Celebrity and "Spring Break"

[Project_gal]

We are from the UK but have seen mention of "Spring Break" on Cruise Critic and in US TV programmes. We are hoping to book a Celebrity 14-night Caribbean cruise for some time in January to March 2016 when the itineraries are released next week. If the itineraries are all the same, we do not have any real preference for the exact sailing date but would probably wish to avoid "Spring Break" although I had assumed that 14-night cruises would not be affected.

 

Looking at the current 2015 prices, there is a spike for the Eclipse 15 February sailing. Would that be for "Spring Break" or is there another reason why mid-February is more popular than other dates, please?

 

Everything being equal, when between January and March would you choose?

[Andy]

We are from the UK but have seen mention of "Spring Break" on Cruise Critic and in US TV programmes. We are hoping to book a Celebrity 14-night Caribbean cruise for some time in January to March 2016 when the itineraries are released next week. If the itineraries are all the same, we do not have any real preference for the exact sailing date but would probably wish to avoid "Spring Break" although I had assumed that 14-night cruises would not be affected.

 

Looking at the current 2015 prices, there is a spike for the Eclipse 15 February sailing. Would that be for "Spring Break" or is there another reason why mid-February is more popular than other dates, please?

 

Everything being equal, when between January and March would you choose?

 

Hi Project Gal,

 

I'm pretty sure that Mid-February 2015 would be considered "Spring Break", as we are planning a Special Family Birthday Cruise for My Mom (Shhh don't tell her ! LOL), and I was asked to make it Mid-Feb, as the kids would be off from school.

 

As for the Eclipse 14 nighters, I really cant see them getting heavily booked, solely due to Spring Break. If you wish to avoid that possibility, I'd suggest either Mid-January, or anytime in March 2015.

 

I hope this helps !

Edited March 16, 2014 by Host Andy

[jkrislc]

You're pretty safe with a 14 day itinerary. Even if it were during Spring break, most schools don't have a spring break that is that long.

[kelmac]

We are from the UK but have seen mention of "Spring Break" on Cruise Critic and in US TV programmes. We are hoping to book a Celebrity 14-night Caribbean cruise for some time in January to March 2016 when the itineraries are released next week. If the itineraries are all the same, we do not have any real preference for the exact sailing date but would probably wish to avoid "Spring Break" although I had assumed that 14-night cruises would not be affected.

 

Looking at the current 2015 prices, there is a spike for the Eclipse 15 February sailing. Would that be for "Spring Break" or is there another reason why mid-February is more popular than other dates, please?

 

Everything being equal, when between January and March would you choose?

 

Hi Sue,

 

Spring Break for US colleges and schools may occur in Feb, March or April. Most schools only have one week for their spring break, so you will see fewer kids, and college students on a longer cruise. My wife is a teacher, and for the last several years her spring break was mid-March (78,000 students in her district). This year, they moved it back to the week before easter, so her spring break starts April 12th.(so much for the separation of church and state:rolleyes:

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[upwarduk]

Looking at the current 2015 prices, there is a spike for the Eclipse 15 February sailing. Would that be for "Spring Break" or is there another reason why mid-February is more popular than other dates, please?

Project Gal,

If it's not Spring break, it will be Presidents Day weekend!

We travelled to Florida on 20th February 2014. I was told President's Day was the previous weekend and had been very busy.

I was also told that the Florida Uni students were on break the 1st week in March.

I was looking for accommodation in Key West and I kept getting messages to say that it was a popular time of year, so change your date, when it will be less expensive.

The temperatures were ideal 25-27C (80-85F) Not too hot.

 

In 2013, we did the 14 night Eclipse Southern Caribbean sailing, leaving FLl on March 23, 2013.

It was the school Easter holidays in parts of UK ( week before Easter & Easter week)

There were very few children on board.

However, disembarkation was a nightmare, there were 8 ships in FLl on Saturday 6 th April!.

I preferred disembarking in Miami, but that was a Thursday in November, which obviously made the difference.

Edited March 16, 2014 by upwarduk

[john_galt]

You should be fine on a 14 day cruise. The length of the cruise should inhibit an infestation of spring-breakers.

 

I always look for the cheapest fare. Not that I'm a cheapskate. It just indicates when the spring-breakers are less likely to be onboard.

 

We went an a Carnival cruise in June of 2008 so we could take the whole family (6 people). It was full of crying kids, teenagers throwing pillows off the balconies, and general rowdiness. The crowning glory was a fist fight in the MDR. Last time for Carnival. :(

 

I like P&O's 'no kids' cruise ships. I'm seriously considering the Oriana for just that reason. I'm not a 'grumpy old man' but I'm onboard to relax, not dodge children running through the ship!

[miched]

I don't think there will be many spring breakers on a 14 day cruise.

 

We were on GE Elcipse in Nov the weekend after thankgiving and there were on 10 children on board.

 

Am leaving for the 14 day cruise on the Eclipse in a week and not worried about it. Ay the worst it will be some young grand kids that were taken by the grandparents. And you know that those little trophies are always well behaved.

 

🍸🍻🍸

[4774Papa]

Sue,

I hope you are doing well. We did a 14 day Caribbean on the Constellation in mid March of 2012 and there were probably no spring break kids on the boat. In fact, almost no kids at all. Many people from Canada on that cruise.

[Project_gal]

Thanks for all the advice. Particular thanks to upwarduk who reminded me that we need to consider the implications for our pre- and post-cruise stays in Florida. I'll check on the dates of Easter and Presidents Day in 2016 and try to work out the best sailing date for us.

[Lsimon]

USA Spring Break can be anytime between February and April depending on the school district or university. Most are sometime in March with the peak numbers being the second week of March. There are some internet sites that actually list the colleges by name for each week during the spring break period and give the numbers of students for each week. But these types of listings are mostly found on other travel sites so I don't think I can list names or links here since Cruise Critic rules don't allow competing sites to be named or linked to but you might be able to find some with a little Google research.

 

As others have stated you will not find a big spring break crowd on cruises over 7 nights and will find a pretty small number of student age kids on the Eclipse 14 night cruises. We've done two of the 14 night itineraries on Celebrity, including one on the Eclipse, during March spring break periods and did not notice a lot of kids on the cruises.

 

We've been cruising to the Caribbean during March spring break time for many years as we started cruising when our jobs would only allow us to cruise during that time period. You'll find a fair number of families withy student age kids on the 7 night cruises, fewer on the 10 night cruises (which are Friday to Monday) and progressively significant drops on the 11 night (Monday to Friday) and 14 night cruises.

 

I'll also point out that students under age 21 can not travel without parents or guardians on Celebrity with very limited exceptions, so you do not have any of the uncontrolled college age partying that you see in some land based areas.

 

If you are interested in cruising during a time period when the least number of students are on break then I'd suggest an 11 to 14 night cruise starting sometime between mid January and mid February. But I really don't think you'll have an issue on any 14 night cruise during the time periods you mentioned.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Lsimon

[Safetyal]

14 days will be to long for most spring breakers to take. They typically get only a week off. Most US colleges have them in March. There are some school districts which have a mid winter recess in Feb., but it is unlikely it would be for anything more than a week.

[A Sixth?]

Hi Project gal.

 

Here's a link to the week by week spring break students numbers for 2012. Working in education I can say that the "curve", fewer students off mid February, most mid March fewer into April is pretty much the same each year.

 

Like others have said, longer cruises will attract fewer students.

 

http://studenttravel.about.com/od/springbrea1/f/when_spring_bre.htm

Edited March 16, 2014 by A Sixth?

[Algebralovr]

Back to the other question, why the numbers jump for Feb 15, I believe it is likely because mid-February is when many of us get very tired of winter, and book in mid-February! I know that is certainly true for me!

 

If you check the roll-call for the Equinox Feb 10 2014 cruise, you'll see that a bunch of them decided to book the Eclipse for 15Feb 2015 that you are looking at.

 

Knowing that we are making our own break from winter is certainly what keeps me going through January and the start of classes.

[TN Vol Fan]

I think the price might cover travelers booking for Valentine's Day, even though that is the day before leaving. But as other's have said, 14 day itineraries usually do not have spring breakers on board.

[happygran]

Hi

We've cruised a few times in February (second half) and never had a problem on the ships. Last year though, we cruised on the Summit and spent a few days in Puerto Rico afterwards (early March).......although there were no problems on the ship there were many 'college' students (I don't know if they were or not) staying in the hotel & it was quite rowdy at times. It didn't spoil our enjoyment.........we just had a few giggles!

 

Before that we'd always returned back to the UK before the end of February. The weather was always fantastic and it was very quiet (both on and off the ship).

[Bobal]

We cruised on eclipse 14 days during the spring break period last year and have just returned from 1 week on silhouette and no evidence of spring breakers. The week before that we cruised on Allure and even on that ship were surprised by the low numbers if children and young people

 

I do have a suggestion why there's a spike in price for that week though. Our week on Allure coincided with mardi gras week in Brazil and there were 2000 Brazil and onboard. The week you mention next year also coincides with mardi gras so that could explain it

[Project_gal]

We cruised on eclipse 14 days during the spring break period last year and have just returned from 1 week on silhouette and no evidence of spring breakers. The week before that we cruised on Allure and even on that ship were surprised by the low numbers if children and young people

 

I do have a suggestion why there's a spike in price for that week though. Our week on Allure coincided with mardi gras week in Brazil and there were 2000 Brazil and onboard. The week you mention next year also coincides with mardi gras so that could explain it

 

Thanks, Mardi Gras is another date to check out.

 

From what everyone has said, we are now more concerned with our pre- and post-cruise stays in Fort Lauderdale that the cruise itself. Still, we do not have to worry about trying to book flights close to Thanksgiving - a problem we have met at the other end of the year.

[uktog]

No issue re spring breakers on b2b 7 nights each last two weeks on Silhouette - only issue were 40 something plus adults totally abusing the beverage package and taking over bars all dressed in women's red dresses

We got hotels no problem and they were lastminutebookings

[SUSIEK]

Just off Reflection, sailed 3/8 for 7 nights. This was my son's spring break in Tampa. Very FEW kids on the ship. 20 kids in his age group (8).

 

For a 14 night sailing I really don't think you will have anything to worry about. The length of the sailing and the cost will keep them away.

[Duanerice1]

I agree with what John said as we also look for the cheapest price. That usually, not always but usually indicated a low season. Since we can travel whenever we want (within reason) we always can pick off season. This year we are taking the 10 day Equinox on Dec 12, after Thanksgiving but before Christmas. We don't really expect many kids on board.

 

So my advice is to look at price as that will give you an indicator of crowds.

enjoy

[jomf]

The Feb price spike might be just for UK passengers as it could be our half term week. All holiday companies put the price up for parents then!

[waterbug123]

This year, they moved it back to the week before easter, so her spring break starts April 12th.(so much for the separation of church and state:rolleyes:

 

Not sure what you mean by that. Scheduling spring break to coincide with Easter in no way establishes a national religion. Schools also close over Christmas, but likewise- no one says you have to celebrate Christmas.

[kelmac]

Not sure what you mean by that. Scheduling spring break to coincide with Easter in no way establishes a national religion. Schools also close over Christmas, but likewise- no one says you have to celebrate Christmas.

 

Let's just call it Winter Break and Spring Break and nobody will notice!:)