Thinking of changing our plans also question on deck plans

[desiree741]

I was playing around with some mock bookings. Our original plans are to do the cruise

12/21-26 with this plan I would only need to take 2 days of my vacation time because we usually get the 24 and 25th off. DD will be out for Christmas break then also.

 

During my playing around I discovered if we bumped it up to 12/7 or even 12/16 I can save over $700

 

im sure the 2/16 wouldn’t be good because of finals.

 

but if we take the 7th that means she misses a week of school and I have to use up 5 days of my annual leave or take furlough.  She’s a honor roll student and only usually misses 4-5 days out of the year but this will be her first year of high school. I am a single  mom and work for the government, the only way I am paying for this cruise is Aflac.. lol I had a nightmare of a kidney stone that took a month  to get rid of my pain is our gain haha  but do I want to owe 200 or 900 is the question. 

 

Valor -

How noisy is a balcony on the lido deck? I know it has cabins above and below just don’t know if it would be noisy or not.

 

[joepeka]

The cabins on deck 9 (Lido) forward will be very quiet - from about cabins 9269-9270 forward - as there are cabins above and below. We've never stayed in them but over the years lots of folks here on CC have stated that it's very convenient to Lido activities and the buffet and it's also relatively low traffic, therefore quiet and relatively private

[desiree741]

3 hours ago, joepeka said:

The cabins on deck 9 (Lido) forward will be very quiet - from about cabins 9269-9270 forward - as there are cabins above and below. We've never stayed in them but over the years lots of folks here on CC have stated that it's very convenient to Lido activities and the buffet and it's also relatively low traffic, therefore quiet and relatively private

Thanks!

 

[mistycruiser]

5 hours ago, desiree741 said:

I was playing around with some mock bookings. Our original plans are to do the cruise

12/21-26 with this plan I would only need to take 2 days of my vacation time because we usually get the 24 and 25th off. DD will be out for Christmas break then also.

 

During my playing around I discovered if we bumped it up to 12/7 or even 12/16 I can save over $700

 

im sure the 2/16 wouldn’t be good because of finals.

 

but if we take the 7th that means she misses a week of school and I have to use up 5 days of my annual leave or take furlough.  She’s a honor roll student and only usually misses 4-5 days out of the year but this will be her first year of high school. I am a single  mom and work for the government, the only way I am paying for this cruise is Aflac.. lol I had a nightmare of a kidney stone that took a month  to get rid of my pain is our gain haha  but do I want to owe 200 or 900 is the question. 

 

Valor -

How noisy is a balcony on the lido deck? I know it has cabins above and below just don’t know if it would be noisy or not.

 

The reason you are seeing such a different price difference is supply and demand.  Holiday weeks are in season and early December is off season with people occupied with Christmas Shopping and preparing for the holidays so not as much demand.   We've stayed on Lido and even had a cabin the closest to the door going out to the pool area and didn't notice any additional noise plus it was so convenient to pop out for the buffet or Guys or the pool. 

[Drose716]

I've been on Valor but in an inside. I'm no help me on the cabin front. 

 

On the school front... I initially planned our next cruise to be during memorial day break meaning minimal school lost. My boyfriend then found he can't be away from work that week. We had to switch to my new kids missing a full week. My honor roll middle schooler... Her teachers are really accommodating with our promise that she will get fully caught up. She's a good student so they're happy to help her have a nice family trip. My son is in elementary & his teacher just had to say that our travels &  family time will probably teach him more than school anyway. It doesn't hurt that his 10th birthday happens on the trip. 

 

In summary if taking her out is best & you're concerned, speak to the teachers. I had middle school & elementary teachers tell me to take the trip & enjoy our time as a family above all else.

[SNJCruisers]

Pick the 12/7 sailing and use the 700+ towards your airfare.  If you're driving, you could even pick the 11/30 sailing because flying then would be cost prohibitive because of it being Thanksgiving weekend.

[desiree741]

Thanks everyone. I think we will go on the 7th  and I’ll throw in a spa day for me, much needed. And we are driving as New Orleans is only 1.5 hours 🙂 

the schools have pretty lenient in the past, she missed 4 days in the 6th grade while we went to DC. Her teacher just had her to a essay on her trip and excused her for all missed work. 

We love to travel, unfortunately traveling on government income is hard to do sometimes lol

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, desiree741 said:

Thanks everyone. I think we will go on the 7th  and I’ll throw in a spa day for me, much needed. 🙂

Depending upon which ports you're visiting, you could look into a massage on the beach, which would be substantially cheaper than what they charge on board and you can also avoid the dreaded up sell afterwards to purchase whatever lotion or oil was applied.