Open letter to NCL

[mpk218]

My mom took me out of school for two weeks one year to go to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. I had to do home work (I did it all on the airplane) and had to write essays about what I saw and learned.

 

 

And what a wonderful experience I'm sure.

Probably made you want to see the rest of the world ;)

[fergusonvt]

My mom took me out of school for two weeks one year to go to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. I had to do home work (I did it all on the airplane) and had to write essays about what I saw and learned.

 

Yup, same here with my son. Dean's list in his first year of college.

[fergusonvt]

My mom took me out of school for two weeks one year to go to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. I had to do home work (I did it all on the airplane) and had to write essays about what I saw and learned.

 

 

What an experience! Much more enriching than reading about it in a text book.

[Sea Monster 2]

I haven't read everything in this thread, but it has caught my attention that there are some misconceptions about modern schools. My mom was a teacher, and she understood that some life experiences are more important than classroom time-- and we therefore took a couple of vacations abroad that involved missing school, and it was absolutely worth it (although I'm not sure I ever fully mastered multiplication tables after missing those lessons!! :p). However, this was a lifetime ago in educational terms. I currently sit on the board of a school, and it is NOT OK to miss school for anything other than medical reasons or death in the family. Those absences are unexcused, regardless of the circumstances or benefits of the time off, and the students are penalized by having to do all the work for no credit, not being allowed to make up tests, etc. For high school students who are in the running for valedictorian and other academic awards, this generally rules out any such absence. I don't personally think these are good policies, but I can state that they are increasingly common policies-- many schools have had to resort to this strict, no-exceptions approach to absenteeism because parents couldn't make good decisions about what constitutes a worthy absence, and would take kids out of school to go to pop concerts, for shopping, etc. It is an unfortunate result of changes in society, but one we have to live with.

[che5904]

I haven't read everything in this thread, but it has caught my attention that there are some misconceptions about modern schools. My mom was a teacher, and she understood that some life experiences are more important than classroom time-- and we therefore took a couple of vacations abroad that involved missing school, and it was absolutely worth it (although I'm not sure I ever fully mastered multiplication tables after missing those lessons!! :p). However, this was a lifetime ago in educational terms. I currently sit on the board of a school, and it is NOT OK to miss school for anything other than medical reasons or death in the family. Those absences are unexcused, regardless of the circumstances or benefits of the time off, and the students are penalized by having to do all the work for no credit, not being allowed to make up tests, etc. For high school students who are in the running for valedictorian and other academic awards, this generally rules out any such absence. I don't personally think these are good policies, but I can state that they are increasingly common policies-- many schools have had to resort to this strict, no-exceptions approach to absenteeism because parents couldn't make good decisions about what constitutes a worthy absence, and would take kids out of school to go to pop concerts, for shopping, etc. It is an unfortunate result of changes in society, but one we have to live with.

 

Wouldn't this all depend on where your children are schooled. It is absolutely no different where we live for my grandchildren than it was my own children.

[Sea Monster 2]

Wouldn't this all depend on where your children are schooled. It is absolutely no different where we live for my grandchildren than it was my own children.

 

It does-- that is my point. There are schools that will excuse students' non-emergency absences, and there are schools that will not. My son is at a school that will not, and therefore we go to extremes to avoid missing school for any reason. It seems that OP's kids are also at this type of school. Count your blessings if your grandchildren have the option to miss school for something other than an emergency, but do keep in mind that many schools have a different policy.

[che5904]

Count your blessings if your grandchildren have the option to miss school for something other than an emergency, but do keep in mind that many schools have a different policy.

 

I was not one of the posters who was trying to encourage the OP should have done this, just said I had. My only issues in this thread were when told that it was a bad or irresponsible parent that did this.

 

Actually the only thing I commented on to the OP school situation was that I would be darned if I would let any school, official, government, law or whatever dictate to me when it came to my child's health. Like the crap that poor mom/dad had to put up with over the concussion. That was just ridiculous. Sorry but no school or teacher should have that much control.

[sierramyst44]

I too have found dealing with NCL to switch/move/change is very difficult. I tried to make a change recently and because I was at day 73 before cruise they were unwilling to make any exceptions to the 75 day cancelation rule even with proof that DH was in intensive care and could not make a change. ( And no I did not have insurance) Even when I mentioned that surely an exception could be made for a "gold" member they were still sticking to their rules. Since I was not willing to forfeit $520.00 we will go on this October cruise but it will be the last one with NCL.

[swedish weave]

I was not one of the posters who was trying to encourage the OP should have done this, just said I had. My only issues in this thread were when told that it was a bad or irresponsible parent that did this.

 

Actually the only thing I commented on to the OP school situation was that I would be darned if I would let any school, official, government, law or whatever dictate to me when it came to my child's health. Like the crap that poor mom/dad had to put up with over the concussion. That was just ridiculous. Sorry but no school or teacher should have that much control.

 

To get past all the fluff and nonsense about the school rules, the basic reason some schools are so hard-nosed about absences is MONEY !

 

They get money for each child in school each day, and absences cost them, so they make rules to try to avoid absences !

[swedish weave]

I too have found dealing with NCL to switch/move/change is very difficult. I tried to make a change recently and because I was at day 73 before cruise they were unwilling to make any exceptions to the 75 day cancelation rule even with proof that DH was in intensive care and could not make a change. ( And no I did not have insurance) Even when I mentioned that surely an exception could be made for a "gold" member they were still sticking to their rules. Since I was not willing to forfeit $520.00 we will go on this October cruise but it will be the last one with NCL.

 

In your case, insurance would have been money well spent. I think you will see that other cruise lines are as firm in their policies as NCL.

 

Your last comment indicates that your DH is going to be able to travel. That is good news !!

[njhorseman]

I too have found dealing with NCL to switch/move/change is very difficult. I tried to make a change recently and because I was at day 73 before cruise they were unwilling to make any exceptions to the 75 day cancelation rule even with proof that DH was in intensive care and could not make a change. ( And no I did not have insurance) Even when I mentioned that surely an exception could be made for a "gold" member they were still sticking to their rules. Since I was not willing to forfeit $520.00 we will go on this October cruise but it will be the last one with NCL.

 

Actually, the OP was able to resolve this situation to their satisfaction. It was posted on another thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1471139

[davesgirl51]

From my understanding, NCL will only guarantee the rate for us to change dates from Jan-April 2012 and we must stay on the Star. Staying on the Star would be great if it wasn't during the school year. NCL has said we can only change to Jan-April. That is not me. Even if they let us change it to the summer it would be very difficult for me because I work full-time.

 

If I could just change my date from any week Jan-April I would be glad to. That is during the school year. I can't change to one of those weeks. Wish it was that easy.

 

I also work full-time. I do get vacation and sick time (see where son got a concussion. I also missed those days. So those count against time I can take off.) I take Spring Break off so I can spend that time with my kids. I can't take another week off. Any other time I take off is usually when I am sick, or one of my kids are sick. Spring Break is the ONLY vacation I take/get every year.

 

Also someone mentioned I only have one child in school. My nephew was scheduled to sail with us (I think I mentioned that earlier). He is 12. School age. While he is "with me" I consider him mine and treat him like he is another one of mine.

 

My 4 yr. old is in pre-school. Unfortunately if she has to many "unexcused" absences they will drop her from the program. It's a wonderful program that she has been in since she was 1. She was on the waiting list for over a year before she got it in. I can't risk her getting dropped from that program to switch my weeks.

 

So that would be taking 3 school-aged kids out of school for an additional week that could cause problems with the schools.

 

I'm just perusing the boards awaiting Irene's arrival. As I watch the original thread get hijacked a number of times, listen to your story, feel my mouth open to the floor, I have this sage advice: Sue the school for failure to protect your son from falling and find another pre-school (out of the program for unexcused absences - my arse !). Then you'll have lots of money to cruise whenever you want, wherever you want and with whom you want. Holy Cow. :eek:

PS I do hurt for you but I really think posting this kind of thing is not in your best interests.

[Sea Monster 2]

To get past all the fluff and nonsense about the school rules, the basic reason some schools are so hard-nosed about absences is MONEY !

 

They get money for each child in school each day, and absences cost them, so they make rules to try to avoid absences !

 

I can't speak for every school everywhere, but this isn't true in our case. We get the same amount of tuition whether the kid is physically there or not; they pay by the year, not the day. The problem is that some parents were making very poor decisions, taking kids out of school for frivolous reasons, and then the school had to try to bring those kids back up to speed, usually without much support from the parents, and often with a negative impact for other students as class is slowed down for the straggler. Certainly this is not the case for all parents, but it has become enough of a problem in general that many schools are resorting to these highly restrictive absentee policies. I personally think that I am responsible and can make good decisions about whether my child can afford to miss a few days of school; but as a school board member, I also recognize that many parents cannot.

[che5904]

To get past all the fluff and nonsense about the school rules, the basic reason some schools are so hard-nosed about absences is MONEY !

 

They get money for each child in school each day, and absences cost them, so they make rules to try to avoid absences !

 

Awww OK now we are getting to the differences in school systems. Which may help to alleviate my initial "oh my goodness", and "wow"

 

Our schools are funded on the initial enrollment of the school year not on how many children attend how many days.

[swedish weave]

Interesting that the comments about my post come from Haiti and Canada.

 

The following is a quote from EPA.GOV

 

School funding is often directly linked to attendance, most often the average daily attendance rate. If a school experiences high absenteeism rates, future funding could be adversely affected.

[che5904]

Interesting that the comments about my post come from Haiti and Canada.

 

The following is a quote from EPA.GOV

 

School funding is often directly linked to attendance, most often the average daily attendance rate. If a school experiences high absenteeism rates, future funding could be adversely affected.

 

I didn't dispute what you said :confused: :confused: , just said OK now I understood why the difference because your schools are funded differntly.

[davesgirl51]

Not to give too much away, this one is a gospel charter; super nightmare

 

 

And when they book a "Gospel" charter .... the bars and casino are closed down so NCL makes no money there.

[davesgirl51]

Actually, the OP was able to resolve this situation to their satisfaction. It was posted on another thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1471139

 

 

Bless you ...then let us close this thread. :)