Cruising in Spring trying to Avoid "Spring Breakers"

[Chelly]

Need advice: Which week in the Spring 2010 is best to cruise to avoid the Spring Break crowd. Colleges seem to stagger breaks throughout March and early April. High Schools and Elementary seem to be in April. Thanks.

C.

[cardbucfan]

It's really hit or miss because different parts of the country go at different times but one good rule of thumb is to avoid the weeks before and after Easter. Our schools are on spring break then here in Tampa. I would think you would be clear if you went late April.

[Eileen G]

Easiest way to tell is to wait a while to book. Look for the lower price cruises. We have sailed twice in March both times with great prices. During the busy spring break weeks prices will be way up.

[Chelly]

Easiest way to tell is to wait a while to book. Look for the lower price cruises. We have sailed twice in March both times with great prices. During the busy spring break weeks prices will be way up.

 

 

Thank you for the sound advice. Eileen, I see that you divide your cruising among HAL, Princess and RCI. Do you choose your cruise by itinerary, best price? What is your favorite? Thanks.

[taxmantoo]

It's really hit or miss because different parts of the country go at different times but one good rule of thumb is to avoid the weeks before and after Easter. Our schools are on spring break then here in Tampa. I would think you would be clear if you went late April.

 

Not necessarily true. We cruised on the Eurodam this year the week before Easter, April 4 to April 11, and there were not a lot of "spring breakers" on board. We did have a lot of teenagers, travelling for the most part as multi-generation families.

 

The calendar at http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm can be used as a guide, unfortunately 2010 is not available yet.

 

You can see that the week before Easter was the one where the least people were on Spring Break in March and April.

[timothy998]

We were on the ms Westerdam 22-29 March, which was spring break for our kids' elementary school and the local high schools, and some colleges.

 

That said, we did not see any "spring breakers" of the "girls gone wild" sort onboard, not that we've seen the videos, doggone it, but mostly teens and college-aged passengers as part of multi-generational family groups, as others have noted. We experienced the same thing two years ago, during the week prior to Palm Sunday, at the JW Marriott hotel in Cancun.

[Eileen G]

Chelly, We choose our cruises by itenerary and price. Last consideration is cruise line. We do prefer RCCL and Princess a little more than HAL but not much. We believe a cruise is what you make it and we have a good time whoever we are cruising on.

[WriterOnDeck]

Book a 10- 12- or 14-day cruise and you avoid the kiddos!

 

In our area of the country, public school spring breaks are usually the first or second week of March. I would consider all of March through the week after Easter to be potential spring breaks.

 

We sailed a 14-day on the Maasdam in March this year and due to the length I don't think there were a dozen kids.

[lovebug33]

In Nevada, Spring Break is either the week before or the week after Easter for K-12. Our colleges are the third week in March. In northern CA where my nieces live, it is 2 weeks before and the week before Easter. In GA, it was the last week in March. It all depends where you are in the country!

[cardbucfan]

Not necessarily true. We cruised on the Eurodam this year the week before Easter, April 4 to April 11, and there were not a lot of "spring breakers" on board. We did have a lot of teenagers, travelling for the most part as multi-generation families.

 

The calendar at http://www.tripsmarter.com/panamacity/springbreak/sbcalendar.htm can be used as a guide, unfortunately 2010 is not available yet.

 

You can see that the week before Easter was the one where the least people were on Spring Break in March and April.

Must be because they were all here in Tampa! We tried to go to Busch Gardens for the day and couldn't get into the parking lot! Same with the beach.

[Oceanwench]

And don't forget February break for the kids in the Northeast.

That's Presidents' Day week.

 

I was considering a cruise in Feb. 2010 and went to look at the roll call. People were all talking about it being school vacation week, and how they are bringing their kids, etc.

 

As far as spring break, the kids in Mass. get the week of Patriot's Day off. That's mid-April.

 

We go up to Disney World a lot, but I won't go from President's Day week through the end of April, as it's always some state's winter or spring break!

[pipedreams62]

Must be because they were all here in Tampa! We tried to go to Busch Gardens for the day and couldn't get into the parking lot! Same with the beach.