Anybody Done A Spring Break Cruise? Good? Bad?

Never cruised with RCI (or any other line, for that matter) during March Spring Break. Probably because I've been told by a few folks that it's not the best time to sail, unless you don't mind tons of children and teens. I have been on a short cruise out of Miami in April years ago that was full of college kids, and that was insane as I recall. Had a good time, but a bit crazy for my tastes.

Does anybody have any Spring Break sailing experiences, good or bad or indifferent to share? Maybe I'll try it one day if the rates/itinerary are good.

We did a 4 night Bahamas cruise last March and the boat was full of college students. For most part they were respectful but always a few that drank to much daily. Biggest problem was pool area was always packed and almost impossible to get drinks from the bar. Even the lobby bar got busy around dinner time after moving inside. Otherwise not a big deal for us anyways

You will have a very different experience between a short cruise and a week long cruise. For a week long cruise you will get a lot of families and some college kids. For a short cruise - like the 4 day I did with my daughter on Monarch a few years back- anyone much more than 4 years over the legal drinking age will be in the minority. My daughter and I met up with another mom and daughter and had a very nice time, but the partying on deck at night was too much for my daughter who had just graduated from college. We had a nice time getting away together, however, I wouldn't care to repeat it. Fortunately, that cruise gave me the points that I needed to be Diamond on my next trip.

I think that I was one of very few people on the ship who had cruised much with RCCL. At Emerald the crew acted like I was Pinnacle. They all just bent over backwards anytime they saw the Emerald on my card.

The trip was fun, but there were a lot of people who were quite literally falling down drunk.

And aren't the prices of Spring break cruises higher? So I don't think you'll find much a good deal. Late April and May were my favorites times to cruise.

My upcoming cruise on Oasis will be my third spring break Easter week cruise. If you are looking at a week long cruise it will be mostly families. Yes there will be a lot of teens and children because that is their school break....You will probably not find a lot of college students on the longer cruise....they tend toward the 3-5 day trips unless they are on a family trip....the other two cruises during spring break were on carnival and people tend to think carnival is overrun with drunk parties....both cruises were fine...I don't think most college students can afford week long cruises...the shorter and less expensive the cruise the more party people in my opinion...This time we are traveling for my son's senior trip with two of his friends...they are hoping to meet a lot of others their age while on the trip...I don't think you will have a problem with a week or longer cruise...but it will still be a full ship...

We cruised Jewel on March 6 and expected to see college students. I didn't see many. I guess spring break out of San Juan is not as popular as Florida. Jewel appears to be a more layed back, slightly older crowd. Great ship , great time!!

I'm a middle-ager now, but I have vivid memories of my own Spring Break adventures (not cruising). We were pretty crazy ourselves, so I do get the youthful energy the college kids expend...been there, done that. But I suppose my tolerance level is no longer what it used to be...LOL :D

We were on Brilliance the first week of March and there were surprisingly a lot of college Spring Breakers. It was a 5 night cruise. I would say that the kids had a very good time. :) Yes, they did take over the pool deck and the pool and the karaoke and the bars, but they were very respectful for the most part and were very nice kids. There were a lot of adults that were just as drunk, if not drunker and more out of control, than the spring breakers. I didn't have any problem with them at all; in fact, they probably added to the fun (we're still talking about some of them :D ).

We have done week long cruises and it wasn't bad at all. I don't mind the livelier atmosphere any more than the geriatric atmosphere on the winter cruises :p.

Just did Serenade out of NOLA on 3-14-15 to 3-21-15 and did not see anything I considered to be a large crowd of spring breakers. Saw a few college age people by the pool and in the bars but nothing to worry about. Definitely not some Animal House frat party thing anywhere at anytime that I saw. :)

Just got off the Liberty of the Seas, 3/14-3/19. Expected a lot of college kids on the trip because of the date and we were going to cozumel, which seems like a big spring break destination, but it wasn't too bad. To be honest, I saw more spring breakers in the disembarkation line than it seemed were on the ship. A lot of families, and it was very crowded, but it wasn't crazy or anything. Other than more people, it was very similair to the cruise we took last year.

Our first cruise ever was a 7 day cruise in March on Carnival, after which we almost gave up cruising. We have not sailed with Carnival since. On this March cruise college kids were throwing up or passed out in stairwells. Some drunk college aged guys were hitting on our friend's 12 year old daughter and trying to offer her drinks, before her father intervened - not a good scene. We didn't feel comfortable having our kids (aged 10-14) roam on their own on the ship even though they were in groups of 4 or 5 and we kept having to explain to our younger children why people were acting the way they were.

However, we have since cruised in March with RCL as Canadian kids in public school often have a spring break in March, and we have always had a great time, with no worries about outrageous behaviour. As other suggest I would never sail for less than 7 days and would try to avoid cheaper cruises, e.g older ships, fewer ports, especially cruises to the Western Caribbean - college kids especially those who are too young to drink on board know they can get served alcohol at really cheap prices in Mexican ports.

Best bet is to sail out of San Juan (the more expensive airfares deter spring breakers) and to book a cruise of more than 7 days if you can.

We did a 8 day cruise to the Panama Canal over spring break one year. It was packed with kids. It wasn't horrible however we choose to cruise at other times when it is ldcc crowded...

We have cruised during spring break several times and have never had an issue. I will add that all of our spring break cruises have been out of San Juan. We have had families with kids but not many college aged people. I'm guessing that the cost of airfare to San Juan keeps a lot of college student from cruise out of there. It is much cheaper (airfare at least) to cruise out of one of the continental U.S. ports.

Last week there was a thread on the Celebrity board about a 5-day spring break cruise. It got very heated and was locked.

There were many college students on board, most of them from one college in Florida, and their behavior was apparently pretty bad ... lots of pushing, cursing, inappropriate sexual behavior in public areas, overcrowding in the pools to the point where safety became an issue, underage drinking, drink packages being shared among students ... the OP was pretty upset that the staff did not handle things very well ...

We've only been on one spring break cruise - our very first "test" cruise - and we were astounded at the amount of drinking going on, much of it by underage college students, but it didn't affect our enjoyment of the cruise one little bit.

We did a 8 day cruise to the Panama Canal over spring break one year. It was packed with kids. It wasn't horrible however we choose to cruise at other times when it is ldcc crowded...

A bunch of children on a Panama Canal cruise, huh? I wouldn't have expected that! Glad that you still had a pretty good time.

We just did Enchntment 3 day on March 13 and it was a mix of college and teens and small kids with families. The clubs were more crowded and livelier than othe cruises we have been on which was cool. The biggest problem we encountered was the smaller children that were allowed to run around amuck runnining into you with no apologies from the parents. We usually cruise in October and we think we will continue to do so :cool:

We did one by TOTAL accident. Since we don't have kids we had no clue it was college spring break. OMG... I thought I was going to die. Turns out it was awesome watching them. The belly flop contest lasted 1 1/2 hrs. Instead of the usual 20 min. 6 kids must have acted up the first night and got kicked off in Cozumel. When they had Quest they were bareass naked switching clothes. We aren't nightclub people so besides the pool deck they slept most of the day. They weren't even in the casino most of the time.

I've done a few Spring Break cruises on the Oasis / Allure (and some off season cruises) and it is definitely less relaxing on the Spring Break weeks. You need to be early to everything to get a decent seat and excursions fill up much faster so more advanced planning is definitely needed.

My biggest complaint is the increase in the "chair hogs" - almost every chair "reserved" with some little item before 8am and most of the people don't show up until 10am.

My 2nd complaint is the number of teens who would be in large groups either blocking stairs by sitting on them or playing "elevator tag". I was a teen once who played elevator tag so I understand the fun of it. I just prefer to cruise when I don't have to be around it now that my kids are out of the house.

Did we have fun on our Spring Break cruises? Most definitely and I would do them again. When you don't have a choice due to school calendars, that is when you can go. But now it is nice to go at other times with a different crowd and much lower prices. Our November Allure trip last year was the most relaxing cruise I ever took.

Was on Liberty 3/9 with over 1700 spring breakers. It was pretty crazy! We were in a suite though, so never had to worry about finding a place to sit, and the concierge lounge was practically empty every evening. :D

I recently got off a spring break, 4 night cruise out of Port Canaveral.

1. I would never turn down any cruise.

2. I would prefer to cruise without spring breakers in attendance.

3. There was no room in the pool for grandson. Crew asked about our conversation, I just said he was afraid to go in the kiddie pool with so many "grups" in it. Crew member asked all with alcoholic beverages to leave kiddie pool. WOW! Grandson was one happy little swimmer, Grammy was pretty impressed with crew member!

4. It was very difficult to fight your way to a bar for a drink.

5. Found several breakers, every morning, sleeping on deck chairs.

6. First time ever, there were bathroom attendants in all bathrooms anywhere near pool or pool bars and they were still trashed. (the bathrooms, not the attendants) :eek:

7. Repeat #1 & 2!!

Every cruise we've been on has been the week of Easter. We've never had any problems.

There is a huge difference between Easter week (general school breaks) and COLLEGE SPRING BREAK.

I just did the february break on NCL from NYC and there were 1700 kids on board, since many school districts were closed for the week. It was fine. Doing same itinerary next year on Anthem.

The college spring breaks mean drunkin craziness. Likely bad on shorter cruises and Carnival tends to gear especially well towards this crowd.

I've done Freedom 7 day in mid March a couple of years ago.. We were told on board that there were 600 college students aboard. I was a bit concerned but never had a problem! Yes, there were a lot of them at the pool but we didn't see any drunken behavior. The solarium area was fine as was all the other areas of the ship. Our experience was fine.

I did a March Break cruise and it was fine. Lots of college kids but they weren't a problem. The captain told everyone at the beginning of the cruise what type of behaviours would not be accepted and said if you're late to the boat, you will be left behind, etc. It was a good cruise!