Never again!!

[goldgirl2]

I will never again go on a cruise near Easter aka spring break. We went the week before Easter. I have never seen a ship so crowded! On our first day by 10:00am every single lounge chair was taken on every deck all the way around. The pool was filled with 6-10 year olds jumping in on top of each other, no parent in sight. I did notice 4 different kids with a fresh cast on their arm by day three. I don't mind kids. I knew there would be kids. I just expected the kids to bring their parents. I had two teens with me. There was a small percentage of teens on this sailing. No trouble with the teens. One evening around midnight there was a gathering of @ dozen kids sitting on the stairway that looked to be 8-10 years old. No parents! I guess mom and dad are at the club. After all..... it is their vacation.

 

 

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[KirkNC]

Aye we always avoid the holidays.

[Ladysilver]

Aye we always avoid the holidays.

 

 

You couldn't PAY ME to cruise during spring break! :p

[voyager70]

You couldn't PAY ME to cruise during spring break! :p

 

Same here!

[Adayatatime]

I will never again go on a cruise near Easter aka spring break. We went the week before Easter. I have never seen a ship so crowded! On our first day by 10:00am every single lounge chair was taken on every deck all the way around. The pool was filled with 6-10 year olds jumping in on top of each other, no parent in sight. I did notice 4 different kids with a fresh cast on their arm by day three. I don't mind kids. I knew there would be kids. I just expected the kids to bring their parents. I had two teens with me. There was a small percentage of teens on this sailing. No trouble with the teens. One evening around midnight there was a gathering of @ dozen kids sitting on the stairway that looked to be 8-10 years old. No parents! I guess mom and dad are at the club. After all..... it is their vacation.

 

 

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Yep, school hols. Although we go in August (with teen) and I've never seen a real problem, although i tend to stay away from the littlies as I like peace and quiet. One advantage of having teens! Remember kids scream and shout as part of their enjoyment and excitement, they're not always being naughty.

[leaveitallbehind]

Most RCI ships sail full with each itinerary during the year. What is different about the spring break time frame is the passenger mix, with typically more families with children and - particularly on shorter itineraries - a lot of college students.

[njmomof2]

I've sailed during spring break over the last several years both with my kids and without and I have to say that I didn't notice more incidents of unruly behavior vs. our sailings the last week of August.

 

I think the one time I noticed it was during spring break 2013. Mom and I sailed Explorer, it was not a nice weather week, and all of the teens were stuck inside (they closed some outside decks due to wind). They just seemed to be sitting around doing nothing, and I overheard some conversations that frankly I'd never want to hear coming out of my 16 yo's mouth. I chalked it up to boredom but other than that, I have not had issues.

 

Because we always sail with the kids and we need to go during school breaks, I've learned to deal with it. One day I'll be able to go off season and that will be interesting.

[matj2000]

We have been on 6 Spring break cruises in a row.

Because we have school age kids, it is one of the only times for us to go.

The ship is usually full, but that is ok, it is never a problem.

A lot less crabby people older people....

Edited May 23, 2014 by matj2000

[cw2go]

Did a spring break cruise...once...NEVER again!

 

Lesson learned,

Patty

[bouhunter]

We have been on 6 Spring break cruises in a row.

 

Because we have school age kids, it is one of the only times for us to go.

 

The ship is usually full, but that is ok, it is never a problem.

 

A lot less crabby people older people....

 

 

 

 

Funny! We've gone over spring break the past two years out of San Juan and didn't notice anything different from our previous January/February cruises. Scheduled for next spring break and looking forward to it:)

 

Best reason to avoid spring break in our opinion has nothing to do with kids, it's because the prices are cheaper.....

Edited May 23, 2014 by bouhunter

[Lionesss]

We have looked at doing a spring break cruise but the price of the cruise and airfare keeps us away.

 

Yea summer not much cheaper but over-all seem to do better.

 

Sea Ya

[goldgirl2]

We have sailed in January and February before this spring break cruise. Not nearly as crowded on those cruises. It wasn't so much the crowd that got to me but the complete and total lack of any parenting going on with children 10 and under. There was just no supervision.

 

 

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Edited May 23, 2014 by goldgirl2

[bigboffs]

We also now avoid sailing when children are out of school. It is not the crowds but as others have said, its what appears total lack of supervision by many parents. The children often roam in groups enjoying themselves while doing mischief(some examples being elevator tag, removing/switching room service and/or do not disturb tags, and games in the pools). We here must note that RCCL must bear some responsibility since we perceive that seldom are their own rules enforced about such behavior.

[Susie51]

I've been on several March cruises which seems to be Spring Break for a lot of college students. Very high energy all over the ship. They tend to take over the whirlpools, but they always made room for me. I'm going in March again in 2015, so I'm expecting the same college age group. DD29 will have a hard getting to try out the flow rider.

[MandyMooToo]

We also now avoid sailing when children are out of school. It is not the crowds but as others have said, its what appears total lack of supervision by many parents. The children often roam in groups enjoying themselves while doing mischief(some examples being elevator tag, removing/switching room service and/or do not disturb tags, and games in the pools). We here must note that RCCL must bear some responsibility since we perceive that seldom are their own rules enforced about such behavior.

 

And this is really the problem ^^^

I read so many posts about the wretched children on ships and to be fair I do not want to cruise with a ship full of young ones either, and I have two children (teens) of my own, but typically it isn't the children that are so bad. It is usually the parents who let little Johnny and little Sally run rampant without any supervision. The kids are super excited and they get wild/rambunctious/etc. which is to be expected but a lot of parents feel like they are on vacation so.....:eek: My teens are very well behaved when they are right beside me and I hope they are the same when they are doing their own thing with friends but let's be honest, if you aren't checking in with them, supervising them and raising them to expect your wrath if they behave badly then they'll do as they please (and heck, sometimes they'll do it anyway). It's just in their nature :D So I will say that I would like to avoid sailing when ships are full of unresponsive parents! Shew, I feel better now.

Edited May 23, 2014 by MandyMooToo

[Tatka]

Last March we sailed on MSC Poesia. Caribbean Princess that was docked next to us had 700(!!!) children, which is way too many for Princess, other ships too. We had... I think under 200 as half of MSC crowd was from Europe, and flying big families is expensive. :)

[tipsy]

We have been on 6 Spring break cruises in a row.

Because we have school age kids, it is one of the only times for us to go.

The ship is usually full, but that is ok, it is never a problem.

A lot less crabby people older people....

 

Someday you will be that "crabby people older people" so be careful what you say.

[jndsilver31]

That is way DW and I cruise in September or October

[pcur]

We went on a b2b on the Radiance in March/April, and the second cruise turned out to be a school break in Australia/New Zealand. It was to New Caledonia, was reasonably priced, so there were 400 kids on the ship.

 

This is our second school break cruise in two years, and we didn't have that much trouble. We avoid the pool deck and eat our meals late. The kids eat early and are at the pool deck.

 

Our biggest problem was in the WindJammer. These children were allowed to RUN all over the WJ, even with their parents present. I couldn't figure out why the parents wouldn't at least make them walk inside a restaurant. I almost squashed a few like big bugs when they ran in front of me while I was carrying a plate of food or drinks. If it had happened, or if I had dropped food/drink all over one of them, I swear I wouldn't have felt bad about it (as long as it wasn't hot food).

 

I don't blame kids who behave badly: I blame their parents.

[Zoey]

Yikes!! 10 year olds unsupervised at midnight? On a ship of 6,000 passengers, it would be no different than a parent allowing their 8 or 10 year old to roam around a small town on their own at midnight!! Those parents must not read or watch the news (or ID Discovery :eek:) and are unaware some of the harm that can come to children, from other people or just careless injuries....even in a town with only 6,000 residents.

[Rala]

We have been on 6 Spring break cruises in a row.

Because we have school age kids, it is one of the only times for us to go.

The ship is usually full, but that is ok, it is never a problem.

A lot less crabby people older people....

 

We prefer to cruise at times other than spring break not because the kids bother us, but because there are a lot less snarky younger people on board.:rolleyes:

[Harooni]

i got lucky since my kid is in a private school , there were 70 kids compared to 750 the cruise before mine this april. id much rather cruise with the older folks, i truly had a relaxing time. I dont think i would have had a good time with kids running around screaming jumping in and out of hot tubs and pools ect. i discipline my kid so he doesnt run around and scream and jump in pools and rarely is even alone anywhere on the ship, but sadly today parents let little johnny do what he wants.

[Frankenbeans]

I will never again go on a cruise near Easter aka spring break. We went the week before Easter. I have never seen a ship so crowded! On our first day by 10:00am every single lounge chair was taken on every deck all the way around. The pool was filled with 6-10 year olds jumping in on top of each other, no parent in sight. I did notice 4 different kids with a fresh cast on their arm by day three. I don't mind kids. I knew there would be kids. I just expected the kids to bring their parents. I had two teens with me. There was a small percentage of teens on this sailing. No trouble with the teens. One evening around midnight there was a gathering of @ dozen kids sitting on the stairway that looked to be 8-10 years old. No parents! I guess mom and dad are at the club. After all..... it is their vacation.

 

 

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Wait, I really don't mean to be rude, but you were upset that there were children jumping into the pool? OH, THE HUMANITY! What did you expect kids to do at the pool? I am a parent of four kids ranging in age from 1-10. I have never cruised with them, but I certainly wouldn't get after them or stop them if they were jumping into the pool. That is just what kids do. Why can't they enjoy their vacation too? If people jumping into the pool bothers you, perhaps you should find a spot farther away from the water.

[Adayatatime]

Wait, I really don't mean to be rude, but you were upset that there were children jumping into the pool? OH, THE HUMANITY! What did you expect kids to do at the pool? I am a parent of four kids ranging in age from 1-10. I have never cruised with them, but I certainly wouldn't get after them or stop them if they were jumping into the pool. That is just what kids do. Why can't they enjoy their vacation too? If people jumping into the pool bothers you, perhaps you should find a spot farther away from the water.

 

As you are no doubt fully Ware kids aren't allowed to jump in the pools, they are neither deep nor big enough. I'm really not against kids but they do need to follow the rules.

Edited May 23, 2014 by Adayatatime

[TravelerThom]

Most RCI ships sail full with each itinerary during the year. What is different about the spring break time frame is the passenger mix, with typically more families with children and - particularly on shorter itineraries - a lot of college students.

What is your definition of "full"? There can be significant differences in number of passengers on a given ship even when every cabin is occupied. Oasis sailing with full double occupancy is 5400 passengers, but its maximum SOLAS passenger capacity is 6360 - that is an additional 960 passengers. Cruise ship occupancy rates are given as a function of full double occupancy. RCI annualized 2012 occupancy was 104.4%, but at peak times can be above 117%.

 

Thom