October 11, 2014 7-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise on Disney Magic (San Juan)

[srauchbauer]

Did someone say Mickey Bars...

Mickey Bars in three weeks we will be eating all the mickey bars we can handle.

 

[Silverfox97]

My son will be a senior and I've been saying since he missed 6 days for our vacation last October I won't pull him out his senior year, like I have every year since kindergarten!

I keep saying the same thing - took her out for a week in pre-school to cruise, this Dec out of kindergarten, taking her out of 1st grade for 4 days in Oct., and now this cruise she'll be missing 4 or 5 days of 2nd grade.

I'm feeling guilty, but not enough!!!

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[kendzee94]

I keep saying the same thing - took her out for a week in pre-school to cruise, this Dec out of kindergarten, taking her out of 1st grade for 4 days in Oct., and now this cruise she'll be missing 4 or 5 days of 2nd grade.

I'm feeling guilty, but not enough!!!

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I wouldn't feel guilty if I were you and I don't feel guilty

I just had a conversation with my childrens' guidance counselor on Thursday and she asked when we are going on our next vacation, because she knows we go on vacation every fall! I let her know about the next two years and she thought the experiences and the cultures the kids will experience are great! It will still be an unexcused absence. Oh well!

This is going to be a great cruise and seems like a great group of people too! I can't wait to see excursions offered. Does Scott have an info on that? (oh Scott!)

 

[ksinglet]

Hi! Just got our confirmation e-mail from our TA at Dreams that we are all booked. Cat 6A... exactly what I asked for. Used a dummy booking that I had sitting on a Nov date for 2013.... We were on the Oct 20, 2012 Sandy cruise, but already are using our 25% on a concierge cabin for the Double Dip out of Miami THIS October 20, 2013. I believe there's some of you on that cruise with us as well. :

:

We are on that double dip this October as well!

 

[Silverfox97]

We are on that double dip this October as well!

So are ssanders79 and myself!!!!

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[Enna]

Booked this Wednesday for DH and I to escape. DD will be in 10th grade, so the days of pulling her out of school are gone.



Hey, I know you!

Cute ticker, Karen!

 

[modisneychick]

We booked this on opening day. We are so excited as we have been waiting for a Southern Caribbean to show up! We have done the majority of our cruises on the Magic, so it will be good to be back "home" again too.

This will also be a no kids trip, just dh and I. Looking forward to reading the thread.

 

[kaseyC]

No guilt here either. My girls usually miss a week or two of school because of travel. The teachers are always asking where we are going for our next adventure. My two youngest DDs will miss the last 9 days of school in May for the Magic's EBTA and the school is fine with it. I do have to mention that we live in a very culturally diverse area and it's not uncommon for kids to leave for few weeks to go back to visit their home country.

 

[LeslieG]

Hi, everybody. I have a hold on this cruise. I'm mad at myself because I didn't book opening day since we are gold. But I was concentrating on getting a booking for Europe. But now my kids are dragging their feet about Europe and thinking it will be boring. So then I thought I better have a back-up plan. I'm not sure how much more I'm paying than opening day, but I know it's at least a few hundred. Got the cabin I wanted though.

 

[Enna]

My son will be a senior and I've been saying since he missed 6 days for our vacation last October I won't pull him out his senior year, like I have every year since kindergarten! Well, I lied! Our school usually has Mon, Tues off for Columbus day and Superintendent's Day, so he will only miss 3 days of school, if it were 5, I probably wouldn't!

For those teachers at the school who hate me, too bad, I figure this will be way more educational than 3 days he's missing at school. (Our vacation this last October, the teachers refused to give him any work even though I reminded them 1 month, 2 weeks, and 1 week out!) He just knows that he has to work his butt off when he gets back to make up what he missed. The school gives my kids an unexcused absence, but oh well, I figure it goes more towards life experience.

When my husband and I went away without the kids for a week on our Canadian cruise and they stayed at my parents house, my son lied about not having homework so he was just as behind as he would have been if he had come with us. I was so mad! That's one of the factors that made me decide to just bring him with me!

Dang kids, can't cruise with em, can't cruise without em

I think it depends quite a bit on the school system. For us, the mid-October dates would be the worst possible time of year to pull the kids. It is when the bulk of the first semester's projects are assigned/due. It amazed me how much my DS missed just being out a half-day for medical appointments.

Your son's teachers must have been very forgiving about the missed homework. A week of missed assignments would result in a failing grade for the quarter in our system.

 

[kendzee94]

I think it depends quite a bit on the school system. For us, the mid-October dates would be the worst possible time of year to pull the kids. It is when the bulk of the first semester's projects are assigned/due. It amazed me how much my DS missed just being out a half-day for medical appointments.

Your son's teachers must have been very forgiving about the missed homework. A week of missed assignments would result in a failing grade for the quarter in our system.

No they weren't forgiving at all, exactly the opposite, he had to make up EVERYTHING! 6 days of missed school resulted in him staying after for extra help for the next 4 weeks, but he didn't mind/well have a choice (LOL!) The only one that he didn't have to make anything up for was PE/Gym. I let the teacher know the list of activities and they essentially called it a wash.

 

[LV Disney Fan(atic)]

For those who aren't in the Facebook group:

Stalbertsteve suggested we come up with a name for the group/cruise. He's taking suggestions and will post a poll later so we can vote on our choice. So far some of the suggestions are:

DisHoppers- Magic's Southern Island Hopping Cruise 2014
Island Hopping with The Mouse....Oct. 11th - Oct. 18th, 2014
No Shoes Tour
5 Magical Islands with the Mouse
The Magic, The Mouse, and Me
DisPirates in the Southern Caribbean 2014
Southern Caribbean Castaways
Southern Scalliwags on the Magic
Southern Comfort
Mickey's Magical 5 island Adventure
Disney's Southern Fab 5

I'm not sure when Steve is going to close the nominations but come post your suggestions over on FB or add them here! A group as fun as this one definitely needs a name to match.

 

[Enna]

No they weren't forgiving at all, exactly the opposite, he had to make up EVERYTHING! 6 days of missed school resulted in him staying after for extra help for the next 4 weeks, but he didn't mind/well have a choice (LOL!) The only one that he didn't have to make anything up for was PE/Gym. I let the teacher know the list of activities and they essentially called it a wash.

That wouldn't work here at all, unless it was for a special ed student with an extended time to complete assignments listed on the IEP.

If a child is in school and does not turn in an assignment (classwork or homework), that child receives a ZERO. There is no opportunity to replace that grade with a higher grade. Even if a child is out for a medical appointment for a partial day, assignments must be turned in on time. We've had to get creative with ways to get assignments to school so they are not late to class, even if the child is late to school for a doctor's appointment.

Glad for you that your school system is more lenient!

 

[kendzee94]

That wouldn't work here at all, unless it was for a special ed student with an extended time to complete assignments listed on the IEP.

If a child is in school and does not turn in an assignment (classwork or homework), that child receives a ZERO. There is no opportunity to replace that grade with a higher grade. Even if a child is out for a medical appointment for a partial day, assignments must be turned in on time. We've had to get creative with ways to get assignments to school so they are not late to class, even if the child is late to school for a doctor's appointment.

Glad for you that your school system is more lenient!

Dang, that's hardcore! I'm glad my school is more lenient too.

 

[ethanash1]

Hi, can someone on the FB page approve my request to join please? My FB name is Cynthia Rago Franco.... Thanks!

 

[alamere1496]

So excited!! Just booked this cruise and couldn't possibly be anymore excited than I am right now!! It will be me, my husband, and my 2 sons (10 and 17 at time of the cruise). I am taking them out of school and they can just deal. We do it every year and get the "talking to". It hasn't stopped us yet!! LOL!!
I can't wait to get to know everyone...we have plenty of time before we cruise. It looks like an awesome group.
I sent a request for the FB group as well.

 

[alamere1496]

We are officially booked on this one, too! Silverfox, have we cruised together before? I see your posts often, and feel that maybe we have?

We have cruised with Tiff before. Yipee!!!

This will be our PLATINUM cruise (pending we take the 2 we have booked this year and 1 next June).

Can't wait for the Southern route!

Together again!! Can't wait for this itinerary!! Should we already be planning a private Mixology Class or what?

 

[Morsel (Chris/Lynn)]

When I looked at this cruise itinerary on the website, it appeared as if the ship will leave San Juan at 7:00 pm. Do you think this is true or will they move it up to the normal 4:00/5:00 time? 7:00 PM sure would make it easier to fly in that day and not have to worry about finding a "good" hotel.

I called DCL and asked why the ressie confirmation we received stated 4pm and the DCL web site for this cruise stated 7pm. The 4pm is the latest for boarding time. The 7pm is actually 8pm and is the sailing time. We sailed RCCL out of San Juan 3 years ago and it was similar in times. You are giving thought to flying into San Juan the day of sailing based on times. Looks like you may want to consider an overnight stay based on the latest boarding time. Any flight delay could ruin your vacation. Plenty of nice resorts/hotels in the immediate area. We did Priceline to get one and saved a lot of money over the regular rates. Plus the traffic getting into the port is hectic to say the least. It's because the access road leading to and leaving the port is very narrow and congested with traffic. Stop and go, more stop than go, for more than a mile before getting to the port. Hope this helps. We will be getting into San Juan at least a day ahead. Maybe more so we can get some siightseeing in before the cruise. Great rainforest we did previously. Arcebo Radio Telescope was closed last time, Easter, so I want to try again.
Good luck.

Chris

 

[TifffanyD]

Together again!! Can't wait for this itinerary!! Should we already be planning a private Mixology Class or what?

Yes yes yes!!!!

More of the fun bunch from June!

Tracy already volunteered to try to book a private mixology... and we are def in for that!!

 

[Morsel (Chris/Lynn)]

When I looked at this cruise itinerary on the website, it appeared as if the ship will leave San Juan at 7:00 pm. Do you think this is true or will they move it up to the normal 4:00/5:00 time? 7:00 PM sure would make it easier to fly in that day and not have to worry about finding a "good" hotel.

Chris here again. Forgot to say that Old San Juan is also a nice place to visit. A couple of forts on the coast of the Old City district. Plus small stores. Narrow, very narrow, streets. We arrived a couple days early and stayed a couple days after the cruise. We rented a car so we could get around on our own time. You can get to the Old district and forts from almost any resort/hotel by way of a taxi or shuttle service. I mentioned previously the radio telescope and rainforest. There are tours that you can get without having to rent a vehicle. We were told by somes friends who were born and raised in Puerto Rico that driving in that country, and in San Juan in particular, would be an experirence, and it was. There are traffic laws and signs but be aware you have to be quick witted behind the wheel. It was fine and a nice experience to drive.

Chris