Just off Independence of the Seas 3/10-16

[rrodriquez2]

Carnival Age Policy. Under age 21 you must have a parent or guardian over 25 in the cabin with you. Think about what that does, it basically takes any underclassperson out of the mix at age 25.

 

RCL. No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older. A guest's age is established upon the first date of sailing.

 

 

That right there is why RCL will become the spring break party cruise for any college student when coupled with the drink package.

 

I suspect this is a smart line and they'll address this pretty quickly because it will go from what it was this year which was tolerable for those not using the pool areas to varnishing their good brand name as more and more learn about the fun times.

 

Remember the new piece to the puzzle was the drink package.

[ryanc78]

http://inertiatours.com/spring_break_dates.php#0714

 

This should help everyone see when the big Spring Break weeks are. Happy they aren't going to be on our sailing Max's mom.

[rrodriquez2]

http://inertiatours.com/spring_break_dates.php#0714

 

This should help everyone see when the big Spring Break weeks are. Happy they aren't going to be on our sailing Max's mom.

 

I recognize three of the schools on the list for last week as being the main groups on our cruise.

 

Even in the kids pool it was difficult for parents to get their kids drinks. When the lines at the back bars grew they all came forward so getting a water for a kid would take 15 minutes of being cut off by college girls who were oddly much less respectful than the college guys to people with children from what we saw. Yes it got that bad that at times it was faster to get everyone dressed get in the elevators and go down to the promenade, grab the water and soda and run back up the elevators.

 

I DO NOT blame the bar staff. This was a nightmare for them. They did the best they could.

 

My advice to anyone cruising these weeks that would be bothered by this stuff is to either book a line with more restrictive age policies or do the early seating for dinner. Most of the time they were still up in the pools until later. If you're going to a show and normally got their 20 minutes early get their as soon as they open the doors because there was never once an available seat at anything after dinner and usually all the stair cases were lined with kids too making moving around to find seats almost impossible. The problem is if you do the later seating you had no shot of ever getting a seat for the shows.

 

On the plus side anything in ports was a snap as for the most part there were no lines waiting for the tenders at Cayman, and the security lines were short getting back on the ship. So there was at least one pro to all the cons. :)

 

It's a great ship and great crew. I wish we could have enjoyed it as we expected. RCL can fix the situation quickly with a simple age policy change during these weeks the question is do they want to or was this so profitable that'll outweigh the change.

[crisndeefromde]

what is even more amazing is 50+ a day times the length of the cruise for each person over 21 in the cabin. You can only get ONE drink at a time. I am not sure there is an underage drinking issue. Just sounds like a legal spring break drinking party and its like this on every line during these times.

 

Be interesting to see if others chime in on their experiences too.

[bigboffs]

We believe those who travel on cruise ships during periods when large numbers of schools are closed normally have a far different cruise experience than at other times. Seemingly unsupervised /undisciplined youths of all ages traveling in groups is a recipe for trouble.

As we have said on other threads, the failure of cruise lines (including RCCL) to consistently enforce their own rules often contributes to issues that passengers often complain of ( ie chair hogging, smoking in non smoking areas, running & or diving in pool areas, and alcohol sales).

[rrodriquez2]

what is even more amazing is 50+ a day times the length of the cruise for each person over 21 in the cabin. You can only get ONE drink at a time. I am not sure there is an underage drinking issue. Just sounds like a legal spring break drinking party and its like this on every line during these times.

 

Be interesting to see if others chime in on their experiences too.

 

It's not like this on every line. You weren't on the cruise, you didn't talk to them.

 

You can order a drink and walk to the next bar and order another drink, walk to the next bar and order another drink. If you're funneling and shotgunning beers you go through them quickly and there was no restriction on how fast you ordered them. Really there shouldn't be a restriction on it, I can drink quickly and not end up yelling "show me your ti*s" to a woman leaning over the railings and shouldn't be penalized because others can't handle it.

 

I did see bartenders turning down underage kids the first few days but when they have a line of 35 people do you really think they're keeping track of who was drinking the drinks once they walked away?

 

This is one hot tub on one day. They were all like this the majority of the time. At the same time the other two hot tubs were just as jammed. When you've got 50/60+ people in each one what that basically leaves is the two little hot tubs in the kids area for anyone with children with the rest having to squeeze into the two inside where you can't bring your kids under age 16. Notice there isn't a single older person in view. On the larger image there's a couple sitting aft of the skybar and one couple sitting to the left of center here. The funnel was just showing up at this point which cleared everyone else out.

 

Canadians have break last week. Southern US grade schools are off this week. I didn't book an expensive RCL cruise to have my kids hear "show me your ti*s" while trying to enjoy a drink with them pre-dinner. Do people really think that's acceptable at this level of cruise ship?

 

The Allure had none of these problems. We talked to several couples in Jamaica where they were docked just behind us. This year it was probably a few cruises but word of the drink package combined with the age deal will spread and so will the problems in future years, JMHO. I'm sure RCL is getting so REALLY negative feedback forms right now from people. I like to drink and have fun this was over the top. It never ended and there was never a time really the entire week that you could use the back hot-tubs. That's ridiculous no matter how you slice it. Would you bring your 10 or 12 year old to swim in the pools next to these hot tubs? Look at the photo, we didn't and neither did anyone else. The last day deck dance party there wasn't a single non-breaker there. All the parents with younger kids had given up.

 

 

 

 

[matj2000]

I don't understand what the big problem is?

Spring Break is the best time to be on a ship.

It is not all college kids, but families like myself with school age children.

There is alot to look at...

[rrodriquez2]

By the last day or two people had given up and it was just the three main groups of college kids in the back. Notice there's nobody in the pools it was like that most of the day. When the band played on the last day there were maybe 5-10 college kids dancing contrasted with the first night when there were all sorts of parents with their kids out there. That was the way it was most of the week and it's really unfortunate for those that were on this ship with kids too old for the kids zone but not old enough for the adult area.

 

 

 

 

[carolinamoonie]

I just got off this cruise too.

 

I had a great experience. While there definitely were a few groups of spring breakers, (four or five rooms of them were across the hall from us in interior cabins) there weren't hundreds of college kids. I'm going to say 50ish max. They definitely camped out in the hot tubs, but they mostly stayed out of the solarium, so that whole area was available and quiet. Also I'd rather have all the frat bros in one area so I know where NOT to go, rather than having them run rampant all over the ship. One night they were loud and got security called on them, but other than that we really didnt have any problems with them being across the hall. We tipped our room attendant a ton because we figured they wouldn't, and he was a gem.

 

The food was AMAZING. We did formal dining room every night for dinner, except for the one night we went to Chops (which was RIDICULOUSLY GOOD). Everything I had was fantastic. The portions were perfectly sized (not your normal huge american sizes) and left us very full but not to the point of a food coma. Our waiter was delightful. The waitstaff even sang for us two nights. It was great fun!!

 

Windjammer is packed at certain times of the day, but we never had a problem finding a table. We went to the front of the place to find seats, or just ate lunch at 1 or later to avoid the huge rush. Food was good, salad bar was stellar. Yum.

 

I highly suggest Yoga on the beach at Labadee if you're into yoga. It was such a wonderful way to start the day! :)

 

Cruise staff was great. Joff (cruise director) had us laughing so hard I cried. We went to the comedian and the "Love and Marriage" shows. Comedian was great, but even funnier the next morning when the Captain came over the loudspeaker to tell us about the pipe issue. Love and Marriage made me laugh so hard my cheeks and abs hurt.

 

Pipe issue was not a big deal at all. Middle of the night I noticed the water pressure was down, and then the Captain came over the loudspeaker at 8:45 to tell us that the problem had been fixed up to deck 5. Within the next hour/ hour and a half, water was completely fixed everywhere. Didn't interfere with anything but us taking showers.

 

We did get left by our bus driver after our Cayman Island turtle/ stingray tour, but I wasn't worried because of the Royal Carribean guarantee. I was mad at the driver, but that isn't RCI's fault. We ended up just packing into another bus that was taking back some other cruisers, and those that didnt fit got a ride with the people running the boat. It was all fine and dandy.

 

Overall, had an AMAZING time and didnt want to get off!!!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[rrodriquez2]

I don't understand what the big problem is?

 

Spring Break is the best time to be on a ship.

 

It is not all college kids, but families like myself with school age children.

 

There is alot to look at...

 

 

 

Have you taken an RCCL cruise during spring break on a ship with the drink package in place?

 

It's a vastly different experience. I've done both, this was like bourbon street during mardi gras at times.

[rrodriquez2]

I just got off this cruise too.

 

I had a great experience. While there definitely were a few groups of spring breakers, (four or five rooms of them were across the hall from us in interior cabins) there weren't hundreds of college kids. I'm going to say 50ish max. They definitely camped out in the hot tubs, but they mostly stayed out of the solarium, so that whole area was available and quiet. Also I'd rather have all the frat bros in one area so I know where NOT to go, rather than having them run rampant all over the ship. One night they were loud and got security called on them, but other than that we really didnt have any problems with them being across the hall. We tipped our room attendant a ton because we figured they wouldn't, and he was a gem.

 

The food was AMAZING. We did formal dining room every night for dinner, except for the one night we went to Chops (which was RIDICULOUSLY GOOD). Everything I had was fantastic. The portions were perfectly sized (not your normal huge american sizes) and left us very full but not to the point of a food coma. Our waiter was delightful. The waitstaff even sang for us two nights. It was great fun!!

 

Windjammer is packed at certain times of the day, but we never had a problem finding a table. We went to the front of the place to find seats, or just ate lunch at 1 or later to avoid the huge rush. Food was good, salad bar was stellar. Yum.

 

I highly suggest Yoga on the beach at Labadee if you're into yoga. It was such a wonderful way to start the day! :)

 

Cruise staff was great. Joff (cruise director) had us laughing so hard I cried. We went to the comedian and the "Love and Marriage" shows. Comedian was great, but even funnier the next morning when the Captain came over the loudspeaker to tell us about the pipe issue. Love and Marriage made me laugh so hard my cheeks and abs hurt.

 

Pipe issue was not a big deal at all. Middle of the night I noticed the water pressure was down, and then the Captain came over the loudspeaker at 8:45 to tell us that the problem had been fixed up to deck 5. Within the next hour/ hour and a half, water was completely fixed everywhere. Didn't interfere with anything but us taking showers.

 

We did get left by our bus driver after our Cayman Island turtle/ stingray tour, but I wasn't worried because of the Royal Carribean guarantee. I was mad at the driver, but that isn't RCI's fault. We ended up just packing into another bus that was taking back some other cruisers, and those that didnt fit got a ride with the people running the boat. It was all fine and dandy.

 

Overall, had an AMAZING time and didnt want to get off!!!

 

There's more than 50 in that one hot tub, there's probably 150 in the three in that single photo at that one point in time. It sounds like you spent more of your time in the adult only section where anyone with younger kids couldn't go.

 

We never heard a peep out of the kids at night but we were in a suite. I wouldn't have concluded based on this that they were quiet at night and caused no problems.

 

the funniest guy in the marriage show was the older guy on the far right side with his wife, and the younger couple that mentioned he'd fooled around on his father in laws boat. That was Joff goading him into telling the truth.

 

Labadee was great. We spent time both in the "gold" section of beach and the regular section with another couple we met. We couldn't really tell the difference other than there being no rocks on the premium beach. There were really only a few at the regular beach and they were far out.

 

Overall it was a good experience but barring RCCL changing policies I'll take my chances with another line with more stringent policies (or no drinking package) during next March. We enjoy the pool and deck area too much to go through that again. The 'show me your t8ts" chants were enough to make me conclude we made the right choice in keeping our kids out of there.

 

Also it was told many time that a fairly large group got booted off at one of the islands. I wonder what they did?

[PegB87]

I, too, was on this sailing & my experience was much like Carolinamoonie's.

 

While there were lots of Spring-Breakers, and many times the main pool area looked like the photos above, I didn't find them to be that much of a nuisance! In fact, I was far more bothered by the little kids hanging out in the bars at midnight, RUNNING down the promenade, or climbing on pillars while their parents either ignored them or were nowhere in sight!

Maybe the reason there was almost no one on deck with the band on the last sea day had less to do with the Spring-Breakers and more to do with the 40mph winds!:eek:

 

My room attendant, Delroy, and MDR waiter Melbon (& crew) were terrific.

The CD Joff Eaton was out-of-this-world AMAZING! He was hysterical (IMO WAY funnier than the comedian) and never failed to be very personable when passing him anywhere on the ship.

 

I did have issues with the bars, both staff and stock! Bars were understaffed, service was slow, most bartenders/servers seemed to have an attitude (esp if you had the drink pkg), and they frequently got orders wrong (regular margarita when pineapple-orange was ordered, strawberry lava flow instead of mango, etc) Also, they were out of things A LOT--'Sorry, no Capt Morgan at this bar. No, we don't have Mic Ultra'. IDK if it was because of Spring Break, the drink pkg, or a ship issue. It was annoying, but certainly not enough to ruin the cruise!

Guest relations weren't very helpful with a couple of issues I had, but maintenence staff was super speedy when my shower head sprung a leak!

 

The food was pretty good, and definitely plentiful! The ship is BEAUTIFUL, well maintained, and kept very clean.

I had a blast in the ports & on the excursions!

All in all it was a fantastic cruise! I'm sad that it's over & I have to go back to the reality of work tomorrow!:(

[wolfcathorse]

Yes.....Captain Remo just got on board yesterday. He is one of the best!

 

Tink78.....Please don't worry! Your Med cruise will be nothing like that!

 

I hope the crew learned something from this past week and will get things under control! We'll be on the next 8 night sailing.....maybe the Spring Breakers won't be able to do 8 nights! :rolleyes:

 

 

ty all for confirming my thread for me

[rrodriquez2]

I, too, was on this sailing & my experience was much like Carolinamoonie's.

 

While there were lots of Spring-Breakers, and many times the main pool area looked like the photos above, I didn't find them to be that much of a nuisance! In fact, I was far more bothered by the little kids hanging out in the bars at midnight, RUNNING down the promenade, or climbing on pillars while their parents either ignored them or were nowhere in sight!

Maybe the reason there was almost no one on deck with the band on the last sea day had less to do with the Spring-Breakers and more to do with the 40mph winds!:eek:

 

My room attendant, Delroy, and MDR waiter Melbon (& crew) were terrific.

The CD Joff Eaton was out-of-this-world AMAZING! He was hysterical (IMO WAY funnier than the comedian) and never failed to be very personable when passing him anywhere on the ship.

 

I did have issues with the bars, both staff and stock! Bars were understaffed, service was slow, most bartenders/servers seemed to have an attitude (esp if you had the drink pkg), and they frequently got orders wrong (regular margarita when pineapple-orange was ordered, strawberry lava flow instead of mango, etc) Also, they were out of things A LOT--'Sorry, no Capt Morgan at this bar. No, we don't have Mic Ultra'. IDK if it was because of Spring Break, the drink pkg, or a ship issue. It was annoying, but certainly not enough to ruin the cruise!

Guest relations weren't very helpful with a couple of issues I had, but maintenence staff was super speedy when my shower head sprung a leak!

 

The food was pretty good, and definitely plentiful! The ship is BEAUTIFUL, well maintained, and kept very clean.

I had a blast in the ports & on the excursions!

All in all it was a fantastic cruise! I'm sad that it's over & I have to go back to the reality of work tomorrow!:(

 

I talked to one couple from BC, midnight ship time was 9pm their time which explained why they were in the lounge with the kids.

 

The drink issue happened everywhere on the ship and we were told it was the spring breakers. Captain Morgan seemed to be short everywhere as was JD.

 

the only real problem we had is that one bartender would tell us a $9 drink wasn't covered yet a glass of $20 whisky was...they don't seem to have the kinks worked out in the packages. The bartenders are also taking a hit. Best case they get 15% of every drink but as soon as someone goes over the $55 their tips are on a decreasing scale from what they said. If a person drinks $100 a day they're still only getting tips based off the $55 hence the attitude. I think for them the drink package means more work and not really more pay.

 

The photo of the 3 hot tubs wasn't the last day.

[Iamthesea]

All I have to say about that first hot tub photo is OH MY STARS!!! :eek: Yes indeed...at least 50 in that hot tub photo.

 

What a difference a week makes! We were on the week before and it was definately an older crowd.

 

I sure hope so! We have friends on the ship right now. They came from Germany and spent last week with us before going to FLL for the cruise. I warned them about Spring Breakers before they left.:rolleyes:

 

I'm onboard right now, and we have Captain Arnolf Remø. (I assume that the Ø in his last name that was shown on the officers' information sheet wasn't a typo.)

 

So how is the crowd this week? I sure hope our friends are not running into this. They have an almost 3 year old who was so looking forward to the kids area.

[rrodriquez2]

All I have to say about that first hot tub photo is OH MY STARS!!! :eek: Yes indeed...at least 50 in that hot tub photo.

 

 

 

I sure hope so! We have friends on the ship right now. They came from Germany and spent last week with us before going to FLL for the cruise. I warned them about Spring Breakers before they left.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

So how is the crowd this week? I sure hope our friends are not running into this. They have an almost 3 year old who was so looking forward to the kids area.

 

It was generally around 60-65 in each tub. One couple noted nobody ever left so maybe it's a good thing they shut them down and sterilized them after the kids left. :eek:

 

If your friends aren't pool people they'll be fine. The 3 year old will be fine in the kids pool. If you end up with an unfortunate group like us over the first few days you'll find adults getting pushed into the kids area. As a result the kids get crowded out of their own hot tubs. By the last day or two we noted many middle aged (50+) with no kids in the kids area and I cannot blame them. If you wanted to be outdoors in the sun the only hot tubs available were the kiddie ones. That then gave the kids less room and made the last day kind of miserable as it was windy.

 

This last cruise was specifically booked by 3 large groups from three prominent schools. Don't get me wrong these were good kids. But at the same time it turned an expensive cruise into Panama City in the 80s and 90s IF the pool/hot tubs are a big thing for your particular family.

 

For those that keep saying "it didn't bother us" like I said we never had a single whisper of noise during the night but the suites priced them out of that area. We know there were issues down in the inside staterooms. Me telling people in that area that had to call security to spend an extra $500 a night to avoid it is about as useful as people saying they weren't bothered by the pool issues because they were in the adults only section or down gambling.

 

If you're from an area with a cold climate looking to enjoy the pool decks this was a serious impingement on that going far beyond some normal and expected rowdy behavior. There was simply no room in that entire middle section for anyone other than them. In speaking with and overhearing the college kids they were on this cruise specifically because of the room age policy and drinking package. RCCL is probably already figuring out something was amiss in calculating how much booze was consumed by "pass" holders exceeding what is humanely possible. This is the only week many from Canada and elsewhere can take, if they're unable to adjust or mitigate what was going on then we will be like many others and end up going with another line that does work to restrict the behavior. This is going to spread if they don't and they will become the party cruise line for these weeks.

 

Your friends will have a great time. The kids programs were second to none. Best we've experienced on multiple cruises.

[Iamthesea]

Our friends are staying in an inside stateroom, so they could potentially be in the midst of Spring Breakers if they are on the ship this trip. ;)

[micmacmissy]

I don't understand what the big problem is?

Spring Break is the best time to be on a ship.

There is alot to look at...

 

Eww. Gross. How would you like some creepy middle-aged man ogling your 19-year old daughter on a cruise ship?

[rrodriquez2]

Our friends are staying in an inside stateroom, so they could potentially be in the midst of Spring Breakers if they are on the ship this trip. ;)

 

Let's hope that my cruise was the one that most of them ended up on, this current cruise is longer, I doubt they'll run into the same problems.

 

Eww. Gross. How would you like some creepy middle-aged man ogling your 19-year old daughter on a cruise ship?

 

Good point!

[kruzerci]

We did two spring break cruises when our kids were in high school and the atmosphere was actually more fun than usual. I like to see young people having fun, we were still in college 20 years ago. It makes for an upbeat and funny atmosphere.

 

It isn't just on cruise ships, we were in Orange Beach last weekend during SEC spring break and it was literally like Animal House on the beach. We stayed away from the congested areas since we wanted to relax.

 

You know what you're getting into going on any type of warm vacation this time of year. If you hate it, avoid it next time! It sounds like the other people on your sailing were relatively unbothered.

[devvt]

Several others (myself included) who were also on this cruise have pointed out that the college kids were not that huge an issue. As someone else said, younger kids (and there were plenty of them as well) come with their own annoyances. The middle and high schoolers travel (actually, run, mostly) in noisy packs, and the elementary school set likes to push all the buttons on all the elevators. As far as children not being able to use hot tubs, aren't there some safety concerns about children and the water temp and force of the jets (not to mention the "human soup" aspect of hot tubs)?

[didicruiser]

I was also on this cruise. The hot tub picture was from the first sea day. Yes, it was noisy so I sat on the 12th level and looked down and enjoyed their fun. The remainder of the days by the pool were much more controlled. This, of course, may be because a large group of students were kicked off in Grand Cayman for throwing a deck chair overboard. When I did run across some of the college kids in the hall, they were very respectful. Would I do another spring break cruise again, yes. Would I intentionally book this cruise, no. I had a great time!! Ship is is wonderful condition, food great and service was fabulous.

[rrodriquez2]

I was also on this cruise. The hot tub picture was from the first sea day. Yes, it was noisy so I sat on the 12th level and looked down and enjoyed their fun. The remainder of the days by the pool were much more controlled. This, of course, may be because a large group of students were kicked off in Grand Cayman for throwing a deck chair overboard. When I did run across some of the college kids in the hall, they were very respectful. Would I do another spring break cruise again, yes. Would I intentionally book this cruise, no. I had a great time!! Ship is is wonderful condition, food great and service was fabulous.

 

No, those pictures were NOT from the first sea day. One was the middle of the trip the other the evening after Labadee. The kids are wearing shirts because their backs were smoked from the sun. The only day that was reasonable in that area was the first day Sunday because many were not yet on the ship.

 

They got thrown off the boat after getting caught throwing a deck chair overboard. That was after a lengthy period of much more dangerous behavior, they finally just got caught and RCCL had no choice. I'd suggest there were many things floating behind the ship up to that point.

 

The funnel picture(s) will be from the last day. That was the show me your ti*s day on deck. So aside of the days they had to throw people off the ship for tossing stuff overboard and the days with the funnels, chugging and asking women on the pool deck to show them their ti*s it was really just a normal RCCL cruise?

 

I think most people reading this do not believe allowing it to get to the point that things are being tossed overboard as no big deal. Not for RCCL. That's Carnival-ish circa their party boat days. Everyone expected some ruckus, add in the all you can drink deals and it went to a whole new level.

 

I've done spring break vacations both as a kid and as an adult. I've done cruises during these very same weeks. This was the worst I'd seen.

 

Think about this, this is a top of the line RCCL cruise where groups of people were detained or thrown off for bad behavior. Everyone that keeps saying it wasn't a big deal goes on to explain how it altered their behavior in either having to move or not participate in an activity. Again we live in a cold climate and went to enjoy the pool deck not sit there watching kids enjoy it while we huddled in a corner away from the chaos.

 

What that group got tossed off the boat for....had been going on for some time unchecked.

 

This was an expensive cruise. It drew a crowd of mainly good kids when not drunk. As they extend the all inclusive packages throughout the line they better take a closer look at what went on this week because it will become girls gone wild on the seas. Just my opinion as someone who actually spent just about every moment of time not on land or in the dining room on the pool decks watching this.

 

If you read the reports in totality what you are hearing is the bar service suffered with many bars out of things. Certain beers, rum, etc. Others (us) that spent huge amounts of time on a cruise vacation in the pool area reported lots of borderline behavior, others that say things aren't that bad note kids were thrown off the boat for throwing chairs off the deck. They didn't just decide after a beer to start chucking parts of the boat overboard. That built up unchecked for hours scaring off other patrons. Above average alcohol consumption = low stock at bars = problems in the pool area and people getting disembarked days early.

 

I'd argue the behavior on the last day was the worst, Sunday the best.

 

They were there because of the inclusive package and the way they could shift people around in the rooms to maximize package usage. One of the schools I believe had almost 4 dozen rooms blocked off alone. They didn't choose other lines because of the age restrictions. That's what they told us anyway and it makes sense.

 

If you don't use the pool or don't go to the bars you wouldn't have been bothered much at all. They were mainly good kids and their behavior inside the ship was pretty good overall. Then again we never heard them at night and others have reported security being called.

 

This was a very enjoyable cruise and the ports were great. But RCCL needs to recognize they may be setting themselves up for a rush in 2014 of spring breakers as word gets out particularly on the 6 night and under trips.

[rrodriquez2]

We did two spring break cruises when our kids were in high school and the atmosphere was actually more fun than usual. I like to see young people having fun, we were still in college 20 years ago. It makes for an upbeat and funny atmosphere.

 

It isn't just on cruise ships, we were in Orange Beach last weekend during SEC spring break and it was literally like Animal House on the beach. We stayed away from the congested areas since we wanted to relax.

 

You know what you're getting into going on any type of warm vacation this time of year. If you hate it, avoid it next time! It sounds like the other people on your sailing were relatively unbothered.

 

Again you've never been on a cruise with the all inclusive spring break drinking. Two entirely different things, new this year. It took what you found as tolerable and what we expected to a new level. I didn't expect a large group to be removed from the ship for dangerous behavior or to hear chanting from the mixed pool area day after day until they'd tired themselves out.

 

Based on what I saw if I was a 19-22 year old college student i'd be booking my spring break on RCCL next year. Great place to go with almost no rules (aside of tossing stuff overboard), easy to pass drinks to underage friends, drink packages and the safety of being on a ship. The only restriction that appeared to be in place was that 50% of the party block had to be over 21. This is based on the web pages advertising this cruise as a spring break party cruise for the various universities we saw. I just found this now looking.

 

Might be useful in the future for there to be a thread listing this stuff so people can avoid the cruises being targeted by the spring breakers. I never looked because I never expected the 3rd newest RCCL ship to be the party ship based on price.

 

I'd have expected this if I did a 4 day Bahamas booze cruise. There were a few being sold as such for the spring breakers. I didn't expect it on this cruise.

 

It looks like the going rate was about $882 for a balcony with 4 people in it. It was put together by various agencies for the various schools. I heard they totally sold out each of their package blocks which means it'll continue to grow, JMHO.

 

BTW to the person worried about kids in the hot tub they're fine. The #1 danger is drowning. That's why hot tubs have capacities. The stated capacity for the ones with 60+ people in them was I think 20 or 21. I'd be much more concerned about the dangers in that than a kid in water with his parents.