Pod Insights The Clark Howard Podcast 07.09.25 Cruise Industry Update / Affordable Housing Solutions Are Out There About this episode After the pandemic, the cruise industry came roaring back. But the tide is turning. Today - Clark smart direction for cruise travelers. Also, there are innovative methods of building much-needed housing in the U. S. awaiting wider adoption. Clark has an impressive case in point - courtesy of Brooklyn. Cruise Update: Segment 1 Ask Clark: Segment 2 Affordable Housing: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: Why You Should Re-Shop Your Cruise Booking a Cruise? Here Are 5 Ways To Do It for Less Where You Should Never Buy Travel Insurance for a Cruise The Only Way You Should Pay for a Cruise How To Find Cheap Flights in 3 Easy Steps 5 Money Tips To Know Before You Travel Abroad This Brooklyn apartment complex was built like a Lego set Are Solar Panels Worth it? 3 Things To Consider Before You Get Solar Panels Ask Clark: How Should I Replace My Prepaid Bluebird® American Express®? Clark.com resources Episode transcripts Community. Clark.com / Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices: megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
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1:04 Speaker 02 It's great to be with you here on The Clark Howard Show, where our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you to make better financial decisions in your life. On today's show, I'm going to talk about new developments with the cruise industry that will be friendly to your wallet. After I told you earlier this year that cruise rates were staying stubbornly high, I've got an update for you. Also, if you're a longtime listener or viewer, you know how obsessed I am with us reducing the cost of housing construction in the United States. And people keep saying, where? When?
1:49 Speaker 02 How? I'm going to give you one real life example for one of the most difficult places to build affordable housing in the United States. If it can work there, it can work anywhere in the US. I'll share it with you later. So we and our family were not cruise passengers, but our now 19-year-old son became obsessed with cruises when he was in kindergarten or first grade, whenever the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking was. And so now we've been on 25 cruises.
2:31 Speaker 02 So I understand them really well, understand the costs, how to save on them and all the rest. And I was really surprised earlier this year that cruise lines were reporting that their bookings were not declining at all. They were having no price resistance in the marketplace, even though other discretionary purchases in the travel industry and outside the travel industry were going into a slowdown. Well, it just seemed that it was a matter of time. And now cruises are booking softer than they were before.
3:12 Speaker 02 And because every cruise cabin is a discretionary purchase, nobody has to go on a cruise. Every cabin on a cruise is filled by somebody who wanted to spend the money for it. So when that demand softens, the cruise lines will have certain dates that are weak, that have a lot of cabins available, different categories, and the prices then respond to the marketplace. So I've got a few things I want to tell you about this. First, if you already have an active cruise booking and it's for way in the future and
3:54 Speaker 02 you are in that time period where you can bail and you lose nothing or maybe 100 bucks or something like that, you should think about this like being a free agent and reshop your cruise and see if not just the specific ship, specific date you're booked on, whatever flexibility you have, see if you can now turn this softening that's happening to an advantage for your wallet. And either you stay in the same category type of cabin and you get some money back in your pocket, maybe, maybe not, or you use it as an opportunity to get an upgrade for
4:37 Speaker 02 the same or similar money to a better quality cabin, your choice. But this is a time that it's good to reshop that cruise booking. Most people, once they booked one, they're done with it. They wash their hands of it. They're just excited that in so many months, they're going to go on the cruise. But don't do that. Don't treat your wallet like it's imported concrete. I want you to shop it. If you're thinking about going on a cruise, you've gone in the past, maybe, and thinking, hey, let me see what's out there. The more flexible you are, date and line, departure port, destinations, the more money you're
5:18 Speaker 02 going to save. The more you approach it from my key rule, you buy the deal and then figure out why you're going there. That's how you're going to save the most money with this softness. This is not a collapse and sale of cabins. It is a softening in demand that creates potential opportunity for your wallet. And I'd love it if you have an existing booking, you shop around, you reshop it, and you do save money, or you don't save money. I'd love the feedback from you either way.
5:56 Speaker 03 Okay, a cruise question. This came in from Liz in New York. I'd like to know your opinion on using excursions that are reputable but not associated with the cruise lines, such as Viator and Shore Excursion Group. I'm going on a Disney cruise in August, and I, unlike you, like everything taken care of and no big surprise experiences when I travel. I find that many of the cruise websites are confusing and finding the excursions in advance to look at is difficult. Also, in many cases, I am in the last group allowed to book excursions. At that point, the excursion I like is sold out. Thank you for watching out for us viewers from Orchard Park, New York, home of the Bills. Go Bills.
6:34 Speaker 02 Oh, I was so crushed the Bills weren't in the last Super Bowl. I was just so hoping that they or the Ravens would make it in the Super Bowl. Well, every year, hope springs eternal. And I don't understand the thing of playing in an outdoor stadium in Buffalo. I don't get it. I mean, I'm, I'm soft now. They're tough. I want to be in a temperature controlled dome. And I realize there's a home field advantage to bringing in people like me that are wimps to play in a game in December or January in that cold. I don't get it. Now, to your question, so you don't like surprise experiences.
7:14 Speaker 02 So you book a third party shore excursion and they don't get back to the ship in time? You are sitting there on the dock and that ship is gone without you? So when you book third party shore excursions, book the earliest ones in the day so that there's plenty of time built in as cushion when it's all aboard for the ship departing the port. But yes, you will save a lot of money going through various third parties. Spend time reading reviews of the various shore excursions from different people on various websites, like there's Cruise Critics, the big one, but there are a lot of them.
7:57 Speaker 02 You'll find some stuff on TripAdvisor, but you'll do better on the cruise sites on the third party excursions. I didn't understand though, your thing, why you're always the last one allowed to pick a shore excursion? If you booked your cruise through a cruise agent, you can ask the agent who helped you, what's the deal on the shore excursions? Why am I always getting closed out of those from the cruise line? But I think you're fine with the third parties. You save money. And again, first one out in the day, not when they leave in the afternoon and come back really close to when you're supposed to sail back out.
8:38 Speaker 03 Wes in Missouri says, could I please ask for clarification regarding cheaper flights out of the US from airports in certain coastal cities? I frequently hear Clark talk about how to get the best price for flights to other countries in the US and he'll mention certain cities with the best prices. He encourages someone to look for flights out of those cities rather than from the city near where the person lives. I live near Kansas City. I like, use Google flights to research prices. Does it make a difference in price? If I look for a flight in Google Flights from MCI to a foreign destination where MCI does not fly to directly versus flights from MCI to insert Clark's Coastal City, then on to the foreign city, wouldn't one of the Google Flights options take me through the cheaper Coastal City Airport anyway as one of the options?
9:22 Speaker 02 Okay, great questions, Wes. And first of all, after I dissed you and your beloved Kansas City Chiefs by talking about, I wish that Buffalo or Baltimore had been in the Super Bowl representing the AFC, just because you've been there a lot and you got a lot of rings in Kansas City.
9:42 Speaker 03 Wow, this is a Clark segment, travel and football.
9:45 Speaker 02 Yeah.
9:46 Speaker 03 Both questions so far.
9:47 Speaker 02 So I changed planes recently in the new Kansas City Airport. They did a really nice job with the rebuild, but I've never seen anything like it. Being from Loserville in professional sports, also known as Atlanta, and you walk through the Kansas City Airport, every shop in there is selling Kansas City Chiefs stuff, not even during football season. I mean, it's like, is there any room for food vendors? Because everything is Chiefs everywhere you go. Well, maybe someday I'll live long enough for my beloved Falcons to have one of those rings like you've got in Kansas City. Now, let me explain the answer.
10:31 Speaker 03 Go to the question.
10:32 Speaker 02 Yes. Well, I mean, I got two in a row that relate to football, right?
10:38 Speaker 03 I mean, I thought-
10:39 Speaker 02 Football's my life.
10:40 Speaker 03 I thought your birthday already passed. I don't know, but I guess I gave you a second present.
10:44 Speaker 02 You gave me birthday gifts here in July. Okay. Well, training camp's just around the corner, Krista. Do you know that?
10:53 Speaker 03 Coastal Cities.
10:54 Speaker 02 Yes, ma'am. Okay. So Wes, what I mean is, when you're using Google Flights, you live in Kansas City, you try fares out of Kansas City. Kansas City is a very affordable market for domestic flights, not for international. So let's say you're checking fares out of, you're going to Europe, you're checking out of New York, Boston. Those are really the two you really want to concentrate on. And fares from Kansas City to either, particularly New York, very affordable. You're looking at buying two tickets. You're right. Google flights will show connections through particularly New York to Europe,
11:35 Speaker 02 or from the West Coast, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, whatever. Yeah, all over Asia. So when you're searching, you want to look at it in parts. And the big part you're looking at is from especially New York. And by the way, it doesn't hurt, not coastal, but it doesn't hurt to check fares international out of Chicago, which is much more in your region, because a lot of times, Chicago has enough international competition that the fares will be a lot lower than they'll be from elsewhere in the Midwest.
12:17 Speaker 02 You check fares from the West Coast on to the destinations that I talked about. And then you see, what does it cost for the domestic trip to get to that gateway? Now, one burden of what I talk about is I'd like for you to spend a day sightseeing in wherever it is you're going to take that international flight from. Because if your flight is delayed out of Kansas City, you miss your connection, you lost your trip overseas. But recently, I did a fare search, and there were fares for summer from New York to Europe, to many
12:55 Speaker 02 destinations, for looking in August at 300 something dollars round trip to Europe. 300 something dollars. That's cheap to a bunch of places in Europe. You're not going to find that out of other cities in the US, except in a fluke for flights to Europe. That's why the coastal city thing is so important.
13:23 Speaker 03 All right, Bill is in Delaware.
13:25 Speaker 02 So he's going to talk about the Eagles now who won the Super Bowl.
13:29 Speaker 03 The last time I traveled overseas, I had problems using my bank issued ATM debit card. It just didn't want to work. I was thinking about opening up a Capital One 360 checking account and putting money into that so I can get their debit card and use that at worldwide locations. Does Clark have any advice on this?
13:46 Speaker 02 Yeah, Bill, thank you for the question. You really feel like I gave you a bum bit of advice when you say, well, Clark says to wait till I'm overseas and get whatever currency I need out of an ATM when I get there and then your ATM card doesn't work. This has happened to me. I've had the privilege of traveling overseas well over 100 times. It's happened to me one time, one time. And what I had to do was it was a free call because I was able to call collect. That's what Charles Schwab allows you to do.
14:27 Speaker 02 I was able to call them, collect, and they got the card cleared and then I was able to use it. But a hassle for sure, and it took a while on the phone. And I have no idea what that call cost Charles Schwab. But what you can do is do exactly what you're saying. Have a second ATM card just so you don't have to worry about a potential what if. And I like that idea. You open the Capital One account, you get the no fee account, you get the ATM card with it. They don't charge foreign currency junk fees as I remember, I think I remember properly with Capital One.
15:11 Speaker 02 That is a good idea to have a backup system like that. And the good news now is that most places you go overseas, you may never need cash. Weirdly, my wife Elaine and I were in Italy in March and we were there 11 days. That's not weird. But what is weird is we never used a single euro of cash in 11 days.
15:38 Speaker 02 Every single place we went was tapped to pay. So a euro never left our pockets. I mean, that is a real shift because the first time I went to Italy was in the 1970s. And there wasn't even the thought of a credit card. And I had to use Italian lira. And you thought you were the richest person in the world then because you're walking around with millions of lira. The lira wouldn't worth very much. But today, the need for cash is pretty much rare. Most places that you travel in the world, used to say developed world, now more and more places just in the world.
16:23 Speaker 02 Well, coming up ahead, I have certain obsessions and I clearly have one about my frustration with the lack of affordability of housing in the United States. But we can build more housing efficiently. We can build it more affordably. And I want to give you an example from one of the most difficult places in America to build anything, straight ahead.
16:49 Speaker 00 This episode is brought to you by Indeed. You're ready to level up your business, but the pressure to find the right person to make that happen is intense. Indeed sponsored jobs can help carry the load. It boosts your job post to help it reach quality talent fast. Cut through the chaos with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring now? Then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs.
17:19 Speaker 04 Low energy, unfocused, foggy? You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. With a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colors or flavors, great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.
17:49 Speaker 02 In the Northeast corridor, it is so hard to build anything, especially from New York to Boston. Very, very hard, and especially in New York and Boston. It's so hard to build. There are many reasons for that. Just know this, it takes a long time. It's not unusual in New York to take five years to build a new multifamily building. Five years. Well, in Brooklyn, an apartment complex was built in 22 months, which is, in New York, that's like light speed to do it.
18:33 Speaker 02 And how did they do it? They built it the way a lot of hotels are being built now. Components built in a factory, loaded on trucks, taken to the build site, lifted in place by cranes. They lower the price of building by about a third, and they cut the time of construction by more than a third. And that includes everything. Site development, pouring the foundations that you have to put the components on. The components are much more energy efficient. They tend to be built better because you can build better in a controlled environment than you can on an actual work site. And I'm going to see this.
19:17 Speaker 02 I'm going to be in New York, and I'm actually going to go see it with my own eyes, knowing that it was built components. And when I do so, we're going to post pictures of it and show you if it's like so many others that are built modular in a factory. Could you even tell that it was built in a factory? You might be able to tell, you might not. But what we're suffering from in the United States is a lack of imagination with housing. It's pretty simple, because in a factory, you can build a much more energy efficient system. I saw a Fast Company article about this particular apartment complex I've been following for
20:02 Speaker 02 a while, talked about they specifically built the modular units.
20:09 Speaker 02 To make it what's known as passive housing, which means that it has virtually zero utility bills for the residents in the apartments. And they've done everything in it to make it as close to net zero energy as could be, so that people's rent is pretty much all they need to worry about, and the utility bills are a rounding error. These are things we can do now faster, cheaper, better. And culturally in the United States, we're not doing it. But Chris, I'm going to give you a sneak peek of one of the pictures of this apartment complex.
20:48 Speaker 03 It's very cool looking.
20:49 Speaker 02 It really is styling. And I'll see with my own eyes when I go see the complex, because this is, this is something that I just don't get it. Why are we not doing more things like 3D printed homes and modular construction of individual homes and high rises? Why is it that the hotel industry gets to have all the fun and is doing all this modular building? Why? Because these hotel owners have to operate these places later, and they want to build something that's as efficient for them as possible, and they want, have more occupied room nights instead of nights while the property's in development.
21:34 Speaker 02 I mean, they've got all the incentives to do this a modern way, and we're just not, generally in the United States, and we've got these millions of units of housing we're short. It's one of those things we can fix. You can get from point A to point B. We're just not doing it.
21:54 Speaker 03 All right. Well, Shirley in California says, I recently remodeled a guest house. I'm thinking of adding solar, even though it won't be in constant use in the near future. I've read that the rebates incentives to install solar panels may be going away. Because the cost of the renovations wasn't cheap, I was planning on adding the panels in a few years, but with the possible changes in the laws, should I install them now? I live near Sacramento, so I'm guessing California might continue with some sort of incentives, even if the federal government stops their rebates. Thanks for all your help over the years, and you still host my favorite podcast of all time.
22:29 Speaker 02 Well, Shirley, thank you very much. And as you know, in the Sacramento area...
22:35 Speaker 02 The sun is very friendly on you. And so solar has a very good payback. There's a certain rush to beat the incentives going away, going on in residential solar. And so I don't want you to overpay for having panels installed because suddenly there's this rush to get projects underway in time. So it requires some shopping around. But solar will have a nice payoff over time, particularly as long as you don't overpay for it, particularly with the tax credits that at this moment are still available.
23:19 Speaker 02 And also with the level of sunshine you've got. And power is very expensive, as you know, in the state of California. So I think it does have a lot of, there's a lot of urgency. And if you're going to do this, to get it done quickly.
23:42 Speaker 03 Terry in Ohio says Amex is canceling the Bluebird prepaid card in 2026.
23:47 Speaker 02 Oh, I know.
23:48 Speaker 03 Do you know of another prepaid card similar or better than Bluebird?
23:52 Speaker 02 We're on the lookout for it. We haven't found it yet. Bluebird was a really creative product, or is, from American Express. And it was a very odd partnership that it was at first a joint venture with Walmart. And Bluebird allowed people to have the equivalent of a banking relationship in all in one, in one card. And it never performed, apparently, for Amex like they hoped. I think it's just too off brand for them, having something for everyday people, where American Express's emphasis is so much at the high end. So Terry,
24:37 Speaker 02 we will keep looking and we will come up with what we feel are the best potential alternatives to Bluebird. My guess is it's going to be some kind of fintechy kind of thing, which we've talked about in the past, where everything will be done with an app on your phone and with a plastic card tied in. But we're going to see if we can come up with an answer for the Bluebird refugees.
25:06 Speaker 03 Kyle in Pennsylvania says, I collided with a deer in my Volkswagen Golf.
25:11 Speaker 02 You ever hit a deer?
25:12 Speaker 03 Thank goodness, no.
25:13 Speaker 02 I've done it. I've hit two deer.
25:15 Speaker 03 I bought the Golf new in 2019. One of the headlights needed to be replaced. I was informed by the collision shop that there were no headlights available anywhere, new or used, period. After several months, finding an available part myself and switching collision shops after the first one was unresponsive, I finally got the car repaired and back on the road. The vendor that I found only had the passenger side headlight that I needed and not the driver's side. That was just pure luck. Had the other side of the car been hit, I would have been without a headlight. Today, both headlights are now out of stock. How does one mitigate this huge risk of losing your car indefinitely due to lack of parts?
25:53 Speaker 03 Rental car insurance options max out at 30 days, and my understanding is that car insurance companies will refuse to declare total loss in this scenario, regardless of how long it drags on. What should one do?
26:05 Speaker 02 This has been a terrible problem, Kyle, that's been going on ever since the COVID-induced shortages, starting back in 20. I thought that the part shortages would go away as automotive production resumed its normal cycles back in the back half of 23. And the part supply has not restored it to its prior levels. And I know that anecdotally, what people are doing very heavily is they're going to these, they're like modern junkyards,
26:45 Speaker 02 that you can check inventory online on vehicles they have in their junkyard. And right over the internet, you're able to secure parts that you need that are hard to find from vehicles that are on the lots. There are places that in big metro areas are available where you can check inventory online. You actually go physically to the junkyard. They tell you where it is. You know, they're organized by row and aisle and all that. And you find the make, model, and year that has the part you're looking for, and you're able to inspect it and you're able to buy it.
27:28 Speaker 02 Right at the junkyard. I mean, it's one of the things that has happened where the marketplace is best it can is responding to these part shortages. The biggest change is that the cost of parts at junkyards is a lot higher than they used to be because of the shortage scenario. And so there is no way, you think how many parts are on a car? There's no way you can adapt to this in advance. Like, what would you do? Would you, would you come up with a list of 20 hard to buy parts on your vehicle and stock them? It would be crazy, right?
28:10 Speaker 02 So you just have to flex as you can and do just what you did. When the body shop's like, ah, well, we can't get it. You searched around and you found the part. And don't know where you found it. But the fact that you found it shows that you took a problem that other people had washed their hands of, and you fixed it. And that's kind of what people are doing at these modern junkyards where they've got the inventories of vehicles they have on their facilities. So I want to thank you so much for joining us on today's podcast. It's such a privilege for me to get to do this, to do this YouTube show with you, do
28:53 Speaker 02 this podcast with you, to be with you, learning from you. And we all learn together. This is, this is a blast. I look forward so much to every single day when I get to be with you and share with you. Because I don't want any of us to be spectators in our own lives. I want us to be the bosses of our own lives. And you do that with knowledge and with confidence, where you stand up for yourself. And also, practical things you do every day and over time, so that you can live on less than what you make, so that you can save more money, you can spend less. And you know one thing I don't want?
29:38 Speaker 02 I don't want you ever getting ripped off. Have a wonderful day.
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