How buttoned up are you summer camps?

[Anonymous]

Thankfully the summer camp my 10-year old likes best is the one that always has availability and allows changes at any time (I'm talking about you, KAH!) I have registered for the summer and chosen the weeks I think we'll need, but if something comes up and I need to add or delete, I won't be out any money.
KAH Rocks!

[Anonymous]

I don't panic. There are always opening despite all the rush. I do hear that DC rec camps fill quickly as they are on cheap side.

[Anonymous]

I'm with you, OP! We have extended family that decides on the family vacation pretty late in the spring. If I wait, I pay through the nose for camps. If I book early (and who can resist the savings??) I always end up paying for days we don't use.
I work full-time, and need to send my child to camp! Also, it's much better for him. But I can't plan my summer in February.
No advice to you, OP, except there's always room at the YMCA camps!

[Anonymous]

I hear you, OP. Paying for camps in January, which means having vacation days and - ideally - family members on the same page, hotels and flights booked, makes me anxious. I'm always afraid something will come up to change things.

[Anonymous]

I did my last registration a couple of weeks ago.

I talk to my ex and his folks in December and offer them the choice of several weeks for their summer vacation, based on the camps I know my daughter will want to attend. I give my parents a similar choice. Then for the remaining 8-9 weeks, I register as soon as I can and pay in installments whenever possible, unless there are discounts for paying early. It's a pain to have $4,000 hit my credit card 6 months before camp starts, but oh well.

For me, the only real inconvenience is that someone pretty much has to take vacation the last week of summer because there are never any good camps available that week, and few available the week before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't make changes in summer plans once the camps are booked.

Our camps are all set right now and so are our vacation plans.

This. And have been so for more than a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm with you, OP! We have extended family that decides on the family vacation pretty late in the spring. If I wait, I pay through the nose for camps. If I book early (and who can resist the savings??) I always end up paying for days we don't use.
I work full-time, and need to send my child to camp! Also, it's much better for him. But I can't plan my summer in February.
No advice to you, OP, except there's always room at the YMCA camps!

Why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with you, OP! We have extended family that decides on the family vacation pretty late in the spring. If I wait, I pay through the nose for camps. If I book early (and who can resist the savings??) I always end up paying for days we don't use.
I work full-time, and need to send my child to camp! Also, it's much better for him. But I can't plan my summer in February.
No advice to you, OP, except there's always room at the YMCA camps!

Why not?[/quote]

When I worked as a nurse in a hospital, they would not approve vacation time months ahead of time. They would approve or not approve your request 6-8 weeks in advanced because it depends on the current work load and how much staffing they have for the week you requested. This makes it very difficult to plan your summer vacation weeks in February/March. Not everyone has work flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm with you, OP! We have extended family that decides on the family vacation pretty late in the spring. If I wait, I pay through the nose for camps. If I book early (and who can resist the savings??) I always end up paying for days we don't use.
I work full-time, and need to send my child to camp! Also, it's much better for him. But I can't plan my summer in February.
No advice to you, OP, except there's always room at the YMCA camps!

Why not?quote]

When I worked as a nurse in a hospital, they would not approve vacation time months ahead of time. They would approve or not approve your request 6-8 weeks in advanced because it depends on the current work load and how much staffing they have for the week you requested. This makes it very difficult to plan your summer vacation weeks in February/March. Not everyone has work flexibility.

What do you generally do then? wait and hope or book and cancel?

[Anonymous]

Camps around us seem to fill pretty quickly, so I start researching in December and mark down opening dates, cancellation policies, and talk with DD about her interests for a given summer.

Luckily, I like lists and planning so I lay out a spreadsheet with nine or ten lines for each summer week and then two columns to note what I think will be our first and second choice for how to spend the week. This year DD knew that she wanted an American Girl doll, a soccer, and a Lego camp so I researched options for each and then tried to build the other more simple day camps around them.

It's a hassle, but I also like that many of the camps have payment plans over March, April, May so it isn't a tremendously huge outlay all in January and February. It feels good to know at this point we are set, even though I know it's ridiculous that around here we do have to plan and book months in advance.