Joebucks Posted February 1, 2019 #1 Share Posted February 1, 2019 My friends want to go on one. Is it really a bunch of kids? Is it really a bunch of college kids? I typically go in off-peak season, like fall and spring. I understand the crowd may get younger. Would like to hear actual experiences instead of exaggerated ones though. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mexicobob Posted February 1, 2019 #2 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Many years ago went on a spring Break cruise with our kids. Many more young people on board than usual, especially senior in high school age group. Was not a bad experience but prefer to go in quieter times of the year. Also that is usually a very expensive week to cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTO-Girl Posted February 1, 2019 #3 Share Posted February 1, 2019 11 minutes ago, Joebucks said: My friends want to go on one. Is it really a bunch of kids? Is it really a bunch of college kids? I typically go in off-peak season, like fall and spring. I understand the crowd may get younger. Would like to hear actual experiences instead of exaggerated ones though. Thanks. Pick a cruise 7 days or longer to minimize the craziness.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisecraze96 Posted February 1, 2019 #4 Share Posted February 1, 2019 I have been on 3, all 3 were larger ships on both CCL (Dream, Breeze) and RCCL (Allure) and not one time did we feel it was overly crowded. We actually prefer to do a cruise over spring break just because we have enjoyed ourselves more than trying to do Disney, beach, etc. Kids, yes lots of kids but we have 2 and they really enjoyed all the new friends they made. My oldest daughter still has a few contacts that she talks to from previous trips we have taken. The ones I have taken, we never experienced any issues with drunken out of control college kids. Sadly I saw more bad behavior during a summer cruise than I have on the Spring Break ones. I think part of what you want to look for though is the length of the cruise and price, even though we had our fair share of the college group we had more families because we were always on 7 or 8 day cruises that tend to cost more. I feel from what I have heard in the past the shorter less expensive cruises tend to draw more of the hard core let's go to Mexico and Drink crowds (not that it is a horrible thing for them, fun to watch). We tend to cruise during peak seasons, Spring Break and Summer just because it is easier to get off as a family and go. We will be on the Breeze this Spring Break and I already have the Magic booked for the next one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoDidly Posted February 1, 2019 #5 Share Posted February 1, 2019 7 minutes ago, GTO-Girl said: Pick a cruise 7 days or longer to minimize the craziness.... I don't know, one of our worst was on Destiny during spring break . Fights broke out above and below decks . Guardians and Security turned a blind eye . Rainy sea days lido be came human slip and slides. Beer and alcohol sales were excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babe97 Posted February 1, 2019 #6 Share Posted February 1, 2019 Our first cruise was a 5 day on the Elation the first week of March. Looking back I say it was just awful, but we went on 11 more cruises in the next 5 years, so we still had a great time and it didn't turn us off cruises. I'd say take a 7 day or longer and stay on a high deck. We were on the first floor and the drunk kids were screaming in the halls, banging on doors, leaving tons of room service food in the halls. We would be enjoying a venue and then 20 or 30 would show up and the whole atmosphere went down hill. But while they could be indirectly annoying as a group, every single personal encounter we had with them was great. They were all really polite and friendly. They were just having fun and being a little obnoxious. But that being said we will never sail in March again! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare splash_in_the_water Posted February 1, 2019 #7 Share Posted February 1, 2019 our last cruise was during spring break aboard the Victory ....regular amount of kids....enough they had to break out of the normal room for the younger kids camp carnival...anyway not too much college dudes partying or whatever. Ran into a group of dudes a few times actually. super nice guys. they each brought a bottle of champagne and had one or two left ...i suggested they leave it for their room steward. They liked that idea and agreed that she was really nice and might appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellster1 Posted February 1, 2019 #8 Share Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) Also, it's worth noting that all schools don't get the same week(s) off. Public schools typically get the week before or after Easter off, while it really does vary with colleges. A few years ago, I was concerned about drunk college kids, so I googled it and found a website that has more specific information of dates the universities take for spring break. I wish I could remember what site it was. My eleven-year-old goes to a private school and gets the first 2 weeks of March off every year. This is typical of many universities, but it never stops us from going. I have noticed (slightly) more groups of college kids during this time of year, but so far, it hasn't been a problem for us. I agree, 7 days or longer will be a lot better (no matter what time of year you cruise). The 3-4 day booze cruises are your best bet for seeing drunk adults everywhere. :) Edited February 1, 2019 by shellster1 spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWolver672 Posted February 1, 2019 #9 Share Posted February 1, 2019 What the ship's itinerary is has a lot to do with the amount of young people partying too. We did a five day to Cuba and there quite a few families but very few college kids. All the rest of our cruises have been either seven or eight days. The seven days cruises will have a mixture of ages. The eight days seemed to have a more mature crowd. Even to the point where they played sixties music on the Lido Deck on one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nessz79 Posted February 1, 2019 #10 Share Posted February 1, 2019 We have cruised around Easter as well as during March, when our school and many others are out for spring break. I agree with others' advice to cruise on a 7+ day cruise, preferably on a newer ship, on a higher deck. All of those things cost more money, but it also gets you farther away from the spring break shenanigans. 🙂 Not that a lower deck is always bad, but we have had some recent experiences that made us say never again on a short cruise, and I imagine that could also apply to a spring break cruise. We had people partying in their cabin, going in and out constantly, yelling in the hallways, blasting music in the hallways, and we're talking at 3 AM in the morning here. We never complained as most of the hallway belonged to their party and we didn't want it to be obvious it was us. So we suffered through it for the short cruise. We have never had that problem on a high deck, like Lido (knock on wood!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schazzy Posted February 1, 2019 #11 Share Posted February 1, 2019 We inadvertently went on a spring break cruise when we did a 7 day out of Charleston in April of 2017. We didn't see many college aged people, but there were a ton of under 18's on board. For the most part they weren't a really a problem unless you wanted to use the atrium elevators, Lido pool, hot tub, or have any ice cream. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bevv Posted February 1, 2019 #12 Share Posted February 1, 2019 9 hours ago, shellster1 said: A few years ago, I was concerned about drunk college kids, so I googled it and found a website that has more specific information of dates the universities take for spring break. I wish I could remember what site it was. https://www.studentcity.com/when-is-my-spring-break 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommawo Posted February 1, 2019 #13 Share Posted February 1, 2019 I will be taking a cruise in early March this year. Mainly because it’s easier to get off work for me then. I’m a 45 year old college student lol I’m not too rowdy. I was kinda wondering about the kid ratio then also. Either way college kids are not gonna bother me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted February 1, 2019 #14 Share Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) My wife and I went a few years back. We were in our late 40's, early 50's. Went on a 7 day Carnival cruise. Had a great time. Were their some parties? Yes Were there a few drunk kids? yes Anything stand out over the young adults vs, the old adults partying? Not really. The youngsters are used to it while the adults try to hang like they used to. Was it sad seeing the older ladies trying to compete with the younger ladies? Very much so. Was is a party til you puke atmosphere? No Was there some dancing? Yes Was it a little bit more risqué? Yes Did it slow down mid-week due to the kids not having the same credit limit? Yes Edited February 1, 2019 by klfrodo 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MississippiMom Posted February 1, 2019 #15 Share Posted February 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Bevv said: https://www.studentcity.com/when-is-my-spring-break That’s a cool website. I had NO idea it existed. As for Spring Break cruises . . . We are heading out on one this March, and we are traveling with lots of family, including kids. I can’t imagine that it would be any different (people-wise) than a July cruise. When your vacation time works around your kids’ days off of school, that’s when you travel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProgRockCruiser Posted February 1, 2019 #16 Share Posted February 1, 2019 We went on a 4-day cruise last March on Liberty out of Canaveral. In theory, spring break time for some schools, but not the peak for college kids, which is later in March IIRC. For age reference my wife and I were 39 and 50 at the time, respectively. Anyway, there were a few college aged kids there, but nothing too rowdy - if anything they were very amusing to observe in the Lido deck during the day. We didn't hang out on Lido during the evening - we typically become bar flies at Alchemy or the Atrium - so perhaps things got a bit rowdier then. The first couple nights were far more exciting due to the rough seas - that was when the 20 to 25 ft swells from the Nor'easters the previous week were rocking us a round a bit. So there were a lot of green faces from sea sickness, and I suspect while alcohol consumption didn't help, more than likely the overall consumption levels went down. (My wife and I were not affected - I guess we have sea legs - so we kept on enjoying Cheers!) But after the seas calmed down there wasn't much different behavior than the other cruises we've been on. YMMV, of course, and I suspect sailings out of other specific ports (e.g. Miami, FLL) may induce a greater proportion of "partiers" than Port Canaveral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABQrobin Posted February 1, 2019 #17 Share Posted February 1, 2019 We were on the Magic spring break 2 years ago. It was FULL of kids ages 6-16 running amok all day and night. Hot tubs full of kids splashing and jumping off sides into it, no one did anything about it. Kids standing at ice cream machines holding button and letting it run out on floor, then running off. Kids running up and down halls banging on doors all night... you get the picture. Parents no where in site. I had a kid in hallway, when we were just walking down Promenade, say to me as I went by "want a candy bar?" then threw it at me just missing my head. I turned and looked at him, and he and his buddies all laughed (3 kids maybe 14 yrs old). oops, ha ha ha.... Crap like that. It wasn't just the bad behavior it was that there were SO MANY of them all day long. Every room must have been packed to capacity! The ship just seemed way overcrowded. We won't travel in March again, for sure. We still had a great cruise, 7-day Eastern Carib, loved our ports and excursions, but time on ship was like Animal House. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertlanajean Posted February 1, 2019 #18 Share Posted February 1, 2019 54 minutes ago, klfrodo said: Did it slow down mid-week due to the kids not having the same credit limit? Yes You win with this quote! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rukkian Posted February 1, 2019 #19 Share Posted February 1, 2019 We went on Allure of the seas last year, 2nd week of March (when all of Iowa colleges and most high schools have spring break), and saw no real issues. Not sure if a bigger, more expensive ship made a difference. We have Magic booked for an 8 day southern in 2020 for the same period, so I guess we will see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPlayWithString Posted February 1, 2019 #20 Share Posted February 1, 2019 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schazzy Posted February 1, 2019 #21 Share Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, klfrodo said: Did it slow down mid-week due to the kids not having the same credit limit? Yes To somewhat quote Fried Green Tomatoes: Face it, kids, I'm older and I have more credit. Edited February 1, 2019 by schazzy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figdu Posted February 1, 2019 #22 Share Posted February 1, 2019 I would think the requirement of a 25yo in the room or on a linked booking has cut down on some college age passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted February 1, 2019 #23 Share Posted February 1, 2019 24 minutes ago, figdu said: I would think the requirement of a 25yo in the room or on a linked booking has cut down on some college age passengers. You only have to be 21 to get a cabin. Only if someone is UNDER 21, must there be someone 25 or older in the cabin. (with caveats as soon will be seen by multiple posters) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athankfulheart Posted February 1, 2019 #24 Share Posted February 1, 2019 We have only done a "spring break" sailing once. It was the Dream out of PC in 2012. If I remember correctly. Our cabins were on deck 6 aft. There was nothing noteworthy about the week other than maybe a higher number of families with kids. You will find badly behaved adults or poorly trained/supervised kids on any sailing if you are looking for them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted February 1, 2019 #25 Share Posted February 1, 2019 we did a 7 day out of TX one year 700 kids out os 2000 pax most college age some were so drunk coming back on the ship in Mexico they needed wheelchairs ..then they were confined to their cabins the younger set were not bad in the day but at night were running lose all hours vomit & other stuff were in the halls Yup a fun cruise but not for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now