Best time to cruise for kids in school

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Best time of year to cruise if you don't want to take kids out of school?

 

[FreeTime]

As soon as they get out for the summer. This way you hopefully avoid when the hurricane season is picking up.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Spring break -- not everyone has the same week off. it's also cooler in the Caribbean. Summers are hot and sticky.

 

[happycamper47]

Spring break --------it's also cooler in the Caribbean. Summers are hot and sticky.

That's why Orlando International was expecting 7 million passengers. 173,000 on March 25th alone.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando International Airport is only one day from its busy spring break travel season.
The airport expects more than 7 million people to pass through during the travel period.
That number is a 13% increase from last year.

 

[Mommb]

Martin Luther King Day weekend in January works well if you just want 3 days and can find a Saturday-Monday cruise. You can also try any other 3-day weekends in fall or winter. The weather in Florida might be chilly, but it should be pleasant farther south.

If you want a longer cruise, I agree your best bet is right after school gets out. You could try right before school starts in August/September but the weather will be hot.

 

[Husker Mike]

Every school district has a different calendar, so it comes down to (a) how long of a cruise do you want, (b) how much you want to spend and (c) how does the cruise fit the school and your family's schedule.

 

[auntlynne]

 

[Clarkson U]

Best time of year to cruise if you don't want to take kids out of school?

You don’t say where you are from but when we lived in NY the best time for a cruise or WDW trip for us was basically after August 20th usually leading up to Lbor Day weekend.

Our kids schools were usually not open until the Tuesday or Wed after Labor Day, ALL schools in Florida are fully back in session and most colleges are back in session. All of which reduces the crowd.

Also it is hurricane season which further reduces the crowd a bit but if you go get good insurance.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

Fall break (if you have one), the week before Christmas or first week in January if your school has an exceptionally early or late holiday break, spring break, and right when school gets out.

 

[Heatherdbby]

cruises rarely get cancelled for hurricanes they mainly just change ports.

as far as the school calendar, i just look for a break that lines up with my work calendar. i have columbus day off, and my son has the thursday friday that week off. so i will take four days of PTO and he will miss three days of school but get to go to 4 new countries. i call it a win..

 

[mjkacmom]

The one that fits your family budget, weather and destination preferences. Truly, school calendars are pretty standardized - and airfare / airport crowds are a good indicator if that.

If your kids are out of school any of the ”shoulder season,” you can possibly miss some of the crowding. It is when WDW used to offer resort sales, free dining or lower-priced theme park tickets.

You can also do a broad search ”Find a Cruise” on the DCL website. The lowest priced cruises seem to fall in times when there is going to be lower demand >> fewer kids. That is actually when I look for a cruise.

A rough guideline if lower rates and crowds I have found over the years:

January - about week 2 into February (there is MLK holiday in there, gets your one day off school in many states).

April - about the last two weeks (after Easter) and much of May. The closer you get to June, prices start rising. Shocking to me, some states are still in school until the 3rd week of June. If yours lets out earlier, May/Early June may be the sweet spot. The air and water has already warmed up. And hurricane season doesn’t have months of warm water to create the powerful storms. (Caribbean cruises).

(Mid August to mid September). School starts are spread out. This is peak hurricane season, with a day around Sep 11-15 being the one most likely to experience a hurricane. September after Labor Day through mid-October have long been a big block of shoulder season. “Jersey Week“ for school break is the first week in October. Even our local school system now has a fall break that week.

The first week of November and the first two weeks of December are often lower airfares and cruise prices.

…The Caribbean can be really hot, even into December. The water temps do drop as you get farther away from summer, but temps don’t make significant changes throughout the year. (The Bahamas has very shallow water.).

Just a correction, jersey week is in November, first or second week, depending in the njea trachers convention.

 

[justafigment27]

My youngest just graduated from High School and we found the best time to cruise (in terms of pricing and weather) without missing school was spring break - but only the years when our spring break was not the week before or after Easter (because prices jump around Easter - or at least they did).

We cruised in mid-August one year and, while the price was right and the weather great (very hot, but it was a double dip and perfect for the beach IMO), there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding tropical storms. Our cruise was not impacted, but the cruises the week before were - it was stressful and I don’t think I’ll book that time of year again for that sole reason.

We also cruised in June and July - peak pricing was the only drawback (Bahamas and Alaska), but there’s not much choice with Alaska - it’s peak summer season if you want to cruise while school is out.