Considering cruise March 2009--spring break! (sorry, long)

[basketkim88]

Hi all!

I have a good friend who pointed me towards this site, and I've been looking around. We're interested in booking a cruise for our family of 4 for spring break in March, which is the 3rd week in March. We have our daughter, who will be 19 and a college student then (she's leaving in 3 1/2 weeks :( ) and our son who will be 15 and in 8th grade. Are there cruise lines/ships that have better teen programs than others? Also, my son has high functioning autism--I'm not sure if that's a factor or not. We're thinking of doing the Carribean, but aren't hung into it, but we are on a fairly strict timetable, due to school schedules. My husband and I took a Carnival cruise for our honeymoon, but that was over 20 years ago, and something tells me things have changed a bit since then. We'll also want to book 2 separate rooms, they don't necessarily HAVE to be connecting for us. Any information, ideas you smart people can pass on would be wonderful! Thanks so much in advance!

[sross6019]

Have done one spring break cruise on RCI, the other 2 have been Christmas, and all the the Caribbean. There are more families and kids and more expensive. My boys were teenagers and loved the teen program. They got their own compass (list of next day ship activities) for their age group every night, so they could pick the ones to attend. Your daughter may be too old for the teen programs. We have always booked 2 cabins, either next door or cross the hall if possible. There is a phone in all cabins so we kept in touch that way and had desiginated times to meet for lunch, dinner shows, etc. We enjoyed the cruise and would do it again. Luckily the boys will be in college at the time of our next cruise and we can go at a different time. If you haven't already, you may want to post on the various cruise line section. Whatever you decide, have fun being with your family.

[silentbob007]

I've done both Royal Carribean and Carnival during spring break ... just a warning ... all ships will have lots of families and kids, but cruises of less than 7 days usually have a larger percentage of college students and ... errr ... could be a little more wild.

 

Both of these lines have well-liked children's programs.

[cb at sea]

Either of those lines will be a wonderful vacation! I'd choose by cabin types, price and (if important) destinations!

Since you have to be 21 to sail alone, I wouldn't worry about the "dorm style" parties that might occur. While everyone will be having fun, it shouldn't get out of hand on either line!

[arlodog]

We have sailed during spring break for the past 3 years and never had a problem. We have done both Carnival and RCCL; our kids (now 19 and almost 21) prefer RCCL over Carnival. Our first cruise was when they were 13 and 15. We now get rooms close, either across the hall or next to each other, but for our first 2 cruises we all shared an interior room to save on money! We like to say we have all bonded;) . Our son also has Asburgers (a form of autism) but it is mild. He does prefer to be off on his own, and doesn't tend to like crowds if given an option. He finds many things to do on the ship and when he needs down time he goes to the cabin and watches TV or reads. It has never been a problem for him with the amount of people on board, he also spends time working out in the gym a couple of times a day to use up excess energy. I don't know how your son's autism affects him, but you may want to look at doing excursions on your own rather than the crowded ones on the ship. Private guides are generally about the same price, even a little bit less and you can go at your own pace. Have a great time planning your cruise! Your family will have great memories!

[klct39lg]

We went on a spring break cruise last March and the ship had many, many college students. Don't get me wrong- I have nothing against people unwinding and having fun, but when it interferes with my sleep I get cranky. This particular batch of students partied until the wee hours (4am) and did not bother return to their cabins quietly.

 

I am not sure, but maybe higher category cabins would have fewer college students?

 

Neither of my teen sons joined the teen club, they played ping-pong, basketball, swam, lifted weights, and sunbathed on sea days. On port days, after returning to the ship, we'd all go our separate ways for a bit then meet up for dinner and shows.

 

I hope this is helpful.:)

[basketkim88]

Thanks so much Arlodog! I was especially gratified to find another "spectrum" parent who has cruised--we've always hesitated--especially after our son learned about the Titanic and was convinced ALL ships would sink. After explaining (many times) that there aren't too many icebergs in the Carribean, showing him on maps the differences in location, he had to look up water temperatures on some website he found...yadda yadda, he's decided to give it a try! Thanks for the suggestion on having private tours, I think that would be better for him, plus we have our "escape route" that we usually try to have with him. Thanks everyone else for all your suggestions!