RC Caribbean cruise in march / easter break 2018

[ukwanderer]

We are in the early stages of looking at cruises for next year. One that has caught our eye is a back to back caribbean cruise on the freedom of the seas

 

i would prefer the two weeks starting 16th March but the other couple would prefer the two weeks starting 30th March. the latter would cover the easter holidays (easter sunday is April 1st next year)

 

would freedom of the seas likely to have kids running riot over the easter break? is the usa easter break only one week so mainly the first week would be affected more than the second?

 

is the ship big enough to find somewhere quieter? on the previous cruise i went on, we tended to head towards the back of the ship on sea days to read and relax in the sun and pop into the windjammer for the occasional snack!

 

for that matter would the 16th departure risk running into college spring break? i think that tends to be earlier in march?

 

my only experience of a cruise is a termtime mediterranean cruise in which there were children around but they weren't particularly numerous or noticeable. mainly the older crowd!

 

itinerary as follows:

Embark ship - Fort Lauderdale

Cruising

Cruising

Basseterre, St.Kitts

Philipsburg, St.Maarten

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Labadee, Haiti

Cruising

Fort Lauderdale, USA

Cruising

George Town, Grand Cayman

Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

Cozumel, Mexico

Cruising

Fort Lauderdale - Disembark ship

[matj2000]

Use the "search thread" button and type in "Spring Break".

It will bring up hundreds of threads related to Spring that are already ongoing.

This will give you plenty of info...

[Clarea]

The US college spring break period varies school to school. It starts in early March and ends in early April. You will see more college students in mid March, and more younger children around Easter.

[A&L_Ont]

I'm not sure about college spring break but you will get grade school and high school March breaks. We have done a March B2B the last two years on Oasis Class ships and as the weeks deepen into March there were progressively more kids. Yes Oasis Class is bigger than Freedom but I would suspect the same pattern/ratio will occur on it as well.

 

It didn't bother us, but if you are looking at avoiding kids you might want to re-analyze your plans. We didn't feel over run by college kids from our experience but their definitely was an influx of younger ones. Canadian March break in 2018 is March 12-16.

 

 

FYI - Kid count (all under 18) on Allure 2016. We got the numbers from friends who work on the ship in the sports department.

 

March 12-19 had 1,100 kids (Canadian Break with a few other states)

March 19 - 26 had 1,600 kids (US schools)

March 26 - April 3 had 2,100 kids (Easter Weekend and maybe US breaks)

[ukwanderer]

I'm not sure about college spring break but you will get grade school and high school March breaks. We have done a March B2B the last two years on Oasis Class ships and as the weeks deepen into March there were progressively more kids. Yes Oasis Class is bigger than Freedom but I would suspect the same pattern/ratio will occur on it as well.

 

It didn't bother us, but if you are looking at avoiding kids you might want to re-analyze your plans. We didn't feel over run by college kids from our experience but their definitely was an influx of younger ones. Canadian March break in 2018 is March 12-16.

 

 

FYI - Kid count (all under 18) on Allure 2016. We got the numbers from friends who work on the ship in the sports department.

 

March 12-19 had 1,100 kids (Canadian Break with a few other states)

March 19 - 26 had 1,600 kids (US schools)

March 26 - April 3 had 2,100 kids (Easter Weekend and maybe US breaks)

 

thanks for this, very useful info

[leaveitallbehind]

I'm not sure about college spring break but you will get grade school and high school March breaks. We have done a March B2B the last two years on Oasis Class ships and as the weeks deepen into March there were progressively more kids. Yes Oasis Class is bigger than Freedom but I would suspect the same pattern/ratio will occur on it as well.

 

It didn't bother us, but if you are looking at avoiding kids you might want to re-analyze your plans. We didn't feel over run by college kids from our experience but their definitely was an influx of younger ones. Canadian March break in 2018 is March 12-16.

 

 

FYI - Kid count (all under 18) on Allure 2016. We got the numbers from friends who work on the ship in the sports department.

 

March 12-19 had 1,100 kids (Canadian Break with a few other states)

March 19 - 26 had 1,600 kids (US schools)

March 26 - April 3 had 2,100 kids (Easter Weekend and maybe US breaks)

Plus one big kid somewhat older than the rest spending most of his time on the flowrider.........

Edited February 15, 2017 by leaveitallbehind

[breeze123]

The 7 day or longer cruises will have less college kids than the shorter spring break cruises. As many have mentioned, breaks vary throughout the US and go from mid March to early April. You'll most likely have more kids the closer to Easter you get.

 

We done SB cruises before and were not bothered by the kids. There are plenty of places you can go to get away from them.

 

 

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[impatientlywaiting]

We did a Caribbean cruise 3rd week of March and there were over 1,000 university students on board. It was the worst cruse ever. They were drunk and rude and out of control the entire 7 days. We learned our lesson about cruising in the Caribbean during March and April.

[lbjen]

Actually it's not so common for American schools to have even a whole week off, never mind two weeks, for Easter. Instead we have 'Spring Break' which is typically in March, the week differs by region/school district/school, where I live it's almost always the 3rd week of March. So if Easter falls around that time, you'll have more kids than if it is later like it is this year.

[sross6019]

Also Mexico's spring break is around Easter so the ships are extra crowded with kids.

 

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[Cel_cruise]

In 2018, Easter and Passover overlap - I would expect the first full week of April to be busy as a result - I believe that many states will be off March 30 - April 9 to cover both....I'm pretty sure atleast NY will do that.

 

Massachusetts schools do not align to Easter - we are always the 3rd week of April - which this year happens to be easter..

 

And most schools that don't have vacation around Easter usually have Good Friday off and sometimes Easter Monday..

 

 

 

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[leaveitallbehind]

Actually it's not so common for American schools to have even a whole week off, never mind two weeks, for Easter. Instead we have 'Spring Break' which is typically in March, the week differs by region/school district/school, where I live it's almost always the 3rd week of March. So if Easter falls around that time, you'll have more kids than if it is later like it is this year.

 

 

 

But it can - and does - vary by school district and year. For example, this year our local school districts have their Spring break the week of 4/9 and last year it was 3/20. So really any time in March to early April can be Spring break.

[A&L_Ont]

thanks for this, very useful info

 

Hope it helped.

 

Plus one big kid somewhat older than the rest spending most of his time on the flowrider.........

 

 

Yah, that's me. :)

[lbjen]

But it can - and does - vary by school district and year. For example, this year our local school districts have their Spring break the week of 4/9 and last year it was 3/20. So really any time in March to early April can be Spring break.

 

Which is what I said!

[BillOh]

We did a Caribbean cruise 3rd week of March and there were over 1,000 university students on board. It was the worst cruse ever. They were drunk and rude and out of control the entire 7 days. We learned our lesson about cruising in the Caribbean during March and April.

 

Things can vary, and I won't dismiss your observation, but it is a good reminder I'm happy I was married in the first week of May, cruising around our anniversary seems to get the best of everything. Its post spring break, but pre end of school year, the weather has transitioned to warmer, calmer, dryer, but not the heat of August. [/smug]

[leaveitallbehind]

Which is what I said!

 

I know - was just emphasizing your point with our experience for the OP. :) Sorry if it seemed otherwise.

[JessyCruises]

Canadian March break in 2018 is March 12-16.

 

Just wanted to mention that not all provinces or even districts in a province have the same March Break. Here is NB, our March break is the week before yours March 6-10. Some provinces/districts get one week, some get two. They are all throughout March and April with most in late March I think.