Questions about Spring Break and 1st RC cruise

[kickash]

We are considering a four night Western Caribbean cruise on the Independence of the Seas. It is a family girls weekend for my 40th birthday but my mother had questions about the weeks I'm considering (she's treating me for my birthday!)

This particular cruise's dates are pretty much March and early April 2017, which my mother points out is spring break time for college kids. What can anyone tell me about cruising at this particular time of year? Are the ships overrun with drunken college kids? Would you never do these particular weeks or is it OK? I've only cruised twice (both with Disney with my family including my children and in July) but this particular cruise fits our timeframe and budget, but mother is very worried. I told her I would check out her concerns and report back.

Also, how's the weather in the Caribbean at this time of year? Is it warm enough for bathing suits on deck?

I would appreciate any answers and information you have to share-thank you so much!!

 

[msmayor]

My husband and I have cruised both east and west in March for the past three years and the weather has been fabulous. We felt it was actually more pleasant at this time of year instead of the summer.

That will be spring break time and the shorter cruises will most likely have college-aged kids on board. Overrun? Can't really say...we've only done 7-night or more trips. Our 7-night trips had quite a few kids but of the grade school variety. We did a 10-night this past March and honestly didn't think there were many kids at all, and this trip INCLUDED Easter Sunday.

The Independance is a good sized ship and even if there are some groups that are loud and boisterous you should be able to find the space to have a wonderful time.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

Spring break is over for Florida colleges and most other southeastern colleges by mid March. The overall peak spring break weeks are from the last week in February to mid-march. The later you go the lighter the college crowd. Given that Ft. Lauderdale is still a destination for spring break, you'd probably have more breakers on FLL beaches than on FLL cruises by the end of March. We do spring break cruises mid-March every year out of Tampa, and we've never had any issues on board. Cozumel, on the other hand can be packed with breakers depending on how many ships are in port. Just make sure you find a spot up on deck and bring your video camera with you so you can capture the comedy as they try to stumble their way back to their ship

And, yes, the weather will be fine for bathing suits on deck

 

[Mrsjvb]

a 4 day cruise will be full of the 'drink til you puke' crowd. pretty much all year round. the specific cruise you are talking about may have drunk college students, drunk Bachelorette parties or drunk Girl's celebrating a 40th birthday. the whole point of these trips is to let loose for a long weekend so the normally staid and mature parents, DINKS and seniors let their hair down.

whether or not it will be an OBNOXIOUS drink cruise fest, is anyone's guess.

 

[eskimoinparadise]

a 4 day cruise will be full of the 'drink til you puke' crowd. pretty much all year round. the specific cruise you are talking about may have drunk college students, drunk Bachelorette parties or drunk Girl's celebrating a 40th birthday. the whole point of these trips is to let loose for a long weekend so the normally staid and mature parents, DINKS and seniors let their hair down.

whether or not it will be an OBNOXIOUS drink cruise fest, is anyone's guess.

IMO, Painting with just a bit of a broad brush on this...


We do several short (3 or 4 night) cruises a year, and rarely do we see the level of "drunk" that you describe. In our experience, college kids are usually better behaved than most adults. Will you have more college kids on a 4-night cruise than on a 7-night cruise - probably, but the most drunks we've ever seen on a cruise (60+ cruises across 5 lines so far) was on our 5-night Disney Magic cruise last May - and they were definitely not college kids.

 

[msjprincess]

IMO, Painting with just a bit of a broad brush on this...


We do several short (3 or 4 night) cruises a year, and rarely do we see the level of "drunk" that you describe. In our experience, college kids are usually better behaved than most adults. Will you have more college kids on a 4-night cruise than on a 7-night cruise - probably, but the most drunks we've ever seen on a cruise (60+ cruises across 5 lines so far) was on our 5-night Disney Magic cruise last May - and they were definitely not college kids.

MTE

IOS started doing 4 and 5 night cruises out of FLL awhile ago. I've read tons of reviews and haven't read anyone complaining that it was a drunkfest.

 

[SevenWonkas]

a 4 day cruise will be full of the 'drink til you puke' crowd. pretty much all year round.

FWIW, On our 4-day Royal cruise, it was filled with the retired crowd.... Probably half the ship was over 60. 1/4 families. 1/4 others. Nowhere close to a booze cruise.

 

[DisMommyTX]

More of our college students travel in May than March. In Texas, our spring break weeks are mid March. I just pulled up a couple University calendars for colleges in Florida and saw March 6th, March 13th, and March 20th for Spring Break dates.

I would aim for the last week of March or first week of April. Try to avoid Easter, and you should have lower crowds overall. Have fun!

 

[eskimoinparadise]

if you google student city, you can get a complete list of when spring break is for every college.

 

[alliecat523]

We've done Spring Break cruises too. Our last one was a 5 day that did have a large crowd of college kids (we went to Mexico). While they were drinking non stop, they did keep to themselves. We only ever saw them at the pool and even then, they stayed huddled around the bar. My DD was 11 and we never felt like this affected our cruise.

Weather is great!!