Baltic cruise questions - dining times and demographics

[Infi]

Two questions specifically on Baltic cruising - thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

 

1. What time are the traditional dinner seatings in the Baltic? (Princess shows 6pm and 8:15pm on the personalizer, but experience tells me that seating times can vary based on itinerary.) Just wondering if the actual seating times might be earlier than listed.

 

2. What are the typical demographics of a Baltic cruise in summer? Can we expect a lot of kids, or is the Baltic not as kid-friendly as the Med? I'm guessing there will probably be a lot of teens and young adults/college age kids, if any. We're sailing in early July, if that matters.

[Pam in CA]

Dining times are set by the Maitre d'; 6:00 and 8:15pm are typical.

 

I thought the Baltics demographics were similar to the Med. Older people, families, young couples, etc. Not many toddlers or babies. Like the Med, there were many non-US passengers.

[califlady]

I took this cruise on the Star late last June. The early traditional dining was at 5:30 which I found to be way too early considering that the cruise is so port intensive. :( Ended up eating in the Horizon Court most of the evenings. If I had it to do over again, I would have booked the later sitting. After all, it doesn't get dark until very late.

Not many children that I saw. The few that I did see were very well behaved.

[mycruz]

Pam's description of the demographics is similar to what I remember seeing.

 

As for the dining, I am so glad we had Anytime Dining, especially on this cruise. This is a very port intensive cruise and it was nice not having to worry about getting back to the ship for a specific dining time. We had no trouble getting into the Anytime Dining when we were ready to have dinner. There was one night, the first night in St. Petersburg that we were absolutely worn out we headed to the Horizon Court, grabbed something to heat, showered and were in bed. :o

 

It's a great cruise, probably the only cruise I needed a vacation when I got home.

[Infi]

Thanks mycruz, califlady, and Pam for your replies. Uh oh, early traditional at 5:30pm...I was afraid of that happening, especially with tours. :( Thanks for the heads up, califlady, at least now I know to expect that.

 

I'm mainly interested in finding out if there will be a decent amount of young adults/college age kids onboard for my daughter. There was a good contingent on our July Med cruise last year, and I'm wondering if we can expect something similar. I just have this nagging feeling that the Baltic will skew older, even in summer.