Thinking of surprising my kids for Christmas...

[#1DopeyFan]

With our very FIRST Disney Cruise. I don't want to ruin the surprise of course, so my question is, if I book a cruise and add all of their names, is it going to show up on their accounts also like everything else does when you book at WDW? Or is it separate since it's DCL? I'm thinking worst case I just set up a new account with another email, but didn't want to go to that trouble if I didn't need to.

 

[FSU Girl]

It shouldn't show up under the Disney World account. I don't see anything of my cruises over there.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

Thank you, that's what I was hoping for!

 

[aggiedog]

A small word of BTDT caution. We surprised our kids with a Merrytime cruise that left Dec 24, and didn't tell them until right before. They were not as thrilled as I'd hoped. While they enjoyed cruising, I didn't take into account how much "stuff we do at home for Christmas" played into their ideas of how Christmas should be. We've traveled over Christmas before, so I think part of it might have been them being unprepared to be away for the holiday that year. The kids were 16,13,10 at the time.

Now me, I loved it. No cooking, cleaning, entertaining. My idea of the perfect Christmas!

 

[#1DopeyFan]

Good advice, I'm sure. Thank you! We wouldn't sail until Feb 1st, so we're okay there, lol...my biggest fear is my oldest 2 are in college in Florida, and I'm hoping that if they HAVE to miss classes on 1-2 of the days, they'll be fine. I'm sure my DD will be, my DS's work load is heavier, so it's hard to say. Ugh, decisions, decisions.

 

[AgentMama]

It's been longer than I care to admit since I've been in college, but I would probably not have been thrilled if my parents scheduled me to miss college classes without consulting with me first. Just something to consider when you're picking dates.

 

[Dug720]

It's been longer than I care to admit since I've been in college, but I would probably not have been thrilled if my parents scheduled me to miss college classes without consulting with me first. Just something to consider when you're picking dates.

Exactly. Especially since many classes penalize you for too many absences.

 

[FSU Girl]

Good advice, I'm sure. Thank you! We wouldn't sail until Feb 1st, so we're okay there, lol...my biggest fear is my oldest 2 are in college in Florida, and I'm hoping that if they HAVE to miss classes on 1-2 of the days, they'll be fine. I'm sure my DD will be, my DS's work load is heavier, so it's hard to say. Ugh, decisions, decisions.

Oh they would have to miss college classes to go on the cruise? I don't think that's a good idea to surprise someone with and not consult the dates with first. I know when I was in college I had a few classes where I couldn't miss any days, it would have resulted in my failing the class for just not showing up. Could you sail over their spring break instead or winter break? I know I had a lot of time off in December.

 

[Tulip2796]

Oh they would have to miss college classes to go on the cruise? I don't think that's a good idea to surprise someone with and not consult the dates with first. I know when I was in college I had a few classes where I couldn't miss any days, it would have resulted in my failing the class for just not showing up. Could you sail over their spring break instead or winter break? I know I had a lot of time off in December.

I agree. I remember being off from around Dec 22nd ish until mid-january. I would definitely book the cruise during winter break bc a lot of material is covered in one 2-3 hour class.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Good advice, I'm sure. Thank you! We wouldn't sail until Feb 1st, so we're okay there, lol...my biggest fear is my oldest 2 are in college in Florida, and I'm hoping that if they HAVE to miss classes on 1-2 of the days, they'll be fine. I'm sure my DD will be, my DS's work load is heavier, so it's hard to say. Ugh, decisions, decisions.

I would not have liked a surprise sprung on me in college requiring me to miss classes. There could be an important test or presentation that they are required to be there for.

 

[doublesided]

Good advice, I'm sure. Thank you! We wouldn't sail until Feb 1st, so we're okay there, lol...my biggest fear is my oldest 2 are in college in Florida, and I'm hoping that if they HAVE to miss classes on 1-2 of the days, they'll be fine. I'm sure my DD will be, my DS's work load is heavier, so it's hard to say. Ugh, decisions, decisions.

I have friends in college and I definitely wouldn't surprise them with anything without consulting on dates. There could be an important test or presentation due with no makeup. College kids have plenty of time off for the holidays and in spring break/summer, etc. Just plan it for then!

 

[Carrie in AZ]

My daughter just started college, and I wouldn’t schedule anything without asking her first. She is only allowed so many absences AND she uses the weekend days to work on her papers and projects — being gone could really hurt her. Can you surprise them with a cruise and then have the fun together of selecting which one??

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Not to go too far down the rabbit hole here, but since I don't see any voices on the other side...

I remember my Dad saying that when he went to college in the 60s attendance was mandatory, but when I went to college in the 80s/90s the only thing mandatory was doing the assignments and passing the tests. Our professors flat out told us that this isn't High School anymore and they wouldn't be our parents and make sure we went to class. All they cared about was that we did the work. Some of my classmates missed TONS of classes, but still got good grades in the courses.

I'd be really surprised if most colleges have reverted to mandatory attendance of classes, but I guess I'd better go talk to some college students.

Don't get me wrong, some college students may not WANT to miss classes, but I'm not sure they'd actively be punished for it, unless they miss a test or a due date. Of course, every situation is different, and I'm sure the OP knows their own children best. I just wanted to address the policies of the colleges.

 

[Dug720]

Not to go too far down the rabbit hole here, but since I don't see any voices on the other side...

I remember my Dad saying that when he went to college in the 60s attendance was mandatory, but when I went to college in the 80s/90s the only thing mandatory was doing the assignments and passing the tests. Our professors flat out told us that this isn't High School anymore and they wouldn't be our parents and make sure we went to class. All they cared about was that we did the work. Some of my classmates missed TONS of classes, but still got good grades in the courses.

I'd be really surprised if most colleges have reverted to mandatory attendance of classes, but I guess I'd better go talk to some college students.

Don't get me wrong, some college students may not WANT to miss classes, but I'm not sure they'd actively be punished for it, unless they miss a test or a due date. Of course, every situation is different, and I'm sure the OP knows their own children best. I just wanted to address the policies of the colleges.

There are definitely attendance requirements set by professors. Sometimes you're allowed ONE cut before it affects your grade. Sometimes it is even one absence results in failure of the class. And the professors follow through with it - not just empty threats.

 

[love__goofy]

My son is currently in college. I asked him the other day if he could miss 2 days of school..basically one day of class in each of his classes. He looked on his syllabus to make sure he didn't have any tests and confirmed it would be ok. Only issue of giving it at XMAS is your children probably wouldn't know what Feb would look like in terms of things being due or tests. It's so tough when they get to this point. Have you thought about going in early May or possibly mid December once they are out?

 

[#1DopeyFan]

I guess I shouldn't have used the word "fear", lol...if the youngest and I have to go without either or both of them due to class schedules, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Most of their classes have a 2-3 unexcused absence policy, so missing a class one day wouldn't be a big deal as far as from the school/professor's point of view. And actually both kids have ended up almost every semester with no classes on Fridays and/or Mondays, so it would likely only be one day missed. They're a Junior and a Senior so we've been at this for a few years juggling everyone's schedules and such.

BUT, let me ask this because I can't seem to find it anywhere on the DCL site...if I book all 4 of us, but then need to cancel one or two, can that be done? What about booking it for 2 of us and then adding the other after Christmas if it works out? Is either scenario better than the other or possible?

 

[Dug720]

You can definitely cancel people from the reservation (as long as you're outside of the cancellation policy there should not be a fee...not sure about within the policy).

If you wait to add them, the price could increase between when you book yourself and when you book them and/or the lifeboat station could be filled and therefore there is no more room.

 

[LambertLion]

Be careful of your family getting emails from Disney. If you tie the reservation to their same Disney account, bc it IS the same login for both sites, they may get email confirmation of the booking. They wouldn't see anything on the Disney world website about the cruise, but if they wondered over to the cruise site and try to login, they'll see it.

 

[#1DopeyFan]

You can definitely cancel people from the reservation (as long as you're outside of the cancellation policy there should not be a fee...not sure about within the policy).

If you wait to add them, the price could increase between when you book yourself and when you book them and/or the lifeboat station could be filled and therefore there is no more room.

Good point about the lifeboats, thank you!

Be careful of your family getting emails from Disney. If you tie the reservation to their same Disney account, bc it IS the same login for both sites, they may get email confirmation of the booking. They wouldn't see anything on the Disney world website about the cruise, but if they wondered over to the cruise site and try to login, they'll see it.

Oh wow, true...so I'm thinking now it would probably be better to just set up a new account. Thank you!

 

[FSU Girl]

Not to go too far down the rabbit hole here, but since I don't see any voices on the other side...

I remember my Dad saying that when he went to college in the 60s attendance was mandatory, but when I went to college in the 80s/90s the only thing mandatory was doing the assignments and passing the tests. Our professors flat out told us that this isn't High School anymore and they wouldn't be our parents and make sure we went to class. All they cared about was that we did the work. Some of my classmates missed TONS of classes, but still got good grades in the courses.

I'd be really surprised if most colleges have reverted to mandatory attendance of classes, but I guess I'd better go talk to some college students.

Don't get me wrong, some college students may not WANT to miss classes, but I'm not sure they'd actively be punished for it, unless they miss a test or a due date. Of course, every situation is different, and I'm sure the OP knows their own children best. I just wanted to address the policies of the colleges.

I was in college only a couple years ago and most of my classes were mandatory, I could only miss one day for half of them and many had assigned seating.