March/Spring Break Cruising

[macdon221]

Good Day All,

 

Looking at a couple of options for sailing the third week of March. Not being from the USA, I was curious as if there were dates to stay away from cruising to stay away from the heavy partying and excessive loud noise etc that comes with the spring break season.

 

Dont get me wrong...I am always in favour of a good time...but if I am going to spend oodles on travel to get to a cruise, I would rather not take a cruise where most of the ship is a Frat Party. Just saying.

 

Any information would be appreciated.

 

Macdon221

[chery4lbooks]

I have 2 college boys and 1 high school. College boys have finals the week of March 16-20 and actual break is March 22-26. (different colleges) High school not on break until April 4-8. We live in Southern California.

[macdon221]

Anyone have any experiences, Good or Bad, cruising during these timeframes?

 

Thx

 

Macdon221

[zqvol]

That is late for MOST college spring breaks. By that time you are starting to deal with the K-12 crowd which IMO is much worse than the college aged crowd.

 

The few colleges that are still on the quarter system will be finishing Winter quarter then and will be on break but the vast majority of colleges in the US are on semesters and should be wrapping up break by that time.

 

BTW we travel often during break and really the only problems are the 10 -14 year olds that run around the ship unsupervised.

Edited February 20, 2015 by zqvol

[Mom2B&Z]

We have cruised the Ontario March break once on Breakaway. There were a lot of Canadians and their kids on board, and many people who did not realize the ship would be full of kids and at max capacity. Not a great combination (!). However, we did not notice any more partying behaviour than the cruises we have taken over Christmas and New Years.

Edited to add that Ontario March Break is March 16-20, 2015.

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited February 20, 2015 by B&Z's Mom

[lisakoivu]

We are teachers and can only cruise at March Break or Christmas. Last year we cruised at March Break - no issues. We also cruised at Christmas this year, and I thought the manners of the kids were a lot worse at Christmas. At March Break, I didn't notice the kids... there were a lot, but they were hanging out and having fun without disrupting.

 

At Christmas, I sensed a lot of "enforced family time", with a lot of extended family groups and a lot of command performances for dinners and such for the holidays, which resulted in crabby, whiny kids. It also didn't impact my holiday, but I did feel sorry for all those over-extended kids and their families.

 

During March Break, I wouldn't be afraid of the K-12 crowd, myself. As another poster pointed out, there will be A LOT of Canadians and their kids.

[pengu1n]

Here's a site that lists how many college students are on break, by week.

 

https://www.tripsmarter.com/panama-city-beach/events/spring-break-college-university-dates

 

The weeks of March 9 and March 16 are the largest. I work at a preschool. We are also off the week of March 9th. That being said, they won't ALL be on your ship!

[Kierste]

We are doing an 11 day, right smack in the middle of many area's spring break (last week of March thru Easter)... I am hopeful that because it is longer than a week, most college students won't be able to afford it, and will therefore avoid it. Plus NCL has the no alcohol package for people under (is it 25?) rule for spring break times... which I would think would deter the frat party groups.

[darwinsrule]

If you are really worried avoid being anywhere near a Disney ship at time.

[Sanjuan13]

Cruises aren't exactly a spring break destination for college students. While you'll probably see a few more in that age range during the weeks of March than you would normally, it will be a miniscule difference.

 

Don't let it affect your decision of when and where you want to go.

[cage keeper]

We cruise every year during this week and have never had an issue with crazy partying crowds. But this our fir st NCL. If you book something leaving mid week or at least 12 nights you can bet there won't e collage students. Here in the North East most only get one week.

[SissasMomE]

Anyone have any experiences, Good or Bad, cruising during these timeframes?

 

Thx

 

Macdon221

 

Spring break for most colleges is anywhere from February to April. High schools are usually March or April. We have been crusing during spring break for the last 10 years now, and have never had a problem. One thing though - stay away from the 3- and 4-night cruises. Those are the ones where you would most likely have an issue. We always go for at least as week, and have not had a problem.

[kgymn]

I'm assuming the OP was referring to the college ages crowd with the "partying and noise" comment.

 

Most colleges have their breaks earlier though a few have them the second half of March. Spring break on a cruise isn't the same kind of party as it would be at a land-based spring break destination, though. For a few important reasons including, for one, there's so much more to do on a cruise than drink 24/7. College kids won't spend the money to go on a cruise if they don't intend to get off the ship and explore the ports, and you can pretty easily avoid "booze cruise" excursions and popular partying locations (carlos and charlies, senor frogs, and similar) to avoid any partying in port. The other reason, is cruise lines have minimum age requirements. I went with my roommates on a cruise for spring break, over ten years ago on a Carnival ship, we could only go because we were all 21 or over. If any of us had been under 21, we'd have needed someone 25 or older to go with us. So you're getting, typically, the older spring break crowd, that maybe are starting to grow out of the partying and are probably more responsible about it (especially if they chose a cruise instead of a regular spring break location.) So it should be much worse than other weeks.

 

If you want your best bet for avoiding as many as possible, book late in the month and book a cruise that is more than 7 days or book a 7 days cruise that starts mid-week. Spring breaks are M-F so a 7 day that gets back after or leaves before break begins won't be popular with the spring breakers.

 

~Katy