Cruising on a teacher's schedule stinks!

[Squirtle]

3 months off for the summer, 1-2 weeks off at Christmas, another week off around Easter...lot's of choices. If you're looking to go during the shoulder seasons when cruising is at it's cheapest, save up your sick days (which I'm sure your union allows you to do), and then make your reservation. Otherwise, please don't complain when you only work about 180 days per year compared to 240-250 for most of us.

 

Wow, that's harsh. I agree teachers get more time off than other professionals, but you need to consider the things teachers have to do outside the typical 9:00 - 3:00 school hours.

 

On the other hand, teachers aren't the only people doing work from home without additional compensation. Ask any salaried person about that :).

[Squirtle]

I am not looking to start a fight here but a lot of folks make sacrifices, we have a choice in the professions we choose. My teacher friends have benefits that I have never had and that is spending the entire summer and holiday's with their baby - I had to work full time. I am not saying that teaching isn't hard work and that you probably deserve better pay etc. but everyone has things in life that make planning vacation a problem - and boy what a problem to have since a lot of folks never get to take a vacation. Right now I am glad to have any problems planning vacation as it means I have a job unlike several of my friends who are being laid off. Just a thought............

 

Very good point. I'm thankful to have the "problem" of planning this year's vacation, instead of worrying about being laid off.

[floridahog]

Wow, that's harsh. I agree teachers get more time off than other professionals, but you need to consider the things teachers have to do outside the typical 9:00 - 3:00 school hours.

 

On the other hand, teachers aren't the only people doing work from home without additional compensation. Ask any salaried person about that :).

9-3 I must talk to my boss about my 8-530! lol

[pe4all]

We "gladly" pay the higher prices just to get away when we can. (teacher's schedule) BUT - imagine "bumping" into your students or ex-students no matter what vacation you go on, or where you go! Has happened the last 5 cruises, and the last 3 land-vacations before that - LOL! (450 kids per year times 30 years of teaching = no where to escape:eek:)

[lady_cruiser]

Haha...too true. Didn't think about that.

 

My wife gets six week's paid vacation, and man-oh-man, cruising would be so affordable if we could both go in say, February.

 

What school district to you work for? Most school districts have Spring Break, holiday breaks (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years), etc.

[MDC]

Thanksgiving week is usually a pretty good time to get away. Traditionally the fares aren't as expensive as they are during the summer months, Christmas time, or spring break.

[cruisernh]

I just realized us teachers on here today are probably at school. lol

[Houstoncruiser2007]

My wife and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon last spring (my first cruise) and we both fell in love with Carnival...particularly the prices! We've both got the serious cruise itch again, but now I'm working a teacher's schedule with only the summer off. Of course the prices skyrocket in the summer months, and I don't think we can afford it. What a stinker!

 

Seems like you unintentionally hit a nerve, huh? ;)

 

Don't be discouraged. You can do it... just takes a lot of planning. My hubby is a teacher and we took a 4 day cruise this past September. Like you, he has only two personal days so we found a cruise that leaves on a Thursday and returns on a Monday. Monday coincided with a teacher's workday (he can miss one of those a year for extra summer conferences he had to attend with no pay) so he was out only 2 work days. He made sure there was no state-mandated testing, lined up his substitute, prepared his lesson plans, and Ta-da!

 

We got a very good deal because it was off-season AND because we are ex-military we even got it for better deal. I love Carnival!

 

Summer cruising, Christmas, New Year, Spring Break, etc. are VERY expensive so just know there are deals out there.

 

Good luck.

 

P.S. Thank you for teaching. :o

[ehogan]

Hats off to ZQVOL!

 

I am not a teacher, but I have three children who are and who I almost wish were not. They are all dedicated teachers, and if you think they work 9AM to 3PM you have absolutely no idea of the job. My children never leave the school until at least 6PM and the one who has become a principal leaves between 7 and 8 PM every night. That doesn't include days when he has meetings that could go until 10.

 

About summers - that time is not paid time (at least it isn't in Canada). Teachers basically get 3 weeks off each year between Christmas and Spring Break and it NEVER increases- compare that to some of our government employees who can get up to 8 weeks a year paid vacation (and who can also bank sick time and take it anytime they wish)

 

On top of all that they get to pay premium rates for any vacation they take because they are limited to high season rates!

 

I worked for 3 months in a high school as the accountant and then left because I couldn't stand being around that number of children on a regular basis, even though my exposure was limited. It took that job and my children's jobs to wake me up to what a teacher's job is.

 

My thanks to all you teachers - you deserve better pay, better working hours and more appreciation for what you do.

 

Whew! That feels better!

 

P.S. I believe Holand America is the only cruise line that gives some consideration to teachers.

[JazzCatDRP]

Wow, I certainly didn't expect nor mean to cause such a firestorm! Couple things that I'd like to add though.

 

I am not technically paid for the summer season, my school season paychecks are decreased each month so I still have a check during the summer. So my summer break isn't three months of "paid vacation." I can't add up my sick days, as any illness lasting more than two days requires a doctor's note. In addition, a para in my building recently got fired for using a sick day to travel (no joke). Besides, it wouldn't be fair to my kids to just up and leave for a week in the middle of the semester.

 

Being a teacher certainly isn't living the high life, and having the summer off is definitely offset by the pay. I've never heard of a teacher that teaches for the money. I'm not going to divulge numbers, but if my teaching income were the only income in the household, our income would be scarily near the poverty line.

 

For those suggesting a spring break cruise, it's a great thought, but my school district's spring break for teachers is a three day weekend.

 

My last tidbit: I wasn't trying to stir up a "woe is me" pity party for having the summer off. My wife and I were looking up cruises last night, and seeing the chart on the Carnival website where you can see a cruise two measly weeks prior to ours being nearly half the cost of when we could cruise was a bit depressing. In our number crunching, we realized we probably couldn't afford to do it this year. With my schedule, we'll have to make cruising an every-other-year thing, rather than a yearly event. It's not that big of a deal though...every two years is better than none!

 

I apologize for the firestorm, and for probably adding to it in this post, but I'm proud of my profession and I'll stick up for it all day!

[tex_toby]

What about spring break and christmas break?....there's another couple of weeks...

 

Prices soar at all of those times....Christmas, Easter, Spring Break, Thanksgiving.... If you didn't have a clue when schools were typically in session or not, you could look at cruise vacation pricing and know exactly when school in session. It's basic supply and demand. Everybody just has to work around their own schedule, whether its because of your kids, your job, your spouses job, etc...

 

tex :cool:

[CruzVinnieCruz]

Wow, I certainly didn't expect nor mean to cause such a firestorm! Couple things that I'd like to add though.

 

I am not technically paid for the summer season, my school season paychecks are decreased each month so I still have a check during the summer. So my summer break isn't three months of "paid vacation." I can't add up my sick days, as any illness lasting more than two days requires a doctor's note. In addition, a para in my building recently got fired for using a sick day to travel (no joke). Besides, it wouldn't be fair to my kids to just up and leave for a week in the middle of the semester.

 

Being a teacher certainly isn't living the high life, and having the summer off is definitely offset by the pay. I've never heard of a teacher that teaches for the money. I'm not going to divulge numbers, but if my teaching income were the only income in the household, our income would be scarily near the poverty line.

 

For those suggesting a spring break cruise, it's a great thought, but my school district's spring break for teachers is a three day weekend.

 

My last tidbit: I wasn't trying to stir up a "woe is me" pity party for having the summer off. My wife and I were looking up cruises last night, and seeing the chart on the Carnival website where you can see a cruise two measly weeks prior to ours being nearly half the cost of when we could cruise was a bit depressing. In our number crunching, we realized we probably couldn't afford to do it this year. With my schedule, we'll have to make cruising an every-other-year thing, rather than a yearly event. It's not that big of a deal though...every two years is better than none!

 

I apologize for the firestorm, and for probably adding to it in this post, but I'm proud of my profession and I'll stick up for it all day!

 

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that made me pause and think a while:

 

It will be a good day when teachers have all the supplies and pay they need and your average CEO has to panhandle in the street for memo paper.

 

We here in the U.S. worry to much about the bottom line and not enough about the decline in our educational system.

 

To all of my teachers thank you!!

[MDSue]

As a fellow school system employee I understand your plight. I hate to complain because I do feel spoiled with the amount of time we have off. What many may not realize is many don't get a paycheck for that time period and therefore need to find another job to make up the difference. I would love to take a cruise during the winter month's to escape the cold, but can't take off when school is in session. I have to wait until spring break when the prices are at their highest and th ships are full of kids [which I work with every day]. I would save hundreds of dollars if I could change dates.

So yes it's nice to have summers off for those who can afford it and I'm not complaining, but I sure would enjoy taking a vacation during a less crowded and less expensive time.

[toby #1]

Love cruising w/o all the little one's running all over the ship. Love the prices! we are cruising in may because the DGS is going on his first cruise and can't miss that. He is a well behaved child so it will be a pleasure to cruise with him but not looking forward to all the other rug rats running all over. If all the kids would be like DGS wouldn't mind cruising with them. Maybe cruising while kids are out of school would be cheaper if parents watched the kids and they didn't make such messes. Just my opinion.

[Texas_firefighter]

I'm not complaining about the days off, merely the timing of it. I get two personal days a year, and one sick day a month. Using sick days for vacation is strictly prohibited, and more than two consecutive sick days requires a doctor's note.

 

What some folks don't understand is that you don't get paid for the summer months your off either.Bummer! I come from a long line of teachers in the fam.

[Megnolia]

Well, I can tell you we literally have three weeks a year we can travel. I teach and DH is a farmer, which means we absolutely cannot go anywhere during the summer holiday. We have Christmas week, New Year's week, and March Break. We plan ahead, we save up and we travel the peak times. They are peak for a reason, and we're a part of that reason! :) I won't complain as long as we get in a cruise as often as we can manage.

[KarenMF]

Haha...too true. Didn't think about that.

 

My wife gets six week's paid vacation, and man-oh-man, cruising would be so affordable if we could both go in say, February.

 

 

Sorry Teacher here - I don't get THREE months off - I do get close to two, but I hate misconceptions about the vacations teachers have (My last day is at the end of the first week of June, and I go back in the first week of August!)

 

To the OP - do you get a winter or Spring Vacation? I cruise then, in addition to the summer

[JazzCatDRP]

Sorry Teacher here - I don't get THREE months off - I do get close to two, but I hate misconceptions about the vacations teachers have (My last day is at the end of the first week of June, and I go back in the first week of August!)

 

To the OP - do you get a winter or Spring Vacation? I cruise then, in addition to the summer

 

We don't get a spring break like most do. The teachers get a three day weekend. We get a winter break, but it seemed like most cruises then were similarly priced to the summer. C'est la vie, I'll just have to learn to live for a year without one! Or I'll keep bargain hunting!

[halos]

I apologize for the firestorm, and for probably adding to it in this post, but I'm proud of my profession and I'll stick up for it all day!

 

The way I see it, you don't need to apologize for anything for goodness sake.

You should be proud...don't be bothered by the nonsense posts on here.

[KarenMF]

First and foremost, teachers earn every penny they are paid and then some. You could not pay me enough to do that job. I am surrounded by family that are or have retired from teaching.

 

Now that that is out..... you've got to be kidding. Yes, teachers work above and beyond the actual classroom time. But do you seriously expect anybody to believe that vacation time is limited to "if they are lucky they can get away with maybe two or three weeks but that is about it"? If any teacher is that inefficient in doing their work, then they would never succeed in private industry.

 

Please DO NOT take this a a slam on teachers. See the above caveats. Now I'll return to threads about cruising.

 

I am responding to the above line that I quoted. It is not that we are inefficient in doing our work, but that we are not paid for the hours that are needed to do our job to the quality that is required to teach our students to the highest level possible. I am a middle school teacher - most of the teachers at my school have 125 - 150 per day! Tell me when I am going to plan the lessons and grade the work during the hours that I am to TEACH the students!

[Catrin]

<< Not a teacher.... but a parent!

 

Since my child hit middle school, we can only take vacations during school breaks and summers, too!

 

We miss the days when we could take a 6 year old out of school for a week.. we now pay the premium prices too!!

 

Oh well, Gotta Deal with it!

 

We consider ourselves lucky we get to cruise at all!

Catrin

[CC Help Michell]

What some folks don't understand is that you don't get paid for the summer months your off either.Bummer! I come from a long line of teachers in the fam.

 

I don't think it's a "bummer" that all that time out of school is unpaid for us, actually. :) I took a 50% pay cut to become a teacher (yes, my personal choice, and I've never regretted it for a second). I did so knowing that I would be paid (in my district/state) for 190 days of work out of every 365. Viewed in that light, I think my salary's okay, even with the dozens of extra hours I work every month above what's "required" -- and the intangible rewards are immeasurable.

 

What I DO think is a bummer is when (and this isn't just here at CC) a topic like this comes up and folks start venting about "ungrateful," "lazy," teachers with "three months of paid vacation," and so on (or the post above criticizing a teacher for taking off for maternity leave, for pete's sake!). Folks who seriously THINK those things lack any understanding of just why teachers are paid at the level they are, plus tend to be the kind who send their kids to school with instructions like "you don't have to do what that teacher says." (real story from a colleague this year).

 

Like the OP here I wouldn't dream of taking time off during the school year (I get up to three personal days per year and I think I've used 1.5 of them... ever). As I said above, though, I'm not looking for sympathy -- there are ways to make it work, which some on this thread have tried to share with the OP, and I hope he finds useful.

 

To the OP, I thought your last, longish post was wonderful. :) I predict a long, happy career for you -- I'm among the very few of my friends (some from my "previous life") who actually is HAPPY to go to work every day.

[KarenMF]

I am not looking to start a fight here but a lot of folks make sacrifices, we have a choice in the professions we choose. My teacher friends have benefits that I have never had and that is spending the entire summer and holiday's with their baby - I had to work full time. I am not saying that teaching isn't hard work and that you probably deserve better pay etc. but everyone has things in life that make planning vacation a problem - and boy what a problem to have since a lot of folks never get to take a vacation. Right now I am glad to have any problems planning vacation as it means I have a job unlike several of my friends who are being laid off. Just a thought............

 

I totally agree - we each chose our own profession. I just don't like when people think teachers have an 'easy' job because we only work 8 - 3 and summers off....I could NEVER do some other people's jobs!

[TheVegasMan]

HAL offers a discount for teachers, firemen and policemen. I believe www.*****.com offers this discount as well.