Ideas to avoid spring breakers on cruises

[topaz123]

~~Whew. we made the mistake of going crusing on College Spring Break~~WOW, never again. Looking for suggestions.....some others have suggested we go on different cuise lines to avoid the " Gee, I'm drunk again" crowd. We enjoy Carnival, but looks like this would not be an option. What do you think....other "older/mature" cruise lines during spring break???

[Langley Cruisers]

I am a little confused by your post - you said you would never sail during SB again, yet are looking for another line to try during SB? :confused:

 

Anyway, looks like you are Carnival fans from your signature. I see you did sail RCI once, which is our line of choice. On Royal there is lots to do if you want, or relaxing to do if you want. Their sister line, Celebrity, caters to a quieter, more mature crowd as well.

 

I guess my number one piece of advice would be to book the longest cruise you can afford. :) The Spring Breakers go for a few days and some up to a week, but you will find fewer "drinkers and partyers" on longer cruises. If you can book a 9 night or longer cruise, I know you will see the difference in clientele.

.

[boogs]

~~Whew. we made the mistake of going crusing on College Spring Break~~WOW, never again. Looking for suggestions.....some others have suggested we go on different cuise lines to avoid the " Gee, I'm drunk again" crowd. We enjoy Carnival, but looks like this would not be an option. What do you think....other "older/mature" cruise lines during spring break???

 

My suggestions in order of effectiveness:

 

1) Don't cruise during Spring break holidays.

2) Don't take the shorter cruises.

3) Cruise anywhere other than the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean or the Mexican Rivera where spring breakers tend to go.

4) Cruise any cruise line other than Carnival or NCL.

[GTO-Girl]

~~Whew. we made the mistake of going crusing on College Spring Break~~WOW, never again. Looking for suggestions.....some others have suggested we go on different cuise lines to avoid the " Gee, I'm drunk again" crowd. We enjoy Carnival, but looks like this would not be an option. What do you think....other "older/mature" cruise lines during spring break???

 

If you cannot avoid the Feb/Mar/early April timeframe I would suggest taking a longer cruise......at least 7 or more days.

 

College Spring breakers usually don't want to pay for a longer cruise......it's more about the party.:p

[LHT28]

Do not go during spring break

 

Go on longer cruises or more upscale lines

most of the college kids are not going to pay $$ to go & be blotted for the cruise

 

We got caught on NCL spring break cruise ONCE:eek:

 

I am willing to pay more $$ for Oceania where there are few if any kids

YMMV

[beachbum53]

There is a short off-peak period of about two or three weeks after the end of Spring Break (usually the end of April) and the beginning of summer cruises (around Memorial Weekend) when cruises aren't overrun with kids, and prices tend to drop a bit. If you can book your cruise during that time period, I think you'll enjoy it a lot more.;)

[iancal]

I suggest that the best thing would to avoid booking cruises during the spring break period.

[Keith1010]

Avoid the Caribbean starting in mid February thru end of April.

 

Fly somewhere else or go in January into very early February.

 

Keith

[Warm Breezes]

We sailed Ruby Princess this past mid-March from FLL for a 5 day cruise. I was amazed at the lack of Spring Breakers on this cruise. The majority of passengers were in their mid 60's to 80's. There were a lot of snow bird couples and groups from retirement villages. I saw some teens at the pool during the day and at the ultimate deck party one night....other than that I hardly saw them at all. If they were there I don't know where they were hiding.

[spookwife]

~~Whew. we made the mistake of going crusing on College Spring Break~~WOW, never again. Looking for suggestions.....some others have suggested we go on different cuise lines to avoid the " Gee, I'm drunk again" crowd. We enjoy Carnival, but looks like this would not be an option. What do you think....other "older/mature" cruise lines during spring break???

 

 

they ALL get that crowd.

 

only sail longer itineraries: more than 7 days.

 

or don't sail during Spring Break./

[cb at sea]

The more expensive lines/longer cruises won't have the "party crowds" like the shorter, cheaper cruises will.

 

We've cruised during the Spring Break months....but on 7 nighters....haven't had a problem with rowdy college kids!

[cruisead]

If you want/need to cruise during spring break, avoid Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean. We've found that if you want to cruise during those months, take a cruise that's 10 days or longer. We cruise frequently in March, but we've taken the 14 day on Eclipse, or the 10 day on Equinox. This year we cruised on Eclipse in March and there were maybe 10 kids on board.

[topaz123]

DONT CRUISE DURING Spring Break:

 

Wife is a teacher...it's these weeks or none

 

SELECT LONGER CRUISES

 

Same idea...fenced in on when and length due to wife's school

 

SELECT OTHER PORTS AND DESTINATIONS

 

Good idea looks like the best bet.

 

What about Holland America or any other "mature" ships?

 

Thanks to all!!!!

[Langley Cruisers]

What about Holland America or any other "mature" ships?

 

Yes, HAL is known for a more mature crowd; Celebrity too.

[OCruisers]

Try a different cruise line (Princess, Celebrity, or HAL) for at least 7 days. ;)

LuLu

[Karysa]

Sailing from San Juan would also be something to consider. Sailing in the Haven on NCL would be another suggestion if price is not an option. Can't imagine HAL would be rocking on any cruise so that would be my 3rd suggestion. Good Luck!

[xxoocruiser]

• Avoid Spring break time periods whenever possible
  
• Though all cruise lines will have spring break passengers NCL, Carnival and RCCL tend to more popular cruise lines. Don't let the more Family Friendly RCCL fool you as it's not immune to spring breakers.
  
• Avoid 5 day or less cruises .
  
• Avoid itineraries whether its 4 5 and or 7 days that to go to the more popular Spring Breaker Ports such as the Key West, Bahamas, Cozumel and Grand Caymans as cruises with those post tend to be the cheaper.
  
• Check to find out the Spring Break Periods for the colleges in the embarkation port State. EX: If leaving out of New Orleans check the Spring Break periods for Louisiana. Reason being that Spring Breakers prefer to keep costs down and look for a port they can easily to drive to rather than incur the expense of flying .
  

 

Even with all these suggestions if you cruise during the spring break period it's Cruiser Beware.

Edited May 29, 2014 by xxoocruiser

[SuiteTraveler]

We cruised on NCL Epic during spring break in a suite - made ALL the difference! First off, although there were some spring breakers on the ship, since we were in a suite, we were in The Haven most of the time which was free of spring break kids. It was incredibly entertaining to eat in the Epic Club at lunch or be in The Haven's sun deck and look down at the main pool! We also had a Spa Suite - which gave us access to the sauna's and thalisotherapy pool and none of the spring break kids were in there. Honestly, we may as well have been on a completely different cruise than the spring break kids, BUT, the advantage was all the FREE entertainment they provided us while overlooking the pool. We ate in specialty restaurants every night, so there were very few kids in these venues. I don't think the kids went to many of the shows and they weren't in the casinos much. As far as I could tell, they were mainly congregating around the pool bar and around the pool and spending a lot of time in the buffet - two places we rarely ever go on a ship. They went to some of the parties at night - which we weren't interested in. This cruise over the height of spring break worked out perfectly for us!