Alaska or paying off a car loan?

[cruisehopeful]

At this point in life, I'd pay off the car loans. Then, I'd save the money I used to pay monthly for the cars in a subsavings account marked for a cruise. When I had enough, I'd book my cruise.

 

[pillow]

I love financial debates like this. I agree that vacations have value, but an expensive trip is not required to have quality family time. Its impossible to give an opinion without knowing your full financial situation. You have to look at the trip expense as it relates to your current finances and life/family goals. Are you on track to retire when you want? Are you a step from bankruptcy? Do you have savings? Do you have other debt at a higher interest rate? Is your house paid for? Doesn't have to be all or nothing. Perhaps you should split the money - putting half to your car and half toward a (cheaper) trip. Our Alaska trip in the summer of 2015 (on DCL) cost us about $10K and that included the cruise and 10 days of traveling on our own for the 4 of us (we used air miles for the flights). There are definitely ways to get your price down, but it may take some work (and possibly sailing on a different cruse line with the way DCL is pricing these days).

And I do agree that the "once in a lifetime" mentality can get us in trouble. The "once in a lifetime" trip turns out to be so fabulous that you need another "once in a lifetime" trip - and then another - and then another. I am living proof of this interesting phenomenon!

Good luck!!

 

[Sleepyluke]

Some may say irresponsible and yes it is somewhat of an exaggeration, but I would pay 100% interest on the cars to have the memories of Disney as a kid. Priorities change, but losing my mom to cancer about a year and a half ago has made memories the #1 priority at our house. I will work extra if that means one more trip, whether it is camping, hotels down the street, or a DCL cruise. Point is you never know what tomorrow may bring and I say live everyday to the fullest.

Now pay off the car if going on the cruise fives you an ulcer, but I don't think you would have asked if this was the case!

 

[Ofinn]

Some may say irresponsible and yes it is somewhat of an exaggeration, but I would pay 100% interest on the cars to have the memories of Disney as a kid. Priorities change, but losing my mom to cancer about a year and a half ago has made memories the #1 priority at our house. I will work extra if that means one more trip, whether it is camping, hotels down the street, or a DCL cruise. Point is you never know what tomorrow may bring and I say live everyday to the fullest.

Now pay off the car if going on the cruise fives you an ulcer, but I don't think you would have asked if this was the case!

I've lost both my parents, brother law and nephew in the last few years. Yes life is short, but I don't think you can use losing someone in your family as an excuse to over spend on a vacation. Yes memories and vacations are important, but you don't have to spend 20k on one vacation to accomplish that. It's fine if you have that kind of money, but if you're already stressed about paying off a car vs a vacation than in my opinion it's not worth it.

 

[pillow]

You can make great memories anywhere. While I do love the trips we've taken, there is something to be said for simplicity. The best childhood memories I have are from camping with my grandparents. My grandfather would sneak around the outside of the camper and scratch on the windows to scare us. Waking up to my grandmother cooking breakfast in that camper was heaven. The best childhood memories for me came about due to relationships, and not expensive trips. There is certainly nothing wrong with an expensive trip if one can afford it, but its certainly not a requirement for great memories or a happy life.

 

[mevelandry]

Some may say irresponsible and yes it is somewhat of an exaggeration, but I would pay 100% interest on the cars to have the memories of Disney as a kid. Priorities change, but losing my mom to cancer about a year and a half ago has made memories the #1 priority at our house. I will work extra if that means one more trip, whether it is camping, hotels down the street, or a DCL cruise. Point is you never know what tomorrow may bring and I say live everyday to the fullest.

Now pay off the car if going on the cruise fives you an ulcer, but I don't think you would have asked if this was the case!

I hear you about cancer (my mom passed 10 years ago before she had the chance to realize her dreams).

It changed me. And I have a hard time not picking the "dream" before financial engagements/renovations too... I want to experience everything NOW.

But... it's a trap, mostly based on fear and insecurities.

Still trying hard to find balance. Getting better every day. I'm being slightly more patient now. I noticed that I'm feeling a bit better if I book a long time in advance and make payments once in a while. It makes me still feel like "it's really going to happen" but without breaking the wallet and I can still pay off my debts.

 

[ChipNDale86]

So I actually recently had to make this very same decision.

I won some money on a game show and really wanted to do something fun with the money but also had about 13k remaining on my car loan. I decided it'd be best to go ahead and pay off the loan and put the leftover money towards a down payment for a Aug 2017 Alaskan cruise. I have now been saving the $300+ a month that was going towards my car loan to put towards the remaining balance on the cruise.

So while I would have preferred to go on the cruise sooner, I think paying off the loan and putting that extra $ each month towards a cruise later in the future was the best decision financially for me. So if you can do something similar I would strongly suggest it. You have to wait a little bit longer to cruise but not having that loan over my head any more is fantastic!

 

[Scootypuffjr]

 

[TrySomethingNew]

Like PP, hard to say without all the details. We've done a special (expensive) trip before and it was worth it for a lot of reasons, including it being special since it was not typical.
Memories are important, but not expensive ones if you don't have the financial ability. Sometimes, though, the timing of the trip outweighs your usual decision making. PP gave some examples (kids leaving home, etc). Our expensive trip was taken partly Bc the timing was great (kids ages, personal /financial constraints were minimal), and in retrospect we don't regret spending the money.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[coloradocutie]

Just curious, if you had earned that $20K through your job/working, instead of as a windfall/bonus cash, would you still be willing to spend it all on a single cruise... or would you choose to pay off the car... or a combination of both? $20K=$20K when it is sitting in your bank account regardless of how it got there.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[RedSox68]

So I actually recently had to make this very same decision.

I won some money on a game show and really wanted to do something fun with the money but also had about 13k remaining on my car loan. I decided it'd be best to go ahead and pay off the loan and put the leftover money towards a down payment for a Aug 2017 Alaskan cruise. I have now been saving the $300+ a month that was going towards my car loan to put towards the remaining balance on the cruise.

So while I would have preferred to go on the cruise sooner, I think paying off the loan and putting that extra $ each month towards a cruise later in the future was the best decision financially for me. So if you can do something similar I would strongly suggest it. You have to wait a little bit longer to cruise but not having that loan over my head any more is fantastic!

May I ask what game show? Very exciting!

I've lost both my parents, brother law and nephew in the last few years. Yes life is short, but I don't think you can use losing someone in your family as an excuse to over spend on a vacation. Yes memories and vacations are important, but you don't have to spend 20k on one vacation to accomplish that. It's fine if you have that kind of money, but if you're already stressed about paying off a car vs a vacation than in my opinion it's not worth it.

I agree about the 20K -- if you want to make great memories in Alaska, don't do it on DCL. You can take another cruise line like Princess or HAL and do it for less than half that costs. Then you can put the remainder of the money toward car payments or even a future cruise.

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

If the car loan is your only debt, personally I'd splurge and do DCL Alaska.

If there's anything my parents have taught me, it's not to wait too long to take those dream trips.

My parents have been talking about going on a trip to the Canadian Rockies since I was a kid. The trip they had in mind was too expensive for our whole family of 5 when we were younger. They are in their late 70s and finally booked this dream trip for themselves last month. Well, just 2 months before the trip, my dad started getting really sick and they had to cancel their trip. I don't think he will recover enough for them to ever go.

 

[ChipNDale86]

May I ask what game show? Very exciting!

Of course! It was Hollywood Game Night on NBC hosted by Jane Lynch! If you've never seen it, check it out when the new season comes back (I think sometime this fall/winter).

 

[JanBlessed]

All I can say is: good luck on making your choice! Hope you enjoy the outcome.

 

[JanBlessed]

And I wish this was my problem!

 

[tomjude]

Pay off the loan.

 

[Disfan5]

Trip of a lifetime, no doubt about it!
Life is just too short and your kids are only this age once.....