Prices one pays for a cruise

In article , Tom &
Linda wrote:

Any way... this might be the exception.

I don't think that really applies. If you become good friends with
someone I think that is different. I thought we were talking about
discussing it with strangers and the subject coming up in first
conversations or general conversations.

--
Charles

I know that "Malicious Michelle" never lies, but this one defies belief.

She would have me believe that she has me killfiled, but I need someone to
remind her that her nose is growing.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ


I never ask since I never expect to be told the truth. I am frequently
asked and always tell the truth. I don't think it rude, naive perhaps,
but price shopping for multi-thousand $$ items makes perfect sense to
me.

ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH, MICHELLE? HOW ABOUT POSTING UNDER YOUR OWN NAME.

"Ebbtide" wrote...
I also think it is rude asking another what they paid for their cruise.
It's
like asking how much you paid for anything personal, - car, clothing,
house. However I live in the south (transplant many years ago) and it
never
ceases to amaze me, one of the first questions I am asked is my
religion!!!
Coming from the Mid Atlantic States I equate that with asking my salary. I
REFUSE to answer these rude people.

I am also flabbergasted by passengers who ask total strangers what they paid
for their cruise. Not only is it rude, it's none of their business. It's
happened to us several times and we refuse to respond. One man who asked got
nasty when we wouldn't tell him and then stated that when he filed his
"class action lawsuit" for being overcharged, we would be left out for not
cooperating with him. Sheesh.

BTW, they tell a story here in Georgia about meeting locals from around the
state... Atlantans will ask you what business you are in, Augustans will ask
who your people are, and folks in Macon will inquire about your religious
preference. Most visitors prefer to meet citizens of Savannah--they simply
ask what you'd like to drink.

Linda
-----
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

Linda Coffman wrote:
Most visitors prefer to meet citizens of Savannah--they simply
ask what you'd like to drink.

Linda
-----
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com


That's why I'm planning the next company meeting in Savannah. ;-)

If I'm going to be surrounded by 300 of my clients I want to make sure
they are all in a very good mood.

Joyce -- 346 days til my Amsterdam South America/Antarctica cruise (but
who's counting/).
--
"We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are." - The Talmud
"People demand the freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of
thought which
they avoid" - Kirkegarde
"Software without support is hardware" - JR/1999

Love it!

....and my answer is "whatever you're drinking " ...and I buy the next
round -- if they take the bait and pay for the first.

An observation from friends in NY was that the second question upon meeting
someone in Manhattan, is inevitably "What do you do?" -- whereas in SF, I
have social friends whom I've known for years -- and I have no idea what
they do ...for a living (however what and who they do sexually -- is common
knowlwdge)

Mark

"Linda Coffman" wrote in message
...
"Ebbtide" wrote...
I also think it is rude asking another what they paid for their cruise.
It's
like asking how much you paid for anything personal, - car, clothing,
house. However I live in the south (transplant many years ago) and it
never
ceases to amaze me, one of the first questions I am asked is my
religion!!!
Coming from the Mid Atlantic States I equate that with asking my salary.
I
REFUSE to answer these rude people.

I am also flabbergasted by passengers who ask total strangers what they
paid
for their cruise. Not only is it rude, it's none of their business. It's
happened to us several times and we refuse to respond. One man who asked
got
nasty when we wouldn't tell him and then stated that when he filed his
"class action lawsuit" for being overcharged, we would be left out for not
cooperating with him. Sheesh.

BTW, they tell a story here in Georgia about meeting locals from around
the
state... Atlantans will ask you what business you are in, Augustans will
ask
who your people are, and folks in Macon will inquire about your religious
preference. Most visitors prefer to meet citizens of Savannah--they simply
ask what you'd like to drink.

Linda
-----
CruiseDiva.com
http://cruisediva.com

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 01:33:46 GMT, "Tom & Linda"
wrote:

In theory I would agree with you about not discussing pricing.

However, I'll offer a brief story that may demonstrate why it might not be a
bad idea in certain situations.

We were on the Norwegian Wind several years ago and were seated at the
dinner table with a very nice family from the UK. We gradually became good
friends during the cruise, and at one point did discuss how much each of us
had paid. It turns out that cruise pricing (at least back then) was much
higher in the UK than it was in the US. For future cruises, we gave them
the name of our US travel agent. I'm not sure if they were every able to
use our TA, but to save several thousand dollars vs. UK prices, I think it
was worth trying.

Any way... this might be the exception.

--Tom


Well, I must be the anomaly on this issue. On our last cruise in
November '03, we happened to start chatting with a gentleman who was
with a very large group tour sponsored by a radio station in San
Francisco. He volunteeered that this was his first cruise in the
Caribbean and they had gotten a good deal because of the size of the
group, and he told me what it had cost (without my asking).
Surprisingly, it was about the same as I had paid with our group of
eight and I told him so, and we had a good laugh. The general tone of
the conversation was how inexpensive cruising is compared to almost
any other type of vacation no matter what you pay (except maybe biking
across the country and staying at hostels). I think it is common for
people who meet on a cruise to discuss price once they have become
comfortable with each other.

The one time I kept my mouth shut was on a two week tour of China,
where the group became quite friendly and one night at the bar started
talking about the price they had paid. They had all gone through
travel agents, and I had made my own arrangements directly with the
PRC government sponsored Travel Agency. I had paid about half of what
most of them had paid. I didn't point out that fact, out of decorum,
but gently suggested that the next time they bypass the travel agents,
if they are willing to do the research on their own.

Jim


"Ebbtide" wrote in message
. ..
I also think it is rude asking another what they paid for their cruise.
It's
like asking how much you paid for anything personal, - car, clothing,
house. However I live in the south (transplant many years ago) and it
never
ceases to amaze me, one of the first questions I am asked is my
religion!!!
Coming from the Mid Atlantic States I equate that with asking my salary. I
REFUSE to answer these rude people.



LOL! Reminds me of the time in the 60's when I (a Yankee) attended
graduate school in a southern state. There were four of us living in
a converted garage attic. A nice genteel lady who lived next door
started chatting with me and, out of the blue, asked me what my
heritage was. I replied that my grandparents had emigrated to this
country from Hungary. She replied "I thought you looked like you had
some foreign blood in you"! I didn't ask her if she was descended
from Native Americans or if she, too had "some foreign blood" in her!

Jim

"ChiliJim" wrote in message
...


On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 01:33:46 GMT, "Tom & Linda"
wrote:

In theory I would agree with you about not discussing pricing.

However, I'll offer a brief story that may demonstrate why it might not
be a
bad idea in certain situations.

We were on the Norwegian Wind several years ago and were seated at the
dinner table with a very nice family from the UK. We gradually became
good
friends during the cruise, and at one point did discuss how much each of
us
had paid. It turns out that cruise pricing (at least back then) was much
higher in the UK than it was in the US. For future cruises, we gave them
the name of our US travel agent. I'm not sure if they were every able to
use our TA, but to save several thousand dollars vs. UK prices, I think
it
was worth trying.

Any way... this might be the exception.

--Tom


Well, I must be the anomaly on this issue. On our last cruise in
November '03, we happened to start chatting with a gentleman who was
with a very large group tour sponsored by a radio station in San
Francisco. He volunteeered that this was his first cruise in the
Caribbean and they had gotten a good deal because of the size of the
group, and he told me what it had cost (without my asking).
Surprisingly, it was about the same as I had paid with our group of
eight and I told him so, and we had a good laugh. The general tone of
the conversation was how inexpensive cruising is compared to almost
any other type of vacation no matter what you pay (except maybe biking
across the country and staying at hostels). I think it is common for
people who meet on a cruise to discuss price once they have become
comfortable with each other.

The one time I kept my mouth shut was on a two week tour of China,
where the group became quite friendly and one night at the bar started
talking about the price they had paid. They had all gone through
travel agents, and I had made my own arrangements directly with the
PRC government sponsored Travel Agency. I had paid about half of what
most of them had paid. I didn't point out that fact, out of decorum,
but gently suggested that the next time they bypass the travel agents,
if they are willing to do the research on their own.

Jim


"Ebbtide" wrote in message
. ..
I also think it is rude asking another what they paid for their cruise.
It's
like asking how much you paid for anything personal, - car, clothing,
house. However I live in the south (transplant many years ago) and it
never
ceases to amaze me, one of the first questions I am asked is my
religion!!!
Coming from the Mid Atlantic States I equate that with asking my
salary. I
REFUSE to answer these rude people.



LOL! Reminds me of the time in the 60's when I (a Yankee) attended
graduate school in a southern state. There were four of us living in
a converted garage attic. A nice genteel lady who lived next door
started chatting with me and, out of the blue, asked me what my
heritage was. I replied that my grandparents had emigrated to this
country from Hungary. She replied "I thought you looked like you had
some foreign blood in you"! I didn't ask her if she was descended
from Native Americans or if she, too had "some foreign blood" in her!

Jim

You DID have foreign blood to her, you were a Yankee!! You know her in the
south they call us transplants Yankees right to our face!! I love their
manners!! Oh yea, that's after asking our religion!!

I believe there's two sides to this Yankee vs. Southerner issue and I have
seen both of them -- both pro and con. On the one hand you are more likely
to be asked a personal question by someone in the South than you are from a
Northerner, but on the other hand the people in the South are more likely to
be friendly and helpful to you.

I'm from CT and have lived in TX for more than 20 years. When I first came
down to TX in 1983, I used to hear "Yankee" jokes all the time in public
places and over the radio. At that time a lot of people had recently moved
down from the North. Unemployment was high in Ohio, Michigan and other old
industrial states so they moved to Texas, and, according to the original
residents here, were taking their jobs. The Yankee jokes were similar to the
ethnic jokes I had heard back in CT -- just replace the word Yankee for
whatever ethnic group the joke was about. I can also remember seeing a sign
in the office that said..."I don't care how you did it up North." There was
an obvious dislike of Northerners. Having said that, I don't see that
attitude any more, and haven't for several years.

Now that I have lived here for many years, I find the typical Southerner to
be more friendly and willing to help than your typical Northerner. This was
brought home to me a few years ago when I had to go back to CT on business.
We went up in March on a cold, wintry day. The roads were covered in slushy
snow and there wasn't a friendly face to be seen anywhere. We had a rental
car while we were up there, and it had a problem of some sort. The people I
met that day weren't only standoffish they were down right unfriendly and
nobody was interested in helping us with our problem. On the other hand I
have travelled through the South by car many times and have had several
instances where I stopped on the side of the road and people pulled up on
the other side of the divided highway just to see if they could help.

Because of their friendliness, it could be that persons from the South are
willing to ask more questions of a personal nature than you might expect to
see up North. Down here, that's just their nature and they don't mean
anything offensive about it. I have to admit, however, that I was somewhat
offended when I was in the process of moving into our house for the first
time and the neighbor across the street ran over to introduce herself and to
ask me what I paid for it.

My wife, being a real foreigner from Germany, has seen both sides and agrees
with me. She also indicates that Europeans are much more private and are not
likely to be receptive to the type of the personal questions that she has
been asked by people she has met in TX.

Its pretty amazing to me that we have these regional differences in
attitudes in America and only live a few hundred miles apart.

Robert


"Ebbtide" wrote in message
...

"ChiliJim" wrote in message
...


On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 01:33:46 GMT, "Tom & Linda"
wrote:

In theory I would agree with you about not discussing pricing.

However, I'll offer a brief story that may demonstrate why it might not
be a
bad idea in certain situations.

We were on the Norwegian Wind several years ago and were seated at the
dinner table with a very nice family from the UK. We gradually became
good
friends during the cruise, and at one point did discuss how much each
of
us
had paid. It turns out that cruise pricing (at least back then) was
much
higher in the UK than it was in the US. For future cruises, we gave
them
the name of our US travel agent. I'm not sure if they were every able
to
use our TA, but to save several thousand dollars vs. UK prices, I think
it
was worth trying.

Any way... this might be the exception.

--Tom


Well, I must be the anomaly on this issue. On our last cruise in
November '03, we happened to start chatting with a gentleman who was
with a very large group tour sponsored by a radio station in San
Francisco. He volunteeered that this was his first cruise in the
Caribbean and they had gotten a good deal because of the size of the
group, and he told me what it had cost (without my asking).
Surprisingly, it was about the same as I had paid with our group of
eight and I told him so, and we had a good laugh. The general tone of
the conversation was how inexpensive cruising is compared to almost
any other type of vacation no matter what you pay (except maybe biking
across the country and staying at hostels). I think it is common for
people who meet on a cruise to discuss price once they have become
comfortable with each other.

The one time I kept my mouth shut was on a two week tour of China,
where the group became quite friendly and one night at the bar started
talking about the price they had paid. They had all gone through
travel agents, and I had made my own arrangements directly with the
PRC government sponsored Travel Agency. I had paid about half of what
most of them had paid. I didn't point out that fact, out of decorum,
but gently suggested that the next time they bypass the travel agents,
if they are willing to do the research on their own.

Jim


"Ebbtide" wrote in message
. ..
I also think it is rude asking another what they paid for their
cruise.
It's
like asking how much you paid for anything personal, - car,
clothing,
house. However I live in the south (transplant many years ago) and
it
never
ceases to amaze me, one of the first questions I am asked is my
religion!!!
Coming from the Mid Atlantic States I equate that with asking my
salary. I
REFUSE to answer these rude people.



LOL! Reminds me of the time in the 60's when I (a Yankee) attended
graduate school in a southern state. There were four of us living in
a converted garage attic. A nice genteel lady who lived next door
started chatting with me and, out of the blue, asked me what my
heritage was. I replied that my grandparents had emigrated to this
country from Hungary. She replied "I thought you looked like you had
some foreign blood in you"! I didn't ask her if she was descended
from Native Americans or if she, too had "some foreign blood" in her!

Jim

You DID have foreign blood to her, you were a Yankee!! You know her in
the
south they call us transplants Yankees right to our face!! I love their
manners!! Oh yea, that's after asking our religion!!

Great observation and I have to agree with you they are very friendly in the
south. Why, in the supermarket they do all the bagging and deliver the
groceries to the car, no tipping allowed. When my children from the NJ area
come to visit us in FL they are amazed at the courtesy. True, there are two
sides to the coin.


"Robert Strauss" wrote in message
...
I believe there's two sides to this Yankee vs. Southerner issue and I have
seen both of them -- both pro and con. On the one hand you are more likely
to be asked a personal question by someone in the South than you are from
a
Northerner, but on the other hand the people in the South are more likely
to
be friendly and helpful to you.

I'm from CT and have lived in TX for more than 20 years. When I first came
down to TX in 1983, I used to hear "Yankee" jokes all the time in public
places and over the radio. At that time a lot of people had recently moved
down from the North. Unemployment was high in Ohio, Michigan and other old
industrial states so they moved to Texas, and, according to the original
residents here, were taking their jobs. The Yankee jokes were similar to
the
ethnic jokes I had heard back in CT -- just replace the word Yankee for
whatever ethnic group the joke was about. I can also remember seeing a
sign
in the office that said..."I don't care how you did it up North." There
was
an obvious dislike of Northerners. Having said that, I don't see that
attitude any more, and haven't for several years.

Now that I have lived here for many years, I find the typical Southerner
to
be more friendly and willing to help than your typical Northerner. This
was
brought home to me a few years ago when I had to go back to CT on
business.
We went up in March on a cold, wintry day. The roads were covered in
slushy
snow and there wasn't a friendly face to be seen anywhere. We had a rental
car while we were up there, and it had a problem of some sort. The people
I
met that day weren't only standoffish they were down right unfriendly and
nobody was interested in helping us with our problem. On the other hand I
have travelled through the South by car many times and have had several
instances where I stopped on the side of the road and people pulled up on
the other side of the divided highway just to see if they could help.

Because of their friendliness, it could be that persons from the South are
willing to ask more questions of a personal nature than you might expect
to
see up North. Down here, that's just their nature and they don't mean
anything offensive about it. I have to admit, however, that I was somewhat
offended when I was in the process of moving into our house for the first
time and the neighbor across the street ran over to introduce herself and
to
ask me what I paid for it.

My wife, being a real foreigner from Germany, has seen both sides and
agrees
with me. She also indicates that Europeans are much more private and are
not
likely to be receptive to the type of the personal questions that she has
been asked by people she has met in TX.

Its pretty amazing to me that we have these regional differences in
attitudes in America and only live a few hundred miles apart.

Robert


"Ebbtide" wrote in message
...

"ChiliJim" wrote in message
...


On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 01:33:46 GMT, "Tom & Linda"
wrote:

In theory I would agree with you about not discussing pricing.

However, I'll offer a brief story that may demonstrate why it might
not
be a
bad idea in certain situations.

We were on the Norwegian Wind several years ago and were seated at
the
dinner table with a very nice family from the UK. We gradually
became
good
friends during the cruise, and at one point did discuss how much each
of
us
had paid. It turns out that cruise pricing (at least back then) was
much
higher in the UK than it was in the US. For future cruises, we gave
them
the name of our US travel agent. I'm not sure if they were every
able
to
use our TA, but to save several thousand dollars vs. UK prices, I
think
it
was worth trying.

Any way... this might be the exception.

--Tom


Well, I must be the anomaly on this issue. On our last cruise in
November '03, we happened to start chatting with a gentleman who was
with a very large group tour sponsored by a radio station in San
Francisco. He volunteeered that this was his first cruise in the
Caribbean and they had gotten a good deal because of the size of the
group, and he told me what it had cost (without my asking).
Surprisingly, it was about the same as I had paid with our group of
eight and I told him so, and we had a good laugh. The general tone of
the conversation was how inexpensive cruising is compared to almost
any other type of vacation no matter what you pay (except maybe biking
across the country and staying at hostels). I think it is common for
people who meet on a cruise to discuss price once they have become
comfortable with each other.

The one time I kept my mouth shut was on a two week tour of China,
where the group became quite friendly and one night at the bar started
talking about the price they had paid. They had all gone through
travel agents, and I had made my own arrangements directly with the
PRC government sponsored Travel Agency. I had paid about half of what
most of them had paid. I didn't point out that fact, out of decorum,
but gently suggested that the next time they bypass the travel agents,
if they are willing to do the research on their own.

Jim


"Ebbtide" wrote in message
. ..
I also think it is rude asking another what they paid for their
cruise.
It's
like asking how much you paid for anything personal, - car,
clothing,
house. However I live in the south (transplant many years ago) and
it
never
ceases to amaze me, one of the first questions I am asked is my
religion!!!
Coming from the Mid Atlantic States I equate that with asking my
salary. I
REFUSE to answer these rude people.



LOL! Reminds me of the time in the 60's when I (a Yankee) attended
graduate school in a southern state. There were four of us living in
a converted garage attic. A nice genteel lady who lived next door
started chatting with me and, out of the blue, asked me what my
heritage was. I replied that my grandparents had emigrated to this
country from Hungary. She replied "I thought you looked like you had
some foreign blood in you"! I didn't ask her if she was descended
from Native Americans or if she, too had "some foreign blood" in her!

Jim

You DID have foreign blood to her, you were a Yankee!! You know her in
the
south they call us transplants Yankees right to our face!! I love their
manners!! Oh yea, that's after asking our religion!!