Spring Break Cruising

[mnchec]

Anyone cruised during spring break? Were there problems with nosey teens gone wild?

[Cruisin' Chick]

Let's put it this way: college kids and booze. Enuf said. (our experience: a Carnival ship Easter weekend -- the quiet day was day after Ensenada when the college kids were sick in their rooms. ;) ; and in Miami and Key West during spring break -- I don't think we'll make that mistake again).

[Girlsnightout]

travel over spring break, and have never had any problems with nosey teens (they mind their own business), or even noisey teens ;) , but then again, we bring our own teens, so the more the merrier.

 

Crusin chick, how can there be all those wild spring breakers? I thought all the lines had a minimum age restriction of 25 for anyone traveling (without parents)? I have never, ever seen wild partying onboard, but then again, I've never sailed Carnival either. Don't they also have that restriction?

[Catnip]

I made the mistake of going on an Easter cruise several years ago. Big mistake!! Never again........There were 800+ kids on board :eek:

It seemed like the majority of them lived down my hallway, because the running up and down the hallways yelling and banging on doors went on all 10 days................:mad: Parents seems oblivious.........

[lovemylife]

That would make my husband jump overboard, catnip, and we have kids!! What cruise line was it and did you complain??? I'm a bit nervous because we're on the NCL Spirit that leaves EASTER SUNDAY!!!! Aaaaack!!

[Catnip]

It was on RCCL's Brilliance of the Seas. And, oh boy, did I complain!! But, by the time I would call the Pursers Desk and they would send someone over, the kids would be long gone. I suggested them posting a person there for a few hours, but they didn't.

I even caught a few of the kids a few times and asked them to stop, but.......you can guess what their response was.

It's hard for me to imagine what these kids must be like at home. Do they act like this at home? EEK!!! :eek:

[Girlsnightout]

Why not call the cruiseline and ask how many kids will be on that sailing, that way, if it seems like too many for you, you can reschedule?

 

I don't think it will be that crowded because even though it's Easter week, it's 2 weeks after Easter that school vacation starts this year, April 16th. That is going to be the busy week with the highest number of older kids.

 

If it's a concern for you, you have the option of cruising when kids are in school. For us it's just the opposite, we like to cruise when the highest number of kids will be going, which is usually fairly easy since we just go during school breaks.

[TWA4Ever]

Crusin chick, how can there be all those wild spring breakers? I thought all the lines had a minimum age restriction of 25 for anyone traveling (without parents)?

 

From the Princess website:

 

"Passengers under the age of 18 years must be accompanied by a passenger over the age of 21."

 

It says nothing about a parent.

 

From the NCL website:

 

"A passenger under 21 years of age must be accompanied in the same or connecting stateroom by a passenger 21 years or older who expressly agrees to be responsible for the under 21 passenger throughout the cruise."

 

It says nothing about a parent.

 

From the Carnival website:

 

"Guests are required to be 21 years old (on embarkation day) to travel. Guests under the age of 21 must be accompanied in the same stateroom by a parent or guardian 25 or older."

 

Doesn't have to be a parent .. anyone 25 or older can be a "guardian."

[Catnip]

Well, like I said it was a huge mistake I will never make again. However, we plan our cruises 10 monhts in advance and I can't call the cruise line when I book my cruise and ask how many kids, becaise they won't know that far in advance.

I do not cruise in the summer for that very reason. And we always do 10-11 day cruises to cut down on the # of kids, but you (might) be surprised at the number of parents who yank their kids out of school during the school year for a family vacation.

[lovemylife]

thanks, I will call just out of curiosity. We're going then anyway because that's my spring break. Where do you live? Our break is always the week before or the week after Easter.

I would not mind a lot of well-behaved kids, but the kind catnip describes is the reason we always ask for a room on the top floor when we travel. I can't stand the sound of thump thump thump thump all night long!

 

My husband ,:eek: Mr Stress, needs r&r so I wouldn't want to deal with all that jazz she experienced...Sorry they never caught the little buggers.

[Girlsnightout]

I live in the Connecticut, I know April 16th is a big vacation week for NY, CT and Mass, and an awful lot of people from those states cruise. Last year, every child my kids met were from there...

 

I think you have me confused with Catnip, I never have encountered any problems with kids on our cruises, even though we've cruised at peak school vacation weeks.

 

Love, has your H cruised before? I only ask because, in my opinion, while I love cruises and think they're great for a fun family trip, I've never thought they were remotely relaxing. You're on a schedule, it's crowded, there are pool games, bands, crowded hottubs, lines for buffets, etc. If it's R&R he's looking for, he probably will only find it at a quiet resort or a very upscale cruiseship. Just something to prepare him for....and if thumping sounds bother you, do not get a cabin below the main pool/buffet deck. You'll wake up to the sound of chairs and such being dragged around by the staff in the am.

[lovemylife]

thanks, girl, I edited my other post. I knew you were two separate people, just sort of lumped my responses together.

 

Mr Stress has cruised before, we love a good time, but ill-behaved kids will make him jump ship. We will be at that nice resort you mentioned before and after our cruise so if the middle of our vacation is a little crazy that will be fine. If kids are going nuts you'll find us in areas they don't usually congregate, so I'm sure we'll be ok.

 

We booked a balcony cabin just so Mr S can be alone if he wants... but catnip's description of her cruise made me shudder...

 

We also are bringing my Mom so we can sneak off and be grown-ups if we choose. To me, it's the best of both worlds, having my kids with me, and getting time alone with hubby.

 

Luckily, I started reading these boards before I booked our cabin, someone had mentioned to stay away from theaters, discoes, and out from under the pools & decks. Thanks for the tip, though.

 

Interesting that your break is so late. Do you get some kind of a winter break in Feb.?

[Girlsnightout]

I love your name for your H, Mr. Stress, sounds just like my H, who won't cruise BTW, but that's okay, we just go with the kids and girlfriends (hence my moniker, cruising is our "girls night out").

 

We do have a winter break, it's Presidents week, Feb 20th, which also gets a load of kids on the cruises, we've sailed with over 800 kids, but I've never seen or heard any raucous behavior. Well, at least not from the kids anyway, the adults are another story...;)

 

Have fun, what ship are you sailing on?

[lovemylife]

We're on NCL Spirit, got a good deal on two cabins (thus Mom joining us) Mr S and I used to sail Majesty Cruise Line, which was bought by Royal Carrib. I think? Many moons ago we also went on a Carnival cruise with the entire Stress family... Let's just say too many type A's on one vacation!

 

We get the big one day this year for winter break, yee-ha.

 

Where will the girls and kiddies be going? Sounds like great fun, I'd love to do that one day!!!

[Cruisin' Chick]

<"From the Carnival website:"Guests are required to be 21 years old (on embarkation day) to travel. Guests under the age of 21 must be accompanied in the same stateroom by a parent or guardian 25 or older."

Doesn't have to be a parent .. anyone 25 or older can be a "guardian.">

 

Guess that explains that. Thanks. I knew those kids were college aged. And I saw plenty of pails of beer (yes, pails) scattered among them. I was more bothered by the smoking, especially as I was pregnant.

 

And I guess the Holiday Inn in Key West wasn't too concerned about age requirements. I'm also guessing that in many cases there, an older student booked the room and then shared with several others that the hotel didn't know about. Can't do that with a cruise.

[stevec999]

We have gone the past two years during spring break (Carnival- Miracle, Pride) and did not have any issues. Probably more kids than some other times but was not bad.

[lovemylife]

hey steve when you say spring break do you mean the weeks before and after Easter??

[Girlsnightout]

We're sailing on the Carnival Glory, care to join us? We go every year, and our group keeps growing...it seems the wives like cruising more than the husbands, so we have a great time and leave all the Mr. Stresses at home. I'll let you know about next years trip and maybe you can come!:D

[lovemylife]

Sounds like great fun!!! Keep me in the loop for 06!!:D

[ALIASapoFan]

My kids have school break the end of March, so we won't be traveling then. Well, we try to avoid "spring break" as much as possible. More for the rowdy, drinking age college kids we could come across. My college days are over, I don't need to be subjected to that behavior anymore if I can help it! LOL!

 

We generally like to travel the beginning of December (we are huge Disney World fans). We couldn't make it this past December, so we are going in two weeks to FL and on our first cruise. I don't like taking my dd (she is in 1st grade) out of school really, but it is the best solution for our family. It is harder for my dh to get summer time off, so we go in "off" months. Thankfully we found a week this vacation where we only are taking her out 4 days - which is still a lot, but we have spoken to the teacher already (before we booked even!). We will just bring her work with us.

 

We may encounter lots of kids since we are going the week before President's Week, but I am not worried. Hopefully we won't encounter kids like catnip did! Only ones like girlsnightout has!

[bostonlass]

I'm wondering if the rowdiness goes on during April vacation or if it's just during Spring Break? Here, Spring Break is when the colleges are out and that is normally in the month of March, whereas April vacation is the week of President's Day. That is only for kids up to the age of about 18.

[98Charlie]

If you try to plan a cruise that will avoid a spring break time you're going to be excluding several weeks of good cruising time and weather. With some colleges on semesters and others on trimesters, the spring break season can cover a wide span.

 

In the Columbus area where we live, about half of area school districts observe Ohio State University's spring break period, however, spring break seasons for the other half of the school districts varies.

 

Also, OSU's spring break is not at the same time as many other colleges in the area. so, if you're looking to avoid spring break season in Ohio you are looking at a period of time starting at the end of Feb. and lasting through late April.

 

Dianne

[creek42]

Never again! Our honeymoon cruise on Carnival Celebration may 1997 was perfect untill we got to new orleans and picked up the spring breakers! majority of the kids were ok, but the few that were bad were awful and mostly across the hall from us! carnival did do a good job by first saying something to them....which made things worse! they then sent security and posted them outside the door and finally took the one boy to lock down somewhere on the ship! was very quiet after that....I heard that they put him off at the next port which was Tampa!

 

as far as being kids! they were over 21 (still kids) and drinking on the ship were 17 and 18 yr olds, they were more controlled (didn't want to get caught). The crew is unable to control who drinks, only the ones who buy!

 

My own kids are this age and I have a lot of patience with this age group, but this was a disaster, and had I had small children with me it would have been worse, they weren't exactly good role models for them to see!

[lovemylife]

I've heard the college kids stay with the short, 3 day, weekend type cruises. Is this true? I know there's a large group of 17 & 18 year olds on a RC ship that leaves out of Miami on March 26 (my nephew is one of them) for the most part, this is a group of good kids, and many parents and some siblings will be along. I'd take kids on their senior trip with chaperones over unruly college kids any day.

 

As long as they behave, I have no problem cruising with a bunch of kids, since mine will be with me.:)

[lauren123]

I'm pretty sure, you'll find children/college kids all the time you cruise...why not try a cruise line for only adults (my parents did it)...Out march break in southern Ontario is the second week of March...is it the second week anywhere else??