March 2012 cruise - worried about spring break crowd

[aks753]

I just got back from a week on the Freedom and booked the 7 night Western cruise for March 18, 2012. I am concerned about running into a college spring break crowd. From what I have seen, this is usually the tail end of spring break. Does anyone have experience cruising this week out of Florida (I have done this week on the Serenade Southern route and had no issues). Do the 7 night cruises get a spring break crowd)?

[time4u2go]

Spring break lasts generally anywhere from mid-February to April. I'm not sure I'd think of the week of March 18th as being toward the end...I know there's still a LOT of people that have theirs at the end of March.

[aks753]

One website has 2 million students on break the week before and 800,000 the third week of March. So, yes, still a lot. But, the mix of schools also changes. Just curious if anyone has experience with that week from Florida. I would hate to be stuck with a spring break crowd.

[CruisinDawn]

That is our Spring Break :D We just went over Spring Break and I really didn't see the "Wild" Spring Break atmosphere on the ship. Kid numbers were up but can't say it impacted our cruise in any way. Your on a 7 day cruise so I would not be worried, take a 3 nighter....That is a whole nother story :eek:

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[tx_sweetpea]

I have sailed the past 2 years during Spring Break. Yes, the ships are going to be crowded with people of all ages. I have not noticed a lot of college people. Cruising is a little expensive for college kids and you have to be 21 to book a cabin. The main problem I have had is with older children that are elevator surfing or running around the ship not paying attention to others. There was never enough issues that it ruined my cruise.

[CP3o]

I think you'll have the K-12 spring break crowd to contend with but not too much of the college crowd. Probably very similar to the cruise you just finished.

 

Most colleges break earlier and most college kids want something shorter and cheaper than a 7 night Freedom sailing. We went on the Liberty a week earlier than your dates and didn't run into college kids. They may have been there, just keeping different hours. We went to bed before the nightlife and we were at the H2O zone and I'd guess the college kids would be at the adult pool. Ours was a 6 night, bet the party crowd goes on 3-5 night cruises. I would not worry about college spring break.

[aks753]

The Freedom this week was packed with teenagers and they were well behaved (much better than I used to be, but the drinking age used to be 18 and we could carry bottles onboard). I'm more concerned about the rowdy college crowd. I have 2 boys - 5 and 7 yrs old - so I cannot complain about the younger kids.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

The College Spring Breakers tend to be earlier in the season and on the shorter (3-5 day) cruises. The longer the cruise the less likely you will run in to wild & crazyness (they run out of money with all that drinking!!)

[FOXTROT]

CHANGE YOUR CRUISE PLANS.

We did a 7 night cruise on the Mariner of the Seas several years ago. With 800 kids on board it was pretty bad. New ship had names carved in the wood, broken elevator door, puck all over the place, kids & crew kicked off. The crew was very tired from staying up half the night cleaning up after the little darlings drinking binges( yep parents supplying the booze. Thank goodness Johnny Rockets started to charge to eat there. That was one of the few places to get away from THEM.

[orville99]

Spring break peaks in 2012 between 3/4 and 3/18, with almost 4MM college students on the loose. The good news is that FOS draws mostly a local college crowd (UF, UCF. USF. FSU, etc.) over spring break, and all of those colleges are back in session before your cruise sails.

[bajathree]

Just off Allure March 13th sailing....we had a total 1900 under 18

[BaileyandBella]

Don't college kids have to be at least 21 to book a cabin?

[Merion_Mom]

Don't college kids have to be at least 21 to book a cabin?

 

SOMEONE in the cabin has to be 21. They could be 8 college kids, two 21 year olds, two cabins.

[aks753]

That's what I was thinking, since most of the schools on break the week of 3/18 are from either the northeast or midwest.

 

Spring break peaks in 2012 between 3/4 and 3/18, with almost 4MM college students on the loose. The good news is that FOS draws mostly a local college crowd (UF, UCF. USF. FSU, etc.) over spring break, and all of those colleges are back in session before your cruise sails.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

SOMEONE in the cabin has to be 21. They could be 8 college kids, two 21 year olds, two cabins.

 

Actually anyone under 21 must have their parents/guardian on the same sailing or prove that they are married.

[smoosh21]

I just got back from a week on the Freedom and booked the 7 night Western cruise for March 18, 2012. I am concerned about running into a college spring break crowd. From what I have seen, this is usually the tail end of spring break. Does anyone have experience cruising this week out of Florida (I have done this week on the Serenade Southern route and had no issues). Do the 7 night cruises get a spring break crowd)?

 

I am not sure you will get too much of a college Spring break crowd since you do have to be over 21 to sail without a parent. I think you are more likely to see a lot of school age children with families during those breaks.

 

A few years ago we were sailing Celebrity on a similar Route to a Princess Ship in Southern Caribbean. When in Dock you could see the Princess ship was almost all families with Children. More than I have seen on almost any ship in dock. This was Presidents Day week when a lot of Northeast schools are off for the week.

[time4u2go]

Actually anyone under 21 must have their parents/guardian on the same sailing or prove that they are married.

That's not true. From RCI's website:

 

"No Guest younger than the age twenty-one (21) will be assigned to a stateroom unless accompanied in the same stateroom by an adult twenty-one (21) years old or older."

 

They only have to be accompanied by an adult...not a parent/guardian, and not a spouse.

[Frick_&_Frack]

My DH and I were looking at Enchantment of the Seas next March - it's a 9 nighter.

 

We have not been on this ship and we have not been on RCCL for several years.

 

Does anyone have the website so I can see the information on spring break estimates? I would think we would be a bit "safer" being that the cruise is longer - but if anyone has first hand experiences, I would love to hear them.

 

Thanks!

[aks753]

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

 

My DH and I were looking at Enchantment of the Seas next March - it's a 9 nighter.

 

We have not been on this ship and we have not been on RCCL for several years.

 

Does anyone have the website so I can see the information on spring break estimates? I would think we would be a bit "safer" being that the cruise is longer - but if anyone has first hand experiences, I would love to hear them.

 

Thanks!

[Frick_&_Frack]

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

 

 

Thanks!!

[time4u2go]

I am not sure you will get too much of a college Spring break crowd since you do have to be over 21 to sail without a parent.

Not true. People (including us) bring their kids' under 21 friends along all the time.

[digital_curator]

We cruised that week out of Ft. Lauderdale on a 6-night cruise on the Independence. I am a "mature" college student so I had to cruise on my break.

 

Ft. Lauderdale was pretty crazy but we stayed at one end of the strip and while I saw lots of college kids, I never heard them.

 

There were lots of kids (1000) onboard but we didn't really notice them. The young ones spent their time in the kid's club or at the kid's pool. The older ones were at the main pool. We stayed in the solarium (our favourite place onboard).

 

At night, the college crowd seemed to favour the karaoke bar or sports bar (March Madness games). We went there too but also spent time in other venues. Honestly, we never saw out anyone really drunk or out of control on the ship. We also didn't have problem with kids in the hallways or elevators (as we did on a November cruise out of NJ one year). We also didn't have problems with lines at the WJ, flowrider, or the shows.

 

Costa May and Cozumel were another story. Large groups went wild and it was somewhere between amusing and alarming to watch lots of young girls being carried back to the ship drunk out of their skulls. However, it didn't impact our tours- in Costa Maya we went on a tour of the Mayan ruins (some young kids who did get a little bored) and in Cozumel we just took a quick look around and went back to the ship.

 

Enjoy!

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

I just got back from a week on the Freedom and booked the 7 night Western cruise for March 18, 2012. I am concerned about running into a college spring break crowd. From what I have seen, this is usually the tail end of spring break. Does anyone have experience cruising this week out of Florida (I have done this week on the Serenade Southern route and had no issues). Do the 7 night cruises get a spring break crowd)?

 

We made that mistake one time a couple of years ago on the Navigator, and Will Never do it again during Spring Break. Loud all night parting in the hall ways, Kids being sick all over the ship from drinking to much. I really felt sorry for the crew for having to clean up after these kids. They even left several behind in Mexico because they couldn't make it back in time, and we even departed late waitting for them. If you could I would recommend Jan or Feb. Just my opinion;)

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

Actually anyone under 21 must have their parents/guardian on the same sailing or prove that they are married.

 

Not alway true, my youngest was 19 at the time when he went with his brother who was 23 at the time. I did not sail with them nor did I have to sign a consent form.

[aks753]

Did you go the 3rd week of March? With the Florida schools on break the week earlier, how many college kids would fly to Florida and take a cruise?

 

 

We made that mistake one time a couple of years ago on the Navigator, and Will Never do it again during Spring Break. Loud all night parting in the hall ways, Kids being sick all over the ship from drinking to much. I really felt sorry for the crew for having to clean up after these kids. They even left several behind in Mexico because they couldn't make it back in time, and we even departed late waitting for them. If you could I would recommend Jan or Feb. Just my opinion;)