Cruisercool

I am sorry I haven't been able to reply, as I have been working, I am on my break now. FYI I have been working for a number of years with Carnival Corp here in nth Syd. I have done many ship inspections and cruises myself. The demographics are older, I mean over 60 and they have a large penetration (on carnival in recent months it is 50%). Yes they have a right to cruise, I am not by any means refuting that. Yes Australia is ageing, and cruises are affordable holidays. All I am saying is that cruises have become infiltrated by older people. Older people bring in less revenue on lines such as princess or holland america, than revenue streams from carnival which has a younger demographic. Many times in reviews and feedback, it is said that cruises are for old people. Ultimately I see the industry crashing, from the difficulty in filling ships, from passengers choosing price first which lowers the base revenue and lastly onboard revenue decreasing. By all means cruise, it will continue to become of an older demographic as more retire.

Disclosure: this is a rant, as such if you feel you will be offended, leave this page now and don't read on.

To begin with, I am disgusted with what the cruise industry in Australia has come to and the future is bleak. I have been on 6 cruises my first being in 2005 on the Sapphire Princess. I have also been working in the industry for a number of years. In 9 years, the cruising demographics have changed considerably, I fear for the worst. There has been a mass infiltration of the elderly older demographic in all cruise lines. Having worked with carnival cruise lines, it originally was a younger and family demographic and now it has drastically changed to have a large proportion of older people. It is drastically worse on Princess Cruises which is almost like a nursing home aboard, let alone holland america and world cruises. Even other lines like Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are very much the same case. It is true that the Austrlians are not brand loyal, and price seams to determine how you cruise. It is evident in Carnival Cruises now. This situation is in the whole australian market and is putting off first time cruisers for life. It sickens when people complain about carnival, when they are paying cheaper and expecting a princess product and complaining about young people. I have experienced this first hand. I understand it is affordable, but by the end of the decade, I fear it will only be 100% old people cruising. This will inevitably lead to the cruise industry essentially 'dying out.'

Again this is my own view, not reflecting any of the companies I have mentioned.