deducting cost of cruise for tax purposes?

On 12/31/2010 11:49 AM, LVTravel wrote:


"Janet Wilder" wrote in message
eb.com...
On 12/30/2010 8:41 PM, Carol Eskra wrote:
When I went on my first cruise many years ago, I paid the fare, booked a
flight and off we went and I never asked a question, However I am not
one to sweat the small stuff!


Our first cruise was in the late 80's. I was traveling a lot for
business and my company used Marriot hotels. I had their "honored
guest"program and earned enough points to pay for one ticket and get
the second one free except for port charges and taxes. We drove from
New Jersey to Miami and parked our car in their secure lot (free in
those days) and sailed away on the brand new Norwegian Seaward.

Those were the days with no buffets except the midnight one every
single night. There were no separate theaters and the shows were in
the lounge.

Cruising was so different from any other vacations we'd done that we
were immediately hooked.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

The Seaward was a nice ship. And I agree about the buffets. Pizza at 11
PM just isn't the same as the good old Midnight Buffet. Really liked the
Chocoholic buffet. She was our second cruise, the first was on the NCL
Sunward II.

Our second was the Starward. Little ship. Great cruise.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On 12/31/2010 4:11 PM, Surfer E2468 wrote:
Cruises can not compare to the ones years ago,they treated everyone like
royalty,and the midnight buffet's were fantastic,everyone took pictures
of them.


Th being treated like royalty was what hooked me on cruising. One of the
reasons we cruise a lot with Royal Caribbean is their well-trained crew,
especially in the dining room. No one anywhere else treats me as well,
night after night, as that dining room staff on a cruise ship.

I really don't miss the buffet. Too much food and too much waste.
Everyone took pictures, took the pretty food and left it on the plates.
Those who ate it, probably didn't need the calories. g

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

"Carol Eskra" wrote in message
...
Funny thing is I don't think this guy is a troll, just a schmuck! Lol


Oh Carol, you are such a bitch. Just like Jean and Sue.

Sunny-----Boa why doesn't people post about cruising and leave other folks
alone? Once they die they may be more forgiving.

On 12/31/2010 8:40 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
On 12/31/2010 4:11 PM, Surfer E2468 wrote:
Cruises can not compare to the ones years ago,they treated everyone like
royalty,and the midnight buffet's were fantastic,everyone took pictures
of them.


Th being treated like royalty was what hooked me on cruising. One of the
reasons we cruise a lot with Royal Caribbean is their well-trained crew,
especially in the dining room. No one anywhere else treats me as well,
night after night, as that dining room staff on a cruise ship.

I really don't miss the buffet. Too much food and too much waste.
Everyone took pictures, took the pretty food and left it on the plates.
Those who ate it, probably didn't need the calories. g

I always thought the food at those midnight buffets looked a lot better
than it tasted. And those long lines! I don't miss them at all. That
royal treatment isn't as royal as it once was, but we still love to
cruise, don't we? lol

Ermalee ---have only 2 stacked for the new year

Mark (SF) wrote:
I suspect that next week, Ohioguy will have a health issue and will
then post asking internet strangers if he should delay elective
surgery until after the cruise.

Actually, I planned ahead and had the surgery back in November, so it
wouldn't affect the cruise. Also, we had maxed out our insurance
expenses for the year, so the surgery was free for us before December
31. Had I waited until today, everything would have been out of pocket.
(high deductible) Anyway, while I do have a lot of faith in the
collective knowledge of folks on the Internet, I don't typically post
details of my health online. Reason: it's a little strange and
off-putting, like the acquaintance who, when you ask how they're doing,
gives you a 10 minute detailed list of every annoyance in their life.
By the time they are done, you just want to get away.

Yep, still plan on taking some dollar coin rolls.


I wasn't going to sling the first arrow, but this fellow had to come
here to get advice from a Usenet group as to what cruise to take,
where to stay, how to fly there, how early to get to the embarkation
point,

Yes, I have a long, established history of asking those with
experience for advice, so I can avoid making rookie mistakes.

There is no way any one of the magazines I wrote for or even ones
I querried would accept an article from someone who had no knowledge
about the subject they were writing about.

It is one thing to have book knowledge of something, and another to
experience it. Right now, I believe I have a decent overview of what a
cruise is like, from asking you folks, and from speaking with my wife.
(who has gone on 2) However, until I experience it myself in a few
days, I won't feel like I could give anyone advice about going on a
cruise. If I do take copious notes, recordings, keep a diary, and lots
of photos, I might just be able to sell a story about my experience
afterwards. At the very least, I can post some entries about the meals
online to my dining blog.

When I went on my first cruise many years ago, I paid the fare, booked a
flight and off we went and I never asked a question, However I am not
one to sweat the small stuff!

There are 2 main reasons why I was sweating a little:

1) I'm used to vacations that cost about $400 for a week, at the most.
I typically go camping at a state park, or once in a while we've rented
a cabin at one in the fall. This one runs about 6x that, and will be
our single largest cost item for the entire year. Just like when I'm
making an investment with my self directed IRA, I worry about making a
poor decision and blowing it. Last thing I want to do is do something
stupid, and then have my wife aggravated about it for a whole week.

2) Our trips are often also open ended. If we want to do something
different, we can. If we want to stay an extra day, or leave a day
early, we can. Being on a ship seems different in a way. I worried a
bit about feeling stuck. Get on the ship, and stay the whole time,
without being able to change your mind or make any changes.

On 1/1/2011 1:03 PM, Ohioguy wrote:
Yep, still plan on taking some dollar coin rolls.


I wasn't going to sling the first arrow, but this fellow had to come
here to get advice from a Usenet group as to what cruise to take,
where to stay, how to fly there, how early to get to the embarkation
point,

Yes, I have a long, established history of asking those with experience
for advice, so I can avoid making rookie mistakes.

There is no way any one of the magazines I wrote for or even ones I
querried would accept an article from someone who had no knowledge
about the subject they were writing about.

It is one thing to have book knowledge of something, and another to
experience it. Right now, I believe I have a decent overview of what a
cruise is like, from asking you folks, and from speaking with my wife.
(who has gone on 2) However, until I experience it myself in a few days,
I won't feel like I could give anyone advice about going on a cruise. If
I do take copious notes, recordings, keep a diary, and lots of photos, I
might just be able to sell a story about my experience afterwards. At
the very least, I can post some entries about the meals online to my
dining blog.

I think the above are great ideas, however, taking a tax break for
writing about your first cruise???? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes
when the audit comes down. S'all I'm sayin'

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On 1/1/2011 1:08 PM, Ohioguy wrote:
When I went on my first cruise many years ago, I paid the fare, booked a
flight and off we went and I never asked a question, However I am not
one to sweat the small stuff!

There are 2 main reasons why I was sweating a little:

1) I'm used to vacations that cost about $400 for a week, at the most. I
typically go camping at a state park, or once in a while we've rented a
cabin at one in the fall. This one runs about 6x that, and will be our
single largest cost item for the entire year. Just like when I'm making
an investment with my self directed IRA, I worry about making a poor
decision and blowing it. Last thing I want to do is do something stupid,
and then have my wife aggravated about it for a whole week.

2) Our trips are often also open ended. If we want to do something
different, we can. If we want to stay an extra day, or leave a day
early, we can. Being on a ship seems different in a way. I worried a bit
about feeling stuck. Get on the ship, and stay the whole time, without
being able to change your mind or make any changes.

Ohio Guy,

I don't believe anyone here is taking you to task for having asked us
questions. I believe we answered them all with civility. What set off
this thread was your asking for income tax advice for, what appeared to
many of us, a non-compliant purpose.

If you keep your questions to cruising, you might do better

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

"Carol Eskra" wrote in message
...
My first cruise was on the Norway back in the early 1980's. Mother
treated my sister and me and we had a blast. We spent several days at
the Hilton Fountainbleu, but mother didn't like the violinist
serenaiding us during dinner! Lol

When we got off the ship in St. Thomas the air was permeated with weed.
Mother made the comment "the people here are so happy." Then she
wondered what that terrible odor was and I told her "if you didn't have
to work and was high all day you would be happy too." My sister and I
had a good laugh over this!

Those were the "good old days" when your caesar salad was prepared at
your table, and the Jamaicans really gave superb service. We had a fun
time partying with the crew in the crew bar!


Done the "deceased" Norway three times and she was a proud old ship with a
lot of dedicated employees. Have sailed on almost all of the NCL ships up
until 5 years ago when they screwed a group cruise I put together and did
nothing for us at all. NCL at one time did give great service for the price
paid, probably better than any other line for the price but their service
fell off drastically and really could have cared less about customer
service. I have heard that some of it (customer service) has come back but
they will never get another dollar out of my TA.