Anyone pay the extra $$ for going over t-day or X-mas cuz the kids are outta school?

[Gretel]

just curious! Dont want the kids to miss any more school then they have too.

[candleonwater]

That is why we're going over new years... want to be home for Xmas... but have to fit this vacation into the school vacation... sure I'd love to save the money but with my daughter starting school in the fall, I'm going to try the system of 1 vacation at the Xmas break and one at spring break...

[G's mommy]

We are on the Thanksgiving cruise this year, 11/23/02, and my son will miss 2 days of school. Granted he will be just in 1st grade, but we also try to minimize days missed, especially consecutive days. He attends a private school where expectations are very high and I don't feel comfortable with him missing whole weeks of school for a vacation. Granted it is tempting to save on the money, but we took advantage of off-season travel when he was little, and we will again when he goes to college. Education is #1 in our household, and we choose to cough-up the extra $$ to go in the summer or over holidays.

We normally do WDW the week of New Year and he misses one or two days also, so that's already 4 days missed for vacations.

Good luck with your decision.

[tksbaskets]

My hubby teaches so there isn't a question of taking the children out of school to go when it is "cheap". We are doing a 4 day land and 4 day sea vacation starting on Christmas day and cruising over New Year's. (came out within dollars of the 7 day cruise and the DSs didn't want to skip the parks - they are already planning their rides). Santa always brings the boys lots of Disney dollars so holiday shopping is easier too <:-)

I say go when it feels right for everyone in the family to have a happy, guilt-free vacation!!

Let us know what you decide.

[inkkognito]

Every year we bite the bullet and pay the major mark-up for Thanksgiving. We don't have children, but since we get Thurs. and Fri. off of work, it allows us to make the most of our precious vacation days for the rest of our cruises!! There are definitely a lot of families on board. For us it is worth the extra $$, not only because of the vacation days but also because it's a great alternative to spending time at a dysfunctional family gathering :rolleyes: :rolleyes: .
Barb
Visi the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.*****************

[DixieDreamer]

We are cruising during Easter week (spring break) and are paying much more as a result... but honestly, I feel bad taking DD out of school for such an extended time. As is... we are having her miss two days at the start of the trip - so we have adequate travel time - and two days of play at WDW before the cruise.

[snowiit]

Tksbaskets,
We'll be on the same cruise!<G> We will be down at WDW over Christmas and my mom and daughter are flying back home (Illinois) the 27th. Hubby and I are moving to the swan/dolphin for the two nights prior to the cruise. He surprised me for our 20th Anniversary which is Christmas. We have never cruised before and I am SO excited!<G>

Nancy

[Thmacs]

We are paying nearly double what we could for the thrill of cruising over Christmas. We are having a family reunion on the Dec 21-28 cruise. I will not even let my husband know there is such a huge price diffrence. This was the only time that our whole family could get off togeather and even with booking 20 months in advance there were no real savings to be had for this particular cruise.

[disny4ever]

What !!! You didn't get your fill in January ? Me either.....can't wait until our $ 99.00 special. We will also have to book the Western cruise asap.
If the kids are good students, I wouldn't worry about pulling them out. It all boils down to what your family thinks is best.

[tksbaskets]

Hey Nancy! Wouldn't it be a hoot if we met on the ship? It's my 40th birthday present. We cruised on Carnival for our honeymoon. I can't wait either! We booked before Christmas last year and it seemed SO far away. At least we are down to months, not years...

[SC Minnie]

We pulled DD7 out of school for the Jan 19 cruise. We purposely chose that week because they were already out 1 day MLK. I let her teacher know she was going to be out for the week and why. She gave DD some extra work for the week like doing a report on birds native to the carribean, graphing weather from here and there, etc. So although she missed school she was able to keep up with the class plus do some extra work. If DD was struggling in school or much older I would not have even considered it.

You have to do what is best for your family and your child. Everybody's situation is different.

[mmouse37]

We pulled our three kids out of school 2 in HS and 1 in MS. I let the teachers all know ahead of time and they supplied extra work the week prior. They got back to school and did not miss anything or fall behind in any subjects.

Sometimes travel can be just as educational as a classroom. My kids spoke and asked questions of people from all over the world. I would never feel guilty about taking them out of school as long as they were exposed to new things.

MJ