Your experiences on Spring Break cruises ??

[Cindy]

We've cruised out of Galveston during Spring Break the last 5 years. Even though college and public school breaks in Texas often coincide, we haven't seen many college kids at all on our cruises...all the cruises have been mostly families. Out of the 5 cruises, the only one with bad behavior was in 2008, and it was teenagers who were out of control, not college students.

Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. We were on the same ship (Voyager) the same week in 2008 & 2009, and the behavior of the kids couldn't have been more different. Last year I saw a LOT more families doing things together, whereas in 2008 I saw lots of kids left to their own devices...and making poor choices.

I think the longer (7+ day) cruises attract fewer college students. We've been in port with some smaller ships doing 3 or 4 day cruises. Those looked like they were loaded with college students, and most of them seemed to have been at Senor Frogs for their excursion!:eek:

[cheaptravel]

Thanks to you all for your input !

 

Citizen Jane, I appreciate your perspective as a College Professor.

[Texanatheart]

I hope it works out for you, just don't let the little things get to you. It wasn't until the last night, last year that we expeienced what is called elevator tag. I don't know how exactly it's played, I just know that every floor button on the elevator are pushed, so if you are on the 16th deck like we were (twice) it gets a little annoying stopping on EVERY deck. This is the type of thing you can expect. I have only been on the 7 day cruises, I would expect that the shorter cruises WILL attract the college aged party crowd.

May the force be with you!!!

 

Thank you very much.

[emeraldcity]

I cruised on a 5-day spring break cruise out of Galveston and I was told by AO staff during registration that there were 490 kids on board (out of 2000 passengers). It was a mystery to me where all those kids were. If 1 in 4 passengers was a kid, then they were either locked up in the hold or there were large numbers of well behaved teens that looked like they were old enough to be young adults.

[txcowboy10]

Thanks, silentbob007, that's nice to hear. This voyage I speak of is a Monarch 4-day, and is purported to have well over 1000 college goers on board. :eek:

 

Been there...done that..on Monarch 2 years ago...never again! Never head the F word from so many drunk young adults people on the pool deck and at dinner (since many were still drunk at dinner) in my life...no thanks.

[Citizen Jane]

I think there are two different spring breaks that we are getting mixed up here...unless I am wrong, the OP was asking about college spring breaks vs. K-12 spring breaks.

 

Unfortunately, my DD's spring break is 1 month+ different from my spring break (she is in 1st grade).

 

Fortunately, I am not the only university educator at her school and her teachers are willing to work with us and give her assignments to work on during our trip. Since she is young, we keep a very detailed journal in which she practices her writing and drawing and we will take her math and phonics workbooks with us and she will work on her number scroll. Last year, thanks to the great science stuff they do in Adventure Ocean and Family science hour in the afternoons she had some great educational experiences on the cruise to share with her teachers.

 

But, as I said before, if you are with a bunch of college kids...yes, they will be college kids and many will drink and party to excess if they can. Our experience, however, has been that they will also be sensitive to families. Those who did drop the f-bomb or act inappropriately in font of DD were apologetic when they realized there was a wee one present. It was actually nice as a parent to see them falling all over themselves for inappropriate behavior, LOL. I wished I could tell their parents that, while they were naughty at times, they had raised their kids to be polite too. Perhaps I am too forgiving.

[Ashala]

If you want to know how college-aged students behave and act on cruises, ask me. :) I'm a 21 year old college student.

 

I have gone on 4 previous RCCL cruises with my family [mom, dad, and twin sister]. All during "spring break" time. Being a responsible young woman, I never noticed any mass of spring breakers, but all previous sailings were 7 night cruises. So I can't account for shorter sailings.

 

But this spring break, I am purchasing my first big trip as treat to myself, as it's my senior year of college and I'll be graduating in December. I'll be on the 2/28 Indy 6-night cruise.

 

I will have fun [i.e. enjoying a tropical beverage, go on excursions on the islands, etc.], but I will not be running naked on any decks at any time. :)

 

Basically, you'll encounter college-aged students if you cruise during that time. But not all fit into the college student stereotype.

 

In any case, I hope you enjoy your cruise and that you don't encounter too many terrible college students!

[Redheada]

My experience hasnt been the age group but the length and location of the cruise. I assume you are referring to wild and crazy behavior expected out of Spring Break students and hands down the 3 day cruises to Mexico have been the wildest (I assume the same could be said for the 3-4 days out of Florida). I have never seen the same type of craziness on any 7 day at any time. I definitely wouldnt limit that to students, actually all the stumbling drunks were the older crowd... But the 3 days to Mexico had all the Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, etc. On the Monarch, I have seen people passed out in the a number of public places........actually those are pretty fun cruises even if you arent the one partying. :o) People watching at its finest.....

[scotts8826]

I've been on two spring break cruises out of Galveston. Both times there were college age students but they were no where near the worst behaved. Typically, they helped keep the mood lively on the pool deck with their participation in games and a willingness to be "out there". Also, they were great fodder for the comedians. We laughed like crazy as the comedian couldn't ask for better foils. I never witnessed any obscene behavior so RCI must keep a pretty good eye on them.

 

The obnoxious adults who are written about constantly on these boards are the ones who make me grimace.

[MiamiSpartan]

Not Spring Breakers' but we were on a weekend Carnival trip once populated with 600 young South Beach partiers (ages 21-30). Will never do that again!

The pools had to be shut down each day due to...shall we say...naughty behaviour, and topless women....

Dang ship looked like one of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos they always advertise on late night TV....

I'm no prude, but it was pretty awful....

[Candleonwater]

We almost always cruise during the LATER spring break time - leaving Easter Sunday. Personally, I think I would prefer to sail during college spring breaks than high schools. Some of these kids act like they've never seen alcohol before, especially at Cozumel. A couple of years ago, I think DD was 8 or 9 and she ran into a group of older teens who were talking about their goal of getting a young kid drunk... she was HORRIFIED!

[retnuh281]

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

 

This link provides college spring break schedules for 2010.

 

I was on a 3 day weekend cruise out of California over Memorial Day weekend and we had several college kids onboard. Most behaved but there were a few rowdy drunks late at night. Hallways also tended to be noisy during the night when people were yelling or running down the halls. Wasn't unbearable but if you are looking for a quiet romantic getaway without kids, you will be disappointed. Stick with a 7 day cruise and you will be much happier.

 

LOL..........Only 898,249 college kids will be out during our cruise. Thank goodness the vast majority can't afford a 7 day Oasis cruise!! However, I do like a more "lively" atmosphere, but worry about my 16yr old being in the middle of a true spring break. No need to worry, been there done that and have yet to have a problem.

[Lady Chew]

Our first cruise was a 5-night on Enchantment during spring break. We were amazed at the amount of drinking going on. The ship was filled with college students drinking, drinking, and drinking some more. When they were finished drinking ... they started drinking again.

 

It really didn't impact us at all, we still had a great time, while they got rowdy at times I don't recall anything over the line, and I don't recall seeing anyone put ashore.

 

I do remember that when we were all lined up in the customs area to get off, it was amusing to see all of the college kids with their humongous hangovers. Some of them could barely stand (many of them were sitting on their bags), you could see them wincing with every sound!! We were in line behind a young couple from the Naval Academy, they were really suffering - but they were incredibly polite!!

[Texanatheart]

If you want to know how college-aged students behave and act on cruises, ask me. :) I'm a 21 year old college student.

 

I have gone on 4 previous RCCL cruises with my family [mom, dad, and twin sister]. All during "spring break" time. Being a responsible young woman, I never noticed any mass of spring breakers, but all previous sailings were 7 night cruises. So I can't account for shorter sailings.

 

But this spring break, I am purchasing my first big trip as treat to myself, as it's my senior year of college and I'll be graduating in December. I'll be on the 2/28 Indy 6-night cruise.

 

I will have fun [i.e. enjoying a tropical beverage, go on excursions on the islands, etc.], but I will not be running naked on any decks at any time. :)

 

Basically, you'll encounter college-aged students if you cruise during that time. But not all fit into the college student stereotype.

 

In any case, I hope you enjoy your cruise and that you don't encounter too many terrible college students!

 

I'm not worried about college kids. In fact, I enjoy their company it is more the K-12 set that I would have liked to avoid.

[bubbadog]

It has been my experience,That sometimes things can get a little overboard,I usually bring my taser with me,so if you hear" OH GOD PLEASE DONT TASE ME BRO",It is just me,interacting with the fun crowd,and letting them know that,some of their antics arent funny with the older crowd:))))));)

[BGCruiser85]

Citizen Jane, My wife and I are on the same cruise that you are booked on. Unfortunately, it didn't even register that it was spring break time when I booked. I thought that the beginning of March was safe. I'm really getting apprehensive now. We are not much for partying and not tolerant at all of the F bomb in polite society. Should I be worried? This the only vacation we save up all year for and I'd hate to not enjoy it.

[TxBubba]

We did spring break (mid-March) on the Voyager out of Texas last year and we are doing it again this March. There were a lot of families but no incidents to report. We had a great time and that is why we are doing it again. :)

[jt1945]

been on one. I never got a chance to use the hot tub and as far as not having money most were frat boys with daddys credit card. The good news is w/planning we stayed away from most of them and still had a good time

[amybear912]

We did the Monarch 4nighter during Spring Break last year and I have to say we were pleasantly surprised...

 

1.) Not a loud and rowdy scene at all...

 

2.) bartenders were checking their photo IDs against their SeaPass cards

 

3.) We had a table for two because the other 4 assigned to our seating never showed up... we're guessing they were kids who just weren't into the dining room thing... Most of the larger tables were filled with groups of college kids...

 

4) They sure as hell weren't getting up early to reserve chairs...;)

 

We're in our late 30's and definitely were outnumbered but we had a good time and a few laughs when kids were calling home to get more money on the first day - before we even left Port Canaveral... Or the one kid we always found passed out on the pool chairs at like 7am every morning...

 

We were really nervous about it too and probably wouldn't do it again... we had a great cruise but we prefer a more diverse mix...:)

[peabody99]

We went on a cruise on GOS last spring that happened to be spring break. We did not think about it when we booked, although we should have since it was my spouses spring break (he works in higher ed) . I did not think college kids went on cruises, but they sure do.

 

I wrote a review, which may be accessable through viewing my profile. All in all the kids were not bad. People love to say things like "kids today are so bad...", but they are no worse than generations ahead of them. If anything they are more travel savvy and did not act as stupid as they could have. I would not let it discourage you at all.

[Citizen Jane]

Citizen Jane, My wife and I are on the same cruise that you are booked on. Unfortunately, it didn't even register that it was spring break time when I booked. I thought that the beginning of March was safe. I'm really getting apprehensive now. We are not much for partying and not tolerant at all of the F bomb in polite society. Should I be worried? This the only vacation we save up all year for and I'd hate to not enjoy it.

We had a GREAT time on the same cruise last year. Only difference I can see is that it is leaving from Miami instead of Ft. Lauderdale. I can't guarantee that nothing will happen, but if it is anything like last year it shouldn't be a problem. The kids who were caught running around naked were doing so at 3:00 a.m. I can't make predictions about the f-bomb since they were obviously keeping their mouths clean in front of me because I was usually with my kid.

 

The college kids on the cruise last year tended to gravitate to the dance clubs and it was our experience that there were always places without them on the ship. They also tend to be more active at certain times of the day, LOL. Mornings seemed to be pretty quiet. They pretty much desert the ship during time in port as well. I'm happy to answer any really specific questions if you like, I'm just not remembering anything other than fun (or we wouldn't have chosen to do it again).:)

 

I do remember the girls were quite into dressing up for formal night and they were all actually pretty respectful of the dress code in the MDR.

 

 

NOTA BENE: I'm just commenting on how the college kids dressed, NOT INVITING ANOTHER BEATING OF THE DEAD HORSE ABOUT DRESSING FOR THE MDR.:cool:

[BGCruiser85]

We had a GREAT time on the same cruise last year. Only difference I can see is that it is leaving from Miami instead of Ft. Lauderdale. I can't guarantee that nothing will happen, but if it is anything like last year it shouldn't be a problem. The kids who were caught running around naked were doing so at 3:00 a.m. I can't make predictions about the f-bomb since they were obviously keeping their mouths clean in front of me because I was usually with my kid.

 

The college kids on the cruise last year tended to gravitate to the dance clubs and it was our experience that there were always places without them on the ship. They also tend to be more active at certain times of the day, LOL. Mornings seemed to be pretty quiet. They pretty much desert the ship during time in port as well. I'm happy to answer any really specific questions if you like, I'm just not remembering anything other than fun (or we wouldn't have chosen to do it again).:)

 

I do remember the girls were quite into dressing up for formal night and they were all actually pretty respectful of the dress code in the MDR.

 

 

NOTA BENE: I'm just commenting on how the college kids dressed, NOT INVITING ANOTHER BEATING OF THE DEAD HORSE ABOUT DRESSING FOR THE MDR.:cool:

 

Thanks for the reassurance! It is what it is and I guess you either accept things and enjoy the trip or ruin a potentially great time. Looking forward to getting back on board a ship. It's been two years since our last and I'm really missing the feeling!

[Texanatheart]

It has been my experience,That sometimes things can get a little overboard,I usually bring my taser with me,so if you hear" OH GOD PLEASE DONT TASE ME BRO",It is just me,interacting with the fun crowd,and letting them know that,some of their antics arent funny with the older crowd:))))));)

 

Now that is funny!!!:D

[insulationbabe]

We've been on a few cruises at March break, because our firiend in Florida who we love cruising with is a teacher - the only complaints we had was our breakfast menus and others that were hanging on our door for room service in the morning were removed along with a bunch of others and found at the end of the hall near the staircase the next morning, so no room service - and the second one was young girls ranging from 10-12 I think running the halls constantly - until I opened the door just as they were galloping by and scared the you know what out of them - I told them I would report them if they did it again, and they apologized and never saw them again - thank goodness:)

[Hobiecat01]

We have never had any issue with "Spring Breakers" on any of our cruises, EXCEPT, our only 3 day cruise. On our 3 dayer, we found that many folks, spring breakers or not, felt they could stay up and drink for three days, nonstop. This was the only cruise we have ever seen with issues regarding overtly drunk people. Sure, there are a few over imbibers on every cruise but our three dayer seemed to have an over abundance of drunks. That is why DW and I have stayed away from anything but 7 days or more. Now, our only 3 dayer was on Carnival... maybe that had something to do with it...:D

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