Tired of the Erroneous Demographic Reports......

[sail7seas]

Time and again, we read how HAL only has very senior folks sailing and that is just plain not true.

 

I've been told the average age for HAL cruisers is 57. Sure, there are people in their 90's aboard but there are also toddlers in strollers and plenty of every age in between.

 

Certainly on World Cruise or 60 day Grand Voyage you will have an older demographic. Who else has the time for such cruises You will find an older demographic on every ship/every cruise line that does a World Cruise.

 

But for the average seven or ten day Caribbean cruise, and we've been on many, the demographic on HAL sure looks to me just the same as that on Princess and "X' which are the lines most closely compared with HAL. I've made a point of watching other ships in port with us disembark their guests and they look just like those of us getting on and off HAL ship.

 

I get so annoyed hearing the same old incorrect mantra about HAL over and over.

 

Anyone else sick of it?

[kazu]

Time and again, we read how HAL only has very senior folks sailing and that is just plain not true.

 

I've been told the average age for HAL cruisers is 57. Sure, there are people in their 90's aboard but there are also toddlers in strollers and plenty of every age in between.

 

Certainly on World Cruise or 60 day Grand Voyage you will have an older demographic. Who else has the time for such cruises?

 

But for the average seven or ten day Caribbean cruise, and we've been on many, the demographic on HAL sure looks to me just the same as that on Princess and "X' which are the lines most closely compared with HAL.

 

I get so annoyed hearing the same old incorrect mangra about HAL over and over.

 

Anyone else sick of it?

 

me too:) and tired of hearing that the ship is empty at 9 pm:( some of us do late dining BTW:)

 

On our cruise (which was a long one), most people at our table were around our ages - I am one year older than the demographic that Bruce Muzz quoted but there is no question that HAL takes a beating.

 

And frankly, those older that I have met are interesting, well travelled people that I enjoy spending time with.

 

I don't care how old anyone is - it's how young at heart they are that counts:)

 

HAL has some neat itineraries which will be longer, so yes, some people will be older - guess what, those are the people on my private tours. Those are the people that want to enjoy the ports and experience life.

 

I enjoy many people that I have met on HAL and consider myself lucky to have met them. Age is of no concern to me :)

[SwissMyst]

Time and again, we read how HAL only has very senior folks sailing and that is just plain not true.

 

I've been told the average age for HAL cruisers is 57. Sure, there are people in their 90's aboard but there are also toddlers in strollers and plenty of every age in between.

 

Certainly on World Cruise or 60 day Grand Voyage you will have an older demographic. Who else has the time for such cruises You will find an older demographic on every ship/every cruise line that does a World Cruise.

 

But for the average seven or ten day Caribbean cruise, and we've been on many, the demographic on HAL sure looks to me just the same as that on Princess and "X' which are the lines most closely compared with HAL. I've made a point of watching other ships in port with us disembark their guests and they look just like those of us getting on and off HAL ship.

 

I get so annoyed hearing the same old incorrect mangra about HAL over and over.

 

Anyone else sick of it?

 

Count me in on this one too.

 

Industry quote posted here found HAL on average to be slightly younger than both Princess or Celebrity. Crystal genteelly reported most passengers were "over age 55", but there were few spring chickens on our two Crystal Cruises too. So much of the "average" age depends upon location of cruise, time of year and length of cruise.

 

How many 30 somethings should one expect on a 45 day transatlantic cruise in November? How many on a 7 day Mexican Riviera when school is out? There can be averages, but each ship and each cruise is a stand-alone data point.

 

This was the industry report floating around:

 

Passenger ages vary somewhat by sailing, but usually they are as follows:

Carnival Cruise Line: 0 - 45 years of age

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line: 25 - 55 years of age

Crystal Cruise Line: 55+ years of age

Celebrity Cruise Line: 35 - 64 years of age

Norwegian Cruise Line: 27 - 56 years of age

Holland America Cruises: 30 - 60 years of age

Princess Cruise Line: 35 to 65 years of age

[localady]

If you are on even a 2 week cruise, the numbers can be much different. On our October Hawaii 14 day cruise, the average age was 73 as announced onboard.

 

I am happy to report that I as a 50ish gal, felt like a spring chicken on that cruise and had an wonderful time.

 

Our one week cruises to the Mex Riviera have always been more like the 52 yo average or younger age wise.

[iancal]

I suspect that locallady is correct.

 

The demographics on a HAL 7 day school vacation period cruise will be vastly different from a two week cruise during a non vacation period. At least this has been our experience.

[IRL_Joanie]

It also upsets me. BUT I am happy that we are "assumed" to be older because at least we do not have upqwards of 800-1500 children on board clamoring for rock walls, Ice skating rinks, etc., etc., and disrupting my visiting with the Genteel folks on HAL:)

 

Love the ambiance of a nice elegant cruise NOT a playground at sea!!

 

Joanie

[SwissMyst]

It also upsets me. BUT I am happy that we are "assumed" to be older because at least we do not have upqwards of 800-1500 children on board clamoring for rock walls, Ice skating rinks, etc., etc., and disrupting my visiting with the Genteel folks on HAL:)

 

Love the ambiance of a nice elegant cruise NOT a playground at sea!!

 

Joanie

 

Good point, Joanie. Maybe HAL is secretly perpetuating this impression too. There is more money to be made selling drinks and shore excursions to adults than providing youth activities for children. That too.

 

You can put hundreds of adults into the show lounge with a single speaker, whereas I am sure there are regulations requiring a very small staff/child ratio in Club Hal.

 

One might guess selling to the older demographics with discretionary income is a better deal than selling to younger families. Attracting the DINKs is probably everyone's dream demographic. (DINK: Dual Income No Kids)

[CruiserBruce]

Well, as the first half of our 20 day B2B on Noordam in Aug 2010 had 200 kids on it, that even stretches the "longer cruise will have an older crowd" theory as well.

[sail7seas]

Ten day cruises often have a fair number of children during summer. They aren't in school.

 

[kazu]

Good point, Joanie. Maybe HAL is secretly perpetuating this impression too. There is more money to be made selling drinks and shore excursions to adults than providing youth activities for children. That too.

 

You can put hundreds of adults into the show lounge with a single speaker, whereas I am sure there are regulations requiring a very small staff/child ratio in Club Hal.

 

One might guess selling to the older demographics with discretionary income is a better deal than selling to younger families. Attracting the DINKs is probably everyone's dream demographic. (DINK: Dual Income No Kids)

 

gee Swiss Myst - when i was young if I called someone a DINK, my mother would have washed my mouth out with soap. couldn't they have found another acronym?

[SwissMyst]

Well, as the first half of our 20 day B2B on Noordam in Aug 2010 had 200 kids on it, that even stretches the "longer cruise will have an older crowd" theory as well.

 

Let's add the new category:" longer cruises during school vacations", including Spring and Winter breaks.

[mudscraper]

The next whippersnapper who posts that HAL is only for the old and infirm will have to deal with me. I`m talking fisticuffs! Of course this would occur after my afternoon nap.

[SwissMyst]

The next whippersnapper who posts that HAL is only for the old and infirm will have to deal with me. I`m talking fisticuffs! Of course this would occur after my afternoon nap.

 

And only if you remember it......... :p

[Krazy Kruizers]

I don't even bother answering people anymore when they talk about HAL being for the old people.

[mustcruisemore]

We are early 40s (41 & 43) and love to cruise on HAL because you have more mature (whether age or attitude) people. When we first started cruising it was on RCCI, but they would now have to pay us to cruise them (not because of anything other than the other guests onboard being immature-both age and attitude-and it can sure be miserable to be a shipful of those types of cruisers). We also cruise Celebrity because they also have a more mature demographic.

 

We cruise at least once per year (generally in February-for our anniversary and to go someplace warm), and take my MIL (age 77) and SIL (age 51) with us and they also love the age demographic on HAL.

 

So please know that there is nothing wrong with HAL being know as having an older demographic group. Some of us, younger demographic folks LOVE IT and wouldn't have it any other way. AND let's not let on to all those 'other' immature travelers that HAL might not be an cruise line for older folks, as we don't want them on HAL cruises anyway ;)

[mustcruisemore]

It also upsets me. BUT I am happy that we are "assumed" to be older because at least we do not have upqwards of 800-1500 children on board clamoring for rock walls, Ice skating rinks, etc., etc., and disrupting my visiting with the Genteel folks on HAL:)

 

Love the ambiance of a nice elegant cruise NOT a playground at sea!!

 

Joanie

 

It doesn't upset me but I TOTALLY AGREE with the rest of the quote. Keep the children on other ships ;) (and for that matter, the immature adults).

[canadianbear]

I am not sick of it-I actually love it because to me it means that HAL will remain a classy ship to sail. I do NOT want the ice rinks, the wave pools, etc.

 

My husband and I are in our late 50's and have not tried any other cruise line. Not to say we won't some day but at this point we have no reason to try a different cruise line.

 

Our son who is in his late 20's, loves cruising HAL as well. It does not bother him that usually he is the youngest on the ship because him and his girlfriend love chatting to anyone-no matter what age.

 

So I say, Shhhh.....let them think what they want!

[itzmered]

We did the Panama canal 10 day cruise last January on Princess, we are in our upper 40's and I would say the mass majority of the people on that particular cruise were in their upper 50's and 60's and above. I would estimate that less than 15% were our age or younger. Didn't bother me one bit and the night life was plenty active enough for us. I am assuming that HAL will be about the same for our cruise next year on the Zuiderdam.

[airlink diva]

Ten day cruises often have a fair number of children during summer. They aren't in school.

 

 

I so agree!

When I took a 10 day cruise we had a large number of children on board the ship.

Even on my 14 day cruise, there were children on board. These were home school children so their parents are not set by any school timeframe.

But on the seven day cruises, you have a great mix of all ages.

But I can tell you that some travel agents do feel that HAL is for an older crowd and will tell some clients that HAL is not for them. I have a few friends who sail on the smooth jazz cruise and while they love HAL on this, when four of them sailed on HAL on a non charter cruise, the ship was a different vibe.

But (this is just my opinion) I feel that at times HAL wants to be viewed for the older crowd. I see ads for other cruiselines on tv, online and other media forms that are geared for the age group between 20's to 50's. I can't recall seeing HAL doing this.

HAL media,even on the website feel like they can slap a few photos of children and younger people here and there to "appeal" to a younger set. But it's a poor attempt.

I'm in my early 40's and among my friends and co workers who cruise, HAL is not the first cruiseline to come in mind. They feel very or no connect or reason to really cruise with HAL.

HAL really to me don't appeal to the up and coming cruisers who can become loyal HAL fans for the next 20,30,40 years.

So in some ways HAL do focus on that demo group for oldies.

I love sailing on HAL and feel that it's the best cruiseline among the those that sails,but just really don't appeal to everyone.

Sorry, just had to vent!!!

[whogo]

I missed the news that HAL only has senior cruisers. I think that HAL attracts an older (as opposed to old) crowd, perhaps the same as Celebrity and Princess, but certainly older than the general US population whose median age is about 36.

[KimberleyFL]

Love the ambiance of a nice elegant cruise NOT a playground at sea!!

 

Joanie

 

I totally agree with this statement. I'm in my 40's and have had the greatest time on HAL ships. My husband and I like the 'anytime dining' and we like to sit with new people every day. The older people have the most interesting stories to tell.

[SwissMyst]

What age range does HAL use in their own marketing material?

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/main/Main.action?WT.mc_id=PPC_HQ_Google_US

[RuthC]

Time and again, we read how HAL only has very senior folks sailing and that is just plain not true.

 

I get so annoyed hearing the same old incorrect mantra about HAL over and over.

 

Anyone else sick of it?

Not in the least. As a few others have posted, I want to sail with an older, more mature group---and those younger passengers who fit in well with that group.

If the HAL reputation keeps those who don't like what HAL offers those of us who are "of a certain age" from booking a HAL cruise, so much the better.

[sail7seas]

I so agree!

When I took a 10 day cruise we had a large number of children on board the ship.

Even on my 14 day cruise, there were children on board. These were home school children so their parents are not set by any school timeframe.

But on the seven day cruises, you have a great mix of all ages.

But I can tell you that some travel agents do feel that HAL is for an older crowd and will tell some clients that HAL is not for them. I have a few friends who sail on the smooth jazz cruise and while they love HAL on this, when four of them sailed on HAL on a non charter cruise, the ship was a different vibe.

But (this is just my opinion) I feel that at times HAL wants to be viewed for the older crowd. I see ads for other cruiselines on tv, online and other media forms that are geared for the age group between 20's to 50's. I can't recall seeing HAL doing this.

HAL media,even on the website feel like they can slap a few photos of children and younger people here and there to "appeal" to a younger set. But it's a poor attempt.

I'm in my early 40's and among my friends and co workers who cruise, HAL is not the first cruiseline to come in mind. They feel very or no connect or reason to really cruise with HAL.

HAL really to me don't appeal to the up and coming cruisers who can become loyal HAL fans for the next 20,30,40 years.

So in some ways HAL do focus on that demo group for oldies.

I love sailing on HAL and feel that it's the best cruiseline among the those that sails,but just really don't appeal to everyone.

Sorry, just had to vent!!!

 

 

AirlinkDiva,

Definitely nothing to be sorry about.

Good post and interesting to read. :)

 

[madelinerose]

Time and again, we read how HAL only has very senior folks sailing and that is just plain not true.

 

CC recommends HAL as best for seniors/first timers! Scroll down: ;)

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=129