Cruise Demographics for the future

[Lady Arwen]

The last of the baby boomers turn 5 this year. I would hardly describe them as a quickly dying generation. Many, many years of cruising in their future yet.

Deleted. Sorry.

[cruisemom42]

I agree! it drives me crazy to see a family sitting together and not interacting with each other. Sometimes I wonder if they're texting each other because they don't know how to have a conversation! Or the mothers out with the kid in the stroller. Mom thinks she's having quality time with the kid, but how much quality is in it for the kid when Mom is on the phone the whole time?

 

 

I think nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. People tend to remember what was good and not so much what wasn't.

 

I grew up in the 1970s, and trust me plenty of mothers left kids parked in front of the TV all day while they talked on their (landline) phones to friends. Remember those extra-long phone cords people had so they could talk on the phone while, let's say, doing dishes or cooking?

[TheEmerson]

IMO, your analysis does not apply to all aging boomers. Some of us chose to live within our means while raising our children and sending them to college without the need to purchase larger homes and fancier cars, etc. And so now we have the means to enjoy retirement.

 

Oh I completely agree. This is not a blanket overview. But it is not on the fringe either. Last year AARP showed that approx 48% of boomers do not have adequate savings. I know such boomers that are fully paid off houses and retirement funds but also know some in their late 60s still with mortgages that must keep working to keep their house. It all comes down to personal decisions and events that are specific to them.

[Roz]

Adequate savings - who even know what they means, when a year or two in a nursing home can wipe out your life savings?

 

Roz

[3rdGenCunarder]

I think nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. People tend to remember what was good and not so much what wasn't.

 

I grew up in the 1970s, and trust me plenty of mothers left kids parked in front of the TV all day while they talked on their (landline) phones to friends. Remember those extra-long phone cords people had so they could talk on the phone while, let's say, doing dishes or cooking?

 

Sure, TV was a useful "babysitter," but when mothers did that back then, I don't think they were kidding themselves that they were having "quality time" with the kids. Plus if the choices were good--and there were good choices--kids were getting more out of the TV than some I've seen being ignored by their cell-addict mothers.

 

I don't think it's dangerous nostalgia to prefer human interaction when sitting at dinner rather than ignoring the people around me while I poke at my cell phone.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I agree with Baggal. None of my boomer friends, or family members for that matter, have their retirement assets tied up in big houses or expensive cars. Pretty much pensions, IRAs, 401Ks, and stocks, bonds, and mutual funds outside of retirement accounts. Maybe it depends on the part of the country you live in.

 

Roz

 

I agree, too. Around here, the McMansions are bought by younger people than boomers. Of course, their boomer parents may be helping them pay for it...

[OlsSalt]

If sense is so common, why is there so little of it?

 

Roz

 

Probably because it is ....old fashioned? And there is no app for that. And grandma who may have had it in spades ... is out cruising. :p

[sail7seas]

Formal Dress every night??? I can't even........

 

 

 

 

 

Zero, Zip, NO chance I would volutarily find myself dressing formal every night. NO Way. :d N ot interested.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Probably because it is ....old fashioned? And there is no app for that. And grandma who had it in spades ... is out cruising. :p

 

LOL! I thought there was an app for everything!!!!

 

And good for Grandma! You know, we often joke about HAL being God's waiting room. On our last cruise, I met a woman who disliked everything about the cruise. They'd done many cruises, but it was their first HAL cruise. Her 86-year-old husband chose it for the itinerary. When she got to the complaint that HAL has "too many old people," I nearly burst out laughing. She's done 30 cruises and didn't know HAL's reputation??? She then went on about people in wheelchairs, etc. And that got me thinking. Yes, there are people using canes, walkers, wheelchairs. I saw one man in a motorized wheelchair and he had so little mobility that his wife was working the joystick. But they weren't sitting home staring at the same walls. They were getting out there, doing however much they were able to.

 

And that's when it hit me. HAL is not God's waiting room. It's a hideout for people saying, "Nope, God, you're not getting me yet!"

[iancal]

Competitive cruise lines moving to meet changing tastes and demands is only one part of the challenge for HAL.

 

The other, and I suspect larger issue, will be the many other travel options that are in the marketplace. The world is shrinking. People are loosing their apprehension of visiting foreign countries (over and above a port stop) and the number of quality, and some very specialized, tour companies is increasing.

 

Cruising is not the only game in town.

[OlsSalt]

Competitive cruise lines moving to meet changing tastes and demands is only one part of the challenge for HAL.

 

The other, and I suspect larger issue, will be the many other travel options that are in the marketplace. The world is shrinking. People are loosing their apprehension of visiting foreign countries (over and above a port stop) and the number of quality, and some very specialized, tour companies is increasing.

 

Cruising is not the only game in town.

 

Cruising remains the best option for those who want to unpack only once, travel at night while you sleep, awake to someplace new, and bring your own sense of the familiar along with you.

 

After decades of pure adventure travel, intentionally pitting myself against the unknown for the sheer energy of self-discovery and well as location discovery, I have found the seduction of comfort and the familiar while combined with Exploration-Lite works just fine at this point in my own life. That may continue to be the primary allure for each new generation, who also ages into this nice travel cocoon called cruising.

[RuthC]

And that's when it hit me. HAL is not God's waiting room. It's a hideout for people saying, "Nope, God, you're not getting me yet!"

I love the way you put that, and will do my best to remember it.

I have been of the belief that "it's hard to hit a moving target", so try to keep moving as best I can. Just now associated it with the guy with the scythe. :')

[iancal]

We are in our early/mid sixties. We have changed our view of cruising over the past several years. Now we tend to do far more land travel and see cruising as a brief respite. Do we pack and unpack every day? No, we are slow travellers. Three, sometimes three/ five days in a city or area we enjoy is the norm for us. After spending multiple days in cities like Istanbul, Barcelona, Saigon, Hanoi etc we cannot imagine limiting ourselves to a one day or an overnight port stop. On some trips we don't decide on our next stop until a day or two ahead of time. No rush, no schedule, no concern about all aboard time or tenders. But we do not travel with scads of heavy luggage...just a 9/10 kg rollerboard carry on.

Edited April 6, 2017 by iancal

[3rdGenCunarder]

Cruising remains the best option for those who want to unpack only once, travel at night while you sleep, awake to someplace new, and bring your own sense of the familiar along with you.

 

After decades of pure adventure travel, intentionally pitting myself against the unknown for the sheer energy of self-discovery and well as location discovery, I have found the seduction of comfort and the familiar while combined with exploration-lite works just fine at this point in my own life. That may continue to be the primary allure for each new generation, who also ages into this nice travel cocoon called cruising.

 

I agree to all of this. When one style of travel becomes too much work, you can find a simpler way to travel. For us, it's cruising--I love the idea of it being a travel cocoon!

[slidergirl]

IMO, your analysis does not apply to all aging boomers. Some of us chose to live within our means while raising our children and sending them to college without the need to purchase larger homes and fancier cars, etc. And so now we have the means to enjoy retirement.

 

Some of us also had spouses who were very vindictive and aggressive in divorce proceedings and wiped us out, leaving us to continue working to pay the mortgage far after we thought we would be retired... Not all boomers were conspicuous consumers.

[slidergirl]

I think nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. People tend to remember what was good and not so much what wasn't.

 

I grew up in the 1970s, and trust me plenty of mothers left kids parked in front of the TV all day while they talked on their (landline) phones to friends. Remember those extra-long phone cords people had so they could talk on the phone while, let's say, doing dishes or cooking?

 

I'm right there with you, my CC sister...

 

Even back in the 50s and 60s, yep, those moms were cooking and cleaning, having the little dears either outside or sitting in front of the TV. With a choice of only 3 tv channels back then (CBS, ABC, NBC), there was no choice of "quality" shows - you watched what was on. I think I grew up on soap operas and Merv Griffin! Watch any movie or TV show from "back in the day", and watch the alcohol come out - mom's little nip or three while cooking, dad's after-work cocktail or two.. I laugh about the late 60s/early 70s - I always remember the Rolling Stones and "Mother's Little Helper." Toking or popping - moms always looked so mellow ;)

Family life for everyone was not the Leave It To Beaver, Donna Reed, or Ozzie and Harriet that some think it was.

 

Now, if Cards against Humanity were offered as a HAL card game... :evilsmile:

[cruisemom42]

Sure, TV was a useful "babysitter," but when mothers did that back then, I don't think they were kidding themselves that they were having "quality time" with the kids. Plus if the choices were good--and there were good choices--kids were getting more out of the TV than some I've seen being ignored by their cell-addict mothers.

 

I don't think it's dangerous nostalgia to prefer human interaction when sitting at dinner rather than ignoring the people around me while I poke at my cell phone.

 

My point is that it is all too easy to blame technology when it is a human failing.

 

It is the parents who can and should lay down the law that everyone is "fully present" at the table. But I submit that the same parents who let kids play on cell phones or tablets today were the ones letting their children read books at the table 50 years ago.

 

(Quality TV in the 1970s before cable? I can't think of anything other than Sesame Street, and that would account for about one hour/day....)

[3rdGenCunarder]

My point is that it is all too easy to blame technology when it is a human failing.

 

It is the parents who can and should lay down the law that everyone is "fully present" at the table. But I submit that the same parents who let kids play on cell phones or tablets today were the ones letting their children read books at the table 50 years ago.

 

(Quality TV in the 1970s before cable? I can't think of anything other than Sesame Street, and that would account for about one hour/day....)

 

Pretty hard for parents to lay down the law when they're glued to their phones, too.

[OlsSalt]

Pretty hard for parents to lay down the law when they're glued to their phones, too.

 

Since we now see toddlers using forms of electronic devices, a parent can now just text in their ultimatums today.

[EDLOS]

Pretty hard for parents to lay down the law when they're glued to their phones, too.

 

Is a "TIMEOUT" today taking away the children's I-Phone ? And if so, is this a new form of " Child Abuse " Be carefull, you might find a Social Worker at your door with a "Cease and Desist Court Order" after your children banded together with classmate's and bought a class action suit against parents for cruel and unusual punishment and WON............... Only in America

[cruisemom42]

Pretty hard for parents to lay down the law when they're glued to their phones, too.

 

Again you are missing my point.

 

Not ALL parents are glued to their phones. It's a matter of making a choice.

 

The same parents who would have been attentive to their children in decades past are attentive to them now. But just as not every parent is a good parent now, so it was in the past. Technology is not to blame. Bad parenting skills are.

[OlsSalt]

When TV first came into American homes, my mother would make us stop watching after an hour and go outside for an hour. Seems we were watching a lot of cowboy programs at that time. We would howl and wail, but you did what parents told you in those days. (I think the threat was we would get polio if we did not obey our parents back then)

 

Then after the hour was up, she came out to tell us we could come back inside again. But we howled and wailed again, because by that time we were having just as much fun outdoors on our own. I got my first wee hint of irony from that remembrance.

[styles27]

Recently a daycare/nursery school was featured on the news for posting a sign on their door that read

 

"Parents...turn off our cell phones before coming in to pick up your children and pay attention to your child instead"

 

Most people applauded the owner who explained that every day she would witness almost all of the children's parents walk in with their phones glued to their ear having a conversation.

These moms and dads would ignore their children's pleas to "look at my drawing", "look what I made today" etc to the point that it made the owner of the daycare's blood boil.

 

Some of the parents were offended that she called them out on this and weren't embarrassed to be interviewed on the news to complain about the sign.

 

It's bad enough when parents ignore their kids because their cell phone conversation is more important...but it's even worse when it's blatantly pointed out to them and they still don't see the problem.

 

It wouldn't surprise me to see "cell phone addiction" become a diagnosis in the near future.

 

 

One of my employees lives 35 miles from work. She just today left her cell phone at home and was going NUTS when she realized that. Even though we don't really have a signal in the salon thank goodness.

 

She had her mother who lives with her drive 70 miles round trip to bring her her phone. I couldn't believe her mom agreed to it.

 

I just shake my head at this addiction.

Edited April 6, 2017 by styles27

[bUU]

From Silverseas : "Our future lies with the Baby Boomers (Born between 1946 and 1964). The Boomers control 68 percent of the wealth in the U.S and in 15 years will inherit $50 Trillion" "The millennials neither have the attitude or the money".

Silversea is harvesting from a very specific portion of the marketplace; they're not aiming for the core of the mass market, but rather those with significantly more wealth. It's a valid business model for a cruise line that has fewer berths across all its ships than there are on the ms Konigsdam all by itself.

[slidergirl]

Silversea is harvesting from a very specific portion of the marketplace; they're not aiming for the core of the mass market, but rather those with significantly more wealth. It's a valid business model for a cruise line that has fewer berths across all its ships than there are on the ms Konigsdam all by itself.

 

In the hotel business there are "aspirational" properties. Those places that everyone dreams of going to but are largely out of the price range of the mass market. I think Silversea is one of those aspirational cruise lines. You can dream about taking that cruise on a small ship, all drinks paid for, true gourmet food (not banquet food), true elegant surroundings. But, alas, you sigh and put down the payment for another cruise on HAL because it's what you can afford... I've always dreamed of doing a luxury resort in the Maldives, but, I'll just have to go to the campground on the beach in Dana Point, pitch my backpacking tent and pretend I'm in the Maldives ;)