Spring Break

[Diecastaussie]

G'Day from Down Under, we have booked a cross country journey; Los Angeles to New York over the first 2 weeks of March next year. We will be traveling on the Coast Starlight, Californian Zephyr, Capitol Limited and the North East Regional arriving in New York on the 13th of March. Coming from Australia, we have never traveled on Amtrak before and have booked a Roomette or Bedrooms on all journeys except the North East Regional.

Reading some of the other threads we have become aware of your Spring Break school/college holidays which I understand occur in March each year.

Can anyone advise if this will mean that the trains that we have booked on are likely to be packed with school/college students and if so, is it likely to impact on us in sleeper accommodation?

My dear wife is now getting worried that we will have to put up with lots of "loud and exuberant" students continually occupying the lounge, sight seeing and dining cars and has suggested that we should fly instead; we had a bad experience on a cruise a few years ago with this situation :angry2: .

All advice will be much appreciated, because I don't want to fly :help: .

Garry :lol:

 

[jebr]

I don't think it'll be a huge issue. Trains don't have the party image that cruises have, nor do many college students view trains as destinations unto themselves (typically, they'll/we'll use them to get from place to place.) As such, most college students that are there aren't looking to party; they're wanting to get home/get to their destination/etc.

It's also worth noting that most of the party college students would go to Florida or somewhere on the southern East Coast (NC/SC) for spring break, and it looks like you're staying away from that area. Plus, most of those would opt for coach class anyways, of those few that are out there.

Basically, there'll be few college party students that would take Amtrak over spring break, and those that would wouldn't be going where you're traveling.

(Also, please be aware that many college students do not party over spring break. About 1/6 of the students at our college do mission/volunteer trips over break to help others, and personally I've had my wisdom teeth pulled one spring break and traveled on Megabus for a few days in DC the other spring break. Neither one could be considered a party vacation, though I immensely enjoyed my DC trip. Well, other than trying to navigate public transit to urgent care with a sore ankle the last day I was there.)

 

[Shanghai]

As a father of two former college students, most students do not "celebrate" Spring Break.

Those who do, usually behave properly, but a few do not. Those are the students who get all

the media hype and do not reflect the behavior of the majority of students. One of my kids

went with several of her sorority sisters to Florida and my other went to Cancun. Both had

a good time and returned safely to college.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

I've traveled on Amtrak several times during spring break.

In 2006, when I was a junior (3rd year) in college, I took the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Portland and then from Portland to Sacramento. The purpose of this trip was to visit prospective graduate schools. I traveled in coach (because college students generally don't have disposable income), and I found the train to be quiet and I don't remember any significant differences in the ridership from what I normally experience.

In 2007, during the spring break for my senior year, I again visited graduate schools. I rode the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington and then the Crescent from Washington to Atlanta. Again, I was in coach, but the trains were quiet and fairly normally occupied.

In 2011, I rode the Silver Meteor from Washington to Miami during the spring break period. While on the train, it didn't even occur to me that it was spring break, I did discover that it was once I got to Miami, though.

I think the moral of this story is this: You probably won't experience any rowdy college students on the trains, and if you do encounter students, they'll likely be civilized. They might even be interested to meet world travelers like yourselves. Almost none of the students will be in sleeper class, but you might meet them in the lounge or (less likely) the dining car.

I'm sure that Hollywood has managed to portray American college students as party animals. And certainly there are quite a few out there. But most college students are concerned with imbibing knowledge, not alcohol. Not everyone goes home from their university during spring break. Many stay on campus (I did my first 2 years at college). Those that do leave college, do a variety of things. Some do indeed go to party (mostly in Florida or Mexico). Others go to do community service. Most just go home to spend time with their families. And when they travel, they generally just act like normal travelers.

Also, keep in mind that on Amtrak, the conductor will probably not stand for any rowdyness. If any college students decide to party too hard on the train, they're likely to get ejected at a rural grade crossing in the middle of the night, where Officer Friendly from the West Podunk Police Department will give them a ride to their accommodations for the night.

I hope you enjoy your travels to the United States. Please let us know if you have more questions.

 

[jb64]

I traveled across the country in March of this year and had no problems. The train may be more crowded as families sometime travel during the spring break season but other than that you should not note a difference. Also, not all schools schedule their spring break during the same week, it is often staggered.

I hope you have a great trip and I wouldn't worry about rowdy college students onboard.

 

[tubaia]

As JB64 said, not all colleges have spring break the same week. However, spring break often is the same as Holy Week (week before Easter), when Easter falls in March. In the case of 2013, Easter falls on March 31st, and most (but probably not all) colleges will schedule spring break for the last week of March.

Any way you look at it, spring break is most commonly in the last half of March to early April, so your trip in the first 2 weeks of March should not conflict with spring break.

Also, for those few students who do party over spring break, they are most likely to either drive or fly to Florida, or fly to Mexico. Those on a train are most likely traveling home, not to a party destination.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

I'd also point out that the drinking age in the United States is 21. Most college students don't make it to 21 until their junior year or so, which means that most can't purchase or bring alcohol on the train anyway.

 

[Diecastaussie]

Thanks everyone, I showed the replies to my wife and she has decided that maybe the train will be alright after all.

Big sigh of relief on my part as I really didn't want to fly, especially after a 14 hour non-stop flight from Australia.

Garry :lol: