How crazy is a Spring Break Cruise with the family?

[lifesabeachbum]

I hoped to hear from cruisers, maybe even parents of teens, to learn about their Spring Break Cruise experiences. We are considering an April 2010 cruise with two teens but wonder if it will be way overcrowded, with long lines and short tempers when what we really enjoy is fun in the sun. Pros & Cons? Any advice?

[eandj]

Some will depend on the ship/line you choose.

 

The Carnival and RCL ships will be full, so if everyone is trying to do the same thing, obvioulsy there will be lines. ( getting on and off the ship at the ports, buffets etc.) There also will be TONS of kids. Many in the club activities, but many that don't want the club activities and are just roaming and making new friends. Kids don't seem to mind lines, noise etc.I'm a retired teacher and tend to avoid those times to travel now. I want something quieter and I guess "more controlled". That being said it will be great fun for your teens!!! Just put down the ground rules before you go so they know what you expect when they are out and about on their own.

[paul929207]

All the things that make spring break an unappealing time for adults makes it great for kids. If you go into it knowing there will be crowds and lines and don't let it bother you, you will be fine.

[forwardcabin]

We are going spring break--and taking kids. We hope to have a great time no matter what. Crusing for us is an attitude--the better you take it, the more fun you have. Bon Voyage!

[abqmommyof4]

we went on the sapphire last march 14-21, it was spring break for a bunch of schools ( there were 100 or so from arizona state) it was wild for the first few days, then they calmed down ( either that or they were all so drunk the mellowed out) it really wasn't that bad.

we are going again this year, with our 4 kids ( 21,18,18, and 13 -will turn 14 on cruise) I think most of this group ate at the buffet for meals, and weren't up in the a.m.

Have fun and make the best of it.

[cardbucfan]

We have been on 3 spring break cruises with our kids, first on RCCL then 2 on HAL. Had a good time on all of them, better time on HAL (kids liked it better and fewer drunk college kids to deal with). That said, we are early risers and very active on our trips so the wild partying is going on at night when we are in bed and doesn't bother us.

 

Our boys (now 13 and 15) were allowed to go around the ship on their own as long as they were together and with deck restrictions and lots of rules. They behaved fine (fear of Mom) and are addicted to cruises! We go on spring break cruise number 4 this year on Carnival.

 

There will be plenty of people and lots of kids-especially if you go on a mega ship. Treat it like you would a theme park-don't eat at prime hours (noon, 7:00 p.m., 9:00 a.m.) and the buffet should be fine. Tendering will be lengthy so keep it in mind when booking excursions. YOu can also eat in the MDR and do room service. DS15 thinks the buffet is heaven on earth and with his appetite right now-it is for me too!

[cb at sea]

We always seem to cruise during the "spring break" months...it's not the hassle you may think. Kids are kept busy, for the most part, and everyone else does their own thing....lines are no better or worse than any other time....ships sail pretty much full EVERY sailing!

[MalNZ]

We will be in florida from the 1 April to the 4 May 2010.

 

Going on two cruises

Costa Atlantica 4 April

HAL Noordam 24 April

 

Is this Spring Break time?

 

Will there be many kids on these cruises, as we have a 7 and 8 year old.

 

Thanks

Mal NZ

[Steamboatin]

If you all are 90 year old parents bringing your 60 to 70 year old children you all should be OK.:D:D

[zstell]

Spring break for high school is a different time than most colleges (at least in Georgia). My kids are out in April and my daughter (college) in March. I think the wild drinking parties would be the older kids that can actually purchase alcohol.

 

We've taken our kids for "spring break" in April and it was great. Of course, when you have your kids with you, others don't bother you as much. My husband and I also went on our honeymoon during spring break (poor planning, we thought), but we didn't have any problems...we sailed out of San Juan.

 

As another posted, you have to know ahead of time that there will be more kids than other times of the year and have an open mind. When we travel w/our kids, we just try to have the attitude that it's their vacation and ours will be later by ourselves. That way, if they have fun, it's all good!

[kiraryker]

We went this year on Carnival Triumph - not bad at all! Infact I believe when we went on Destiny in January 2yrs ago there were more lines & people.

 

Yes there were more kids in March but no problems and everyone had fun! My kids were glad to have so many other kids all different ages and made wonderful friends.

 

We didn't experience any rude/rowdy kids - some of the adults got a little wild in the hot tub - one tried to dive and one was passed out on the edge - but didn't bother us as it's a wonderful vacation and everyone is going to have fun!!

[cardbucfan]

April 4 is the week after Easter so you may have spring breakers that week (my younger son's is that week and he and DH are cruising Carnival) but Costa isn't a really heavy kid line. Probably not too many kids the other cruise, too late for spring break and too early for schools to be out.

[thego6girl]

I hoped to hear from cruisers, maybe even parents of teens, to learn abouttheir Spring Break Cruise experiences. We are considering an April 2010 cruise with two teens but wonder if it will be way overcrowded, with long lines and short tempers when what we really enjoy is fun in the sun. Pros & Cons? Any advice?

This is EXACTLY when we took our first cruise. Our

older 2 children were in college, and we had one high school kid at home. The trip was ideal. We rarely our DS during the day except when we were in port. There were hundreds of kids his age on the ship, as there will be anytime during spring break. We started out with the walkie talkies, but abandoned those soon after getting on board. We never "required" him to join us for meals, but he joined us for almost every dinner as he got to be good friends with the daughter of one of the families at our dinner table. It will be crowded, but crowded with people just like yourself. We also started the cruise by giving him a curfew, but that too lasted for only the first day. We found that the kids have their own schedule on a cruise. Like at home, they like to stay up late and sleep late as well. And there is plenty of security on the ship, so there is little chance of your kids getting into "trouble" in public areas. That said, we had an agreement that he WOULD NOT go into anyone else's cabin during either the day OR night. We trusted him on the ship as we trust him at home. This dear, dear son of ours is now 21, and is currently on a cruise with his absolutely wonderful girlfriend in the Caribbean. I hope he likes this cruise as much as he loved cruising when he was in high school. We have traveled many places with our children. I personally think cruising is a wonderful way to spend a family vacation.:)

[dalgirl]

Our first cruise was during spring break with our then 14 yr son, and it was the best vacation of his life! Now that the kids are grown we - of course- avoid this time like the plague;) However, keep in mind that not all cruise ships and spring break are equal. Some weeks can be more crowded than others. And some kids programs are much better than others. We understand that RCCL has great kids programs (our son was greeted on arrival and taken aside and given special info on what fun was just for him), and of course, there is Disney. As loyal as I am to NCL, they don't have a lot of programs for many of the tweenies and teens. The newer ships have rock climbing, bowling, sports courts, etc., but this does not appeal to all kids. I heard from an NCL crew member, that during one spring break week, the kids were running up and down the corridors, throwing toilet rolls down corridors and stairs, sitting in stair wells, leaving plates of half eaten food everywhere and in general creating chaos:eek: The staff looked shell shocked. So make sure to do your homework on all of the different lines and choose the best for your teens and also for yourself - remember, it is your vacation too!

[thego6girl]

Our first cruise was during spring break with our then 14 yr son, and it was the best vacation of his life! Now that the kids are grown we - of course- avoid this time like the plague;) However, keep in mind that not all cruise ships and spring break are equal. Some weeks can be more crowded than others. And some kids programs are much better than others. We understand that RCCL has great kids programs (our son was greeted on arrival and taken aside and given special info on what fun was just for him), and of course, there is Disney. As loyal as I am to NCL, they don't have a lot of programs for many of the tweenies and teens. The newer ships have rock climbing, bowling, sports courts, etc., but this does not appeal to all kids. I heard from an NCL crew member, that during one spring break week, the kids were running up and down the corridors, throwing toilet rolls down corridors and stairs, sitting in stair wells, leaving plates of half eaten food everywhere and in general creating chaos:eek: The staff looked shell shocked. So make sure to do your homework on all of the different lines and choose the best for your teens and also for yourself - remember, it is your vacation too!

the cruise that I referred to in the earlier post was on RCCL. It was on the adventurer which is one of their larger ships. You should also check into Carnival

[MalNZ]

If you are on a budget, Costa have kids cruising free except for Port Charges and Taxes. (Under 17 years ??)

 

This is the main reason we are cruising with them on the 4 April. There are some good reviews on the Atlantica.

 

It does not worry us that it is an Italian ship, as the price and itineary were excellent.

 

The cost of a 7 night cruise (Western Caribbean) for a family of 4 in a quad cabin worked out to be US$1600.00 for all of us.

 

Mal NZ

[cruisinreunion]

In massachusetts, our kids are on spring break the week of April 18th. Are other areas also on vacation then? It seems that most have either March or Easter week. When do most colleges have off (hope not our week:eek:) I am hoping there will be other school age kids when we go. We have cruised in the summer before and there were lots of kids which made it enjoyable for my three kids. The kids club had enough planned that it seemed that they were all well entertained because we never saw any kids running up and down the hallways, and this was on NCL

[Karysa]

Had a great cruise last March on NCL Dawn. The college kids hogged the hot tubs but other than that we really didn't notice them. The highschool and younger kids that cruised with their parents were very well behaved. It was a lively cruise but we found our fellow cruisers to be relaxed, go with the flow types and not the demanding, always looking for something to complain about crowd that we have encountered on other cruises.

[matj2000]

Go to the review section of this site, find the ship, then go to member reviews. Scoll back to the same month but from last year. This will give you an idea of what things will be like. If the ship is new or wasn't sailing at that time find something as close as possible(sister ship with same itinerary) the same month. This is your best bet to give you a good prospective..

[MDSue]

I work for the school system and cruise every year during our spring break. I have not found the amount of kids onboard to be a problem. Yes, they are there, but most are well behaved and hanging out with their families or other children.

I tend to hang out at the adult pools though.

[olemissreb]

We are actually taking our kids (DS14 & DS 10) on their first cruise in April. It's Spring Break for them. We debated between the Sovereign of the Seas and the Adventure of the Seas - same itineraries, one leaves on Sat. and one leaves on Sun. We chose the Adventure because it is a bigger ship and because of the additional activities to do with the kids - ice skating, rock climbing, mini-golf. We leave on April 4th! I can't wait. I'm anticipating many kids on board and the boys will probably want to spend a lot of time with new friends, but we're going to try and spend as much time as we can with our boys too - excursions, dinner, sail aways.

[olemissreb]

We are actually taking our kids (DS14 & DS 10) on their first cruise in April. It's Spring Break for them. We debated between the Sovereign of the Seas and the Adventure of the Seas - same itineraries, one leaves on Sat. and one leaves on Sun. We chose the Adventure because it is a bigger ship and because of the additional activities to do with the kids - ice skating, rock climbing, mini-golf. We leave on April 4th! I can't wait. I'm anticipating many kids on board and the boys will probably want to spend a lot of time with new friends, but we're going to try and spend as much time as we can with our boys too - excursions, dinner, sail aways.

 

 

Correction - it was the Serenade of the Seas we were considering not the Sovereign. I haven't had enough coffee yet!

[dalgirl]

We did not see the toilet tissue rolling - we were told by a crew member that it happened on a previous week before we got there - he said that there were over 800 kids (under 18) on that ship. However, our last Carribean cruise in March of last year, the kids (mostly around 12-15 yrs old) would congregate on the steps near the elevators where people were trying to get from deck to deck. They traveled in large groups (about 12 of them showed up in the 24 hr grill at midnight one night and moved all the seats around to sit together. And, of course, they hogged all the hot tubs and pool area. Several of the older teen boys were very obnoxious, bothering some of the single, attractive girls, and trying to sneek into some of the over 18 bars and shows (I saw this myself). They were caught and turned away. None of this effected our enjoyment, we knew it would be the end of spring break, and we had spa packages and avoided many of the areas that the kids favored. The children - those under 10 mostly, were very well behaved and were organized in programs. It doesn't appear that the older kids and teens were interested in any programs, if there were any offered. But I can tell you that they all appeared to be having a great time - mostly total freedom from parental supervision - and I am sure they have wonderful memories. It is more fun to travel with a group your age so if I had school age kids, I would want to go when other kids would be around. As for college spring breakers, we never saw anyone really in this age group together - most likely they would prefer Carnival.