Affordable on non-school breaks

[BigredNole]

After watching prices and trying to determine when we can go on a cruise, the pricing is definitely insane during school breaks. It is almost 50% higher.

We are stuck between a rock and hard place. We cannot book a cruise yet and we do not know our daughters school schedule for 2017/18. The prices for cruises in Sept, Oct, some Nov/Dec dates are much more affordable right now. For ~$4,000, it is not a bad price. Our daughter starts year round school after 5th grade. That means she is in school 9-weeks, then off 3-weeks. Its great for vacationing if you are on the right track. There are 4 tracks. One track is not that good since it lines up very closely with the regular school schedule. The other 3 work out very well for vacations.

 

[MarleneP]

Where are you from that they are doing year round school? Also, I regret not taking more vacations when my DS was younger. He is now 15 & a freshman. Taking even a sick day makes for a hard return for him. Looking back I should have done the less expensive,less popular times and had him miss school.

 

[BigredNole]

We are in NC. She was on the year round schedule for 3 years, but the school converted back to the standard calendar for the last 2 years. She will finish out 5th grade on the standard schedule. When she starts middle school, she will be back to year round schedule. The only problem is you do not get to choose which of the 4 tracks you are on. Families with other kids in the standard schedule (think high school) are usually put on the track that follows most closely to that schedule. I prefer not being on that one.

The great thing about it is my daughter and I took trips together all the time. My wife is a teacher and cannot get off as easily. It is great going places when the price is 50%. $2,000 for a week at Disney was great.

 

[tink1970]

I'd just echo what Marlene P said...If I knew then what I know now...my DD would have had many more vacations during school prior to this year (yesterday was her last day of her freshman year in high school-whoo hooo). That said, the current valedictorian of her high school (who is attending Yale in the fall) has dual citizenship and typically would miss the first week since he would vacation with family in France. I'm not sure my DD could miss the first week of school but some do even in a competitive program.

Since every child is different, only you and your wife know your daughter's ability. The bright side is those "less popular" times to cruise often don't fill so the rates may stay stable while you're waiting for her schedule. Good luck in being on one of the 3 tracks that will save you $$

 

[darnheather]

Go on vacation! Don't let the teacher talk you into thinking she is doomed to failure for taking vacation once a year with her family.

 

[chik1987]

Go on vacation! Don't let the teacher talk you into thinking she is doomed to failure for taking vacation once a year with her family.

Yep thats what I've been telling myself too. We are taking the kids out of school for the first time next year to go on a cruise. Just make sure the school knows well in advance of your plans so you can make sure to get homework and stuff done before you leave and there will be no issue.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

After watching prices and trying to determine when we can go on a cruise, the pricing is definitely insane during school breaks. It is almost 50% higher.

We are stuck between a rock and hard place. We cannot book a cruise yet and we do not know our daughters school schedule for 2017/18. The prices for cruises in Sept, Oct, some Nov/Dec dates are much more affordable right now. For ~$4,000, it is not a bad price. Our daughter starts year round school after 5th grade. That means she is in school 9-weeks, then off 3-weeks. Its great for vacationing if you are on the right track. There are 4 tracks. One track is not that good since it lines up very closely with the regular school schedule. The other 3 work out very well for vacations.

Hi I live in Wake County and I'm guessing you do to? We are track one. I love year-round schools and I'm only sorry that pretty soon my oldest will be in high school and we won't be able to take advantage of it anymore. We've done six cruises on DCL all during off-season times, including two trans Atlantic's and one Panama Canal. The prices are really fantastic in comparison to regular school breaks.

It sounds as if you're worried you might be on track 4, and then won't get as good of price breaks? We used to be on track 4, and you still get all of January and most of October off, which are really good times to vacation. The July track out and the track out over spring break or not so great for getting deals.

At our schools, track 4 is really popular and difficult to get on because of all the families with high school kids who want it. Track one is also very popular. But tracks two and three aren't as popular. Can't you request your track?

Also, if you have a Disney visa you could book a couple cruises and you wouldn't even have to pay the deposit for six months. And then you could cancel the ones you can't take and keep the one that ends up being within your track out timeframe.

 

[Ofinn]

That sounds really great. If we had year round school here I probably would have never started homeshooling.

 

[Sytrace]

That sounds really great. If we had year round school here I probably would have never started homeshooling.

We homeschool as well.
When we take our next cruise (a quick 4 nighter) on Monday the 30th, we will have been homeschooling for 2 years exactly. We love the flexibility of being able to travel with our two teens anytime we want to AND enjoy better prices while doing so. But the great part of homeschooling for us is that they are learning so much more than how to take a test.
Even if the education system was better in our state, I think I would still be homeschooling them.

 

[BigredNole]

Go on vacation! Don't let the teacher talk you into thinking she is doomed to failure for taking vacation once a year with her family.

Yes, we will go on vacations and I can pull her out of school. However, my wife is a teacher and it is not as easy for her. We only have 4 more years of this because pulling out of high school is much more difficult.

Hi I live in Wake County and I'm guessing you do to? We are track one.

Yes. Her elementary school was year round for K-3. They converted back to traditional this year. Because of our current work schedules, she needs to stay at her current school through 5th grade. Once she gets to middle school, she will be year round. We can request tracks and we may have some extra pull with my wife being a teacher. It will make those 3 years great for taking trips. We can't book anything yet. We have an outside issue that has to resolve first. The hope is that it is done in the next 12 months.

 

[Ofinn]

We homeschool as well.
When we take our next cruise (a quick 4 nighter) on Monday the 30th, we will have been homeschooling for 2 years exactly. We love the flexibility of being able to travel with our two teens anytime we want to AND enjoy better prices while doing so. But the great part of homeschooling for us is that they are learning so much more than how to take a test.
Even if the education system was better in our state, I think I would still be homeschooling them.

Now that Ive done it for 10 years I'm happy with my choice. It wasnt something I planned when I had kids. I was only going to do it for Kindergarden, and then we started traveling and I couldnt stop.

 

[Sytrace]

I can only imagine. The traveling is the best. And you have been to some amazing places.

 

[Lulubelle17]

I don't know if this helps, but I noticed that in the past cruises leaving around mid March (which is our spring break) and leaving from Miami have always been cheaper. We last went in March 2014 and paid $3500 for a 5 night cruise to Cozumel. I had booked another one for 2017, but our school district moved the break to the week after. I am now considering just taking them out of school for a few days, I hate doing it, but they'll be fine.

 

[Ofinn]

I can only imagine. The traveling is the best. And you have been to some amazing places.

Another thing I never imagined myself doing is going to Iceland. It's not something that was ever on my radar. It wasn't until a certain 9 year old became obsessed with going there, and starting telling me everything there is to know about Iceland. The funniest thing is when he told me the banks collapsed when the Volcano erupted. Fast forward he is now 13. He just finished watching the movie the "The Big Short" so now he understands what the banks collapsing means. So happy he finally get to go in 3 weeks.
Sorry totally off topic

 

[arlopop]

We have 3 kids, 11, 9, 7. We are doing the EBPC this year and it embarks 2 weeks after school starts. All of our cruises have taken place during the school year. We just make arrangements with the teachers and administrators to do independent study. The kids have plenty of work but they still don't miss out. At least in our school it hasn't been a problem.

 

[tvguy]

I'm surprised you found such a big price difference. Seems that every week anymore some school is out for a week.
Year round was big here in the early 2000's when some districts were growing faster than they could build schools. Year round is a way to get 33% more kids into the same school. Since the economy tanked in 2008-2009 enrollment has dropped, and they are going back to traditional schedule, not sure where the kids have disappeared to.

 

[Sytrace]

Another thing I never imagined myself doing is going to Iceland. It's not something that was ever on my radar. It wasn't until a certain 9 year old became obsessed with going there, and starting telling me everything there is to know about Iceland. The funniest thing is when he told me the banks collapsed when the Volcano erupted. Fast forward he is now 13. He just finished watching the movie the "The Big Short" so now he understands what the banks collapsing means. So happy he finally get to go in 3 weeks.
Sorry totally off topic

I love this. It is amazing what kids retain if they are actually interested in subjects as opposed to learning it to take a test and then forget it.
My son is 13 and my daughter is 14. He loves history and animals and she is into language arts and music.
Have a great cruise! I look forward to reading your trip report.

 

[Winston Wolf]

Hi I live in Wake County and I'm guessing you do to? We are track one. I love year-round schools and I'm only sorry that pretty soon my oldest will be in high school and we won't be able to take advantage of it anymore. We've done six cruises on DCL all during off-season times, including two trans Atlantic's and one Panama Canal. The prices are really fantastic in comparison to regular school breaks.

It sounds as if you're worried you might be on track 4, and then won't get as good of price breaks? We used to be on track 4, and you still get all of January and most of October off, which are really good times to vacation. The July track out and the track out over spring break or not so great for getting deals.

At our schools, track 4 is really popular and difficult to get on because of all the families with high school kids who want it. Track one is also very popular. But tracks two and three aren't as popular. Can't you request your track?

Also, if you have a Disney visa you could book a couple cruises and you wouldn't even have to pay the deposit for six months. And then you could cancel the ones you can't take and keep the one that ends up being within your track out timeframe.

Great advice with the Disney Visa. Offers additional flexibility for you to pay the deposit off as you're able.

 

[Ofinn]

Great advice with the Disney Visa. Offers additional flexibility for you to pay the deposit off as you're able.

I have booked and cancelled a lot of cruises with my Disney Visa. It gives me the opportunity to book a cruise I'm not 100% sure about, and then think about it for a few months.

 

[BigredNole]

I did not know you could book with your Disney Visa and delay payment on the deposit. What are the advantages and how long do you have to cancel?

The reason I ask is that we have about $900 Disney Reward dollars on it now. We will use that for a final payment. The reason we can't use it for a deposit is if we cancel, it goes back to the same card that may expire.