whether we go or stay home, if we'd need to split up such that only one had the nice trip... that's a no-brainer.  The money is "gone".  That's a sunk cost.  The situation then becomes:  Will we be happier with one away on the trip and one staying home, or both home?

Very easy answer!

 

And if even a small bit of the money could be recovered, all the better. 🙂 

 

GC

We would have done these two Carnival sailings in Feb 2023 along with the Princess cruise from Brisbane to Hong Kong, but Princess cancelled Mar 2023 and postponed it to Apr 2024.

Princess gave us complimentary extra days and lengthened the cruise to a grand voyage in April 2024 (from Brisbane to Hong Kong to Taiwan to Tokyo) at the same price !!

 

So we were forced to again transfer the two Carnival Cruises to Mar 2024, just before The Princess cruise left Brisbane to go to Hong Kong and Japan.

We had to bunch all three Cruises together in 2024 because we couldn't afford to make two trips to Australia both in 2023 and 2024.

And we did not want to waste the grand voyage that Princess was offering us at the same price of a regular cruise.

Edited July 19, 2023 by drsel

[Turtles06]

13 hours ago, Mary229 said:

We don’t know the backstory.  She may have been putting family first for a very long time and this business is a dream and a creative outlet.  It may be her first chance to really shine outside of her family obligations.  

Exactly. Some of the descriptions of the wife’s business have had a belittling tone to them. Maybe the wife would prefer to stay home and put more time into her expanding business. 

[Turtles06]

16 hours ago, sanger727 said:

This is simply a question of priorities. While I don’t doubt the dedication she has to this seasonal business; in my mind there shouldn’t be any question about putting family first. She has ample time to make arrangements with her customers.

Perhaps she’s been putting family first forever. Maybe the OP hasn’t put her first. 

[drsel]

1 hour ago, Turtles06 said:

. Maybe the wife would prefer to stay home and put more time into her expanding business. 

Are you kidding she would love to see both Australia and Japan

it's a once in a lifetime trip, we can't keep going again and again

[ldubs]

IDK.  There does not appear to be a fairy tale ending.   That wife would prefer to set aside a once in a lifetime vacation in favor of her business needs says quite a lot to me.   Going on the cruise while wife stays home is not appealing.  Cancelling the cruise altogether would be disappointing.  

 

Those seem to be the available options.  None are good.  Hopefully a joint decision can be made without recriminations.     

 

 

[Joebucks]

Honestly, I still haven't seen a good explanation for why you booked a vacation on a holiday when that is literally the center of her expanding business. For years, I worked in an industry that would not let me have a vacation during the Christmas season. Nothing ever tricked me into booking a cruise on Christmas. 

 

At this point, it comes down to financials. Do you want to lose the credits or the business (and maybe future business). Which one is more important? IMO, if it's not some ungodly amount of money, I'd drop the orders.

 

Customers are generally understanding especially if it is well-in advance. Personally, I don't know of too many people who lose their minds because they know in advance they can't get marzipan. You could also craft up a very polite communication, and maybe even give a small perk to those who would be impacted. Or even give options of when the cut-off is, how to preserve them, something. You generally lose customers by notifying them last-minute with "tough". When you give options, and notify ahead of time, the impact will be mostly mitigated. 

[sanger727]

4 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Perhaps she’s been putting family first forever. Maybe the OP hasn’t put her first. 

 

The critical points here are that the trip was planned 2 years ago AND at the time, the timing wasn't an issue. If my husband and I had planned "of a lifetime" under those conditions, I would also not be ok with him missing it over work. Let alone deciding he couldn't go too close to the trip to get a refund. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by sanger727

[Toofarfromthesea]

4 hours ago, drsel said:

Are you kidding she would love to see both Australia and Japan

it's a once in a lifetime trip, we can't keep going again and again

 

I'm sorry that you and your wife are both getting so much unwarranted judgement from all these people who apparently do everything perfectly and seem to think they know more about your personal life than you do.

[ldubs]

1 minute ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I'm sorry that you and your wife are both getting so much unwarranted judgement from all these people who apparently do everything perfectly and seem to think they know more about your personal life than you do.

 

Especially judgements aimed at the wife, who if I understand, was not the one to put conflict out for discussion on a public forum.   

[BruceMuzz]

The OP’s Wife has a First World Problem that is theirs alone to solve.

Let’s move on.

[Mum2Mercury]

On 7/16/2023 at 5:19 AM, VMax1700 said:

OK here is my mediation attempt.......(If I have got some of the detail incorrect, I apologise)

She is expecting increased orders for 2024, which is normal, as 2023 was her first year to have a focus on Easter.  It is still early enough to advise potential customers of the situation and that she will be accepting orders, but they will be delivered early for self storage.  You and she will have test tasted a batch made earlier to ascertain the 'shelf life' of the product.

Obviously your wife will feel that the products are not her very best quality, so she will need to offer a discount to those who order on these terms.  Perhaps even go as far as offering a discount for Easter 2025 product to those who accept the 2024 delivery conditions.  

This discount will be covered by you, so at no financial cost to your wife.  You will just have to make your money work harder for you and get you out of the hole you have dug.  You want your wife with you on the cruise, so this is the cost.

Good answer.  Take orders saying they'll be delivered early, but I wouldn't offer any discounts.  People will forget WHY you offered a discount and -- in 2025 -- will only remember that the product cost less in 2024.  

On 7/18/2023 at 5:22 PM, sanger727 said:

... She has ample time to make arrangements with her customers.

Especially since these customers only buy from her 1-2 times each year, I can't imagine the customers would be too upset.  

[middlehaitch]

A few scattered thoughts. Ok I’m not quite as scattered as I thought but the idea still needs further percolation, that’s up to you and the wife. 

 

Marzipan is quite shelf stable if not exposed to air. 

Your wife can pre make her orders, vaacum seal them and store them in a cool dark space.

(A month, or two  even, should not show any deterioration.)

 

You have used WhatsApp for advertising but your wife has decided that she has enough clients for now so the orders for the upcoming Christmas and Easter seasons are probably through a mailing list where you advise customers that you are now taking orders. (Of course if you use WhatsApp for upcoming celebration orders that works too) 

So....

 

Why not at christmas start to introduce a second ordering system.

The first will be orders 20 days from Christmas with delivery/pick up as usual. ( the same as you say she is working now.)

 

The second will be orders in by maybe mid November and delivery/pick up mid December (or whichever stagger dates work best) 

 

That way you can trial run a system that will allow you to make the second option a one time only option for Easter but it won’t come across as something too different as it was introduced at Christmas. 

 

You could then continue both systems from there on.

 

This should also be helpful if your wife is interested in growing her business moving forward.  

 

If you think positive, making changes so you can both cruise could well end up being a big plus for the business and ease the time line pressures on your wife without any deterioration of her product.

 

Cheers, h.  

Edited July 21, 2023 by middlehaitch

[GeezerCouple]

On 7/19/2023 at 7:33 AM, drsel said:

We would have done these two Carnival sailings in Feb 2023 along with the Princess cruise from Brisbane to Hong Kong, but Princess cancelled Mar 2023 and postponed it to Apr 2024.

Princess gave us complimentary extra days and lengthened the cruise to a grand voyage in April 2024 (from Brisbane to Hong Kong to Taiwan to Tokyo) at the same price !!

 

So we were forced to again transfer the two Carnival Cruises to Mar 2024, just before The Princess cruise left Brisbane to go to Hong Kong and Japan.

We had to bunch all three Cruises together in 2024 because we couldn't afford to make two trips to Australia both in 2023 and 2024.

And we did not want to waste the grand voyage that Princess was offering us at the same price of a regular cruise.

 

No one "FORCED" you to take the "better deal"... 

It seems that you *could* have taken a shorter cruise (it's a bit difficult to understand, but perhaps the "two Carnival Cruises to March 2024?)?

 

On 7/19/2023 at 11:28 AM, drsel said:

Are you kidding she would love to see both Australia and Japan

it's a once in a lifetime trip, we can't keep going again and again

 

It seems she *could* have had a "once in a lifetime trip", but perhaps not the "longest one being offered" (perhaps longer than originally planned, although that isn't critical as long as there's a solid "trip of a lifetime" included in the possibilities).

 

Were you originally planning to see *both* Australia and Japan?

Or is this combo, as wonderful as it is, now offering more than you originally were planning?

ETA:  Many of us would have arranged a way for you to join your wife (both go together) for the best possible criuse/trip.  I don't see that seriously discussed.

Sometimes the best plans just... don't work out, but there's a "next best", given the constraints.

GC

Edited August 15, 2023 by GeezerCouple

[Smitheroo]

It sounds to me that her marzipan business is more important to her for many reasons than cruising is.    I guess you just have to accept that.  When I married my husband he loved to camp and go on roadtrips.  He no longer enjoys it.   I still do so I do it alone.