Booked Allure for spring break - have I lost my mind?

[descotes]

I just got our spring break schedule for 2016. DS-1 will be 16 and DS-2 will be 13.

 

The last couple of cruises we've been on have been in July which I liked. Am I going to see a huge difference with it being over spring break? I'm afraid I just made a mistake.

[LMaxwell]

"It depends". It depends when your spring break week is vs other areas; if it is a high concentration week or not.

[Paulette3028]

I just got our spring break schedule for 2016. DS-1 will be 16 and DS-2 will be 13.

 

The last couple of cruises we've been on have been in July which I liked. Am I going to see a huge difference with it being over spring break? I'm afraid I just made a mistake.

 

You had plenty of kids on cruises in July, and you will have plenty of kids on the cruise over Spring Break.

[cb at sea]

You know, it really doesn't matter! The ship sails full every sailing, so there's no difference in the number of passengers. There will be kids, but there always are....

 

Unless it's a 3-4 nighter, there's really no difference in any other time. Folks get all freaked out by "Spring Break"...and there's no need to worry!

[thrifty99]

I don't think you will see any real difference between Spring Break and summer sailings. We have done the past 3 Spring Breaks on Allure and Oasis and that was the "norm" for us.

 

We just did the Nov 2-9 Allure cruise this month and it was a big difference. Much fewer kids and ship was not full. I believe there were about 5600 passengers versus 6000+ on our Spring Break trips.

 

You will have an awesome time as the Allure is an incredible ship. Since you can't change when your kids are on Spring Break, you don't have a lot of options.

 

As our kids are now grown (one married, one in college) we can travel as a couple anytime during the year. We will choose to avoid Spring Break weeks for a few reasons:

 

1. Cost: much cheaper to cruise at other times of the year.

 

2. Full capacity ship: while I never really felt "crowded" on Allure / Oasis during Spring Break you have to schedule shows and excursions early as they do fill up quicker than at other times.

 

3. Other passengers: our Allure cruise this month was so much more relaxed. I feel this is due to fewer families with kids / less stressed out passengers. There were very few chairs reserved with towels compared to Spring Break when ALL chairs near pools were taken before 8am. Many sat empty with a book or sandal on them for hours. Since there are signs stating no saving chairs for more than 30 minutes, don't hesitate to move things and take chairs that are vacant for an hour.

 

Enjoy your Spring Break cruise with your kids as we did. Many happy memories.

[John&LaLa]

I just got our spring break schedule for 2016. DS-1 will be 16 and DS-2 will be 13.

 

The last couple of cruises we've been on have been in July which I liked. Am I going to see a huge difference with it being over spring break? I'm afraid I just made a mistake.

 

If you can a July cruise, you won't have any problems with spring break

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[jewel825]

We always cruise over spring break and I love it! It's just after the bad weather and I'm in such need for a sunny, hot getaway. People seem to be friendly and there are plenty of kids on board for my kids to mingle with (I have 2 daughters 11 and 13). It's my very favorite time of the year to go anywhere.

 

It's drawback is cost. Yikes! It's so flippin' high for airfare, hotels, the cruise itself. That's what kills us everytime but we will continue to travel during this time until my kids are out of school. Then I'll find a new favorite time of year to go that is less expensive. :)

[descotes]

We always cruise over spring break and I love it! It's just after the bad weather and I'm in such need for a sunny, hot getaway. People seem to be friendly and there are plenty of kids on board for my kids to mingle with (I have 2 daughters 11 and 13). It's my very favorite time of the year to go anywhere.

 

It's drawback is cost. Yikes! It's so flippin' high for airfare, hotels, the cruise itself. That's what kills us everytime but we will continue to travel during this time until my kids are out of school. Then I'll find a new favorite time of year to go that is less expensive. :)

 

That's what I'm worried about the most! Flight costs.:confused:

 

They're not out yet for 2016 so as soon as they come up I'm gonna see what I can jump on.

[cruisegirl1]

You know, it really doesn't matter! The ship sails full every sailing, so there's no difference in the number of passengers. There will be kids, but there always are....

 

Unless it's a 3-4 nighter, there's really no difference in any other time. Folks get all freaked out by "Spring Break"...and there's no need to worry!

 

Yes - it does really matter. Ships sail with most all staterooms booked every sailing, BUT............ If you have ever been on a ship......... you would know that in the summer, over Christmas or spring break, those booked cabins are more likely to be filled with 3 or 4 passengers, not just 2.

 

There will be considerably more passengers, ( usually minors) on a 7 night spring break cruise than on a cruise the first week in May.

 

M

[Tennessee_Cruiser]

My partner is an elementary school teacher so we cruise when the kiddies are out of school! :eek:

 

We have only had issues on one ship and that was the Navigator. It pains me to say this because we love the Navigator, but the lack of a kids pool was an issue on our last cruise. There was no way I would ask a child to stop jumping in the pool and having fun so we decided to go to the Solarium on most days... with every other adult! It was so packed we could not get into the pool.

 

This did not ruin our cruise at all, but it is a thought in the back of my head next time I book a cruise without a kids pool.

[Retired LEO]

yes - it does really matter. Ships sail with most all staterooms booked every sailing, but............ If you have ever been on a ship......... you would know that in the summer, over christmas or spring break, those booked cabins are more likely to be filled with 3 or 4 passengers, not just 2.

 

There will be considerably more passengers, ( usually minors) on a 7 night spring break cruise than on a cruise the first week in may.

 

M

 

bam

Edited November 19, 2014 by Retired LEO

[BillOh]

There will be considerably more passengers, ( usually minors) on a 7 night spring break cruise than on a cruise the first week in May.

 

M

 

Stop telling people about cruises the first week of May, that's my secret! ;) (see my cruise history)

[Lionesss]

A cruise on the Allure anytime beats no cruise.

 

We always sail when kids out of school. We are used to the youngins, does not make or break our vacation.

 

We go to places they dont often congregate at.

 

If they do.............well, thats why we buy the drink package:eek:

 

Enjoy we do.

 

Sea Ya

[cruisegirl1]

Stop telling people about cruises the first week of May, that's my secret! ;) (see my cruise history)

 

Ha Ha Sorry! - ours too. Still love it.

 

First two weeks in December was also our "go to" weeks until RCCL had those December events and ruined it for us.

 

Then we also had the 2nd week in January ( no one takes kids out of school a week after they are back from break) and did that a few years, until we started sailing NYE. We went from cruising at less crowded times to a ship full of people. What were we thinking?

 

M

[Rocketlady]

We were on the Allure in Jan. and was told over 500 kids were on it. A lot of foreign kids have their school break. But we never really thought many were on board. They do other activities than what we did. And most of the shows we went to they didn't even come to.

 

We saw Chicago which wasn't a play for kids any way. That was the Allure or

Oasis . Forgot which one.

 

I would be more worried about drunk college kids.

[rtazz17]

You know, it really doesn't matter! The ship sails full every sailing, so there's no difference in the number of passengers. There will be kids, but there always are....

 

Unless it's a 3-4 nighter, there's really no difference in any other time. Folks get all freaked out by "Spring Break"...and there's no need to worry!

 

Gotta disagree.There is a big difference sailing in november vs sailing during summer months on a week long cruise.Our last sailing last week on oasis had minimal amount of kids,less then 500 per royal.Summer there are many more.And there is a big difference in number of passengers too.You will have 3-4 per room instead of just two..

Edited November 19, 2014 by rtazz17

[rtazz17]

We were on the Allure in Jan. and was told over 500 kids were on it. A lot of foreign kids have their school break. But we never really thought many were on board. They do other activities than what we did. And most of the shows we went to they didn't even come to.

 

We saw Chicago which wasn't a play for kids any way. That was the Allure or

Oasis . Forgot which one.

 

I would be more worried about drunk college kids.

500 is not many at all for a ship that size.Summer time you would notice a huge increase.

[rtazz17]

That's what I'm worried about the most! Flight costs.:confused:

 

They're not out yet for 2016 so as soon as they come up I'm gonna see what I can jump on.

 

I just started looking for flights during april from connecticut to florida and they are out of this world high.Hopefully it changes but im not holding my breath.We may be changing our sailing due to the high airfare.Its three times a ticket what we usually pay right now.

[Retired LEO]

I just started looking for flights during april from connecticut to florida and they are out of this world high.Hopefully it changes but im not holding my breath.We may be changing our sailing due to the high airfare.Its three times a ticket what we usually pay right now.

 

It was recently on the news that most airlines have new planes in the works. Someone has to pay for them. JetBlue just announced that they're going to be charging for all checked baggage now.

[BillOh]

We were on the Allure in Jan. and was told over 500 kids were on it. A lot of foreign kids have their school break. But we never really thought many were on board. They do other activities than what we did. And most of the shows we went to they didn't even come to.

 

That is one of the nice things of this class of ships. Its big enough for everyone and all the things that are of no interest to me are of interest to someone else so it keeps crowds down.

 

We saw Chicago which wasn't a play for kids any way. That was the Allure or

Oasis . Forgot which one.

 

I would be more worried about drunk college kids.

 

That would have been Allure. The 3-5 day cruises seem to attract most of those. (Only been on one)

[njmomof2]

We sailed Oasis in April of this year for our spring break. I did not think that it was any worse than our last week of August yearly cruise on Freedom. And since school have their break week all through the month leading up to the Easter holiday, you can be sure that all of those weeks will have more kids.

 

We didn't mind. We found shady spots for me and mom, older son was on the flowrider surfing almost all of the time, younger son moved from one activity to another.

 

Now I'm looking forward to next August (the next time I have my boys for vacation) when younger son will be 13 and I don't have to be at all of the activities with him. However, air is out and sky high, so while I will wait until after final to book cabins, I know that air will only go higher, and I'm stalking it to find a price I can live with. For 2014, we bought it in October 2013 at $214/pp out of Newark into West Palm. After flight were changed, they moved us up to Orlando for no additional cost. That was a huge savings and an unbelievable price. Same flights now are well into the $300s.

[descotes]

I just started looking for flights during april from connecticut to florida and they are out of this world high.Hopefully it changes but im not holding my breath.We may be changing our sailing due to the high airfare.Its three times a ticket what we usually pay right now.

 

I'm assuming you're meaning April of 2015.... Yeah I looked that up too. It's gonna be ugly. We may have to do the same if it's too high.

[sr4mjc]

The humidity will be less :D