Fall New England passenger demographic information please

[Retired Educator]

We are looking at a New England fall cruise next September and are curious about the demographics we might encounter. Our previous experience on Carnival was the Mexican run out of Long Beach during Spring Break in 2009, and we have avoided Carnival since then. My sister and her husband have now caught the cruise bug from us and we want to do a cruise together; and, the price on Carnival is low enough to allow us to try a suite if we wanted...

We are all retired from education or health care and wonder if that particular cruise destination in late September might be less " party" oriented or should we consider paying more on our preferred cruise line.

[Bulldog3777]

Problem is that you took a cruise during Spring Break. I am not sure what you expected cruising at that time. A New England cruise is not what party people are looking for so I would say you are OK. The only difference I have noticed on our cruises(Holland, NCL, Royal Carib and Carnival) is on Holland, my 70 yr old body looked like a young Charles Atlas compared to the other people on the ship.

[PAPERBKWRITER]

I agree with Bulldog. Cruises to Alaska and thru New England to Canada usually attract a more mature crowd. Although kids going to school in the North East may save on travel costs and sail from close ports. But September is not a time when you will see them. Your biggest concern should be weather in September.

[Sailor_Sally]

I was on the New England cruise the middle of September .It was mainly people between the ages of late 40's to 70's .It's a great cruise .All the ports were nice .Definitely more subdued than a Caribbean cruise. I highly recommend the Fenway tour if you are a sports fanatic . You can buy the tickets on line or at the box office the day of the tour .Stop at the pub that overlooks center field after .

[gfh77665]

There is not a single thing wrong with his question. Cruising should not be limited just to "party animals". He asked politely, and I don't think he is trying to make any type of statement in any way. He just prefers a quieter experience, thats all. He is just seeking information with his question.

[cruzn buckeye]

There is not a single thing wrong with his question. Cruising should not be limited just to "party animals". He asked politely, and I don't think he is trying to make any type of statement in any way. He just prefers a quieter experience, thats all. He is just seeking information with his question.

I totally agree with you. People do have a right to the kind of vacation they are going on. And it is fine if they want a cruise, not party oriented. No problem with that at all.

To the OP... you should be fine with this cruise. Like someone else said, the only thing you need to look at would be the time of year and the weather. You are cruising during hurricane season. And the Atlantic waters are sometimes more rough than the Caribbean.

Now, if you choose a Caribbean cruise in Sept, you will definetly still be in "party" season and territory.

[SMSACE6]

There is not a single thing wrong with his question. Cruising should not be limited just to "party animals". He asked politely, and I don't think he is trying to make any type of statement in any way. He just prefers a quieter experience, thats all. He is just seeking information with his question.

 

Well said! And to answer OP's question; That time of year there should be some kids on board, but not as much as usual, and doubt they will find a rowdy bunch on board either.

[alrichards4003]

My husband and I, both 40 at the time, did the Glory NE cruise in September. My husband noted a majority of the guests were older, there were a handful of kids and all other age groups were represented. It was more sedate than most of the caribbean cruises we were on, but we had a great time. It was one of our favorites and the ports were a nice change from the beach days in the caribbean and the museum days in Europe and NY.

[golfadj]

It should be an older crowd. Weather will be cooler so nobody will be laying out in the sun.

[Bulldog3777]

There is not a single thing wrong with his question. Cruising should not be limited just to "party animals". He asked politely, and I don't think he is trying to make any type of statement in any way. He just prefers a quieter experience, thats all. He is just seeking information with his question.

 

Maybe I missed it, but I did not notice anyone saying there was anything wrong with the question. Appears to me that everyone was trying to be helpful.

[Carnival_Brides]

I prefer the New England/Canada cruises because they are more sedate. I do them in June after school lets out and haven't ever seen the atmosphere that worries you.

[gfh77665]

Maybe I missed it, but I did not notice anyone saying there was anything wrong with the question. Appears to me that everyone was trying to be helpful.

 

 

Earlier there were more posts. Apparently, there were some deletions.

[emelvee]

We did a northeast/Canada cruise, but on RCI and in June 2008. The crowd was much older than what we're used to. We still had fun and met some nice people. We cruise mainly for the itinerary anyway; we enjoyed the ports.

[halos]

A Canada/New England cruise is night and day from a Caribbean cruise. New England is night and day from most places in the US in general, let alone different from the Caribbean islands. There will be few kids and the cruise will be very quiet.

Not all CCL cruises are wild/party ones. Alaska is another tamed-down cruise as are longer itineraries. We cruised for 15 days on the CCL Spirit to Hawaii and it was as quiet as a ship could get. ...too quiet to be honest.

[kellygirl719]

DH and I are in our early 30's, we've done three New England Cruises (it was nice going out of our "homeport" being from Boston). Two were on RCI in mid September, one was this past June on Carnival.

 

Carnival had a more family atmosphere in June with a lot of kids onboard, it was still subdued and not the typical "Party" atmosphere that is present with caribbean cruises. Definitely a wide variety of demographics...

 

RCI in September had almost no kids onboard, both years that we went there was definitely an older/elderly crowd demographic but still a good variety of people and we defnitely made friends on board :)

 

A majority of our cruises on both RCI and Carnival have been the party/caribbean atmosphere.. however we absolutely LOVED the New England cruises, a much slower pace and definitely more relaxing. I didn't feel like I needed a vacation from our vacation when we got back.

 

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

-Kelly

[jpg1747]

I cruise almost exclusively in the fall and winter because I want quieter cruises. I don't have children and have the option to avoid spring break and summer cruising. A fall NE/Canada cruise on any line will be a restful vacation.

[Retired Educator]

Thanks to all of you who so quickly and helpfully answered my question! My WH and I are now booked on the Carnival Glory for the 9/7-14/2013 Canada and New England with my sister and her WH in the cabin beside us. Yes, cruising the Mexico run or the Caribbean during spring break weeks or summer vacation isn't a really fun time if you are a teacher trying to get away from the students for a break; but, as an educator you take your vacations when they fall... ;)

I really didn't see any comments that were out of line, but to those of you who defended my question a second thank you... Looking forward to maybe meeting some of you onboard.

Dian

[rslinky]

Just sailed on the Glory a few months ago - out of NYC. I only saw a handful of kids on the ship. We also chose to sail during a time when the ship would be more adult. Our kids are grown and we love vacationing with our grandchildren, but there are also times you want time to yourself without responsibility of children. I actually thought most places were very quiet. The shows filled up early, but Karoke, other bars were very quiet. My guess would be that the crowd was mostly 40-70. It was a middle of the road - not a party time and not a nursing home. Go and enjoy.