Weeks to avoid - spring break

[maggieq]

We have only cruised in March out of San Juan and have avoided the spring breakers (kids).  Are there specific weeks that we busier than another in March for cruises out of the US?  Thanks!

[ONECRUISER]

March to early April with week of Easter where that falls busiest... I use to always cruise in Feb, was lot cheaper also

Edited December 3, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[Clarea]

The week before and after Easter tend to be very crowded with younger children.

[Zach1213]

As someone who actively tries to avoid kids on vacation, I will say I would block out all of March and the first half of April to be safe 🙂

[dcgrumpy]

1 minute ago, Zach1213 said:

As someone who actively tries to avoid kids on vacation, I will say I would block out all of March and the first half of April to be safe 🙂

 

I would avoid all of April if you're trying to avoid school aged kids. Our spring break this year is 4/19-4/28.

[Zach1213]

Just now, dcgrumpy said:

 

I would avoid all of April if you're trying to avoid school aged kids. Our spring break this year is 4/19-4/28.

 

Good to know. I'll block out March and April for future vacations. We did the second week of May this year (2018) and there was barely a kid in sight, it was lovely.

[Harrylinden]

With the kid's sail free promo"s all the time,there will be lot's of kid's all year long.Unless you are taking a longer cruise,( 10 day's or more) you will encounter lot's of kid's.

[Zach1213]

1 minute ago, Harrylinden said:

With the kid's sail free promo"s all the time,there will be lot's of kid's all year long.Unless you are taking a longer cruise,( 10 day's or more) you will encounter lot's of kid's.

 

I don't necessarily agree. Our last cruise definitely saw a lot of "kids sail free" promos associated with it, and there were barely any kids on board. I think the trick, if you're actively trying to avoid kids (as I am), is to find a time of the year close to a break where parents are less likely to pull kids out of school for several days at a time. Right before or after a holiday, for example. In my example, it was just before summer break would start for many kids, and as a result I assume most parents decided it wasn't the time to pull kids out when they are just about to have the whole summer off.

 

There were still kids, of course, because some kids will be pulled out and others are home-schooled, but there were very few. And, as I mentioned, there was definitely an extensive "kids sail free" sale associated with it.

[maggieq]

Thanks!  I missed the word “collage” before kids.  That’s what I am mostly concerned about. 

 

 

[ownedbypets]

For college kids we avoid the end of February through about the 3rd week of March.

 

[bouhunter]

We were on Independence early March last year 5 night cruise - LOTS of college spring breakers and they were no problem at all.  They were better behaved than many "adults" we've seen at other times of the year.  Booked the same cruise for 2019.  That said - yes if you want to avoid spring break cruises pretty much stay away from all of March and most of April.

Edited December 3, 2018 by bouhunter

[Iamcruzin]

We always sailed mid May for two reasons, one being our anniversary on May 10th and the second being kids were far and few between. Ironically, most of the time over the elementary / high school  years we took our two kids with us. May is just after spring break and before year end so responsible parents will keep their kids in school. I go with the intention that it's just a long field trip or a lesson in geography.  We sailed out of Florida and San Juan during that time frame and kids were still in school. This time we are sailing in the beginning of June. My son is 23. He is no longer a kid and requires a deluxe drink package which he will be paying for. 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Iamcruzin

[asalligo]

When we lived up north our kids spring break was the last week in February. I think that is the beginning. Now it is the last week in March. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

Easter is late in 2019, on April 21.  

[waterbug123]

College spring breaks tend to be sometime in March.  To be safe, I'd avoid the entire month, especially the 3 and 4 day cruises that are especially popular with the college crowd. 

Spring break for younger kids varies.  Some school districts do the week before or after Easter, though if Easter is especially late they sometimes move it up to earlier in April or even late March.  Other schools pick the approximate middle of the semester, and depending on when they return to school after Christmas and how late their school year goes into either May or June, this could also be anytime in March or April, or possibly even the end of February.

[HollandA]

Most Atlanta area schools are on spring break the first week of April this year if that helps. 

[BrandFam4]

Our kids always have Spring Break early. Typically in mid March. We live in Central Florida.

[Ashland]

Just sailed (B2B) out of San Juan on Freedom in Sept....One of the worst cruises we've taken...Completely over run by locals and apparently according to posts I'm just reading it happened early in November too. First time for us to cruise in September for this itinerary. I think I would much rather take my chances earlier in the season since the March/April cruises we've taken from there were completely different (better). Check out the several posts on CC about Freedom and I think you'll be surprised at the several complaints some have and are having now.

[molole]

I also think smaller ships such as Empress do not attract as many kids.  

[chet the jet]

What about Thankgiving time. Will be going on a cruise next year at this time with a group of about 80

 

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, chet the jet said:

What about Thankgiving time. Will be going on a cruise next year at this time with a group of about 80

 

 

Lots of younger children during Thanksgiving week.  However, not many at all the next week.

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, HollandA said:

Most Atlanta area schools are on spring break the first week of April this year if that helps. 

Yeah, even up in Midwest lot of kids have always had Spring Break in April, doesn't matter when Easter is as this week off is in Teacher's contract...

[ONECRUISER]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Lots of younger children during Thanksgiving week.  However, not many at all the next week.

Cruise I take every yr on Serenade usually has about 125-150 kids over Thanksgiving, last week we only had about 40. Week before we had about 10. But these longer 10/11/12nite cruises kids are more scarce anyway...

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

 ... But these longer 10/11/12nite cruises kids are more scarce anyway...

 

That makes all the difference.

[bearette]

March in California every week a.different school district has a break or the first week of April.  With Easter calling later in the month some districts always do the week before or after.  Our colleges have different dates in March and April so before Mar n or after April is the only (partial) guarantee.