re: Question about Cruises for both cruise fans and haters.

I don't get some of you. OP doesn't like cruises. We're talking about $5k (assuming anything without the Disney label is 50% off) to indulge someone else's wants, not yours, or your kids. Your kids don't care if they're on Orange Beach, or 30A, or nearly anywhere but Galveston or Norfolk.

Unless you have a will from them showing that they're giving you (not your kids) over $100k+ when they die, their preferences are just that. Their preferences. I choose to contribute to my kids' 529s and my own IRA, rather than spend an unnecessary $8k on a tub of bullshite to make *them* happy. Again, I'd rather take them to Europe for nearly the same cost. I'm not paying hundreds of dollars a night for waffles shaped like Mickey ears, ever, ever, again.