Embarrassed by DCL cruising so often?

[hanscarlet]

Do you ever feel shame or awkwardness in explaining your cruise addiction to people who don't get it? Next year will be our first year with 2 cruises in one year and I am finding myself not necessarily being open about this fact with my normal circle of friends and coworkers and I am wondering if I am subconsciously feeling weird or embarrassed by it. Am I alone in this or just part of the addiction that I will grow out of? Have you ever had people make you feel shame for cruising too much?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Do you ever feel shame or awkwardness in explaining your cruise addiction to people who don't get it? Next year will be our first year with 2 cruises in one year and I am finding myself not necessarily being open about this fact with my normal circle of friends and coworkers and I am wondering if I am subconsciously feeling weird or embarrassed by it. Am I alone in this or just part of the addiction that I will grow out of? Have you ever had people make you feel shame for cruising too much?

Not at all. We frequently have cruised more than once in a year. In fact, 2014, we did a Dream cruise followed by B2B Fantasy cruises. Not to mention the Carnival cruise we did earlier that same year.

In 2015 we did a Princess cruise , a DCL cruise, and Vantage river cruise.

 

[Sytrace]

Not anymore. Our first year of DCL cruising we took the first one in November 2013. In 2014 we took 3, in 2015 we dropped down to 2 and in 2016 we will have taken 4 by the end of September.
(Possibly 5 if we can squeeze in one for my son's birthday in December)

I used to feel sort of weird about it, but at the end of the day, we are fortunate to be able to go so often and cruise as a family. These vacations are the best value for OUR family and how we like to travel. Many of my friends and family have other vacations that they prefer and that is okay too. I don't make them feel awkward when they tell me that they are going to take their ski vacations (we live in Florida so this is sort of exotic for us ...lol )
I look at the overall value in that my kids have been to many great places and been exposed to some different things that they would not have ordinarily experienced. The value of turning off phones, no internet access and just being together in the middle of the ocean is priceless for us. Sitting down together as a family and just being able to talk without thinking about chores, school work ( I homeschool so they don't have homework) etc.
Don't let anyone make you feel bad for loving to cruise and for taking the vacations that YOUR family enjoys. To each their own and all that.
Tracey

 

[DCLDVC1]

I don't really worry about it. We cruised for the first time in 2014 and will be Platinum next year but I don't remember anyone saying anything more than "Disney again, huh?".

 

[CampbellzSoup]

My FIRST cruise was in 2014...

I've been on 8 now lol - don't be embarrassed be glad you have a blessed life!

 

[hanscarlet]

good, you guys make me feel better! TY!

 

[dclpluto]

I don't worry what other people thin about my vacations. They have zero to say about my vacations unless they want to pay for it.

 

[kaseyC]

I don't worry what other people thin about my vacations. They have zero to say about my vacations unless they want to pay for it.

Exactly!

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

I don't feel embarrassed but I do feel a lot of friends are secretly judging us.
Or they make comments like... I wouldn't go to Disney world, there is no way I could cruise etc.
One family that we sometimes hang out with kept making a lot of snarky comments after each of our subsequent wdw/cruise trips like..: "oh we wouldn't stay on site, or "our kids don't like the Disney characters", "Disney again huh" roll eyes . It turned out they were able to go during a great promo with dining and guess what?.. They posted dozens of photos from their trip on FB most of their kids with characters! They raved about staying on site!
People judge and say things but deep inside they wish they could go as often!
I stopped caring now. This is how I like to vacation

 

[wilkeliza]

I sometimes feel like I have to explain why we choose Disney over other options. I just tell people it works for us and our preferred style of cruising and actually Disney has done the best on keeping their adults only areas just that.

I do want to try Royal Caribbean but their ships seem so much bigger and like there is a crazy amount of stuff going on and I much prefer a good mix of relaxing and activities.

 

[gatordoc]

I get the sense from a lot of people I know that they are secretly jealous...

 

[Dug720]

I do want to try Royal Caribbean but their ships seem so much bigger and like there is a crazy amount of stuff going on and I much prefer a good mix of relaxing and activities.

Radiance class might be a good fit - they are about the size of the Dream class and the only real "bells and whistles" kind of thing they have is a rock wall.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I don't feel embarrassed but I do feel a lot of friends are secretly judging us.
Or they make comments like... I wouldn't go to Disney world, there is no way I could cruise etc.
One family that we sometimes hang out with kept making a lot of snarky comments after each of our subsequent wdw/cruise trips like..: "oh we wouldn't stay on site, or "our kids don't like the Disney characters", "Disney again huh" roll eyes . It turned out they were able to go during a great promo with dining and guess what?.. They posted dozens of photos from their trip on FB most of their kids with characters! They raved about staying on site!
People judge and say things but deep inside they wish they could go as often!
I stopped caring now. This is how I like to vacation

And now you know they're not real friends, but people who like to keep you under them.

 

[bumbershoot]

I do want to try Royal Caribbean but their ships seem so much bigger and like there is a crazy amount of stuff going on and I much prefer a good mix of relaxing and activities.

I've loved Freedom (class, but I've literally only been on Freedom of the Seas not the others in the class) for the mix of stuff to do and relaxation. I've never been able to find quiet, or simply available, spaces on Dream, but I can find those on Freedom.

We're trying Adventure soon, and it will be interesting! We've also been on Vision (some things were very nice b/c it's so small, but other things (inability to get away from smoke when we had poor weather for a couple days and the smokers came indoors). Radiance as well, but I don't actually remember much of it.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

And now you know they're not real friends, but people who like to keep you under them.

They are really friends of friends that we sometimes see at certain get-togethers. There was always a comment criticizing us for going to wdw or on DCL. Or making fun of our DS for posing with Mickey.
Then they turn around and do the same
Most people we know are not as vocal about it, but we occasionally feel judged or maybe a tad embarrassed.
I find people are only like this until they go themselves. Then they get it.

 

[Shanti]

Do you ever feel shame or awkwardness in explaining your cruise addiction to people who don't get it? Next year will be our first year with 2 cruises in one year and I am finding myself not necessarily being open about this fact with my normal circle of friends and coworkers and I am wondering if I am subconsciously feeling weird or embarrassed by it. Am I alone in this or just part of the addiction that I will grow out of? Have you ever had people make you feel shame for cruising too much?

I do keep it to myself pretty much, not because I'm embarrassed but because I don't want others speculating/commenting on the cost. I also don't want to seem to be bragging or smug about it in front of others who might not be able to afford it. I tell my son not to bring up our vacations at school for that reason, as well.

It's not a secret, just something we don't go around chatting about all the time. If I'm asked, I'll tell, but otherwise I save the Disney talk for these boards.

 

[Anna114]

I'm just going on my first Disney cruise in October so I can't answer for that. However, I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Disney again". To which I say "Yeah, Disney again" I've also had people try to convince us to try Universal. If I wanted to go to Universal I would do just that. Oy vey. Also, whenever I say I'm going on vacation I hear "Disney?"

 

[LoverDisney]

Well we just came back from our first cruise on Monday and I am planning on cruising often. Cruising is good for the soul so I don't really care what others think. We had a great time as a family, it's the ultimate way to travel and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[Ofinn]

We have done 14 cruises in 5 years. I dont tell other people what we do. Everyones financial sitiation is different. We are not 1 percenters not even close. We just live well below our means.We got married young and are still in the same house we bought after we got martied 22 years ago. We have more disposable income than a lot of people, but its not because we make more money then them so I dont feel embarrased by it.

 

[CesD]

nothing to be embarrassed about--- maybe unless you were asking financial help, borrowing $ from friends, etc to cover basic necessities one day then literally took a cruise the following week without paying them back first.

it is not uncommon for people to take a regular/ traditional/ annual vacation. People who actually use their timeshares or own a vacation home vacation frequently.
we all choose how to spend our money. some people want a new car every two years. others want a new purse. others choose to give generously to charity. many go on vacations.
unless you are doing something illegal, unethical or irresponsible in order to vacation--- enjoy!