Hawaiian 15 day cruises - old age home?

[CruisinFools]

My husband and I are in our late 40's - not exactly young, but certainly not part of the Silver Set. We respect and enjoy the company of folks of all ages, however, on our 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise (about 8 years ago), we felt extremely out of place. Except for the crew, we were the only folks under the age of 55 - OK, I'm being kind. We were actually the only folks under the age of 70. In any event, that wasn't so much a problem as the ATTITUDE of the majority of the passengers. One old woman tried to trip me with her walker (!!!) and another old geezer actually pushed my husband out of the way while we were watching the champagne tower. Oh, and did I forget to mention that we (along with many others) were watching the demonstration from the stairway, where he easily could have fallen down the stairs? I only hope that, God willing, when I become "elderly", that I won't be resentful towards younger people just because I'm looking at the "end of the rainbow of life." (That's the only reason I can think of as to why such a large group of people of the same mature age would behave so childishly and rudely.) In any event, I am considering taking Princess Cruises' 15 day Hawaii cruise, round trip from Los Angeles. Because of the length and expense of this voyage, I am concerned that it will be a rerun of what happened on our cruise to Mexico. We've taken a 10-dayer to Tahiti; it was a nice mix of honeymooners, retirees and baby boomers. Same thing with our cruise to the Panama Canal. Can anyone tell me about the average demographics for the Hawaii cruise, please. And I beg anyone's pardon for any offense I may have incurred (but if the shoe fits...)

[rjnaz]

we were on the tahiti 10 day trip in june of 05 and it had a mix age range...we were on the 15 day hawaii cruise this year in june and also had a mixed age....30-80's ...guess to answer your question the age range depends on when you go.....if it's during the summer the age range will be larger since people are out of school and have vacation time then...older folks can travel anytime and take advantage of cheaper prices.....guess if you travel during the holiday season the age range will be younger...just my thoughts

[copper6606]

Oh I would LOVE to hear more answers to you question!!

We had a similar situation on our 12 day Panama Canal cruise. Every time we saw a staff member they would always exclaim "Oh your the first young people we have seen on this entire cruise ! How are you doing?:( We ended up talking it out and being glad for just being on vacation. We did meet some lovely people[ not pushy] but it still made for quite a long 12 days. We both agreed that when we got home that we had never taken any vacation so relaxing:). Our table mates all had GRANDCHILDREN our age - and we were 44 and 48!!!:o

WE too are looking into Hawaii but the experience from Nova Scotia is wild- we too just want to make sure[ if that is even possible]. I'll be waiting to hear.:D

[firefly333]

Any cruise over 7 days will have more older people in general. Just like they say if you take a short cruise over a weekend, you will have more younger folks who drink more....in general. Ill be on a 3 day cruise in a couple of weeks and will know for sure.

 

I would love to see Hawaii. Im the youngest person at lots of bridge tables I play at...doesnt bother me one bit. I must be very independent or something that I dont care what age someone else is.

 

I also think more younger folks are cruising these days now that prices are lower than land vacations...and with all the emphathis on not drinking and driving...they now cruise.

[kitty9]

The longer the cruise, the older the passenger. If you take cruises during school sessions, the average age goes up. Princess tends to have an older demographic than lines like Celebrity, RCCI or Carnival. I've been on cruises with a much older demographic and never had a problem. To be honest, I'd rather be on a cruise with older people than with a lot of teens and children who are unsupervised by their parents. But in all honesty, when you take a cruise to Hawaii, the reality is that younger cruisers either don't have the time or can't leave their children at home for that long, so the average age is going to be quite high. I've been on portions of a few world cruises where the average age was well above 70, but I never had a problem with the silver set. In reality, there are rude, inconsiderate and pushy people of all ages on all cruises.

[melika091900]

we went on celebrity to hawaii 14 days , we went the week of easter, so there were alot more families onboard, it was a really good mix of people

 

i think it depends on WHEN you go also,, and For how long..

 

 

Have fun !!!

[Romy40]

Hello. We are in our late 40's, and are taking this cruise the end of January 2008. While we expect an older crowd, I think there will be enough of us middle-ager's without canes and walkers. The Roll Call for this cruise has a several members younger than us.

Give it a try.

[mr green]

Having been on sixteen cruises, I have only met three people who annoyed me, and none of these persons were from the so called 'Silver Set'. While it is true that there are many of us who are 'seniors' I have never seen any of us verbally, or physically harass anyone, it is in my opinion the 'Younger Set', who are at times 'Know it Alls'.

What do say is that the vast majority of adult cruisers are well behaved, probably in fact far better than the average persons that we all meet in our are every day lives. There are of course exceptions, NOT limited however to the 'Silver Set'.

 

john

[anifaniks]

My husband and I are in our late 40's - not exactly young, but certainly not part of the Silver Set. We respect and enjoy the company of folks of all ages, however, on our 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise (about 8 years ago), we felt extremely out of place. Except for the crew, we were the only folks under the age of 55 - OK, I'm being kind. We were actually the only folks under the age of 70. In any event, that wasn't so much a problem as the ATTITUDE of the majority of the passengers. One old woman tried to trip me with her walker (!!!) and another old geezer actually pushed my husband out of the way while we were watching the champagne tower. Oh, and did I forget to mention that we (along with many others) were watching the demonstration from the stairway, where he easily could have fallen down the stairs? I only hope that, God willing, when I become "elderly", that I won't be resentful towards younger people just because I'm looking at the "end of the rainbow of life." (That's the only reason I can think of as to why such a large group of people of the same mature age would behave so childishly and rudely.) In any event, I am considering taking Princess Cruises' 15 day Hawaii cruise, round trip from Los Angeles. Because of the length and expense of this voyage, I am concerned that it will be a rerun of what happened on our cruise to Mexico. We've taken a 10-dayer to Tahiti; it was a nice mix of honeymooners, retirees and baby boomers. Same thing with our cruise to the Panama Canal. Can anyone tell me about the average demographics for the Hawaii cruise, please. And I beg anyone's pardon for any offense I may have incurred (but if the shoe fits...)

 

Oh, believe me, I know that there are mean-spirited elderly who act like that. Some of them are my relatives. I refuse to travel w/ them. I witnessed one of my relatives tripping a cousin (in his 40s) w/ a cane for no reason except she was mad at the world.

 

That being said . . . I sure wonder about the demographics on the Hawaii cruise you mentioned, as my DH and I have been considering that itinerary for several years. I do hope to get some insight from this thread.

 

Thank you for posting it - and sorry that you ran into someone I am doubtless related too, LOL!!!!! :D

 

Ani

[morriscats]

Wow, I just turned 60 and I feel terrible - are we part of "that group" now? We are considerate of others, don't cut in line, don't push people our of our way but I guess there are some that do. I can tell you the rudest person we met was during the muster drill on Infinity - he was so drunk already and made a complete fool of himself. We saw him several times over the course of the cruise and he was in the same condition. I would say he was in his 40's. As you can see we are heading off to Hawaii soon - will watch out for those "seniors" though.:eek:

[2 to cruise]

My husband and I are 69 and 65. We took the 15 day Hawaiian cruise the first of December, 2006.

 

I agree with previous posters, the longer the cruise the older the passenger. Most of us that are retired can take that long of a cruise with no problem. I must say we had a mix onboard of young, middle agers and seniors. Yes, some evenings the halls were bare by 10:00 but the bars were full as were the entertainment venues on other nights.

 

We don't act or look our age, (so we are told!!) have 12 grandchildren and 2 greats and still act like we did at 35, at least we try too!!!

 

Did we see a few walkers, yes - did we see a few canes, yes - but we loved it so much we are going back this December.

 

Go for it, you will love your 15 day Hawaiian cruise!

[CC Help Michell]

Another vote here for it being a combination of the length of the cruise (those who are still in their working lives often find it impossible to take off work for 10+ days), and the time of year you are travelling (any time school is out, there will be more younger people able to take longer cruises -- teachers come to mind, as well as parents of school-age children; during the summer you will also find honeymooners). If this is really an itinerary you want to do, and the passenger mix is important to you, I would try to plan it for the summer -- no guarantees, but at least it will open the door to a wider variety of fellow pax.

[donh1]

We went on a 14 day cruise out of Tampa last November. My wife and I are in our early 50's. While waiting to board I took a look around the terminal and commented that we were the youngest people there. Yes there was walkers, scooters and canes but these people were all motivated to travel and were definitely enjoying life. Generally speaking very nice people to spend time with. As it turned out there were others younger than us but not too many. I wouldn't post it but I've got a great picture with three old lads sleeping by the pool. All with their mouths wide open. Don't think I'd win a cruise photo contest with it but it is sure funny... :) :) :)

[RascalAnn]

My husband and I are taking this cruise on the Diamond Princess 11/18/07. I am 47 yrs old....this will be the longest we have taken also....we did 9 and 10 days. There were people our age and younger on these. Also these were Princess ships...Dawn and Crown. Hope we are not the youngest! :eek:

[RascalAnn]

Forgot to addt his....I must say that we have met some very nice older people on our cruises and we have had very peaceful cruises. Look at it this way....if there are mostly older folks, there might not be any worry of chair hogging at the pools!

[RetireeWannabee]

and maybe someone would actually think I look good in a bathing suit! :p

[mithryl]

We did this cruise on the Island Princess in February. We're both in our early fifties. There was a decent mix of ages, even a few children. Definitiely an older crowd that taking Carnival to the Caribbean. There was always alot to do on board and interesting people to meet. Everyone seemd very relaxed and friendly, regardless of age. It was the best cruise I've done so far (LOVE the sea days!), so much so that we've booked it again on the Diamond on 3/2/08.

You'll enjoy yourselves!

[Solo1959]

OK, so try to schedule the cruise when school is in session so no kids, avoid spring break so no college kids, avoid long cruises because of the senior set, avoid the holidays because too many families are traveling... let's see, that leaves.... hmmmm.... Ah, forget it, I'll stay home

[KS&JW]

The longer the cruise, the older the passenger. If you take cruises during school sessions, the average age goes up. Princess tends to have an older demographic than lines like Celebrity, RCCI or Carnival. I've been on cruises with a much older demographic and never had a problem. To be honest, I'd rather be on a cruise with older people than with a lot of teens and children who are unsupervised by their parents. But in all honesty, when you take a cruise to Hawaii, the reality is that younger cruisers either don't have the time or can't leave their children at home for that long, so the average age is going to be quite high. I've been on portions of a few world cruises where the average age was well above 70, but I never had a problem with the silver set. In reality, there are rude, inconsiderate and pushy people of all ages on all cruises.

 

I agree. Great minds think alike.:D:D

[saileraway]

I bet you are surprised at the responses!!! Everyone agrees! So do we. I'm pushing 70 and my husband will be 74 in the Fall. We haven't done the Hawaii cruise as yet but did find the old folks on Princess on both the short 7-day cruises and the longer cruises annoying. We work out, are in excellent physical condition, have cheerful attitudes, and don't want to be among a bunch of grumps either. It does not take us 15 minutes in front of the salad dressing choices to decide if we want Thousand Island or Ranch. We've switched to Royal Caribbean as we find the ships much more exciting and the crowd a nicer mix of age groups. While Princess has so many more options for Hawaii as far as dates go, we've decided to stick with Royal Caribbean and wait until the '09 schedules are announced and go with them one more time.

[hammybee]

and maybe someone would actually think I look good in a bathing suit! :p

 

Excellent reason to choose one of these sails.

[hammybee]

I agree. Great minds think alike.:D:D

 

And I agree with you and Kitty. I have been among the youngest group on a Carnival cruise and the oldest of HAL. It all depends on when you are sailing and of course, the longer the cruise, most likely the greater the number of retired folk who have the time and money to do so.

 

And oh yeah, there are rude people on every cruise. I figure the day I can't find them, I have become one of them. :D

[blindrid]

I would agree to those of all ages can be a pain. On my last one, it seems that the rudeness came from people of my age (50). They thought they had to have 5 star service 24 hours a day.

 

One guy from the east coast was rude on the gaming tables, rude to my favorite server next to the pool and complained on the shuttle to the rental car agency leaving. It was his first cruise so I don't know what he expected. Anyway, I can have fun with those of any ages, I just like a livelier cruise with have fun attitudes, not the whiners and complainers.

[romy]

Wow, I just turned 60 and I feel terrible - are we part of "that group" now? We are considerate of others, don't cut in line, don't push people our of our way but I guess there are some that do. I can tell you the rudest person we met was during the muster drill on Infinity - he was so drunk already and made a complete fool of himself. We saw him several times over the course of the cruise and he was in the same condition. I would say he was in his 40's. As you can see we are heading off to Hawaii soon - will watch out for those "seniors" though.:eek:

 

Hi Morris, I'll take a surly senior;) over a drunken dip**** any day!!!!!

 

Happy Sails!!!

Romy:)

[CaptData]

I love the 15 day cruises. I have cruised in Nov and Jan. Both times (Panamal Canal & Hawaii) the age range was 40-70 mainly with the occassional young couple. On the Panamal trip in 2002 we had one child of 9 yr on board. On the Hawaii trip in 2006 we had 12 kids for 2-10 on board.

 

My Hawaii cruise next Sep my 11 yr granddaughter will be coming with me. As above if you go during school holidays there is more young people going. During school there is usually an older crowd. I am 53 so I am not that old yet.