Kids and cruising outside of school breaks.

[Linedog]

Our first cruise was with two teenagers during spring break, we/they had a great time. Well we are looking to go again but, most if not all school break cruises are full. How many of you cruise with teens outside of school break times? Our teen is a 4.0, so with some take along or do before we go homework, we don't have a problem pulling him out of school for a cruise. Our concern is, how many other teens will be on a cruse for him to meet? Not looking for a babysitter just fellow teens for him to hang with. We take him along during shore trips, but days at sea and nights between ports might bore him.

[pieshops]

We pretty much always take our vacations outside regular school breaks for 2 reasons, first we own a catering company and those breaks are usually our busy times and secondly and most important to us is the fact it is so much less crowded at many places off break time then during (mainly kids).

 

our kids mostly hang around with us and really do not do the kids club, but when they have during non break time it has been pretty empty, other then that they are good to swim all day.

 

Don't get me wrong there are always kids on the ship of all ages, but not the amount you qould find at spring break time.

[tiggerfan616]

Linedog I'm the same way I dont have a problem taking my son out of school during the year we have done it the last 2 years and just bring his work. He is a little younger then yours though, only 8 but choses to hang with us mostly during the day then in the kids club. Although I have never sailed during spring break and have no intention of doing so I will say their are enough other parents out there that feel the same way we do also and there will be other kids his age on board. The ship just wont be over-run with them.

[sassycruiser]

Our son (now 20) always went outside of break time. It was always cheaper and less crowded. There were always kids - just not tons.

[mpk218]

I agree with you all . As long as they are doing well and can afford to miss some time , why not..

Wait a few more minutes and you will hear the other sides opinions ;)

[silkhair1]

My son is not a teen yet, but on our last cruise in January he was the only one in his age group on the ship. Not fun for him at all. They combined the 6-9 age group with the next one 10-12, but that is a big difference and he never wnet to camp. No biggie, the little one did (thank goodness) and the 8 year old hung with us playing games and swimming. So what I am saying is there may not be may teens at all, be prepared. Good Luck.

[tiyana4]

Until we booked our Med cruise for November, I never would have dreamed of taking DD (14) out of school during regular sessions. She is in AP classes and has extremely difficult courses. However, the cruise that we want to take (stops overnight in Africa) is only offered in May and November. I had a tough decision to make, but given the educational value (geographical and historical) to be gained by this trip, even the principal had to agree that it was worthy of approval. We also did a test to see if she would be able to truly keep up with her assignments on a recent 3-nt cruise to the Bahamas (out of school for 2 days) and she had no problems. I say do it if it will not seriously impact your child's studies. We don't expect many teens, if any on this one, but who knows.

 

OP - DD had plenty of teens to hang with in early September even though most schools were already back in session. She met a great little circle of friends that she still keeps in touch with. However, our December cruise had 33 teens on the entire ship, but only a small percentage attended the actual teen club. Although DD did not have the selection of teems to hang out with as our previous cruise, she met a couple and actually loved the individualized attention received from the counselors.

[Vyhanek]

If you cruise ANY time between the middle of February and the end of April the ship will be guaranteed full of kids/teens. Different regions of the country have breaks at different times. You don't need to worry about that. I would think it would be hard to maintain a 4.0 at a tough school missing a whole week though. Even if he was able to keep up with the homework, he's missing an entire week of in class instruction. That would be the hard part.

[theodoru]

During school, but it also depended on the teacher. My granddaughter had a teacher when she was 10 and 11 who understood the educational value of travel. Not only would the teacher send the work that would be missed, but she also asked for a trip report and a map showing where we had gone. Of course my granddaughter was also a good student who could easily miss a few days of school without hurting her grades.

 

My grandson is not the same good student his sister is and missing school has a more negative effect on him. Now that my granddaughter is in high school, it is more difficult for her to miss school. Therefore I no longer take them out. This means fewer cruises since we now must pay peak prices.

[CanadianTwosome]

So far I can't remember taking a holiday that our daughter didn't have to miss at least one day of school for. We're from Canada, though, where travelling with parents (or their approval) is considered an acceptable absence. I don't know where you're from, but make sure to check with your son's school before you book to make sure he won't be penalized for the absence.

 

Two of our recent cruises were in mid-January, so there were a lot fewer kids on board than there were on the Sky with us a couple of weeks ago, but I've always seen some from all age groups. Even if there aren't a lot of teens, though, there are always counsellors whose job it is to supervise the teen activities. The Kid's Crew counsellors tend to be fairly young (in my experience), as well as enthusiastic and energetic - I know that on one cruise when there weren't that many in my daughter's group, she still had fun because she just hung out with the counsellors. Of course, she was 10 at the time, not 14, but someone to hang out with who is interested in you having an enjoyable time is a good thing at any age, isn't it?

 

Also, remember that there are lots of opportunities to have fun on a cruise ship outside of the Teen crew. When I started cruising, we would sail over Christmas, but there were still less than a dozen kids on each of the cruises we were on. (that I remember seeing/meeting) There was no kid's program, the pool (1) was about 8x8 (if that), and there were definitely no electronic games, bowling alleys, rock climbing walls, or other such activities. Miraculously, my sister and I still had a blast. (and we rarely hung out together) It's also a great time to spend together - take advantage of the lack of work, school, and evening activities to enjoy being with your son at this stage in his life... like every stage of childhood, it will be over before you know it.

 

Lastly, you can also try asking on your roll call if anyone else is bringing a teen. They may even be able to 'meet' via email before the cruise. :)

[tiggerfan616]

So far I can't remember taking a holiday that our daughter didn't have to miss at least one day of school for. We're from Canada, though, where travelling with parents (or their approval) is considered an acceptable absence. I don't know where you're from, but make sure to check with your son's school before you book to make sure he won't be penalized for the absence.

 

OMG CT you are so lucky unfortunalty here in NJ there is no acceptable absence they are all treated the same even with a doctors note. I remind my son when we get back from our trips that he is extremely limited on absence days now

[Midge8]

Our kids will miss 6 days of school for trip, but this is a once in a great while thing for them. I fiqure we might luck out as in the past this time of year there has been one or more snow days. Plus our older two will have just finished up there first classes, and only be one week into the new ones. Plus when most of the school was out with the N1H1 flu in Nov, our kids didn't get sick so they missed no school.

 

I just plan on reading before bedtime, math on the ride down and back ( 4 day car ride), and the rest as time allows.

[zqvol]

Our first cruise was with two teenagers during spring break, we/they had a great time. Well we are looking to go again but, most if not all school break cruises are full. How many of you cruise with teens outside of school break times? Our teen is a 4.0, so with some take along or do before we go homework, we don't have a problem pulling him out of school for a cruise. Our concern is, how many other teens will be on a cruse for him to meet? Not looking for a babysitter just fellow teens for him to hang with. We take him along during shore trips, but days at sea and nights between ports might bore him.

 

You better check with the teachers. That would be considered an unexcused absence, and they do not have to allow makeup work etc. As much as you want to go at that time, your child probably needs to be in school.

[Richie2pies]

It seems parents who take kids on a cruise who miss school will use any available excuse for rationalizing taking their kids out of school. I know a teacher who says "ït's a worthwhile educational experience". It just gets rid of a kid for that period of time without having a parent get mad. Every parent thinks their offspring is a genius and can afford to miss school. Teachers know this.

[catnanny]

As a retired elementary teacher having taught grades 1, 2, and 5 for 31 years, I have had many experiences with students missing school for travel. Basically, I love to travel and feel that I have been so lucky to have received a first-hand education about the world in my travels. What I learned in the different countries of the world can never be surpassed, or even duplicated in the classroom. A good teacher can come close, but it's never like the real thing. I feel exactly the same about students seeing the world, even if they miss school. However, most states have requirements for students' learning, and many subject areas must be covered in specific grades, so that they will be prepared for the next year, which builds from the previous year. Perhaps, for example,in fifth grade certain parts of American history may be taught, as required by the state board of education. I always liked to add interesting, but true, trivia things to the lessons taught, photographs of my visits to historical places , etc.. This helped the students remember the basic facts, especially since there is so much testing done on students' knowledge of the materials. In most cases, those kinds of lessons cannot be done outside of class. It's very hard to teach an empty desk. Also, a teacher rarely has enough time to prepare for his/her plans a week in advance, let alone two or three weeks. I once had a family who was leaving on vacation for three weeks. The parents wanted all the work for those three weeks in advance, so the child could complete the work before they even left for the vacation. If I would do that, I would be writing up lesson plans five or six weeks in advance. One does have a basic idea of what will be taught, but not the day-to-day lessons that far in advance. Study guides, worksheets, etc. are not usually prepared that far in advance. A teacher these days is overwhelmed with required paperwork, parent-teacher meetings, teacher-administration meetings, etc.. It's very difficult to get everything ready for the next week ahead, let alone, several. Also, the bottom line is, after all the preparation, in my teaching I would say that at least half of the students came back with nothing accomplished while they were out. For someone without any extra time in his/her 10 hour work-day in school and at home, the time needed to prepare work for a week or more in advance takes a big chunk of time. It's very upsetting that all that time you spent in preparation for students going out of town, was for nothing. Sometimes, in all the husltle and hassle of travel, papers and even textbooks are lost or left behind. There have been times when shortages required that students not be allowed to take school-owned materials on vacation. The students then have not only the work from when they were gone, but the current work as well. They will always find themselves a little behind. They may not have finished the work by the time for testing. Often neither the students nor their parents understand that the classroom studies and testing can't stop for them to catch up. They often don't do well on the tests, as they haven't done all the reinforcement work. But they also haven't been there for the lessons from the teachers, so they haven't received all the teachings that teachers give in class and all the little extra things teachers do to help them learn and remember. Once again, their empty desk isn't going to help them in the long run.

So, while I believe that travel is one of the most excellent ways of learning, most every state requires certain subjects covered during each school year. Just because Johnny knows everything in the world about the Caribbean islands, that isn't necessarily going to help him pass the requirements of his grade level. Even the best students in the class may find their scores dropping a little.

Bottom line, in my opinion, and I'm not claiming to be an expert, a few days out of the classroom for a vacation can be a very good and educational trip. Anything beyond a few days may cause even a good student, to fall behind in the classroom work. Their learning and education from that trip may, and probably will, be tremendous. But he or she will still need the knowledge of what needed to be learned by being in school. Teachers can't stress enough, you can't teach an empty desk.

[deckedout]

It's very hard to teach an empty desk. Also, a teacher rarely has enough time to prepare for his/her plans a week in advance, let alone two or three weeks. I once had a family who was leaving on vacation for three weeks. The parents wanted all the work for those three weeks in advance, so the child could complete the work before they even left for the vacation. If I would do that, I would be writing up lesson plans five or six weeks in advance. One does have a basic idea of what will be taught, but not the day-to-day lessons that far in advance. Study guides, worksheets, etc. are not usually prepared that far in advance. A teacher these days is overwhelmed with required paperwork, parent-teacher meetings, teacher-administration meetings, etc.. It's very difficult to get everything ready for the next week ahead, let alone, several. Also, the bottom line is, after all the preparation, in my teaching I would say that at least half of the students came back with nothing accomplished while they were out. For someone without any extra time in his/her 10 hour work-day in school and at home, the time needed to prepare work for a week or more in advance takes a big chunk of time. It's very upsetting that all that time you spent in preparation for students going out of town, was for nothing. Sometimes, in all the husltle and hassle of travel, papers and even textbooks are lost or left behind. There have been times when shortages required that students not be allowed to take school-owned materials on vacation. The students then have not only the work from when they were gone, but the current work as well. They will always find themselves a little behind. They may not have finished the work by the time for testing. Often neither the students nor their parents understand that the classroom studies and testing can't stop for them to catch up. They often don't do well on the tests, as they haven't done all the reinforcement work. But they also haven't been there for the lessons from the teachers, so they haven't received all the teachings that teachers give in class and all the little extra things teachers do to help them learn and remember. Once again, their empty desk isn't going to help them in the long run.

So, while I believe that travel is one of the most excellent ways of learning, most every state requires certain subjects covered during each school year. Just because Johnny knows everything in the world about the Caribbean islands, that isn't necessarily going to help him pass the requirements of his grade level. Even the best students in the class may find their scores dropping a little.

Bottom line, in my opinion, and I'm not claiming to be an expert, a few days out of the classroom for a vacation can be a very good and educational trip. Anything beyond a few days may cause even a good student, to fall behind in the classroom work. Their learning and education from that trip may, and probably will, be tremendous. But he or she will still need the knowledge of what needed to be learned by being in school. Teachers can't stress enough, you can't teach an empty desk.

 

I agree completely. I teach middle school, and I love it when my students get to experience new things; however, they do miss a lot of class time and instruction. This can be even worse at high school where the number of hours spent in the classroom can determine if the student receives credit for the class.

One year, my son got the flu. It was the only year that he came close to missing 10 days of class, the number of days missed in our district that determines if a high school student earns credit for their classes.

My suggestion is to make sure you understand the state and district requirements for credit. And, if your child is a 4.0 student, I would assume he/she is taking AP classes, in that case, missing classes is a bad idea.

 

When children are in the younger grades, it is much easier for parents to make up for the time missed. As a teacher myself, I would never have (and never have) taken my child out of school for a vacation. IMHO, kids belong in school, it is their job. They get "vacation" time. That is when they should go on vacation.

 

But I'm a little bias, and are you planning to do somethng "extra" for the teachers who have to make personalized lesson plans for your child while he/she is gone? Okay, cheap shot, but if you think it is easy to pull together a weeks worth of work for a student who is going on vacation, think again.