OT- S-Trip (Student Grad Trip) Help!

[mom4463]

My dd is asking us to go on a s-trip graduation spring break trip to Cuba next March.
Of course all of her friends have already registered for this trip. Has anyone allowed their son or daughter to go on any of these trips?

Thanks,
Kim

 

[Tower]

Hmmm,
High school graduation? Girls around 17 or 18 yrs on their own in Cuba?
No real life experience to guide them?
Under age for drinking here in Canada, thus no real drinking experience so they can easily be taken advantage of?
I'm sure some kids are responsible at this age, but highly unlikely you'll find many in a group who are true leaders. It's your call, but I would not let my daughter near that kind of a trip at 18 or even 21!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Hm....I want to agree with PP.

But, I also went to Disney World for the first time ever when I was 17, with only my 2 younger siblings and we were fine. Keep in mind, that was Disney World, not generally a place where young ladies are often hit on by older guys and pressured to drink from their peers and other vacationeers.

Again, it's your call. It's up to you to decided whether you feel she's responsible enough to go on that kind of trip.

 

[Disney Addicted]

Well, I do not know your daughter or the other kids. Based on my own daughter, I would say no as well.

The PP has a very good point about being hit on by older guys & pressured to drink... My parents & uncle took my DD12 & C10 (cousin) to Cuba for March Break. DD told us every time she asked for a drink, she was asked if she wanted rum in it. Quite surprised me that adults would ask a kid if she wanted rum in her drink - especially over and over! Different culture I guess...

My mom also told us the girls wanted to drink their slushies at the bar. The high bar stools were quite appealing to them. Mom would not let them sit there anytime there were men at the bar. Mom said the men kept eying the girls and felt the girls sitting at the bar at those time would be inappropriate. I totally agree and am glad she refused even though the girls' request was an innocent one.

When the time comes, somewhere else and a different environment I may say yes. After all, I went on long weekend camping trips with other guys & girls around age 18. But it truly depends on the place, time and her development/maturity.

 

[roxysmum123]

I'm only 27, and I don't have kids of my own, but I'm thinking I'd be saying "no" to that idea. I'm assuming this is a highschool graduation trip, and to me it would be VERY dependant on who is chaperoning it. Is it a school trip, or one of those tour packagers who design trips for kids and say they have chaperones but the "chaperones" are only in their early 20's themselves? I just don't think it's a good idea, especially in a foreign country.

 

[kdbot]

Hi Kim!

I work with S-Trip! and have just come back from an amazing 3 weeks in Dominican Republic running Grad Trips for students from across Canada - every single one of those students just had the week of their life!

Student safety is our top priority, that's why our programs are fully staffed by screened and certified staff who understand the balance between safe supervision and fun. We use hotels who cater to teen travellers and have 24 hour security and staff who support on-site S-Trip! staff, and have mandatory sign ins for all students.

We have staff on-site 24/7 who do everything from fly in with the students, run events, accompany students on S-Trip! off-resort excursions, to handing out night event swag, and assisting with check-in and check-out. Staff are closely involved in all aspects of the programs and are always nearby for both students and parents at home. We also include RBC Classic Medical Travel Insurance in all of our programs for added protection and peace of mind.

Every resort or hotel will have an Info Desk that is manned all day with staff and a sign in binder. Students are required to sign in 3 times a day - morning, afternoon, night - with staff at the info desk to ensure their safety and to keep track of their whereabouts.

Please refer to our parents page (s-trip. com / grad-trip / parents /) for info and I'd love to answer any more questions you might have!

 

[mgabay]

Hey Kim!

I actually traveled with S-Trip a couple of years ago and let me tell you, it was everything and more!

I went on a trip to Veradero and I can say that as the years went by and I've traveled more and more, nothing prepared me more for traveling than S-Trip! did.

First of all, their staff is probably the best staff I've encountered. They're so helpful, and make sure all our questions are answered and all our needs are met. They were with us every step of the way, 24-7. We had to sign in 3 times a day, to make sure where we were at all times, and if the slightest problem happened, they were quick to resolve it and find the answer we were looking for. Of course, the info desk was the best way for us students to get what we needed. There was at least 3 staff on duty at the desk at ALL times.

I know my mom was apprehensive about staff not being present at the events and especially the excursions, but we were comforted to find out that there was always an abundant number of staff present. I just love the fact that they paid such close attention to each student and didn't leave one student in the dark.

They even had organized activities during the day so if we ever got bored from the beach we were able to hang out with friends and partake in some pretty cool activities...meeting so many new people along the way.

I think overall it's such a great opportunity for a student to be traveling with this organization because it's such good preperation for the future. They don't just chaperone. They become friends with the students and make us feel safe and at home.

I totally recommend S-Trip, it's just such a great way to travel without the hassle of worrying about being on our own without any info of the city, country or laws. We didn't have to constantly worry about not being able to find transportation or the excursions that met our needs...S-Trip did the work for us!

 

[elik]

Just search you-tube and decide for your self, BUT be warned they keep all the money you put down on the trip during your "convenient payment plan" Their way of refunding your money should you decide to wake up and realize want a scam this is, is by refunding you in S-Trip bucks, so you can use it at a later date - AS IF!! Try out this You tube video and ask yourself if you would want your child alone in this atmosphere
find it at youtube.com/watch?v=QSSBap9IBCM

 

[kdwyer]

My brother went on this trip last year. He had a blast. Our family looked at it this way. At 18 the kids could take off to go anywhere without our permission. So why not let them start out buy going on a semi supervised trip with friends instead of just taking off without any experience. Hope this helps.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Just search you-tube and decide for your self, BUT be warned they keep all the money you put down on the trip during your "convenient payment plan" Their way of refunding your money should you decide to wake up and realize want a scam this is, is by refunding you in S-Trip bucks, so you can use it at a later date - AS IF!! Try out this You tube video and ask yourself if you would want your child alone in this atmosphere
find it at youtube.com/watch?v=QSSBap9IBCM

Your 1st post is on a dead 18 month old thread.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Interesting - my friend and I were just discussing this the other day. Her son's begging to go (cause everyone else is ....) and she's refusing.

Wondering if the OP's daughter ended up going? If so, how was it. Well supervised like the newbies above mentioned?

We've heard the stories of the binge drinking, no supervision, etc. as well. Plus at $2000 pp, it's kind of a rip off, especially in June. You can go for a week in Cuba for less than that during March break!

Anyways, just curious if OPs dd ended up going.

 

[mom4463]

We did let our dd go on the s-trip during her March Break last year. We spoke with her everyday while she was away. She had an amazing time and she told me that her chaperones made sure that they were respectful and well behaved. She told me that there was one girl whose drinking got out of hand and the chaperones took her drinking bracelet from her and called her parents and warned her if she didn't behave that they would send her home.
The kids could not leave the resort unless they were chaperoned and they also had attendance which was taken 3 times a day at the resort. I can only speak of her experience with her chaperones.

We also spoke at length with our daughter before we allowed her to go and we told her that we were trusting her to be responsible and behave accordingly. We also decided to let her go because she has never given us any reason not to trust her and she is a very responsible and respectful young woman. She did not let us down. She says that it was a trip that she will never forget. Great memories!

 

[nic101]

I am going on S-trip next year for with my school for grad trip and I decided to look on here for reviews for a hotel and I came across this. I think it is extremely immature for adults to be generalizing all of the parents sending their children on this trip as "irresponsible" and "terribly naive". I am paying for this trip by myself and I know most of my friends are as well. My parents know that I am going to be drinking because they're not naive, but they TRUST me. They know I am responsible about drinking and they know that a couple months after the trip, I am going to be away at university doing the same thing. I also realize that maybe some parents are reluctant because of the chaperones, but there is a rule that we have to sign into the hotel 3 times per day, once at night, and once in the morning. The chaperones can't do anything about the drinking because most of us are not underage these places. We have just as much of a right to be at these hotels as you do because I work hard for my money too. So one group of teenagers being rude and selfish doesn't give you the right to generalize all teenagers and say that you are ashamed that we are the next generation of Canadian youth. Because we ARE the next generation, so we want to have as much fun as we can while we still can before we have the real responsibilities of a family and a full-time job.

So please stop generalizing all of the parents as being irresponsible, because mine are far from it. My parents trust that I will make good decisions. I'm sorry you can't trust your kids to do the same.