Just finished watching All Aboard......

[ctozrn]

My partner and two kids 13,15 just finished watching the DVD All Aboard and fell in love! We would all love to vacation with other families like us. The problem is I am an RN and my partner works in IT. We can not afford a $5,000+++ vacation! What are families like ours doing in cases like this? Are there more affordable trips? We are certainly not poor just can't afford the more pricier trips. It would be awesome for my kids to hangout with other kids like them. You know we are embarassing them to death right now!!

I would love to hear of some solutions for this type of situation. Maybe we just need to save up for a couple years and the go! How far in advance can we book it?!

Thank you so much for doing this for families like ours. We will sail.....someday! :)

Plan to watch The View in Sept. We have always been big fans!

[3texans]

Collen can set you up on a payment plan. Most of us would sacrifice other things to do these trips. ALL of our kids LOVE this cruise... to be with kids like them. You can book a year in advance. Bermuda will be in July 2007, hold your beath and take the plunge!

[Laura]

Hi, I am a single mom (RN too!) and I do the payment plan. It just works somehow.
Gregg and the crew work with you all the way. WARNING: once you go, you are hooked.
It is the best time ever!
Laura

[cebii]

Gregg and Kelli have mentioned that they are working on land based vacations that will be less expensive, but I haven't heard anything else. I will reiterate what others have said - take care - once you have been, you will not be able to imagine not going the next year. Your kids will probably make friends with others from all over the country and plan on seeing them the next time whether you can afford it or not.

Our kids now know that Christmas and birthdays are a bit smaller, 'cause even the airfare adds up. We also don't go on many excursions during the cruise, which helps keep the costs down.

[AMattiucci]

We were to put windows in out townhouse 3 years ago..but went on the cruise instead..it was very worth it..we now have new windows and 3 years (we are 3 timers!) of the most awesome memories..you won't believe where you'll find money to pay for the best time of your life...I hope you make it..you and your family will never be the same! :)

[twomombooks.com]

I don't know where you are located, but we started our family friendly vacations in Provincetown, MA during Family Pride's FAMILY WEEK. We are within driving distance, so the expense was for the weekly vacation rental. (say $1000 - $2200 for the week) There is another family week in Michigan as well. These are great opportunities for your kids to hook up with other kids in GLBT family structures and there are also great programming activities for them via COLAGE during the week.

That said, we are booked for JULY 2007 cruise. BEACHES, here we come!

[ctozrn]

Thank ou for everyone for their replies. We are going to go! It may be in two years but we WILL go. I am going to look into the payment plan.

I am a nurse with hospice and finished putting myself through nursing school two years ago when I was single. So, the student loans are just starting to hit! We are determined to cruise though and will have to find a way to make it. It just may take awhile.:) Having teenagers is expensive anyway. There is always something! I long for the days when it was exciting to go to the park and Mcdonalds for a happy meal! Both kids ditched me today for their friends.....and of course needed money! LOL

Looking forwaqrd to meeting some of you on the ship someday!

[silverstreak959]

Ctzorn,

We are waiting until 2008 to go for exactly the same reason! We must have time to save. My partner and I have two children and are really looking forward to being able to go but the money just isn't there right now:( Maybe we will be able to go and meet on the same cruise! :D

[ctozrn]

I hope we do meet up on that cruise! We want to go so bad! How old are your children? Ours are 15,13. If we don't hurry they will be adults before we get on the cruise!

Hope we can all meet in a couple years!

Chris and Jan

[LICubRN]

Hi! Im an RN too...
and my partner is in Retail Management.... we just bought our first house together... so we know what it's like to be tight with money (not to mention we live on Long Island, NY... talk about high cost of living). But we've decided that we need to have a getaway at least once a year.... most times we do little weekend getaways... provincetown, new hope, etc. But for next year we decided to just save up and make the Rosie Cruise our getaway for 2007! We couldnt afford a cruise plus airfare for the February Carribean cruise but we were excited to see they added the New York/Bermuda cruise to next year's schedule (no plane tickets needed!) It'll be our first Rosie cruise... and from the DVD All Aboard it looks like this is the vacation we'll be talking about for years to come! We have no children (yet) but we can't wait to be around others like us!
Good luck!
Carlos :)

[silverstreak959]

Ctzorn,

We are really looking forward to it. We have one boy who is 11 going on 20 and a girl who is seven. They definitely keep us running. My 11 year old thinks he is an adult already!! LOL

We are very actively saving, so hopefully by 08 we will all be able to get together and meet!