Xkramz Posted August 14, 2018 #1 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Anyone experienced it? Is it less crowded than during peak times like summer time or school breaks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xkramz Posted August 14, 2018 Author #2 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Sorry I meant are there a noticeably less amount of kids in the cruise? Sorry for not elaborating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasGuy75219 Posted August 14, 2018 #3 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Generally yes, but school break schedules vary greatly by geographic area. Even if kids are in school in the homeport area, kids can be on vacation in other areas and fly or drive with their families to the debarkation port. Many parents are also willing to pull their kids out of school for a cruise. So at any given time of the year YMMV, but holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) weeks will generally have more kids onboard,. as will any summer cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNJCruisers Posted August 14, 2018 #4 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Many parents are also willing to pull their kids out of school for a cruise. Between this philosophy and the small percentage of kids that are home schooled, there will usually be kids on board at any time of the year. Mid September would be a great time for low kids since school has only been back for a month or less depending upon your district. January would be another option since it's right after Christmas break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToriB Posted August 14, 2018 #5 Share Posted August 14, 2018 All of our cruises have been when kids are in school. (Mid January, early May, middle of October, end of November after Thanksgiving, and the first week or so in December) There are always kids on board but never a lot of them. They’ve always been well behaved. I would assume when schools are on break there are many more kids but I don’t care to find out for myself. Plus, I’ve found we can get better rates when school is in. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evandbob Posted August 14, 2018 #6 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Another way to have less little darlings aboard is to sail on longer cruises during the school year. Usually, there are less kids on a 13 day sailing then a 3 or 4 day one. Also, check school terms in the departing port State, they may differ than your home State. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenjer Posted August 14, 2018 #7 Share Posted August 14, 2018 When our kids where younger we would pull them from school to cruise, until high school, then that had to stop. There are always kids, especially younger kids on every sailing. Not to many teenagers. Just as many babies and toddlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Saint Greg Posted August 14, 2018 #8 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Sorry I meant are there a noticeably less amount of kids in the cruise? Sorry for not elaborating Yes. That's when I try to cruise. I've been cruising in September and a week or two before spring break (last week in Feb or first week in March).There are still some who have small kids....or who pull their kids out of school to save money. But we're talking a few hundred kids where when I cruised in July it was a thousand. I'm trying the last week of August this year and hoping for similar results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXSUN46 Posted August 14, 2018 #9 Share Posted August 14, 2018 We always cruise during times when school is in session. There is always some kids around but never is any areas over run with them and I don't recall every being annoyed by unruly children. That could be why no matter what ship I am on it does not feel all that crowded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schazzy Posted August 14, 2018 #10 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Generally yes, but school break schedules vary greatly by geographic area. Even if kids are in school in the homeport area, kids can be on vacation in other areas and fly or drive with their families to the debarkation port. Many parents are also willing to pull their kids out of school for a cruise. We learned that lesson last year when we cruised in April. We weren't thinking about the possibility of spring break falling on that week when we booked it, then later saw spring break around here was in March, so we thought we were in the clear. Well, after boarding, quickly learned that in some other states, especially northern states, it was spring break that week, I swear atleast half the passengers on board were under 17. So, for our cruise this year, we went in Early May, and there was just a handful or so of kids on board and they were barely even noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruizinCutieJulia Posted August 14, 2018 #11 Share Posted August 14, 2018 I learned my lesson this year sailing in June for the first time (I generally like late April and late September for my birthday) but sailing to Alaska wasn’t available then. Obviously there were a ton of kids on board, but I wasn’t prepared for the major increase of overall kids and large herds of families traveling in general, airports, restaurants, etc. I love kids, but the volume in June was overwhelming for a single, no kids lifestyle dweller like me. I swore I would never sail (possibly even vacation in general) in the summer months again!! [emoji15] Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JacekK Posted August 14, 2018 #12 Share Posted August 14, 2018 October last year - 14 days Panama Canal from Galveston - I'm pretty sure less that 10 kids on board... Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpyne Posted August 14, 2018 #13 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Our group sailing in October on the Magic will have nine kids ranging from 2 to 17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchoolNurseMom Posted August 14, 2018 #14 Share Posted August 14, 2018 I work for a school system in North Georgia. We have a "modified" or "balanced" school calendar here. Our year starts on August 1, we have week long breaks in Sept, Nov, Feb and April. Two weeks off for Christmas and out for summer at Memorial Day. Hubby and I love it as we can cruise in September and February. We tried one in July this year and it was just stifling hot! We going next June to Alaska and assume we will not have issues with heat up there! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doggielover68 Posted August 14, 2018 #15 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Yes, it's less crowded and there are less kids on board. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty much always "crowded" but I think the ships usually aren't filled to max capacity since there are fewer families. I.e. More cabins with two people instead of 3 or 4. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraftyCoffeeCruiser Posted August 14, 2018 #16 Share Posted August 14, 2018 We primarily cruise in the fall while school is in for majority of kids and yes there is a significant difference in how many kids are onboard, our first cruise had 14 under 18 ( and our son was one of them ) While we don’t cruise fall to avoid kids , if your trying to avoid them I highly suggest before thanksgiving or after as those cruises have always been low # s in my experience [emoji106] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmBear Posted August 14, 2018 #17 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Sorry I meant are there a noticeably less amount of kids in the cruise? Sorry for not elaborating Most definitely! We cruised a b2b on the Vista the end of May, the first week was grey hairs like me, averaging 55-75, the 2nd week averaged 25-40 with a lot of kids! Had fun both weeks, but it was a noticeable, different feel on the ship!;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNJCruisers Posted August 14, 2018 #18 Share Posted August 14, 2018 I'm trying the last week of August this year and hoping for similar results. You get back over Labor Day weekend. Many of the school districts in the northeast have not started school yet, so you could still get an influx of last week of the summer kids. But of course it'll be nowhere near the amount of kids from a July sailing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenjer Posted August 14, 2018 #19 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Anytime there is a Holiday you will also gets lots of kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNJCruisers Posted August 14, 2018 #20 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Well, after boarding, quickly learned that in some other states, especially northern states, it was spring break that week, I swear at least half the passengers on board were under 17. Your cruise ended on the day before Easter, so many northeast districts were on their Spring Break since it's fluctuates on a yearly basis depending upon when Easter falls. It's not like other areas of the country that always take off the third week of March no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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