Average age/activities

Hi! I’m curious about your experience with the average age on many world cruises. I know it’s going to be a more mature crowd in general, which is fine. We would love to do one in a few years. There are so many options and lengths and don’t know where to begin looking!

We are currently in our mid twenties and have already found that we’re the youngest on the boat by far, unless we do a simple cruise to Mexico or the Carribean. Luckily we’ve always had a great time and made many friends with other active couples. Would we be bored? Do certain lines cater to the younger crowd and have more activities than others? Thanks a bunch!

In order to take a World Cruise, a person has to have a lot of extra money saved up, and either not be working or be able to take months off from work. Both of these factors generally fit the profile of well off retirees. For this reason, you're going to find World Cruisers are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.

Don't let that discourage you, but if having people your own age on the ship, it's likely to not happen.

Roz

In order to take a World Cruise, a person has to have a lot of extra money saved up, and either not be working or be able to take months off from work. Both of these factors generally fit the profile of well off retirees. For this reason, you're going to find World Cruisers are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.

 

Don't let that discourage you, but if having people your own age on the ship, it's likely to not happen.

 

Roz

Thanks for the response. That absolutely makes sense. We’d love to do a leg, or maybe up to 2-3 months, depending on work schedules. Do many of the lines have more active activities or cater to a more active crowd? I guess we’re not as worried about the age range as having activities and excursions that are more active.

We have taken 8 world cruises.

For those taking the full world cruise (we took 7 of 8 as full) I would say the average age was around 70's. Some were younger and some older. We are on the younger of that.

On individual segments where people come on for one segment on some of the segments you might see younger people on board (maybe 30's/40's./50's but depending on the length of the sailing and where you are sailing.

We sail Crystal and there are a lot of activities on the world cruise and a whole range of activities.

On one segment they have what they call world games with a range of activities for all age groups including very young people.

Keith

Holland America 2018 had 160 guest below 60 years old

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In order to take a World Cruise, a person has to have a lot of extra money saved up, and either not be working or be able to take months off from work. Both of these factors generally fit the profile of well off retirees. For this reason, you're going to find World Cruisers are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.

 

Don't let that discourage you, but if having people your own age on the ship, it's likely to not happen.

 

Roz

We have completed 1 full WC and many longer cruises. Did not note the average age on WC to be much higher than 30+ day cruises.

At the time I was mid to late 50's and we did have a few younger than me. Most were in their 60's.

Hi! I’m curious about your experience with the average age on many world cruises. I know it’s going to be a more mature crowd in general, which is fine. We would love to do one in a few years. There are so many options and lengths and don’t know where to begin looking!

 

We are currently in our mid twenties and have already found that we’re the youngest on the boat by far, unless we do a simple cruise to Mexico or the Carribean. Luckily we’ve always had a great time and made many friends with other active couples. Would we be bored? Do certain lines cater to the younger crowd and have more activities than others? Thanks a bunch!

Just curious, what activities do you want / are you looking for that the younger crowd can partake in - Bungee jumping, parasailing, kayaking, - get my drift .......

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Just curious, what activities do you want / are you looking for that the younger crowd can partake in - Bungee jumping, parasailing, kayaking, - get my drift .......

 

 

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Sure- on the boat I like to do the group fitness classes, hit golf balls or climbing wall for a great workout (I know climbing walls won’t be on a world cruise), etc. I also like that some of the large cruise ships always have several things at once. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the casino, bingo, seminars, music but like when there are many activities to do. I can’t sit still, so I always like to be doing something. 😁

Bungee jumping sounds great but I can do that at home. I know some higher end lines include excursions and I just don’t want to be sitting on a tour bus. It doesn’t have to be extreme and I know some places are only accessible by bus, which is fine. I prefer to walk, bike, hike a mountain, kayak, atv to remote location, scuba drive, etc.

Sure- on the boat I like to do the group fitness classes, hit golf balls or climbing wall for a great workout (I know climbing walls won’t be on a world cruise), etc. I also like that some of the large cruise ships always have several things at once. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the casino, bingo, seminars, music but like when there are many activities to do. I can’t sit still, so I always like to be doing something. 😁

 

Bungee jumping sounds great but I can do that at home. I know some higher end lines include excursions and I just don’t want to be sitting on a tour bus. It doesn’t have to be extreme and I know some places are only accessible by bus, which is fine. I prefer to walk, bike, hike a mountain, kayak, atv to remote location, scuba drive, etc.

On our previous WC we had an early morning walking group that spent up to a couple of hours every morning walking around the Prom Deck. We also had daily Zumba classes every morning at sea.

For our next WC, we are using a line that provides a free excursion in every port, of which many are 2 - 3 hour walking tours.

Even though the average age may be higher, lots of exercise is still available.

I rarely meet passengers in their twenties on long cruises. Maybe a mother daughter combo or similar on a 2 week cruise.

All our ships had exercise classes with German ships having the most in number and variety. The Germans also offer lots of active land excursions. They have bicycles on board and do group bike tours on land. Be careful what you wish for, a tour was rated 'easy' and included an uphill ride that some participants barely made. Participants also need to be able to ride in city traffic from the ship to the countryside.

When I meet young independent travelers on land, they are hiking, biking, backpacking. Those kinds of trips are difficult to do with an aging body. ;)

Some young people like it less strenuous and travel through Europe by train. To sum it up, I would not recommend a world cruise or segments to athletic young people. Instead, you could sign up as a crew member for the dancers or the sports team.

I rarely meet passengers in their twenties on long cruises. Maybe a mother daughter combo or similar on a 2 week cruise.

 

All our ships had exercise classes with German ships having the most in number and variety. The Germans also offer lots of active land excursions. They have bicycles on board and do group bike tours on land. Be careful what you wish for, a tour was rated 'easy' and included an uphill ride that some participants barely made. Participants also need to be able to ride in city traffic from the ship to the countryside.

 

When I meet young independent travelers on land, they are hiking, biking, backpacking. Those kinds of trips are difficult to do with an aging body. ;)

Some young people like it less strenuous and travel through Europe by train. To sum it up, I would not recommend a world cruise or segments to athletic young people. Instead, you could sign up as a crew member for the dancers or the sports team.

Thank you! This is helpful. We’ve done some non-cruise trips as you mentioned and they were great but we love cruising. We feel a cruise is such a great way to travel the world and see places that aren’t as easily traveled by land or plane. You get to visit a lot more places in a shorter time it seems.

Maybe we’ll stick to the 14-21 day cruises for now and do a world cruise in another ten years when we won’t stick out like a sore thumb also not sure how receptive people would be to a couple our age - it tends to be half and half. I look very young and somehow it tends to spark “you lazy millennial” conversations. Wouldn’t want to hear that for 120 days! LOL

I prefer to walk, bike, hike a mountain, kayak, atv to remote location, scuba drive, etc.

COcruise, seems to me that all cruises usually have excursions like that and if not you can book them independently.

Hi Kim, maybe what you need is to look at spring or fall repositioning cruises. Sometimes these are a string of 14-21 day cruises that suit those still working but when viewed back to back they go in a single direction for two months giving you your long cruise. For instance the last long trip we did was 65 days from Hong Kong to Rome, it was sold as 14 to18 day segments Hong Kong-Singapore-Dubai-Athens-Rome. We also did part of a cruise that went 102 days Stockholm to Singapore in 6 segments. The ship had finished the Baltic season and was repositioning for the Asia season, this Europe in the summer, rest of the World in the winter pattern is quite common.

The site that has a 90 day ticker can be searched with "repositioning" as the region to narrow down the ships of potential interest. Then in the cruising timetable site, if you click "Cruise Ships", select a ship of interest and then "Departures in 2019" you can read all its cruises in sequence for the whole year and spot when it keeps moving on rather than turning back. You could make up combinations that aren't even listed by the cruise line. Just one caution is that trans-ocean cruises can be 10 days or more without a stop and Asia to the Med can be done in less than 30 days but to do so would mean minimal stops. You won't get world cruise perks but B2B has always earned a discount of some sort, besides repositioning is usually at a much lower per day price than peak season.

Good luck, Bill

Hi Kim, maybe what you need is to look at spring or fall repositioning cruises. Sometimes these are a string of 14-21 day cruises that suit those still working but when viewed back to back they go in a single direction for two months giving you your long cruise. For instance the last long trip we did was 65 days from Hong Kong to Rome, it was sold as 14 to18 day segments Hong Kong-Singapore-Dubai-Athens-Rome. We also did part of a cruise that went 102 days Stockholm to Singapore in 6 segments. The ship had finished the Baltic season and was repositioning for the Asia season, this Europe in the summer, rest of the World in the winter pattern is quite common.

 

The site that has a 90 day ticker can be searched with "repositioning" as the region to narrow down the ships of potential interest. Then in the cruising timetable site, if you click "Cruise Ships", select a ship of interest and then "Departures in 2019" you can read all its cruises in sequence for the whole year and spot when it keeps moving on rather than turning back. You could make up combinations that aren't even listed by the cruise line. Just one caution is that trans-ocean cruises can be 10 days or more without a stop and Asia to the Med can be done in less than 30 days but to do so would mean minimal stops. You won't get world cruise perks but B2B has always earned a discount of some sort, besides repositioning is usually at a much lower per day price than peak season.

 

Good luck, Bill

Thanks a bunch - never thought of this, what a great idea. I think we will go this route for now.

...on the boat I like to do the group fitness classes, hit golf balls or climbing wall for a great workout....I also like that some of the large cruise ships always have several things at once....I can’t sit still, so I always like to be doing something. 😁

I would suggest either strenuous land trips or cruises on large cruise ships on a line like Royal Caribbean where they have rock climbing walls, skating rinks, and other physical activities. World cruises tend to be on smaller ships and most have lots of activities, but not the stuff that RCCL ships have.

...also not sure how receptive people would be to a couple our age - it tends to be half and half. I look very young and somehow it tends to spark “you lazy millennial” conversations.

I've sailed with diverse age groups on almost all my cruises as well as I started sailing in my 30's, then my 40's, 50's and now 60's. I've always enjoyed mixing with people of all ages and I think others do too. Never heard anyone on a cruise insult millennials and can't imagine anyone saying or thinking such a thing. If they would, pray for them as they're the ones who need help. :halo:

Once you get over about 20 days the avg age jumps substantially.

I wanna do a world cruise will have to wait to for kids to grow up and closer to retirement any one in same boat as me

There was a younger couple (read: active 40's) on our 2018 Princess WC who took their bikes with them on the ship. At every port, we'd see them off-loading their wheels and taking off on their cycling exploration of each new place. They brought their own adventure to every port of call. 

And don't mistake age for inactive. We had one couple in their 90's (who were my heroes!) who climbed the Sydney Harbor bridge. Before that, I'd see them training on the Pacific Princess staircases, taking them two at a time!

The beauty of cruising is that you can be as active or sedentary as you wish. 

On 12/20/2018 at 7:15 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I think you get both kinds.  I've read just lately about several people who are jumping straight in.  We are veteran cruisers, so we know what we would like or not like.  My mum jumped in back in the late 70's, was gone for five months on a freighter, with a handful of other passengers and some officers for company--that was brave but she loved it.

 

I myself would recommend that you try out the cruise line you are considering FIRST, before you book any long cruise with them.

On 12/21/2018 at 1:26 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Really tough question. Nicest? Most spectacular scenery? Best sights? Most antiquities or art? Cutest or most charming? Most interesting?

 

How about a top five or ten?

 

French Polynesia, Barcelona,  Istanbul, Honfleur, Sorrento, Rio, Luxor...hard to choose but FP takes the cake for beauty. 

On 1/17/2019 at 6:09 AM, Go-Bucks! said:

I finally got the correct luggage tags from Luggage Forward last week....at least they arrived and do have the correct pickup date on them.

 

And speaking of the pickup date...it's tomorrow, Thurs. Jan. 17.  Hopefully all goes well and FedEx does arrive.  I spent the past 2 days carefully packing and weighing the suitcases...I'm so ready to move on and get to the ship!!  Peggy, I hope your issues with them will get resolved so you can relax too.  I do plan to let Oceania know how confusing and frustrating the experience with this company was and I'll suggest they investigate further before using them again.

3 minutes ago, Aquadesiac said:

There was a younger couple (read: active 40's) on our 2018 Princess WC who took their bikes with them on the ship. At every port, we'd see them off-loading their wheels and taking off on their cycling exploration of each new place. They brought their own adventure to every port of call. 

 

And don't mistake age for inactive. We had one couple in their 90's (who were my heroes!) who climbed the Sydney Harbor bridge. Before that, I'd see them training on the Pacific Princess staircases, taking them two at a time!

 

The beauty of cruising is that you can be as active or sedentary as you wish. 

I’m hoping my early 60s early retirement present but that’s a long time away 😂😂