What's you favorite time of year to cruise?

[CrawfordMomof2]

I'm so happy to hear that May is so popular! We are cruising for the first time at the end of May 2016, and I was nervous it may have been too early in the season.

 

[cheermom2four]

Everyone has a right to their opinion but in order for our family to take a cruise, we have to go in the fall or spring and dont have that luxury of going in the summer. Its one week a year and because my husband is a pastor, we also go when we can which is usually in fall before Thanksgiving or in spring after Easter holiday but we have never been able to in the summer. Just because a parent pulls a child out for a 3, 4, 5 or 7 night cruise doesnt make that parent bad or have the child fall behind. My son is in High school and we've already arranged a year and 3 months in advance with the school. We booked it just after school starts Sept 3rd and they said that was a perfect time to go as classes are just ramping up and getting familiar with the course etc and he wouldnt be missing homework or testing. My dd will be starting kindergarten and she's already writing and reading so she's ahead of the game anyways and her school said she will be fine for a week.

 

[BuzzLightyearInTampa]

Not going to tell everyone how to parent, but cannot believe people take their kids out of school for a week at a time to go on a cruise....I saw a ton of kids on Dream last week school age and it was first week of May...Doubt their Spring Break was that late and I am fairly certain most go to school until end of May...I guess some of those kids could be home schooled but sure not all......Sure its great for kids to go on a trip like this but I could never imagine taking them out of school to do so...Where I live you only get so many days and I am fairly certain vacation does not count as an excused trip....

Funny, because DCL (and WDW also) seem to rely on people doing exactly that. I live in Tampa and I can drive over to WDW today and see thousands of kids there. And if no one was willing to take their kids out of school for a DCL or WDW vacation, they'd probably shutdown for a large part of the year.

As for us, if it's just one week, we tell the teacher ahead of time and they make up the work. But this very issue has kept us from doing Hawaii or Transatlantic on DCL so far.

 

[bethy]

My kids are missing 2 weeks of public school this October to go to WDW and on a cruise.

 

[Crush518]

I know you should not feed the troll but…
There is just so much material here. A little tip, if you are going to put people down on something like this you might want to make sure you have a solid argument and your grammar is spot on! You can of course pick apart mine, but I am not telling people their kids are not smart enough to be taken out of school.

Where did you read that I said kids are not smart enough to be taken out of school? I said maybe why kids in the United States are way behind other countries in education could be the attitudes by some parents on here who thinks its ok to miss the limited amount of time kids are in school with vacation time....I guess its the area I live in but kids here are punished missing time for anything other than funerals, family emergencies, etc, not taking a week off because they are going on a cruise...Its call truancy and its a pretty big deal, reason why they have so many scheduled days for your kids in the school system to be in school like they are supposed too...

I guess I am just in the minority here, that's ok, everyone has their own right to their own opinion....I am just in the belief Spring Break, Fall Break, WInter break, schedule in services are enough days you child misses to begin with besides pulling them for a whole week to go on a cruise....I know next cruise I go on will either be in Spring Break in March or in Dec, might be more money, but to me its more important for my kids to learn being in school is more important than taking vacations whenever..

 

[purfectlyweird]

I have a question. I understand that cruises to other countries can be beneficial b/c of culture, history etc but let's be honest with ourselves what are kids learning at WDW??? I don't have kids but I have a little sister whose 11 and she gets very upset about missing school. She always plans in advance to do things during her spring/summer break b/c she knows that those are her designated vacation times. Oh and I always travel in early March.

 

[wcw57]

eye mizzed alot uv skule for wdw and aye ternd owt fyn

 

[purfectlyweird]

Kids parents are cheap and would rather sacrifice designated learning times into something convenient for their parents for the parents own selfish reasons at the kids expense...

You know what's funny I have a disney cruise this early December because it was cheaper than going during Christmas and I wanted to take my little sister. I told my mom that it wouldn't cost her anything because we would be splitting the cost between me and my friends and she said no b/c it would have still been 2 weeks before winter break. She would rather pay more during the summer. IMHO Disney isn't going anywhere if you cant go this year go the next.

 

[KLB9]

Your analogy is flawed. Informing the school your child will be out for a week or more and ensuring they stay current with the work is a lot different than just not showing up for a week or more with no explanation or excuse, or as you put it showing up late everyday.

Martin

To be fair I did not reference whether an explanation or excuse would be offered, you made that up on your own, not part of my analogy.

Suppose there was a reason, and that reason was shared with the school that you would be dropping of the child late or picking them up early and would make sure they caught up on what they missed, would you feel differently about that?

My point was to those who were saying that what would be learned in 1 week of school didn't matter. Just pointing out there are more factors than that.

My kids missed a week last year, there is no one correct answer.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Mid October through mid December avoiding the holiday weeks (Halloween & Thanksgiving). In December the water at CC is a little cool when you first put your toes in the water but we found once you start moving around you get use to it. I like December more because of the Christmas decorations.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Not going to tell everyone how to parent, but cannot believe people take their kids out of school for a week at a time to go on a cruise....I saw a ton of kids on Dream last week school age and it was first week of May...Doubt their Spring Break was that late and I am fairly certain most go to school until end of May...I guess some of those kids could be home schooled but sure not all......Sure its great for kids to go on a trip like this but I could never imagine taking them out of school to do so...Where I live you only get so many days and I am fairly certain vacation does not count as an excused trip....

We took our son out of school up to a week at a time several times going into Jr. High School. He graduated with honors and was one of a few selected from many applicants into the School of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. And his schools (school district) allowed it!!!!! We just had to get a slip signed by each of his teachers two weeks in advance. And as another poster already said, you are telling everyone how to parent. I would not take back a single day of all those weeks he missed of school through his school years for anything. Why don't we let the parents decide what is appropriate for their child/ren when it comes to family vacations and whether their child/ren can handle it.

 

[redsonja76]

Off season. 1. less people. 2. less money.

 

[Eeyorebabies]

Mine learn a lot at WDW. We take their independent study work with us. When we get stuck in a long line, guess what my kids do? They bust out math, science, social studies, etc. When we are at the hotel, they do more of the work that is text book related. On the flight or drive back, they do even more school work. So technically, WDW isn't a teaching experience, but using the down time or long lines is a great time to bring out the worksheets. When we get back from vacation they test when the other students test, and they get excellent grades. It just depends on how you use your time. One shoe doesn't fit everyone. If we go on a short trip, we spend the weekend before getting the school work done, then just enjoy the trip. My kids haven't ever fallen behind. Like I said, they are actually two grades ahead when it comes to math and reading. Some children would struggle being pulled out of school, especially in the higher grades. But I really think you are not actually seeing as many kids pulled out of school as you are seeing homeschooled, independent study, foreign countries that have different schedules, year round kids, etc.

 

[Ofinn]

I'm so happy to hear that May is so popular! We are cruising for the first time at the end of May 2016, and I was nervous it may have been too early in the season.

This is the first May in five years we haven't vacationed in Florida. We have been in Sept, Oct, Dec, Jan, Feb, April and May. May is my favorite month for WDW and cruising. Warm but not too hot, rainy and hurricane season hasn't really started, not too humid, long days, warm water, and of course good prices. I think in general it's a great month to vacation anywhere. The only reason I'm sitting at home right now is because it's my son's last year of little league, and I didn't want him to miss any of his games.

 

[LWILDP]

What are people's experiences with January cruises in the Caribbean? Last year we went in early Dec and loved it - although did find CC a little cool. Next year we're going in Jan since at time we booked it was cheaper (now gown up in price). I just hope weather will be good. What are your experiences? Note: we went to WDW at end of Jan two years ago and had horrible weather so am a little worried.

 

[Ofinn]

The US is not behind in education because parent's pull out their kids out for vacation. What a ridiculous statement. Kids that are pulled out for vacation are most likely the kids that are doing the best in school because they have parents that have taken responsibility for their education. If you're relying on the public school system/8 hour babysitting service as the soul provider of your kids education I feel bad for your kids.

 

[Ofinn]

Wow so I am guessing your kids are home schooled...What a great statement that you view public schools system as a 8 hour babysitting service, tells me all I need to know about your view...

No my point was that kids that do well in school are the usually the ones that have parents involved not because they never miss a day of school. It's not that hard for a kids to make up a week's worth a school. Maybe babysitting wasn't the best choice of words, but their is a lot of down time in school. They are not doing 8 hours of school work a day, and either are kids that are homeschooled. I'm sure parent's on this board that pull their kids out for vacations are going to make sure their kids make up the work and learn something from traveling. I don't hold them responsible for the US being behind in education.

 

[redsonja76]

Ugh, get back to the original topic. Some people pull their kids out, some people seem to think that makes those parents the worst parents in the world. Who freaking cares???? So long as your nose is out of my parenting business then I give two poops about what you think. So yea, like I said, off season: less people less money.