Week before Halloween or week of for lesser crowds?

[dizgal64]

Hello all.

looking at booking Bahamas cruise on symphony out of Bayonne in October. Which would have less people/kids? October 20-27 or the next week which is Halloween? The Halloween week is a tad less expensive which to me would mean not as popular. But the whole Halloween thing..dressing up, parties onboard, contests…I would think that would be more popular. 
TIA

Edited April 16 by dizgal64

[lovesthebeach2]

Lately it seems that it doesn’t matter when we cruise locally, theres always plenty of kids and it’s been crowded. Maybe summer has more kids, but we don’t know because we don’t cruise at that time of year.

 

We’ve done a couple of cruises during Halloween and it’s really fun on a ship. Last year we were on a TA on Odyssey at Halloween and they had a parade, best costume, and other events. Lots of fun!

[firefly333]

I dont think people book because of Halloween. It's not a school holiday.

 

Thanksgiving week is more, not Halloween. 

[reallyitsmema]

12 minutes ago, dizgal64 said:

Hello all.

looking at booking Bahamas cruise on symphony out of Bayonne in October. Which would have less people/kids? October 20-27 or the next week which is Halloween? The Halloween week is a tad less expensive which to me would mean not as popular. But the whole Halloween thing..dressing up, parties onboard, contests…I would think that would be more popular. 
TIA

 

Halloween week can be busy but fun.  Either of the weeks you list shouldn't be too bad.  I would absolutely avoid the week after Halloween as it aligns with Jersey Week, which is a week all the kids are off school in New Jersey and is typically a very kid heavy, busy week on whatever ship is sailing from New Jersey at the time.  

[Mum2Mercury]

We've cruised (twice) on Halloween.  It's not a particular busy week, and it's not particularly kid-heavy.  The weather was lovely, and the prices were low.  I think most kids prefer to stay home /take part in their local activities with their friends, and I think most parents don't want their kids to miss out on a once-a-year treat at home.  

 

Kids (though few in number) were able to trick-or-treat in the shops, and some people (us included) gave out candy.  We attached a little plastic tub to our door and people helped themselves as they walked by -- people seemed to like it.  

 

The Windjammer put up fancy decorations at the door.  The Centrum was decorated with balloons and streamers.  

 

More adults dressed up than I would've expected -- and some went all out.  Halloween fell on formal night, and adults came to dinner in costumes!  

 

 

Edited April 16 by Mum2Mercury

[Mum2Mercury]

26 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I dont think people book because of Halloween. It's not a school holiday.

 

Thanksgiving week is more, not Halloween. 

Yes, I've sailed on Thanksgiving -- never again.  Too crowded.  Too many kids.  

[reallyitsmema]

4 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

We've cruised (twice) on Halloween.  It's not a particular busy week, and it's not particularly kid-heavy.  The weather was lovely, and the prices were low.  I think most kids prefer to stay home /take part in their local activities with their friends, and I think most parents don't want their kids to miss out on a once-a-year treat at home.  

 

Kids (though few in number) were able to trick-or-treat in the shops, and some people (us included) gave out candy.  We attached a little plastic tub to our door and people helped themselves as they walked by -- people seemed to like it.  

 

The Windjammer put up fancy decorations at the door.  The Centrum was decorated with balloons and streamers.  

 

More adults dressed up than I would've expected -- and some went all out.  Halloween fell on formal night, and adults came to dinner in costumes!  

 

 

 

You sailed out of Bayonne over Halloween?

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, dizgal64 said:

Hello all.

looking at booking Bahamas cruise on symphony out of Bayonne in October. Which would have less people/kids? October 20-27 or the next week which is Halloween? The Halloween week is a tad less expensive which to me would mean not as popular. But the whole Halloween thing..dressing up, parties onboard, contests…I would think that would be more popular. 
TIA

This is Symphony Halloween.. Parties, parades, costumes, haunted house in studio B.

 

   

 

Edited April 16 by taglovestocruise

[dizgal64]

Thanks for all the responses so far. 
 

I actually would prefer not going Halloween week but wondered why it was a teeny bit cheaper. 
 

Oct 20-27…that isn’t heavy with school fall breaks is it?

[PhillyFan33579]

I don’t think there will be much of a difference kids wise between the two cruises. I did a Halloween cruise last year and there were a lot of kids on the cruise. 

[Cruising89143]

It can vary by ship and port of departure. We cruised on the Symphony out of Miami during Halloween 2022 and the ship was sold out and packed. Don’t recall the number of kids due to the sheer amount of passengers. 

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, dizgal64 said:

Thanks for all the responses so far. 
 

I actually would prefer not going Halloween week but wondered why it was a teeny bit cheaper. 
 

Oct 20-27…that isn’t heavy with school fall breaks is it?

 

Not sure too many get fall school breaks.  October 14 is Columbus Day and kids have that off but that is the week before you are considering.  We have sailed from Bayonne in that timeframe because it can be cheaper.  There are always kids but certain weeks can just be bad out of Bayonne, like Jersey Week and Yeshiva Week.

[dizgal64]

8 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

There are always kids but certain weeks can just be bad out of Bayonne, like Jersey Week and Yeshiva Week.

Thank you. When is Yeshiva week?

[reallyitsmema]

Just now, dizgal64 said:

Thank you. When is Yeshiva week?

 

January.  You just have to google it and find out when it is year to year as it changes.  Royal Caribbean will have a flyer too as some years the ship that is having a partial charter for it sails from Florida, not Bayonne.

[cruiselvr04]

We have cruised over Halloween and it was fun. Every ship is sailing pretty much to capacity right now.  Definitely look at school holidays if having a ton of kids around bothers you.  We have noticed a large uptick of kids on every cruise except maybe the really long ones over 10 days. Either parents are taking them out of school or home schooling. 
 

We thought there wouldn’t be a lot of kids on our southbound Alaska cruise last year due to the cost of 2 one way flights.  There were 600kids/1800 adults on that ship.  It was crazy.  

Edited April 16 by cruiselvr04

[lovesthebeach2]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yes, I've sailed on Thanksgiving -- never again.  Too crowded.  Too many kids.  

Worse than that week is NYE. We cruised a couple of times during New Years and it was ok, but this past year on Radiance it was the worst ever.  So many unattended kids causing issues all over. At times we couldn’t get down the stairs because large groups of kids would congregate on the stairs! Some preteens were just nasty and loud and rude.  I guess parents just felt they would let them do whatever they wanted. So I’ll never cruise that time of year ever again.

[dizgal64]

49 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

 

We thought there wouldn’t be a lot of kids on our southbound Alaska cruise last year due to the cost of 2 one way flights.  There were 600kids/1800 adults on that ship.  It was crazy.  

I’m guessing that was summer?

[jerseyjjs]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Not sure too many get fall school breaks.  October 14 is Columbus Day and kids have that off but that is the week before you are considering.  We have sailed from Bayonne in that timeframe because it can be cheaper.  There are always kids but certain weeks can just be bad out of Bayonne, like Jersey Week and Yeshiva Week.

 

 

By the time the NJEA (Jersey Week) takes place, the Symphony will be on its way to homeport in Miami and the Odyssey won't be in Bayonne for another week.  Plus, Election Day is Nov. 5, so that's a good week for the kiddos to be yanked out of school for a cheaper cruise.

[reallyitsmema]

7 minutes ago, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

By the time the NJEA (Jersey Week) takes place, the Symphony will be on its way to homeport in Miami and the Odyssey won't be in Bayonne for another week.  Plus, Election Day is Nov. 5, so that's a good week for the kiddos to be yanked out of school for a cheaper cruise.

 

Yes, I am aware of that.  We are on Odyssey in November.

 

Looking at the schedule, it looks like they have a gap in the schedules and no Royal ship is there for Jersey Week.  Don't ever remember that happening in the past.

[DaniDanielle]

The parents have no problem taking the kids out of school.    It seems to have gotten more so the last few years.  Kids are used to learning from home now or a ship!

[dizgal64]

Thank you all for your replies. 👍🏻🤓

[Mum2Mercury]

6 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

You sailed out of Bayonne over Halloween?

Out of Tampa most recently.  

[Mum2Mercury]

6 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

This is Symphony Halloween.. Parties, parades, costumes, haunted house in studio B.

 

   

 

Grandeur was not that crowded.  

[Mum2Mercury]

5 hours ago, dizgal64 said:

Oct 20-27…that isn’t heavy with school fall breaks is it?

Speaking only for my own district:  We no longer have Fall Break.  Instead, we have a couple three-day weekends spread across the semester.  I prefer the smaller, more frequent breaks.  

5 hours ago, dizgal64 said:

Thank you. When is Yeshiva week?

January.  

5 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Worse than that week is NYE. 

I'll never know!