So I guess those three passengers don't have to worry about the high cost of rising airfare. They probably will have free air for life now.

I just paid a not-so-small sum to upgrade all three of us to United's Economy Plus. My husband needs the extra legroom. We are on a total of four flights, so it adds up. We didn't have to do the upgrade on all four, but his comfort is important. We'll cut back on the expenses elsewhere.

Back to the original question, the cost of airfare is certainly impacting our decision on where and when we cruise. We actually cancelled a British Isles cruise for July 2008 (that's not a typo) as I couldn't find airfare to London that was less than $1,000 per person. (We've factored that into the budget for our cruise for next year.) For the amount we had budgeted for our original trip, we were able to rebook for Alaska in a very nice cabin and still have plenty left over.

But for us, it isn't just about the $ when it comes to flying down early/staying a day late. Other than the summer, we have little or no flexibility in our schedules as my husband is a teacher. This means that our cruising will likely be during the summer, unless we are able to find something out of New York or Boston in the spring.

Sorry, guys, but the hamburger topic got me to laughing...a group of guys was in a local buger joint and the first guy got a "double" and the second guy got a "triple", so to try to outdo the others and prove to be a bid eater, the third guy ordered a "double-triple" and got it! 5 patties with 5 slices of cheese and a heafty price tag for it!

quote:

a group of guys was in a local buger joint and the first guy got a "double" and the second guy got a "triple"

Uh, that's burger. Your spelling gives a less than savory connotation to the story.

Sorry, Dave. Now that i re-read that, I just can't stop laughing . My Dad used to call them "bugers" or "hambuger", so I guess it kinda stuck with me as I was typing...gotta learn to use spellcheck on here....lol

quote:

Originally posted by f-mattox:
I'm not sure how we got from airlines to cheeseburgers, but as long as we're here, do you guys have "In-'n-Out" back there? The burgers are about as good as you can get at fast food places out here.

Ricj I would agree with you about the IN-'n-outs in the Monrovia area when we lived there. However do not ever try one in Fresno. They do not even taste like a burger. If you had one of their first you would not go back to the place.
BTW my favorite is Tommy's

I love it Rodney, I can't stop laughing now.

I think more and more people are already cruising from ports close to home, so they can drive instead of flying. I am sure this will become more and more prevalent in the future, as flying has become such a total hastle. For each of our next two cruises, we have eliminated flying one way. On the first, we have to fly to Florida, but we end in our homeport, San Diego. On the next, we leave from a nearby Calif. port, LA, and we only have to fly the one way back from Vancouver, where we disembark.

Hello SD Cruiser; that is exactly my thinking. Our trip to the Baltic last year did it for me--long layovers, delays, lousy food, worse service, surly employees, and none or our luggage made it home with us; we finally got it all about a week later. And that was with United and SAS; two airlines from whom I expected better. Fortunately the cruise itself on Veendam was wonderful.

Gary - back to burgers for a second; I'm surprised to hear that about In-'n-Out; they are pretty consistent around here. But of course Tommy's is legendary.

Rick