What would the type of crowd be like on a post-Christmas cruise out of Tampa? (Brilliance Dec 29-January 3rd)

[CruiseMelissa]

Looking at booking 5-day Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa going to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  We're a family of four with a 7 and 11 year old.  My husband is concerned the timing of this cruise would mean young party-goers and a family like ours would be totally out of place.  Any thoughts?

[Jingerwoppy]

We did this many years back out of Galveston and it didn't seem to be an issue. But I should say that between 25% and 30% of the passengers missed the ship because of weather. I saw the weather forecast and we went down the day before. So many people tried to fly in or drive down the day of the cruise and it started sleeting before 8am. You won't have the weather problem but I don't think the passenger mix will bother you. 

[firefly333]

5 days you will have some party goers, but being right after Christmas shouldn't matter. The holidays will be over, people want to rest. It will be as quiet as any other shorter cruise will be. The longer the cruise usually the fewer kids and quieter

[ZoeyVictoria]

A fairly short cruise including New Year’s Eve/New Years Day, over a three-day weekend, following a year in which there were no celebrations.  I think your husband is right about party-goers.

 

Edited to add:  For the cost of that holiday cruise, you could choose a number of longer cruises on newer/larger ships with more to offer children, during the following month.

Edited March 6, 2021 by ZoeyVictoria

[sandebeach]

I have done several of the short New Year's cruises out of Miami. They do include a lot of young party-goers, but they also include a lot of multi-generational family groups. I will also note that although the short New Year's cruises are very pricy, they are always crowded.  

[Iamcruzin]

Dec 29th to Jan 3rd is a New Year's cruise. I would expect kids to still be off from school and NYE is a party holiday.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Iamcruzin

[orville99]

We've done this New Years Eve cruise out of Tampa several times (including once on Brilliance). It will be a very full cruise, and there won't be a lot of children compared to other ships. There's really not a lot of amenities targeted towards young children on this class of ship compared to the larger ships.

 

Other than NYE itself (which only gets going in earnest around 8PM on NYE), it really doesn't feel any different than any other short cruise we've taken out of Tampa.

[CruisinNole]

We've cruised from Tampa on the Brilliance many times and at all times of the year -- Christmas, post-Christmas, Spring Break and have never encountered what we would call a party cruise. I agree with orville99 that it doesn't feel any different.

[OZ.]

There would be some partying going on because it’s New Year’s Eve. School is out so more families, but will be some more drinking.

[gtalum]

Schools are out in many counties in Florida until January 4, so it should be full of kids and families.

[firefly333]

I think any short cruise over a weekend attracts drinkers. Just more drinking on shorter cruises. I too would expect a NYE cruise to be full and higher priced. 

[CruiseMelissa]

Thanks everyone, this really helps.  We're used to crowded cruises as we always sail during school breaks and we love smaller ships.  This sounds like it would be a good fit for a quick get-away.  Thanks again!

[florida eagle]

This from Tampa. Not Miami or Port Canaveral or Jacksonville. It is 5 Days. There can be partying 5 day cruises. It is Royal and not Carnival. The cost of the cruise is much more expensive.  And the price for drinking, gratuities and extra tips and more.. is more. I took one cruise form Tampa on the Carnival Paradise. A 5 day and the passengers were not 20 year olds for the most part.  There are 5 days like that. Also ask the person you call whether the ship has that reputation. I am willing to bet that the Brilliance is mostly people who have sewed their wild oats but still have a lot of life in them. That looks like a magnificent ship. 

[BillOh]

15 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

Any thoughts?

For this year? I hope Grand Caymen is open for ships then. Good luck.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I think any short cruise over a weekend attracts drinkers. Just more drinking on shorter cruises. I too would expect a NYE cruise to be full and higher priced. 

I agree. But some lines are better than others. I would imagine NCL would attract more young adult drinkers since the drinks are included. Royal you have to buy the package.

[Sunshine3601]

18 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

Looking at booking 5-day Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa going to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  We're a family of four with a 7 and 11 year old.  My husband is concerned the timing of this cruise would mean young party-goers and a family like ours would be totally out of place.  Any thoughts?

You will definitely have families on a cruise within those dates.    I typically cruise every January and have always found a decent amount of kids (all ages) up to mid January.     

No worries about party-goers as they would be at the nightclubs and/or casino not at the areas that families would frequent during the day and evening.     Have fun planning!

[emory2001]

I've found the "partiest" cruises are 3-day Bahama cruises. A 5 day after Christmas out of Tampa will be full of Florida families with kids.

[Hogbay]

On 3/6/2021 at 12:48 PM, CruiseMelissa said:

Looking at booking 5-day Brilliance of the Seas out of Tampa going to Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  We're a family of four with a 7 and 11 year old.  My husband is concerned the timing of this cruise would mean young party-goers and a family like ours would be totally out of place.  Any thoughts?

Christmas eve is on the 24th , That s when there is reindeer elves and Santa you are booking a New Year's Eve cruise after years of lockdown ! Hubby right again 🙃

[njkruzer]

We did this cruise in Dec 2018 for our anniversary with daughter,  sil, son, dil, 5 yo granddaughter.   We had a lovely time. Would do it again.  The only issue was that fog rolled in at the bridge you have to sail  under when leaving Tampa.  At muster the captain announced the coast guard had closed the port because of the fog.  We all thoght this was wierd because as anyone who has sailed from Tampa knows its over 2 hrs to the bridge and at the port the sun was out.  Couldn't depart until noon the next day.  No real problem as far as we were concerned. (Though the 3 ships arriving couldn't sail into Tampa until we sailed under the bridge.) We did have to skip Grand Cayman.  But we were able to anchor off Cayman on NYE and got to watch their fireworks along the beach at midnight which was really nice. Enjoy the cruise. 

[Jasukkie]

I did this cruise at a non-holiday time, for a very cheap last minute price. I had the misfortune to have some very loud young men in the two cabins next to me. I guess they were 21 but they looked and acted even younger. That could happen on any cruise but it's the only time it's happened to me. Other than that, I thought it was a nice group onboard, friendly, experienced cruisers, mostly from Florida. This wouldn't be the ship I would choose with kids though. I'm a middle aged woman and even I want water slides now.