I am so mad!!

[C&THollings]

Back in May, I called the school to find out when Spring break was. After many phone calls, I was told the calender had March 25 to April 3. Well we book along with another couple and their kids and my parents on the Valor. (the other parent also check her schools calender, same county)

Well, the schools calender are posted on their web sites with school starting. They have moved it up a week :eek:, it is now March 18 to March 27.

The rooms we have are not available on the earlier sailing, not to mention a $50.00 per person to switch for 11 people.

I would like to say a few choice words to the Superintendent's office, but it would not do me any good. The whole point in booking that week was to NOT take any kids out of school. My 16 year old daughter in in dual enrollment with the Jr. College and can fail if she misses 5 days.. I have already called the College to see what can be worked out, but not sure yet.. I am also checking into the Glory.. I so hope this works out ....

 

P.S. I would have loved to book the March 20 sailing in the first place, with my Birthday March 22..

[bonniemari]

Oh not good-I hope things work out for you and your family.

[spencercoop]

Yikes. Hope everything works out.

[Koval]

Oh that is bad, I hope it all works out for you.

We will be taking our Grandson in Jan, but he is in 2nd grade. that young they can get away with doing their homework early, and doing a story about where they went and what they did.

[spencercoop]

Oh that is bad, I hope it all works out for you.

We will be taking our Grandson in Jan, but he is in 2nd grade. that young they can get away with doing their homework early, and doing a story about where they went and what they did.

 

It would be nice if that is how it was for all grade levels!!:D

[violettennyoshi]

I'm pretty sure everything will work out as long as you contact all of the teachers and schools about it.

[SailingGrace]

How stressful!

 

I made a similar goof earlier this year (last school year). My daughter was in the 10th grade, I was turning 40 on Jan 18 and wanted to cruise. My thinking was that since the semester was over at Christmas break and the new one beginning in January....she could miss a few days and it not affect her grade status.

 

Well, was I WRONG! Not only was the semester not over....was over when I was in school back in the day...Christmas break was the mid point. Not any more. EXAMS were that week! Yep, MLK day was a holiday but Tues thru Friday were exams.

 

After giving it alot of thought, I didn't change my plans....the cruise was still on. I spoke with the school and they excused her absense as an "educational opportunity" and she made up her exams the week she got back.

 

So for Thanksgiving, we are sailing for a week and she will miss Mon-Wed as the holiday is Thursday and Friday.

[GAMOMOF2]

Why not cancel and rebook instead of paying the transfer fee? You should still be far enought out. Just thinking.

[Disneycruisers]

Why not cancel and rebook instead of paying the transfer fee? You should still be far enought out. Just thinking.

 

It sounds as if the OP booked the Early Saver, which is a 50.00 penalty regardless of when she changes?

[legalwife]

I feel your pain. :(

 

Same thing happened to me several years ago with our sons. Very frustrating but nothing you can do except try to work around it and find a solution. Weight all your options and figure out what you can do. You will feel better when you get it worked out and be done with it. I know I did.

[griffy116]

Taking kids out for cruise is always a hot topic on the Boards. In some states, it's not a problem. Some folks in private schools have no problem and I understand it's not a problem in Canada. Unfortunately, if your name is any indication, you live in Georgia. Sorry that you were misled on the date of Spring Break. The attendance policies in Georga even apply to a 2nd grader. In part,because of No Child Left Behind, the attendance policies have gotten much stricter. The number of students attending is something that is tracked, along with the number of students present during the various testing stages. The State, County, the Administrators and the teachers are under increased pressure to have every student in school every day. Even if a student is making all A's, the school takes a hit if the student attendance is down. I'm not excusing it, just letting you know, and the folks posting that in some states, it IS a big deal, even for a 2nd grader. For high schoolers, missing a certain number of days can cause them to fail the grade, even if making all A's. I think the number is 7, but if a student hits the "magic" number, a letter is generated with the horrors of what can happen. My Grandson attends high school and a friend of his should have an 11th grade home room. Because of "excessive absences that exceeded the maximum number of days" he has a 10th grade home room. In Georgia, you have to present a form on attendance issued by the school to the DMV to get your driver's license. Too many absences can mean you can't get your driver's license. That's a big deal to a 16 year old, and it's the law here. I sincerely hope you are able to work something out. Start with your County Board of Education and the County Superintendant's office. The local school may or may not be able to issue a waiver on the attendance policy, but talking to the County Administrators and getting it in writing would be my first step.

[MrPete]

Do what's right on the most important issue and move on.

[cv322]

Good luck with this issue, hope it works out for you. BTW, my birthday is also March 22nd! :D.

[msmayor]

I'm pretty sure everything will work out as long as you contact all of the teachers and schools about it.

 

This is not always the case, especially in the high school arena. Our own district has taken a much harder line with respect to absences, and family vacations are never considered "excused". Much like the OP said, 5 unexcused absences in a quarter and automatic failure is a reality.

[Normal 1]

Georgetown - I was very hesitant to book so far out as my DD is also taking AP classes and did not want to miss school. We are booked on the 3/20 Glory and there are still lots of rooms left. We have a roll-call over on the Glory board...If you change, come join the roll-call. I'm from Central IL too as are a couple others on the roll-call!!

 

Good luck...

[arpie05]

You know what you tried and booked ES to save and if you hurry can still find some great ES fares if you hurry. I paid the stupid $50 fee twice on our last trip - but I knew I took the risk when I booked ES.

 

The Freedom ES prices were good when I looked yesterday for March.

 

Next year, wait until closer to August to book spring break, I guess ;)

(I know it's hard when prices are so good - I was looking at 2012 great prices yesterday but know I'd better not book because my son will be playing Varsity BB and i'm sure there will be BB or a debate conflict)

[Vanessa L]

A similar situation happened for us this year. We booked a cruise for September before I decided to put my son in school from a home schooling environment. Once enrolled, we knew that we could still take the cruise (it was a Thur-Mon) as he is perfectly fine to be home alone those few days. What changed was, during the summer the school board voted to go to trimesters from semesters which would make my son's midterms the week we were going to be gone. No way I could leave during that time, so we cancelled the cruise, took the $100 hit and will simply have that extra $$ for use next year when we reschedule. To me, it was worth taking the $100 hit, since I knew there was no way I could be gone that week.

 

I know it sounds like a PIA, but since you personally would not be incurring the $50pp penalty (I'm assuming that each family paid their own way) for everyone, could you just cancel and reschedule for another time? Not sure about your school system, but our's is as others have mentioned, uber strict about absences and in cases like this, where the child is taken out for convenience rather than emergency, make up work is not allowed. Since you are sailing during spring break, there is a chance that the cruise the week you need it will now be priced much higher than the one you booked.

[lillian marie]

My kids are in private schools so taking them out has never been a problem. The schoolwork is provided for the child to complete while they are gone. I'd call the supt. of your school district and see what can be done and then rebook if needed. Hopefully you'll make the $50 ES fee up in a reduced fare.

[legalwife]

Taking kids out for cruise is always a hot topic on the Boards. In some states, it's not a problem. Some folks in private schools have no problem and I understand it's not a problem in Canada. Unfortunately, if your name is any indication, you live in Georgia. Sorry that you were misled on the date of Spring Break. The attendance policies in Georga even apply to a 2nd grader. In part,because of No Child Left Behind, the attendance policies have gotten much stricter. The number of students attending is something that is tracked, along with the number of students present during the various testing stages. The State, County, the Administrators and the teachers are under increased pressure to have every student in school every day. Even if a student is making all A's, the school takes a hit if the student attendance is down. I'm not excusing it, just letting you know, and the folks posting that in some states, it IS a big deal, even for a 2nd grader. For high schoolers, missing a certain number of days can cause them to fail the grade, even if making all A's. I think the number is 7, but if a student hits the "magic" number, a letter is generated with the horrors of what can happen. My Grandson attends high school and a friend of his should have an 11th grade home room. Because of "excessive absences that exceeded the maximum number of days" he has a 10th grade home room. In Georgia, you have to present a form on attendance issued by the school to the DMV to get your driver's license. Too many absences can mean you can't get your driver's license. That's a big deal to a 16 year old, and it's the law here. I sincerely hope you are able to work something out. Start with your County Board of Education and the County Superintendant's office. The local school may or may not be able to issue a waiver on the attendance policy, but talking to the County Administrators and getting it in writing would be my first step.

 

OP doesn't live in GA and my story is old news now.;)

[BeccaBecca1713]

Taking kids out for cruise is always a hot topic on the Boards. In some states, it's not a problem. Some folks in private schools have no problem and I understand it's not a problem in Canada. Unfortunately, if your name is any indication, you live in Georgia. Sorry that you were misled on the date of Spring Break. The attendance policies in Georga even apply to a 2nd grader. In part,because of No Child Left Behind, the attendance policies have gotten much stricter. The number of students attending is something that is tracked, along with the number of students present during the various testing stages. The State, County, the Administrators and the teachers are under increased pressure to have every student in school every day. Even if a student is making all A's, the school takes a hit if the student attendance is down. I'm not excusing it, just letting you know, and the folks posting that in some states, it IS a big deal, even for a 2nd grader. For high schoolers, missing a certain number of days can cause them to fail the grade, even if making all A's. I think the number is 7, but if a student hits the "magic" number, a letter is generated with the horrors of what can happen. My Grandson attends high school and a friend of his should have an 11th grade home room. Because of "excessive absences that exceeded the maximum number of days" he has a 10th grade home room. In Georgia, you have to present a form on attendance issued by the school to the DMV to get your driver's license. Too many absences can mean you can't get your driver's license. That's a big deal to a 16 year old, and it's the law here. I sincerely hope you are able to work something out. Start with your County Board of Education and the County Superintendant's office. The local school may or may not be able to issue a waiver on the attendance policy, but talking to the County Administrators and getting it in writing would be my first step.

 

Did I miss something? Her location listed in the upper right hand corner says 'Georgetown, Illinois." Where did you come up with Georgia?

[gtalum]

This is why I don't like the ES program. It's a big downgrade from the situation before ES was conceived, when your only expense would have been the cost difference between cruises, with no $50 penalty.

[allesonwonderland]

I'm sorry to hear that! Similar thing happened to me a few years back, then when the dates were changed it ended up coinciding with Texas' spring break so our new cruise dates were much more expensive. Right now, our state has (temporarily) adopted legislation that dictates exactly when spring break will be. It's the 38th week of school and the bill says "The thirty-eighth week of the school year shall be calculated by counting as week one the first week in July that begins on a Sunday." Hopefully they will extend it past this year, because it is nice for planning purposes to know exactly when it will be.

I hope everything works out for you and your family has a wonderful time!!

[dstone]

We always purchase the insurance thru a company with cancel/refund for any reason - could use that and then rebook, would be out the $ for the insur, but the switching the date thru the cruise line would be less $$ if it's only $50. Not sure if the insurance would transfer? Hmmm to many things to think about

[Sherrybaby412]

I am in a similar situation currently. I waited until Spring Break was announced and booked my cruise.

 

A week before school started this year, it was announced we were going from semesters to quarters. So the "regular" 1.5 days of school my daughter will be missing is now 1.5 days of exams. Something she cannot miss.

 

Typically the last day of exams is a make-up day for anyone who missed a day through the week. So this should not be a problem but the half day is a bit concerning. If we have to, we will take a very late flight instead of the afternoon one we were planning.

 

I am waiting until school has been in session a few weeks before talking to the principal about this.

[Marie51]

We always purchase the insurance thru a company with cancel/refund for any reason - could use that and then rebook, would be out the $ for the insur, but the switching the date thru the cruise line would be less $$ if it's only $50. Not sure if the insurance would transfer? Hmmm to many things to think about

 

They booked themselves, another couple with children and parents. The cost for the insurance for that many people might be more than the fee for cancelling with early saver.