Spring break

[WinnieinWA]

Does HAL get the spring break kids (age 2-30) like some of the other lines that I've heard horror stories about?

 

I really want to do a HAL to Mexico in March but sure don't want to be on any ship filled with tons of children and teens and drunk college kids. Is there any way to tell if a ship is full of kids?

 

I like kids so don't flame me.. I just don't want to be around too many of them on my expensive vacation. :cool:

 

Winnie<-----> ducking and running!:p

[Cerinda]

We took our then 7, 14 and 17 YO children on a 10-day spring break cruise to Mexico on the Ryndam. Club Hal was full, so full HAL added staff. The Lido was generally crowded at lunch, and the Lido pool was busy on sea days, but that may have been due more to the NUMBER of passengers on this sailing than their AGES. Not once did we encounter loud or ill-behaved children (there was, however, a handful of adults behaving inappropriately...). YMMV

 

Maybe you can choose another time of year, or a longer journey, or one of HAL's smaller ships. Enjoy!

[jhannah]

If it's spring break time, you can pretty well bet there will be a good number of young people onboard. Most will be no problem, as Cerinda noted on her cruise. But sometimes this isn't the case. (IIRC, the Noordam had a bad run last year where kids reportedly "took over" the ship.)

 

If your work schedule doesn't allow you to cruise any other time, then you'll just have to pay your money and take your chances.

[Compass Rose]

My husband and I are on a 10-day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale leaving April 4th on the Maasdam. We planned our cruise to leave around that time because we are thinking that this time would be the tail end of Spring Break. We love kids, too, but on our expensive vacation......not so much, either. I think we'll be pretty safe and far removed from the belly flop contests and hairy chest contests.

[kryos]

All cruise lines will be full during spring break ... including full with kids. True, families in many cases will prefer the RCCL or Carnival or even Disney ships for their "family friendly" cruises ... but those ships are often much more expensive than a HAL cruise would be. So, if money is an issue (and who isn't it an issue with these days?) parents may just tell their kids it's HAL or nothing.

 

Now that said, I think there would be less kids on a HAL ship ... and the ones that are there, on the average, will be better behaved. However, remember that even if kids are well-behaved, they will often be intrusive. By intrusive I mean that EVERYTHING onboard will be crowded ... you'll be hardpressed to find a lounger anywhere near the pool, getting into the pool will be like joining a floating mob scene ... the Lido for breakfast or lunch will involve long lines ... the show lounge will be standing room only unless you get there a good 45 minutes or so before the show ... tendering off the ship could take a good hour or so.

 

It's these sorts of things that I don't like when planning a cruise. To me, having to wait in long lines for everything imaginable is not my idea of a vacation. I do that crap at home. When I sail, I want to feel that I have room to move around, to be comfortable, etc. I don't want to have to wait in line at breakfast for 45 minutes to get an omelet ... not to mention having to walk around the Lido for another 15 minutes looking for a place to sit down and eat it.

 

So, it's not just a matter of kids being well-behaved. They can be the greatest kids with the greatest parents. They will still contribute to the crowding and that's what I don't like.

 

So, if I have any choice in the matter at all ... and thankfully, being single and having a lot of seniority on my job, I do ... I prefer to do my sailings when the kids are happily engaged in their classrooms. I get to enjoy the ship a lot better that way ... not to mention pay less for my cabin in the bargain.

 

Just something to think about ...

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[WinnieinWA]

rita,

 

You said exactly what I was thinking only you did it so eloquently. :)

 

Thank you all!

[RevNeal]

The only way I can think of to avoid crowding and kids while cruising during the Spring Break period would be to select long cruises at extreme range from the States. In other words ... South America or Asia and 14 - 31 day cruises. :D

[Compass Rose]

Looks like there are 1,877,000 students on break around March 10th. Looks like there are 23,000 students on spring break around April 4th. I think the odds are that there will be very little spring breakers on our cruise on April 4th for 10 days, as they should all be back in school around after the 10th. You can find this info on http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm if you are interested....

[jtl513]

If you can find a cruise that starts or ends mid-week I think you will have fewer kids because school breaks tend to be M-F of one week.

[Sundagger]

My husband and I are on a 10-day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale leaving April 4th on the Maasdam. We planned our cruise to leave around that time because we are thinking that this time would be the tail end of Spring Break. We love kids, too, but on our expensive vacation......not so much, either. I think we'll be pretty safe and far removed from the belly flop contests and hairy chest contests.

 

I was on the April 2nd Volendam 10 day "Sunfarer" cruise and there couldn't have been more than a couple dozen children and none of them were disruptive. I was a little concerned about it still being in spring break, because I like a very quiet cruise, but there were no problems at all!

[Harry1954]

we took Panama Canal cruise on Zaandam March 2006. There were surprisingly very few kids on that one. I thought maybe we missed spring break - until we returned to FFL and witnessed lines going OUTSIDE the airport doors they were so long. In fact, they would not let anyone thru security whose flight was more than three hours in future as they were running out of room.

harry

[spiritkat090909]

Looks like there are 1,877,000 students on break around March 10th. Looks like there are 23,000 students on spring break around April 4th. ...You can find this info on www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm if you are interested....

 

 

Thanks for the link CompassRose!

 

Don't forget to add the elementary & high school students to the college kids. They get spring break, too.

[frodo63]

When I read the posts I had to laugh. All the adults want to get away from the kids on their vacation. I actually have a 12 yo who didn't want to go on RCCL for spring break because "she hates teenagers" and insisted we go on X or HA. She is never interested in the kids clubs, and pretty much stays on the balcony in our cabin. I have to force her to get out and mingle. We will be sailing on the Westerdam April 6th.

[maxsmamma]

I am hoping my spring break cruise is not overrun with kids. Because I am a teacher I love all your children, but i need a break too! And I have no other choices in planning my vacation.

 

3 Years ago we did the Zuiderdam, and there were kids, mostly well behaved, but still KIDS everywhere. (hey I have 2 of my own too! I'm not anti kid!) Like a previous poster poined out, it just adds to the amount of people on a ship. Families and kids cram 5 to a room, older, wiser people do not. The ship was the fullest it had been in 2 years according to a staff member. We found peace on the Zuiderdam in our cabin 4183 and loved the balcony, it was often the only place we could find a chair and not have to hear the conversations of our younger friends. Our solution this year was an aft suite with the largest balcony availible, so we could always have a quiet place to get away.

 

I would love one thing from the parents who choose to travel with their DC, please respect the signs and keep them out of, and away from the aft pool. Just let us have one public space we can enjoy without kids!

[ittibit]

We have 6 children between us; two still at home. We love our kids, but the cruise is our adults only vacation. We take summer vacation at the shore with the kids. I agree, please obey the signs for adults only. We also have been on the cruises with lots and lots of kids. They were later in February, hopefully this year we are early enough...

[nurseblissful]

i was on the noordam last march. it wasn't pretty. :p i think there were 492 kids. :eek: anyway, i would be very careful about not cruising around easter. we won't make that mistake twice. just my own opinion....lauri

[Jsipes]

During the period of "College Spring Break" HAL shoud dictate a 30 and older rule......unless accompanied by a parent. ANY Comments ??

 

Would it be really be wrong to discriminate against i-pod carrying, jean wearing, shaved head, overdrinking, loud-talking, rude, non-etiquette practicing young people as they unknowingly disrupt dinner in the Rotterdam or Vista Dining Rooms ????

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Does HAL get the spring break kids (age 2-30) like some of the other lines that I've heard horror stories about?

 

I really want to do a HAL to Mexico in March but sure don't want to be on any ship filled with tons of children and teens and drunk college kids. Is there any way to tell if a ship is full of kids?

 

I like kids so don't flame me.. I just don't want to be around too many of them on my expensive vacation. :cool:

 

Winnie<-----> ducking and running!:p

 

In the past, I've been able to contact HAL's ship services (1-800-541-1576) and ask them for a kid count on my cruises, which they have given me. You might try doing the same. However, in my experience they won't disclose this info unless you're already booked.

 

This year, Easter falls on March 23, but public schools in my area ( suburban Seattle) are taking off the first week in April for spring break. My daughter's parochial (Catholic) school is taking off the second week in April. So the numbers of kids on your cruise may be somewhat dispersed by the fact that not all schools or school districts are on spring vacation at the same time.

[LegalSailor]

Does HAL get the spring break kids (age 2-30) like some of the other lines that I've heard horror stories about?

 

I really want to do a HAL to Mexico in March but sure don't want to be on any ship filled with tons of children and teens and drunk college kids.

 

 

Winnie,

First let me thank you for not including me in the kids list anymore (31). Secondly, I did a cruise all through high school and college as my spring break, so I can tell you that there will be kids aboard. NOW: Just because there are some kids aboard the ship, don't think that they are the Cancun/Nassau/Miami Beach crowd - most are either younger with parents because they are out of school, or they were like me, old enough and more mature to handle a HAL cruise. Most of the kids that want the drunk cruises stick to the shorter Bahamas routes on a line like Carnival.

 

Personally, I think you should worry more about drunk adults than drunk college kids, IMO - they tend to be the rowdier ones on a ship anyways. The kids just get a bum rap for the most part, speaking from recent experience, college kids can hold their liquor just fine, and don't see drinking on a ship in mass quantities as a deviation from normal college life - just reinforcing the point that most of the drunks are the folks who "go crazy" on a cruise a drink without being used to the quantities.

Cheers,

[LegalSailor]

During the period of "College Spring Break" HAL shoud dictate a 30 and older rule......unless accompanied by a parent. ANY Comments ??

 

Would it be really be wrong to discriminate against i-pod carrying, jean wearing, shaved head, overdrinking, loud-talking, rude, non-etiquette practicing young people as they unknowingly disrupt dinner in the Rotterdam or Vista Dining Rooms ????

 

 

Yes- that would be absolutely discriminatory. Let me pose a "rhetorical":rolleyes: question to you: say you have a young man and his girlfriend who are both third year law students, "rhetorical, I remind you" who are both 25 - can they go on the cruise, or are they not mature enough to be there without mommy and daddy?

 

Let me pose a response to your second paragraph and change the target audience: Would it really be wrong to discriminate against record-listening, hearing-aid carrying, 5 sizes too small shorts wearing, long wavy 60's hair, overdrinking, loud-talking, rude, ignorant older people who aren't savvy enough to play a decent game of blackjack, who yell across the dining room table to their friends because they think everyone in the dining room wants to hear their conversation and disrupts dinner?

 

I don't think very many folks would be receptive of that idea of either. Frankly, I'm offended by the question - I've cruised HAL since I was 10, and without parents on 6 different occasions from 21-27 until I got married. I'd argue that a "hypothetical - wink wink, nudge nudge" law student is more responsible than many older adults. Are there going to be rowdy college students? Sure - but there will probably be just as many, if not more (as personal experience has shown) adults behaving rudely or drunkenly out of control.

Cheers,

[George W. Bush]

During the period of "College Spring Break" HAL shoud dictate a 30 and older rule......unless accompanied by a parent. ANY Comments ??

 

Would it be really be wrong to discriminate against i-pod carrying, jean wearing, shaved head, overdrinking, loud-talking, rude, non-etiquette practicing young people as they unknowingly disrupt dinner in the Rotterdam or Vista Dining Rooms ????

 

There isn't anything wrong with discriminating against rude people, but I don't think that rudeness is universal among those under 30 nor is it exclusive to that group. To be honest, the type of person who would ask a question like that is probably not the type of person I'd like to be on a cruise with.

 

I suppose HAL will just have to keep discriminating the way they currently do. Those with the means to pay for a stateroom get one.

[Two if by Sea]

Would it be really be wrong to discriminate against i-pod carrying, jean wearing, shaved head, overdrinking, loud-talking, rude, non-etiquette practicing young people as they unknowingly disrupt dinner in the Rotterdam or Vista Dining Rooms ????

 

Not at all. The key here is that the person you are trying to exclude must fit ALL the above criteria, and that the problems are "overdrinking" and "rude".

 

It would also be okay to discriminate against ANYONE who is overdrinking and/or rude.

 

For that matter, let's just stick to "rude". Some people overdrink and just get sleepy.

 

But as for i-pod wearing -- what's wrong with that? Nice quiet earphones Now if it were a boombox.... Or if they were driving....

 

Shaved head? Maybe they've just gone through chemotherapy and this is their first chance in four months to relax. And even if they shaved it just for fun, so what? It isn't loud or smelly.

 

Same with jean-wearing. How does it really bother you.

 

Loud-talking? I could do without that, but unless they're having trouble hearing, that is part and parcel of "rude".

[hammybee]

If the goal is to avoid the majority of children/teens/college kids, postpone the cruise till the second week in April or minimally avoid 7 day sails.

[hammybee]

I would love one thing from the parents who choose to travel with their DC, please respect the signs and keep them out of, and away from the aft pool. Just let us have one public space we can enjoy without kids!

 

It seems to me that when a cruise is sailing with hundreds of kids, the aft pool rule does not apply. There just is not sufficient room to contain them, in the Lido Pool area.

 

Given your profession, it hard to avoid cruising with a lot of kids. Those at the very begining of the summer break and/or week before labor day are

safer bets.