Having second thoughts on booked cruise...

[micmacmissy]

Booked spring break 2017 on Allure, eastern Caribbean.

 

Now I'm having second thoughts, since recent reports indicate that not only is ship packed with kids (which we expected, and we have a 13 and 15 yr old) but that the kids are not behaved.

 

Cruising this week is expensive to begin with...so my first thought was, rather than sail in April 2017 with tons of kids, we can instead pull the kids out of school for 2-3 days in February, tack on Presidents Day break, and sail then. (To my surprise, prices weren't much cheaper!)

 

Also, both Celebrity and RCI itineraries in February are all the same- Labadee/Falmouth/Cozumel/Grand Cayman or Nassau/St. Maarten/San Juan. Boring! Why don't they ever change up their Caribbean itineraries???

 

We sail for the ports (AND the ship when we take our kids) - they are excited about Allure but likely won't be doing kids clubs, as they are pretty low key and like to hang with us/read/relax.

 

I do not want to try Carnival or Norwegian, but did look at Princess, and at least they have some different itineraries, so that could be one option.

 

I don't know exactly what I'm asking: I guess I'd be more inclined to follow through with this trip if it one of these things was out of the equation...

-too many kids

-same old itinerary

-high price

 

Any thoughts? Am I overthinking it?

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just so you're aware, Presidents' Week is a pretty big break time for many school systems in the Northeast, so there are likely to be a lot of kids on those cruises as well. Probably also why the rates are similar.

 

And FWIW, my Celebrity itinerary for that week is St. Maarten, St. Kitts, and San Juan.

Edited April 3, 2016 by WrittenOnYourHeart

[papaflamingo]

Don't over think this. Every ship on every cruiseline, except maybe the ultra-luxury ones like Regents or Seaborne, will have a lot of kids during any holiday time. So Presidents weekend or Spring Break, no real difference. We were on Serenade Mar. 18 sailing. 10 Night Southern Caribbean, usually a "kid free" type cruise. We had 600 kids on board. We've done 3 New Years sailings on Freedom. Each one had 1200 or more kids on board. Were they well behaved? Well, they were kids. They sometimes roamed in packs and did "elevator races." They'd get six or more in two of the elevators and race up and down against each other. Kids will hog the hot tubs. They'll hang out at certain places that you might like some peace and quiet, etc. Annoying? YES. But easily handled. I raised two boys. I simply would joke around a bit with them if they were doing something I didn't like. They're on a cruise. I'm on a cruise. It's fun.... It's a Cruise.

Unfortunately the only time you'll have a relatively "kid free" cruise is during the off season. That'll mean pulling your kids out of school. If that's not an option, just go with it, enjoy the cruise, and if you find kids in the Adult Only section, mention it to them or to the crew. If they're hogging the elevators, mention it to them. And it sure gets annoying when everytime you get on the elevator, someone who is not on it, has pushed EVERY floor button. Yup... common activity on my last cruise. Oh well, only bothered me trying to get to the Diamond Lounge for Happy Hour. Don't cut into my free happy hour. :)

[SC_Floaters]

First you might be on one of the weeks when there are not as many spring breakers. Many spring breakers prefer the shorter (less than 5 days) like the 3 & 4 Day Bahama & Caribbean Cruises.

 

We've done a number of spring break cruises. You see occasional rowdiness but not anything to worry about even though there are a lot of young adults.

 

Can not address other Cruise Lines or venues/dates. Totally your choice.

 

Keep the booking and just make plans for the FUN !!!

 

Dennis & Sue

[msmayor]

We were on Serenade Mar. 18 sailing. 10 Night Southern Caribbean, usually a "kid free" type cruise. We had 600 kids on board.

 

There were THAT many on board? Honestly, my husband and I thought there were much less. We saw groups of kids but thought they were all pretty well organized and behaved.

[SheehanDJ]

Booked spring break 2017 on Allure, eastern Caribbean.

 

Now I'm having second thoughts, since recent reports indicate that not only is ship packed with kids (which we expected, and we have a 13 and 15 yr old) but that the kids are not behaved.

 

Cruising this week is expensive to begin with...so my first thought was, rather than sail in April 2017 with tons of kids, we can instead pull the kids out of school for 2-3 days in February, tack on Presidents Day break, and sail then. (To my surprise, prices weren't much cheaper!)

 

Also, both Celebrity and RCI itineraries in February are all the same- Labadee/Falmouth/Cozumel/Grand Cayman or Nassau/St. Maarten/San Juan. Boring! Why don't they ever change up their Caribbean itineraries???

 

We sail for the ports (AND the ship when we take our kids) - they are excited about Allure but likely won't be doing kids clubs, as they are pretty low key and like to hang with us/read/relax.

 

I do not want to try Carnival or Norwegian, but did look at Princess, and at least they have some different itineraries, so that could be one option.

 

I don't know exactly what I'm asking: I guess I'd be more inclined to follow through with this trip if it one of these things was out of the equation...

-too many kids

-same old itinerary

-high price

 

Any thoughts? Am I overthinking it?

 

If I wrote a review on Allure saying the trip was horrible because it rained and the seas were awful every day would you cancel your trip? Probably not, odds the weather will be the same the week you are going is pretty slim.

 

If I wrote a review on Allure saying the trip was horrible because the ship was packed with insurance sales people doing a partial charter would you cancel your trip? Probably not, your trip probably isn't chartered.

 

So it sounds like you read some reviews saying the ship was full of rowdy kids. Who wrote the review? Someone with kids that age? Someone who hates kids? What are the odds those same kids will be on your trip?

 

It is spring break, there will be kids, will some of them "mis-behave"? Isn't that in the eye of the beholder? I've heard people on board complain because there were kids walking thru the solarium and they were being as quiet as mice. If asked they would say those kids were mis-behaved.

 

A cruise vacation, like any other us common folk can afford, means all sorts of different people are going to be put in a relatively small area. You can either let everyone ruin your vacation or roll with it.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

 

 

 

Also, both Celebrity and RCI itineraries in February are all the same- Labadee/Falmouth/Cozumel/Grand Cayman or Nassau/St. Maarten/San Juan. Boring! Why don't they ever change up their Caribbean itineraries???

 

 

 

We sail for the ports (AND the ship when we take our kids) - they are excited about Allure but likely won't be doing kids clubs, as they are pretty low key and like to hang with us/read/relax.

 

 

 

I do not want to try Carnival or Norwegian, but did look at Princess, and at least they have some different itineraries, so that could be one option.

 

 

 

I don't know exactly what I'm asking: I guess I'd be more inclined to follow through with this trip if it one of these things was out of the equation...

 

-too many kids

 

-same old itinerary

 

-high price

 

 

 

Any thoughts? Am I overthinking it?

 

 

I can assure you that if you're kids are not planning to use the kids club, they will be bored to tears on Princess. They don't have a lot of exciting things going on for teenagers outside of the kids programs. There is nothing wrong with Princess or even Celebrity in the grand scheme of cruising. But for your kids sake Allure is by far the best choice. The Allure will be great for your kids with all the different Things to do.

 

We sailed on allure Christmas week and wasn't as bad as some made it out to be!

[MaiseyM]

FWIW, I just left the Oasis yesterday, which is very similar to Allure. Yes, there were tons of kids for Spring Break, including my own. I didn't notice anything off and I didn't become bothered by them. I got a few kicks out of watching the teen behavior (typical developmental behavior) when they socialized in groups, but I didn't see anything crazy. I was typically in bed by midnight, so perhaps there was more stuff going on after that time that I wasn't aware of, but overall, they were fine. The only thing I was noticing was the thong swimsuits that a few girls were wearing at the ripe age of 15-17 years old (guessing age). Short of that surprising moment:confused: everything else was fine. The kids didn't bother me. I brought my teen/tweens on board too. I am planning Allure next Spring as well.

[Thetrail]

Booked spring break 2017 on Allure, eastern Caribbean.

 

Now I'm having second thoughts, since recent reports indicate that not only is ship packed with kids (which we expected, and we have a 13 and 15 yr old) but that the kids are not behaved.

 

Cruising this week is expensive to begin with...so my first thought was, rather than sail in April 2017 with tons of kids, we can instead pull the kids out of school for 2-3 days in February, tack on Presidents Day break, and sail then. (To my surprise, prices weren't much cheaper!)

 

Also, both Celebrity and RCI itineraries in February are all the same- Labadee/Falmouth/Cozumel/Grand Cayman or Nassau/St. Maarten/San Juan. Boring! Why don't they ever change up their Caribbean itineraries???

 

We sail for the ports (AND the ship when we take our kids) - they are excited about Allure but likely won't be doing kids clubs, as they are pretty low key and like to hang with us/read/relax.

 

I do not want to try Carnival or Norwegian, but did look at Princess, and at least they have some different itineraries, so that could be one option.

 

I don't know exactly what I'm asking: I guess I'd be more inclined to follow through with this trip if it one of these things was out of the equation...

-too many kids

-same old itinerary

-high price

 

Any thoughts? Am I overthinking it?

YES you are...:rolleyes:

[ColoradoGurl]

Try the southern route from San Juan. In my opinion, FAR better beaches. Also, less kids usually, because it's far to travel, and it's less touristy, which some people feel uncomfortable doing with kids (because it seems more adventurous, maybe?) the cruise fare is usually less because it's harder to get people to fly all that way, but the airfare can often be twice what it costs to get to florida, but if you check prices often, you can find airfare around $350 (otherwise it's sometimes as high as $1200).

 

As for the whole kid thing, you can't predict if kids are going to be bad or good just because they were bad or good on some other ship or sail date. Kids are kids, and if you put a lot of them in the same place, you're always gonna have to deal with the rowdier ones that inevitably pop up in a large crowd where nobody is watching them. If you have kids then you've no doubt been to birthday parties and other places where there's tons of kids, so you should expect the same kind of potential atmosphere, so it shouldn't be a surprise that cruising on spring break is going to bring out the kids and the rowdiness, but keep in perspective the patience levels of the people who are complaining. It's a lot more tolerable to parents who are still used to being around kids, and far less tolerable to older people or those who've never been parents. Don't let those people persuade you that you will not have fun...you have kids, im sure you can handle it and have plenty of fun and a good time!

Edited April 3, 2016 by ColoradoGurl

[FSUNole]

As someone who prefers fewer kids on cruises, I suggest you keep your kids on the spring break cruise so you don't add kids to the mix on the non-spring break cruise... ;) I jest, of course.

[ColoradoGurl]

Another note to my last post...if you read the reviews of those who complain about "kids," a lot of them are really complaining about teens. The small kids are usually in the kids clubs or with their parents, so they're not really the ones people don't like. What they don't like is YOUR family, you are exactly the family demographic these complainers want to avoid...so don't cancel a trip because people are complaining, you'll just end up on another ship with the same people who don't like your family demographic (family with teens who will roam the ship and make all those civilized adults uncomfortable, lol). Your kids/teens are going to have a lot more fun and better memories of a cruise where they had other people their age there, so avoiding the spring break trips will just be more boring for your own kids. Go on your trip and have a blast! I still recommend the southern route though if you're bored with the same ole' ports.

Edited April 3, 2016 by ColoradoGurl

[SMHCPA]

Something I did not realize is that spring break is different all over the place. Our spring break is the last week of April this year but it seems most spring breaks will be over by them. Presidents week is the same for everybody. If I was trying to avoid excessive amounts of kids I would definitely take my chances on spring break.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[micmacmissy]

FWIW, I just left the Oasis yesterday, which is very similar to Allure. Yes, there were tons of kids for Spring Break, including my own. I didn't notice anything off and I didn't become bothered by them. I got a few kicks out of watching the teen behavior (typical developmental behavior) when they socialized in groups, but I didn't see anything crazy. I was typically in bed by midnight, so perhaps there was more stuff going on after that time that I wasn't aware of, but overall, they were fine. The only thing I was noticing was the thong swimsuits that a few girls were wearing at the ripe age of 15-17 years old (guessing age). Short of that surprising moment:confused: everything else was fine. The kids didn't bother me. I brought my teen/tweens on board too. I am planning Allure next Spring as well.

 

This is good to know! I figure Oasis/Allure will spread out the kids/crowds a little more, so that's a positive.

 

Looks like we are on the same 4/9/17 Allure sailing, too.

[micmacmissy]

Try the southern route from San Juan. In my opinion, FAR better beaches. Also, less kids usually, because it's far to travel, and it's less touristy, which some people feel uncomfortable doing with kids (because it seems more adventurous, maybe?) the cruise fare is usually less because it's harder to get people to fly all that way, but the airfare can often be twice what it costs to get to florida, but if you check prices often, you can find airfare around $350 (otherwise it's sometimes as high as $1200).

 

As for the whole kid thing, you can't predict if kids are going to be bad or good just because they were bad or good on some other ship or sail date. Kids are kids, and if you put a lot of them in the same place, you're always gonna have to deal with the rowdier ones that inevitably pop up in a large crowd where nobody is watching them. If you have kids then you've no doubt been to birthday parties and other places where there's tons of kids, so you should expect the same kind of potential atmosphere, so it shouldn't be a surprise that cruising on spring break is going to bring out the kids and the rowdiness, but keep in perspective the patience levels of the people who are complaining. It's a lot more tolerable to parents who are still used to being around kids, and far less tolerable to older people or those who've never been parents. Don't let those people persuade you that you will not have fun...you have kids, im sure you can handle it and have plenty of fun and a good time!

 

Funny, when I booked the Allure cruise it was between that cruise and the southern route on Adventure, which has an awesome itinerary. But I figured the kids would get a kick out of Allure. I'm going to look again at Adventure, because that trip will be way more about the ports and the ship won't matter as much...

[micmacmissy]

Something I did not realize is that spring break is different all over the place. Our spring break is the last week of April this year but it seems most spring breaks will be over by them. Presidents week is the same for everybody. If I was trying to avoid excessive amounts of kids I would definitely take my chances on spring break. Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Good point. Our spring break is the week before Easter but I realize there is a 2-3 week spread here that might disburse the crowds...

[2CatsInFlorida]

Just so you're aware, Presidents' Week is a pretty big break time for many school systems in the Northeast, so there are likely to be a lot of kids on those cruises as well. Probably also why the rates are similar.

 

And FWIW, my Celebrity itinerary for that week is St. Maarten, St. Kitts, and San Juan.

 

 

We just got home today April 3 from that cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and St Kitts and St Martin are fabulous. You will see more if you hire a private taxi rather than a ship excursion. Not many kids and those on the ship were well behaved.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited April 3, 2016 by 2CatsInFlorida

[Lerin]

Any time kids have school holidays expect ships to be full of families. This includes the obvious of summer, Christmas and spring break. But pretty much all federal holidays including President's Day, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving. Some schools also have fall breaks in October and mid winter breaks in Feb.

 

If you are trying to avoid kids then sail the second week of September, take a cruise longer than 8 days, or try a less family friendly line(small ships, HAL, luxury...)

 

Aside from the less family friendly cruises the one with the least amount of kids for us was Carnival Splendor the 4th week of January. There were under 100 people aged 18 and under, on a ship that holds over 4000!

Edited April 4, 2016 by Lerin

[Ashland]

I think the only 2nd thoughts you should be having is perhaps you should have chosen to sail on the Harmony instead...JMHO