Embarrassed by DCL cruising so often?

[tink1970]

I'm about to put my house on the market and all I can think about is "DCL or ABD?" once it's sold

That said I used to have a pretty jealous friend but once her parents and daughters sailed on DCL once and said "it wasn't that great" I think she secretly feels sorry that I '"only" cruise DCL. We also had an.. ummm "spirited" discussion about cost but after I bored her with Target gift cards, Disney Vacation Account and MYOB she laid off. So now she pities me (hahahaha) and I don't get (much) judgment.

 

[AquaDame]

Yep, sounds like us. My friends, "aren't you going to update your bathroom". Me, "I would love to but I would rather go back to Aulani or go on another Disney cruise".

Who on earth comments on someone else's bathroom needing updating...

 

[DCLDVC1]

I really hadn't thought much about how much we've spent on DCL cruises until reading this thread so I ran a report in Quicken and we've spent over $38k on cruise fare alone so far.

 

[Trera]

I definitely don't want to think about what we spent even as we have taken many cruises under FLR pricing.

Our DD took her first cruise when she turned one and now she is 3 and a platinum CC member. We wouldn't change the times and memories we have made cruising with Disney.

 

[undertheradar]

Unless someone else is paying for it, who cares? What we do with our money is our business, not anyone else' concern.

 

[Iamaplanner]

Sometimes I feel pretentious or lofty about going so often because these cruises are so costly. This is especially true because we have invited friends to join us, but they weren't able to come due to cost. So, yes, it kinda feels embarrassing to be able to repeat this vacation year after year.... I'm the complete opposite of showy and I would never want to come across that way. But like others have said, we work hard for our money and this is our favourite vacation, so it really is our prerogative how we choose to spend our money

 

[Amunet]

Disney? No, not at all.
Travel in general? Yes. Mostly remarks about how often I travel. I've traveled a lot and I'm not yet 30.

 

[BigredNole]

There are too many people that don't get Disney. Having to explain to them the enjoyment is always a chore. I just tell people we are going on vacation and never tell them where.

 

[FigmentSpark]

There are just as many people who would say, "You're re-doing your kitchen again?" or "You bought another car already?" or "More toys for your kids?"

Everyone's priorities are different.

 

[RedSox68]

Disney? No, not at all.
Travel in general? Yes. Mostly remarks about how often I travel. I've traveled a lot and I'm not yet 30.

Ha Ha -- because of her parents, our daughter had been to all 50 states by the time she was 25, and many countries and islands -- so we gave her a good head start. Do it while you're young before fear of retirement and no money sets in

 

[sayuracodfish]

My husband and I are in our 50's and probably in the "max earning years" work-wise. Like a lot of you have posted we choose to spend our money on vacations (as opposed to new cars, house upgrades, etc.) while we can still take them - who knows what the future will hold? I would rather have sweet memories that last forever than "stuff." What I struggle with is guilt (self-imposed, for the most part) that we don't take our aging parents on vacation, whether DCL or otherwise. We have had smaller vacations that we've spent together, but somehow the fact the we take these more expensive vacations together makes me feel like a heel at times. Is this something any of you struggle with?

 

[RedSox68]

My husband and I are in our 50's and probably in the "max earning years" work-wise. Like a lot of you have posted we choose to spend our money on vacations (as opposed to new cars, house upgrades, etc.) while we can still take them - who knows what the future will hold? I would rather have sweet memories that last forever than "stuff." What I struggle with is guilt (self-imposed, for the most part) that we don't take our aging parents on vacation, whether DCL or otherwise. We have had smaller vacations that we've spent together, but somehow the fact the we take these more expensive vacations together makes me feel like a heel at times. Is this something any of you struggle with?

We were always leaving my mother behind for our 2-3 week trips, and I always had a friend check in on her, etc. But it was her choice. We offered many times to include her on smaller trips but she (1) thought they were a waste of money and (2) did not like leaving home. My mother-in-law on the other hand loved to travel, and by the time we got the cruising bug, she was too feeble to make that kind of trip. But I know she would have loved it and always regretted not being able to take her on her first cruise.

But if you are indeed spending time with your parents and including them in other outings, then you are still together. Have you ever asked them whether they really want to go on these longer more extravagant itineraries? Maybe it doesn't interest them and they're more happy to do things close to home.

 

[Axelskater]

Heck no. In fact, the reason I show up at the office every day is to be able to pay for all of my trips/cruises - 2 Disney & 1 HAL to Alaska in the next 12 months. In order to motivate myself to continue said job, I have vintage cruise line posters bought at auction (from Cunard, my favorite line I sail the most) and also some "vintage" (1970's) Disney World posters hanging all over my office.
One of my coworkers eventually bought me a "I work to support my cruise habit" T Shirt. Different people spend their money on different things!

 

[Axelskater]

My husband and I are in our 50's and probably in the "max earning years" work-wise. Like a lot of you have posted we choose to spend our money on vacations (as opposed to new cars, house upgrades, etc.) while we can still take them - who knows what the future will hold? I would rather have sweet memories that last forever than "stuff." What I struggle with is guilt (self-imposed, for the most part) that we don't take our aging parents on vacation, whether DCL or otherwise. We have had smaller vacations that we've spent together, but somehow the fact the we take these more expensive vacations together makes me feel like a heel at times. Is this something any of you struggle with?

My situation is slightly different - my parents aren't together and my mom has no one else to travel with. So we take trips mother/daughter each year, and I take separate trips with my husband. The m/d trips are great for both of us and we don't have to worry about 3's a crowd, etc.

 

[sayuracodfish]

We were always leaving my mother behind for our 2-3 week trips, and I always had a friend check in on her, etc. But it was her choice. We offered many times to include her on smaller trips but she (1) thought they were a waste of money and (2) did not like leaving home. My mother-in-law on the other hand loved to travel, and by the time we got the cruising bug, she was too feeble to make that kind of trip. But I know she would have loved it and always regretted not being able to take her on her first cruise.

But if you are indeed spending time with your parents and including them in other outings, then you are still together. Have you ever asked them whether they really want to go on these longer more extravagant itineraries? Maybe it doesn't interest them and they're more happy to do things close to home.

We invited them to join us on our upcoming cruise, but they've decided against it (maybe too long?). But they would like us to take another vacation with them the same year...the problem is, we don't know that we'll have the time and money because our upcoming cruise is long (14 nights) and the cost is pretty high. Oh well, I guess maybe we can plan some weekend trips...

 

[hanscarlet]

It's funny because no one ever asks me what cruise line we're sailing on. They are always more interested in the ports or countries we are visiting. Our next cruise is on Carnival. I'm sure if every trip was to WDW I would get some strange looks.

Do you find a difference between those who are familiar with cruising vs those who have never cruised? I would never imagine asking "what cruise line?" prior to being a cruiser but not I find I ask that question all the time because I'm curious. Just on Monday a co-worker said they were doing their honeymoon on a carribean cruise and I asked which one and he said RCCL and I said it sounds like a fantastic time and they will love it I'm sure.

 

[RedSox68]

Do you find a difference between those who are familiar with cruising vs those who have never cruised? I would never imagine asking "what cruise line?" prior to being a cruiser but not I find I ask that question all the time because I'm curious. Just on Monday a co-worker said they were doing their honeymoon on a carribean cruise and I asked which one and he said RCCL and I said it sounds like a fantastic time and they will love it I'm sure.

My biggest problem with non-cruisers is the nonending comments about how "you can't count that city/port/etc. because you only spent one day there" and "cruise ships don't give you enough time to see anything", to which my comment is always how else can you see 8-10 ports in 10-14 days without worrying about transportation and hotels! Cruising just doesn't make sense for some people I guess. One co-worker actually told me Rome doesn't count cause we were there one day -- and yet she's never even been overseas

 

[AquaDame]

What I struggle with is guilt (self-imposed, for the most part) that we don't take our aging parents on vacation, whether DCL or otherwise. We have had smaller vacations that we've spent together, but somehow the fact the we take these more expensive vacations together makes me feel like a heel at times. Is this something any of you struggle with?

Not anymore... I tried to take them with us on the trip I won last year and it blew up in my face. An unrelated minor event between my brother and I set them off (we decided to stop mailing gifts back and forth multiple times a year since he lives in the Netherlands - its expensive and takes over a month to get through customs) and they decided they "did not want a single thing from [me] ever again". In the end they said last minute they did want to go, but it was too late. I am jealous of those of you who are able to have normal mature relationships with your parents! On his own birthday this year my father still insisted on paying the dinner bill... I don't think he is going to back down, he is stubborn to a fault. They decided to join us on the Mexican Riviera cruise next year (their first ever!) but they are 100% paying their own way.

 

[sayuracodfish]

Not anymore... I tried to take them with us on the trip I won last year and it blew up in my face. An unrelated minor event between my brother and I set them off (we decided to stop mailing gifts back and forth multiple times a year since he lives in the Netherlands - its expensive and takes over a month to get through customs) and they decided they "did not want a single thing from [me] ever again". In the end they said last minute they did want to go, but it was too late. I am jealous of those of you who are able to have normal mature relationships with your parents! On his own birthday this year my father still insisted on paying the dinner bill... I don't think he is going to back down, he is stubborn to a fault. They decided to join us on the Mexican Riviera cruise next year (their first ever!) but they are 100% paying their own way.

Wow! I guess I should count my blessings and quit worrying! I tend to take everything upon my shoulders, try to please everyone. It never seems to work out quite how I planned

 

[NancyIL]

I LOVE the trips I have taken, and I am excited about the ones coming up. I'm not embarrassed about my trips, but I want to be sensitive to my friends who struggle financially and can't travel as I do. Therefore, I usually don't say much about my plans to others - unless someone asks, "When's your next trip?"

I have friends who think we must be "loaded" to travel as we do. While I can't pretend we're barely scraping by - we look for good travel values. That's one reason I don't cruise with DCL very often!