Need advice

[Baded]

Hi everyone I'm looking for some opinions, I'm sure I will get a few! My wife and I have cruised on another line and we do enjoy them, but to be honest I don't feel like they are treating us very royal lately. We are thinking of doing the Getaway next year, late Apr, do you see a lot of spring breakers on NCL ships? Also the cost is higher then my past royal cruises and is it really worth it? The cabin I was looking at seems to be priced way higher and they look about the same sq ft.

 

Please give your impressions of the ship any details you think are important. Thanks for your time.

 

Ed and Lynda

:D:confused:

[marelind]

We were on the Norwegian Star beginning of April and, of the +/-2400 passengers, 1000 were 18 and under. I don't know about the end of April, that may be past the Spring break period. If you are referring to college age Spring breakers, then Norwegian isn't known as a huge party cruise line.

 

As far as the fares in comparison to other lines, I can't speak, nor about Getaway as we sail on the smaller ships.

[tarps14]

The first (and what would be most important to us) answer is yes, there will be a lot of spring breakers. That being said, most of the legal drinking age cruisers tend to cruise in March and early April as that's when the college spring breaks are. Mostly what you will find mid to late April are the school age kids (i.e. families with kids). That time frame, in addition to the summer months and holidays, tend to be the busiest time therefore the highest prices.

 

It's very difficult to answer the "is it worth it" question because everyone cruises for different reasons. We love the suite experience on NCL so therefore it is definitely worth it for us. We have also cruised the royal line and thoroughly enjoyed it. This was, though, when our children were young and they had a greater number of things geared more towards kids back then (10+ yrs ago). NCL now offers a great deal for kids to do so it would be a much harder decision today. NCL does tend to run more towards an adult crowd (at least this is our observations) and also a younger average age as opposed to say Holland or Princess. We have cruised both of those lines in the past and have found NCL much more to our liking (we are both in our 50's).

 

I'm sure this is a great deal more info than you probably wanted. I'm also sure if you posted this same question on the royal board, the answers would be the exact opposite. :o

[ellis101]

Come join us on the getaway end of March instead. Price was much cheaper for us compared to April!

[motleyfan]

Hi everyone I'm looking for some opinions, I'm sure I will get a few! My wife and I have cruised on another line and we do enjoy them, but to be honest I don't feel like they are treating us very royal lately. We are thinking of doing the Getaway next year, late Apr, do you see a lot of spring breakers on NCL ships? Also the cost is higher then my past royal cruises and is it really worth it? The cabin I was looking at seems to be priced way higher and they look about the same sq ft.

 

Please give your impressions of the ship any details you think are important. Thanks for your time.

 

Ed and Lynda

:D:confused:

 

From what I've heard yes there are a lot of spring breakers in April. I went on a march Cruise and it was awesome, lots of Spring Breakers, lots of partying and lots of fun.

[Coastalbreezes]

Are you concerned about spring breakers being drunk and rowdy? I really haven't seen much of that on any of my cruises but have definitely seen older adults drunk and out of control (especially on my recent May Getaway cruise).

 

FYI, NCL has a new policy that under 25 cannot purchase the beverage package from March through April.

 

Personally I would just select a cruise with an itinerary that you like and go and enjoy.

 

Tracy

[luvtheships]

College spring break is primarily in march

 

Easter is the last Sunday in march in 2016 so the week before and the week after will be high school and below spring break plus a few colleges finishing up their breaks

 

 

You don't say what week in April you are looking at but Easter is your key date for high school and below

 

Early mid late march for colleges

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[luvtheships]

We were on the Norwegian Star beginning of April and, of the +/-2400 passengers, 1000 were 18 and under. I don't know about the end of April, that may be past the Spring break period. If you are referring to college age Spring breakers, then Norwegian isn't known as a huge party cruise line.

 

As far as the fares in comparison to other lines, I can't speak, nor about Getaway as we sail on the smaller ships.

 

Easter was April 5 in 2015

 

This date makes all the difference in the world btw

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Baded]

Thanks everyone for your input. What I'm really looking was a cruise in Feb, for my birthday, the guy from NCL keeps pushing the Apr date. But looks like NCL doesn't go where we want to go, when we want to go. Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize City and Roatan Bay Islands, the western Caribbean. Already been to all the islands in the eastern Caribbean.

 

Oh well, will keep looking

 

Ed

:o:rolleyes:

[BamaVol]

Living here in Spring Break Central, I can tell you it starts to build the first week of March and is effectively finished by the second half of April with a peak in the third week of March. There are some schools out in late February and late April but they are few. I would not cruise during March or the first half of April if that wasn't what I was looking for.

Edited June 6, 2015 by BamaVol

[zqvol]

Hi everyone I'm looking for some opinions, I'm sure I will get a few! My wife and I have cruised on another line and we do enjoy them, but to be honest I don't feel like they are treating us very royal lately. We are thinking of doing the Getaway next year, late Apr, do you see a lot of spring breakers on NCL ships? Also the cost is higher then my past royal cruises and is it really worth it? The cabin I was looking at seems to be priced way higher and they look about the same sq ft.

 

Please give your impressions of the ship any details you think are important. Thanks for your time.

 

Ed and Lynda

:D:confused:

 

A couple of points that apply to all cruise lines. College age spring breakers are usually the first two weeks of March. They rarely cause any issues to other passengers. K-12 spring break is usually tied to Easter and is the week before or the week after. These are the two weeks to avoid. K-12 spring breakers cause a lot more issues on the ships than do college breakers. The young ones run in large groups, get on elevators in small herds and stop on all floors, they RUN everywhere. They take over the hot tubs and pools. This is the same for all lines.

 

You will find that NCL cabins tend to be on the small side, and that is pretty much true fleet wide, except for the suites. IMO no mass market line does suites better than NCL, and they are worth what you pay for them.

 

I think late April next year should see a minimal number of kids (Easter is early next year), and I think that you will probably enjoy NCL. The ships are not quite as "fancy" and you don't have traditional dining but other than that you will find that the two lines are more alike than they are different.

[zqvol]

Thanks everyone for your input. What I'm really looking was a cruise in Feb, for my birthday, the guy from NCL keeps pushing the Apr date. But looks like NCL doesn't go where we want to go, when we want to go. Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize City and Roatan Bay Islands, the western Caribbean. Already been to all the islands in the eastern Caribbean.

 

Oh well, will keep looking

 

Ed

:o:rolleyes:

 

 

Fly to New Orleans and go on the Dawn. It does exactly what you want.

[HarpHarp]

Thanks everyone for your input. What I'm really looking was a cruise in Feb, for my birthday, the guy from NCL keeps pushing the Apr date. But looks like NCL doesn't go where we want to go, when we want to go. Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize City and Roatan Bay Islands, the western Caribbean. Already been to all the islands in the eastern Caribbean.

 

Oh well, will keep looking

 

Ed

:o:rolleyes:

 

How about the Star out of Tampa Feb 7-14? It's a smaller ship, but I've been on her twice & loved both cruises. Those ports are great & the Mayan Ruins tour in Costa Maya is still one of our favorite excursions.