February caribbean cruise. Spring breakers aboard?

[vagporto]

Hi,

 

I have a couple fo questions to CC HAL veterans...

 

I am considering a caribbean cruise but my calendar constraints limit me to the last 2 weeks of february. Me and my wife really like HAL because of serenity of the guests, and we are afraid that in late february the ship may be taken over by spring breakers... Does this happen at HAL? If it happens, is february still safe (when compared to mid-march?)

 

The second issue: I was looking at a 14-night Eurodam itinerary that begins on the 14th Feb, but this cruise does not appear in the HAL website (although it is listed in the Atlas). Maybe the 21-28 feb segment is sold out or moved to a charter... Any clues? So, my only option for the two 7-nights cruises on Eurodam and N.A. Does anyone know what happens if by some misfortune the Eurodam arrives late on the 21st and we miss embarkation on the N.A.? Does HAL honor a reimbursement? Should I forget the B2B idea and stick with just one cruise?

 

Thanks

[POA1]

Doubtful. There may be some college kids cruising with their relatives, but HAL doesn't really cater to the spring break demographic.

 

Here's a shocker though - The cruise line with the strictest age policy is Carnival. You can't book a room unless you are 25 or active military. Granted, there could be some spring breakers who are still in school after 7 years, but that's probably not a huge number.

 

 

Nice article on age requirements -

 

http://www.familytravelnetwork.com/articles/cruise_minimum_age.asp

[vagporto]

Thanks for the info. My problem is that Eurodam was charterd to the Smooth Jazz Cruises, and N.A. is doing similar itineraroes on the 14th and 21st... This is different from the original schedule that was in the Atlas. Too bad for me...

[Roz]

I doubt HAL would reimburse you if you missed the second ship. I would purchase trip insurance.

 

Roz

[POA1]

The arriving ship would have to be really, really late. I wouldn't worry about it.

[chefestelle]

Our unis don't have spring break though they have reading week right before their exams. That's in February. If they're not serious enough to hunker down for exams, they'll be heading for hot, boozy party spots... Our spring break is in March and varies from school district to school district as to timing and length. That's just for elementary and high schools though. Not too many of them are old enough to travel on their own, nor would they likely be allowed on HAL at that age. [emoji1]

[lastlook]

There is a 10 day on the Oosterdam that departs on 2/19, with stops in the "ABC" islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao......would that work/appeal?

[Skorpora]

In my experience, I have not come across too many spring breakers on HAL at that time of year, however, during port calls, they are debarking from other ships in port and filling up the beaches and bars.

[jtl513]

Does anyone know what happens if by some misfortune the Eurodam arrives late on the 21st and we miss embarkation on the N.A.?

Maybe HAL would cover the costs (or part of the costs) of catching up to the ship in Grand Turk, just as if you had booked HAL air and missed an embarkation. I'd call and ask.

 

[denatravels]

Many northeast schools have the entire week of president's day off. This would be k-12. I did NCL last year and doing Royal Caribbean this year. There were a lot of kids on my cruise!!

[take us away]

Live in FL, one of the favorite spring break /winter holiday destinations, and can say it lasts from Feb and into April plus whenever Easter falls that year. The longer the cruise, the fewer the children and young adults is somewhat a 'rule of thumb' but would guess spring breakers would prefer cruise lines with a more party attitude in activities.

 

You should be okay with the cruises you have chosen and unless a major event like a hurricane or engine failure occurs, the likelihood of 1 ship docking that late so you miss the next ship's sailing is so very remote.

[msmayor]

We were on the Westerdam last March which is considered the 'middle' of the spring break season. There were young adults on board but they never appeared like the stereotypical spring break party crowd. Sure, they had fun (the pub crawl was a hoot!) but in my opinion they only added to the fun atmosphere, didn't take away from it at all.

[WeLoveCruising]

When my son was younger we frequently sailed on HAL during his spring breaks. You will likely encounter some, but nothing like on other lines. And by "spring breakers" I'm referring to families traveling with school or college age children - NOT college students traveling alone to party, like you'd see in Daytona. You wont see that.

 

The sailings that are more likely to have children are the 7-nighters. We went a few years on President's week, really one of the busiest school break weeks, and I think there were 80-100 people under 18. We've also been on longer cruises during the school year where the number is single digits. By comparison, the mega ships on Royal Caribbean and Carnival will have hundred and hundreds on the same week.

[cb at sea]

The "frat" type partiers will be on 3-4 nighters....rarely on a 7 nighter or longer.

[vagporto]

Thank you for your comments (particularly the President's Day extended holidays, which I was not aware of...). I will also consider the 10 day seafarer itinerary (although we would prefer the eastern cruises). I may also opt for january but in that case I can only do a 7 day...

[innlady1]

As others have said, typically 7 day cruises that include Predidents birthday have lots of kids. That is the week we have always avoided.

[denatravels]

I haven't yet been on HAL, but I was under the impression that it trended older???

[Typhoon1]

Maybe on Carnival. HAL would be an unlikely choice.

[sprockie]

We are booked on the N.A. at the end of February with our two kids. If it's any indication, when I do a search on that sailing for quad balconies - almost all are still available. We always cruise between the end of January and end of February and there is always a handful of kids, but not many.

[mhb1757]

We have certainly seen no evidence of the rowdy spring break crowds on HAL during late Feb. or early March. You could do the B2B on the NA from 2/14-2/28. Still plenty of availability on both of those trips. Pre/post cruise hotel prices are high during that time but they are crazy all winter in FLL.

If you are looking for a time of year when there will be zero children cruising good luck...don't think there is such a time but in our experience there are never large numbers of children on any HAL cruise and we have never seen any issues with uncontrolled children left to run wild on board. Doesn't mean it never happens but it probably isn't likely to happen.