Carnival Cruise during spring break

[SCAnthony]

We have only been on one Carnival cruise (Dream, 7 day out of New Orleans in November of '15). We have our next one planned for this coming March 25 on the Magic. Was wondering what to expect as far as things like getting in to the shows, bingo, etc. being that it will be spring break for a lot of people. On the Dream in November we would show up about 10-15 minutes early and sit wherever we wanted. Will it be a lot more difficult to get in and get a good seat being that it is Spring Break? Or or are most cruises that are booked pretty full gonna be about the same regardless of time of year? Thanks

 

 

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[Schoifmom]

We have only been on one Carnival cruise (Dream, 7 day out of New Orleans in November of '15). We have our next one planned for this coming March 25 on the Magic. Was wondering what to expect as far as things like getting in to the shows, bingo, etc. being that it will be spring break for a lot of people. On the Dream in November we would show up about 10-15 minutes early and sit wherever we wanted. Will it be a lot more difficult to get in and get a good seat being that it is Spring Break? Or or are most cruises that are booked pretty full gonna be about the same regardless of time of year? Thanks

 

 

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It's been my understanding that almost all cruises sail at or near full capacity, so unless your previous cruise was unusually light, you should have the same experience as far as wait times.

[easyboy]

Was wondering what to expect as far as things like getting in to the shows, bingo, etc. being that it will be spring break for a lot of people. On the Dream in November we would show up about 10-15 minutes early and sit wherever we wanted. Will it be a lot more difficult to get in and get a good seat being that it is Spring Break? Or or are most cruises that are booked pretty full gonna be about the same regardless of time of year? Thanks

 

 

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March is one of the popular cruising months where sailings tend to be full. Most spring-breakers take 3-5 day short cruises during this period. So i guess the spring breakers will not be the sole reason if it gets hard to get a seat.

 

 

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[rkacruiser]

My first Carnival cruise was a 6 day Western Caribbean out of Fort Lauderdale on Carnival Freedom during Spring Break season. Friends thought I was out of my mind for booking this at the time that I did! It was a great cruise in all aspects! As my signature indicates, I have returned to Carnival since and will be sailing on Liberty in January.

[SCAnthony]

Thanks for the replies.

 

 

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[springs741]

While all cruises do sail full it does not mean all cruises sail at capacity. I have recently sailed a back to back on the Breeze. Both sailings were full.(sold out on the website) The Thanksgiving week was at capacity. That means that every 3 or 4 person stateroom had 3 or 4 people in that room. The following week a great many of those 3 and 4 person staterooms only had 2 people. Again, both sailings were full but only the first was at capacity.

We usually sail "off season" and seldom have to wait in lines and always get a "good" seat in shows. On the Thanksgiving week cruise waiting for ytd was up to 45 minutes and venues were full long before the start of the event. My daughter that cruise spring break in March of this year reported it was the same on their cruise.

So answer your question SCAnthony, plan for more crowds and pack your patience. You still going to be on a cruise and making great memories.

[coevan]

Spring break is busy because kids are out of school. College spring breakers would not be allowed on Carnival unless they were 25.

[carnivaladdix120]

We are sailing in March during our kids spring break (we live in south Florida) but our county is the only one down here on spring break the week we are sailing. Our roll call has been dead too so I think it really depends since all school districts are different in when they take spring break. My friend who lives in Atlanta said her kids don't go on spring break until April! So you may be fine. Either way, enjoy your cruise!

[riclop]

We have only been on one Carnival cruise (Dream, 7 day out of New Orleans in November of '15). We have our next one planned for this coming March 25 on the Magic. Was wondering what to expect as far as things like getting in to the shows, bingo, etc. being that it will be spring break for a lot of people. On the Dream in November we would show up about 10-15 minutes early and sit wherever we wanted. Will it be a lot more difficult to get in and get a good seat being that it is Spring Break? Or or are most cruises that are booked pretty full gonna be about the same regardless of time of year? Thanks

 

 

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Most are booked pretty full.

[Bennettanddebbie]

We have only been on one Carnival cruise (Dream, 7 day out of New Orleans in November of '15). We have our next one planned for this coming March 25 on the Magic. Was wondering what to expect as far as things like getting in to the shows, bingo, etc. being that it will be spring break for a lot of people. On the Dream in November we would show up about 10-15 minutes early and sit wherever we wanted. Will it be a lot more difficult to get in and get a good seat being that it is Spring Break? Or or are most cruises that are booked pretty full gonna be about the same regardless of time of year? Thanks

 

 

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Hmmmm, what to expect? We've decided to avoid any Carnival cruise during any type of "peak" period. Carnival's target demographic is families and the "budget" market. And at this, they excel. They will cram as many kids into as few cabins as possible. At least, it certainly seems that way. But I have seen sales specifically for the third and fourth guests in a cabin. Crowded shows is an understatement - we've been standing in line for shows early and still couldn't get a seat. The rush of the crowd was unbelievable! I've actually talked to the CD about Carnival's lack of crowd control. Fortunately, Carnival's focus on the passengers entertaining themselves (the game and audience participation shows) results in entertainment worthy of being missed.

 

The number of unruly kids really multiplies when school is out. DW, who gets up early, has seen unruly drunk teenagers still partying on deck from the previous night. I think the parents regard a cruise as an opportunity to take a break from parenting.

 

Good luck. You have been warned.

 

 

Bennett of BennettandDebbie

[sailawaykaye]

We always cruise during hurricane season or the end of April before school lets out for the summer. Well we received a Premeir Casino offer sailing out of Fort Lauderdale March 4th on the Carnival Conquest. Decided to book it. Then went to book a hotel room for the night before and a night after the cruise. OMG! Super high rates. Then realized it was Spring Break. Luckily we managed to secure a room at a decent rate, but I will never book a cruise out of Florida during the month of March till the last week in April again. Sort of thought I was safe since it was so early in March. Wrong!

[pittypat]

Cruised on the dream March 2015. Expect kids kids and more kids. Most running wild with little parent supervision. Running in the halls late at night. The wait time increases and you will have rude kids cutting line etc. wish I could offer more positive comments but just not as good a time to cruise😟.

 

Pittypat

[SCAnthony]

Hmmmm, what to expect? We've decided to avoid any Carnival cruise during any type of "peak" period. Carnival's target demographic is families and the "budget" market. And at this, they excel. They will cram as many kids into as few cabins as possible. At least, it certainly seems that way. But I have seen sales specifically for the third and fourth guests in a cabin. Crowded shows is an understatement - we've been standing in line for shows early and still couldn't get a seat. The rush of the crowd was unbelievable! I've actually talked to the CD about Carnival's lack of crowd control. Fortunately, Carnival's focus on the passengers entertaining themselves (the game and audience participation shows) results in entertainment worthy of being missed.

 

The number of unruly kids really multiplies when school is out. DW, who gets up early, has seen unruly drunk teenagers still partying on deck from the previous night. I think the parents regard a cruise as an opportunity to take a break from parenting.

 

Good luck. You have been warned.

 

 

Bennett of BennettandDebbie

 

 

We are a budget minded family with 2 kids, so we should fit right in.

 

 

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[SadieN]

Spring break is busy because kids are out of school. College spring breakers would not be allowed on Carnival unless they were 25.

 

 

If they're 21 or older there is no restriction.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2544/~/minor-guest-policy

[luddite]

We have only been on one Carnival cruise (Dream, 7 day out of New Orleans in November of '15). We have our next one planned for this coming March 25 on the Magic. Was wondering what to expect as far as things like getting in to the shows, bingo, etc. being that it will be spring break for a lot of people. On the Dream in November we would show up about 10-15 minutes early and sit wherever we wanted. Will it be a lot more difficult to get in and get a good seat being that it is Spring Break? Or or are most cruises that are booked pretty full gonna be about the same regardless of time of year? Thanks

 

 

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Your next cruise will be a somewhat different experience from your first one.

Good luck!

[CruiseHealing]

When our kids where in school we did a lot of SB cruises. Lots of kids. Camp Carnival was well attended, as well O2 teen area. There is no doubt that it is crowded and the rates are higher. Probably the most common annoyance are kids racing up and down the hallways (cabin decks) at all times. I've seen and heardit day and night. Oh yeah they run in packs.

 

Now our kids have grown and we don't cruise during SB. Price too high and crowded.

 

With all that being said we always had a great time and DW and I cherish those memories.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Love Spring Break cruises....especially because it is our chance to travel with the younger set in our extended family.

 

Apparently our experience has been different than some who post here. Because of the high number of kids, adult areas were much less crowded: serenity deck, bars, the casino, late dining in the MDR. Smoking areas are far less smokey....in fact I never really noticed the smoke in the casino. And, I never encountered the hoardes of kids running in hallways or screaming.

 

To be blunt, it was nice to cruise without a gazillion wheelchairs, walkers, and scooters blocking elevator lobbies and being parked in hallways. The kids loved the fact that they could find plenty of cohorts to mingle with at the clubs and evening dances. I also didn't run into rowdy young adults or see any groups of inebriated passengers, because 7 day spring break cruises are more apt to be about families interacting as families.

[Bennettanddebbie]

 

 

 

Apparently our experience has been different than some who post here. Because of the high number of kids, adult areas were much less crowded: serenity deck, bars, the casino, late dining in the MDR. Smoking areas are far less smokey....in fact I never really noticed the smoke in the casino. And, I never encountered the hoardes of kids running in hallways or screaming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it was wonderful to watch the unicorns at play in the pool area, which was entirely devoid of chair hogs.

 

 

 

Bennett of BennettandDebbie

[First and Ten]

Love Spring Break cruises....especially because it is our chance to travel with the younger set in our extended family.

 

Apparently our experience has been different than some who post here. Because of the high number of kids, adult areas were much less crowded: serenity deck, bars, the casino, late dining in the MDR. Smoking areas are far less smokey....in fact I never really noticed the smoke in the casino. And, I never encountered the hoardes of kids running in hallways or screaming.

 

To be blunt, it was nice to cruise without a gazillion wheelchairs, walkers, and scooters blocking elevator lobbies and being parked in hallways. The kids loved the fact that they could find plenty of cohorts to mingle with at the clubs and evening dances. I also didn't run into rowdy young adults or see any groups of inebriated passengers, because 7 day spring break cruises are more apt to be about families interacting as families.

 

I agree with Dutch. During SB cruises, the adult areas are basically wide open. Instead of showing up at 6:30 am to secure a seat in the Serenity area....Wake up and go out on deck at 10 and there were multiple seats to choose from (Parents with younger kids cant go there and the HS/College crowd tend to congregate around the bars around the main pool for the music). The shows are hit or miss. Again, many of the college kids don't want to sit in a show, they want to hang out in the bars, so while I thought the lines for the shows would be huge, they weren't. Specialty restaurants weren't any more crowded due to fact that many of the college kids are on a budget and don't want to spring for the upcharge. Same for the families (this was before the $10 kids menu). Parents with 2 little ones didn't want to drop $140 on dinner....I have to say, the vibe on the ship was totally different than on a normal cruise....Much more active, CD really got into it. Every night, the "atrium party" was awesome....What was funny, we passed the main lounge on day during Bingo time, it looked like a ghost town....My kids are older now and wife and I are in our 50's. I would book it again in a minute. Its a lot of fun to hang out with the "young-ins" :D. A refreshing change not to be dodging geriatric scooters and walkers

Edited December 21, 2016 by First and Ten

[Schoifmom]

If they're 21 or older there is no restriction.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2544/~/minor-guest-policy

 

oops ... deleted

Edited December 21, 2016 by Schoifmom

[Melissalcsw]

We too are taking a SB cruise in April out of Charleston. So hard to travel with school age kids during a school year.

 

I hope it's not too crazy, but a crazy sea day is better than a work day.

Cheers

 

 

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[VooDooBlue]

Thank you for post! I was getting a little nervous. I sail April 8th with my 15 year on the Carnival magic. I booked it specifically because it was spring break and I worried he would get bored. I worried I'd get stuck playing endless games of bingo. My kid would never forgive me if it was a snooze cruise!

Edited February 12, 2017 by VooDooBlue
misspelled word

[coevan]

you will never have to worry about a snooze cruise on Carnival, it's the Fun Ship

[thrillfan]

We always cruise during hurricane season or the end of April before school lets out for the summer. Well we received a Premeir Casino offer sailing out of Fort Lauderdale March 4th on the Carnival Conquest. Decided to book it. Then went to book a hotel room for the night before and a night after the cruise. OMG! Super high rates. Then realized it was Spring Break. Luckily we managed to secure a room at a decent rate, but I will never book a cruise out of Florida during the month of March till the last week in April again. Sort of thought I was safe since it was so early in March. Wrong!

 

You are sailing with me

[cruisequeen93]

I am an educator so I always cruise during spring break in March--it's my favorite month to cruise.:D I have never had a problem during any March cruise. The only spring break cruise where I saw any problems was when my school district scheduled it during Easter in April. It was a 5 night cruise and the kids were somewhat out of control. With that being said, I am still on vacation and I don't let anything get in the way of my time. I like kids though so a few hundred on a cruise is nothing compared to the 2500 in my high school especially during lunch supervision. :eek:

 

You and your son will have a great time and don't be surprised if you get unexpected alone time because he wants to hang out with new friends.

 

Julie