Spring Break Cruise Too Hectic?

[Tiggerish]

Because of school and activities, the only time, I can take my nieces (7 & 14) cruising would be during their spring break. Their break for 2005 would be the first week of April so we could do the eastern 7 day on April 2.

My sister thinks this would be too busy and too hectic. She is afraid it would not be relaxing since they would have to fly down the evening of the day school gets out and only have one day (Sunday) after we return before school starts.

Has anyone done a cruise for spring break? And what did you think?

We has never done a spring break vacation of any kind so not sure how it would be.

Also would be more teens during that time? We did s 3 day last fall and the teenager activities were mostly canceled because of not enough teens.

 

[mmouse37]

DCL sails full pretty much all the time so I can't see how that week would really be any different.

Sounds like she doesn't want you to go and is maybe making excuses....I think it should be fine!!!

I think there will be more teens on that cruise since it is a spring break cruise...but remember different schools have different weeks for their breaks...I would think most all the April sailings would have more teens as do the summer cruises.

We often fly and return with only a day before going back to work, school, etc.

As an example....my two DD's 16 and 20 and myself are flying to California next friday from NYC. My DD gets out of her camp counselor job at 4:30 pm and we have a 6:30 pm flight!!!! Granted I told her she must get out a bit earlier but it was the only time we could book the flight. On the return we land at 6:30 am and I have to be at work by 9:00 am!!! Ahhh....the adventure of travel!!!

MJ

 

[westjones]

You could always do the 4 night instead. She may think the kids need some 'down time' at home during spring break. With the 4 night, they could go home and have some down days before going back to school.

I have the same concerns about spring break, I know we are always a bit tired when we return from vacation and you don't want the kids going into school the next Monday exhausted (although with the 7 night, you should be able to be home by Saturday evening since you are flying, and they can crash all day on Sunday).

DJ

 

[debloco]

We went for Spring Break this past March on the 7-day Western. I too was concerned that the ship would be too crowded and that the schedule for our DD (14) and her friend (15) would be too much. It worked out for us because our high schools had the Friday prior off so we flew down that morning and went to MGM and Epcot for the day. Can't miss a day at the parks! We slept in the next day (Sat) and then drove to the pier. Originally we were scheduled to fly home the Sunday after, but American Airlines called and asked to switch us to the flight out on Sat. night and offered to upgrade us to first-class! We kept that a secret as a surprise for the girls, they loved it! We got to spend our last day (after we got off the ship) mini-golfing, go-carting, and seeing the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Then we went to dinner and drove straight to the airport. We got into Chicago late, but it was worth it to have all day Sunday to rest and prepare for the work/school week. There were plenty of teens on the ship, there were times we could not leave voicemails on our DD and friend's phone (they had their own cabin) because it was full! It was very doable and a ton of fun, I'd go for it!

CLC Tiger Pom Mom

 

[dotterson]

We did a Spring Break Cruise four years ago. My DD was 8. Had a ball. (It was a 4-day). We're going to DW in 2005 during Spring Break -- hey, it's the only time we can go without her missing school.

So yes, have a great vacation! Besides, Spring Break comes at different times across the nation.

If you can't do the 7-day cruise, do the 4. We try to limit travel to 4 or 5 days to give us some down time, but everyone is different! (We've also found that almost ALL of her friends go away, so if we stayed home, she'd be totally bored at home!)

Hope that helps!

d

 

[westjones]

Originally posted by dotterson
We did a Spring Break Cruise four years ago. My DD was 8. Had a ball. (It was a 4-day). We're going to DW in 2005 during Spring Break -- hey, it's the only time we can go without her missing school.
d

Did you do WDW after the 4 day cruise? I am thinking that might be an option for us for future spring breaks.

I'm not sure what it will cost to fly in March, so the 4 day cruise with 2 days of WDW is 'do-able' if we drive or fly.

We may just go with WDW for spring breaks though, since we have to use our DVC points anyway.

DJ

 

[dotterson]

Nope. Only did the cruise. DH doesn't like to be away from the house and dog for long! (How will we ever do a 7-day cruise???)

d

Did Michelle see Nat's pic?

 

[PoohJen]

Originally posted by westjones
Did you do WDW after the 4 day cruise? I am thinking that might be an option for us for future spring breaks.
DJ

I did spring break WDW last year, only because I had annual passes, and, as much as I LOVE WDW, I will NEVER do it on spring break again!!! Just way too crowded, couldn't move in the streets. (admittedly, though, I prefer to take my kids out of school than to travel during peak times) So, if thick crowds aren't your thing, avoid spring break. If you like "the more the merrier" than go for it!

 

[Kimnicki]

First of all, keep in mind that "spring break" occurs different weeks for different parts of the U.S. We cruised in March (Eastern ports) because it was before "our" spring break, but there were plenty of others that were there during "their" spring break! Just remember that the ship only holds X number of people, therefore it controls the overcrowding! The only time I noticed a big crowd was at the pool during days at sea (but there were still plenty of chairs available, just not poolside) Now I have been to WDW during our spring break, and I too, will NOT be going that time of year again!!

Kim

 

[natdencro]

We did the Eastern cruise this Spring Break, followed by a week in Orlando - and it was no worse than the other times we have been. On the ship, most of the guests sat around the pools all day, which left the rest of us PLENTY of room to "chill out" on the ship. Our photos prove that we virtually had Deck 9 aft to ourselves each sunset! WDW was busy, of course, but didnt find too many problems with wait times. At least it wasnt as hot as July/Aug, when tempers flare-up more - as the children and parents are "tetchy". Nat

 

[dotterson]

We've been to DW middle and end of Sept, early Oct., Thanksgiving, and NYE. If you use FastPasses and go to EARLY AMs, we found even with the high holiday attendance, it was manageable.

The cruise was in mid-Oct. (horrible seas) and Spring Break.

The ships have a cut-off point. We're going the week before Xmas this year (the kids are off that and the next). The ship is full according to many websites.

Personally, I would not go to DW in the summer. It's so hot and crowded. The absolute best weather we've had at DW was this past NYE - 80s and really comfortable! We've been stormed on in Oct. and it was in the almost 100s in late Sept., so....

Hey, ya gotta do... My DD is in 7th Grade and it's getting harder to take her out of school at other times!

d

 

[pediatric-rnp]

We went during our spring break this past April - Easter week. Did the land/sea trip and added 2 extra nights onto the land, arriving Good Friday. WDW was crowded, but we are always up early and at the parks as soon as they open - doing the early entrance when possible. My DH has absolutely no patience for lines, and was dreading it....but we were organized, did the Fast Pass routine when possible, and came back to the BC for lunch and use of the pool/exersice facility. Would rest up a bit in the room and return to the parks for dinner in early evening and stay for the fireworks. DSs are 18 & 16 - they would walk over in the afternoon to play mini-golf. It was not as bad as we thought......but I understand the crowds were unbearable in the afternoon. The main thing was to be organized -I had written an itinerary, which my family thought was a hilarious
thing to do - but they thanked me for it later! We were all able to see and do everything we wanted to do.

The Wonder felt so peaceful, despite being full. My 18 yr old spent most of the time on ship playing basketball with other teens he met, and my 16-1/2 yr old loved wandering the ship and exploring. (He also won $90.00 playing BINGO - altho I had to collect the $$ for him as he was underage!!) Their main dissapointment was there were not many older teens...most were in the 13-14 age group. My 16-1/2 yr old chose not to join the teen groups because most were much younger, and his brother was over the age limit for them. They had a great time, but would have liked it more if there were more teens their ages, and a group for the older teens.

So......I would go spring break again - it really isn't so bad, and the weather was terrific! The discussion in our house right now, however is which cruise line to use next time. DH & I would do DCL again in a heartbeat, but the kids want to try something else which might have more age-appropriate activities on board for them. They loved the jet skiing on CC, tho - they were supposed to parasail, but it was cancelled due to the wind conditions, so were able to jet ski and absolutely loved it!

 

[JulieWent]

We're going on the four day this spring break! We're so excited. We'll drive down on Saturday, spend Saturday night at Ron Jon's, and board on Easter Sunday!!! When we finish the cruise, I think we'll just drive home since I really don't want to ruin our after cruise relaxation with the madness of Easter week at WDW, but who knows? We thougth about the 7 day but decided it might be a little hectic trying to get down there the night that school let out. (I teach and DS is in 4th grade.) Maybe some other year, though.

 

[tracejmc]

We did the 7 day Western Cruise this past March during our spring break. There were a lot of kids/teens (but not too many) I would say and we loved it SO much we are booking again for Spring Break 2006. My boys ran into friends of theirs at Carlos n Charlie's in Cozumel that were not sailing on our ship just in Cozumel for their spring break! We also ran into other people on our crusie that we knew from our town. It made it extra fun to have someone walk up to you in the midde of the ocean in Grand Caymam and say hi!? They were on our same cruise but we hadn't seen them on the ship just on a Disney booked excursion.