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Cruise demographic / sociopolitical status


marktwothousand
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It's highly unlikely Marktwothousand but if we were ever to be on the same cruise we would bore you to tears. We are friendly, sociable, too well brought up to ask strangers about Politics or Religion and we have chosen the ship as our destination rather than transport. We will probably see some of the places we visit but as I am disabled we will have to choose carefully. Everyone is individual, you can try and put them in groups, but I suspect the vast majority want to enjoy their cruise their way and might stray from one group to another.

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It's highly unlikely Marktwothousand but if we were ever to be on the same cruise we would bore you to tears. We are friendly, sociable, too well brought up to ask strangers about Politics or Religion and we have chosen the ship as our destination rather than transport. We will probably see some of the places we visit but as I am disabled we will have to choose carefully. Everyone is individual, you can try and put them in groups, but I suspect the vast majority want to enjoy their cruise their way and might stray from one group to another.

 

 

 

In all honesty, you sound like someone who probably has some very interesting life stories to share. Welcome to our dinner table!

 

 

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2 thoughts come to mind

 

1st is that only about 2% of cruisers even know about cruise critic so our opinions are a small sample.

 

2nd, this is the Internet. I’m sitting behind a keyboard not standing in front of you. On this board, I may feel more free to express how my opinion is right and yours isn’t even close to reality.

On the other hand, if we were having drinks and conversing with each other on deck and our conversation went out of sorts, I just chuckle or smile and continue on or steer the conversation in another direction. In other words, more civilized.

 

Absolutely this!! CC is a reflection of people who cruise & cruise the internet. By far does not represent the population who actually are onbaord.

 

I think the majority of people don't care about sociopolitical status on a cruise. Therefore, I think this board has been good sample.

 

What??? You mean the first question when you meet random strangers on a cruise are not - what is your religion? Who did you vote for? How much money do you make? Shocked I am, just shocked!!;p;p

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  • 4 weeks later...
Absolutely this!! CC is a reflection of people who cruise & cruise the internet. By far does not represent the population who actually are onbaord.

 

 

 

What??? You mean the first question when you meet random strangers on a cruise are not - what is your religion? Who did you vote for? How much money do you make? Shocked I am, just shocked!!;p;p

Those are exactly the questions I was greeted with, more than once, while quietly attempting to enjoy the sauna in the Epic spa. Granted it was the week after election 2016. The questioners, self described "Texas gentlemen" then proceeded to lecture me on the ruination of the country brought about by "those northern libr'ls.".

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About the last thing I want to do on a cruise is to discuss the plusses and minuses of the various candidate and parties. We had one a few years ago that spent much of dinner trying to tell our table who to vote for in an American election. We were the only Americans at the table. We had already voted absentee. It was too late to vote if we hadn't. Fortunately, it was Anytime Dining or we would have been changing tables.

 

THREE things I do NOT, will NOT discuss (especially on a cruise)--Just me, of course!!

 

1) Politics

2) ANYTHING dealing w/ 'sexual preferences'

3) Religion

 

We ALL have our own private beliefs-If others at the table wanna discuss, argue, even rant ,rave and even end up storming off, I let them go at it !! But, I've found out after sixty seven years on this earth, odds are you are not gonna change somebody's views one little bit (IMHO) of course. I go on cruises to RELAX/Have fun/RELAX. Hey ! It's supposed to BE a vacation !:rolleyes:

 

Mac

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On these boards, and I include myself, people are more apt to express a varying opinion. On the ship, people are more discreet in expressing their opinion.

 

Socio/political groups?

Again, my experience, if you sail out of Galveston, you’ll have a lot of Texans. Sail out of New Orleans, you’ll have a lot of Missippi Valley and Delta people. LA? A lot of West Coast. New York or Baltimore? Northeast. South Florida? You’ll experience people from all over the world

 

I'd have to agree. Where the cruise leaves from seems to matter. I tend to sail the more traditional lines, and it would be fairly uncouth to talk politics/religion uninvited. Yes, I've had it brought up to me, but I'm stuck in the middle politically and will happily piss off either side with an evil smile so they tend to lose interest fast.

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From reading the posts at Cruise Critic, it would be easy to conclude that most people who go on cruises are very affluent and are looking for luxury, merely because a disproportionate number of posts mention suites, the Haven (on NCL), or whatever other luxury accommodation a ship offers. I am easily intimidated by such posts.

 

The reality, of course, is that each ship, except maybe on some genuine luxury lines, has a certain percentage of inside staterooms, a certain percentage of oceanview non-balcony staterooms, and so forth, and tries to sell all of them, not just the most expensive ones. I just counted the staterooms on an arbitrarily chosen deck of an arbitrarily chosen ship and 40% were inside. That means that 40% of the passengers either can't afford or aren't willing to pay for more expensive cabins.

 

Other replies have mentioned things that are somewhat predictable, in particular that, the longer the cruise, the higher the percentage of retirees. I have a booking for the Mediterranean coming up where some passengers will have just sailed transatlantic on the same ship. My job wouldn't allow me the time for a transatlantic cruise back-to-back with a Mediterranean cruise.

 

It's also somewhat predictable that cruise passengers, on average, will be older and more affluent than the population in general. However, I can't help remembering what Ann Landers used to reply to people who were dissatisfied with their medical care: "Half the doctors in the country graduated below the middle of their medical-school classes."

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From reading the posts at Cruise Critic, it would be easy to conclude that most people who go on cruises are very affluent and are looking for luxury, merely because a disproportionate number of posts mention suites, the Haven (on NCL), or whatever other luxury accommodation a ship offers. I am easily intimidated by such posts.

 

LOL, the Norwegian section of CC is an anomaly IMO. There's a particularly high % of posts regarding Haven suites and like you said, numerically, there aren't a lot of suites on each ship. I jump around to different cruise line sections and the Norwegian one is pretty unique IMO. You get a much broader cross section of posters in the other cruise line sections. Norwegian's seems particularly stratified into Suite posters and total newbies.

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I would be really interested to know what demographics OP would put on MSC and Costa sailing the Caribbean from what it read on the boards. Particularly as I suspect 90+% of the cruisers are not involved with CC.

Isn't there a catchy phrase about assuming?

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LOL, the Norwegian section of CC is an anomaly IMO. There's a particularly high % of posts regarding Haven suites and like you said, numerically, there aren't a lot of suites on each ship. I jump around to different cruise line sections and the Norwegian one is pretty unique IMO. You get a much broader cross section of posters in the other cruise line sections. Norwegian's seems particularly stratified into Suite posters and total newbies.

I did notice all the people that are in Haven Suites. Only in my dreams—-after winning a lottery!! Actually I follow on here all the time, and I only book inside cabins to save costs, as I’m a retired RN, and money is a lot tighter! Lol! As I said, I can dream of a Haven Suite, but I will never see one.

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We're a working class family and we are fortunate enough to get to cruise once a year. We never discuss our politics, religion and prefer other passengers to do the same. We usually cruise Royal and Celebrity. If I only depended on these boards, I'd think we were just about the only ones that were thrilled to be in an oceanview balcony or a CP balcony. There will always be people that say they can't settle for anything less than a GS or an Owner's suite. If that were the case there wouldn't be a fully booked ship ever sailing. We've cruise inside and oceanview balcony and everything in between and we've never had a bad cruise. You won't ever find a post from me saying we scored a great deal on a GS or OS. We can't afford it and that's okay with us, but if that's what floats your boat and you can afford it, good for you. I don't begrudge anyone that can afford it. Heck, when I win the lottery, I might book an OS and my review will be awesome.

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i took my first cruise this year in the Mediterranean and liked it so much I’m gonna take my First Caribbean cruise in January on NCL. I found the people on the chat boards and on the ship to be pretty relaxed, mostly 40-50 or higher and noticed a fair amount of party-goers and liberal.

 

I am finding that US-based cruising in general is anOther story. Everyone I have been interacting with seems friendly and helpful. I do sense a lot more of a conservative crowd out of the US-based cruises, tell me what you think:

- generally a more conservative (small ‘c’) crowd.

- more likely to be from republican areas of the US

- non-urban crowd...many southerners and midwesterners but not a lot of New York City or LA people

- people with big families with a big emphasis on celebrating family events like anniversaries (lots of using “DH” and “DS” acronyms etc”)

- mostly married - few divorcées

- Christian / Catholic

- tend to have an attitude of “if you don’t like the way things are, don’t ask for special treatment or accommodations” crowd...”freedom of speech” proponents, tend not to pay much attention to being “politically correct”

- prefer the safety of a ship and organized excursions than going to resorts or organizing excursions themselves

- in married couples, there seem to be more wives doing the online organizing (ie meets and greets)

- prefer a tip-based service tourist industry instead of an all-inclusive flat rate fare, where employees are paid fair and equal wages for the work They do

 

I am not saying that this is how everyone is obviously but I have definitely Noticed a trend of this demographic on the US based cruises i follow compared to the European ones. do you guys agree this tends to be the majority of the crowd I will find on a US based cruise or is it just a very vocal and Noticeable group?

 

As someone who can get along with everyone, I’m always open to associating with anyone I have things in common with, but I wonder if that might be less On my upcoming Caribbean cruise than my prior cruise.

 

What do you guys think?

 

You really get along with everyone? Don't take this the wrong way, but from your post, one wouldn't think so..... :D

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There's been some remarkable assumptions made, and some great humour and I would love to share a table with a few of you. As I said I am not the kind of person some seem to expect to find on their cruises. I suspect there are more like me who don't have an affluent lifestyle, but have always had a desire even if only once, to experience a Cruise. Families, couples can spend years of saving so they can achieve that once in a lifetime experience. Reading some of the posts I have been filled with dread. This is the year I achieve a 50 year long ambition but reading about demographics, suites, balconies, exclusivity makes me wonder if I have let myself and my husband in for a nightmare rather than a dream.

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Please don't let some of the posts here deter you from realizing a dream. You will meet a cross section of the population on your cruise, and most of them will be ordinary people just like you. I'm a civil servant and cruise once or twice a year. It may be in steerage, but I'm on the ship.

 

Roz

 

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There's been some remarkable assumptions made, and some great humour and I would love to share a table with a few of you. As I said I am not the kind of person some seem to expect to find on their cruises. I suspect there are more like me who don't have an affluent lifestyle, but have always had a desire even if only once, to experience a Cruise. Families, couples can spend years of saving so they can achieve that once in a lifetime experience. Reading some of the posts I have been filled with dread. This is the year I achieve a 50 year long ambition but reading about demographics, suites, balconies, exclusivity makes me wonder if I have let myself and my husband in for a nightmare rather than a dream.

 

LOL, you're fine. It's all about priorities. Even in my neighborhood, with it's stereotype suburb (very similar income levels, 2.5 kids, etc), you see wildly different priorities. We travel. But our cars are relatively crappy. Neighbor travels once every several years, but drives really nice cars. Another never travels, but they've got lots of toys. Another built a pool and also never travels. With a finite amount of money, most people have to pick and choose. Even on more expensive cruises, you see a WIDE cross section of people. Some saved up for years to do it. Others can go every few months. On our last cruise, we sat next to this really young couple on their honeymoon. They had a backyard wedding, lived with parents, etc. Just so they could afford to go on that cruise.

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LOL, you're fine. It's all about priorities. Even in my neighborhood, with it's stereotype suburb (very similar income levels, 2.5 kids, etc), you see wildly different priorities. We travel. But our cars are relatively crappy. Neighbor travels once every several years, but drives really nice cars. Another never travels, but they've got lots of toys. Another built a pool and also never travels. With a finite amount of money, most people have to pick and choose. Even on more expensive cruises, you see a WIDE cross section of people. Some saved up for years to do it. Others can go every few months. On our last cruise, we sat next to this really young couple on their honeymoon. They had a backyard wedding, lived with parents, etc. Just so they could afford to go on that cruise.

Yes, they will be fine, and you pegged it right about priorities. We spent a good share of our married life raising 5 children. We were lucky if we could scrap together a tent camping trip once a year. And that still involved me cooking and doing laundry! Our first cruise we used my hubby’s bonus money for for our 25th Anniversary in 1995. It was on a line that was old and not mainstream, and went bankrupt shortly after. It had zero entertainment, but for the little time we had on board, we vowed to keep trying to cruise. We were bitten by the cruise bug. So, our priorities changed, from buying “stuff” to saving for “experiences”. We started a vacation fund, that we treat just like any bill, and deposit money to it every pay day. Now that we are retired we can only deposit once a month from our retirement income, but if we didn’t, that money could easily have been spent on “stuff” rather than “experiences”. We are lucky enough to try to cruise once a year if we are smart, and choose only an inside cabin, and only on a rare special occasion book a specialty restaurant.

So, you see, we are not all 5 cruise a year in a suite people. Just your average every day people just wanting to cruise.

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This is the year I achieve a 50 year long ambition but reading about demographics, suites, balconies, exclusivity makes me wonder if I have let myself and my husband in for a nightmare rather than a dream.

 

Honestly, it depends on what you're dream is.......if your dream is to go on a cruise, go and enjoy. If your dream is to cruise in the style of 30 or 40 years ago, you might be in for some disappointment, since a lot of things have changed about the cruise industry and the cruise experience since then. I hope it's the former, and you have a wonderful time.

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  • 2 months later...
Honestly, it depends on what you're dream is.......if your dream is to go on a cruise, go and enjoy. If your dream is to cruise in the style of 30 or 40 years ago, you might be in for some disappointment, since a lot of things have changed about the cruise industry and the cruise experience since then. I hope it's the former, and you have a wonderful time.

I am now 8 days away from my cruise, leaving from Cardiff on 16th May on a grand old lady who appears to be like Marmite. The Marco Polo is loved and derided in equal measure. Fortunately I have always reserved judgement until I can have the experience myself, although naturally I prefer to read the more positive comments. I have learned a lot studying these boards, having had plenty of time to do so after being medically retired. Putting people into categories and expecting them to behave according to expectation must be a bit like herding cats, impossible. What makes life so rich and fascinating is individuality, this is one of the things I am looking forward to most, meeting new people with different experiences and outlook. The ship is my destination as Iceland is not ideal for those of us less mobile. Nevertheless I will manage a couple of excursions and see something of this stunningly different country. I have long since stopped worrying about demographics. Our ship is modest and elderly by comparison, but I am going to spend ten days sailing and that in itself is the reason behind my cruise ambition, not so much the arrival as the journey. I haven't any pre-conceived expectations the whole thing is one huge adventure and for several weeks now I've been counting the days, like a child waiting for Christmas! My dream is just as quoted, to go on the Cruise and enjoy it, just have the experience, join in where I am able and let the joy of being at sea shape the dream.

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I am now 8 days away from my cruise, leaving from Cardiff on 16th May on a grand old lady who appears to be like Marmite. The Marco Polo is loved and derided in equal measure. Fortunately I have always reserved judgement until I can have the experience myself, although naturally I prefer to read the more positive comments. I have learned a lot studying these boards, having had plenty of time to do so after being medically retired. Putting people into categories and expecting them to behave according to expectation must be a bit like herding cats, impossible. What makes life so rich and fascinating is individuality, this is one of the things I am looking forward to most, meeting new people with different experiences and outlook. The ship is my destination as Iceland is not ideal for those of us less mobile. Nevertheless I will manage a couple of excursions and see something of this stunningly different country. I have long since stopped worrying about demographics. Our ship is modest and elderly by comparison, but I am going to spend ten days sailing and that in itself is the reason behind my cruise ambition, not so much the arrival as the journey. I haven't any pre-conceived expectations the whole thing is one huge adventure and for several weeks now I've been counting the days, like a child waiting for Christmas! My dream is just as quoted, to go on the Cruise and enjoy it, just have the experience, join in where I am able and let the joy of being at sea shape the dream.

 

Elles5,

 

With such a positive, and open attitude, you are bound to have a magnificent trip! You are a talented writer, and I would love to read a trip report from you after your adventure!

 

Have a beautiful cruise!

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Elles5,

 

With such a positive, and open attitude, you are bound to have a magnificent trip! You are a talented writer, and I would love to read a trip report from you after your adventure!

 

Have a beautiful cruise!

 

Thank you for your kind words, my journal is packed already and I would love to write a report of my trip. Whatever happens I've had almost six months of excited planning as I recovered from surgery, I've imagined so much, read so much that I almost feel as though I've been already.

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I ask all the time, how else can I find out if your kinky is my kinky:evilsmile:

 

Well, you can ask but I may not answer. :cool:

 

Roz

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Thank you for your kind words, my journal is packed already and I would love to write a report of my trip. Whatever happens I've had almost six months of excited planning as I recovered from surgery, I've imagined so much, read so much that I almost feel as though I've been already.

 

Enjoy Marco Polo - I am glad to hear she is still sailing. I sailed her through the Aegean from Istanbul to Athens in 1996; even then she was "mature", and attracted a comparable passenger mix - more interested in being at sea and seeing what is across the water than shipboard bells and whistles.

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