Brodie Allen wrote:

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and pampered attention 24 hours of the day.

Come off it, do you really think some person in a 4-berth cabin in steerage is being waited on hand and foot?

So then I totalled the approximate costs for a say 50 - day sprint in the van.

$100,000 in depreciating real estate to drag about and depreciatng at about $25 per day

A $100,000 van doesn't depreciate to 0 in 10 years.....  It isn't depreciating at $25/day.  In the current market, people are sometimes getting more than they paid.

not to mention $1000 ins then rego on top of that

You are paying WAY too much in insurance.  $1000 every 50 days is extortionate.  Who is paying $6000/yr?  Find a better insurer.

Fuel to visit 50 destinations - say 200 k per day is roughly $20 daily.

Why have you allowed for 50 destinations, when the cruise only does 20?  If the cruise is 50 days and has 20 destinations, that's not one every day

even distantly comparing with the luxury of a cruise ship

Do you really think they give you palatial bathrooms on a cruise ship?  Unless you are very, very wealthy, the cabins and facilities are tiny.

now averaging $45 - 60 for the dirt Overnight.

I haven't paid that much, not sure where those rates apply

Now it is acknowledged that these figures are illustrative only, but to my mind

$135 is way too much considering the difference in quality of travel - particularly

around the South Pacific.

You haven't taken into account that the cruise is a one-off and having a holiday van/home allows you to go again and again.   Whatever the cost (and I don't think your figures stack up) isn't all gone at the end of one trip.  Food is a fixed cost, you'll be paying for that whether at home or away, how much it costs you depends on how frugal you are, you don't need to pay $25/day, car expenses aren't restricted only to the period away, you can use that car to get about at home, it's not just a cost of a short holiday. 

If people want to (and can, a lot of people don't have large sums of money lying about) pay $10000 for a cruise that's up to them.  I don't know why they'd care about what other people choose to do or why they'd think it justifies their expenditure.  Horses for courses.

 

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-- Edited by hufnpuf on Tuesday 3rd of May 2022 07:40:10 AM

You would have to pay me to get on a cruise ship even if the the trip was free.

When caravaning if you decide your daily activities.

If you find somewhere you realy like you stay a bit longer, on the boat heard you off at a port then all abord we gotta go.

The biggest issue to bloody many people, give me a small country town any day of the week, if I dont want to interact with people I have sustinance and entertainment at hand.

 Brodie has had a bee in the bonnet about caravan park rates, and will denigrate their costs at any chance. Before you shoot off at the lip about Caravan Parks fees, consider the cost to run a park.

 

 

-- Edited by Gundog on Tuesday 3rd of May 2022 08:22:12 AM

I note with the cruise costs you do not allocate a sum for covid related expenses?

To be fair, I hardly ever use caravan parks but I have lived in my caravan for 3.5 years and tracking *all* my spending over that time. I live well, I eat well, I drink too well, I buy the toys I want when I want; my average *total* spend over the past three years has been around $14,000 per year.

Cruising.............do you want Gastro or Covid with that? 

Bobdown wrote:

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Cruising.............do you want Gastro or Covid with that? 

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X2  Ruby Princess comes to mind and that's only one of many "bug carrying ships" around the world of recent times.      But if it "Floats your boat", go for it  

hufnpuf wrote:

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Brodie Allen wrote:

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and pampered attention 24 hours of the day.

Come off it, do you really think some person in a 4-berth cabin in steerage is being waited on hand and foot?

No but you certainly wont get much attention outside the front office! Generally the stewards on the cruisers

can't do enough for you. And they are never rude and dismissive!!! like some parks attendants. and how would

you equate your precious tug and van with steerage? What's your point?

So then I totalled the approximate costs for a say 50 - day sprint in the van.

$100,000 in depreciating real estate to drag about and depreciatng at about $25 per day

A $100,000 van doesn't depreciate to 0 in 10 years.....  It isn't depreciating at $25/day.  In the current market, people are sometimes getting more than they paid. And I did not allow for tug insurance and maintenance - so allow another daily allowance of say $5.

Never said it did. Tug and van certainly depreciate at better than $25 daily in my experience.

Not to mention $1000 ins then rego on top of that

You are paying WAY too much in insurance.  $1000 every 50 days is extortionate.  Who is paying $6000/yr?  Find a better insurer.

 

What made you think that the figure was only for 50 days?? $1000 PA! Times two for the tug also. Not included so it is a worse bottom line!

Fuel to visit 50 destinations - say 200 k per day is roughly $20 daily.

Why have you allowed for 50 destinations, when the cruise only does 20?  If the cruise is 50 days and has 20 destinations, that's not one every day

Number of stops irrelevant - so lets say 20 to keep you happy.

even distantly comparing with the luxury of a cruise ship

Do you really think they give you palatial bathrooms on a cruise ship?  Unless you are very, very wealthy, the cabins and facilities are tiny.

 

Certainly now averaging $45 - 60 for the dirt Overnight.

I haven't paid that much, not sure where those rates apply

Selecting a premium park to compare as far as possible with the sumptous conditions on the ship. I have seen vanparks bring your own house for $110 pn.

Now it is acknowledged that these figures are illustrative only, but to my mind

$135 plus tug insurance and maintenance for 50 days is way too much considering the difference in quality of travel - particularly

around the South Pacific.

$85 without the van parks aggravations for overnight.

 

You haven't taken into account that the cruise is a one-off and having a holiday van/home allows you to go again and again.   Whatever the cost (and I don't think your figures stack up) isn't all gone at the end of one trip.  Food is a fixed cost, you'll be paying for that whether at home or away no, food on ship included, how much it costs you depends on how frugal you are, you don't need to pay $25/day, car expenses aren't restricted only to the period away, you can use that car to get about at home, it's not just a cost of a short holiday. True - I have only costed it on the basis of 50 days. Please read the narrative.

If people want to (and can, a lot of people don't have large sums of money lying about) pay $10000 for a cruise that's up to them.  I don't know why they'd care about what other people choose to do or why they'd think it justifies their expenditure.  Horses for courses.

 So a 50 day total is around $67750  - how does that compare with a lay back everything done for you great food wonderful sights bla bla for an

extra $2500? or additional 25% !!!

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-- Edited by hufnpuf on Tuesday 3rd of May 2022 07:40:10 AM

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The daily cost for what you get on a cruise is very good value imo too. $200.00 per day is about right that includes as much food as you can eat, as well as a comfy bed turned down every night and basic toiletries in the ensuite bathroom.

But, after a while the novelty wears off and can become boring as one looks for something to do every day in effectively the same four walls. I've been on a few cruises and will go on more once they open up here. I just limit the days away.

I do think some van parks are milking their clientele...not all but some. We ourselves begin to look a bit closer when the rate creeps much above the $40.00 per night mark.

Depends on the offering too,
f I get a grey water drain next to me, a fresh water connection and power, then that infrastructure has to generate a return for the Council or Park owner as well as having on going costs to maintain. Then there are the showers, toilets and laundry facilities...along with staff wages, rates and taxes.
And of course a Park isn't full all the time...the costs of keeping the Park open don't stop when the tourists don't come.

I felt so sorry for all these people when the over paid self centred bungling Beaurocrats started their chest beating in 2020 and demanded every one stay home...to hell with the small business owner and their families!

I believe these people are entitled to claw some of their losses back, so I will continue to support them. But, they do need to remember the story of the Golden Goose...

I would be delighted if people started returning to the cruise ships then I would be able to find a site for my winter sojourn in North QLD.

hufnpuf wrote:

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Brodie Allen wrote:

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 So a 50 day total is around $67750  - how does that compare with a lay back everything done for you great food wonderful sights bla bla for an

extra $2500? or additional 25% !!!

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 What on earth are you talking about?  You're not making any sense at all, and when you are not making any sense, it's better to watch your tone and not be rude to people.  I'm not sure what you're so upset about, nobody cares if you think cruises are good value.  Good for you.  :)

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 Good on you for finding the typo. Original post is the matter. Gives one something to huff n puff about since

the rest of your post is missing the point in so many ways.

 

The whole point is that caravanning is a very expensive business and made LARGELY SO by inflated

park rates largely protected by Councils that keep free camps out of town at the behest of the

vanparks bleating. that's my opinion. Whats yours?

 

	Permalink
You forgot to include the cost of two pairs of ear plugs so that you don't have to listen to every other passengers boring life stories on the cruise. You're a captive audience on the cruise, at least in a CP you can jump in your caravan to avoid it. If you bush camp by yourself like us you only have to listen to the birds & occasional possum f*rt. In recent years we've even avoided our friends that do regular cruises, they're full of s*#   Lol...yep absolutely. Though we always kept to ourselves on cruises for the very reasons you mention. We made the mistake early in the piece of striking up conversation with fellow cruisers...big mistake...   We tend to be the same when camping, we prefer off grid camping for that reason. We largely keep to ourselves...conversation with adjacent campers is minimal. I might be seen as stand offish but I do get to relax without strangers turning up for a chat as they have nothing better to do. My better half and I like to chill, relax and do our own thing, and don't always need to join other groups to enjoy our time away...

Hitting the road wrote:

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	Permalink
You forgot to include the cost of two pairs of ear plugs so that you don't have to listen to every other passengers boring life stories on the cruise. You're a captive audience on the cruise, at least in a CP you can jump in your caravan to avoid it. If you bush camp by yourself like us you only have to listen to the birds & occasional possum f*rt. In recent years we've even avoided our friends that do regular cruises, they're full of s*#   Lol...yep absolutely. Though we always kept to ourselves on cruises for the very reasons you mention. We made the mistake early in the piece of striking up conversation with fellow cruisers...big mistake...   We tend to be the same when camping, we prefer off grid camping for that reason. We largely keep to ourselves...conversation with adjacent campers is minimal. I might be seen as stand offish but I do get to relax without strangers turning up for a chat as they have nothing better to do. My better half and I like to chill, relax and do our own thing, and don't always need to join other groups to enjoy our time away...

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 Sounds a lot like us.

A while back we were camped overnight at the very popular ''free camp'' at Wyandra half way B/w Cunamulla & Charleville.

We were having a pre-dinner drink with nibblies under our awning, relaxing after a long drive.

There must have been at least 50 men & women wandering around the camp with a drink in hand looking for a chat.

For the first time in over a decade of retired camping we went inside our caravan to avoid them.

The conversations were still in full swing when we went to bed. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

These days most of that type of conversation goes in one ear & out the other very quickly.

We're even sick of our own stories!!!!!!!!!!

My question to Brodie Allen is " have you ever owned or managed a business ? "

From you statements it appears you want councils to provide free camps within the town for you, at the expense of caravan parks and local rate payers.

deverall11 wrote:

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In my humble observations, electricity cost is what is driving up prices. Caravaners turning up in a caravan park, turning on the A/C
and promptly going sightseeing. It doesn't take much to cool down a caravan.
One day we will see caravan parks adopt electricity meters of each powered site. Pay As You Go system, operated by coins or C/C.
This way if you want to run your A/C all day you pay, I don't subsidise it. Fair on every one and might keep the costs down.

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 I really dont think its the price of electricity making caravan park fees rise, the amount of energy used daily even with air con/heating is tiny in monetary terms. This probably accounts for why the cost of powered and non powered sites are not vastly different to each other....usually about $5. The main costs of running a caravan park would be pay rate rises for cleaning/maintenance staff, constant repairs and upgrades. Costs of general insurance and public liability insurance I'm sure would be huge. Many, if not most caravan park owners dont seem to last too many years before chucking it in, not many making it rich, and the hours are long.

Corndoggy wrote:

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The caravan park we have been at for over 30 years has been through a number of owners in that time. Have not heard one of them complain about the money they have made from them, both yearly income and the sale value when they got out. Quite a few have then gone and purchased another park somewhere else, a few have wished they never sold it and some had even looked at buying it back. Most have done some upgrade in the park and made it back when they sold. Cleaners have always been employed by all owners. Can't be all that bad going by all that, at least at that park.

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 Guess it depends on the individual Park, some of the smaller ones seem to struggle, but the bigger, family friendly ones seem to be raking it in.