Didn't realize .... Spring Break Cruise

[Sue Goodreds]

My husband and I just booked a cruise - not realizing it's Spring break.  Any opinions on how that week on a ship varies from other weeks?  We've never cruised Spring Break before.

[kwokpot]

2 minutes ago, Sue Goodreds said:

My husband and I just booked a cruise - not realizing it's Spring break.  Any opinions on how that week on a ship varies from other weeks?  We've never cruised Spring Break before.

What week, what ship?

[Elaine5715]

Not even noticeable on most ships

[ctlyf]

We've only cruised during spring break once... it was right before the shut down, 5-day out of Fort Lauderdale. It was not horrible, but we did pretty much steer clear of the main pool (stuck to Tides Pool). While it was sometimes fun to people watch (college kids letting loose pre-pandemic), I probably will avoid spring break cruises if I can, particularly out of south Florida and short ones. That being said if someone I want to cruise with wants to go, I won't say no either.

[staceyglow]

Not every school has spring break during the same week, so the kids will be spread over about a month's time. 

[Itried4498]

During all of March and much of April, there were numerous postings on this forum complaining about rowdy spring break crowds on numerous ships.

 

That said…

- What some people consider rowdy… may not bother others.  We all have different levels of tolerance.  

- There were tons of dirt cheap cruise fares available this year for spring break travel, that may have attracted some subpar crowds.  

[pe4all]

Spring break for school districts definitely is different than spring break for colleges.  That being said - hopefully you are cruising during school spring break.  There will definitely be more kids/families on board then.  If cruising during college spring break it may be quite a bit rowdier.  

[csm5986142]

We were on Mardi Gras for our daughter's spring break (high school) last year and the ship was absolutely packed (we were told completely full).  But  worse than the ship, were the airlines.  Airfare was so expensive, everything was oversold, airports were a chaotic nightmare.  If we didn't have to fly across the country it wouldn't be such a a bad memory, but I will avoid traveling that time of the year.

[kctwinmommy]

5 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

We were on Mardi Gras for our daughter's spring break (high school) last year and the ship was absolutely packed (we were told completely full).  But  worse than the ship, were the airlines.  Airfare was so expensive, everything was oversold, airports were a chaotic nightmare.  If we didn't have to fly across the country it wouldn't be such a a bad memory, but I will avoid traveling that time of the year.

 

OMG! Yes! We had been planning on driving to FL for our cruise this past April. The airfare for the 3 of us was going to be more than our entire cruise. I kept checking though, and eventually got a decent price so we were able to fly down there.

 

As far as the OP's concerns, this was our first time cruising over spring break, we've almost always done early/mid-November. The ship was pretty busy, especially around the pool on sea days, but that's always an issue. A lot of the tours were pretty full, although we never felt cramped or pushed through anything. We had a great time. I can't really think of any major complaints that we had. There were quite a few kids, not many older ones though (we went the week before Easter). Keep in mind, as others have said, spring break varies from area to area, so some have it early March, and others later in April, so you're talking almost a good 2 months with the potential of spring breakers being on your ship.

 

I say just keep it, if it's what you want and it works for you, and don't worry. Let's be real, you never know exactly what you're going to get no matter when your cruise. So just go with the flow! 😃

[Sue Goodreds]

12 hours ago, kwokpot said:

What week, what ship?

Magic out of Port Canaveral, March 19, 2023

[Sue Goodreds]

5 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

 

OMG! Yes! We had been planning on driving to FL for our cruise this past April. The airfare for the 3 of us was going to be more than our entire cruise. I kept checking though, and eventually got a decent price so we were able to fly down there.

 

As far as the OP's concerns, this was our first time cruising over spring break, we've almost always done early/mid-November. The ship was pretty busy, especially around the pool on sea days, but that's always an issue. A lot of the tours were pretty full, although we never felt cramped or pushed through anything. We had a great time. I can't really think of any major complaints that we had. There were quite a few kids, not many older ones though (we went the week before Easter). Keep in mind, as others have said, spring break varies from area to area, so some have it early March, and others later in April, so you're talking almost a good 2 months with the potential of spring breakers being on your ship.

 

I say just keep it, if it's what you want and it works for you, and don't worry. Let's be real, you never know exactly what you're going to get no matter when your cruise. So just go with the flow! 😃

We usually cruise November (and January) as well.  We missed both of our "normal" cruises this past year because of my work schedule.  March was the earliest I could take off work.  We're going through cruise withdrawal.  We'll just make the best of it.  🙂

[Sue Goodreds]

Thank you all for your replies - Much appreciated!

[3smithboys]

2 hours ago, Sue Goodreds said:

Magic out of Port Canaveral, March 19, 2023

Just to make a point… DH and I are teachers and are going on the Magic for Spring Break too. However, we are going April 2nd. So, SB is all over the place. This is actually the 1st time in about 10 years that we’ve had SB at the same time, so we’re taking advantage! You will have a great time. We can only travel during school vacation time, and always enjoy ourselves!

Edited September 19, 2022 by 3smithboys

[MNLIvin]

We booked a cruise by accident several years ago. Seven day cruise. I figured what the heck, lets see what happens. Tons of college age kids, loud boisterous and some of the most polite kids ever. We just wandered off if we needed to be away from it but generally just enjoyed the kids antics. Gotta say, they were more inclined to apologize if they bumped into you or whatever than most of us older folks. Go with the mindset you are going to have fun and you will.

[asalligo]

15 hours ago, kwokpot said:

What week, what ship?

This makes a huge difference and March 19th will not be too bad. Local spring break in Central Florida is mainly the week before that and most spring breakers will take the shorter cruises. 

[ABQrobin]

5 hours ago, Sue Goodreds said:

Magic out of Port Canaveral, March 19, 2023

 

Yikes, we did the same one a few years ago and some of the kids were out of control.  The hot tubs were full all week with a dozen teens or more, all jumping off the edge doing cannonballs, etc.  Nobody did anything.  Also the kids running in halls, slamming into people, food fight on Lido one lunch.  No kidding... where are these horrible parents?  We did get to see one of the rowdy teens with a broken ankle using a knee scooter halfway thru the cruise...Karma.

The cruise was great except for these incidents which were mainly the Sea Days.

[FlaMommy75]

6 hours ago, Sue Goodreds said:

Magic out of Port Canaveral, March 19, 2023

I am a teacher in the Tampa area and my daughter attends a Florida University and our Spring Break is the week before your cruise. You should be fine. The week before your cruise tends to be the peak Spring Break week.

Personally, my husband and I have always enjoyed cruising Spring Break. Better chance of the Lido deck and pools being quiet in the mornings because the college kids are sleeping and we have early dining (when college kids are napping)🤣

[kctwinmommy]

10 hours ago, Sue Goodreds said:

We'll just make the best of it.  🙂

That's the best attitude of all! I mean, let's be real, large groups of kids could happen at any time. Or large groups of obnoxious, out of control adults too. You're not at work, you're on a cruise, so just enjoy it and not worry about the things you can't control. I'm the same way! Hope it's a nice, relaxing time for you guys!

[ABQrobin]

On 9/19/2022 at 9:24 AM, FlaMommy75 said:

I am a teacher in the Tampa area and my daughter attends a Florida University and our Spring Break is the week before your cruise. You should be fine. The week before your cruise tends to be the peak Spring Break week.

Personally, my husband and I have always enjoyed cruising Spring Break. Better chance of the Lido deck and pools being quiet in the mornings because the college kids are sleeping and we have early dining (when college kids are napping)🤣

Our cruise it wasn't college kids.... it was the teens on the cruise with parents.  

[TN Roz]

We cruised during Spring Break in March several years ago.We were on a 7 day out of Port Canaveral with a stop in Cozumel. The college kids on the ship were not that bad, but we went to Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel and it was crazy! It was packed with drunk college aged cruisers from several different ships. We only had an appetizer and a couple of drinks despite having the all inclusive package because we could not get service. I hope your cruise is a better experience, but we have avoided going during Spring Break since then.

[kctwinmommy]

2 hours ago, TN Roz said:

We cruised during Spring Break in March several years ago.We were on a 7 day out of Port Canaveral with a stop in Cozumel. The college kids on the ship were not that bad, but we went to Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel and it was crazy! It was packed with drunk college aged cruisers from several different ships. We only had an appetizer and a couple of drinks despite having the all inclusive package because we could not get service. I hope your cruise is a better experience, but we have avoided going during Spring Break since then.

 

We went there on our spring break cruise this past April and it was barely half full. We were kind of surprised! We even made sure we got off the ship quickly so that we could get a good spot. But it really didn't matter since there were so few people when we got there.

[KmomChicago]

On 9/18/2022 at 5:20 PM, csm5986142 said:

We were on Mardi Gras for our daughter's spring break (high school) last year and the ship was absolutely packed (we were told completely full).  But  worse than the ship, were the airlines.  Airfare was so expensive, everything was oversold, airports were a chaotic nightmare.  If we didn't have to fly across the country it wouldn't be such a a bad memory, but I will avoid traveling that time of the year.

 

I agree with this. The spring break cruises have been fine, but the ships are at max capacity, so if you are bothered by crowds and occasional bottlenecks during busy times, you'll be annoyed, airfare is very expensive and the airports are extraordinarily busy. 

 

It's mostly families with school aged kids and just a few college breakers - not exactly their scene. 

 

Personally I have been doing a little better with Las Vegas for spring breaks the past couple years rather than Florida and cruises. I do have to be very flexible and tolerant of cheapo carriers to get the airfare borderline affordable to Sin City at that time, with Allegiant working best for us. We have to drive further but we can fly out of tiny regional airports which is really, really a nice change. This past March we flew out of Rockford IL and while the flight was jam packed, we were the only commercial flight of the day so parking was cheap and right at the small terminal which was open just for us.  LAS/Harry Reid is a different matter, but it all worked out fine.  Next spring we are doing the same but out of Peoria IL.

[Sigyn]

On 9/19/2022 at 4:30 AM, Sue Goodreds said:

Magic out of Port Canaveral, March 19, 2023

Spring break varies around the country. My son's high school is April 2-8, 2023.

[KyloRen]

Hi!
 

 I took two back to back spring break cruises this last SB. Both cruises were booked full and was told the child to adult ratio was 1/1. (I’m a nerd for stats)

 

the only complaint is my 13 yr old was sexually harassed in an elevator at around 11pm by a group of boys one evening while

 coming back from kids club. On these cruises there’s a lot and I mean a LOT of young families. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by KyloRen

[Sue Goodreds]

On 9/19/2022 at 11:24 AM, FlaMommy75 said:

I am a teacher in the Tampa area and my daughter attends a Florida University and our Spring Break is the week before your cruise. You should be fine. The week before your cruise tends to be the peak Spring Break week.

Personally, my husband and I have always enjoyed cruising Spring Break. Better chance of the Lido deck and pools being quiet in the mornings because the college kids are sleeping and we have early dining (when college kids are napping)🤣

Tampa area here, too ... Pinellas County.  Thank you for all you do for the next generation.  I understand how difficult your job can be - my daughter was a teacher