Stressed Out - Maybe Cruise was Bad Idea

[nybumpkin]

I'm assuming you're on a 7-day fall foliage cruise to New England and Nova Scotia. We sailed the Victory's 5-day cruise to St. John and Halifax back at the end of June/beginning of July - you won't have St. John on your itinerary, but Halifax certainly is easy to do without spending money on a a shore excursion. It's a beautiful city for a walking tour. Yes, you can spend a lot on a cruise - we didn't go to the casino, but we did have drinks before dinner and did buy the pictures, and yes it added up - although we kept within our budget. (We hadn't had a family picture taken since our now-four year old was a baby - the cruise was a great opportunity!) I hope you won't cancel at this stage; I found our cruise to be the least stressful vacation I have ever taken. You don't have to do anything; if all you want to do is sit in a deck chair (or next to a window on the Promenade deck - it will be fall, after all) and watch the sea go by, you're more than welcome to do so.

 

Hope this helps!

Kathy

[sea_u_onboard]

Just be glad you came here to the board and learned all this stuff. Think of all the other first timer cruisers who get to the pier clueless!

[cruise pup]

Let me get this straight. You're stressed out because a multi million dollar corporation tells you what to tip their employees to make up for what they don't pay them? I assure you, Mickey A. isn't losing sleep over this so neither should you. Have a wonderful cruise, do tip because the service is great, but spend what you can manage.

[willybegolfer]

As far as CC holds, you may never ever even know its happened. Almost every hotel places a hold on you CC when you check in. Normally, its all automatic and you never see it. I travel a lot on business and several times I have had holds left on my CC by accident. A quick call and its over. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I just got off the Conquest and my wife and I and 2 children spent very little on the S&S cards. We enjoy drinking iced tea and the 24 hour ice cream machine more than alcohol. There are always beaches around for little to no money to spend time on without taking a ship excursion. Come back to the ship for dinner. Snorkeling can be cheap and our family's favorite activity. Try to borrow some snorkel gear before you leave.

 

Again, tipping is volutary and discretional. You give what you can. Bring something personal from home and give it to the cabin steward and keep a smile on your face.

Bring a couple of 6 packs of beer or a bottle of wine to enjoy in your cabin. You don't have to spend a fortune to have fun. Relax and enjoy.

[Cruzin' Daddy]

You want to talk about stress, trying planning a trip to Disney World. That is when you have to budget money for ALL of your meals (if you didn't get the hugely inflated packaged deal). Not only that, during the duration of your visit, you have to walk a TON of miles. Don't get me wrong, Disney World is a fun place. My wife and I went two years ago for our honeymoon, and we just returned back from our anniversary trip. After this past visit, my love for Disney has been taken down a notch simply because it is NOT a relaxing vacation...fun...but not relaxing. We are really excited about going to talk to different travel agents about booking a cruise for either this coming summer or the following summer.

[Cotton]

Hi again, Ves. I looked at your profile, because I wanted to send you an email....but it's not listed. Actually, I would even be glad to call you to give you resassurance and more hints on saving, because I really hate to see the stress you're going thru. Sorry I can't be of more help.

[nosnobunny]

Ves you've gotten some very good advice here. The penalties would be about the same as your expenses, so you wouldn't gain anything by cancelling at this point. DH and I have had a balance as little as $250 on our S&S card for a 7 day cruise. It really is up to you. And your final balance doesn't need to come as a big surprize. Most ships allow you to check the charges to your card right on the TV. I would recommend you do this. That way nothing gets ahead of you.

 

You need to take a deep breath and think of the unbelievable vacation you're about to have with your family. It sounds like you deserve it. :)

 

After your cruise, please come back and let us know how it went. My bet is that you'll be hooked like the rest of us. :D

 

Beth

[wwakla]

Just remember that your kids are going to remember the ship. Not how many cokes they had.

I don't know what the ages of your children are but can you put them on a budget? I just recently traveled with only my children (ages 16, 13 and 9) and gave them each $20 with the advise that they should think, before they spend as no more will be coming their way. It worked. In fact they became very thrifty when the money wasn't free flowing.

Kids are very resourceful and can entertain themselves when given the chance.

Relax and enjoy.

 

Kris

[willybegolfer]

One last reassurance about traveling with kids and expenses. I have 3 wonderful daughters, 21, 15 & 12. My 21 year old ran up more on her S&S card with her friend than I did with my wife and 2 other daughters. She had her own CC assigned and was responsible for her expeditures. My other 2 daughters had $0 worth of charges. They enjoyed the lemonade and juices that were free on the Lido Deck. They attended the "free" shows and activities and had a blast. We brought a 6 pack of water and a 6 pack of soda on board with us and came back with 2 each.

 

Again, relax and have a blast.

[Cotton]

Anymore thoughts, Ves? Something to think about: You do know that there will be penalties involved if you cancel this near your cruise date? (You could lose money, and have no cruise, and then be REALLY stressed.) Hope you're having happier thoughts today.:)

[tef43]

If she cancels this close to sailing date, there *will* be penalties, no doubt about it. She is inside 30 days, so the cancellation penalty will be 50% of the total fare for all parties.

[countercast]

Ves, you are worrying needlessly as previous posters have explained. My bet is you will be gushing about your wonderful trip-of-a-lifetime in a future review!

 

I can also assure you that 7 days hotel with breakfast and pizza every night is not going to be the end off your holiday expenses were you not to cruise. Never bought lunch during the day? Drinks? Souvenirs? Rides/games for the kids? Clothes/toys while shopping? Bus/taxi fare? A tour? Entrance fees to parks, museums, etc? Doesn't every vacation require a certain amount, however modest, to be calculated for unknown expenses, things one can't anticipate doing in advance but wouldn't-have-missed-it-for-the-world afterwards? Isn't that part of going somewhere different? If not, stay home. There were a few years we didn't vacation because of very difficult financial times.

 

About the credit card deposit - it's no different than renting a vehicle or hotel. Those companies also put a reserve amount on your card to ensure against the costs of your stay. Maybe people just don't know that happens.

[tjohn159d]

As far as credit card holds, this could be a good thing. Let's say for example you get a hold put on and this puts you at 85% of your limit. Now you get to port and find something you would really like to have, but don't really need and when they run your CC through it says there is not enough available. Now if you were bouncing between getting it and not getting it you could just say well I guess it was just not meant to be.

[wwakla]

Has anyone heard from vesw01??

I was wondering if she was still going???

 

Kris

[Cotton]

Me too, Kris. Maybe she'll pop back in to let us know.