Cruising during New England April Vacation, any experiences?

[cdoobiest]

2 families of 5 and 4 looking at cruising for April Vacation in MA. 1st cruise for all of us.

 

Looking at 2 Eastern Caribbean cruises, April 18 on Oasis and 19th on Freedom. Leaning towards 19th on Freedom since pricing about $1000 cheaper per family.

 

Wondering if other board members cruise during this time. I know I should expect many MA, RI, NH residents since all of New England gets their April vacation during this time, but is it crazy with too many kids.

 

Prices seem reasonable for the cruise. I am waiting for Southwest to release spring airfare in late Oct so hopefully will get good flight out but may book cruise deposit to secure rate and kids sail free promo.

[nomarfan5]

We're from MA and almost always cruise during April vacation week. We've never had a problem with too many kids because other parts of the country (and the world for that matter) aren't on vacation.

 

And as for the prices, there have been times where it was actually cheaper to cruise that week compared to the week before or after. Flights weren't terrible either.

 

We've been on the Freedom once and LOVED it! You will have a fantastic time!

[Maybaybie10]

2 families of 5 and 4 looking at cruising for April Vacation in MA. 1st cruise for all of us.

 

Looking at 2 Eastern Caribbean cruises, April 18 on Oasis and 19th on Freedom. Leaning towards 19th on Freedom since pricing about $1000 cheaper per family.

 

Wondering if other board members cruise during this time. I know I should expect many MA, RI, NH residents since all of New England gets their April vacation during this time, but is it crazy with too many kids.

 

Prices seem reasonable for the cruise. I am waiting for Southwest to release spring airfare in late Oct so hopefully will get good flight out but may book cruise deposit to secure rate and kids sail free promo.

 

Don't forget MAINE (we are always forgotten...sniffle..sniffle...:p) We will be on Freedom on the 19th...come join us! We snagged 8200...huge OV room. Maybe 8500 is still available...pretty much a mirror image of 8200. Separate master bedroom, bunkroom, and big living room. Can't wait!!

[cdoobiest]

Don't forget MAINE (we are always forgotten...sniffle..sniffle...:p) We will be on Freedom on the 19th...come join us! We snagged 8200...huge OV room. Maybe 8500 is still available...pretty much a mirror image of 8200. Separate master bedroom, bunkroom, and big living room. Can't wait!!

 

Thanks for info. Sorry about not including Maine. Shame on me, my wife's family up in Belfast.

 

Looked at Oceanview family rooms, Thanks. very tempting

[Maybaybie10]

Thanks for info. Sorry about not including Maine. Shame on me, my wife's family up in Belfast.

 

Looked at Oceanview family rooms, Thanks. very tempting

 

If you are interested in the FOV...8200 and 8500 are the same price as the rest, but a lot bigger. This is a good thread to read...several videos of those 2 rooms too.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2088943

 

I'll forgive you about forgetting us here in Maine...just this once! :)

 

Good Luck on your decision!

[emeraldcity]

When I cruised on the Serenade we had 2000 passengers, 490 of which were kids. I never did figure out where they all were. You hear numbers like that and you figure every 4th person you see is going to be a kid, but the reality is that they were in Adventure Ocean, or they were well-behaved teenagers that you couldn't tell from 18-yer olds ... and they were stretched out in deck chairs quietly tanning.

 

Spring Break is a great time to cruise and I've always felt they keep the pricing pretty competitive around this time of year because there are other cruise lines competing for your business too.

 

I've booked for Spring Break several times in the fall ... I don't recommend waiting. The pricing is likely to go up. If it does go down before final payment, you can call and get your price adjusted.

Edited September 19, 2014 by emeraldcity

[rtazz17]

I really dont think i matters when you cruise as far as kids go.Everyones spring break in the states is different and people from around the world will be on your cruise who are on all differnt school schedules and different weather seasons in their home country.

[katydyd]

Cruised during April vacation lots of times. One thing to take into account is flight costs..it is in-freaking-sane trying to get out of this part of the country during Feb/April breaks. Because of that, I would probably take the Freedom since it's a little cheaper. The Freedom is one of my favorite ships.