demographics on the cruise

[merlin217]

my husband and i are considering our first HAL cruise to the mediterranean cruise in oct 2007 (16 nite transatlantic crossing). this is only our second cruise (first was on carnival) we are in our early 40's and are a little concerned about the demographics. what do you think we will encounter for demographics on a october med cruise???

[Navy_Chief]

My wife and I are in our 40s, we did a 16 day MED in 04 on Rotterdam. It was a great cruise. as far as demographics go, there were folks there our age, some younger, most older. On longer HAL trips, your going to find that the longer the cruise the older the croud gets. That was also our first HAL cruise but we enjoyed ourselves. Our tablemates were very nice folks and we enjoyed each others company. The port itinerary was great and did a lot of tours, most were good, some weren't. We enjoy being on the ship itself and just have a good time. We did Carnival and if your looking for glitz, glamour and late night parties, thats just fine. If your looking to relax at sea in a very refined environment with top shelf service, then you'll enjoy HAL.

[Sea King]

IMO, most European cruises attract an older pax mix than do Carribean itineraries .. having sailed in Europe on more than 1 HAL cruise, I think it fair to "guess" the majority of the pax will be between 40-70; percentage wise, I'd "guess" 50% will be in the 45-65 year range

 

since you're sailing in October, you're just about guaranteed few if any families traveling with children; likewise, the college age student will in all likelihood again not be on board

 

the longer the cruise and the more distant from the US in order to join will usually attract a higher age mix for two primary reasons: time + money

 

don't think you'll be disappointed at all

[hammybee]

As others have said, the demographics are going to trend towards the mature passenger due to time of year and length of cruise, regardless of cruise line. It is likely the carpets will be rolled up earlier than on a typical Carnival 7 day sail in the Caribbean.

 

If you are looking for a quieter and more relaxed cruise experience than you might have had on Carnival, this might be a good intinerary for you.

 

Be aware each sail is different and greatly depends upon the persona of the passengers aboard, regardless of age. You never know. Generally speaking, the typical HAL passenger is well travelled, well read and has more life experiences and stories than you can shake a stick at.

[newmexicoNita]

You are going to find a much older crowd and less on board activities as many who cruise HAL prefer to relax, enjoy the library, listen to the port talks and hopefully attend the lecturer's presentation if there is one. This was probably the most enjoyable on board activity on our recent Amsterdam cruise. Lots of people were playing board games, doing puzzles and playing bridge. The bridge intructor was excellant.

 

The food on HAL is outstanding and the cabins, probably larger than Carnival. If you are looking for a truely classy cruise line and aren't into the night life I think HAL would be perfect regardless of your age. On the other hand if you are high energy and want a ship with lots of activities and crew members that are really outgoing you may want to consider NCLs Jewel or one of the RCI ships. Eiether would give you a slightly different cruising experience than Carnival but with more of Carnival's activities. NMnnita

[MacWiz]

We are empty nesters in our early 50's and are already booked on the Westerdam for the October cruise that you're looking at!

 

This will only be our 3rd cruise. Our first was a transatlantic on the Amsterdam in May of this year (NYC -> Copenhagen.) It was a great cruise. Although we did feel that in our 50's, most people were older than us, we were quite surprised at how many were our age or younger. However, we only saw a handful of kids on board.

 

Our other cruise was with NCL in November of this year. We much prefer the atmosphere on HAL vs. what we found on NCL. We enjoy the sea days immensely for the free time to read, walk around the ship, exersize in the gym and simply relax. We're not party people and found the crowd on NCL much more rambunctious than that on HAL. We also appreciated the space on the Amsterdam for simply sitting with a book and watching the ocean go by. We're hoping the Westerdam gives us the same feel.

 

In our minds, it comes down to pace. When cruising, we prefer less party and more relaxing and with HAL (at least on the Amsterdam), that's what we found.

 

I also know the transatlantic cruises tend to be more formal than the Carribean itineraries and the Amsterdam surely had that over the Norwegan Sun (it was a Western Carribean cruise we took on it. ) In the formal sense, the Amsterdam had a truely "Titanicesque" feel to it (minus the icebergs :)) That is one part we both enjoyed and are looking forward to again on the Westerdam in October of 2007.

[kryos]

In our minds, it comes down to pace. When cruising, we prefer less party and more relaxing and with HAL (at least on the Amsterdam), that's what we found.

I can't help but wonder, though ...

 

If you took a 15-day TransAtlantic on HAL or a 15-day TransAtlantic on Carnival, wouldn't you get basically the same onboard environment ... i.e., older passengers, less of a "party" atmosphere and more of a relaxed one? Now, of course, I'm not talking about the differences in ships ... obviously HAL is much more elegant ... but I'm talking "environment" as it relates to your fellow passengers.

 

It just seems to me that the ship's environment can be different from week to week ... even on the same ship running the same itinerary. The environment then will certainly change if the length of the cruise does, wouldn't it?

 

For example, if you are doing shorter cruises (Carnival gets its reputation as a party boat, I'll bet, because of all the short three and four-dayers they do, and the type of people they attract onboard for them), aren't you always going to get a younger, more active bunch than if you're doing a longer cruise that doesn't really attract the young family market? I wouldn't think the particular cruise line would matter at all regarding this.

 

Just wondering about this ...

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kiwichick]

It's unclear from your post whether you're concerned that the demographics might be too old or too young, but since you've had many replies relating to the latter I thought I'd give you my perspective on the former.

 

My friend and I are in our early 30s and cruised the Med with HAL in August on Noordam. Knowing that HAL is typically an older demographic we went along expecting there to be little night life and activities for a younger crowd, and were happy just to enjoy the relaxation and lack of hangovers. What we found however was that although there far fewer people in the 20 - 45 age range than on perhaps Carnival, this tended to mean that these people were more approachable and open to socialising with people outside their travelling parties than perhaps they would have been had there been hundreds of people to contend with. As a result we quickly made friends with a group of 20 or so people that we enjoyed a very good nightlife with for the duration of the cruise.

 

In addition, the daily activities run by the entertainment staff cater for all ages and we found ourselves learning to play games such as shuffleboard and thoroughly enjoying them. The entertainment staff themselves tend to be in their 20s and were also fun to hang out with.

 

Hope this different perspective helps :)

[Copper10-8]

...........and are a little concerned about the demographics. what do you think we will encounter for demographics on a october med cruise???

 

Mostly Republicans (about 70%), about 25% Democrats:eek: and the remainder Green Party sprinkled with some Librarians;) :D

[newmexicoNita]

Mostly Republicans (about 70%), about 25% Democrats:eek: and the remainder Green Party sprinkled with some Librarians;) :D

love that, politically correct, I don't know, correct period I don't know, but still good. Thanks,

 

 

Nita

[doctornursejan]

I did find our cruise on the Noordam had fewer scheduled activites than RCI. It just depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. We like it a little more lively, so I think we will return to RCI, although, I did LOVE the food and the classy atmosphere of the Noordam!

[RevNeal]

Mostly Republicans (about 70%), about 25% Democrats:eek: and the remainder Green Party sprinkled with some Librarians;) :D

 

Looking at the books on the shelves in my office, I suppose I'm a "Librarian." :D