Type of crowds

[Gr101997]

I went on my first cruise last February. It was myself and 3 friends from college. All of us are 26. We went on Carnival and had a great time. The only problem was that there really were not that many people our age. Mostly older couples or families. Someone had told me that if you wanted a younger group, Carnival was the one to go on. Right now we are in the process of booking another vacation and decided on doing another cruise. Most likely in the middle of jan to the mid of feb. I know those arnt exactly the 'peak' weeks in which people our age go away. We really liked Carnival but heard that Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are much nicer. Do those lines draw a younger crowd or would we be better off staying on Carnival?

[clackey]

I went on my first cruise last February. It was myself and 3 friends from college. All of us are 26. We went on Carnival and had a great time. The only problem was that there really were not that many people our age. Mostly older couples or families. Someone had told me that if you wanted a younger group, Carnival was the one to go on. Right now we are in the process of booking another vacation and decided on doing another cruise. Most likely in the middle of jan to the mid of feb. I know those arnt exactly the 'peak' weeks in which people our age go away. We really liked Carnival but heard that Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are much nicer. Do those lines draw a younger crowd or would we be better off staying on Carnival?

It is strange that you didn't have alot of young people on that cruise. We have sailed Carnival 4 times, RCCL and Princess one time each. Carnival usually has a younger crowd. RCCL and Princess are a little classier but I haven't been on NCL. The shorter Carnival cruises seem to attract the college group.

[cb at sea]

You hit the nail on the head! You have to go during times when "your age" folks are likely to travel! Most mid-twenty y.o. are out of school and working, so the "spring break" phenomenom won't work! Holidays are a better bet.

You are going to find ALL age groups on all the ships--younger folks generally don't have the time or resources that the older crowd has!

[Romy40]

You might try looking for a "group" on a ship. TA's can sometimes direct you to or are sponsoring single groups. I've seen them (in their matching T-shirts) and they always look like they're having fun!

[sportsterjohn]

CCL, NCL and RCCL really cater to the same demographic groups. You will have a mix of younger singles, families and seniors on all 3. As others mentioned, you will find more of the younger crowd during holidays and of course spring breaks.

[blindrid]

IMO, both Carnival and NCL will attract a younger set. In saying that, I have noticed that time of year and destination will certainly affect the age group.

[wilson9112]

I would take a short cruise like 5 days on the carnival during a holiday. NOt a long holiday because you will have the TOO young crowd. :D

[eandj]

At 26, if you want sort of a step up, you could try one of the large new RCCL ships. I agree it is the destination as well as timing. Going to the Carib is always a younger set of people. Too, you might look at a themed cruise of interest.

 

Another thought is that you go to an all inclusive resort...Mexico( Nuevo Vallarta or Riviera Maya have many nice ones) or Punta Cana. Then if you go during busy times for families you can hang out at the all adult pools, nightclubs etc. Just a thought.

[wilson9112]

I went on my first cruise last February. It was myself and 3 friends from college. All of us are 26. We went on Carnival and had a great time. The only problem was that there really were not that many people our age. Mostly older couples or families. Someone had told me that if you wanted a younger group, Carnival was the one to go on. Right now we are in the process of booking another vacation and decided on doing another cruise. Most likely in the middle of jan to the mid of feb. I know those arnt exactly the 'peak' weeks in which people our age go away. We really liked Carnival but heard that Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are much nicer. Do those lines draw a younger crowd or would we be better off staying on Carnival?

iT MAYBE CRZY, BUT MAKE A THREAD FOR NCL AND CARNIVAL ASKING PEOPLE (in a very nice way what there age is, ya know not exactly,,give ranges 18-25, 26-35,36-59.40-50-, 50-60--, 7o & up You can even aske how may kids under 18 will be going. Do a poll on ncl and carnival and you might get what you aare looking for. Please dont ask any personal questions, such as is your deatiful daughter is available? Just clean stuff. PLEASE NO ASK SOSO QUESTIONS. i WOULD START SAYING YOUR AGE AND YOU ARE SERCHING FOR A AND TIME THAT WOULD BE HAPPIER FOR YOU:D Goold my frind, i believe thie wuold be a graeat way to start:D

[cruisinbuddy]

Just remember that if anyone suggests Princess, the average age is about 102. We're going on the Crown P. as you might have seen in my signature, but it was a gift. There's 4 of us in my party and we'll bring the avg. age down to @ 99.

[Gr101997]

There were a decent amount of young people on our ship but we missed spring break by one week. As we were disembarking, you could see the hoards of college kids getting in line. I would feel weird going for that anyways. I dont want be people to look at us as those guys who go to the party long after they shouldnt.

Thanks for all the info. As much as I want to go on another cruise, i think the safe bet will be to go to an all inclusive resort where if we wanted to go to a couple different bars or places we could. In the end we're really looking for a couple of days to party and get away from working.

Thanks again everyone.

[cruise_lover]

Try booking either a "singles" type cruise or during Spring Break. We go during January because the people are more into my age group which is late 50's - early 60's (I'm 58 :eek: ).