spring break cruising question

[UKLloyd]

Sorry, I have become both worried and fascinated with this topic.

 

We plan to cruise on March 14th 2015. Have had lots of posts about this being a really busy spring break time for cruising. How busy would it likely be on the 28th Feb 2015 in terms if families and spring breakers? I have no problems with either, but could possibly prefer the quieter cruise.

 

Thanks for any help.

[luv2cruise12124]

I think anytime from mid February through end of March is considered spring break.

[LrgPizza]

I think anytime from mid February through end of March is considered spring break.

Spring breaks here are in April. I think March through mid-April.

 

OP, I think you'd be hitting the early part of Spring break. Probably less busy than if you were right in the middle of it, but still a lot of spring breakers.

[Tralfie]

It also can depend on the ship. I was on Breakaway March 2-9, considered Spring Break (as evidenced by the lack of availability for the Ultimate Beverage Package). Honestly, I didn't notice the spring breakers. I tend to think that the kind who WOULD be noticeable might gravitate more toward Carnival, which has more of a "party" reputation than does NCL for the most part. The Spring Breakers I did encounter were very nice. They weren't running around causing trouble, being loud, getting drunk. Heck, I saw more "trouble" behavior among people far older than spring breakers! LOL

 

One thing to be aware of, if a plethora of children are an issue and you are sailing out of NYC, is when Canada's schools go on break. It turned out that the week we were at sea was Canada's week off school. We had a TON of French Canadian folks on board, and a whole lotta kids. For the most part, they weren't bothersome, but there were times when if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, an unsupervised herd could create a whole lotta havoc!

 

Richard/Tralfie

[rjm11]

Keep in mind too though that the ship has the same capacity regardless of week- it's not like they will pack MORE people on it during spring break. Of course, some "off season" weeks might sail at less than capacity, but I've heard that most ships sail most weeks at a minimum of 90%- (I think that came from that cruise inc. special a few years ago), and have incentives in place to make sure those cabins sell closer to sailing to ensure that.

 

What may be different is the make-up of the group- yes, during school holidays there will be more kids, and perhaps a "party" atmosphere- I think land trips are much more of a draw for college age spring breakers than cruises (cruises are expensive in comparison, and drinks are REALLY expensive in comparison- the college crowd I know slept with lots of kids piled into one hotel room, and bought alcohol instead of food).... The other thing about spring break is that it is really variable as to when the holiday is (compared to Christmas or Thanksgiving) for each school district- so it's pretty spread out, and a little more dilute as a result.

[bbryan5]

Just so you can get an idea, here's a list of schools and their 2014 spring break dates. I think you would have a more peaceful cruise in Feb, rather than March.

 

 

Spring Break 2014 Dates

Adelphi University March 15

Albright College March 15

Alfred State College March 15

Alfred University March 15

Allegheny College March 15

Amherst College March 15

Anne Arundel Community College March 15

Arizona State University March 8

Assumption College March 8

Auburn University March 8

Augustana College Feb 22 & March 1

Babson College March 15

Barnard College March 15

Baylor University March 8

Bentley University March 8

Berkeley College April 5

Berkeley College – Lower Manhattan Campus April 5

Berkeley College – Midtown Campus April 5

Binghamton University April 12

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania March 15

Boston College March 1

Boston University March 8

Bowdoin College March 8

Bowling Green State University March 8

Bradley University March 15

Brandeis University Feb 15

Bridgewater State University March 8

Brookdale Community College March 15

Brown University March 22

Bryant College March 8

Bryn Mawr College March 8

Bucknell University March 8

Buffalo State March 8

Butler University March 16

Cabrini College March 1

California University of Pennsylvania March 15

Canisius College March 15

Carl Sandburg College College March 8

Cernegie Mellon University March 8

Castleton State College April 5

Catholic University of America March 8

Cayuga Community College March 8

Cazenovia College March 8

Cedar Crest College March 1

Central Connecticut State University March 15

Champlain College March 1

Chestnut Hill College March 1

Clarion University of Pennsylvania March 15

Clark University March 8

Clarkson University March 8

Clemson University March 15

Coastal Carolina University March 8

Colby College March 22

Colgate University March 15

College of Charleston March 1

College of DuPage March 29

College of the Holy Cross March 1

College of New Jersey March 8

College of Notre Dame of Maryland March 8

College of William and Mary March 1

Colorado State University March 15

Columbia University-NY March 15

Connecticut College March 8

Cornell University March 22

Curry College March 8

Davidson College March 1

Dean College March 8

Delaware Valley College March 8

DePaul University March 22

DePauw University March 22

Dickinson College March 8

Drexel University March 15

Duke University March 8

Duquesne University March 1

Dutchess C.C. March 8

East Carolina University March 8

Eastern Connecticut State University March 15

Eastern Illinois University March 8

Eastern Kentucky University March 8

Edinboro University of PA March 15

Endicott College March 15

Emerson College March 1

Fairfield University March 22

Fitchburg State College March 8

Florida State University March 8

Fordham University – Rose Hill March 8

Framingham State University March 15

Franklin Pierce College March 15

George Mason University March 8

Georgia State University March 15

Georgia Southern University March 15

Georgia Institute of Technology March 15

Georgia State University March 15

Georgetown University March 8

Harvard University March 15

High Point University March 1

Hofstra University March 15

Illinois State University March 8

Indiana State University March 8

Indiana University Bloomington March 15

Indiana University of Pennsylvania March 15

Iona College March 15

Ithaca College March 8

James Madison University March 8

Johnson and Wales University March 1

Kansas State University March 15

Keen State College March 15

La Salle University March 1

Lafayette College March 15

Le Moyne College march 15

Lehigh University March 1

 

 

Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge April 12

Loyola University in Maryland March 1

Manhattan College March 15

Marist College March 15

Merrimack College March 15

Miami University-OH March 22

Michigan State University March 1

Missouri State University March 9

Missouri University of Science and Technology March 8

Mississippi State University March 8

New York University March 15

Northeastern University March 1

Northern Illinois University March 8

Ohio Northern University March 1

Ohio State University-Main Campus March 8

Ohio University March 1

Oklahoma State University March 15

Pennsylvania State Univ-Main Campus March 8

Plymouth State University March 15

Princeton University March 15

Purdue University-Main Campus March 15

Quinnipiac University March 8

Radford University March 8

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute March 8

Rhode Island College March 8

Rice University March 1

Roger Williams University March 8

Rowan University March 15

Rutgers University March 15

Sacred Heart University March 1

Saint Michael’s College College March 15

Salem State University-MA March 8

Salve Regina University March 8

Sam Houston State University March 8

Siena College March 8

Skidmore College March 8

Southern Connecticute State University March 15

St. Anselm College March 1

St. Josephs University March 8

Stonehill College March 8

Suffolk University March 8

SUNY at Albany March 15

SUNY at Binghamton April 12

SUNY at Buffalo March 15

SUNY College at Cortland March 8

SUNY College at Geneseo March 15

SUNY College at Oswego March 15

 

 

Syracuse University Main Campus March 8

Texas State University March 8

Towson University March 15

Trinity College March 15

Tufts University March 15

Tulane University of Louisianna March 1

United State Military Academy-West Point March 15

United States Naval Academy March 8

University of Akron-Main Campus March 22

University of Arkansas March 22

University of Central Florida March 1

University of Connecticut at Storrs March 15

University of Delaware March 29

University of Florida March 1

University of Hartford March 15

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign March 22

University of Iowa March 15

University of Louisville March 8

University of Maryland-College Park March 15

University of Massachusetts-Amherst March 15

University of Massachusetts Boston March 15

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth March 15

University of Massachusetts-Lowell March 15

University of Nebraska-Lincoln March 22

University of New Hampshire March 8

University of New Haven March 15

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill March 8

University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus March 8

University of Rhode Island March 8

University of South Carolina March 8

University of Tennessee March 15

University of Texas at Austin March 8

University of Vermont March 1

University of Virginia March 8

Vanderbilt University March 1

Villanova University March 1

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University March 8

Wentworth Institute of Technology March 8

Wheaton College March 8

West Virginia University March 8

Western Illinois University March 8

Western Michigan University March 1

Western New England University March 15

Westfield State University March 8

Worcester Polytechnic Institute March 8

Yale University March 8

[lisakoivu]

FWIW, Ontario Universities' spring breaks are 3rd or 4th week of February.

[blackwing]

I am just off Getaway yesterday, and I hardly noticed any college kids on Spring Break. However, there are hordes of teenagers and younger kids. It's Spring Break for them too and parents take them on cruises.

 

So to OP, if your concern is wild and crazy college kids getting drunk and hooking up in hallways, I'm not so sure you'd see a lot of that. But if your concern is just more people, massive amounts of little ones, and packs of roaming teens, I'd say you'll definitely see them.

[Prinycesa07]

I'd think February is a safer bet. Mid march is right in the middle of it all.

[Demonyte]

Keep in mind too though that the ship has the same capacity regardless of week- it's not like they will pack MORE people on it during spring break. Of course, some "off season" weeks might sail at less than capacity, but I've heard that most ships sail most weeks at a minimum of 90%- (I think that came from that cruise inc. special a few years ago), and have incentives in place to make sure those cabins sell closer to sailing to ensure that.

 

100% capacity means only double occupancy in every cabin (studios excluded of course) - even in those that sleep four or more. On high-season cruises they go over it, sometimes a lot because of the third and fourth persons in cabins - the lifeboat capacity is a lot more than the passenger count on double occupancy.

 

So on any cruise sailing with capacity less than 100% means that they have unsold cabins and/or solos in bigger cabins, 100% means that all available cabins have two people in them and after that the additional people in cabins raise the number even more.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Demonyte

[trish1c]

It is also going to depend on what line you are cruising. College kids are going to opt for the cheapest cruise with the casual atmosphere. They aren't going to flock in droves to high end ships / lines. The newer ships with the higher costs will have fewer college kids. All of the ships will have more kids as families vacation

Edited March 31, 2014 by trish1c

[dalgirl]

It seems that most universities are in March, elementary, middle and high schools March and April (April here in the Atlanta area). So you really choose your poison - college kids in March or real kids in March/April. We try to avoid them all now that our kids are grown and we have a choice. I guess when grand children eventually show up we will wade back in, but hopefully that will be a long time:D

[sebas030]

Keep in mind too though that the ship has the same capacity regardless of week- it's not like they will pack MORE people on it during spring break. Of course, some "off season" weeks might sail at less than capacity, but I've heard that most ships sail most weeks at a minimum of 90%- (I think that came from that cruise inc. special a few years ago), and have incentives in place to make sure those cabins sell closer to sailing ... .

 

 

The ship's capacity is based on double occupancy throughout the ship. During school break if many cabins are filled to their maximum capacity with parents and kids as 3rd or 4th passenger you will have more people on board.

 

Here in eastern Canada the majority of schools are out last week of February and the 2 first week of March.

 

Sailed from NYC during spring break "season" and we did not notice any difference from a "regular" sailing except the UBP was not available ;)

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[UKLloyd]

Thank you all so much for your help so far.

 

Ok, so we sre currently booked on the getaway March 14th.

I guess what we would look for is a quieter cruise in terms of younger children and spring breakers. Again, we don't mind either, but if moving our dates 2 weeks earlier gets us less of both, then we would probably opt for that. Looking at the dates above, Feb looks quieter.

[lisakoivu]

Thank you all so much for your help so far.

 

Ok, so we sre currently booked on the getaway March 14th.

I guess what we would look for is a quieter cruise in terms of younger children and spring breakers. Again, we don't mind either, but if moving our dates 2 weeks earlier gets us less of both, then we would probably opt for that. Looking at the dates above, Feb looks quieter.

 

That is absolutely the date of Ontario March Break next year. This year, we sailed Breakaway from NY during Ontario March Break and there were between 800 and 1000 kids from 0-17 onboard (this is not an opinion, this is based on what kids club director told me). Now, you might get fewer Ontarians in Florida than you would sailing from New York, just letting you know that week is scheduled.

 

It's really the difference between spring break kids, as in 0-17 and spring break college students as in 17 to 21. If you leave it where it is, you will have 0-17 which bother me much less than the 17 to 21 group. If you move it back into February, you are going to get lots of 17 to 21. I guess you have to "pick your poison", as it were.

 

We go every year on March Break, because we're teachers and so that's the date we can cruise. You'll have fun no matter what - especially if you book a balcony to hang out on. We had an aft and it was amazing.

[TrumpyNor]

My very first NCL cruise was a Caribbean cruise out of Miami mid March 2003, so that was just in the "high season" of American spring break. There was a small group of 6 college students that managed to make a lot of noise and disruption during the entire cruise all over the ship - being drunk, loud, and very rude to other passengers, to crew staff and even being rude to entertainers during shows in the theater. We still had a great cruise, but that first "spring break" experience was not a nice one.

 

Since then I have done a total of 15 NCL cruises, but I will never book a cruise in March/begin of April ever again....

 

But keep in mind - there were probably a lot more spring breakers on that cruise that never bothered anyone and just had a good time. The group that was rude was only a small group - and I guess it comes down to personalities and not that they were spring breakers.

 

I am certain you will have a great cruise anyway - the majority of spring breakers (in all age groups) are just like "everybody else" enjoying their cruise and behaving "normal". And if you need some "quiet time" there are plenty of spaces on board where you can avoid the crowds.