Do You Take Your Kids On Longer (8+ Night) Cruises?

[ChicosWife]

I know there are some people who refuse to pull their kids out of school. If this is you, please keep scrolling. For those parents, who make it work, this question is for you. We found it harder, as our kids went into middle school and high school, to successfully manage their school work when taking them out of school for a 7-night cruise (plus travel days). I am very interested in the Hawaiian itineraries, as we have never been, and my high schooler will be off to college before we know it. How do you all handle the longer cruises and your kids missing school?

 

[KashasMom]

How do your kids feel about it? That would be how I based my decision. We took our longest cruise (13 nights) during the summer but last year my daughter missed 5 days (her first year of middle school). She asked that we no longer travel during school days. She's a great student and all that but it was a lot of work to make up. We even cancelled our trip to Antarctica because it would have meant missing a week of school. She's in honor classes this year and I don't see the point of causing unnecessary stress just because we want to travel.

 

[ChicosWife]

How do your kids feel about it? That would be how I based my decision. We took our longest cruise (13 nights) during the summer but last year my daughter missed 5 days (her first year of middle school). She asked that we no longer travel during school days. She's a great student and all that but it was a lot of work to make up. We even cancelled our trip to Antarctica because it would have meant missing a week of school. She's in honor classes this year and I don't see the point of causing unnecessary stress just because we want to travel.

If it's a choice between a Disney cruise or school, my kids will pick the cruise every time.

 

[KashasMom]

If it's a choice between a Disney cruise or school, my kids will pick the cruise every time.

Then, I'm not sure what there is to handle. Sounds like you've done it before? Get their school work and go.

 

[o&smom]

Most of our longer cruises have been during the summer, but we have done 2 WBPC cruise with missed school. My kids got quite a bit of work done at the airport and on the plane before we even got on the ship. We found that bringing their work to breakfast was an easy way to chip away at it over the length of the cruise.

 

[lilsonicfan]

If you can get their schoolwork ahead of time, and the kids don't mind missing out on whatever is going on at that time then it sounds like a good idea for your family! The teachers at our school have a policy (maybe it's district-wide, I don't know) that they do not provide work ahead of time if you are taking a vacation.

 

[cruisecrasher]

My kids loved their WBPC cruise and are looking forward to the next one! I will say MANY of the kids on the WBPC were homeschooled and very few brought any schoolwork on vacation. I mean it's vacation after all!

 

[Intr3pid]

One silver lining out of this COVID mess will be that the schools will have infrastructure (and technology) in place to let the students learn on their own if they miss classes. I know our kids' school will.

I very much doubt if it will sail, but we are booked on the WBPC cruise for Feb 2021. We figured it was a once-in-a-lifetime situation where my remote work and our kids' remote learning would be actually fine and when we could all sail together as a family.

We live on the east coast, so the kids will have their school early in the day when the ship is in the central/mountain/pacific zones. This would still allow them to have lots of time to spare to rack up some fun. They won't have to do it every day - and certainly not on the weekends.

Let's see how this experiment goes.

 

[seacruise]

We used to do longer cruises or a cruises combined with WDW when our oldest was in elementary school, but don't anymore. They just miss too much besides school that they don't want to or can't skip with sports, music, etc. We usually take them out for a day or two combined with a school break week, but that's about it.

We are booked for Feb 2021 on the Wonder from New Orleans. It's a 7 night, but Fri-Fri so requires at least missing 2 days with flying cross country on Wed night or Thur.

If Hawaii is the goal, why not just fly to Hawaii and do Aulani for a week or do a split stay or something? With a one way Hawaii cruises you are going to be spending the majority of your time at sea, not in Hawaii. Not that there is anything wrong with sea days.

 

[ahain]

We took our DD out of schedule on a few cruises. Always got homework in advance so she could work ahead and be "caught up" upon return. We had absolutely no issues at all through middle school, but when we took her out of school for a 7n cruise her Junior year, she struggled upon return. She was an honor student with excellent grades, but found that missing that much hands-on classroom lecture was difficult to overcome. She was able to work hard and maintain her great grades, but it was very difficult.

 

[cvjw]

We always took our kids out of school for long vacations when they were in elementary school. We tried once when oldest son went to middle school. That was also the last time. Being in honors classes and missing a week + of school didn’t work. He was so stressed trying to catch up and complete his current workload.

It may work for kids not in honors classes or who have teachers who will give all the work in advance. Our district doesn’t. It was a shame that our less crowded time vacations came to an end. But, school was more important - he wanted good grades to get into college.

 

[braysmommy]

Past years I have pulled my DS in May for 2-3 weeks for EBTA or Panama Canal. We were supposed to have been on last years Hawaii, he was in 7th grade, and have EBTA scheduled for this May (which I don't think will sail). We might book Hawaii for next May or EBTA and just see how HS is going. Our schools don't get out until middle of June so there is time to make up work but I worry he will struggle making it up. This was so much easier in elementary school years!

 

[DCLDVC1]

I'd love to but school and extra-curricular activities limit our options.

 

[DCLCrazy64622]

We home school so we cruise as long as possible. Our longest cruise was back to back DCL/NCL for 23 days.

 

[TestingH2O]

DD is in third grade and we did the WBPC last year. The school work was ok. (Well, I assume it was, because when we got back it was pandemic schooling so everything was bananas.) however, she missed the end of her basketball season and that was pretty upsetting for her.

I would definitely talk to your kids about the implications of missing those days/weeks.

 

[ChicosWife]

We took our DD out of schedule on a few cruises. Always got homework in advance so she could work ahead and be "caught up" upon return. We had absolutely no issues at all through middle school, but when we took her out of school for a 7n cruise her Junior year, she struggled upon return. She was an honor student with excellent grades, but found that missing that much hands-on classroom lecture was difficult to overcome. She was able to work hard and maintain her great grades, but it was very difficult.

We always took our kids out of school for long vacations when they were in elementary school. We tried once when oldest son went to middle school. That was also the last time. Being in honors classes and missing a week + of school didn’t work. He was so stressed trying to catch up and complete his current workload.

It may work for kids not in honors classes or who have teachers who will give all the work in advance. Our district doesn’t. It was a shame that our less crowded time vacations came to an end. But, school was more important - he wanted good grades to get into college.

That's my fear is that they will miss too much and not be able to make up the work.

 

[ChicosWife]

On the other hand, our oldest is 15 and we won't be able to have this time again.

 

[ChicosWife]

DD is in third grade and we did the WBPC last year. The school work was ok. (Well, I assume it was, because when we got back it was pandemic schooling so everything was bananas.) however, she missed the end of her basketball season and that was pretty upsetting for her.

I would definitely talk to your kids about the implications of missing those days/weeks.

I talked to them both and our oldest thought he could handle the missed work and our youngest said it's worth it. I'm still worried about them being considered truant. Anyone else have a workaround for this?

 

[Chemist]

We missed 3 days of school for my sister's wedding. It was okay for my first grader. It was a mess for my middle schooler. Never again.

 

[braysmommy]

I talked to them both and our oldest thought he could handle the missed work and our youngest said it's worth it. I'm still worried about them being considered truant. Anyone else have a workaround for this?

Each state and school district is different. Here in MA I just informed them of my plan without really asking permission. Some states make it a bit more complicated.