teddy

Doesn’t sound harsh to me. Essentially that IS your “justification” (or reasoning, logic, thought-process, call it whatever you want).
I look at it pretty similarly to you. We can mostly only sail when school is out b/c my wife is a teacher. For March 2024 - March 2025, we initially booked 4 cruises (all 7N on Wonder so it’s really apples to apples). The spring break cruises were a good bit cheaper than June & July. But that’s what we wanted to do this summer so we chose to pay the premium. Sure the March cruises are a better value but the Summer prices were worth it to us.
For similar cruises further out, prices were even higher and March was similar to June/July. For now, we decided they were still worth it to us (booking refundable group rates helps b/c we have plenty of time to change our minds). There are a couple other factors that will make the total costs closer to the earlier cruises but that doesn’t really matter as far as my main point…
Everyone values things differently. If cruising at current prices is still worth it to you, great! If it’s not, that’s fine too. I would never buy an expensive car or jewelry but if someone values those things & can afford them, no judgment here.

I never try to justify the cost. That sounds harsh, but there really isn't any way to justify it the same way you might justify a car repair for example. 
I look at the cost and decide if I can afford it and if I want to go.
Unfortunately,  all travel us now outrageous. Therefore,  choosing a different type of vacation never reaches the savings I anticipate.

Since I'm C&A points chasing, I have no desire to book Celebrity.

However, I would book Celebrity in a heartbeat if I got C&A points for it.

 

I always make payments directly to Royal, so I'm not sure about your TA on that one. For a couple of mine they fixed it after a few weeks. For another one they just zeroed out the balance so the client got like $500 off. I can't remember the them all. 
We have an excellent escalations team with Royal, so if something goes wrong we have the right people to fix things.

We are currently on Explorer.   On boarding day the Cap included, in his welcoming chat, that chair hogs would not be tolerated.  He said, "These chairs do not belong to you.  They ALL belong to me !".  I thought it was awesome.  We do not use outdoor loungers (well, Dan will on occasion, but not routinely) so it's not an issue that we deal with but I am totally on the Cap's side on this one.

There is a bigger mad rush for the feeding frenzy called the Windjammer

That's a bucket list item of mine: be in a position to book a last minute cruise.

Ill be 92. See you there with my solar dancing shoes on.

GROUP CRUISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not the years... it's the mileage.
 
Remember to regularly check the oil.

I’m not old yet, but I’ll be 75 in 2045.   While that’s not old either, I’ve abused my body some over the years.  I might not be very spry. 
 
I’m glad I had the opportunity to be in path of the eclipse this time around. 

I’m not old yet, but I’ll be 75 in 2045.   While that’s not old either, I’ve abused my body some over the years.  I might not be very spry. 
 
I’m glad I had the opportunity to be in path of the eclipse this time around. 

Good to hear all the green bubble people seem to be up and running again!

You would be surprised. October in the Med is like the tropics to peeps from more northerly climes.

How in the heck did you clear customs without your passports after you got off the ship?

We drove to see Monday's eclipse in Northern VT. (I'm 75 now). Not sure about 2045's eclipse. Yes, it was a sight to see.

I’m not old yet, but I’ll be 75 in 2045.   While that’s not old either, I’ve abused my body some over the years.  I might not be very spry. 
 
I’m glad I had the opportunity to be in path of the eclipse this time around. 

Hey who says you have to be spry?  😉
All you will need is your eyes and possibly a hi-tech wheelchair contraption!  Heck…you and I have been around long enough to know we can only imagine what technology will bring in the next 21 years!

I’m not old yet, but I’ll be 75 in 2045.   While that’s not old either, I’ve abused my body some over the years.  I might not be very spry. 
 
I’m glad I had the opportunity to be in path of the eclipse this time around. 

I’m not old yet, but I’ll be 75 in 2045.   While that’s not old either, I’ve abused my body some over the years.  I might not be very spry. 
 
I’m glad I had the opportunity to be in path of the eclipse this time around. 

Well, here in NC the eclipse was not so much. Temperature dropped, shadows got long, birds were quiet and there was a run on the grocery store. They ran out of bread, eggs and beer. Kind of like what happens when a hurricane is coming. Today folks are asking, where are the day after eclipse sales? Amazing how mother nature messes with folks! 😎

For everyone who plans [far, far] in advance, CocoCay is in the direct path of the August 12, 2045 total solar eclipse. Nearly 6 minutes of totality!

After reading @Lovetocruise2002’s reply, I realized we lumped Canadian provinces into the count of different license plates (my wife holds dual Canadian/US citizenship and our camp is only a few miles from the ME/Quebec border anyway).
Corrected version….we saw license plates from 29 states and three provinces.  🙂
 

lol
Yea, our camp is way out there...quite removed from things, including cell service (which we like).
We weren't sure if we were going to be able to get in this past weekend.  With the early spring, the lakes aren't safe to take snowmobiles across but the roads could have had too much snow to get a truck down.  Our timing was excellent, because with the melting yesterday and today along with the rain coming tomorrow, Mud Season will slam into us.  The roads won't be passable for a month or so.

We have an off grid camp that was smack dab in the middle of the path. 
 
It took some work to get there because it’s very isolated, way in the woods and still winter, but we made it.  20 miles off the tar road and we were able to get within a half mile of camp.  Thank goodness for 4wd, good tires, self recovery equipment, and the fact that the road had been plowed a few times this winter for logging…..and also for one of our kids who suggested we get eclipse glasses six months ago. 
 
Unlike most people in the state, we were totally alone when we saw it.   It’s the first eclipse we’ve seen in our 55 years. 
 
It was neat to hear coyotes yipping and geese honking when the sun was covered.  All the birds went silent, too. 
 
In the negative column was the drive home.  A 3-1/2 to 4 hour drive took us just under 9 hours.   We saw plates from 32 different states.