We take our kids on a spring break cruise every year because it's not easy to find times of the year when the school calendar and mild Caribbean weather meet.
One of the top reasons we cruise on Royal Caribbean is the fact it's a family cruise line, and the experience is welcoming to kids as much as adults. Plus, there's opportunities to enjoy time together, as well as time for just the adults.
When you hear the term, "spring break", you might think of a wild party, but Royal Caribbean's ships tend not to get that raucous. Most of the college spring break groups end up on 4-night cruises because they are cheaper, and having experienced those cruises, it's a far cry from a week at Panama City beach.
Read more: Spring break cruise on Royal Caribbean
Nonetheless, don't expect your cruise ship to be empty, as plenty of families take advantage of the built-in time off from school to take their family on vacation. To be fair, all cruise ships sail full these days. The difference is how many other families will be onboard, along with spring breakers.
If you're taking a spring break cruise, here are a few strategies for navigating the crowds.
Take a longer cruise
In general, you can expect to find less families on longer sailings, including the spring break college kids.
Most of the college spring break passengers will flock to 4-night cruises because they're short and cheaper than the 3-night cruises.
We've generally found the 7-night cruises to have less college kids than the short 3- and 4-night cruises. You'll find more families on longer cruises, and that tends to have less of a party atmosphere.
If you really want to avoid the party scene, opt for pretty much any cruise longer than 7-nights during this time of year. Once you get to past a week, the average age tends to shift older because of the time off required is more than many families can afford to take.
Since the European cruise season hasn't started yet, you can find some Royal Caribbean ships offering longer cruises. There are 9, 10, and 11-night cruises available in some markets that have less families onboard, as well as spring breakers.
Look for deck chairs in quiet places
Sea days on any cruise are going to busy, but the pool party vibe is going to be present here the most.
If you want to enjoy time outdoors without the party, there are a few good alternative locations to seek.
For those that want to enjoy the sun, look for a deck chair on the pool deck towards the front of the ship. While most of the chairs are around the pool, if you walk forward on the upper pool deck, you can usually find plenty of empty chairs the more forward you walk.
The reason there are empty chairs at the front of the ship is because it's further away from the bars and pools.
If you just want to be outdoors without any semblance of a party, grab a chair on the Promenade deck on deck 4 or 5 (depending on the ship you're on). Keep in mind one side is reserved for smoking, so you can always go to the other side.
These are great spots to read, take a nap, or enjoy the ocean air.
Stay on the ship in port
Since I just recommended avoiding the pool deck, what if you want to be able to swim, splash and enjoy the water slides? Stay on the ship while you're in port.
Many passengers disembark their cruise ship on a port day, and that leaves the pool deck far emptier than on any sea day.
You'll usually have no shortage of deck chairs, space in the pools and hot tubs, and less noise overall. In fact, the pool band tends not to play until later in the day.
Not only does staying on the ship while you're in port open up the pool deck, it also means avoiding the crowds in port.
It's not unusual for ports to have a lot of ships docked, especially Nassau, Cozumel, and St. Thomas. By staying on the ship, you can avoid the crowded ports, beaches, and shops.
Visiting ports of call is a major part of the cruise experience, but you could opt to pick one port to stay onboard for, and then get some pool deck time while still doing shore excursions elsewhere.
Traditional dining for simplicity
There's nothing wrong with eating at the Main Dining Room for dinner, especially if it makes planning meals easier.
Specialty restaurants on Royal Caribbean are a hot ticket. It seems like more people than ever are buying dining packages, and it's not uncommon for the best times to get booked up quickly.
I always advocate going to make restaurant reservations as soon as you get onboard the ship for those with a dining package, but you could simply forgo the dining package and stick to the Main Dining Room for a great dinner experience.
If you opt for this, pick traditional seating instead of My Time Dining to make everything easier on you. With traditional seating, you have the same table and dining time every night, so there's no extra footwork to do to get a reservation, and there's no waiting for a table when it's time to eat.
Alternatively, you could go to the Windjammer for dinner instead and keep it far more casual. Those sailing on Icon of the Seas for spring break will also have access to the Aquadome Market, which is a wonderful complimentary alternative to the Main Dining Room.
Good candidate for upgrading to a suite
If you'd rather throw money at the problem, then booking a cruise ship suite might make sense for a spring break cruise.
Besides having larger and more opulent cabins, suites come with nice perks that can side-step some of the issues raised earlier in this article. It's kind of like an expensive easy button for crowds.
Staying in a suite means you'll have reserved seating somewhere on the pool deck exclusively for suite guests.
You'll also get complimentary drinks each evening in the Suite Lounge. On larger ships, there's even a restaurant exclusively for suite guests at Coastal Kitchen.
Read more: 8 advantages of booking a suite on your next cruise
Obviously booking a suite won't be cheap, so you're potentially trading crowds for a larger bill. But if you can afford it, staying in a suite provides access to areas of the ship other guests cannot get to, and spring breakers tend not to be found staying in suites.
