Impact of cruising during School holidays in May

[g8way2go]

I am looking at two dates for the same cruise - NCL  14 day Scotland, England & Ireland cruise.  May 3-17  or May 17-31...  I am guessing that the weather might be better May 17-31st.  How much impact would the school holidays make as far as seeing tourist sites?  We would be in Scotland May 22-25, Ireland May 26, 28,29 and England May 27 & 30 

 

As it is a 14 day cruise, I am not sure if there would be more kids on the ship during this time.

[dogs4fun]

52 minutes ago, g8way2go said:

I am looking at two dates for the same cruise - NCL  14 day Scotland, England & Ireland cruise.  May 3-17  or May 17-31...  I am guessing that the weather might be better May 17-31st.  How much impact would the school holidays make as far as seeing tourist sites?  We would be in Scotland May 22-25, Ireland May 26, 28,29 and England May 27 & 30 

 

As it is a 14 day cruise, I am not sure if there would be more kids on the ship during this time.

There may be a few more children but the european cruises are not usually packed with the number of children I have seen on Caribbean cruises. You should be fine without any impact on the enjoyment of your cruise.

I have noted many groups of school children on outings with their teachers during the school year (for example: Paris, Louvre - many French children with their teachers in the museum) - school groups will be minimal is the school year has ended.

Edited July 18, 2019 by dogs4fun

[VMax1700]

4 hours ago, g8way2go said:

I am looking at two dates for the same cruise - NCL  14 day Scotland, England & Ireland cruise.  May 3-17  or May 17-31...  I am guessing that the weather might be better May 17-31st.  How much impact would the school holidays make as far as seeing tourist sites?  We would be in Scotland May 22-25, Ireland May 26, 28,29 and England May 27 & 30 

 

As it is a 14 day cruise, I am not sure if there would be more kids on the ship during this time.

Presuming you are talking about 2020 then note that May 25th will be a public holiday in UK (Spring Bank Holiday).

Also, if you go with the earlier cruise, then May 8th (Friday) will be a holiday to commemorate VE Day (Victory in Europe).

 

In Ireland, the schools are still open and do not close until end of May (secondary level) or end of June (primary level).

[GrJ Berkshire]

Scotland does not have the Whitson half term the same as England as they break for the summer earlier at end of June and have a different exam schedule , equally they return mid August not early Sept for the autumn .

[jocap]

The week with the Spring Bank Holiday in it, May 25th, is usually the half- term week holiday for schools in England, as they don't finish the term until the 3rd week in July.

As it's a 14 day cruise, there won't be many English- and I think, Welsh- children on board because they cannot be taken out of school for a holiday. 

[g8way2go]

Thank you for your responses.  I have booked the May 17-31, 2020 cruise.  

[josh_hutchings]

i see you have already booked, but fyi may school holidays, people book things last minute so it only really gets busy if the weather is good. in july/aug people pre-book everything regardless of the weather