International Passengers On Princess

[Shogun]

Hi All

When I started cruising with Princess I would guess that Americans made up 80% of the passengers

Over the years we have sailed with groups from other parts of the world, no problems.

However I have thought on my last few cruises the international mix was increasing to the point that Americans made up only 50% with

over 50 nationalities being represented . So my question is do you think this trend will continue, do

you think Princess will alter its product to cater for this wider market, can we look forward to a more

international menu in the dining room. Or a bigger range of speciality restraunts on the newer ships.

While I love meeting folks from other parts of the world, on my last cruise I was seated with one

couple that spoke Spanish and another that spoke Portuguese and so had to request another table.

As we could not talk to each other. I am sure we would of had great stories

to tell each other if only we could.

Yours Shogun

[paul929207]

On the Ocean Princess last month there were 500 passengers:

USA - 250

Canada - 100

UK - 50

Aussie - 50

Other 50

[paul929207]

On the Ocean Princess last month there were 500 passengers:

USA - 250

Canada - 100

UK - 50

Aussie - 50

Other 50

[spunkie4]

We, too, have noticed an increase in "international" passengers. While I have no problem cruising with any nationality, we had a very large group on our Baltic on the Emerald in May. We were on for 37 days and at the beginning of the Baltic, the first thing I noticed was the screen saver in the Internet Cafe was changed to reflect the nationality of the large group that was cruising.

[Sauvignon]

Hi All

When I started cruising with Princess I would guess that Americans made up 80% of the passengers

Over the years we have sailed with groups from other parts of the world, no problems.

However I have thought on my last few cruises the international mix was increasing to the point that Americans made up only 50% with

over 50 nationalities being represented . So my question is do you think this trend will continue, do

you think Princess will alter its product to cater for this wider market, can we look forward to a more

international menu in the dining room. Or a bigger range of speciality restraunts on the newer ships.

While I love meeting folks from other parts of the world, on my last cruise I was seated with one

couple that spoke Spanish and another that spoke Portuguese and so had to request another table.

As we could not talk to each other. I am sure we would of had great stories

to tell each other if only we could.

Yours Shogun

 

An interesting thought.

 

I suppose it really depends on how much they want to promote Americanization (with a z)

 

A second point, did the communication difficulty encourage you to make plans to learn a 2nd language.

[captainron]

We, too, have noticed an increase in "international" passengers. While I have no problem cruising with any nationality, we had a very large group on our Baltic on the Emerald in May. We were on for 37 days and at the beginning of the Baltic, the first thing I noticed was the screen saver in the Internet Cafe was changed to reflect the nationality of the large group that was cruising.

 

Having worked in the world of Employment Equity and Diversity for the past 8 years, that, is what you call making the ship an inclusive society in itself, accepting of persons of all religious and ethnic origins. Good for Princess and great for the minorities and ethnic groups that are highlighted.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[Carolyn R]

I think it has more to do with the economy and the weakness of the American dollar. For Europeans right now, a cruise is a very good value because of the exchange rate. Also, Europeans get about six weeks of vacation a year and Americans are lucky if they get two. Now, with the high cost of flying "across the pond" (ouch!), I think that things will be very fluid for the foreseeable future.

[PescadoAmarillo]

While I love meeting folks from other parts of the world, on my last cruise I was seated with one

couple that spoke Spanish and another that spoke Portuguese and so had to request another table.

As we could not talk to each other. I am sure we would of had great stories

to tell each other if only we could.

Too funny, Shogun. On our first Princess cruise (Sun Princess, December 2003) we, too, had to request another table because we could not understand our tablemates. Thier nationality? Scottish! Six of them, two of us, and although the dinner conversation was lively, we couldn't tell if it was lovely. We simply nodded or shook our heads (and hoped we were doing each activity at the correct time).

[I_heart_vaca]

I agree with Carolyn R...I think the economy is driving the mix. It makes for interesting vacations - I love meeting people from around the world seeing what we have in common and what is unique to a culture. It can make dining and group interaction challenging. Maybe the cruise lines will start asking about languages spoken?

 

I did a 3 week European land tour and one of the questions was languages spoken. I speak 3, my compainion 2 and we were seated with couples who spoke those languages (most also spoke or were learning english)..it was fun, they helped us with our pronunciation and we helped them learn American slang...a fun night was had by all!

[Shogun]

Hi sauvignon and all

 

I already have two Scots being my first and english my second, while I understand a little French, Dutch, etc not enough to chat with folks that do not understand a word of english.

 

Like a captain said its a pity that the world can not accept and get on with so many views, cultures religions as you find on a cruise ship.

 

So my orginal question do you think Princess will adjust menus, entertainment etc

 

 

yours Shogun

[Coral]

I really think it depends on the itinerary.

 

For example, Europe sailings were very soft this year, so there were probably more Europeans as they didn't have to pay as much for air (and air for US people was incredibly unreasonable this year).

 

There are some Princess sailings I have been on that seem to be 90% US/Canadians.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Like all things in the business world, whatever Princess does will be driven by economics. With the huge expansion in the fleets and capacity on all cruise lines, they have worked to increase their markets and we are seeing the results with the rich cultural mix that are found on many cruises. It isn't necessarily new. The first time we cruised Royal Caribbean in 1981 it was a two week Caribbean cruise that was structured so that half the passengers left or joined the ship in Barbados after the first week. After our Barbados stop half the passengers were Spanish speaking from South America. We did a couple of TAs on Royal in the 1990's and both were nearly 50% Spanish speaking. Royal did a great job of matching dinning room tables to people who spoke the same language. Our Princess cruises have been mostly a mix of English speakers but with other nationalities mixed in. So far I haven't seen any of this reflected in menus but when Royal has a significant mix of people who don't speak the same language their entertainment seems to be adjusted to rely on the visual rather than the spoken.

[Waynetor]

We have noticed this change also. Part of the reason is exchange rates. When we first cruised we paid near $1.50 Canadian to buy a US dollar and now they are about even. Makes cruising a lot cheaper for us.

Also the nationalities list some captains read out at the welcome aboard party are based on passports, and not where people live so they can be a bit misleading.

[UpcountryTravelers]

On our January 14-day cruise this year, we estimated 1/3 Americans, 1/3 Canadian and 1/3 British. WONDERFUL!! We thoroughly enjoyed the times we dined with Scots (I had no problem with the accent because my Dad still had a trace of it....) and others. Then one night our tablemates included a couple from Edinburgh (a favorite city of ours) and a couple from a city of the same name as ours, but from North Carolina!!

 

Great fun!!

[caribill]

Recent trans-Atlantic:

USA 69.5%

Canada 18.9%

United Kingdom 7.2%

Everyone else: 4.4%

 

Recent Eastern Med:

USA 54.2%

Canada 19.1%

United Kingdom 12.5%

Other European: 3.6%

Everyone else: 9.8%

[linh123]

I love the mix of nationalities. One of the reasons I don't particularly care for European cruises ( I have taken 3) is the cruise is too sterile. You don't get the feel of actually being in Europe. You tour doing the day and then go back to an all American cruise.

[Vikingmum]

We have done two cruises with Princess, one ten years ago, on our honey moon, and one this April, with our family which now also includes two children. Both cruises were in the Caribbean.

 

I have noticed that over these ten years cruise lines, especially Royal Caribbean, have increased their marketing aimed towards scandinavians. Not Princess so much. It was just a coincidence that we ended up on a Princess cruise the first time. We got married on September 1:st and there were not that many Caribbean cruises to choose from in September, so Princess it was (and, yes this was in September of 2001, so we were on the ship when the attacs on World Trade Center, etc happened. Interesting experience.). Anyway, we then we liked the cruise itself so much, we decided to choose to go with Princess again.

 

But I have to say that Princess is not in any way as well known a cruise company in Scandinavia as Royal Caribbean is. To book a cruise with Princess, you still have to use a travel agent in Sweden (at least that's the information I was given). While Royal Caribbean has their web pages in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian (maybe even Finnish) where you can make your own reservations.

 

Most (Swedish) people assumed we were travelling with Royal Caribbean when we told them about our cruise. Many had never heard of Princess cruises.

 

For us, it was actually an advantage that not that many Scandinavians travel with Princess. Usually, whn we go on vacation in the Mediterranean, we go on charter planes and end up on charter hotels with 99% Scandinavian guests,the staff speak "Scandinavian" (a funny mix of Danish, Swedish and Norwegian) and you can get meatballs, lingonberry jam, swedish crispbread, etc whenever you wish. On a Princess cruise, you can be fairly certain that this will not happen. The only good thing with many other scandinavian guest would be that the children had more people to talk to. But they are now very motivated to learn English! If Royal Caribbean goes to much Scandinavian, both in the number of guests, the food and the entertainment they offer it is negative in our opinion. (But I´m sure some would like it)

 

I also believe that the exchange rate for US Dollar currently makes american cruising a great value for scandinvians (as only the Finns use the Euro, the rest of us still have our own kronas)