Is spring break a bad idea?

[Hawk15]

We are considering a 7-day western caribe cruise on the Valor for March 15/09. 5 couples, two of which have kids ranging 12-17. How crazy are the college spring breakers? Does Carnival do a very good job of controlling them if they get out of hand?

[gail811]

We have always sailed during spring break and only once have I seen kids really out of control. Since we sailed during high school breaks and not college breaks, the "guilty" were usually the "tweeners"; kids 11-15 who were not being supervised. Ultimately it is the parents responsibility to watch their children, not sure Carnival does anything to control them. I have spoken to a few children over the years for things like playing in the elevators, having a water gun fight inside the ship in public areas....on tile floors :eek: , and leaving their melting ice cream on the stairwells.....nothing serious...just annoying.

[momofzeke]

No, it's not a bad idea at all. We sailed the Valor this past March 23-30 during our (Oregon) spring break. Didn't notice any bad behavior at all. In Oregon, the high school and college spring breaks are the same time.

 

Valor is a great ship! We did Eastern itinerary, but I've done Western on a previous cruise. You'll love it. Enjoy! :)

[zqvol]

We are considering a 7-day western caribe cruise on the Valor for March 15/09. 5 couples, two of which have kids ranging 12-17. How crazy are the college spring breakers? Does Carnival do a very good job of controlling them if they get out of hand?

 

IMO you will find the under 18s more of a problem than the college kids. Since they have to be over 21 they tend to be a little better behaved or maybe I just notice them less.

[stthomaslover]

For me and my dh, late forties and early fifties it was terrible. Traveled on the victory, this past April. Had a great time, but never again during spring break. It wasn't the college kids, but the 10-15 year olds. Completely out of control with no adult supervision.

 

I think because I don't have any kids, this was alot harder for me to handle. Just my opinion.

[DreadPirateRobert]

Did it this year, probably would never do it again. The ship was a little too crowded and there were a few too many kids. They weren't bad kids; just kids being kids. We're raised ours so I guess I'm not as patient as I once was.

Now if I had younger kids and that was the only time I could cruise with them I certainly would. Like I said it wasn't that bad, I just prefer the times when everyone is in school.

[firefly333]

Iv been cruising the last two years around this time. The cruiselines seem to crack down more on drinking than usual and smuggling, so dont bring a oversize cooler when you board. Even though there were more children, they were well behaved.

[rsjc]

we cruise allot at Spring Break and pretty much the only college age folks on the ship are with their family's. It has never been that big of a deal. Now there are allot of school age kids..

[MDSue]

I sail during Spring break every year [k-12] and have never had a problem. The worst we saw was some tweens misbehaving on the elevator. I wouldn't let it stop you, most are well behaved and not an issue. I think the longer cruises on the nicer ships have a more sedate crowd.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

A seven day cruise will see less of a problem then a three, four, or five day. Spring breakers seem to take the shorter cruises. Although the week you are looking at seems to be a heavy week for spring break with colleges and universities the same week this year had over 2 million college students on break.

 

Here is a link for college spring break dates:

http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm

[Caribbreeze]

Twice we sailed during spring break. First time on one of the upper decks, maybe Verandah, we found the deck to be quiet, just crowded in the general public areas.

Second time, on Riviera deck, a less expensive deck for families, we had lots of pre-teen kids running, yelling in the hall, so much so that security stationed themselves at both ends of the hall midway through the cruise. It's always a question of parental supervision, or lack of, not bad kids.

We've just decided to avoid spring break weeks, but wondered if the deck makes a difference, also.

Neither time did we notice a real problem with the college age crowd and drinking.