How important is "demographic"?

We focus primarily on itinerary but since retirement can work around certain times, DW was a school teacher. Longer cruises also reduces somewhat the party hearty crowd. We do like a mixture of ages as well as a good mix of geographic crowds.

We tend to book cruises longer than 7 days, other than Queen Mary 2 crossings.

I want to KNOW I'm on a ship, so it has to be moderately small. Mega ships are of no interest to me (rooms with balconies overlooking an "indoor" mall? YUK). I want that damned promenade deck (just like all the old movies have) so I can sit on a deck chair during the day, or lean on the railing after dinner, and pretend Cary Grant or David Niven will come by any minute. After that, where is it going? And can we find quiet places to be together and focus on being a couple? Don't need to be entertained by noise and activities and casinos and what not - we entertain ourselves. So Holland America fits me wonderfully.

This is how we feel as well. We have found that Viking Ocean fits us wonderfully, but we also have an Azamara cruise booked so we’ll see how that goes. We like to have fun but we want to avoid all the folderol that comes with a cruise on a mainstream line.

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Be that as it may, I've yet to run across people doing "stupid things" on the 350-pax Aegean Odyssey that offers no kids, no casinos and the main entertainment is classical music and guest lecturers (mostly retired university profs).... ;)

While that cruise sounds very sleepy to me, I do get the point you were making. I've cruised 7 lines from 3 nighters to 14 nighters. The only cruises I've seen people having sex in public, throwing up in jacuzzis, fist fighting, etc, have been on the short booze cruises on particular lines. If for some reason people are offended at the notion I don't wish to be around that behavior, well, they'll just have to get over it. ;)

Be that as it may, I've yet to run across people doing "stupid things" on the 350-pax Aegean Odyssey that offers no kids, no casinos and the main entertainment is classical music and guest lecturers (mostly retired university profs).... ;)

It's good to see that there is an affirmative angle as well as a negative point of view. It is not all just about avoiding ships/itineraries which attract a demographic we might prefer to avoid -- there is also the notion of looking for an itinerary with at least a fair chance of being partially populated by "kindred souls".

I'm the "pensioner" in my 60's and wife is in her 50's.

Anticipated demographics is very important whether our holiday is a cruise or if we are enjoying an All Inclusive.

We want out atmosphere to be lively and hopefully family oriented. I love the sound of young people filled with laughter. Whether it be Disney, Beaches Negril All Inclusive, or yes, even if it's Spring Break with loud music.

 

The last thing I want is listening to old people talk about their skin lesions, portfolios, and impending strokes.

But there are so many varieties of lesions...flat, raised...

We are the same as klfrodo.

We prefer a mixed demographic. Not especially interested in a cruise that is all Lawrence Welk and dead quiet after 10PM.

We have not been on Disney but by the same token we don't want to cruise on a floating retirement/rest home either. Something in between is perfect for us.

There are an awful lot of retired Parrotheads out there, so grey doesn’t automatically mean staid.

We do think about what kind of atmosphere a particular cruise is pushing. We’re a youngish couple but don’t want heavy drinking, loud music, or wet T-shirt contests. But you can see that from any demographic. I think it’s more about cruise length, itinerary, and time of year.

Disney actually has a reputation for keeping adults and children more segregated than the major lines. I haven’t tested that yet.

Does anticipated passenger mix have much influence on selecting your cruise? Many posters have obvious "red flags": they indicate that they avoid short spring break cruises because they do not like booze cruises, they shy away from Disney because they do not like the likelihood of very many young children, or they avoid HAL because of the "nursing home" reputation some focus upon.

 

Do you consider the likely (or just rumored) demographic of a cruise line in picking a ship/itinerary ---- and what "red flags" turn you off?

My wife refuses to go on a summer cruise because of all the kids on board . I remind her that we were on some really great summer cruises years ago but she refuses to change her mind.

We prefer cruise lines that have more available for adults, if everything is geared towards family or children it is a major turn off. If a cruise line is prudish we probably won't sail them as that means they are more interested in catering to families and children.

We try to avoid children on any sailing as our biggest red flag. We don't mind the college party crowd as much.

Pretty much we have decided that unless the itinerary is really interesting, we would rather do an adults only ship takeover. This normally means gay/lesbian, swinger, or nudist, but we have learned that as long as you are open and excepting of others then this isn't really a problem. Don't want to be nude on a nude cruise, don't take your clothes off. Aren't gay on a gay cruise, well, not like you are any more likely to be raped than a normal cruise! And besides, we have found that gays are great to party with, and once they know that you are straight and not judging for being open, they tend to love straight people.

As I approach the Holland America "demographic" (which I haven't sailed - yet - maybe after 70?), I tend to look for longer cruises during the school year. I don't necessarily rule out any particular line - my "yet to cruise" list includes MSC, more Celebrity, Viking, and a European River Cruise line.

I'm sailing a Carnival casino cruise this Saturday, and I'm ready for a little noise and rowdiness. If it gets too loud, I can always remove my hearing aids.

Holidays and any school holiday time means lots of kids. Nothing against them; ours is 28.

After my wife retired from teaching our cruise costs went down by 50% on the same ship and routes from here in Galveston.

That’s a deal maker for me!

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When we are sailing with our kids, who are now 21 and 23, we prefer sailings with a more family demographic. When it is just DH and myself (early 50's), we prefer either the family demographic or couples around our age group which we typically find on our Sept-October cruises. I can't say that we have ever really experienced the college frat party "party boat" or if we did I didn't notice them. We did have 2 sailings with older demographics, more 60's-70's that were 2 very different experiences. The first we didn't really expect. It was a 5 day Princess Ruby cruise out of FLL during Spring Break time. My husband and I were in our late 40's at the time and felt totally out of place. Most of the passengers seemed to be either snow birds or groups from retirement communities in Florida. I'm sorry but I can only hear "My Way" so many times. I got bored with the clubs and karaoke pretty fast. I was so surprised that there were not more Spring Breakers. That has kind of put us off sailing Princess again for a while (until we get a little older). The other was a 5 day Carnival Fantasy cruise out of Mobile in October. This was a mostly older crowd, but mixed with a few more people our age 50's-70's. They were a much more lively group who just seemed more fun to sail with than the "My Way" group on Princess. But that was just our experience and opinions and I am sure others will vary.

We REALLY like HAL, and we're not "old fogies" and just FYI... statically, according to some cruise survey last year, the median age on HAL is only one year older than that of Princess, also one of our favorite lines. We don't take any cruise during spring break, Christmas/New Years, or any cruise shorter than 7 days. I've been sailing for many, many years starting with TA's back in the early 60's as a kid, and as far as cruise ships go, HAL is the closest thing to what "ocean liner" travel used to be like.

The biggest decider for DW and I when we cruise alone is how many 'likely' kids on board. She has done daycare in our house for almost 25 years. She deserves a vacation with little kid interaction.

As far as older demographic, my wife and I gravitate to them. I love to listen. Love to listen to someone who has lived life and our just cool as hell to hang around.

I have officially entered retirement time so the only consideration for me is a cruise loaded with kids. Consequently, I now cruise the smaller cruise lines where kids are basically not welcomed. I’ve previously cruised ALL the family friendly lines, but not any more.

I switch to retirement mode in July. I think my last hurrah with CC is this July. Looking forward to transition.

I'm the "pensioner" in my 60's and wife is in her 50's.

Anticipated demographics is very important whether our holiday is a cruise or if we are enjoying an All Inclusive.

We want out atmosphere to be lively and hopefully family oriented. I love the sound of young people filled with laughter. Whether it be Disney, Beaches Negril All Inclusive, or yes, even if it's Spring Break with loud music.

 

The last thing I want is listening to old people talk about their skin lesions, portfolios, and impending strokes.

We are active in our 60s and 70s - and agree with you 100%

It does not matter whether ocean cruise, river cruise, or another destination (beach resort, western ranch, mountain retreat, etc.)

My only 'demographic' is: if you're sick, stay home, please!

Our Red Flag is shorter cruises no matter how inexpensive they are.

I've found that people doing "stupid things" has no age limits regardless of the cruiseline, when or where it's going.

Same experience.

Up to a point, demographics matters, yes. I have various reasons for choosing a particular cruise line, ship, or itinerary, and one thing I'd consider is who I'm going to be sailing with. I'm not keen to sail with the retired, dressed-up set, but I'd also like to keep the number of children and teenagers down to something manageable, too.

My next ones, for instance, are in the summer on an inexpensive line, but as it's European and really at the end of the school break, there probably (?) won't be many kids. The next one after that is Star Trek--no kids allowed, LOL, but everyone will be acting like kids. :-D Then after that is Symphony of the Seas in the spring, which will have kids...but you're not going to avoid kids on the world's largest cruise ship/floating theme park. I just want to experience this crazy huge ship.

Does anticipated passenger mix have much influence on selecting your cruise? Many posters have obvious "red flags": they indicate that they avoid short spring break cruises because they do not like booze cruises, they shy away from Disney because they do not like the likelihood of very many young children, or they avoid HAL because of the "nursing home" reputation some focus upon.

 

Do you consider the likely (or just rumored) demographic of a cruise line in picking a ship/itinerary ---- and what "red flags" turn you off?

Not sure if it actually stops me from cruising but it certainly comes into consideration along with price and itinerary and such.

I like a nice mix of passengers, not all the same age, not all from the same country. We cruise a fair amount with Celebrity, and their brochures are full of photos of their target demographic - people in their mid-30s to mid-40s who look like young executives and have no children with them. Their ships, not so much, especially on the longer repositioning cruises, our favourite kind of cruise. In fairness, they probably get more of them on the short Caribbean cruises. When we see couples who look like the brochure photos, we’ve been known to elbow each other and say “Look, I see some Demographics!” :D

I personally aim for late April to early June as the "ideal" time to cruise. This is when most universities have finished the semester but K-12 schools are still in session. This leads to the age curve I'm looking for where most people traveling are between 20-40 without kids while at the same time, not being a Spring break party boat

As for avoidance of demographics, I'm weary of cruising immediately after a holiday since this shifts the age curve much higher. Made that mistake once after Thanksgiving.

Up to a point, demographics matters, yes. I have various reasons for choosing a particular cruise line, ship, or itinerary, and one thing I'd consider is who I'm going to be sailing with. I'm not keen to sail with the retired, dressed-up set, but I'd also like to keep the number of children and teenagers down to something manageable, too.

 

My next ones, for instance, are in the summer on an inexpensive line, but as it's European and really at the end of the school break, there probably (?) won't be many kids. The next one after that is Star Trek--no kids allowed, LOL, but everyone will be acting like kids. :-D Then after that is Symphony of the Seas in the spring, which will have kids...but you're not going to avoid kids on the world's largest cruise ship/floating theme park. I just want to experience this crazy huge ship.

Not so true. We will also be on the Symphony. Our trip is the transatlantic in Oct. We have done transatlantic's on Oasis , Allure and now upcoming Symphony. We love the big ships but no so much the large number of kids. If the past holds true there will be only a hand full of kids. Our transatlantic on Allure had 18 kids under 16 years old. Bars and clubs were still going strong at 1 am. This week we booked the 18 night Ovation, Australia to Hawaii and expect to see very few of the young crowd.