Off of Silhouette, First time Celebrity , 1 Question

[md80fan]

I just returned from a 10 day Silhouette out of Ft. Lauderdale. This was our first time on Celebrity. I do have 1 question for possible future cruise on Celebrity.

First some background, We have sailed Royal Caribbean and the Oasis class ships and absolutely love Oasis class. We chose Celebrity as we wanted a longer cruise (10 day vs 7 day) and we wanted to see new ports other than Nassau and San Juan that the Oasis ship regularly dock at. This cruise did St. Vincent which we really wanted to see and St. Lucia among others. We wanted traditional balconies so we could open the dividers and did not want the infinite Veranda on the edge class. I knew that Celebrity caters to a more older demographic and there would be less families and kids which was ok. What surprised me was how much older the crowd was and the split between the number of say middle aged passengers vs older passengers was onboard. There did not seem to be much activity on the ship at night. My father went to see a movie on the lawn at 10PM and there were less than 10 people there to watch it. We showed up to watch live music at the Grand Foyer around 7:45 on a couple of nights and we had no issue finding the comfy chairs on level 4 or 5 looking down on Grand Foyer. We would walk by the Sky lounge at night and it seemed like hardly anybody was in there even though we could hear music playing. 

 

My question would be is this a typical demographic breakdown on all Celebrity cruises where it is skewed to the higher end of the demographic or are there cruises with more middle aged 45-55 year old passengers.My thoughts would be since this was a non traditional cruise leaving on a Monday and returning on a Thursday stretching over two weeks it would attract an older crowd vs a traditional 7 day Sunday- Sunday or Saturday - Saturday Cruise.

If we booked on a newer edge class ship (ignoring the veranda issue) does this attract a slightly younger crowd. Does a 7 day Saturday to Saturday attract a younger crowd. Just trying to look at options for a future cruise to see what would work best. We still had a very good time and enjoyed our experience.

 

Just a couple thoughts to add as a first time Celebrity passenger. We liked the ship and thought it was in very good condition, We thought the food was better on Silhouette than the Royal cruises we took in 2023. The entertainment and live music was much better on the Royal ships.than Celebrity. I really missed the Royal Promenade on the Oasis class ships with the wide hallway with high ceilings that stretch over a couple of decks as when we walked the shops on level 4 or 5 it kind of felt cramped and claustrophobic. The solarium seemed to be better on Silhouette than on the Oasis ships if you want to be in a climate controlled environment. The staff on Celebrity we found to be outstanding and very friendly. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Longer cruises will definitely skew to older passengers.  I can't speak to the demographic of 7-night cruises as I try to avoid them, but I suspect that there would be more of a mix of ages.  The demographics don't bother me as I'm part of the older group!

[Jeremiah1212]

21 minutes ago, md80fan said:

I just returned from a 10 day Silhouette out of Ft. Lauderdale. This was our first time on Celebrity. I do have 1 question for possible future cruise on Celebrity.

First some background, We have sailed Royal Caribbean and the Oasis class ships and absolutely love Oasis class. We chose Celebrity as we wanted a longer cruise (10 day vs 7 day) and we wanted to see new ports other than Nassau and San Juan that the Oasis ship regularly dock at. This cruise did St. Vincent which we really wanted to see and St. Lucia among others. We wanted traditional balconies so we could open the dividers and did not want the infinite Veranda on the edge class. I knew that Celebrity caters to a more older demographic and there would be less families and kids which was ok. What surprised me was how much older the crowd was and the split between the number of say middle aged passengers vs older passengers was onboard. There did not seem to be much activity on the ship at night. My father went to see a movie on the lawn at 10PM and there were less than 10 people there to watch it. We showed up to watch live music at the Grand Foyer around 7:45 on a couple of nights and we had no issue finding the comfy chairs on level 4 or 5 looking down on Grand Foyer. We would walk by the Sky lounge at night and it seemed like hardly anybody was in there even though we could hear music playing. 

 

My question would be is this a typical demographic breakdown on all Celebrity cruises where it is skewed to the higher end of the demographic or are there cruises with more middle aged 45-55 year old passengers.My thoughts would be since this was a non traditional cruise leaving on a Monday and returning on a Thursday stretching over two weeks it would attract an older crowd vs a traditional 7 day Sunday- Sunday or Saturday - Saturday Cruise.

If we booked on a newer edge class ship (ignoring the veranda issue) does this attract a slightly younger crowd. Does a 7 day Saturday to Saturday attract a younger crowd. Just trying to look at options for a future cruise to see what would work best. We still had a very good time and enjoyed our experience.

 

Just a couple thoughts to add as a first time Celebrity passenger. We liked the ship and thought it was in very good condition, We thought the food was better on Silhouette than the Royal cruises we took in 2023. The entertainment and live music was much better on the Royal ships.than Celebrity. I really missed the Royal Promenade on the Oasis class ships with the wide hallway with high ceilings that stretch over a couple of decks as when we walked the shops on level 4 or 5 it kind of felt cramped and claustrophobic. The solarium seemed to be better on Silhouette than on the Oasis ships if you want to be in a climate controlled environment. The staff on Celebrity we found to be outstanding and very friendly. 

 

Your assumption is correct. A 10 night Caribbean spanning over 2 work-weeks seems to weed out most younger people. Edge Class ships and 7 day Caribbean itineraries are where you'll see the majority of younger Celebrity passengers. Europe is a little different. 

 

The Monday-Thursday itinerary essentially takes up 2 work weeks where as you could do a 9 night (although those are far more limited now) that runs Friday-Sunday and take off a week + a day. For that reason the more popular Southern Caribbean cruises are often being condensed to 8 days from 9 running Saturday-Sunday. Even on a 7 night it can seem a little sleepy at night if you're used to Royal Caribbean. I recently was on two Royal Caribbean ships after not having been for several years and there was a significant difference in age and type of passenger. 

[jelayne]

We have been sailing primarily on the E class ships (7 of 9 cruises in the past 2 years) and the demographic is younger.  We have done from 7 - 14N sailings and the 7 N had the most in the late 20's - early 40's, with a good number of newlyweds.

[PTC DAWG]

Just off a 7 night Ascent (E Class) for the OP's information...lots of activity late at night...55-60 would be my guess for average age.  Met some Honeymooners in their early 30's..they said they are never going back to Royal.  

Edited February 9 by PTC DAWG

[Mangrove Snapper]

This is anecdotal but on our cruises there was more of a variety of ages on our 7 night sailings than on our longer ones (11 & 12 nights) which skewed older.

 

The nightlife was also livelier on the 7 night sailings but the people participating weren't just the younger people.  Maybe on longer cruises people feel they have more time to do things so they don't always stay up as late?  Just from personal experience, we're more likely to stay for a band's every set on a 7 night cruise than we are on a 14 night one. 

[helen haywood]

We recently did a five night sailing on Equinox (a S Class ship.)  Our cruises are normally seven nights or longer (oh how I miss the Eclipse’s fourteen night sailings!)  I definitely noticed a younger demographic on the five night cruise.  I joked to my husband that it actually was nice not seeing the valet parking lot of scooters at the hostess stand area…

[Jeremiah1212]

Celebrity threw this info out several months ago but it should still be relevant. It only pertains to Caribbean cruises. The length of Caribbean cruise makes a notable impact in the average age.

 

 

New to cruise/new to brand

• 50% on 7 nights
• 35% on lon (8+ nights)
• 66% on short (<6 nights)

 

Loyalty (i.e. portion of returning guests)

• 49% on 7 nights
• 67% on long
• 34% on short

 

Average age being 60+

•  51% on 7 night
• 75% on long (almost 80% boomer/silent gen on long Caribbean)
• 37% on short

 

Traveling with family

• 10% on 7 night
• 3% on long
• 14% on short

 

Roughly even split on boomer/silent gen and everyone younger on 7 night cruises. Short Caribbean has a fairly similar generational breakdown. 

[md80fan]

Thanks for the replies. Interesting breakdown by cruise type and age group.  We still enjoyed our first time on Celebrity.i need to look at those longer cruises in order to have a variety of different islands to see out of ft lauderdale. The 7 day does not offer enough time other than to see the familiar san juan st thomas st maarten islands which i have seen multiple times. I want to see martinique and grenada and dominica and they are on the 10 day cruises. I am curious if princess and holland america have similar breakdowns of their demographics on 7 day and on their longer cruises 

[upwarduk]

I don’t like the 7/10 day that Celebrity now have as their norm in Europe, so we have changed to Princess.

[Ericnor]

Was on the same sailing and reacted as you !
This was our 15th 10 days or more cruise with Celebrity, but we jave not seen this picture before. 63% of passengers over age of 75 is a record for us….. We have seen on earlier sailings before the pandemic that age average has been over 60, but this has been ok. 

The average age is not a problem. It only causes a different crowd flow in main dining spaces, and deck areas. Gets quiet early. 

It also decreases the party factor that seem to be increasing on shorter cruises.  This really shows in onboard entertainment in lounges and bar areas.  There are no longer a quiet spot on sun deck on Solstice class ships ( other than the solarium) and the party music in lounges and bar areas is aimed at people age 30-55 !

Our first cruises on Celebrity Eclipse and Silhouette in 2011,2012 were a lot different and more diverse entertainment wise. 

 

[frenchmeg]

17 hours ago, md80fan said:

I just returned from a 10 day Silhouette out of Ft. Lauderdale. This was our first time on Celebrity. I do have 1 question for possible future cruise on Celebrity.

First some background, We have sailed Royal Caribbean and the Oasis class ships and absolutely love Oasis class. We chose Celebrity as we wanted a longer cruise (10 day vs 7 day) and we wanted to see new ports other than Nassau and San Juan that the Oasis ship regularly dock at. This cruise did St. Vincent which we really wanted to see and St. Lucia among others. We wanted traditional balconies so we could open the dividers and did not want the infinite Veranda on the edge class. I knew that Celebrity caters to a more older demographic and there would be less families and kids which was ok. What surprised me was how much older the crowd was and the split between the number of say middle aged passengers vs older passengers was onboard. There did not seem to be much activity on the ship at night. My father went to see a movie on the lawn at 10PM and there were less than 10 people there to watch it. We showed up to watch live music at the Grand Foyer around 7:45 on a couple of nights and we had no issue finding the comfy chairs on level 4 or 5 looking down on Grand Foyer. We would walk by the Sky lounge at night and it seemed like hardly anybody was in there even though we could hear music playing. 

 

My question would be is this a typical demographic breakdown on all Celebrity cruises where it is skewed to the higher end of the demographic or are there cruises with more middle aged 45-55 year old passengers.My thoughts would be since this was a non traditional cruise leaving on a Monday and returning on a Thursday stretching over two weeks it would attract an older crowd vs a traditional 7 day Sunday- Sunday or Saturday - Saturday Cruise.

If we booked on a newer edge class ship (ignoring the veranda issue) does this attract a slightly younger crowd. Does a 7 day Saturday to Saturday attract a younger crowd. Just trying to look at options for a future cruise to see what would work best. We still had a very good time and enjoyed our experience.

 

Just a couple thoughts to add as a first time Celebrity passenger. We liked the ship and thought it was in very good condition, We thought the food was better on Silhouette than the Royal cruises we took in 2023. The entertainment and live music was much better on the Royal ships.than Celebrity. I really missed the Royal Promenade on the Oasis class ships with the wide hallway with high ceilings that stretch over a couple of decks as when we walked the shops on level 4 or 5 it kind of felt cramped and claustrophobic. The solarium seemed to be better on Silhouette than on the Oasis ships if you want to be in a climate controlled environment. The staff on Celebrity we found to be outstanding and very friendly. 

E Class, younger crowd, give it a try! 

[deliver42]

The Edge class gives a lot more to do on the ships. Much better and more entertainment.

[Markanddonna]

We just got off the Silhouette and I was surprised how much older the passengers were. Sort of what I suspect HAL would be like. The people were pleasant but the number of canes, walkers and scooters was higher than I ever experienced. I suspect the majority either went to bed around 9PM or perhaps sat in a lounge for a night time drink.

[SbbquilterUT]

We did a B2B on Apex - 12 night was typical passenger mix, then the 7 night had plenty of families/kids on board.  This was based out of Amsterdam and August so that may have had an impact as well.  Certainly for us, we could not sail more than 7 days until we were retired.  Now I am always on the look out for interesting itineraries that are longer than 12 days.

[sofietucker]

Two other points:

1. School year schedule: folks with kids--even if they don't bring them along--and those in college incl. grad school--as well as teachers!--are going to be sailing May-August and during the holidays. We were on the Silhouette Jan 2-11. and there were a bunch of younger people.

 

2. Quality of activities on board can guide the action. We are hard-core music and dance people and will stick with the bands all night if they're good. Ditto disco. On our cruise, it was actually pretty bad. We almost always left the live bands after a set--as did most other folks.  DJs were making poor music choices (not danceable, rap, etc.), ditto for the THREE silent disco events. The same for most of the pool music! A shame. But YMMV, depending on the talent on board. PS--we are 70 but folks think we're in our 50s, just young at heart. 

[bEwAbG]

Anything over 7 days is going to attract people who have the time to do it (mainly older folks).  That's going to be true on all cruise lines.  Princess, HAL, and Celebrity all attract similar demographics as they are all similar products.  I think you will need to really assess your priorities.  If the goal is to see new ports, then weigh that against sailing with older cruisers.  I'm not sure why the age of the crowd should really influence things, unless your goal is to party all night, every night (which, frankly, you're not often going to find on Celebrity, either, unless it's a very short booze cruise). 

 

One thing to consider is if a cruise line has a ship sailing from San Juan instead of Florida--you might can find Southern Caribbean with a shorter itinerary.  Virgin is doing that with their newest ship this season.

[PelicanLvr]

Think about taking a cruise that starts already in the Caribbean.  X used to do departures out of San Juan and many still do.  Also some lines use Barbados and St. Martin etc.

 

Embarking already in the Caribbean means lots more ports in a 7 day cruise with a younger demographic.

 

Just a thought......

[sofietucker]

And re: Virgin: we docked next to them in Rhodes last fall, mingled in port, went on a private tour with some pax. Overwhelmingly in their 30s +/-, big time party vibe, folks shared with us that there are regular pajama parties on board... 

[Bigdrinks]

If you look beyond the Caribbean the demographic all changes again.
 

European cruises with Celebrity are definitely a mixed bag. Whereas HAL is like a floating retirement home! 🤣

[Cruise a holic]

We find a diverse crowd on Celebrity- It depends on how long the cruise is and the week you sail.  Holiday periods get a younger crowd with kids- We love the longer S and E class sailings-IMO I am not sailing to meet people- if I do, nice- but it is an opportunity for my DH and I to spend quality time together.  Activities are available late night if you want to enjoy them- or get up early- head to the gym and have breakfast-  The age of the crowd isn't important to us.

[ATLgirl15]

Just sailed a Silhouette 4 night cruise and it definitely was a wider range of ages and a more lively crowd.  I was surprised how often we saw people out after 11. Seemed like all venues drew a crowd.

[hcat]

Try E Class esp Ascent.. very lively ship and plenty of late night activity!

[Peteymil]

On 2/9/2024 at 12:10 PM, md80fan said:

I just returned from a 10 day Silhouette out of Ft. Lauderdale. This was our first time on Celebrity. I do have 1 question for possible future cruise on Celebrity.

First some background, We have sailed Royal Caribbean and the Oasis class ships and absolutely love Oasis class. We chose Celebrity as we wanted a longer cruise (10 day vs 7 day) and we wanted to see new ports other than Nassau and San Juan that the Oasis ship regularly dock at. This cruise did St. Vincent which we really wanted to see and St. Lucia among others. We wanted traditional balconies so we could open the dividers and did not want the infinite Veranda on the edge class. I knew that Celebrity caters to a more older demographic and there would be less families and kids which was ok. What surprised me was how much older the crowd was and the split between the number of say middle aged passengers vs older passengers was onboard. There did not seem to be much activity on the ship at night. My father went to see a movie on the lawn at 10PM and there were less than 10 people there to watch it. We showed up to watch live music at the Grand Foyer around 7:45 on a couple of nights and we had no issue finding the comfy chairs on level 4 or 5 looking down on Grand Foyer. We would walk by the Sky lounge at night and it seemed like hardly anybody was in there even though we could hear music playing. 

 

My question would be is this a typical demographic breakdown on all Celebrity cruises where it is skewed to the higher end of the demographic or are there cruises with more middle aged 45-55 year old passengers.My thoughts would be since this was a non traditional cruise leaving on a Monday and returning on a Thursday stretching over two weeks it would attract an older crowd vs a traditional 7 day Sunday- Sunday or Saturday - Saturday Cruise.

If we booked on a newer edge class ship (ignoring the veranda issue) does this attract a slightly younger crowd. Does a 7 day Saturday to Saturday attract a younger crowd. Just trying to look at options for a future cruise to see what would work best. We still had a very good time and enjoyed our experience.

 

Just a couple thoughts to add as a first time Celebrity passenger. We liked the ship and thought it was in very good condition, We thought the food was better on Silhouette than the Royal cruises we took in 2023. The entertainment and live music was much better on the Royal ships.than Celebrity. I really missed the Royal Promenade on the Oasis class ships with the wide hallway with high ceilings that stretch over a couple of decks as when we walked the shops on level 4 or 5 it kind of felt cramped and claustrophobic. The solarium seemed to be better on Silhouette than on the Oasis ships if you want to be in a climate controlled environment. The staff on Celebrity we found to be outstanding and very friendly. 

I was also on that cruise.  It definitely was a bit older crowd (and I am 68, so that is saying something!).  A 10 day cruise that as you said, is Monday until Thursday is definitely a contributing factor.  

One day I was going to guest services at 4:45 and I couldn't believe how hopping it was. There was already a long line for the dining room, and the Martini Bar and all the foyers were packed.  We don't normally eat until around 9:00, and by then things were considerably more quiet.

 

[Peteymil]

On 2/10/2024 at 7:47 AM, deliver42 said:

The Edge class gives a lot more to do on the ships. Much better and more entertainment.

That has not been my experience.