Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up similarly and with the same perception.

I think upper crust WASPs like to think of themselves as ultra-refined and more knowledgeable about most things than mostly everyone else. Whether or not this is true is another conversation. Cruises aren’t “true” travel but are packaged experiences on a sort of floating Las Vegas, which is why the WASP community might see them as gauche/crass. They kind of scream “new money.” I’m not saying this is an accurate perception, but I think this is the perception.

It’s hard for me to unlearn this. My husband, from a LMC background, loves cruises shamelessly and urges me to give them a try. I just have no interest due to my snobby upbringing!

I grew up in this type of environment. The snooty “this is how it’s done” extended to everything from insisting on SLACs, to which cocktails to drink, to which cars to drive (and not drive). And just like I have grown to be my own person with regard to many things, I have also learned that I love to cruise. I do other kinds of travel too but cruises can be a great getaway for certain places and with certain groups of people.

Yup!
My dad would have rather died than take a cruise.
He also instilled in us that you never order chicken at a restaurant.

Lo and behold, I grew up and really enjoy cruises and have ordered chicken many times in restaurants! Live and learn, I guess.

What's up with this?

I truly have no idea. I think his thought process was that chicken is boring and relatively cheap, so you should get something more "special" at a restaurant. Or something like that. He was a wonderful and loving dad, but had his quirks! (That's part of growing up, right? Figuring out which ideas your parents raised you with were right and which ones were their own peculiar quirks.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up similarly and with the same perception.

I think upper crust WASPs like to think of themselves as ultra-refined and more knowledgeable about most things than mostly everyone else. Whether or not this is true is another conversation. Cruises aren’t “true” travel but are packaged experiences on a sort of floating Las Vegas, which is why the WASP community might see them as gauche/crass. They kind of scream “new money.” I’m not saying this is an accurate perception, but I think this is the perception.

It’s hard for me to unlearn this. My husband, from a LMC background, loves cruises shamelessly and urges me to give them a try. I just have no interest due to my snobby upbringing!

I grew up in this type of environment. The snooty “this is how it’s done” extended to everything from insisting on SLACs, to which cocktails to drink, to which cars to drive (and not drive). And just like I have grown to be my own person with regard to many things, I have also learned that I love to cruise. I do other kinds of travel too but cruises can be a great getaway for certain places and with certain groups of people.

Yup!
My dad would have rather died than take a cruise.
He also instilled in us that you never order chicken at a restaurant.

Lo and behold, I grew up and really enjoy cruises and have ordered chicken many times in restaurants! Live and learn, I guess.

What's up with this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up similarly and with the same perception.

I think upper crust WASPs like to think of themselves as ultra-refined and more knowledgeable about most things than mostly everyone else. Whether or not this is true is another conversation. Cruises aren’t “true” travel but are packaged experiences on a sort of floating Las Vegas, which is why the WASP community might see them as gauche/crass. They kind of scream “new money.” I’m not saying this is an accurate perception, but I think this is the perception.

It’s hard for me to unlearn this. My husband, from a LMC background, loves cruises shamelessly and urges me to give them a try. I just have no interest due to my snobby upbringing!

I grew up in this type of environment. The snooty “this is how it’s done” extended to everything from insisting on SLACs, to which cocktails to drink, to which cars to drive (and not drive). And just like I have grown to be my own person with regard to many things, I have also learned that I love to cruise. I do other kinds of travel too but cruises can be a great getaway for certain places and with certain groups of people.

Yup!
My dad would have rather died than take a cruise.
He also instilled in us that you never order chicken at a restaurant.

Lo and behold, I grew up and really enjoy cruises and have ordered chicken many times in restaurants! Live and learn, I guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is trashy because for the most part it is lazy people who want to experience something new with no effort and no real interest in engaging with the place in any meaningful way. They want to pull up in their ports in an ugly boat, descend on some place, scoop the cream off the top and go back to their boat where they can drink too much and eat too much. They get to feel like they are someone special, all the while willfully ignoring the fact that they are polluting the air and the water of the “paradise” they are visiting and the fact that they are waited on hard working people who have no other option but to leave their families and their homes for months at a time for crap wages because it is their best option - and for those crap wages they get to make some schmo from the US feel like somebody. They get to tolerate drunks, aggressive passengers and unruly children, all with a smile on their face. In short it isn’t the mode of travel that makes it trashy it is the ignorance and indifference multiplied by hundreds that makes it trashy.

What are the meaningful ways classy people engage with the locals on their vacations to the Hamptons or Kiawah?

I think you’re confusing people wanting to go on an adventure vs relax without feeling like cattle. Those are two different trips.

The old money people I know don’t even do “adventure vacations” except maybe in college/early 20’s. They want to be surrounded by people like them and good help and that’s all.

Yes, in fact, some of the most moneyed people are also the most insular.

That's one of the best things about being rich. Most people would be insular if they could afford it.

This may be accurate, but it’s also quite sad.

Sorry the truth is sad.

It is true- very few of us on vacation are truly interested in any kind of “authentic” interaction with the locals beyond surface niceties. It takes a special kind of blind entitlement to not see how entirely transactional and false these interactions are. Just smile, tip and keep it moving.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up similarly and with the same perception.

I think upper crust WASPs like to think of themselves as ultra-refined and more knowledgeable about most things than mostly everyone else. Whether or not this is true is another conversation. Cruises aren’t “true” travel but are packaged experiences on a sort of floating Las Vegas, which is why the WASP community might see them as gauche/crass. They kind of scream “new money.” I’m not saying this is an accurate perception, but I think this is the perception.

It’s hard for me to unlearn this. My husband, from a LMC background, loves cruises shamelessly and urges me to give them a try. I just have no interest due to my snobby upbringing!

I grew up in this type of environment. The snooty “this is how it’s done” extended to everything from insisting on SLACs, to which cocktails to drink, to which cars to drive (and not drive). And just like I have grown to be my own person with regard to many things, I have also learned that I love to cruise. I do other kinds of travel too but cruises can be a great getaway for certain places and with certain groups of people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WASPs enjoy not eating, quiet, reading books, vigorous activity, expensive wine or gin, and traveling away from the riffraff. Cruises aren’t good for this.

who the f**k cares what "WASPs" enjoy? are there really people who think like this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up similarly and with the same perception.

I think upper crust WASPs like to think of themselves as ultra-refined and more knowledgeable about most things than mostly everyone else. Whether or not this is true is another conversation. Cruises aren’t “true” travel but are packaged experiences on a sort of floating Las Vegas, which is why the WASP community might see them as gauche/crass. They kind of scream “new money.” I’m not saying this is an accurate perception, but I think this is the perception.

It’s hard for me to unlearn this. My husband, from a LMC background, loves cruises shamelessly and urges me to give them a try. I just have no interest due to my snobby upbringing!

I grew up in this type of environment. The snooty “this is how it’s done” extended to everything from insisting on SLACs, to which cocktails to drink, to which cars to drive (and not drive). And just like I have grown to be my own person with regard to many things, I have also learned that I love to cruise. I do other kinds of travel too but cruises can be a great getaway for certain places and with certain groups of people.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up similarly and with the same perception.

I think upper crust WASPs like to think of themselves as ultra-refined and more knowledgeable about most things than mostly everyone else. Whether or not this is true is another conversation. Cruises aren’t “true” travel but are packaged experiences on a sort of floating Las Vegas, which is why the WASP community might see them as gauche/crass. They kind of scream “new money.” I’m not saying this is an accurate perception, but I think this is the perception.

It’s hard for me to unlearn this. My husband, from a LMC background, loves cruises shamelessly and urges me to give them a try. I just have no interest due to my snobby upbringing!

Anonymous wrote:I love cruises and I’m not a judgmental snob.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Dad thinks cruises are for the masses and only takes Windstar, Crystal, or private yachts like the one he took to the Galapagos with only 8 couples aboard, a world-renown chef, and a personal assistant per couple.

Wow. Any other pearls of wisdom from Dad to share?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Dad thinks cruises are for the masses and only takes Windstar, Crystal, or private yachts like the one he took to the Galapagos with only 8 couples aboard, a world-renown chef, and a personal assistant per couple.

Wow. Any other pearls of wisdom from Dad to share?

Anonymous wrote:My Dad thinks cruises are for the masses and only takes Windstar, Crystal, or private yachts like the one he took to the Galapagos with only 8 couples aboard, a world-renown chef, and a personal assistant per couple.