will my cruise be full of spring breakers and kids?

[lilyhammer]

I just booked a cruise on the Ryndam for April 14-24th 2009. What are the chances that this will be full of spring breakers and kids? We cruised around this time last year and didn't encounter any, but Easter is April 12th this year and I didn't notice when I booked. This is a 10 day cruise and it goes from Tues to the following Friday, so I assume this would discourage people who can only take a week off. Am I right? Or should I switch to a later date?

 

Thanks!

[hammybee]

I think it will be unlikely to be full of spring breakers and kids, given it's after Easter, a a ten day sail and does not depart on a weekend date.

[lilyhammer]

Great, that's what I was hoping. This will be my first 10 day cruise, so we're really looking forward to the extra days. The 7 day cruise always goes by so fast.

 

Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hmmm-- we did a 10 day cruise on the Ryndam over Thanksgiving -- did not begin on the weekend -- and we were LOADED with children.

Cruising out of San Diego over a Holiday -- count on lots of children.

[lilyhammer]

Well that's kind of depressing. What kind of impact did all the kids have? Are we talking very young children? high schoolers? college age? I've always cruised during the off periods for the low rates and quiet.

[leoandhugh]

I agree that any cruise out of here at that time will have more than its share of children and young teeners. Parents think nothing of keeping their children out of school a couple of extra days. But depressing? Only if you let it make it so for you; they will not overwhelm you. But since you asked the ? it seems to be important to you, so I would rethink what you have scheduled:)

[lilyhammer]

Well, I've read so many horror stories about how bad holiday cruises can get, so forgive me for worrying about this issue. DH refuses to change our dates since this fits best in his schedule. We've decided to keep an open mind and hope we have well behaved passengers. If not, at least we won't be surprised.

 

Thanks to everybody for all the info!

[hammybee]

Well that's kind of depressing. What kind of impact did all the kids have? Are we talking very young children? high schoolers? college age? I've always cruised during the off periods for the low rates and quiet.

 

I am holding with my original opinion.

 

Spring break for colleges and almost all school districts, in the U.S. will not coincide with your cruise. Easter is very late in 2009. Heck, most colleges will end the semester within 2-3 weeks following your cruise.

[RuthC]

I agree with hammy. If Easter is two days before your cruise, then parents would have to take their kids out of school for an entire extra week after that one-week vacation.

Will some parents do that? Probably. But not so many to make this cruise seem like the local day-care center.

[kryos]

Great, that's what I was hoping. This will be my first 10 day cruise, so we're really looking forward to the extra days. The 7 day cruise always goes by so fast.

 

Thanks!

Even if the cruise does have a lot of kids, that doesn't mean it will be a bad cruise. We only hear about the cruises with unruly kids. There are many where the kids are no problem at all. We just don't read about them as often.

 

Even if your ship is packed with kids, chances are they will be no bother whatsoever to you.

 

You have to realize that any time you book a shorter length (two weeks or less) cruise, you're gonna have a fair amount of families onboard. If that cruise takes place during a time when it's a school vacation break, it's almost guaranteed you will have a lot of families.

 

Don't sweat it ... just get on the boat and enjoy!

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

I agree with hammy. If Easter is two days before your cruise, then parents would have to take their kids out of school for an entire extra week after that one-week vacation.

Will some parents do that? Probably. But not so many to make this cruise seem like the local day-care center.

We had one tween even on a 35-day cruise. Maybe he was being homeschooled, though.

 

From what I was told on the Statendam, teachers today encourage travel and will usually work with parents to set up a study plan for their kids if the parents want to pull them out of school for a family trip.

 

I still don't think it's a good idea, though. But then ... I'm not a parent so maybe I shouldn't be so quick to condemn the practice.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kenish]

I've taken my teen son on 2 cruises. One was on Carnival; kids were very unruly and out of control. Security just stood around dumbly and did nothing. My son found a group of nice kids who were flocking together because many others were, in his words, "bad news". We even saw one family get put off the ship. There were just as many kids on our HAL cruise to Alaska. Totally different experience; the only misbehaving I saw was minor.

 

Behavior of kids is set by parents, who choose ships that target their demographic. I truly and honestly feel sorry for those who broad-brush kids as "depressing"; kids' youth, energy, and enthusiasm must raise feelings of regret, resignation, and resentment for the "have nots".

 

By the way, schools in CA are on vacation either the week before or week after Easter. I've taken my son out of school several times to travel. Most teachers are very supportive and know he will learn a lot more traveling than in the classroom. If the planned absence is more than 3 days they will set up a home study program so the student doesn't fall behind.

[Stevesan]

I've taken my teen son on 2 cruises. One was on Carnival; kids were very unruly and out of control. Security just stood around dumbly and did nothing. My son found a group of nice kids who were flocking together because many others were, in his words, "bad news". We even saw one family get put off the ship. There were just as many kids on our HAL cruise to Alaska. Totally different experience; the only misbehaving I saw was minor.

 

Behavior of kids is set by parents, who choose ships that target their demographic. I truly and honestly feel sorry for those who broad-brush kids as "depressing"; kids' youth, energy, and enthusiasm must raise feelings of regret, resignation, and resentment for the "have nots".

 

By the way, schools in CA are on vacation either the week before or week after Easter. I've taken my son out of school several times to travel. Most teachers are very supportive and know he will learn a lot more traveling than in the classroom. If the planned absence is more than 3 days they will set up a home study program so the student doesn't fall behind.

 

Must have been a major felony!

 

I've taken three Spring Break cruises with lots of kids on Grand Princess.

They were well behaved and were there to have fun, not raise h***.

Princess has a very visible and proactive kids security staff. Also, most of the youngsters were from Texas and the surrounds so they were naturally well behaved.

[ellbelle]

You might have a few kids...I just looked on a discount cruise site for third and fourth passengers, they are offering a VERY low rate of 199.00 pp. This might make some families consider taking their kids out of school.

 

We did two HAL cruises this year with our then 12 year old. One 10 day (Panama Canal) during spring break and a 14 day (Alaska) cruise. Both had very few kids, even though it was Easter Break and Summer Break. Of what kids (tweens, and teens) there were, they were well behaved, and had absolutely no negative impact on our trip.

 

For the evening shows, some attended with their parents, a few went in groups, but were respectful went the lights went down. Also, no kids allowed in the Casino, Bars (at least we would not), and isn't the pool at the back of the ship considered adults only?

 

I hope if there are kids on your sailing, they are as well behaved as they were on our cruises! I wish we could so the same sailing, but we just can't take our daughter out of school that long. Enjoy your cruise, what a great itinerary!

 

Cheryl

[lilyhammer]

Thanks to everybody for their input. I've done a little more reading since yesterday and I'm not really worried about this issue anymore. I just had this moment yesterday when I realized this was a holiday weekend and thought "Oh &$%! what did I get us into?" Now that I've done a little more research, I don't think it'll be as bad as I immediately worried.

 

I was reading another review of the Ryndam that was complaining about the advanced average age of the passengers. Perhaps this cruise will have a good mix across all ages.

 

I'm sure that the passenger makeup is largely luck of the draw...I could also have a bunch of loud, complaining, griping, whiny passengers or drunk and unruly adult passengers. We've decided to not let other passengers ruin our cruise as we'll appreciate the fact that we are on vacation (i.e. not working, not cooking, not cleaning, etc.)

[navybankerteacher]

There is some truth to the notion that HAL caters to an older crowd. That being the case, the ship's company is much less tolerant of youthful bad behavior than they are on lines which cater to younger crowds. Carnival, Norwegian and RCL are more likely to have more young - and less inclination to maintain order. The few times I have seen young causing trouble on HAL ships, I have seen vigorous reaction. Have a great time -- a good age cross-section makes for a healthier environment for all -- I think you will find that parents/grandparents who bring young aboard HAL are not so likely to let them run wild.

[Mary Ellen]

That being the case, the ship's company is much less tolerant of youthful bad behavior than they are on lines which cater to younger crowds. Carnival, Norwegian and RCL are more likely to have more young - and less inclination to maintain order. The few times I have seen young causing trouble on HAL ships, I have seen vigorous reaction.

I wouldn't bet on this. Until our last cruise, I would have agreed with you. The children were well behaved and/or great parenting. Our last HAL cruise had two rather large family groups on board - with interesting parenting ideas/skills. HAL did absolutely nothing - even when children were running barefoot through the dining room during dinner. :eek: Our farce of a CD even made things worse, at the embarkation talk telling the 'little darlings' to run around and have a great time, after all they were on vacation. The only thing we noticed was a few days later the TV was constantly playing something about the 'rules' on board - such as 'no running', but nothing changed.

 

I wish the OP well, the odds are with you. However, it will all depend upon the luck of the draw - how good are the parents on board???

[coho ken]

lilyhammer....worry more about the Noro Virus than how many kids will be on board. I, along with my children, have seen many adults make fools of themselves on ships and at resorts I shake my head thinking about it. Enjoy your trip and don't forget the Lysol!

[ViolaSwamp]

We took our three children with us on our last cruise - they were 2, 8 & 14 at the time. Not to brag but they all behaved delightfully - we would accept nothing less from them. ;):p

 

It was a 5-night cruise out of Tampa on RCCL Grandeur of the Seas, and coincided with our area's February/March school vacation break. We expected to see many more children than we did. I must say that there were VERY FEW other children on board. Our oldest made friends with the handful of other teens, our middle didn't have any playmates his age, and we didn't see any other babies or toddlers on board AT ALL.

 

I guess the point of this post is to say that unless you book on a Disney ship, you can't ever be sure what to expect in terms of children on board.

[kyriecat]

Also, most of the youngsters were from Texas and the surrounds so they were naturally well behaved.

:confused: Have you been out in public lately? I've seen plenty of unruly children around Houston. I don't think being a Texan makes someone more or less likely to behave.

 

There is a good chance that cruises the week after Easter will have higher than normal amounts of children. I booked a cruise leaving on Good Friday thinking that there wouldn't be very many kids. I have since learned that many of the schools offering year-round schooling have a 2-week break following Easter since that is the end of their semester. I've already got my flights booked so it's too late to change now.

 

I've been a victim of the unruly kids on a cruise - knocking on the doors at all hours, blocking the stairs, moshing in the elevators, etc. so try to plan my cruises when I think kids are in school. It's a lot harder now with so many schools having non-standard schedules. I know not every cruise with kids is going to have hellions, but I'd rather try to avoid the big holidays just in case.

[Comptech]

FYI, our Spring break starts on March 20th, well before your cruise.

[newmexicoNita]

I just booked a cruise on the Ryndam for April 14-24th 2009. What are the chances that this will be full of spring breakers and kids? We cruised around this time last year and didn't encounter any, but Easter is April 12th this year and I didn't notice when I booked. This is a 10 day cruise and it goes from Tues to the following Friday, so I assume this would discourage people who can only take a week off. Am I right? Or should I switch to a later date?

 

Thanks!

 

10 day cruise, Tues after Easter and on HAL, I don't think I would worry about an over-abundance of kids. There will so some, all cruises have kids anymore, but certainly you will not be over run..Enjoy

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

I am holding with my original opinion.

 

Spring break for colleges and almost all school districts, in the U.S. will not coincide with your cruise. Easter is very late in 2009. Heck, most colleges will end the semester within 2-3 weeks following your cruise.

And I agree with you. Of course there will be a few, but certainly not like 7 day cruises or even 10 dayers from early March to Easter week. Sailing out of San Diego attracts lots of people from Calif, normally Ca kids get spring break before, not after Easter. Parents are not going to take kids, who have just been out of school a week on another trip that will keep them out almost 2 more weeks.

 

Nita

[scuba diver]

lilyhammer:

 

We will be on the cruise with you. If there are any children without direct adult supervision to maintain control of their behavior and/or college students on spring break we will help you throw them overboard.

[RuthC]

lilyhammer:

 

We will be on the cruise with you. If there are any children without direct adult supervision to maintain control of their behavior and/or college students on spring break we will help you throw them overboard.

Sorry. HAL has a "nothing overboard" rule. You have to:

a.) trip them up with your cane as they run past.

b.) do cannonballs on them when they're splashing in the pool.

c.) switch their Coke for whisky---they'll sleep the rest of the day.

d.) sorry, keeping this one to myself. ;)