Spring Break on HAL

[lgarner]

DH and I are thinking of a cruise next year during the spring break time frame (I'm going back to school to get my masters and we will have to take vacation during set break times and will probably need to stick to 7 day cruises for now). We want to take our grown children and grandchildren. HAL is our favorite cruise line partly because it is classy and not know the party ships. We have only taken 10 day or longer cruises on HAL and find mostly adult to older adult cruisers - fine with us!! I can't imagine a HAL cruise even during spring break time being a college "party cruise" or full of small out of control children. Since we just finished spring break time this year, I just wanted to know if anyone has just returned from a HAL 7 day cruise that was either too crowded with unruly children or unruly young people. Thanks in advance for any input.

[jhannah]

I have never sailed during Spring Break ... but I'll chime in while you're waiting for someone who's had the experience.

 

Keep in mind that what someone's experience was last week or this week will not necessarily reflect what yours would be next year ... or even next week. There is no way to be sure you will not have unruly folks (young or old) on any given cruise.

 

That said, HAL is probably not as attractive to families with teens as Royal Caribbean, for instance. They want the skating rinks, rock climbing walls, and surfing. While Spring Break will likely find more teens and pre-teens onboard simply because of when it is, it is not too likely that your sailing will be overcome with a party hearty atmosphere. And you're much less likely to see chug-a-lug, wet t-shirt, and belly-flop contests around the pool!

 

You should do fine. Good luck!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Stay away from the Vista class ships - they do tend to attrack a lot more children than the R and S class ships.

[FlorenceItaly]

this Saturday, and will let you know how it goes.

 

Marie

[lgarner]

Thanks everyone!

 

ExaltHim, have a great trip! Nice name too.

[JohnR49er]

I guess alot depends if youngsters are 40.............:D :D :D

[Juanita462]

We haven't cruised at spring break but did a Christmas holiday cruise on HAL last winter and there were a lot of children and young people on board. They were great - most of the time we never knew they were around. Only once did we encounter a screaming toddler but his mom removed him immediately.

Well, there is also the pool area - they did tend to congregate there and some very young children were in the hot tubs unattended and that worried me as I don't think they would know when they had been in long enough. And yes, there were several small children allowed to roam unattended throughout the ship but we never had the screaming, running up and down the corridors, thumping doors kind of thing that I have read about. The children of the crew and staff were incredibly well behaved, even the toddlers.

[tomc]

Spring break on HAL...

 

Watch the video! "Grandmas Gone Wild!"

 

Play the games! "Walker Races" -- "Cane Toss" -- "Poligrip Corncob Chew"

 

Chug-A-Lug the drinks! "Metamucil Slurpies" -- "Shirley Temple Ensure" -- "Hot Spiced Vitamin Supplement"

 

Stay up all night until 9:00!

 

What happens on HAL, stays on HAL. We won't tell your great-grandchildren.

[FlorenceItaly]

Spring break on HAL...

 

Watch the video! "Grandmas Gone Wild!"

 

Play the games! "Walker Races" -- "Cane Toss" -- "Poligrip Corncob Chew"

 

Chug-A-Lug the drinks! "Metamucil Slurpies" -- "Shirley Temple Ensure" -- "Hot Spiced Vitamin Supplement"

 

Stay up all night until 9:00!

 

What happens on HAL, stays on HAL. We won't tell your great-grandchildren.

 

 

You know I adore you Tom, but what about me, I am 43???? Have mercy, will ya ;).

 

Marie

[Bluebobway]

Well i'm leaving on sat 3/18 and that falls right in the middle of the spring break...We'll be on the Zuiderdam and i'll let you know what i observe :D

[tomc]

Marie, dearest...

What about me, I am 43????

Gee... I was doing news five years before you were born. Where's my rocking chair?

[FlorenceItaly]

Marie, dearest... Gee... I was doing news five years before you were born. Where's my rocking chair?

 

My dh and I joke that I was six years old when he entered the Navy :). He is a tad bit older than I, and we have been married 23 years!!

 

 

Marie

[arzz]

Have sailed spring break on HAL twice (we are/were teachers and as such it was always spring break or Christmas) and have sailed Christmas break many times on HAL and other lines. My HAL experiences are on "R" and "S" class ships.

 

On HAL the ships are usually full at spring break. There are noticably more children than, say, in October or November, but they are usually well behaved and they are well distracted most of the time by HAL's excellent activities. Though the ships I have travelled on are usually full, at holiday time the dining room is a little more crowded as many optional berths are occupied by younger family members.

 

I would not hesitate to travel spring break on HAL -- I, too, would be wary of a Vista class ship as they do attract younger families and thus even more kids. All the elements of a great cruise are there and on HAL the children are usually not bored or boorish.

 

What might be worth noting, however, is when at port not only wil HAL have a full complement plus kids, but so will the other ships in port as well as the hotels and resorts that attract tourists in your ports of call -- so the ports themselves will be more crowded or "people polluted" -- but if you stay on board in port, you will have the world of the ship to yourself. There was one spring break when my DH and I did not get off all week -- we had calm seas, blue skies, lots of sun and each port day we had the ship almost to ourselves -- not a bad way to travel.

[Mjasp]

Spring break on HAL...

 

Watch the video! "Grandmas Gone Wild!"

 

Play the games! "Walker Races" -- "Cane Toss" -- "Poligrip Corncob Chew"

 

Chug-A-Lug the drinks! "Metamucil Slurpies" -- "Shirley Temple Ensure" -- "Hot Spiced Vitamin Supplement"

 

Stay up all night until 9:00!

 

What happens on HAL, stays on HAL. We won't tell your great-grandchildren.

 

That is too funny. BUT....

 

OMG...Tell me that isn't so. My DH is 51 and I am 48 BUT we have 2 kids 14 and 10. We like classy vacations and are thinking of HAL in the caribbean next Presidents week. Please say my kids will also have a nice vacation because other kids will be on board. If not, I will not even consider HAL.

 

For anyone who has sailed the caribbean this winter during Presidents week, please comment. If I get no replies maybe I'll start a thread and ask.

 

Thanks all

[mroth001]

Is it fair to say the late night activites are better during spring break cruises?

 

My friends and are scheduled to cruise on the Veendam next week (we're probably too young for HAL -- below 30) and are hoping the cruise ship won't feel dead at night. Don't worry - we're not the loud drunk obnoxious type, but we do like drink till late on occasion. And are hoping that the crow's nest will have some modern music at night (a HAL rep. suggested that we bring our own cds -- has anyone ever done this?) Also any other suggestions for a group of younger people traveling on HAL? And any chance we'll run into a few people our age?

[babyher]

Spring break on HAL...

 

Watch the video! "Grandmas Gone Wild!"

 

Play the games! "Walker Races" -- "Cane Toss" -- "Poligrip Corncob Chew"

 

Chug-A-Lug the drinks! "Metamucil Slurpies" -- "Shirley Temple Ensure" -- "Hot Spiced Vitamin Supplement"

 

Stay up all night until 9:00!

 

What happens on HAL, stays on HAL. We won't tell your great-grandchildren.

 

 

*LOL* :) :)

 

That is too funny Tom

 

Thanks for the laugh

 

May I interject there is a reason "what happens on HAL, stays on HAL" Its called senility!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They don't remember what happened on HAL *LOL*

 

KIDDING ONLY KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MikeT718]

Last spring my DW and DS (15yo at the time) were on the Zaandam there were not a lot of out of control kids they were kept very busy either in Club HAL (for preteens) or the Loft and the Oasis for Teens.

 

And for another bit of information spring break for us this year starts on the Wednesday prior to Easter (April 12) and they are back in school on April 24 and as you can see we will be on the O'dam on April 15th:)

 

I hope this inforamtion helps:)

[kelmac]

My wife is a teacher and I'm a retired teacher, and we have always cruised during winter break and spring break. It actually seems like a great time to cruise Holland America! All ages will be represented and it gives the ship a little energy.:)

If you take an off season, long cruise on any line, the average age will jump significantly.

By the way, spring break 2007, we will be on the Westerdam headed to HMC, Aruba and Curacao! Not bad for a seven day cruise. Ten days and we are off to Ft Lauderdale, "Spring Break" on the Century!

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[Randyk47]

We were on the Oosterdam in during spring break time in March 2005 when she was still doing the Caribbean itineraries. There were 200+ kids....real kids, not college age young adults....on that cruise. Our recent cruise was outside of the spring break time frame and had 3 kids on it. Got some pictures of the Oasis for my scrapebook but never saw the one teenage boy on the ship up there.

[arzz]

When considering a cruise, please keep in mind that "Spring Break" has no definite definition -- it depends on what part of the country you are in , where you go to school, are you in college or grade school, etc. Unlike Christmas which always brings the school breaks around the country in close to lock step calendars, spring break is defined differently from place to place.

 

Where I live we will get either the last week in March or the first week in April. A previous poster pointed out that their break brackets Easter. I am not sure that there is one definitive spring break week out there. If you cruise in March or April certainly someone out there is on spring break that week. Hard to avoid. Is there one most popular week?

[herb]

Spring Break and Holland America all in one sentence sounds so strange! :)

[annbanan]

Two years ago I was on the Zuiderdam during Easter week and there were a couple hundred kids aboard. It did get wild at times. I'll never forget the hotel manager trying to get control of the young kids in the pools. He just wanted them all in the outside pool and leave the inside pool for the adults. No one was evening listening to his announcements. It was pretty sad. I'm sure some couldn't understand him with all the noise and his accent. On that cruise there were alot of problems with the toilets. Alot of strange things were being flushed down and clogging the system in different parts of the ship.

Last year I went in the beginning of June and there weren't as many kids.

Now this weekend I will be on the Westerdam and there are suppose to be around 76 kids aboard.

I think the closer you get to Easter and definitely Easter week there will be the most kids on board.

[dwdowns]

I just returned Tuesday from a 11 night cruise on the Maasdam. We met several families traveling with their kids who were on Spring Break. My wife and I are 43 and 45 and we left our kids(13 & 15) who were not on Spring Break at home for this trip. I would say that there was no more than 30 teenagers aboard the entire ship. The majority of the passengers were over 65.

All the teens we saw were very well behaved and seemed to be very happy. We met two families that had 13, 15, and 17 year old kids with them. All had no problem staying busy with excursions, and events on the ship. Sure they would get bored as the day wound down and there was nothing for them to do after the late show, but most were tired anyway from being active and in the sun all day. I love Holland America and can't wait to cruise again. If your kids don't require non stop activity then they should be okay. If they are easily bored if not on the go, then you may want to look at RCL. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other specific questions.

 

David

[Bucky3]

Have I really lost it? You wrote you were on Oosterdam in March 2005 when she was still doing the Caribbean at Spring Break? Well, I really thought THAT I WAS on the Oosterdam in March 2005, and I'm very sure we did the Mexican Riviera! We left San Diego (on that ship) March 26, 2005 - our Anniversary! It was a great cruise - 9 of us, ages 13 to 70 - and everyone had a great time. Very nice ship for family cruises. Our first time on HA.

[FlorenceItaly]

Now this weekend I will be on the Westerdam and there are suppose to be around 76 kids aboard.

I think the closer you get to Easter and definitely Easter week there will be the most kids on board.

 

I am on the Oosterdam this weekend, and I hope we have as few children as you are going to have. My "thinking" when booking the crusie during this particular week that perhaps I was beating the "rush", per say...we'll see.

 

Marie