Have we made a mistake?! 😱

[croooze]

We have booked the 7 night discovery princess cruise from 12th April - 19th April 2025. We are having a family reunion and have children with us ranging from 5 to 19yrs. We booked as price was very reasonable and it’s only occurred to us now (as we are from Australia) that it may be a “spring break booze cruise”?! How can we tell what the crowd is going to be like and if it’s appropriate with younger kids?!

[Suzanne123]

Seems a little late to me, but you can scroll through these dates.

https://www.inertiatours.com/spring-break-2025-dates/

[CruiserBruce]

A Princess 7 day west coast cruise in April would not be the prime time for a Spring break event. I think you don't have a major concern. Slight chance of a problem.

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, croooze said:

and it’s only occurred to us now (as we are from Australia) that it may be a “spring break booze cruise”?! How can we tell what the crowd is going to be like and if it’s appropriate with younger kids?!

Also Princess isn't known for its rowdy passengers like Carnival, NCL, or Royal per se (although it can happen anywhere). Princess passengers tend to fit well into the old adage "well fed, newly wed, nearly dead". 

Also the hardened spring breakers are going to be headed to the Caribbean, Florida, and on the West Coast places like Cabo and PV. No self respecting spring breaker is headed to Catalina Island or San Francisco. 

 

I think you'll be fine. 

[cruisetonowhere10]

5 hours ago, croooze said:

We have booked the 7 night discovery princess cruise from 12th April - 19th April 2025. We are having a family reunion and have children with us ranging from 5 to 19yrs. We booked as price was very reasonable and it’s only occurred to us now (as we are from Australia) that it may be a “spring break booze cruise”?! How can we tell what the crowd is going to be like and if it’s appropriate with younger kids?!

Too late in the season for college spring break…those are by and large in March.  You could get some school vacation travelers (here in New England the week vacations are in that time period depending on school district/state) but most gravitate toward east coast departures and most will be traveling as families.

[JimmyVWine]

Princess is not the cruise line of choice for hormone driven frat boys looking to test their consumption tolerance while testing others’ patience. You have nothing to worry about. There might be more families on board with school aged children, but based on your group’s demographic, that’s probably a good thing, right?

[1emerald1]

I took a cruise over Sprint break years ago with my daughters.  There were 900 kids on board.  

By the second day they all seemed to settle into their routines and were not a bother.  It was more of a family cruise than a booze cruise.

Edited Sunday at 02:17 AM by 1emerald1

[riffatsea]

7 day cruises along the coast are not booze cruises

 

[Treasure Hunter]

In 35 Princess cruises I have never seen anyone drunk and rowdy. You are safe to have a great time. Spring breakers go to the Caribbean on NCL , RCCL and especially Carnival. 

[dog]

Sunday April 20/25 is Easter.

 

Spring break in February & March.

[Wishing on a star]

If this is correct, and Easter next year is April 20th,  then this is still a holiday family cruise.

And, this is a 7 day, not a longer cruise.  There will be a lot of families and kids onboard.

It will not be like a Spring Break 'party' cruise.

These would probably be in March.  And Princess is not the cruise line of choice for Spring Breakers.

I don't think you should be too worried!

The ship will probably be sold out, and at capacity.   So, just be aware of that.

[cr8tiv1]

Given a choice between a 7 day cruise to San Francisco from San Pedro (Princess) or a weekend 3/4/5 day cruise from Long Beach (Carnival), I would hanker a guess that the "booze" cruise would be on the cheaper/shorter cruise.

 

Might not ring true for Disneyland if you were considering flying in earlier and spending some time there.  

[Arizona Wildcat]

Not an issue.  Princess is known for not tolerating excessive alcohol consumption.   Most Spring Breaks are earlier in the West US.  Carnival and other shorter cruises are the target.  California is not a destination for drunken beach parties.  Texas and Florida.

[cr8tiv1]

3 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Not an issue.  Princess is known for not tolerating excessive alcohol consumption.   Most Spring Breaks are earlier in the West US.  Carnival and other shorter cruises are the target.  California is not a destination for drunken beach parties.  Texas and Florida.

 

With the exception of bachelorette parties on one night Alaskan repositioning cruises.  I have been on those and observed passengers doing "all nighters" between Seattle/Vancouver.

[Iamcruzin]

17 hours ago, croooze said:

We have booked the 7 night discovery princess cruise from 12th April - 19th April 2025. We are having a family reunion and have children with us ranging from 5 to 19yrs. We booked as price was very reasonable and it’s only occurred to us now (as we are from Australia) that it may be a “spring break booze cruise”?! How can we tell what the crowd is going to be like and if it’s appropriate with younger kids?!

It's boring Princess. I have never experienced a booze cruise with them. Now if you were on Carnival or NCL I would say you had reason to worry. 20 somethings don't sail on Princess unless they are traveling with their parents. 

[Kay S]

I have been on several of those coastal cruises, and never have I seen any spring break rowdiness.

[SCX22]

For those of us that have been out of school for a very long time…

 

Colleges in the US follow the semester system (2, 15 week sessions) or the quarter system (3, 10 week sessions).  Spring Break follows the academic schedule rather than the religious observance of Easter.  Spring Break is sometime in March, halfway between the return from Winter Break in January and the end of the school year in May or June.
 

Some K-12 schools follow the religious observance of Easter and decide to have Spring Break the week of Easter Sunday.  Some decide an arbitrary week to have it, like the first week of April.  There’s not really a set schedule, other than it has to occur in March or April.

 

Regardless of when you cruise Princess, the “nearly dead,” as referenced in the post made by @princeton123211, are still in the majority or have close to a majority.

[Cruisemeister2002]

20 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Also Princess isn't known for its rowdy passengers like Carnival, NCL, or Royal per se (although it can happen anywhere). Princess passengers tend to fit well into the old adage "well fed, newly wed, nearly dead". 

Also the hardened spring breakers are going to be headed to the Caribbean, Florida, and on the West Coast places like Cabo and PV. No self respecting spring breaker is headed to Catalina Island or San Francisco. 

 

I think you'll be fine. 

My dear old Mum used to she she was looking through the local newspaper for the "Hatched, Matched and Dispatched" section. Or Born, Wed or Died.

[Cruisemeister2002]

23 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

For those of us that have been out of school for a very long time…

 

Colleges in the US follow the semester system (2, 15 week sessions) or the quarter system (3, 10 week sessions).  Spring Break follows the academic schedule rather than the religious observance of Easter.  Spring Break is sometime in March, halfway between the return from Winter Break in January and the end of the school year in May or June.
 

Some K-12 schools follow the religious observance of Easter and decide to have Spring Break the week of Easter Sunday.  Some decide an arbitrary week to have it, like the first week of April.  There’s not really a set schedule, other than it has to occur in March or April.

 

Regardless of when you cruise Princess, the “nearly dead,” as referenced in the post made by @princeton123211, are still in the majority or have close to a majority.

One reason I believe cruise line shouldn't alienate their senior passengers. It's all very well have all mod cons on ships appealing to those that they are trying to get them away from Package Holidays (vacations) over to cruising, but cruise lines are totally different to vacations where all inclusive is taken by sun seekers during summer breaks. If it wasn't for the older generation who prefer cooler times of the year with much fewer children running about cruise ships would be redundant for many months of the year.

[BamaVol]

We are booked on Grand Princess for a 4/8 west coast sailing and I have no worries whatsoever.  I used to live in Panama City Beach.  You do not want to be there during Spring Break in March. The other 11 months are fine, although families do crowd the Redneck Riviera during the summer months..

[croooze]

Thanks so much to all of you for putting our minds at rest! 

[JamieLogical]

This will definitely be Spring Break for a lot of Grade School aged kids, as their break is often the week before or after Easter, so expect a lot of those onboard. It will not be Spring Break for college kids. As others have said "booze cruises" in the US are usually shorter than 7 days.

[SomewhereGirl]

I was on the Majestic roughly those same dates back in 2022, going the northern route to San Francisco and Santa Barbara.  It wasn't close to Easter.  I don't recall many kids at all or boozers.  I do recall in the weeks leading up to that cruise that there were more postings about kids on Live reviews.

If Discovery is alternating between going north and going south to Mexico, I would expect more "excitement" on the Mexico route.  Going north was pretty mellow.

[SCX22]

2 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

One reason I believe cruise line shouldn't alienate their senior passengers. It's all very well have all mod cons on ships appealing to those that they are trying to get them away from Package Holidays (vacations) over to cruising, but cruise lines are totally different to vacations where all inclusive is taken by sun seekers during summer breaks. If it wasn't for the older generation who prefer cooler times of the year with much fewer children running about cruise ships would be redundant for many months of the year.

 

Except on Princess, their majority presence is a year round phenomenon.  

[karatemom2]

We live in the greater LA area and have done a number of cruises on Discovery and other Princess ships out of San Pedro during Spring. While the week you are onboard may not coincide with many college spring break schedules, because it is the week prior to Easter it will have a lot of families onboard which should be good given the age range of your group. Lots of the elementary and high schools

in Southern California time their Spring break around Easter - week before is common. So I imagine there will be a busy schedule for all the kids onboard and some special activities put forth by the kids club. Also, given it’s a Coastal cruise and not Mexican Riviera you will find it family friendly for sure. You tend to find more of a party and drinking crowd (for Princess) on the Mexico itinerary- and even then it’s mild by comparison to other lines. California is beautiful in the Spring. You will love it!