Okay, we know what college spring breakers want: beaches, booze, and bods. Cruises have all of that, and we will tell you how to get to it.
First though, a few words of caution. We know that if you’re a college student looking for a cruise over spring break, that you’re looking for a party, and drinking. We suggest you travel with friends for the company, and that you watch out for each other.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about building the perfect hard-partying spring break.
Booking a College Spring Break Cruise
When you’re in the mood for a college spring break cruise you’re looking for a party crowd. Preferably one with a lot of people in your age group. For most college students that’s 21 through 25. Nothing ruins a good mood quite like someone complaining about how you keep returning to your stateroom at 3 AM. Your best bet for finding a crowd this age is on the shorter Bahama cruises out of Port Canaveral. They’re on the lower end of the price scale, and they’re something you can afford without cutting into the ramen noodle budget too much.
As far as the lines sailing out of Port Canaveral this leaves Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and possibly Norwegian. We love Disney’s ships, they’re the prettiest things afloat, but they’re also at the upper end of the price scale, and they specialize in family cruises. They aren’t the sort of ships that you can keep your shirt off on. Norwegian is friendly to the twenty-something set, but for price and the length of the voyage they’re an outlier option for most cruisers. We will talk more about them in a little bit.
Helping you and your friends make great memories is something that Go Port can certainly do. The cruise lines offer steep discounts for groups traveling together, and Go Port takes care of you and everyone in your group with great Port Canaveral area hotels like the Embassy Suites or Staybridge Suites and transportation packages that cover you and everyone in your group from the curb outside of the airport, and back again. Call to book today 855-755-4637.
Of the two remaining lines Carnival is the more budget friendly one, and it has the most ships and cruises in Port Canaveral. They also have the most party friendly reputation. There are two 4-day voyages to the Bahamas on the Carnival Victory, and one 5-day voyage on the Sunshine.
The cruise on the Sunshine is probably the best college spring break cruise you’re going to find. It departs on March 13, a Sunday. Spring break starts on March 12 for most college students in the US and this departure date gives them plenty of time to arrive the day before their cruise, and the 5-day itinerary gives them plenty of time to make it back for classes on Monday. This cruise is probably set up to cater to spring breakers, and it offers the best chance of going to sea with a thousand or so like-minded college students. The itinerary also includes a stop at Holland America’s private island of Half Moon Cay which is pretty awesome. The can’t miss activity on Half Moon Cay is horseback riding on the beach, and through the surf.
The cruises aboard the Victory aren’t half bad, but they are a part of the regular routine rather than something spring break friendly. There are likely to be spring breakers aboard, but also the more usual run of older cruisers. Carnival has the reputation as a drink dispensing operator of party ships so you can find what you’re looking for aboard one of these shorter cruises.
Carnival’s rival Royal Caribbean has a cruise that is similar to the Sunshine’s aboard the Freedom of the Seas. It also departs on the thirteenth of March, but isn’t a Bahama cruise it is one of the ship’s regular 7-night sailings to the Western Caribbean. It’s a bigger ship, a longer cruise, and significantly more expensive. As such it isn’t exactly what most spring breakers are looking for, at the same time someone who likes travel as much as they like to party would really enjoy this 7-day cruise.
The Enchantment of the Seas is the Royal Caribbean ship that really shines for spring breakers. It’s routine routes that alternate between 3 and 4 night cruises. Not every college releases its students for spring break on the 12th, and the short sailing combined with frequency means there is a cruise on the Enchantment convenient for any spring breaker. It’s routine itinerary also includes a stop at Coco Cay, which for a spring break cruise is a huge advantage over Carnival’s 4-day sailings on the Victory.
Similar to what is available on the Freedom of the Seas is the Norwegian Spirit. Norwegian Cruise Lines is far and away the cruise line that is friendliest to twenty-something cruisers under normal circumstances. They’re also a fairly expensive line, which will put it out of the price range of most college students. However, for those relatively rare cruisers who have the money, and an inclination to more intimate parties and activities that involve their friends it’s a good choice. The Norwegian Spirit is on a 7-day rotation out of Port Canaveral that alternates between the Western and Eastern Caribbean. While on the Eastern leg it makes a call at Great Stirrup Cay, which is right next to Coco Cay. With its combination of an itinerary that involves everything a cruiser may want, and its sense of intimacy it’s a good choice for spring break cruising that blends an adventure with partying.
How to Partay
None of the cruise lines we’ve mentioned let cruisers bring their own beer or liquor onboard. It will be seized when you embark, and returned to you when the cruise is over. This applies to any alcohol you buy at sea as well. All of them do allow cruisers to bring two 750 milliliters of wine or champagne aboard, which you’ll have arrange to have brought to you when dining and pay a corkage fee to have someone open for you. That is why smuggling liquor onboard has become a persistent habit of cruisers, usually by emptying a container of something innocuous like water, and filling the bottle with alcohol that looks approximately the same.
This has become such an annoyance to Carnival that they now ban bottles of water, soda, or any container that can be refilled from being brought on board. Royal Caribbean has made some policy changes in a similar direction, but enforcement has been spotty to the point of non-existence. Norwegian doesn’t restrict bottled water or soft drinks at all. We told you they were friendly to twenty-somethings. What this means is that, and while we don’t really support this sort of thing, on a Royal or Norwegian ship it is unlikely they’re going to check the seals on your soft drinks to make sure they’re still intact. Also, the purchase of a rum runner bag, or brassiere if you’re a young woman, can make you the most popular person aboard ship on a Carnival Cruise.
While aboard ships and at the private islands, the drinking age is 21. Throughout the rest of the Caribbean—and indeed most of the world—the drinking age is 18. There is nothing wrong with taking advantage of this to enjoy yourself while you’re in port. We do, however, recommend keeping it to just a few drinks. Firstly, because the ship leaves port at a certain time, and it is much harder to keep track of this if you’ve had too many, and secondly the ship can leave you there if miss it. Another unlikely but possible negative is the risk of injury or being the victim of a crime while wandering the streets of a foreign port insensate. Even if you’re twenty-one or older we still suggest you do your most serious drinking aboard ship or at one of the private islands.
Incidentally, this is one of the reasons we suggest you travel with a group. Ideally with at least one person each for your arms and legs. We want you to have a great vacation and make memories that will last, not regrets.
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