Stupid Guest Tricks

DonutGoddess wrote:Our problem is saving for trips. I know you pay for everything in advance for the cruises but we haven't paid off the last three trips. Maybe I will catch up with some holiday OT.

Let me put on my financial hat for a moment.

Now is not the time to be taking on more debt. Interest rates for short term debt are gawd awful at best.

If you're carry debt on your credit card(s) you're getting screwed out of major money. You need to do everything possible to pay off your CCs and then pay them off every month.

While I haven't been on a Disney cruise yet (I think we are slated for next year), we have taken the approach of making memories and then paying the piper later. We make sure we are paying for the right things at the right times, but we can't resist vacations with our kids while they are still home. Our oldest will be away at college next year, so we are seeing that our kids won't be home forever. I love to look back at pics from Disneyland trips of the past and realize how quickly time flies. I have never heard someone on their deathbed say that they wished they could have spent one more day at the office, but I sure hear a lot of people say they wish they would have taken one more trip with their family. I want to be the family that does everything together. Just my 28 cents worth.

delsdad wrote:Every cruise seems to have a different favorite. ... Encountering characters in unusual places....

That's not always my favorite event. Last cruise, I came around a corner just as Donald was going the other way and he smashed his bill right into my face, breaking my glasses. I grabbed him by the throat, said, "Don't move until I pick up the lenses!" in my best "disapproving professor" voice, which he didn't. Luckily, the lenses didn't break and I was able to cobble them together well enough to see to drive home.

Of course, I did have some explaining to do at the optician's when I told them I was hit in the face by a duck... While indoors... On a cruise ship... Who was tall enough his beak hit me in the face....

Zazu wrote:That's not always my favorite event. Last cruise, I came around a corner just as Donald was going the other way and he smashed his bill right into my face, breaking my glasses. I grabbed him by the throat, said, "Don't move until I pick up the lenses!" in my best "disapproving professor" voice, which he didn't. Luckily, the lenses didn't break and I was able to cobble them together well enough to see to drive home.

Of course, I did have some explaining to do at the optician's when I told them I was hit in the face by a duck... While indoors... On a cruise ship... Who was tall enough his beak hit me in the face....

good thing it wasnt a woodpecker.
TAI KWAN BEAK!

hobie16 wrote:Let me put on my financial hat for a moment.

Now is not the time to be taking on more debt. Interest rates for short term debt are gawd awful at best.

If you're carry debt on your credit card(s) you're getting screwed out of major money. You need to do everything possible to pay off your CCs and then pay them off every month.

Yeah yeah yeah. Work is working me to death so it will be paid off soon enough. Not sure what day I will be off this week besides thanksgiving (and I am hourly.)

Zazu wrote:That's not always my favorite event. Last cruise, I came around a corner just as Donald was going the other way and he smashed his bill right into my face, breaking my glasses. I grabbed him by the throat, said, "Don't move until I pick up the lenses!" in my best "disapproving professor" voice, which he didn't. Luckily, the lenses didn't break and I was able to cobble them together well enough to see to drive home.

Of course, I did have some explaining to do at the optician's when I told them I was hit in the face by a duck... While indoors... On a cruise ship... Who was tall enough his beak hit me in the face....

Well, you don't need to watch much of a Donald short or featurette to know he's a menace to himself and all around. ;)

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on the cruises!

DonutGoddess wrote:Our problem is saving for trips. I know you pay for everything in advance for the cruises but we haven't paid off the last three trips. Maybe I will catch up with some holiday OT.

From our first Disney cruise, we made sure our boys (then 8 & 6 years old) understood: The food is not "free" -- it is "already paid for."

BRWombat wrote:From our first Disney cruise, we made sure our boys (then 8 & 6 years old) understood: The food is not "free" -- it is "already paid for."

TANSTAAFL! (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!)

Since the idea of debt came up, would anyone be interested in reading an article that I put on my blog and Facebook page about how debt works? I offer because I never really understood how debt and interest worked until I was studying to become a REALTOR® this year. Geez, had I known what I know now, when I was 18, there are SO many decisions I would have made differently. If you see the article and want to pass it on to a young person, feel free. You might save them a lot of headache and heartache that I've put myself through.

I only have one credit card and I've always paid it off every month. I was hesitant to use it when I first got it thinking I didn't have the self control to use it well but not having enough money for tuition forced my hand. Now I typically use it for things I'm buying anyway so I know I could get away with not using it, but I get cash back if I do.

At the moment, my only standing debt is a car loan for the car I just purchased. Of course, in my area I need a car and so when 16 year old out driving entirely too late for someone that age decided I didn't and side swiped me I needed to act fast. The argument could be made that I didn't need to buy a 2013, but Subaru's age well and I pretty much already knew I wanted an Outback long before it happened. If you remember when I made the joke about crashing into an airplane, this is what I was actually referring to.

On the original topic. I've never been on a cruise, haven't really been all that interested until I found a group of people that take an anual one. I'm still not likely to do it, but if I did one it would be with them. When I look at pricing I can't help but think they're too expensive. Sure a lot might be included, but I've gotten pretty good at planning awesome trips for cheap.