Every year in mid-October, my mailbox gets noticeably fuller with holiday catalogs. The adverts are bold and glossy with all sorts of gifting ideas. I enjoy leafing through their colorful pages. But then they keep coming to my mailbox. And coming. And coming some more. If I saved every one of them I’d probably have a stack as high as my house by mid-December. By my calculations that’s almost as high as the stack I’d have for luxury cruises.
Maybe you’re familiar with the term First-World problem. It refers to “issues that are trivial, experienced by people in affluent, developed nations.” It puts minor annoyances in perspective compared to the more legitimate problems of this world. Good examples of First-World problems: 1) You can’t find the TV remote, 2) You have bad cell phone reception, or 3) Your favorite store only accepts cash. Today’s example of a First-World problem: 4) Too much junk mail from cruise lines.
Yes, I’ve taken a cruise. In fact I’ve taken four: one on the (Pacific) ocean with Carnival, one on the (Baltic) sea with Oceania, and two on the (Rhine, Danube) rivers with Viking. So it’s fair to say I’m a worthy target when it comes to cruise lines pushing their upcoming adventures. For some reason Carnival doesn’t pursue me (maybe I’m too old for their party boats?) but Oceania and Viking have gone – take your pick – full steam ahead or totally overboard. They send countless postcards advertising their cruises, and thick catalogs advertising their entire season’s worth. They love to push you to consider their “off-season, deeply discounted” options. And they love to NOT leave you alone.
It’s safe to say I receive a promotion for a cruise two out of every three days. Most days these adverts seem to give birth to a family. Just yesterday I received six, and two of them – go figure – were identical twins. I guess Viking really wants me to take that cruise. One of those six came from Regent (kind of an orphan), which makes me think Viking and Oceania share their mailing lists. Thanks a lot, guys.
Would I take a luxury cruise right now? Sounds nice, as long as it’s not through the Strait of Hormuz. Sounds nice, as long as I don’t pick up a pandemic-potential virus onboard. Sounds nice, as long as my ship doesn’t get torpedoed the way Cunard’s cruise ship Lusitania did in the early 1900s (read the remarkable story in Erik Larson’s Dead Wake). Maybe I should reconsider my “sounds good”. I sense the gods of cruising are trying to tell me something.
Admittedly, it surprised me to learn the demand for luxury cruises is not down but markedly up right now. You could point to the cost of fuel, the unrest in several parts of the world, or the thought of picking up a virus as reasons people wouldn’t want to cruise. Doesn’t seem to matter. Bookings are at record levels, especially those for “mega-ships” that look like floating water parks and the ones that take you to private islands. When one of my postcards advertises “up to 45% Spring savings!” and another “up to 30% off with free international airfare!”, you just know their profit margins are more than healthy.
But I digress. I need to address my First-World problem. Rather, let’s let Catalog Choice (CC) address it. With a quick online sign-up and a little info from one of my postcards, CC claims they’ll remove the cruise clutter from my mailbox, in the name of “fighting waste, preventing fraud, and simplifying life”. Will they? Time will tell. Maybe I’ll get back to you a few months from now since it’s a matter of global concern. Assuming I’m not on a luxury cruise at the time.
Some content sourced from the Travel and Tour World article, “U.S. Cruise Industry Faces Fuel Shock, Health Fears, and Mega Ship Boom…”, and Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.
Life In A Word 
I had never heard of Catalog Choice before, what a great idea! We get catalogs of the people who lived here before us too. The one from Restoration Hardware weighs at least two pounds! I don’t plan on stepping on a cruise any time soon!
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Yes, hopefully it was implied, Catalog Choice claims to take care of all kinds of junk mail, not just the stuff from Cruise Lines. Really hope it works. Not that it takes me any time at all to sort the junk from the real stuff these days. Just about everything in my mailbox is junk!
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LOL – Ok, let’s see if the catalogs stop, but then you might miss them when you decide YOU do want to go on a cruise again. 😉
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That’s a fair point, and I admit to hanging on to a catalog or two in the hopes I really do take cruise #5 some day. Suddenly it’s been a long time since cruise #4!
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Dave, as I was reading the first few paragraphs of your post, I was thinking right away about my great experience with Catalog Choice and I even Googled to get the info on the website to give to you, only for you to mention them in the end. Back when I signed on with them, many years ago, they were a fledgling organization out for a good cause – to reduce clutter, save the environment, especially the trees, (which is why they are a “dot org” not a “dot com”). I remember that for a minimal donation, I provided them a list of the catalogs that I got repeated mailings or unwanted mailings and at that time I needed to provide a number from the top of the mailing label to send to them. That helped Catalog Choice distinguish because sometimes people legitimately order from the catalog and sometimes other catalog order companies obtain your info from other catalogs and mass mail you, even if you never order from them. So, in some instances I could give Catalog Choice one label number and I’d notice that the same number appeared on multiple catalog mailings, some which weren’t even something I was interested in. I used to order a lot of clothing and accessories, even a few things for the home, from “Coldwater Creek” and through Catalog Choice I learned that many of the unsolicited catalogs originated with those catalog purchases and the mailing label. This was long before I made online purchases, strictly catalog purchases. If they are still as effective as before, the catalogs ceased in record time. Good luck – a little effort and you’ll be catalog-free too!
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Ah, great to hear CC really does address my First-World problem! Hoping I have the same success as you, Linda. Honestly, we don’t get much more than the cruise-line adverts (and the catalog crush before the holidays) but I’d still like to make it go away.
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[Hmm – sorry … how did I miss your reply last night?] I was more than satisfied with CC and I think you will be as well Dave. I still get e-mails from Brett at CC to ask if I am interested in other ecological endeavors they have all which are tax deductible. I used to subscribe to “Travel & Leisure” magazine back when I was still traveling. I think that might have prompted a lot of tour companies and cruise lines to send brochures. That was long before the internet/online catalogs.
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I have only been on one cruise, loved it but I caught the worst case of strep throat I have ever had. Despite that my husband and I would go on another one, maybe. We have lived in one 3rd world country, Bolivia, SA and one 5th world country, Papua New Guinea which has made it hard at times to listen to first world people. It changed us, for the good. We are easily contented in the US but we were living over seas. Our perspective changed the most and contentment comes easier. Good post, good points.
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Thanks for reading and for chiming in. Yours is healthy perspective on the experience of living in a “non-first” country. Honestly, I didn’t know there were countries classified below “third”. I can only claim Italy (a year in college) as a residence outside of the U.S., but even that “other-first” experience helped me to appreciate a simpler, more intentional way of living. There’s a lot more substance to the “dolce vita” than most people realize.
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Papua New Guinea is what we would call a 5th world country. The United Nations calls it a failed nation. After World War 2 they gave Australia the mandate to help PNG. About 40 years ago they wanted their independence but their inter-structure was not ready for independence. There is over 800 different language groups in PNG which makes it super hard. There are no roads that will take you from one side of the island to the other side. People groups still live in remote villages like they did 100 years ago. Our mission organization, Ethnos360 will move into these remote places if the village allows it, learn their language and culture, then teach them them to read and write their language and translate the Bible as the learning takes place. We only want to give them a chance to hear the gospel in their own heart language. After presenting the gospel and discipling them we move out of the village as the leaders take over. It sound so easy on paper but its take time, lots of it and discipline to stay the course. There are several place with remote areas and those are the countries our mission go into, the hard to reach. We believe the message of the Bible is worth the time, hardship we give to see others who live in fear of the spirits they worship turn into trusting God. It is not easy to fit back into a first world country on so many levels but I do love our country and love the convivence it offers.
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I’d like an App on my phone/iPad that lets me opt out of being shown advertising on all the other apps. Or how hard would it be for my Smart Phone to figure out that since I never ever click on an ad, all ads might has well be blocked.
While I understand how fortunate many of us are to live in a First-World Country, advertising can create an environment that Second or Third World Countries might not have: Health issues from food choices; unhealthy stereotypes such as beauty standards; environmental waste; manipulation of behaviour…
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Good points about advertising in the “First-World”, Margy. The impacts are more toxic than an innocent postcard would suggest. My newsfeed is dwindling because I refuse to allow electronic ads, so those news providers won’t show me whatever they have to report. No problem; I seem to get by on just reading their headlines 🙂
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That sounds like it would get obnoxious fast. This: “Viking and Oceania share their mailing lists” surprises me. Wouldn’t that be bad for business? Unless it’s big business to sell their lists, maybe.
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I didn’t think of it that way Ilsa, but you’re right. Why let the competition have a shot at me? If I actually cared to know how it all works behind the scenes maybe I’d have an answer for you 🙂
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No worries. I’m sure, if nothing else, they provide such lovely pictures to look at.
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My Mrs tends towards the risk-averse, and has seen enough news articles about debacles involving cruise liners that I do not forsee a cruise in my future.
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Your Mrs. and my Mrs. would get along well. As much as I claim another cruise in my future, it doesn’t happen unless my wife reaches a whole new level of comfort with the idea.
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Dave I’m surprised they even send out catalogs anymore? as opposed to being bombarded with emails, but at least you can easily unsubscribe to those. It must be frightfully expensive to print. I have a few companies who don’t give up with the catalogs, namely LL Bean and April Cornell, both US companies. I think I ordered from LL Bean last 5 years ago, and returned it due to a defective zipper as they now make stuff in Sri Lanka, and yet I continue to get the catalogs. I look at them and then they go straight to the recycling box. The Avon people finally gave up though…the local rep would faithfully leave the booklets on the front doorstep every month but when she retired there was no one interested in taking her place. Cruising is not for introvert me, too many people in too close quarters, but many people love it.
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Interesting point about email Joni, and something I’d never thought of before. I’ve probably blocked cruise line emails somewhere along the way (along with countless other types of advertising). I can just see Viking’s advertising team saying gleefully, “No problem, we’ll get him with paper catalogs instead!” 🙂
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I’ll be looking forward to hearing whether Catalog Choice works. The amount of paper must be astronomical that goes into all these catalogs and advertisements–that many of us have no interest in!
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If CC really works Nancy, I may change my mailbox habit and only check it once a week. There’s just nothing important in there anymore!
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