Frustrating finding schedule with kids

[Traveller20074]

wow. I looked at our possible next cruise with grandkids.

 

Yeah. That's affordable. $1700/person in July.

 

we see the cheaper prices are when they are still in school in June, and August is RIGHT BEFORE school starts, or after school starts.

 

How is that fair?

 

Looks like we can't do this cruise.

 

OR the Caribbean. Same thing. The affordable cruise is during school times.

 

:mad:

[LHT28]

Where are you looking to go?

Are you booking a suite?

 

Lots of Caribbean cruise for under $1000 pp in July alone

[Traveller20074]

July, or early August if possible, and to hawaii (this would be a couple years out, I'm sure..we just got back) lol :D

 

 

The caribbean...isn't mid summer hurricane season?

 

 

will start looking again. We have a deposit for a cruise on NCL...so that's the line we'd be cruising with, and there'd be 4 adults and 3 kids. e.x.p.e.n.s.i.v.e. lol waiting also for "Kids sail free" again

Edited June 4, 2014 by Traveller20074

[LHT28]

Shop around quite a few on NCL for July out of Miami to Caribbean

[cruiseco]

 

How is that fair?

 

 

The cruise line's #1 priority is to make as much $$ as possible. As long as someone out there will pay the higher rate the execs are all sitting around high-fiving each other.

 

"Fair" has nothing to do with it. If they could get away with charging higher rates on those other dates they'd do it in a heartbeat.

[sherilyn70]

The higher the market demand the higher the fare typically. You want to go during peak season so unfortunately you will pay higher fares in most cases.

 

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[momthecruisedirector]

High season will always be more expensive, more people can travel during summer and spring/winter breaks. You can make arrangements with teachers to send along assignments or know that quality time with grandma and grandpa is an education itself.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Usually the "kids sail free" specials seem to fall while most kids are in school.

 

Our last three cruises have been the holiday sailing RT to Hawaii from the west coast ('05/06, '10/11, and '12/13) and we get insides or OV obstructed cabins. Plus we always been able to get the third passenger rate for our daughter. Over those three cruises, the rates have been pretty steady too, while I'm sure if we just got into our car and drove a long distance and stayed in a hotel, we would be paying a lot more for the third time over the first time.

 

For us, the Hawaiian cruise also meant no flights or hotels. We don't have to pay out anymore for food above the fare, except for a few glasses of wine for hubby and a soda or two for our girl (we bring a supply of soda with us) and whatever we eat in the ports. Our souvenirs usually run into a tee shirt or two, maybe a hair ornament, a few aloha shirts. We may or not do any excursions (the second one we didn't do any excursions, just sightseeing on our own).

 

So it just depends on what you spend your money on. Of course between those cruises, we usually didn't go anywhere (some life things were happening).

[SadieN]

What grade are the kid's in? Some families think that traveling is an education in itself.

 

Here's a whole thread from the Family board weighing the pros and cons.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1901880&highlight=district

[Keith1010]

It all comes down to supply and demand.

 

Demand for many cruises is highest in the summer months.

 

Keith

[Traveller20074]

High season will always be more expensive, more people can travel during summer and spring/winter breaks. You can make arrangements with teachers to send along assignments or know that quality time with grandma and grandpa is an education itself.

 

I am going to push this idea with my daughter. I think we might just have to do that :)

[Traveller20074]

Usually the "kids sail free" specials seem to fall while most kids are in school.Our last three cruises have been the holiday sailing RT to Hawaii from the west coast ('05/06' date=' '10/11, and '12/13) and we get insides or OV obstructed cabins[/b']. Plus we always been able to get the third passenger rate for our daughter. Over those three cruises, the rates have been pretty steady too, while I'm sure if we just got into our car and drove a long distance and stayed in a hotel, we would be paying a lot more for the third time over the first time.For us, the Hawaiian cruise also meant no flights or hotels. We don't have to pay out anymore for food above the fare, except for a few glasses of wine for hubby and a soda or two for our girl (we bring a supply of soda with us) and whatever we eat in the ports. Our souvenirs usually run into a tee shirt or two, maybe a hair ornament, a few aloha shirts. We may or not do any excursions (the second one we didn't do any excursions, just sightseeing on our own).So it just depends on what you spend your money on. Of course between those cruises, we usually didn't go anywhere (some life things were happening).

 

? we would have to fly from home to Honolulu, if we take the cruise I'm looking at...?

 

 

Are you saying the cruise you took sailed FROM a city on the west coast to Hawaii? I wish ncl had a cruise like that...

[Traveller20074]

What grade are the kid's in? Some families think that traveling is an education in itself.

 

Here's a whole thread from the Family board weighing the pros and cons.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1901880&highlight=district

 

thank you for that :)

 

the oldest is going into 4th grade in September. The middle, Kindergarten, and the youngest, he can go anywhere, any time lol

[njmomof2]

While every family has their own ideas about taking kids out of school, I was willing to take my boys out until the oldest entered middle school. Then the homework and assignments started getting more intensive and he would miss too much if we were gone. So for us, 5th grade was the dividing line.

[navybankerteacher]

Pulling children out of school for a day or so is frowned upon by schools, but often the children gain more from the travel experience - especially if the parents make arrangements with the schools for work assignments. Of course the fares will be higher in higher demand season - so do not think about it being "fair" - if you would not sell your house for less than you could get, why should you think a cruise line should sell space for less than they could get?

[Whimsy88]

I am going to push this idea with my daughter. I think we might just have to do that :)

 

If the kids are young enough, I agree that you can push the angle of the trip being an "educational/cultural experience." Most teachers will be glad to send a packet of work they can do while in transit to keep up, or will let them do a special project that ties in. One of mine did a project about the Mayans when we did a Western Caribbean cruise over spring break. He had some cool pictures to include!:D

 

It gets a little harder when they get into upper grades, which is why we are cruising in July this year. Yes, it's hurricane season, but typically June and July are fairly quiet in the Atlantic and you can buy trip insurance.

 

If all else fails, I'm sure my kids would volunteer to be your grandkids and take their place! :eek::D

[iancal]

We took our kids out of school for a week in mid December one year. No issue. Did the same for a Disney trip-actually we did it twice. We wanted to avoid the crowds and avoid the high prices. Missing the week of school-most especially in elementary school, did them no harm whatsoever.

[OCruisers]

wow. I looked at our possible next cruise with grandkids.

Yeah. That's affordable. $1700/person in July.

 

Are you including air fare in that price?

There are many cruises in July for much less than that.

LuLu

[Cruisin' Chick]

? we would have to fly from home to Honolulu, if we take the cruise I'm looking at...?

 

 

Are you saying the cruise you took sailed FROM a city on the west coast to Hawaii? I wish ncl had a cruise like that...

 

Princess sails from Port of Los Angeles (San Pedro) RT to Hawaii. Excellent cruise as there's a full blown cultural experience if you want (activities such as hula classes, taught by a native Hawaiian, ukelele classes, lei making classes, talks about the culture and cuisine, live Hawaiian music). In fact, many of those on board one of these cruises are repeaters (some four or more times on the same itinerary).

 

Other cruise lines might have RTs from San Diego or Long Beach. There are also one-way cruises starting or ending in Vancouver or Ensenada.

 

Personally, if visiting Hawaii for the first time, it might be better just to fly there and do a land trip -- my first two times were a tour and my honeymoon. I hate flying so the RT cruises are great for me and fun to boot. Another advantage to the RT cruise is that you can get a sample of four islands and then decide on where to spend time on a land trip. There are inter-island flights for getting from one island to another.

[smalltownmomwa]

As a former kid who was pulled from school, and now as a mom who will gladly pull a kid from school - don't let the school schedule stop you! Go when it works out best. Teachers can give them make-up work.

 

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[BruceMuzz]

Cruise Lines make profit and stay in business when passengers spend money onboard.

If the passengers don't spend much money onboard, the cruise line must charge more for the cruise - or go out of business.

 

As soon as your kids start buying cocktails, spa appointments, excursions, photos, casino chips, artwork, and jewelry on ships, the cruise lines can afford to lower the price of your family cruise.

[Quilcruisers]

Hi there,

 

Two times we have traveled for very cheap that allowed us to go without taking our son out of school. The first time was the first week of August. The second time was the very first week of June. School was out that Thursday and we left that Friday as we were flying to Florida to catch the cruise.

 

Unfortunately June and July are the most expensive months.

 

The prices go down significantly the week that school starts for us which is usually the 3rd week in August.

[Lerin]

Costa does kids sail free on almost all cruises, though I honestly can't think of any reason not to pull 8 and 5 year olds from school. :confused:

 

The only thing that may hold you back from cruising in October or January(generally the least expensive months) should be that you are not the parent, not some elementary school schedule.

 

Good luck.

 

Princess, HAL and Carnival do round trips to Hawaii by the way.

[MCC retired]

As a former kid who was pulled from school, and now as a mom who will gladly pull a kid from school - don't let the school schedule stop you! Go when it works out best. Teachers can give them make-up work.

 

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I like this reply . :)

[dwjoe]

wow. I looked at our possible next cruise with grandkids.

 

Yeah. That's affordable. $1700/person in July.

 

we see the cheaper prices are when they are still in school in June, and August is RIGHT BEFORE school starts, or after school starts.

 

How is that fair?

 

Looks like we can't do this cruise.

 

OR the Caribbean. Same thing. The affordable cruise is during school times.

Supply and demand. That's the way it goes. Shop around, and you may find a deal somewhere.

 

One idea is to target when your grandkids have spring break... not all districts have the same times so hopefully you can find a deal there. Also very beginning or very end of summer might be less expensive.

 

You can also try searching for cruises out of less-traveled departure ports.