xann77 Posted November 1, 2007 #1 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Hi everyone! I'm 30 and Hubby To Be is 32. We are getting married in Newport RI in May and have planned a whirlwind honeymoon in Europe (HTB has never been; I've spent a ton of time in London for business, but that's about it). We're super excited and ready to spend a nice chunk of change on a luxury cruse as we've done some of the mass market lines before and have been pretty disappointed with the demo. Both of us are corporate lawyers and have been researching the cruise lines obsessively. What I've come down to is Regent, Seabourn and Silverseas. Windstar seemed a little too stark for our tastes. The first half of our honeymoon we'll be "roughing it" on a Rick Steves Best of Europe tour, so I'm really looking forward to a little pampering. Ok, so after all this, here is the question -- I know that the issue of average-age has been raised a million times on this board, but I've recently heard that on summer SS cruises in the Mediterranean, the age skews a bit lower (30s - 50s as opposed to 50s +). My sense is that Seabourn skews older than SS generally yes? We honestly don't care that much since we usually have more fun with more mature folks in our educational/financial bracket than younger cruisers with toddlers (my best friend to party with is my 65 year old mom!)... BUT I'm just a little worried that we will be snubbed by the older travelers?? Can anyone let me know of their experiences on SS with 30 somethings and whether they were "left out" or warmly embraced? E.g., how is the integration amongst age brackets? Thanks everyone!! Suzanne PS: we're looing at Rome/Monte Carlo cruise on Whisper in June -- any thoughts on whether it's worth it to upgrade to the Midship Verandah suites? I have been known to get a *little* seasick, especially after a night of festivities :D . PSS: I know that I'll have jeans in my bag :D . I'm a little surprised that this is an issue (although in warmer weather I never end of wearing them anyway). Nice jeans are a mainstay in European fashion no?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted November 1, 2007 #2 Share Posted November 1, 2007 On a summer Mediterranean cruise I would guess the demographic is somewhat younger, especially if the cruise is 7 to 10 days. That is what younger people who are still working can usually take off. Once you get into a longer cruise the age goes up a bit. However, the attitude and enthusiasm of most passengers is young at heart. I have sailed both Seabourn and Silversea extensively and would guess the age demo is about equal. In terms of pampering you will not be disappointed in either. You will definitely NOT be snubbed by older passengers. When I was on Silversea in South America we hung out mostly with a mid thirties couple. We were in our fifties. It truly comes down to individual connections and age is rarely a determining factor. As for jeans, I wear them during the day. No problem. Whichever cruise you choose, enjoy!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seagirl2002 Posted November 2, 2007 #3 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Hi Suzanne, I am 33 years old and in the last 11 years I've spent something around 420 days cruising on Silversea ships. I've never been snubbed by any of the older passengers. Well some thought once in a while I am a crew member but I can live with that ;-) And also I am sure that if you do the Med in June there will be a younger crowd on board then if you cruise the north or do a crossing. There might even be some kids because it is vacation time. Enjoy your cruise and have a lovely honeymoon Miriam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmourges Posted November 13, 2007 #4 Share Posted November 13, 2007 My wife and I (45 & 51) went on a SS cruise about a year ago. We too generally have been on the mass markety lines. We both are accountants at law firms. She is the D of Fin at Akin, Gump and I work at a small firm in Baltimore. Funny thing, my wife is from RI. Anyway, we were on a 10 day Mexican cruise (San Diego to Costa Rica). Not many 30 yo's, mostly 50 - 65, but everyone was very friendly. Interesting people as well. Mostly self made and well off. Nite life was slow but enjoyable. I think you will have a very nice time. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebbieH103 Posted November 14, 2007 #5 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Age really doesn't matter that much when you meet interesting people. I've been on 3 luxury cruises in the last 18 months - two on Silversea and one on Regent Voyager. I'm 46. You will be on the young end, but there will be a few 20 somethings and maybe a few teens. Rome to Monte Carlo is what I just did, and there were lots of romantic places. I recommend going to Rome early enough to see it and spend a day in Nice and go to the market there and have seafood if you are into seafood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrscrab Posted November 17, 2007 #6 Share Posted November 17, 2007 We did the Wind from London to Barbados in September. We are in our 60s and we were probably quite young to a lot of the passengers. Maybe it was easy for the predominently English passengers to get to London and then a flight home from Barbados. There were a lot of infirm passengers compared to the other SS cruises we have done. Having said this, all the passengers were very interesting to speak to, dine with and have drinks with. You would just have to be aware that probably 75% of the passengers are in bed by 11pm and there isnt much after that for younger people - no disco, no bright lights, just a few who stay in the bar area till the early hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimpeyton Posted November 17, 2007 #7 Share Posted November 17, 2007 A summer med cruise the age demogrpahic will be broader. We (age 33/34) did a July Monte Carlo to Athens Silver sea cruise on the "Wind," with all age groups represented. But the large majority will be fifty and older. Everyone is polite. In contrast, I have also done an april med cruise and distinctly remember the walkers and wheelchairs lined up along the hallways. This reminded me of what those affluent assisted nursing homes must be like. In september, we tried Regent for the first time. This was a British Isles cruise around the UK on the Voyager. We saw no difference in demograhic between Silversea / Regent. Beaware that if you don't like cigarette smoke, Regent has the best smoking policy of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Posted November 18, 2007 #8 Share Posted November 18, 2007 As one of the younger cruisers on board last month's sailing on the SIlver Whisper from Monte Carlo to Rome--- (Early 40's to 80's!) I had a great time--not only with older fellow passengers--but with the cruise staff (who were closer to my age) as well. With the itinerary you've selected you'll have the energy to take full advantage of the amazing places you'll visit. Silversea does an amazing job---and once on board--its rather like a big cocktail party--and everyone--regardless of age--is having a wondeful time! Enjoy! Prince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
castlewood Posted November 22, 2007 #9 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I'm 53, and on my Silver Shadow cruise, I think my wife and I were in the youngest 5% of passengers. The restaurant staff does a good job matching up couples for dinner. "Slow" hardly describes the moribund night life. I certainly caught up on my sleep. When the "entertainment" was a movie, you could count on sizzlers like "Room with a View." On nights when there was a "show" (and we're really stretching the definition of "show"), more passengers stayed up a little later--maybe 10:15 or so. By 10:30 on any night, you could hear a pin drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seagirl2002 Posted November 22, 2007 #10 Share Posted November 22, 2007 It is really different on every cruise. On our cruise on the Wind last month we've closed the bar more then once quite late. Twice it was after 3 in the morning. And I have to say most of the people in the bar have been between 50 and 70. And they had lots of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dafne Posted November 23, 2007 #11 Share Posted November 23, 2007 We have been on Silversea 2 times. All the passengers are so interesting. Some of our best memories were with passengers that were alot older than us. We found the older passengers had such interesting life stories!( great travel experiences etc. It was one of the highlights of our trip. We still stay in touch with one older couple we met- 10 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebbieH103 Posted November 23, 2007 #12 Share Posted November 23, 2007 It is wrong to make assumptions about age. We might assume not as many in their 30s can afford luxury due to raising kids, etc. In fact, it may be more time constraints than anything. On our first SS cruise, we spent a lot of time with a couple that was celebrating their 40th anniversary. They were delightful. Last SS cruise, we spent a lot of time with a couple in their 70s that had been married 54 years, and it was both of their 2nd marriage, lol. I just came back from Regent, and an 84 year old widower had me laughing so much, my jaws hurt. A 14 year old girl had me dazzled this trip, and on our first trip a 7 year old girl did. You are not talking about the "Bubba" crowd. We are talking about interesting people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZ99B5 Posted November 28, 2007 #13 Share Posted November 28, 2007 You'll have a great time. My wife and I (both now 33) have sailed both SS and Regent a few times over the last 4-5 years. As others have said, you will certainly be on the younger side, and night life is usually dried up to just 2-3 couples in the bar by 10:30pm. On any given SS cruise, there were probably an average of 6-7 couples in their early 40s and younger. On Regent there are definitely more younger people, probably 20-25 couples 40 and under (but remember, there are about twice as many people in general) and a bit more night life going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xann77 Posted January 23, 2008 Author #14 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Thanks so much to all of you for your thoughts and comments. We booked a midship verandah suite on the Whisper (June 15h Rome to Monte Carlo) and are super excited! The SS cruise will be the last leg of our honeymoon so we're looking forward to some nice relaxing times in any event. That said, my hubby to be and I always do seem to be one of those couples closing the bar with a few other fun folks so it sounds like we'll really enjoy ourselves. There's just gotta be a couple other lawyers on there who like to have a few cocktails right!? hahahaha:) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebbieH103 Posted January 24, 2008 #15 Share Posted January 24, 2008 You will have a great time. I hope you get to Rome in between your other tour and the SS cruise long enough to stroll and visit cafes and such. So romantic to just take Rome in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobar Posted January 25, 2008 #16 Share Posted January 25, 2008 we have found, over the years that the 14 days cruises attracted older cruisers due to the fact that these trips often stretched to 3 weeks and if you were not retired or without a care in the world, you were most likely a senior executive somewhere and could take off 3 weeks.a generalization but i think accurate. seeing you two are corporate lawyers, you must have some level of sophistication(LOL-my wife's a lawyer!) and the belly flop contests and midnite buffets and jager shot contests are on those lines with 2700 of your closest friends.. we did find silversea and seadream younger, ranging from 30s to 70's seabourn is probably mid 40's to 70's, also, seadream ,while definitely upscale like seabourn/SS is casually elegant. no tuxedos. we were booked for a november 2008 cruise on seadream from lisbon to Canary islands where the price was--and still is--amazing. we cancelled in favor of a SS trip in march 09 to china, korea and japan. i think sometimes the ports determine the age level.some people want to hang on the boat and take tours.our seabourn asia trip was young and hip and many people partied in bangkok and other places till early in the morning. although at 54 and 52, respectively, we get up at 5;15 to exercise and stay in shape and like to close the bar!. Age is just a number. I have found some 75 year olds who are hipper than some 28 year olds I know.(i was with MTV for a decade and therefore have to maintain an image of being able to stay up past 10!!!) enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeCruiser Posted February 20, 2008 #17 Share Posted February 20, 2008 My husband and I did to SS cruises in 2006 (9 ans 11 days) because I turned 40. We pretty much were the youngest folks on the ship which made it more fun. After a few days, don't be surprised if your fellow passengers refer to you as the "kids." Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebbieH103 Posted February 21, 2008 #18 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I'll say it again, interesting people are interesting people. My husband and I got married when we were 30 and 31 and started out at some honeymoon places where we were the oldest and are now in our mid 40s and are well on the young end on SS, depending on the itinerary. The people that speak and engage us are our parents' age, and they are very interesting. We like good food and rooms and interesting places and did when we were 30 and will all our lives. Same with interesting people from all over the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantaAna,CA Posted March 3, 2008 #19 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I'm 53, and on my Silver Shadow cruise, I think my wife and I were in the youngest 5% of passengers. ....Really? I'm 56 and it sounds like I'll be considered youngish on my cruise. Why didn't I find this line earlier? Jane :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
castlewood Posted March 5, 2008 #20 Share Posted March 5, 2008 You'll be considered downright infantile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcrooz Posted March 5, 2008 #21 Share Posted March 5, 2008 :D :D !'m 69; GOO GOO GA,GA!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jane02 Posted March 13, 2008 #22 Share Posted March 13, 2008 We have just returned from our Vietnam cruise on Sunday on the Silver Whisper. There was a varied age group but I would say that about 50% of the people on board were less than 50 years of age. I was expecting a much older group. Everyone was very nice and friendly and we had a great time - so much so, we have booked a Med cruise on the Whisper next year. Kellie;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebbieH103 Posted March 13, 2008 #23 Share Posted March 13, 2008 Kellie, I would love to hear more details about it. We are doing Vietnam on SS in April of next year. We'll be 46 and 47 then. We have been on 3 SS voyages so far and have enjoyed the passengers of all ages. I just hope there are some Americans so they won't have the shows too late. That was the issue with our Dubai cruise. They knew a lot more people were dining late, so they had most of the shows start at 10:30. I made a big deal of it, and they did alternate a few shows before dinner. The CD was great on this. Did you post more about this cruise on another thread? I'd love to hear more, but maybe I am off topic here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanandsue Posted March 14, 2008 #24 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Kellie- We are departing Friday night, heading to Asia for our Thursday departure on the Whisper, Hong Kong to Singapore, It's great to hear that your cruise was fun. Any tips/observations regarding either the cruise or port calls in Vietnam? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jane02 Posted March 26, 2008 #25 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Kellie, I would love to hear more details about it. We are doing Vietnam on SS in April of next year. We'll be 46 and 47 then. We have been on 3 SS voyages so far and have enjoyed the passengers of all ages. I just hope there are some Americans so they won't have the shows too late. That was the issue with our Dubai cruise. They knew a lot more people were dining late, so they had most of the shows start at 10:30. I made a big deal of it, and they did alternate a few shows before dinner. The CD was great on this. Did you post more about this cruise on another thread? I'd love to hear more, but maybe I am off topic here. Sorry to take so long to reply. The cruise was great. This was our first SS cruise and we loved it so much that we have booked to do B2B Med cruises next year. We also had a lot of late diners on our cruise but I do recall some of the shows being early. I had quite a bit of trouble with sea sickness so I tended not to do much in the evenings. I know that the casino was very quiet as my husband likes to play blackjack but couldn't as there weren't any other players. There was a large European group (180+) who seemed to have their own social activities organised so the ship was very quiet at night. We did a few tours organised through the ship. We went kayaking around Ha Long Bay which was fabulous. I also enjoyed the tour to China Beach and Marble Mountain. I bought a beautiful jade vase and a lovely silk embroidery that I am having framed at the moment. We are not that keen on long bus trips which is what many of the tours had. We just got off the ship, worked our what we wanted to see from our guide and did our own thing. We got a good feel of the places we visited without being exhausted from long day trips. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions that I can help with. Kellie;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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