Mars passenger demographic

[tocruiseguy]

On 12/27/2023 at 2:14 PM, travel4b said:

We are currently on the Mars Ft. Lauderdale to LA Panama Canal cruise - our first on Viking.  The ship really is gorgeous and service very good as expected. One thing that has surprised us though is the average age, health status and dress of our fellow passengers.  I mean no disrespect whatsoever; I’m just wondering if this is the norm or a one off with this cruise. Any veteran Viking travelers aboard who care to comment?

We did a long Viking Ocean cruise last spring and were surprised about the same thing.  The worst part was the ship's activities seemed to be aimed at the 80 year old plus demographic...sea days which we had a lot of, has almost no activities unless you like playing bridge.  Entertainment was equally "old", I think I might had heard songs newer than 1979 maybe half a dozen times.  Even my 92 year old dad likes newer music than that.  The "free" excursions were generally, pile on a bus, drive for a hour, get out, take a picture, pile back into the bus.  Staff and food was good not great and was much better, including the food quality on the Celebrity Cruise we took in the fall last year and at about 60% of the daily cost of the Viking cruise.  

 

Bottom line, if you want to pay $700 per person a day to sit around and read a book on sea days or listen to music from the 60's Viking Ocean is your thing.  If you like even a modest amount of entertainment on a cruise, my recommendation is to try another line. 

[Squawkman]

3 hours ago, tocruiseguy said:

We did a long Viking Ocean cruise last spring and were surprised about the same thing.  The worst part was the ship's activities seemed to be aimed at the 80 year old plus demographic...sea days which we had a lot of, has almost no activities unless you like playing bridge.  Entertainment was equally "old", I think I might had heard songs newer than 1979 maybe half a dozen times.  Even my 92 year old dad likes newer music than that.  The "free" excursions were generally, pile on a bus, drive for a hour, get out, take a picture, pile back into the bus.  Staff and food was good not great and was much better, including the food quality on the Celebrity Cruise we took in the fall last year and at about 60% of the daily cost of the Viking cruise.  

 

Bottom line, if you want to pay $700 per person a day to sit around and read a book on sea days or listen to music from the 60's Viking Ocean is your thing.  If you like even a modest amount of entertainment on a cruise, my recommendation is to try another line. 

Most of us “regulars” on this board have cruised on other lines - which is why we now cruise Viking. I never spent near $700 (all costs) per person per day and never was bored on sea days. Didn’t  you read the activities in the Viking Daily? I guess we have different tastes and prefer the mature crowd to little kids splashing us in the pool (not to mention peeing in it).

[Cienfuegos]

Independent of the issue of people wearing jeans in the dining room, I think Viking offers a more polished atmosphere.  No clanging casino noise, audible from 100 feet away.  No intrusive photographers at every meal, with their displays in the passageways.  No kids, running unsupervised in the pool area or elsewhere.

 

It just seems a little more refined and quieter.

[travel4b]

55 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

Independent of the issue of people wearing jeans in the dining room, I think Viking offers a more polished atmosphere.  No clanging casino noise, audible from 100 feet away.  No intrusive photographers at every meal, with their displays in the passageways.  No kids, running unsupervised in the pool area or elsewhere.

 

It just seems a little more refined and quieter.

I agree completely about the atmosphere of the ship. The entire vessel is gorgeous in a beautifully refined way. I just wish the passengers would take their cue from that and - to borrow a phrase - “read the room”.