Average Age

[skwidstir]

Did some quick searching and didn't really find my answer, so apologies in advance if this has been asked before.

 

The wife and I have cruised 3 times (all Carnival), twice while in our 20's and once 3 years ago with our 2 girls (14 and 17). Those cruises were all great and perfect for our age, or our average family age.

 

Now we want to go by ourselves, to celebrate our anniversary, and have been looking at HAL. Specifically, the Westerdam to southern Caribbean. We are now both in our mid 40's and I for one am worried that we will be too young for this crowd. I'm assuming of course that the entertainment, food, etc. is all focused around the average age.

 

Please, don't take offense, I like an older crowd. Heck, I'm old myself, I just don't want to go too far from one extreme to another (i.e. Carnival to Holland).

 

What is the average age for this cruise? Will we fit in with the crowd on this cruise line?

[sail7seas]

For a seven day Caribbean cruise, you will find the same demographics on HAL as you would on Celebrity, Princess, RCI. For a 65 day cruise, you clearly would find many more senior folks as they are the ones who have the time to take such long cruises.

[skwidstir]

That's good to hear...thanks. It sounds like we should fit right in.

[world~citizen]

Yup, newly wed to nearly dead as one travel agent put it.

 

My experience has been trending towards slightly younger and more affluent crowds though (as compared to 10 years ago) ... but this may not be representative.

 

You WILL enjoy your cruise.

[hammybee]

When you cruise is probably going to determine the average age on any 7 day sail. Early December is notorious for attracting mature passengers on all cruise lines.

[Williebill]

My wife and I first cruised with HAL when we were in our forties. We had a wonderful time!

[meterman2]

My wife and I first cruised with HAL when we were in our forties. We had a wonderful time!

 

Ditto!

[Akheila]

why don't people ask about the time of year to cruise for the age demographics they are looking for????? its as relevent as hurricane season.

 

We have only cruised on HAL and its generally in January....we are not in our 40's but barely in our 30's. We are not affluent, but must admit I have no patience for screaming falling down drunk fools we tend to see at the all inclusive style vacations. We do enjoy movies, theatre and many other things.

But what I have found with any vacation is if you want to have fun you will. I have had great conversations with young and old.....and I've had dreadful conversations with the same demographics.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time...regardless of demographics.

[Willsot]

I recall a statistic a few years back that listed the "average" passenger age (all cruise lines) as 47. More recently, I read that it is "mid-forties."

 

One cruise resource site (AffordableTours.com) has this in a Q & A link:

 

"What is the average age of passengers by cruise line?

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"

 

As others have stated, it depends on when you are cruising and the length and itinerary.

[twinkletoes4445]

 

 

What is the average age for this cruise? Will we fit in with the crowd on this cruise line?

 

It really depends on when you cruise. On our early Feb. 2007 Zuiderdam cruise, we were some of the youngest (I was 50, hubby 53). The bulk of the passengers were late 60's and up. We saw only a handful of kids (babies through young adults). We did see a sprinkling of people younger than us, but not many.

 

We chose HAL partially for this reason. It was quiet...sedate and lovely. Plenty of things to do, but no rowdiness.

 

From what I've read, if you cruise during President's week or Spring break...you're going to see a lot younger passenger list.

[RuthC]

We are now both in our mid 40's

 

 

Heck, I'm old myself,

No, you're not. Not even close to "old". ;) Approaching middle age, maybe.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Can you tell us when you're cruising? The average age can vary quite a bit depending on the time of year. For example, our cruise in late March was packed with extended families. The ages ranged from 90 yrs. old to 1 yr. I've never seen so many extended families cruising before! There were many people of every age group. We felt like we fit in and we're in our 40's also. If you chose to cruise in October out of NY, then yes, the demographics are going to be older.

[skwidstir]

Can you tell us when you're cruising?

 

Sure we are cruising 12/14/08 on the Westerdam.

[skwidstir]

No, you're not. Not even close to "old". ;) Approaching middle age, maybe.

 

You just made my day! :D

[DrivesLikeMario]

Sure we are cruising 12/14/08 on the Westerdam.

 

I would guess at that time of year, you'd have a good mix of passenger ages. There will be kids, seniors, those in their 50's, 40's and probably a few in their 30's and 20's. :)

[Roz]

I've found that the cruises out of Florida between Thanksgiving and Christmas skew older.

 

Roz

[DrivesLikeMario]

Most of the colleges, if not all, will be out during that time. Many public schools will be out of school then too, so I think you'll have a lot of families. Maybe not as many as the following week, but still quite a lot.

[Roz]

Although I've encountered several families and family groups on HAL, I've yet to be on a cruise where I observed the college age crowd.

 

Roz

[peaches from georgia]

Sure we are cruising 12/14/08 on the Westerdam.

We have cruised the 2 weeks before Christmas and there were few children or families. Schools are getting out closer to the 20th+ and holiday school, church, and neighborhood festivities take place during the several weeks between Thankisgiving and Christmas, keeping families at home. Family cruise time is during the holidays; the few weeks before Christmas the ships are full of much older pax and the fares are usually much lower also to fill the ships. We noticed especially how many groups of retirees there were.

[james j feller]

WILSOT,

 

Where do the 67 and up dinosaurs cruise just CRYSTAL ?

 

JIM

[DMorris]

I am 38 now and will be on the Zuiderdam for the 2nd time this coming November. We sailed on HAL 2 years ago the week after thanksgiving. Most of the passengers were a bit older but boy can they have fun. The ship definetely got quieter after 10pm but that was ok. We had no issues at all rebooking for this year.

[fann1sh]

Skwidster, I have some "insider" knowledge about your sailing. I was scheduled to sail with you, but canceled.

 

A 600 passenger group, sponsored by "The Nation" will be aboard. Reverend Jesse Jackson and musical guest Jackson Browne will cruise with you.

 

More information on the sailing can be found here:

 

http://www.nationcruise.com/

 

There is political content on that link, because the group is comprised of people with similar political outlooks. It's not my intention to breach board rules and discuss politics.

 

I canceled because I didn't like the idea of cruising with such a large group I was not a part of.

 

You can find your roll call here, where the pros and cons of traveling with this group has been discussed:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=590959

[FoxyTerrier]

Most of the colleges, if not all, will be out during that time. Many public schools will be out of school then too, so I think you'll have a lot of families. Maybe not as many as the following week, but still quite a lot.

 

In the Washington DC area (Maryland, Virginia and DC) public school get out right before Christmas depending on the day Christmas falls. There were many times when DS's first day of vacation would be 12/24 and in this area they go back on January 2nd or the following Monday if January 2nd is on a weekend.

 

Since travelling on 12/24 is just awful we would normally just take him out of school a few days early since they never seemed to be doing any real school work that close to Christmas. Years we didn't travel I would ask what did you learn today and mostly got we watched movies all day. :eek:

 

When I was a child growing up in Florda we would get a nice long Christmas vacation of at least 2 full weeks - we did not get a Winter or Spring Break only Good Friday and Easter Monday.

[Willsot]

WILSOT,

 

Where do the 67 and up dinosaurs cruise just CRYSTAL ?

 

JIM

 

 

That link was listing "averages". Not sure how accurate it was, but according to them, the "average" age on Crystal would never fall under 55 or older. Again, according to them, depending on the cruise, HAL's "average" would fall somewhere between 30 and 60 (although I haven't heard any reports from HAL cruisers that the average age was only 30).

[Miata]

My wife and I are VERY active and walk MILES every day. We were on HAL 2 years ago and our table mates were retired. He was a doctor who finished med school in 1939 (Yes you read that correctly). In every port he would walk more than 5 miles exploring.

 

My question is "Are you SURE you can keep up with those 'old' people?