Cruising doing well.

[david63]

38 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

The newer and younger cruise demographic may actually be more inclined to spend money once on board than you imagine

But will they continue to do so? Could be a bit like when many of us started cruising and bought dozens of photographs - the novelty wears off in time.

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 minutes ago, david63 said:

But will they continue to do so? Could be a bit like when many of us started cruising and bought dozens of photographs - the novelty wears off in time.

The novelty of eating speciality food doesn't wear off ?

 

Does it?

 

Escape rooms can have different themed escapes each year. We started doing them ten plus years ago with our kids and did them every year til they grew up

 

And the fact  is the big ships will likely grow their own new base of returning guests like the other cruises always have alongside new cruisers each year to join them 

 

The big ships attractng new cruisers rather than relying on existing cruisers returning have many advantages over the smaller ships in that respect

 

These new cruise ships are without doubt bringing  new people on board and changing the idea of what a cruise is like 

 

Hence the average age of cruisers on board the bigger ships reducing to below 50 years old now

[Interestedcruisefan]

I kind of imagine the big ships on P and O offering are the method to attract new cruisers for the first time with the headline low pricepoints etc and the abundance of restaurants, bars and entertainment

 

Similarly in USA - Carnival ships are the low price and high option ships to attract new cruisers to cruising over there

 

Some older cruisers end up liking them and use the big ships as well

 

Many of the new passengers become hooked on cruising (like always) and either return for more of the same or try more expensive or different itinerary cruises either with P and O, Carnival and or other lines

 

What I can't see happening is younger demographic cruisers picking Celebrity or Princess for their first cruise as the pricing and options on board won't be as enticing to someone who is new to cruising?

 

Will be interesting to see how those brands react?

 

Or are they all part of the Carnival Brand already? So it doesn't matter to them?

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[JeanieC,Aston]

The big elephant in the room is Southampton,,,,it’s the young the ones who are feeling the squeeze economically,,,they won’t want to do 14 days cruises to reach the sun.

They will soon get fed up with the Fijords or Hamburg or Geurnsey.

 

The will fly direct to the sun and spend on a 7 nightMSC cruise or like myself a Marella cruise.

I will cruise P&O as a fill in but for a cruise in the sun fly to Palma to pick up a ship and instant sunshine.

I say Palma or even Barcelona,,,,,but not Malta as OH will only fly 2hr flights,,,like many other oldies.

Edited October 2, 2023 by JeanieC,Aston

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The big elephant in the room is Southampton,,,,it’s the young the ones who are feeling the squeeze economically,,,they won’t want to do 14 days cruises to reach the sun.

They will soon get fed up with the Fijords or Hamburg or Geurnsey.

 

The will fly direct to the sun and spend on a MSC cruise.

Arvia serves the needs of the ones who  want sun from the start at a brilliant price though?

 

Iona and Arvia between them have both options sorted

 

And in the summer starting from Southampton is not so bad either and will appeal to many

 

Plus Iona gives new cruisers who want some culture with the fjords a good first cruise option

 

Whilst arvia offers the first chance to experience the Carribean

 

I'm sure Arvia is winning many new UK customers ahead of the expensive  all inclusives in the Caribbean right now and giving them lots of problems 

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Arvia serves the needs of the ones who  want sun from the start at a brilliant price though?

 

Iona and Arvia between them have both options sorted

 

And in the summer starting from Southampton is not so bad either and will appeal to many

 

Plus Iona gives new cruisers who want some culture with the fjords a good first cruise option

 

Whilst arvia offers the first chance to experience the Carribean

 

I'm sure Arvia is winning many new UK customers ahead of the expensive  all inclusives in the Caribbean right now and giving them lots of problems 

Read my post….

Arvia does 14 nighters to reach the sun,,,,,younger cruisers want 7 night cruises.

They don’t want to sail for 3 days before seeing the sun,,then 3 days back,,,they want to see places not see sea days,,,,I did when I was young a long time ago.

Marella (a so called cheap cruise line like P&O is becoming.) does 14 night cruises with 12 ports,,,,P&O do 14 nights to the Med with if you are lucky 6.

 

The Fijords are a good 1st time option,,,but after a few they become boring.

 

I was talking about cruises from Southampton,so the Caribbean doesn’t come into in,,Btw I have read some people can fly to FL and pick up a Carnival or Celebrity ship for the Caribbean for not much more than a P&O ship.

If you were younger with kids what would you pick for a Caribbean cruise,,,Carnival ship built for kids,or a vastly superior Celebrity experience or P&O?

[Harry Peterson]

Hey……I’ve got a great idea. Sell the ships, save on all those expensive fuel, staff and port costs. 
 

Just buy a few disused holiday camps, loads of deckchairs, loads of sunlamps, rebrand the whole lot P&O, and just sell drinks packages. The punters will flock to them!

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

Read my post….

Arvia does 14 nighters to reach the sun,,,,,younger cruisers want 7 night cruises.

They don’t want to sail for 3 days before seeing the sun,,then 3 days back,,,they want to see places not see sea days,,,,I did when I was young a long time ago.

Marella (a so called cheap cruise line like P&O is becoming.) does 14 night cruises with 12 ports,,,,P&O do 14 nights to the Med with if you are lucky 6.

 

The Fijords are a good 1st time option,,,but after a few they become boring.

 

I was talking about cruises from Southampton,so the Caribbean doesn’t come into in,,Btw I have read some people can fly to FL and pick up a Carnival or Celebrity ship for the Caribbean for not much more than a P&O ship.

If you were younger with kids what would you pick for a Caribbean cruise,,,Carnival ship built for kids,or a vastly superior Celebrity experience or P&O?

You are talking as if the big P and O ships only cruise from Southampton though?

 

They don't

 

They mix it up?

 

The best value Caribbean holidays on land or sea anybody in the UK can access right now are Arvia from Barbados and Antigua IMO?

 

And I'm saying in the summer cruising from Southampton will not worry new young cruisers at all who can be with the sun either from the start if they  are lucky or within 24 hours if it's a bad day in Southampton when they board.

 

The sunseekers are catered for in the  winter AND the summer with the existing offering IMO

 

Summer I would prefer not flying and cruising from southamptom myself tbh. Avoiding airports. 

 

Winter I choose to fly to Arvia in the Caribbean to get sun from the start 

 

So I am saying it's not an elephant in the room really Jeannie?

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Interestedcruisefan]

15 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Hey……I’ve got a great idea. Sell the ships, save on all those expensive fuel, staff and port costs. 
 

Just buy a few disused holiday camps, loads of deckchairs, loads of sunlamps, rebrand the whole lot P&O, and just sell drinks packages. The punters will flock to them!

Only problem is

 

Older people drink far more alcohol than the young of today

 

FACT (25 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds in UK are teetotal) The boom of non alcoholic drinks in UK is huge. 

 

Older people prefer the traditional holiday camps to young of today who want more choice and more activities - especially outside in nature 

 

FACT

 

The younger people on cruise ships will be looking for far more adventurous and nature activity excursions than the ones the traditional cruises offer as well. The young of today are way more into health and fitness and wellness etc

 

The younger cruisers will also embrace apps on board and actually expect them etc

 

And the younger people are also far more eco aware

 

In time they will be pushing for cruises to be more eco aware themselves. There's a long way to go for that. 

 

They won't be wanting 2 lots of towels a day etc. They won't be wanting paper itineraries for next day. They will be asking why are we wasting so much paper unnecessarily? 

 

Don't underestimate the young of today they want choices and more options. They also don't want to be regimented into formal nights and MDRs etc like the traditional cruise offers them

 

Hence the bigger ships and change in approach

 

P and O very much moving with the needs and wants of younger holidaymakers with their bigger ships

 

Whilst still having ships which continue to offer what older more experienced cruisers have become accustomed to

 

The choices are there for everyone

 

Celebrity and Princess brands will be left behind if they dont look to the needs of younger demographics themselves in time. 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[JeanieC,Aston]

1 minute ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

You are talking as if the big P and O ships only cruise from Southampton though?

 

They don't

 

They mix it up?

 

The best value Caribbean holidays anybody in the UK can access are Arvia from Barbados and Antigua?

 

And I'm saying in the summer cruising from Southampton will not worry new young cruisers at all who can be with the sun either from the start if they  are lucky or within 24 hours

 

The sunseekers are catered for in the  winter and the summer with the existing offering IMO

 

Summer I would prefer not flying and cruising from southamptom myself

 

Winter I choose to fly to Arvia in the Caribbean to get sun from the start

 

So I am arguing it's not an elephant in the room really Jeannie?

 

The elephant in the room is indeed Southampton.

Go on any cruise social media site and ask why people don’t want to sail P&O and the major dislike is the limited itineraries from Southampton.

Whilst the topic was young ones sailing,,I’m my experience the younger demographic want summer holidays not winter holidays in the Caribbean,,,if it was P&O would put every ship in the Caribbean.

 

ps,,not to really want a reprise of old arguments you always seem to refer to Iona & Arvia as being the best thing since sliced bread and you seem to make a lot of assumptions about what people think……

Well let me tell you the worst cruise I can ever remember was on Iona during half term in February,,it was absolute chaos.

Also as someone who never gets to bed until after midnight I can’t see how someone who drinks in one bar and goes to bed at 22:00 can actually tell me the entertainment is brilliant,,it wasn’t in February.

 

 

[Bill Y]

37 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

The novelty of eating speciality food doesn't wear off ?

 

Does it?

 

Although we don't use speciality restaurants we used to look forward to dinner in the MDR, however after 40+ nights onboard we found that the novelty wore off and we were just going there because we ought to eat. But on shorter cruised you are probably right

[Interestedcruisefan]

12 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The elephant in the room is indeed Southampton.

Go on any cruise social media site and ask why people don’t want to sail P&O and the major dislike is the limited itineraries from Southampton.

Whilst the topic was young ones sailing,,I’m my experience the younger demographic want summer holidays not winter holidays in the Caribbean,,,if it was P&O would put every ship in the Caribbean.

 

ps,,not to really want a reprise of old arguments you always seem to refer to Iona & Arvia as being the best thing since sliced bread and you seem to make a lot of assumptions about what people think……

Well let me tell you the worst cruise I can ever remember was on Iona during half term in February,,it was absolute chaos.

Also as someone who never gets to bed until after midnight I can’t see how someone who drinks in one bar and goes to bed at 22:00 can actually tell me the entertainment is brilliant,,it wasn’t in February.

 

 

I would like to think we can disagree without falling out

 

I believe Iona and Arvia are proving to be very successful ships for P and O.

 

You don't have to enjoy those ships yourself for that to be the case Jeannie

 

The average age on P and O has now fallen to its  lowest age in its history of 49 years old

 

And P and O have more passengers cruising than ever before 

 

And P and O still do offer smaller ships that may be more to the liking  of more experienced cruisers 

 

But that doesn't mean that the more experienced cruisers have to dislike the success of bigger ships nor disparage the guests who are using those bigger ships

 

(Not accusing you of that by the way)

 

But above I have defended younger people as they by and large are not beer drinkers who want to just sit by the pools all day on drinks packages. As others have suggested 

 

The opposite in fact. Albeit every generation has its beer drinkers on drinks packages of course.

 

I'm defending  bigger ships and the new passengers using them

 

Whilst at the same time acknowledging the need for smaller more traditional ships which still  have a HUGE market themselves

 

Both can be great 

 

Equally when I used to have  to go on holiday in the school holidays anywhere that's popular it can be hectic and not how you would ideally hope

 

Sunbed wars at all the popular hotels in spain etc?

 

Have you ever tried Cornwall in the summer holidays?

 

Or Disney World in Florida?

 

That's school holidays sadly.

 

Not just family cruise ships that are impacted

 

Airports have terrible reputation for problems at the moment. Worse than ever I would say?

 

I've actively looked for Southampton's cruises myself recently in order to avoid airport issues

 

Only downside to my Arvia cruise I've got planned in February for me is the fact we've got to fly  there and back tbh

 

If I didn't have to fly anywhere I certainly wouldnt

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

But you can't  question are there enough passengers spending on speciality upgrades on the cheaper and larger ships when bigger speciality venues on these ships are full from start to finish on the cruises?

 

(Which is what  I was replying to Major Tom?)

 

The spend is clearly happening to the max in these venues.

 

They also have much bigger limelight clubs operating every single night on the big ships and full every night. The same acts doing almost a full week each and sold out for a full week. 

 

Despite 5000 guests - that's still a big percentage of the cruise paying extra for limelight when you add up the numbers at the end of a week?

 

The newer and younger cruise demographic may actually be more inclined to spend money once on board than you imagine

 

It's all new and fresh and exciting to them

 

And the abundance of restaurants and extra activities you can spend extra money on seems to suggest that's the case

 

The escape room they have on Arvia is pretty much sold out from start to finish on the cruises from what I've seen. And that's not a cheap extra activity to enjoy either 

 

 

You are assuming only from your own experiences on Arvia that it is the same every cruise which is clearly not. On my cruise recently Escape Room was available every day and was never fully booked and as far as the rope experience on top deck was never used or very rarely. In fact it was closed most of the time due to wind conditions. Even in good weather when the ship is at sea so looks like it will be closed a lot due to H&S. These might well be popular in school holidays when the ship is full of younger adults with children but most of the year will be very low in children number and don't think younger adults with no children will be interested in Arvia in the cooler months. There was only 126 children on onboard and many all were interested in so being around the pool in SkyDome and camped out for the whole cruise. 

[Interestedcruisefan]

16 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The elephant in the room is indeed Southampton.

Go on any cruise social media site and ask why people don’t want to sail P&O and the major dislike is the limited itineraries from Southampton.

Whilst the topic was young ones sailing,,I’m my experience the younger demographic want summer holidays not winter holidays in the Caribbean,,,if it was P&O would put every ship in the Caribbean.

 

ps,,not to really want a reprise of old arguments you always seem to refer to Iona & Arvia as being the best thing since sliced bread and you seem to make a lot of assumptions about what people think……

Well let me tell you the worst cruise I can ever remember was on Iona during half term in February,,it was absolute chaos.

Also as someone who never gets to bed until after midnight I can’t see how someone who drinks in one bar and goes to bed at 22:00 can actually tell me the entertainment is brilliant,,it wasn’t in February.

 

 

Entertainment wise the theatre shows and cast on Arvia and Iona IMO were far better quality then on Azura and Brittania. 

 

Bigger casts and far better quality vocalists.

 

In fairness the Birtannia cast was a staycation cruise and probably put together very fast 

 

The theatre state of the art compared to other cruise ship theatres we've been in on Carnival, RCL and Brittania and azura

 

All of the singer's and bands and entertainers we watched In the theatre were too quality

 

The ukulele band good enough to make us want to go to Clubhouse to watch them again. Although we don't like the Clubhouse.

 

The band in 710 club were really great plus another girl we saw in there on their night off

 

The acts in Limelight all get great reviews from everyone as far as I can see (we watched Mary Mac who we loved)

 

The pianists always good in the Crows Nest

 

The acrobatic acts we saw in the atrium passing by really good

 

Skydome not so good so we avoid that but it's still there as an option for others

 

Cinema is nice as well once or twice a cruise 

 

I think I've seen plenty of entertainment to be able to comment tbh Jeannie and all of the above available from well well before 10pm ?

 

After 10pm it's just repeats or the late band in Limelight club as far as I know? Nothing we haven't  already seen? And nothing we would need to stay up for?

[Megabear2]

57 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

What I can't see happening is younger demographic cruisers picking Celebrity or Princess for their first cruise as the pricing and options on board won't be as enticing to someone who is new to cruising?

 

Will be interesting to see how those brands react?

Why ever not?  Celebrity in my experience is full of a far younger demographic than P&O.  Their "problem" is they sail one ship from the UK and like most of the other lines are obsessed with northern cold weather sailings.  Their US and far east cruises are filled with young cruisers.  I don't remember you sailing on either Celebrity or Princess in recent times so you aren't assumedly in a position to state these lines are full of oldies.

 

I also see you referring to these young non drinkers as being in the 16-24 year olds, yet you quote the average age demographic as 49 years old.  Not many 16-24 year olds are going to be booking a cruise when they are still some 20 years younger than the demographic.

 

As for Carnival ships themselves, they are the party ships of the Caribbean and as such carry lots of heavy drinking Americans on short breaks. It comes at a price as Carnival are having to take action over the drunken fights and antics onboard.  That's cheap and pile 'em high on the other side of the Atlantic.

 

If all these young people are rushing to cruise why is Virgin not drawing them in, a British brand much loved and well known on both sides of the Atlantic?

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Virgin-Voyages-aiming-for-youth-draws-the-young-at-heart

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

You are assuming only from your own experiences on Arvia that it is the same every cruise which is clearly not. On my cruise recently Escape Room was available every day and was never fully booked and as far as the rope experience on top deck was never used or very rarely. In fact it was closed most of the time due to wind conditions. Even in good weather when the ship is at sea so looks like it will be closed a lot due to H&S. These might well be popular in school holidays when the ship is full of younger adults with children but most of the year will be very low in children number and don't think younger adults with no children will be interested in Arvia in the cooler months. There was only 126 children on onboard and many all were interested in so being around the pool in SkyDome and camped out for the whole cruise. 

 

But those two extras that are available are better to be available when they are wanted on a ship than not to be available at all Major Tom?

 

And are selling points of that ship for families who want them?

 

And will have an impact on new cruisers with families thinking maybe cruising is for us after all? 

 

Look at everything we can do.

 

I can remember being enticed with our kids by climbing walls and ice rinks in the past!!

 

 

 

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, daiB said:

Odd as P&O’s bookings are up again for next year on top of the best quarter for over 10 years.

You are well experienced in life and know that companies can and do manipulate figures to suit their agenda. Like I said in previous post bookings might be up but only due to low cruise prices and very high OBC. Having only recently transferred my booking in April. Initial cruise booked on brochure release with free parking and no OBC, transferred to cruise on same ship fortnight earlier virtually same price as initial one with free parking and £660 OBC. That is why bookings are up because of high OBC bring given out at the moment which wasn't available on brochure release. They have had to do it because obviously not selling well and have offered high OBC to boost sales which cannot be sustainable long term. Also honestly after the insulting publicity release by Paul Ludlow of the infamous 99.9% of people were happy on Arvia over Christmas/new year period was embarrassing and don't believe a word that comes out of that idiots mouth.

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Why ever not?  Celebrity in my experience is full of a far younger demographic than P&O.  Their "problem" is they sail one ship from the UK and like most of the other lines are obsessed with northern cold weather sailings.  Their US and far east cruises are filled with young cruisers.  I don't remember you sailing on either Celebrity or Princess in recent times so you aren't assumedly in a position to state these lines are full of oldies.

 

I also see you referring to these young non drinkers as being in the 16-24 year olds, yet you quote the average age demographic as 49 years old.  Not many 16-24 year olds are going to be booking a cruise when they are still some 20 years younger than the demographic.

 

As for Carnival ships themselves, they are the party ships of the Caribbean and as such carry lots of heavy drinking Americans on short breaks. It comes at a price as Carnival are having to take action over the drunken fights and antics onboard.  That's cheap and pile 'em high on the other side of the Atlantic.

 

If all these young people are rushing to cruise why is Virgin not drawing them in, a British brand much loved and well known on both sides of the Atlantic?

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Virgin-Voyages-aiming-for-youth-draws-the-young-at-heart

 

 

 

Celebrity and Princess can't appeal to new first time  cruisers remotely as well purely down to pricepoints MB

 

Regardless of quality or offering which I'm not disputing. 

 

Hence the big numbers of new cruisers cruising for the first time in the UK will be P and O new customers right now

 

Don't think there can be any argument there?

[terrierjohn]

28 minutes ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

The elephant in the room is indeed Southampton.

Go on any cruise social media site and ask why people don’t want to sail P&O and the major dislike is the limited itineraries from Southampton.

Whilst the topic was young ones sailing,,I’m my experience the younger demographic want summer holidays not winter holidays in the Caribbean,,,if it was P&O would put every ship in the Caribbean.

 

ps,,not to really want a reprise of old arguments you always seem to refer to Iona & Arvia as being the best thing since sliced bread and you seem to make a lot of assumptions about what people think……

Well let me tell you the worst cruise I can ever remember was on Iona during half term in February,,it was absolute chaos.

Also as someone who never gets to bed until after midnight I can’t see how someone who drinks in one bar and goes to bed at 22:00 can actually tell me the entertainment is brilliant,,it wasn’t in February.

 

 

What you forget is that P&O is part of Carnival, as is  Princess who offer lots of Med fly cruise options during the summer. If P&O were to offer more Med Fly cruises than the Azura eastern Med ones. they would more than likely be taking customers from Princess, not really a sensible corporate approach.

[majortom10]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

But those two extras that are available are better to be available when they are wanted on a ship than not to be available at all Major Tom?

 

And are selling points of that ship for families who want them?

 

And will have an impact on new cruisers with families thinking maybe cruising is for us after all? 

 

Look at everything we can do.

 

I can remember being enticed with our kids by climbing walls and ice rinks in the past!!

 

 

 

It seems to me with your relative cruise inexperience a lot of your information is just guess work without personal knowledge. Having done over 60 cruises you are assuming a lot and are totally wrong. With regards to Arvia/Iona having bigger dance troupes and comparing it to a Britannia Staycation is completely wrong. Having cruised on all P&Os current ships since 2000 the dance troupes are no bigger on normal cruises and not staycation. There 13 on our recent Arvia cruise and was no bigger than all the other ships.

[majortom10]

4 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

Celebrity and Princess can't appeal to new first time  cruisers remotely as well purely down to pricepoints MB

 

Regardless of quality or offering which I'm not disputing. 

 

Hence the big numbers of new cruisers cruising for the first time in the UK will be P and O new customers right now

 

Don't think there can be any argument there?

Once again you are assuming Princess on 2-3 ships based in UK when they have many more ships around the world and very popular with American families moreso than P&O. In fact Princess is one of the most popular American cruise lines with far more ships, cruiser's and families worldwide than P&O.

[Interestedcruisefan]

I've found a stat that pre Arvia - 1 million Brits would holiday in the Caribbean each year

 

And they would be paying a decent amount to do so (generally better off Brits)

 

5000 brits  every 2 weeks on Arvia over 6 moths ish in the Caribbean is about 60,000 brits a year

 

It's only a small percentage of existing nunbers who take in the Caribbean annually

 

Although I hazard a guess that the pricepoints  for Arvia are opening the Caribbean up to people who would normally travel places nearer to home for summer sun and would never have considered the Caribbean before 

 

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

5 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Once again you are assuming Princess on 2-3 ships based in UK when they have many more ships around the world and very popular with American families moreso than P&O. In fact Princess is one of the most popular American cruise lines with far more ships, cruiser's and families worldwide than P&O.

Sorry I was specifically thinking about first time UK cruisers which is obviously P and O"s primary target

 

(Maybe Princess and Celebrity not too concerned re UK market tbh) which helps P and O win that market of course

 

The big P and O ships must be mopping up by far the biggest percentage of new UK first time cruisers currently

 

Nobody is disagreeing the ships are full. If anything some are complaining the  ships are too full?

 

And we know it's nearly all Brits on board them?

 

Surely we can all agree on that?

Edited October 2, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

 

Celebrity and Princess can't appeal to new first time  cruisers remotely as well purely down to pricepoints MB

 

Regardless of quality or offering which I'm not disputing. 

 

Hence the big numbers of new cruisers cruising for the first time in the UK will be P and O new customers right now

 

Don't think there can be any argument there?

You cannot state that - you really don't know. You are speaking purely on price and very many don't book just on price.

 

My 35 year old friends booked Celebrity for their first cruise with their boys. They've just booked two more, yes they are fly cruising as they want to introduce the boys to some cultural spots in Europe with higher quality and P&O don't offer much of that nowadays, certainly not on Arvia.  Then the Caribbean in November, again another Celebrity.  My 30 year old niece has sailed RCI with her parents when she was a child, again her and her partner are now cruising as a couple and their go to company is RCI as it's a brand she knows.  Overall the cost is what they are prepared to pay for a brand they know and trust.  They looked at Arvia and Iona as their parents have sailed P&O and decided not for them as they want a better itinerary.

 

So yes, the other lines are getting new cruisers.  Some time ago Moley stated the Ant and Dec generation were P&O's target audience and they most certainly are not 16-24!

 

You are forgetting not all families want a tiny cheap inside cabin, those with more disposable income who stay in the likes of TUI Blu family resorts do not pay bargain basement prices. They want comfort over cost and hence the big expansion of that side of TUI's business which is their fastest growth area since the pandemic and ironically is helping drive the lack of aircraft for TUI to charter.

[cruising.mark.uk]

34 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

 

 

I also see you referring to these young non drinkers as being in the 16-24 year olds, yet you quote the average age demographic as 49 years old.  Not many 16-24 year olds are going to be booking a cruise when they are still some 20 years younger than the demographic.

 

 

 

By that logic, not many 70 and 80 year olds will be cruising with P&O because they are some 20 years older than the demographic.  At the risk of stating the obvious, if the average age is 49, around half the passengers must be that age of younger.  And, it's a fairly safe bet that to arrive at that average there will be a large number of passengers who are 20-ish years older than 49 and a large number who are 20-ish years younger than 49.