So glad I'm not the only one. I also never heard of this designer before this Target deal, but I thought I read that she designs cruise wear. Which is another oddity - do people actually go and buy a whole new wardrobe for the week they spend on a cruise ship? I like to cruise, but I just pack from the summer dresses that are in my closet...
Yes, some people will buy whole new mini wardrobe for their cruise and only wear it on that one cruise just so they can fawn over how cute they looked in the pictures. They don't really wear these clothes again because they are "vacation style" clothes.
I will say that I noticed some older folks in what I would consider "loud" clothing, but I presumed it was due to their age, and not because they went out and bought a whole new set of clothing for the week! Wow...
When I plan a cruise, I look at every cost in terms of how long it will get me to the next cruise. An extra $400 to move to a balcony? But that gets me 40% of the way to another cruise! Even a mini-wardrobe, that's got to be 50% of the cost of another cruise. I'd rather spend another relaxing week on a ship, than have special clothes for once I get on said ship...
Next time you go on a cruise try commenting on how cute somebody's loud outfit is. Often they will tell you they bought it for the cruise. They don't intend to wear it at home because it's too touristy.
I like to cruise too. I learned pretty quickly that I'm barely in my room when I'm on a cruise. I don't get sea sickness. So I just get the cheap no portal room. I remember someone complaining about how expensive their cruise was when they took the same cruise as me. They paid for all the upgrades. They also ate in the pay restaurants every day. They said they didn't want to eat the free food because they went on this trip to pamper themselves. I don't get it. I felt like I had already paid for the included 'free' food. Eating in the pay restaurants is like giving up the food I already paid to eat, and you're also paying more than it would cost to eat in the same type restaurant on shore. Yet, the pay restaurants are always packed.
Also on the next to last day when it's time to settle the bill you'll find a lot of people sharing their woes of how high the bill was. They let you pay for all your extras with your room key card for a reason. They claim it's for security and convenience. But, people spend even more money when it's being paid with a room key instead of a credit card or cash.
Yeah I like cruises and honestly they aren't that bad. We smuggled in rum, some of us paid for the unlimited soda thing and so would just smuggle down as much soda as we could to pregame. The food is already paid for and so we pigged out.
I've gotten some deals where it made sense to go with a balcony, but the majority of the time, I pick the cheapest inside I can find. I love how people always say, once you travel with a balcony, you'll never go back to inside! Yeah, no. There are always quiet and serene areas on the ship, if you look hard enough for them. I've had the balcony experience ruined by other cruisers who smoked, got drunk and were generally loud. Oh please, let me pay more money to experience that again!
I've made optimizing the value on a cruise one of my specialties, and my bill on the last day is pretty paltry, and that's the way I like it. I've gotten vouchers for the specialty dining, and I guess the service is a bit better, but the food? Not so much. I have no issue with all the ways cruises nickel and dime though - plenty of people willing to pamper themselves and rack up those bills, which in turn keeps the cabin rates pretty cheap for me!
I'm a few cruises short of gold status w/Norwegian, but I think they have figured us out by now - we keep it pretty frugal, and they don't like that. That's OK, b/c last few cruises, I feel they are falling short, or maybe I've cruised too much now. I have one more credit voucher with them, but the idea of a staycation seems more appealing in the short term. Damn mustachianism! LOL ;)