Another reason why cruise cancellation policies need to change

[sharecruises]

Less than 1% of the population of the area affected by Hurricane Sandy were impacted financially. Yes' date=' they were inconvenienced and they may have lost power and for some a mode of transportation to get them to work but 99% didn't loose their homes or cars or tangible assets. And I've seen school districts change their schedule for lots of reasons: teacher strikes, flu outbreaks, snow days.

 

The "only" reason that I see for a pre-paid vacation to be refundable is for a person to have lost their home or have their residence inhabitable during the time of a cruise....and for most people this is covered by their own respective homeowners and renters insurance.

 

Carnival was nice enough to give future cruise credit to those who could send in proof of home damage ( copy home owner insurance claim)

 

Anyone care to comment that Royal did not even give refunds or compensation to anyone whose cruise was affected by the storm except for one ship that did not sail at all?? No future cruise discount, no nothing.

 

 

I get a little tired, myself, of people using a well known occurrence as the basis for them getting "something" when they weren't even impacted by, say a storm, to the detriment of their lives. I think the original OPs post was flawed from the beginning and no amount of back tracking can make it viable. To others that are coming up with a million "excuses" why the changing of the school schedule is, apparently, Carnival's (or any cruiselines fault) and that they have no alternative but to blame said lines over the loss of "maybe" a hundred bucks I find pretty pathetic.

 

 

As many have said, the OP's problem is that they hedged their bets and lost,

they HAD time to cancel without penalty but chose to think they could buck the system with the school board. It really is ridiculous and I for one hope that Carnival stands firm in this.

[Brenna's Mom1]

As many have said, the OP's problem is that they hedged their bets and lost,

they HAD time to cancel without penalty but chose to think they could buck the system with the school board. It really is ridiculous and I for one hope that Carnival stands firm in this.

 

The OP was never cruising and had nothing to loose. They were just using the situation as a way of arguing the accountability that a cruise line "should have" during "crisis" situations. They didn't do their homework concerning cancellation dates and Carnival so their post lacked merit from the beginning. I think the overwhelming consensus from those who have posted on this thread is that Carnival should not be held responsible for the "fate" of others, especially when that responsibility would, most certainly, impact the cruise prices of others. Or have I got this all turned backwards?

[melodyesch]

I just don't get it. When you book the cruise, they spell out the exact terms and how much you can get/not get if you cancel within X amount of time. A person should read it and then decide whether or not they can afford to lose that much money if the need to cancel arises and they haven't purchased insurance. You can't after the fact say that you really expected the cruise line would do more than what they said they would. If that were the case, why would they need a contract at all? They could just make case-by-case decisions.

 

We don't always use insurance. We have a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks on NCL that we got for a good deal and didn't get insurance. We are IT people and there are code freezes during December for both our companies so it's unlikely work would interfere. Thankfully, family and animals are healthy. So we decided that we would risk it and if by chance have to cancel at the last minute could afford to lose the money. We'd chalk it up to a bad roll of the dice.

 

However, our 2 week France vacation in May that includes an $8000 river cruise and $2500 in airfare, well, not so much. I insured up for that trip like nobody's business. If we do have to cancel, we'll get most of that money back.

 

I would think if your SO had NO extra vacation days due to health problems and there was even a slight chance the union wouldn't go your way, you should have canceled during the time period and lost your deposit. You could have always rebooked after the decision was made. Yes, you would have been out your original deposit and probably had a slightly higher fare, but you wouldn't be out ALL of your money and griping about how Carnival is being stingy.

[RuthlessBoss]

I didn't say it was required, matter a fact I never get it.

That was not a dig, it was simply a statement that these people want a refund. The insurance at this point isn't required because it's before final payment, not in a penalty phase. They knew in advance the new school schedule and time to cancel.

[nitro2448]

That was not a dig, it was simply a statement that these people want a refund. The insurance at this point isn't required because it's before final payment, not in a penalty phase. They knew in advance the new school schedule and time to cancel.

 

I agree they had plenty of time to cancel,and anyone in that situation may have. The OP is the only one lobbying for the change, and the OP wasn't even effected by the storm, as far as cruises go. It's like a kid that keeps asking the same question till they hear what they want to hear. They just thought if they used the storm as an excuse they would get more people on board with them.

[mitsguy2001]

Again, we just have to agree to disagree on this issue. Nothing that any of you say will convince me that I'm wrong. Nothing that I say will convince any of you that I am right. So let's just agree to disagree and move on. I feel as if many of the posts on this thread are just people trying to pad their post count, since they are just posting the same flawed arguments over and over, without adding anything new. Outside of this board, most people would agree with me, but obviously this board is dominated by the type of people who feel that cruise lines can do no wrong.

 

What is the most frustrating part of this thread is that people are not even reading it before they respond. At the very beginning of my very first post on this thread, I said that I do NOT have a cruise booked during February break (nor any other week), I do not have any kids yet, and I am not a teacher. Yet people responding seem to think I have a cruise booked that week. If you are going to respond to a thread, you should read it first, at least the first post. It's not as if that was burried on Page 3 somewhere, it was at the very top of my very first post.

 

Songbird1329: I am very sorry to hear about your husband's medical problems. It must be very hard to be dealing with those medical issues, be hit by Hurricane Sandy, and then lose your vacation that you paid for and worked hard for. Regardless of how Carnival handles the situation, the other posters who are showing you absolutely no compassion at all should be ashamed of themselves!

[CruisefromNY]

I have posted in the past about why I feel cruise lines need to change their cancellation policies, but unfortunately, nobody here seems to agree with me. I will start this post off saying that I do NOT currently have any children, and I am NOT a teacher or staff member at a school, nor do I have any currently active teachers in my family. Therefore, I am posting a completely unbiased opinion, and I do not have anything to gain.

 

I live on Long Island, which was recently devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Because of Sandy, most school districts lost more than a week of school. Because of that, the schools are opening during February break (schools in New York usuallly close for a week in mid-February) to make up the lost days.

 

I will say that I COMPLETELY agree with the school districts making that time up. The students are expected to be in school for 180 days per year, and teachers are expected to work for 180 days per year. So, if school is lost, it is completely reasonable to have to make that time up.

 

The problem, however, is that many people have non-refundable vacations booked during that week in February. There have been many letters to the editor in our local newspaper (so I am NOT simply making up theories) from people who had non-refundable vacations booked that week. They already suffered losses due to the hurricane, and now they are foced to lose money that they worked hard for and spent on a vacation. Their other choice is to miss a full week of school. That is a lot of school to miss, especially during an already severely interrupted school year. And, teachers and staff do not have the option of just missing a full week of school. One of the letters to the editor was by a school nurse who had a non-refundable vacation booked that week.

 

I should mention that insurance does NOT cover cancellation in this case. Also, the school calendar marks several days (during spring break in March / April) as makeup days, but it does NOT list any part of February break as makeup days. The school is reasonable to avoid using the makeup days in March / April in case there are days lost due to snow during the winter. I am not fauling the school district for that, but I am just saying that parents would have had no indication that days during February break would ever be used as makeup days.

 

The last time that a significant number of school days was lost before the winter was due to Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and even then, although the lost days were made up, they did not use February break as a makeup. Even if someone booked cancel for any reason insurance, that only covers a percentage of the cost, so they will still lose a percentage of the fare (between 10% and 25%) and the cost of the insurance (which is not cheap), which is a lot of money to lose on a vacation that you don't get to go on, especially when you suffered other losses due to the Hurricane.

 

Given the severity of the situation and the unprecedented nature of this storm and the makeup during February break, I think that cruise lines (as well as airlines, and others in the travel industry) should have a heart, and allow cancellation with no penalty for travel booked during the February break. People can very easily prove that school will be open that week. This is not the case of someone wanting to cancel at the last minute since the predicted weather is bad or because they had second thoughts about the cruise.

 

Other than the cruise lines (and airlines), it seems that all other companies went above and beyond in their response to the storm. For example:

 

1. The company that I worked for gave everyone 2 extra paid days off, on Monday and Tuesday Oct. 29 and 30, because of the storm.

 

2. Our local cable company is offering credit for any days where we were unable to use our service, even if it was due to a power outage that was no fault of their own.

 

3. My health insurance company normally requires 50 gym visits per 6 month period in order to qualify for a gym reimbursement. They agreed to reduce the number of gym visits needed this period, due to the storm.

 

4. Our local transit agency allowed people to use an October monthly pass for the first few days of November, and allowed a full refund with no penalty for tickets that were purchased for use on Oct. 29, 30, or 31, but were not used due to the storm.

 

5. My bank is waiving fees and late charges that were incurred due to the storm.

 

6. The place where I rented a DVD from waived the late fees that I would have had to pay when I was unable to return the disk due to the storm.

 

If everyone else went above and beyond for people impacted by the storm, why shouldn't cruise lines do the same?

 

Again, I am posting an unbiased opinion. I do not have any kids yet, I am not a teacher, and I do not have a cruise booked that week (nor any week currently), so I have nothing to gain or lose either way. Just posting an unbiased opinion.

 

Not sure why you think airlines did not do the right thing? Delta waived all fees well ahead of the storm. I was scheduled out of NY on Oct 25 to Florida which was experiencing Sandy and sue to return on Oct 30 right after Sandy hit NY. I cancelled well ahead and Delta took care of me.

[bucks724]

Again, we just have to agree to disagree on this issue. Nothing that any of you say will convince me that I'm wrong. Nothing that I say will convince any of you that I am right. So let's just agree to disagree and move on. I feel as if many of the posts on this thread are just people trying to pad their post count, since they are just posting the same flawed arguments over and over, without adding anything new. Outside of this board, most people would agree with me, but obviously this board is dominated by the type of people who feel that cruise lines can do no wrong.

 

What is the most frustrating part of this thread is that people are not even reading it before they respond. At the very beginning of my very first post on this thread, I said that I do NOT have a cruise booked during February break (nor any other week), I do not have any kids yet, and I am not a teacher. Yet people responding seem to think I have a cruise booked that week. If you are going to respond to a thread, you should read it first, at least the first post. It's not as if that was burried on Page 3 somewhere, it was at the very top of my very first post.

 

Songbird1329: I am very sorry to hear about your husband's medical problems. It must be very hard to be dealing with those medical issues, be hit by Hurricane Sandy, and then lose your vacation that you paid for and worked hard for. Regardless of how Carnival handles the situation, the other posters who are showing you absolutely no compassion at all should be ashamed of themselves!

 

You posted your opinion, people agreed or disagreed. Someone else posted (again) about their situation with NY schools and the discussion turned to that. I think most people on here don't give a rat's a** about a post count - there is no prize given for that - but people who have an opinion feel free to state it on here. As you did. Flawed arguments aside, we all have a right to discuss what we want. Don't like it? Don't start a thread.

[fergusonvt]

Again, we just have to agree to disagree on this issue. Nothing that any of you say will convince me that I'm wrong. Nothing that I say will convince any of you that I am right. So let's just agree to disagree and move on. I feel as if many of the posts on this thread are just people trying to pad their post count, since they are just posting the same flawed arguments over and over, without adding anything new. Outside of this board, most people would agree with me, but obviously this board is dominated by the type of people who feel that cruise lines can do no wrong.

 

What is the most frustrating part of this thread is that people are not even reading it before they respond. At the very beginning of my very first post on this thread, I said that I do NOT have a cruise booked during February break (nor any other week), I do not have any kids yet, and I am not a teacher. Yet people responding seem to think I have a cruise booked that week. If you are going to respond to a thread, you should read it first, at least the first post. It's not as if that was burried on Page 3 somewhere, it was at the very top of my very first post.

 

Songbird1329: I am very sorry to hear about your husband's medical problems. It must be very hard to be dealing with those medical issues, be hit by Hurricane Sandy, and then lose your vacation that you paid for and worked hard for. Regardless of how Carnival handles the situation, the other posters who are showing you absolutely no compassion at all should be ashamed of themselves!

 

Yeah we are the only ones with flawed arguments. Keep telling yourself that.

 

Sent from my LePanII using Tapatalk 2

[DelRio]

Most companies around here are at least pretending to be sympathetic.

 

Why not pretend to pay premiums.

[SeaShark]

True. But they can use their discretion (and did) as to when those days are made up. So still. Why is this Carnical's problem? Especially when they still had time to cancel with minimal penalty and chose not to?

 

I didn't take what you said as picking on me. I have a thicker skin than that! And just ask others are doing, you are pointing out a different point of view. :)

 

I thought that maybe you would think I was picking on you since I used your quote in my example. I'm glad that you didn't!

 

That aside...I think we're in agreement here. I don't think that this is Carnival's Problem...not in the least. The traveler has the responsibility to ensure that they can complete the contract that they agreed to OR they have to have insurance (3rd party or SELF) to cover the potential loss.

 

 

When the Hurricane hit, Carnival did make accomodations for affected cruisers...including some that had to be kicked off of their ship on embarkation day. I think Carnival did their part. They shouldn't have to make accomodations for people whose personal situation chanes four months AFTER the Hurricane.

[Fydlstyx]

Less than 1% of the population of the area affected by Hurricane Sandy were impacted financially. Yes' date=' they were inconvenienced and they may have lost power and for some a mode of transportation to get them to work but 99% didn't loose their homes or cars or tangible assets. And I've seen school districts change their schedule for lots of reasons: teacher strikes, flu outbreaks, snow days.

 

The "only" reason that I see for a pre-paid vacation to be refundable is for a person to have lost their home or have their residence inhabitable during the time of a cruise....and for most people this is covered by their own respective homeowners and renters insurance.

 

I get a little tired, myself, of people using a well known occurrence as the basis for them getting "something" when they weren't even impacted by, say a storm, to the detriment of their lives. I think the original OPs post was flawed from the beginning and no amount of back tracking can make it viable. To others that are coming up with a million "excuses" why the changing of the school schedule is, apparently, Carnival's (or any cruiselines fault) and that they have no alternative but to blame said lines over the loss of "maybe" a hundred bucks I find pretty pathetic.[/quote']

 

Whee on earth did you get the figures regarding the percentage of people who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy? You think they were inconvenienced? I continue to be shocked by the way people treat others here.

[bucks724]

I thought that maybe you would think I was picking on you since I used your quote in my example. I'm glad that you didn't!

 

Nah! Even if you were, wouldn't be the first time! :)

 

Whee on earth did you get the figures regarding the percentage of people who have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy? You think they were inconvenienced? I continue to be shocked by the way people treat others here.

 

Regardless of where the figures some from or whether or not they're accurate, a relatively small portion of the US was hit by Sandy, and a very small percentage of those affected had their cruise plans with Carnival disrupted. Shocked at the way people treat others on here? For merely disagreeing with what they feel? When has that become shocking behavior? Not once have I seen namecalling or disrespectful behavior. Okay, they were hit by a hurricane - while tragic, they don't deserve to have the rules bent/changed in their situation when they could have mitigated their own damages that resulted 4 months later. Cruises are affordable now - if Carnival starts taking case-by-case pleas as to why they should give a refund to people, what will that do the price of others? And yes, I realize they can resell the room, but why should they? Their policy states no refunds after X date. Why would they assume the burden of filling a room they're paid 100% for when the person who paid for it could purchase insurance in anticipation for any unforeseen circumstances? It's almost shocking that they think it's okay to ask for or expect a refund. If that's the case, why did I drop over $100 to insure my trip? If we get hit with snowmaggedon, I could just say it was a natural disaster and claim a 100% refund is due because I couldn't get to the airport. Right?

[nitro2448]

Again, we just have to agree to disagree on this issue. Nothing that any of you say will convince me that I'm wrong. Nothing that I say will convince any of you that I am right. So let's just agree to disagree and move on. I feel as if many of the posts on this thread are just people trying to pad their post count, since they are just posting the same flawed arguments over and over, without adding anything new. Outside of this board, most people would agree with me, but obviously this board is dominated by the type of people who feel that cruise lines can do no wrong.

 

What is the most frustrating part of this thread is that people are not even reading it before they respond. At the very beginning of my very first post on this thread, I said that I do NOT have a cruise booked during February break (nor any other week), I do not have any kids yet, and I am not a teacher. Yet people responding seem to think I have a cruise booked that week. If you are going to respond to a thread, you should read it first, at least the first post. It's not as if that was burried on Page 3 somewhere, it was at the very top of my very first post.

 

Songbird1329: I am very sorry to hear about your husband's medical problems. It must be very hard to be dealing with those medical issues, be hit by Hurricane Sandy, and then lose your vacation that you paid for and worked hard for. Regardless of how Carnival handles the situation, the other posters who are showing you absolutely no compassion at all should be ashamed of themselves!

 

Lol, well of course if someone does not agree you it's THEIR arguments that are flawed. Most of the people posting here have read you're post and know you are not booked on a cruise and are losing nothing. Nobody on here should be ashamed, except maybe someone using a natural disaster that effected many lives, to try and gain support for their opinion. Why isn't someone who was effected by it arguing about it ? Probably because they had time to cancel, and did.

[blondietink]

Losing money on any vacation, not just a cruise vacation, is a risk anybody takes when they book, unless they purchase cancel for any reason insurance within so many days of booking(10-14?). We do this every time we book a vacation, regardless if it is a cruise, all-inclusive, Europe, or something we are doing on our own. If a family can afford to vacation, they can afford to buy the cancel for any reason insurance which is minimal compared to the cost of the total vacation.

[TrinaLC]

We're adults, we're educated, we knew the risks. We have insurance. I told him to cancel the day the school board announced the change in schedule, he thought the union would veto it. Union president huffed and ouffed but ultimately bowed in the face of the inevitable.

 

 

Honestly, though, most corporations doing business in the NY/NJ area are making the goodwill gesture and helping their customers who have been affected by Sandy. They seem to be falling all over each other trying to prove who is the kindest and most compassionate. There's an Allstate ad where . . .well, you get the idea.

 

 

Pity Carnival is being pennywise and dollar foolish over this.

 

 

 

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

 

The "employer" who should be compassionate in the case of school personnel having to work unexpectedly in February is the School District, or the Union out of the union dues, NOT Carnival. I know if I had to work during a scheduled vacation week, my employer would reimburse me for lost deposits/fares.

 

And how could you possibly think Carnival is being "pennywise and dollar foolish"?

 

As indicated by the many responses, people understand that Carnival is making a proper business decision, and are supportive of that decision.

 

My goodness, a cruiseline would have to add a department of several thousand employees if they had to vet every supposed "valid" reason to cancel, and raise all of our rates accordingly.

[Warm Breezes]

Again, we just have to agree to disagree on this issue. Nothing that any of you say will convince me that I'm wrong. Nothing that I say will convince any of you that I am right. So let's just agree to disagree and move on. I feel as if many of the posts on this thread are just people trying to pad their post count, since they are just posting the same flawed arguments over and over, without adding anything new. Outside of this board, most people would agree with me, but obviously this board is dominated by the type of people who feel that cruise lines can do no wrong.

 

What is the most frustrating part of this thread is that people are not even reading it before they respond. At the very beginning of my very first post on this thread, I said that I do NOT have a cruise booked during February break (nor any other week), I do not have any kids yet, and I am not a teacher. Yet people responding seem to think I have a cruise booked that week. If you are going to respond to a thread, you should read it first, at least the first post. It's not as if that was burried on Page 3 somewhere, it was at the very top of my very first post.

 

Songbird1329: I am very sorry to hear about your husband's medical problems. It must be very hard to be dealing with those medical issues, be hit by Hurricane Sandy, and then lose your vacation that you paid for and worked hard for. Regardless of how Carnival handles the situation, the other posters who are showing you absolutely no compassion at all should be ashamed of themselves!

 

I have to say that nothing you have posted leads me to believe that Carnival is responsible for covering anyones losses in this situation. My reasoning is as follows:

 

1. All of these people had time to cancel prior to losing any money except for those who booked ES and they accepted this risk by booking ES.

 

2. Songbird1329 took a risk by not cancelling during the cancelation period in hopes that the union could help them. By doing so they accepted the risk of losing money by waiting.

 

3. Schools change schedules for many reasons. That does not make the cruise lines responsible for employee/students booked vacations. They had nothing to do with the schools decision. In 2006 our school district posted their schedule over a year in advance. I took advantage of that and booked our cruise during the days they had listed for Christmas break. Just before that school year started they decided to switch the dates scheduled so our vacation then included 3 school days. Do you think the cruiseline should have been responsible then too? The only thing different was the reason why the school changed their schedule. I didn't feel the cruiseline was responsible. We could have cancelled, but since we had airline tickets booked too we decided to pull the kids our for 3 days. Our decision, our responsibility.

 

I also just wanted to point out that while we can have empathy for victims of disaster, doesn't mean we should make others financially responsible for consequences of that disaster. Carnival has no moral or financial responsibility to pick up the costs for those who experienced a loss in this type of situation. It was not their loss to carry, especially when there was time to cancel with a full refund as in this situation, and the opportunity to purchase insurance for those who directly lost their cruises due to Hurrican Sandy. That is what is call personal responsibility...something I see sorely lacking in our country lately. If you feel so badly maybe you should pick up their loses...after all you are just as much responsible for them as Carnival is - which is not at all.

[bucks724]

I have to say that nothing you have posted leads me to believe that Carnival is responsible for covering anyones losses in this situation. My reasoning is as follows:

 

1. All of these people had time to cancel prior to losing any money except for those who booked ES and they accepted this risk by booking ES.

 

2. Songbird1329 took a risk by not cancelling during the cancelation period in hopes that the union could help them. By doing so they accepted the risk of losing money by waiting.

 

3. Schools change schedules for many reasons. That does not make the cruise lines responsible for employee/students booked vacations. They had nothing to do with the schools decision. In 2006 our school district posted their schedule over a year in advance. I took advantage of that and booked our cruise during the days they had listed for Christmas break. Just before that school year started they decided to switch the dates scheduled so our vacation then included 3 school days. Do you think the cruiseline should have been responsible then too? The only thing different was the reason why the school changed their schedule. I didn't feel the cruiseline was responsible. We could have cancelled, but since we had airline tickets booked too we decided to pull the kids our for 3 days. Our decision, our responsibility.

 

I also just wanted to point out that while we can have empathy for victims of disaster, doesn't mean we should make others financially responsible for consequences of that disaster. Carnival has no moral or financial responsibility to pick up the costs for those who experienced a loss in this type of situation. It was not their loss to carry, especially when there was time to cancel with a full refund as in this situation, and the opportunity to purchase insurance for those who directly lost their cruises due to Hurrican Sandy. That is what is call personal responsibility...something I see sorely lacking in our country lately. If you feel so badly maybe you should pick up their loses...after all you are just as much responsible for them as Carnival is - which is not at all.

 

This post needs a LOVE button. Well said!

[RDC1]

Good point. If you call a restaurant and place an order for takeout, but don't pick it up, the restaurant loses. If you cancel a cruise and they rebook your cabin, the cruise line profits from your misery.

 

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

 

Depends upon when the cancellation is made, that is why the penalties are structured the way that they are, the closer to sale date the lower the probability of a resale. That is why prior to final payment you don't lose much.

 

Any amount they make from resales go into the cruise lines revenue. That means that, if the number is higher then their costs it allows them to keep over rates lower.

 

Bottom line change the policy and fares will increase. The amount of increase depends upon the scale of the change.

[ray98]

This is a manufactured outrage. They can still cancel since it is before final payment with little or no penalty. No action is needed from the cruise lines.

[RuthlessBoss]

This is a manufactured outrage. They can still cancel since it is before final payment with little or no penalty. No action is needed from the cruise lines.

And the opinions go on, but go nowhere. Apparantly very few are afraid of losing money or having been affected (cruisewise). The cancelling of Feb school vacations is an isolated event for only a few who cruise.

Yet, the OP thinks these few should be able to cancel any old time and get money back because the school system changed their schedule.

How many people do we feel have really been affected by the time change? Not many. Families will likely go as scheduled. It seems like only a few will be affected because they are teachers.

[morganboys]

I guess if i were in your shoes I would cruise. many people take their kids out of school for a week for vacation so why would this be any different?

[Mulege]

Maybe the teachers union can reimburse them from all of the dues they have to pay. Or the fat cat union bosses could take a pay cut! No, never happen!

[Gailerina]

1) The OP has nothing to do with this situation, they were just trying to use it to justify their own opinion, which they have stated numerous times on the boards. They thought they could sway people and learned they could not. People need to take responsible for their actions, if you end up not being able to cruise due to something unrelated to say the cruise being canceled, the responsibility is on the person's shoulders, not the cruise line.

 

2)This is for the poster who is facing this situation. I do have a question and please feel free to tell me it is none of my business or even ignore me, I 100% understand.

 

Your SO you stated has been sick and because of what has been going on, had surgery. Was this cruise planned before or after they starting becoming sick? I only ask, because I only wanted to suggest that maybe due to the health problems that the cruise should have been postpone, just until they are in a better position.

 

3) Schools have the right to change their calendar (in most states I believe). So if you are cruising during the school year, it is a risks you face.

 

4) I wonder if NY will eventually do away with this vacation, since it seems it serves no real purpose.

[mitsguy2001]

4) I wonder if NY will eventually do away with this vacation, since it seems it serves no real purpose.

 

If they didn't close those days, they would just find 4 other days during the year to close (Monday of that week is Presidents Day, and they'd be closed anyway), so it doesn't really matter. I also wonder if the ski resorts would lobby to keep that as a week off, since it's one of the biggest weeks for them. On the other hand, beach resorts would benefit from the school year ending earlier or starting later and sacrificing days off in between.

 

Psychologically, for some reason, the pain of losing something is greater than the pleasure of gaining something. People tend not to like change. That is why I think it is not likely that break will ever be dropped. Even though it would mean 4 days off some other time of year, people and the union will probably complain, since they are used to having those days off.