Average age

[Antonintassie]

No we sailed on the Royal Princess in the med not long after it launched I am 50 and I felt like a teenager on board .Most of the pasenger could have been my parents parents

 

 

We just finished a 10-day Caribbean cruise on the Royal Princess. The ship was great and we had a wonderful time. We were celebrating our 25th anniversary and wanted to have a more adult atmosphere so we decided to try Princess - we usually cruise with Royal Caribbean. It seems we went from one extreme to the other; the average age of passengers on this cruise was about 75 to 80. We are already planning our next cruise but can't decide between Princess and Royal Caribbean. Can anyone tell me if all Princess cruises attract mostly elders, or was our cruise unusual?

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Remember - It's ALWAYS about the money.

 

Most older passengers prefer smaller ships and longer cruises.

Most younger passengers prefer bigger, newer ships with all the bells and whistles.

Most younger passengers cannot afford the time or money required to take longer cruises.

The average North American (still employed) cannot take a cruise longer than 7 days.

 

The corrrelation between length of cruise and age of passengers is very obvious and logical.

The cruise lines promote this correlation as much as possible.

-Small ships rarely make any profit at all.

-Larger ships make good profits.

-Really large ships make obscene profits.

 

With North Americans, the most profitable cruise length is 7 days.

With Europeans, the most profitable cruise length is 10 days.

 

Even though smaller ships rarely make a profit, they lose less money on longer voyages.

 

The most profitable situation for a cruise line is a very large new ship, carrying a middle-aged crowd, with plenty opportunities to spend more money onboard, on a 7-day cruise.

 

If you manage a cruise line, who do you want sailing on your large profit-making ships?

Younger cruisers with disposible income, of course.

 

Who do you want sailing on your smaller unprofitable ships?

Old folks who don't spend any of their fixed income. Actually you don't really want those older folks sailing at all. But in order to keep them off the bigger, newer ships, you make it more attractive for them to sail on the smaller, older ships.

 

Most of what you say is true for us. We have now seen the Royal & wouldn't rush back if there was any other Princess ship in our area. Maybe it's not for all the reasons you quoted but there are to many negatives to attract us to that class of ship again. Of course if it ware the only ship leaving from Ft Lauderdale we would have to bear with it once more.

[PenguinLife]

Hubby and I prefer the older demographic to the younger. .... For us, a cruise where the average age is 75, we would be overjoyed, as there would likely be less competition for pool and hot tub relaxing, as well as less likelihood of children running about knocking into others. We think of cruising as a treat that we deserve after years of working and we do not wish to have to do battle with other's children.

 

Being about your age, tending to agree about preferring an on average older demographic, and having experienced such a cruise where the average age was around 75 on board a couple of years ago, I can say that the experience was a bit disconcerting. On that cruise I was probably one of the few people still in my 40's (their may have been a handful in their 30's on whole ship) that were not part of a 3 or even 4 generational family trip, and it was rare to see anyone that was still in their 50's. If you saw someone walking around the ship that did not have gray or obviously colored hair, you automatically assumed crew member, .... Dinner time conversation while interesting in a way, did seem a bit limited in range of topics when everyone else has kids older than you are...., I honestly am not sure the exact average age of the passengers on that cruise, but I will say that my mother is an active 75 years old, and if she were on the cruise she would appear on the young side of average, so I know I am not exaggerating about average age on that cruise, or at least not by much.

[Iamcruzin]

I just got off the Ruby yesterday after a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise. There were a few families, but many middle age couples. I saw more couples in their 40's to 50's than in their 70's. There were 700 that were staying on the ship to go to the Western Caribbean. Many of those were not the geriatric set.

We sailed one year the second week in November with our children. It was a Southern itinerary departing from San Juan so most of those traveling as a family group were from Puerto Rico which would make sense. The rest skewed younger 30's and 40's. Since this ship left from Puerto Rico I wouldn't expect there to be a large amount of seniors since they would have to fly to port. Those that I spoke with were on the b2b itinerary. This was in 2008 when the market crashed and the seniors I spoke with at the Captain Circle cocktail party were afraid that they wouldn't be able to cruise again because their port folios took a beating that year.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Iamcruzin

[PhoneGoddess]

Hear! Hear! I often hear, "I hope I'm as busy and active when I'm your age."

 

I make no bones about the fact that I'm 73YO. Do I stay up late at night? Yes, but I'd rather read a book than go to a show. I'm busy and active during the day and I'm having a ball just living life. I know I'm very fortunate but I worked long and hard to be able to do so. I know I'm not alone. Crabby, demanding people come in all ages and sizes. Sometimes it sucks being older because your body doesn't do what you could when you were younger.

 

Here I am zip lining across the Victoria River at Victoria Falls. Much more fun than climbing a fake rock. :)

 

Hi Pam,

 

My mother is 73 yo and still works full time. She did a zipline for the first time last week and had a blast! :D

[BlessedAZWife]

Beg3YRS...where in AZ are you? We are in Payson.

 

Kingofcool1947...when we do our Eastern Caribbean cruise on Regal next year, we are celebrating hubby's 60th, and I am currently 54.

 

A little background on us: We will have a couple/few drinks a day. We always try the drink of the day! We like to have fun, but are not huge on partying and drinking it up. I deplore the thought of wasting even an hour of a cruise with a hangover, so rarely do either of us over indulge to that degree.

 

We rarely go in the pools, however, we do love the hot tubs. As a result of a birth defect, I have hearing loss, and wear hearing aids. Without them, I can hear very little, so even in the hot tub I wear them, which is why I am grumpy about kids splashing about and treating the hot tub as a place to rough house!

 

On our last cruise, one day, we ended up sharing a table in the MDR for breakfast with a Doctor and her 2 young boys. They were very well behaved, however, much of the conversation revolved around them. And when the youngest knocked over his orange juice into my lap, I told hubby that I was done.

 

I do not cruise to deal with children, therefore, I will avoid them at all costs. Not that I don't like kids, we just had our third grand-daughter born this weekend. However, in my opinion, younger children have no business on a cruise ship. Furthermore, you cannot make me believe that a portion of the kids programs costs are not factored in to all cruise fares. If a parent wishes to cruise with their children, let them take care of them instead of pawning them off on the cruise ship employees, or setting them loose on the ship to run amok.

[shredie]

I do not cruise to deal with children, therefore, I will avoid them at all costs. Not that I don't like kids, we just had our third grand-daughter born this weekend. However, in my opinion, younger children have no business on a cruise ship. Furthermore, you cannot make me believe that a portion of the kids programs costs are not factored in to all cruise fares. If a parent wishes to cruise with their children, let them take care of them instead of pawning them off on the cruise ship employees, or setting them loose on the ship to run amok.

 

Isn't there a cruise line dedicated to only adults? You should find one. My grandchildren cruise with me. They are well-behaved. They love the kids' club which is why they go--not because I am "pawning them off." When you find that cruise for adults only, I'm sure it will be very inexpensive since there will be no factoring in of kids' facilities. Maybe you should think again about insulting all families with children based on your unfortunate experience with one. :mad:

[Kingofcool1947]

Hmm, not seen too many young folks in Sabatinis for breakfast, so I guess one solution would be to remove all the suites which the people they don't want sailing occupy.

 

FWIW, I am 67, I retired at 50 and we always occupy a suite.

 

Nice to know from a person who we all believe is employed by a cruise line that, now I am a little older, my $15,000 for a 14-day cruise is not really wanted. :(

 

 

Corfe Mixture,

 

Thank you for subsidizing our recently booked 14 night $499 balcony stateroom! :)

FWIW, I am 60, I retired at 50, and DW and I have not cruised much. DW and I like to do more active lifestyle land based vacations. So for me, deep water cruises have somewhat reminded me of visiting an old age home. :D. On our last cruise (September) to New England-Canada, the majority of fellow cruisers seemed old, 70-80's. Saw just 4 young children with their parents. However on our 14 night Carribean cruse (last December) it had a much more varied age group. Time of year, length of cruise, and itinerary are factors? :confused: We enjoyed the cruises that had more varied age groups. That's just us. YMMV.

 

Safe travels, and stay healthy,

King

Edited November 24, 2014 by Kingofcool1947

[RetiredNTraveling]

Hubby and I prefer the older demographic to the younger.

 

We enjoy the 50's thru 80's demographic. As we started cruising later in life (66 YO) but we try and book when there are as few kids as possible. We have raised ours and our grandchildren are 22 to 17!

 

However, as hubby and I are perfectly content with each other, no need for a multitude of other younger people. On our last cruise on RCL, while in the adults only area, we were in the hot tub and several young people piled in and were being obnoxious, and, YES, I was that mean lady who asked one of the pool guys to ask their age and boot them out. If young people can be polite and respectful, fine. However, if they start splashing about in the hot tub, I will turn mean.

 

I could really like you because it is not being mean to expect others to follow the rules. On a 2 week cruise to Hawaii in 2013, not knowing that California had released the kids for 2 weeks of Spring Break, on an outing by myself several young kids jumped on the elevator at the Promenade deck and began pushing buttons and immediately started jumping off before the elevator doors closed. Well I happened to block one youngster and he go to ride all the way to the top whether he wanted to or not. I guess you could say that "If I was going to have to stop at every floor on my way to the HC then he was too!" He was not happy but the other passengers kind of made a coral and he took a ride!

 

For us, a cruise where the average age is 75, we would be overjoyed, as there would likely be less competition for pool and hot tub relaxing, as well as less likelihood of children running about knocking into others. We think of cruising as a treat that we deserve after years of working and we do not wish to have to do battle with other's children.

 

But that is not to say that some of us "older folks" can't get obnoxious too. Watch out for "canes" and motorized carts, as they can be very dangerous!

[Kingofcool1947]

Beg3YRS...where in AZ are you? We are in Payson.

 

Kingofcool1947...when we do our Eastern Caribbean cruise on Regal next year, we are celebrating hubby's 60th, and I am currently 54.

 

A little background on us: We will have a couple/few drinks a day. We always try the drink of the day! We like to have fun, but are not huge on partying and drinking it up. I deplore the thought of wasting even an hour of a cruise with a hangover, so rarely do either of us over indulge to that degree.

 

We rarely go in the pools, however, we do love the hot tubs. As a result of a birth defect, I have hearing loss, and wear hearing aids. Without them, I can hear very little, so even in the hot tub I wear them, which is why I am grumpy about kids splashing about and treating the hot tub as a place to rough house!

 

On our last cruise, one day, we ended up sharing a table in the MDR for breakfast with a Doctor and her 2 young boys. They were very well behaved, however, much of the conversation revolved around them. And when the youngest knocked over his orange juice into my lap, I told hubby that I was done.

 

I do not cruise to deal with children, therefore, I will avoid them at all costs. Not that I don't like kids, we just had our third grand-daughter born this weekend. However, in my opinion, younger children have no business on a cruise ship. Furthermore, you cannot make me believe that a portion of the kids programs costs are not factored in to all cruise fares. If a parent wishes to cruise with their children, let them take care of them instead of pawning them off on the cruise ship employees, or setting them loose on the ship to run amok.

 

BlessedAZwife,

 

Congratulations on celebrating your hubby's 60th birthday with a cruise to the Carribean.

 

Unfortunate you had a few bad experiences at the pool/hot tub and the accident with spilled juice on you at breakfast. As you know, having ben a parent yourself, young children sometime lack fine motor skill coordination. They spill and splash liquids, and drop objects at the most inopportune times. :eek: I'm sure you remember those good old parenting days? :)

 

The Carribean cruise we took a few years ago was full of young children, teens, and young adults splashing around in the pools. No issues with us, as we don't mind being around kids. That's just us. But, if DW and I want quiet, we find an area of the ship that is quiet. Or adults only areas.

 

Regards, and stay healthy. And hope you have a smooth uneventful experience on your Caribean cruise. :)

King

Edited November 24, 2014 by Kingofcool1947

[Corfe Mixture]

Corfe Mixture,

 

Thank you for subsidizing our recently booked 14 night $499 balcony stateroom! :)

 

You're welcome. Hope you enjoy your cruises as much as we enjoy our's.

 

You never know, we may one day find ourselves assigned to the same table for dinner, which will mean you will certainly get an invitation to pre-dinner drinks on one of the formal evenings.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Corfe Mixture

[BlessedAZWife]

Oh goodness, I certainly did not intend to stir up so much ire!!

 

Of course, I recognize that children lack fine motor skills, (as do adults at times!!) As a matter of fact, on our last cruise, during an after port treat of burgers and shakes at Johnny Rockets, my hubby accidentally knocked over his freshly delivered chocolate milk shake, which made for a delightfully cool and sticky masque for his crotch and legs! And an equally pleasant squelch to our mid ship cabin!

 

We have children aged 36 and 32, and grandchildren aged 17, 13, and newborn. There was much discussion about bringing them on the upcoming family celebration cruise. We all decided against it. The kids will be much happier at home with nannies, and not having to behave and be restless on a long flight, or be stuck sitting in a long embarkation line, or being bored without a lot of tween activities for them on the ship.

 

At the risk of further irritating people, I will say that I stand by my assertion that unless it is a Disney cruise, a cruise ship is not the ideal place for kids. There is a reason we do not cruise Disney or Carnival. The younger demographics are it. When I go on a cruise and the tweens respect the adults only area, and their parents enforce it, and when I walk down a hall or on the Promenade and don't get knocked over by running children, and when I can find a lounger near the pool and not have to listen to children or tweens omg'ing and Justin Bieber and One Direction'ing, and when I can stroll through the Plaza to the café for a light afternoon snack without having to deal with a group of teens who think they own the café and have to spread out over several tables and then leave a mess, I will re-assess my opinion. I recognize that this is about respect and courtesy and politeness, which are woefully lacking these days.

 

We simply choose to not have to deal with children when we go on vacation. Thank you to those of you who extended good wishes on our upcoming celebration.

[BlessedAZWife]

HA!! RetiredNTraveling, I could really like you as well!!

 

 

"I could really like you because it is not being mean to expect others to follow the rules. On a 2 week cruise to Hawaii in 2013, not knowing that California had released the kids for 2 weeks of Spring Break, on an outing by myself several young kids jumped on the elevator at the Promenade deck and began pushing buttons and immediately started jumping off before the elevator doors closed. Well I happened to block one youngster and he go to ride all the way to the top whether he wanted to or not. I guess you could say that "If I was going to have to stop at every floor on my way to the HC then he was too!" He was not happy but the other passengers kind of made a coral and he took a ride!"

 

 

That is exactly something that I would do!!!

[Talisker92]

A lot of the comments are generalizations, and YMMV! We were on a 31 day cruise on the Golden, and there were many our age (70's), and many younger. I only saw one scooter, and very few walkers.

When Toto had that horrendous experience on her cruise, she thought a lot of the problems were due to the fact it was LA to LA, so no flights were involved, and there were a lot of scooters.

[Kingofcool1947]

Who's Toto?

[CharlesOK]

Able boddied folks just don't look down very much, therefore they have a nasty habit of simply walking in front of folks trying to get around on a 3 wheeler. Most Old-folks who use a 3 wheeler are very well aware that they can quickly ruin your day by running into your ankle. I know my wife tries very hard to never injure anyone, but most of this world accommodates the able bodied extremely well, not so much those who are restricted in their walking abilities. Cut them some slack, my wife has a sign on the front of her scooter " I would rather be walking". After 7 hip replacement surgeries and full knee replacement and wearing out her shoulder using a cane in her right hand for 50 years, I am sorry, I don't have much sympathy for you if you stick your ankle under the front of her scooter while you walk left and look right. Lets all beef about the folks who walk the promenade deck 4 abreast or maybe the runners that almost trample other folks as they cruise around the ship in their spandex glory. My point is why make such an issue about even noticing people with canes or on scooters. Get over it, we are here, we are not going away.

[GUT2407]

Able boddied folks just don't look down very much, therefore they have a nasty habit of simply walking in front of folks trying to get around on a 3 wheeler. Most Old-folks who use a 3 wheeler are very well aware that they can quickly ruin your day by running into your ankle. I know my wife tries very hard to never injure anyone, but most of this world accommodates the able bodied extremely well, not so much those who are restricted in their walking abilities. Cut them some slack, my wife has a sign on the front of her scooter " I would rather be walking". After 7 hip replacement surgeries and full knee replacement and wearing out her shoulder using a cane in her right hand for 50 years, I am sorry, I don't have much sympathy for you if you stick your ankle under the front of her scooter while you walk left and look right. Lets all beef about the folks who walk the promenade deck 4 abreast or maybe the runners that almost trample other folks as they cruise around the ship in their spandex glory. My point is why make such an issue about even noticing people with canes or on scooters. Get over it, we are here, we are not going away.

 

 

LIKE!!!

 

And in a wheelchair sometimes you file like you are invisible.

[Kingofcool1947]

Why are you making generalizations about able bodied folks?

It works both ways.

On our last cruise DW

[JimmyVWine]

There was much discussion about bringing them on the upcoming family celebration cruise. We all decided against it. The kids will be much happier at home with nannies, and not having to behave and be restless on a long flight, or be stuck sitting in a long embarkation line, or being bored without a lot of tween activities for them on the ship.

How sad that your prejudices will deprive the children of an opportunity that they will never be able to recapture. Imagine not being able to enjoy a week long cruise because of the perceived inability to endure a 45 minute wait at embarkation that could be reduced to 5 minutes if one arrives at 2:00 pm. How unfortunate that the prejudices of the adults results in the ill-informed conclusion that the tweens would not meet new friends on the ship or that the ship would not have activities for them in the youth center. How sad that one believes that better and longer lasting memories will be forged staying with the nannies instead of seeing the world with their parents and grandparents.

 

I recognize that this is about respect and courtesy and politeness, which are woefully lacking these days.

Yes, it is. And it is a shame that you have so little respect and extend so little courtesy to those who are younger than you. It does go both ways you know.

[BruceMuzz]

Bruce - thanks for the brutally direct response.

 

While I'm personally an averaged age Princess cruiser, I just loved my very long Ocean Princess voyage and have booked the same cabin on another long voyage in 2016.

 

I can't argue about the folks on the last OP cruise not wanting to spend their fixed income. The casino was so dead (poor choice of words but accurate) the table limits had to be lowered to get anyone to play.

 

I suppose that even if they aren't making money on the small ships, just parking them costs even more than operating them at a loss. Is this correct?

 

I also see you've moved at least part-time to China. Say hi to Alan B for us!

 

I also cannot argue with fixed income people who are unwilling to spend money. It is simply human nature.

But in the business world, non-spenders are not the most desirable customers.

 

Just parking the small ships would be more costly than operating them at a loss. Even when a small ship is losing money, it is still generating income and cash flow to support the Corporate Offices.

 

The best solution would be selling them. But who is going to pay $50 - $80 Million for a small used cruise ship that cannot possibly make a profit?

[shredie]

How sad that your prejudices will deprive the children of an opportunity that they will never be able to recapture. Imagine not being able to enjoy a week long cruise because of the perceived inability to endure a 45 minute wait at embarkation that could be reduced to 5 minutes if one arrives at 2:00 pm. How unfortunate that the prejudices of the adults results in the ill-informed conclusion that the tweens would not meet new friends on the ship or that the ship would not have activities for them in the youth center. How sad that one believes that better and longer lasting memories will be forged staying with the nannies instead of seeing the world with their parents and grandparents.

 

 

Yes, it is. And it is a shame that you have so little respect and extend so little courtesy to those who are younger than you. It does go both ways you know.

Well said. And I like the little touch about "the nannies." Most people can't afford personal nannies. Maybe that's why they bring the little vermin on the cruises with them.

Edited November 25, 2014 by shredie

[caribill]

 

The best solution would be selling them. But who is going to pay $50 - $80 Million for a small used cruise ship that cannot possibly make a profit?

 

The same companies that already operate identical ships and charge many more $$$ than Princess does for a cruise.

[Kingofcool1947]

A lot of the comments are generalizations, and YMMV! We were on a 31 day cruise on the Golden, and there were many our age (70's), and many younger. I only saw one scooter, and very few walkers.

When Toto had that horrendous experience on her cruise, she thought a lot of the problems were due to the fact it was LA to LA, so no flights were involved, and there were a lot of scooters.

 

Who's Toto?:confused:

[Mackenzie1]

I also cannot argue with fixed income people who are unwilling to spend money. It is simply human nature.

But in the business world, non-spenders are not the most desirable customers.

 

Just parking the small ships would be more costly than operating them at a loss. Even when a small ship is losing money, it is still generating income and cash flow to support the Corporate Offices.

 

The best solution would be selling them. But who is going to pay $50 - $80 Million for a small used cruise ship that cannot possibly make a profit?

 

Small, older cruise ships are bought and sold all of the time. RCCL's Sun Viking is now painted black, renamed "The Oriental Dragon" and is selling out of Singapore. Seabourne is selling two of its smaller, older ships to Windstar next year.

[bhopal21]

Who's Toto?:confused:

 

A former Cruise Critic member.

 

Mike:)