Another Emerald Princess 11/20-11/30 review

[brianroberts2526]

I wanted to write a lengthy one up and fast, but unfortunately the cold that my wife caught on Day 2 of the cruise, I caught on the morning we arrived back in FLA. I've been doing nothing but going to work and sleeping. I'll probably write some up and add to it slowly.

 

First, a little background info. I am 25 and my wife is 23. We've been married 2 years, no kids. We have been on 5 other cruises and were married on a cruise. We have been on 2 large Carnival cruises and 3 smaller RCCL cruises. This is our first Princess cruise, and also our longest and most expensive cruise. And the biggest ship for us so far.

 

Our pictures are here, not sorted or described yet, but here nonetheless.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569019092pPlBaY

 

Ill try and sum everything up.

-I thought the 'Princess ships being mostly older people' was an exaggeration. It's not. Which is fine, my wife and I work hard and are there to relax not to party and here children cry. But there were more electric carts than children, and those are just as annoying. I am surprised that my toes are still intact.

So we dont mind an older crowd but some of these folks were absurd. They thought they were the only people on the boat. I have never heard so much complaining on a cruise and for no reason too. More on that later. Oh one other tip for older cruisers, if you get offended when people take an unused chair from near you without asking. Turn up your hearing aid, maybe they were asking. This was the case with an older man in the Wheelhouse lounge. He was extremely rude to my wife when she borrowed an empty chair near him. Rude enough where if he were 50 years younger, a black eye might be my response instead of a confused look, which is all I could come up with.

 

-The ship. Wow. That pretty much sums it up. Visually, you cannot even take it all in. All the detail is just so beautiful. The piazza became a routine for us every night before our late seating diner. The layout of the pool decks was excellent to disperse the 3000+ pax. We did pretty much everything on the ship at least once. But, our daily routines ended up being the gym in the morning, lotus pool during the day and the pizza at night.

The gym: We are both very active so we do the gym every morning. While it was not bad, the Emerald's gym did not stand up to the Carnival Glory. On our two sailings on the Glory, I would use the machines, spa, lap pool, locker rooms, sauna, and steam room every day. The layout of the gym, constantly felt crowded and the machines were of poor quality IMO. My wife likes yoga, and she said that you had to buy a package to do the class, you could not just sign up for one. And the locker room, was always out of towels. And unlike the Glory, which had a large steamroom and sauana with a view, there were two tiny rooms on the Emerald. And the showers were very unprivate.

But, what the gym lacked, the lotus pool made up for. Those wooden chairs with the comfy cushions and cupholders were so nice, and although there were only like 8, there always seemed to be some empty. And if not, we would just go read on the bleachers.

Above the lotus pool is the Sanctuary. We never used it, and we never saw anyone else using it either. The phone up there seemed to always be ringing too.

We didn't use any spa services , my wife usually gets a massage, but we tried to save a little in that area. We did want to try the thermal spa area, but you couldnt buy a one day pass, you had to buy the whole cruise.

 

-The room was not anything better or worse than any other inside stateroom we have had. The shower was hot and powerful but they need a shelf better than that little nook they have. My wife said it was impossible to shave her legs. A few nights in our shower curtain went from having magnets to having none. Our cloths went from being real nice and soft to the opposite, and our drinking glasses went from nice ones to not-so-nice ones. The tv selection was excellent. Room service selection was not large, but was prompt. The room steward was ok, no major complaints. We had the neighbors from hell.

 

-The service was very good. While our room steward was just ok, and our dining room waitstaff was just ok, the alternative dining waitstaff, bartenders, buffet waitstaff, and casino dealers were all very, very good.

 

-We are not big on the buffets and try to eat in the dining room as much as possible. We ended up doing the buffet for breakfast 3 times and lunch twice. The fact that you get service in the buffets already set princess apart from other lines. Plus, the options and quality of food is much better than I have seen. I am craving the rice pudding now. There are slowly healthy options as well. The layout of the Horizon court, plus the motor skills of its patrons, place the placement and speed of the toasters, means that Brian has to wait 20 minutes to put syrup on his french toast.

 

-Major complaint; The gym does not open until 7 and the dining room stops breakfast at 9. Not cool.

 

-The coffee is disgusting. You have to pay for the good stuff, which we did almost every night in the piazza before dinner. 1 dollar each and if you smile they make their way back to warm up your glass. I'm not someone who bashes the lines for pay services. I think most cases it is worth it. But coffee, that really looks bad IMO, to be giving people coffee water.

 

-We had ice cream a couple times at dinner and the gellato-type stuff at the International cafe. I understand that ice cream was free at certain times of the day. I heard quite a few people complaining that at least carnival gave free ice cream. I think it was fairly obvious that the quality of ice cream and toppings that you pay very little for on princess is on a different level than carnivals free stuff.

 

-The Crown Grill was the best meal I have ever had at sea. Had the 22oz porterhouse. Probably more meat than I eat in a month at home.

 

-The photographers were excellent Photo quality was great. One 8x10 is 25 bucks. Sometimes photos took a couple days to get put up. Digital prints were like 15 cents, smart thinking on princesses behalf. No film developing.

 

-The position of the Botticelli dining room makes the explorers lounge walkway and photo area extremely crowded.

 

-The ship has some of the best views, and some nice nooks and crannies to relax with a drink and a book.

 

-We always do karaoke at night on cruises, our favorite form of entertainment. We didn't do it once on this cruise, just didn't appeal to us on this ship for whatever reason. Oh, one thing on the ships musical entertainment. We would be walking by a lounge and think karaoke was going on, but it was an actual performer, doesn't say much for the quality of some of the singing acts.

 

-We aren't big fans of the production shows on the ships, this cruise was no different. They seemed to do the same shows more than once a night and more than one night over the course of the cruise. Also, the Princess theater is pretty small compared to ships of her size. The only things we saw in entirety in the theater were the magic/comedy show; which was ok. And we went and watched Wall-E; which was cool. A nice place to watch movies. We are big fans of comedians. The comedy options on this cruise were a little lackluster, and they put a lot of shows in the Explorers lounge; which is an absolutely beautiful lounge but too small for one of the larger shows of the night.

 

-MUTS. My new favorite thing. This is our first cruise with the large screen. As I said earlier we aren't into the production shows, so just about every night we ended up on the pool deck at 10:30 to watch a movie. They show new movies (pre-dvd release), and it is a blast. Just something nice about sitting under the night sky on a ship and watching a movie. You sit on nice cushions and you get a blanket (2 actually, they are pretty small) with a couple bags of popcorn and eventually someone brings by cookies and milk.

 

-Robes. We put that we wanted robes on our cruise personalizer. No robes, and heard others mention the same thing. Asked for some, and did end up getting them. Super small and thin, and not comfortable at all. Never used them.

 

-Love the fact that you don't spend your whole cruise having to keep a hawkseye on your beach towels. In fact, on my last Carnival cruise I wore my robe to the gym locker room, and a guy took it. Saw him take it actually. Reported it to my room steward, and was charged full price for it.

 

-Ports were Princess Cays, St Thomas, St Kitts, Barbados, Dominica, and Antigua. Only saw a station set up to take your liquor away in St Thomas. And even that people were walking by with their liquor in plain sight. On, Carnival, they will practically chase you up the stairs and tackle you for your liquor. Bought 7 bottles of liquor in port, brought them all back to the room, didn't open any. "Smuggled" a bottle of rum from home, consumed about 1/4 of it. "Smuggled" a box of wine from home, consumed less than half. Brought a nice bottle from home, took it to the dining room and paid $15 for corkage fee (a lot more stricter than Carnival on this). Ordered a bottle from the ship in the Crown Grill, had many poolside beers/mixed drinks and many after dinner cocktails. Liquor bill was about $300.

 

-Casino was smaller, wife played penny slots and did well. I played blackjack about every night, and did alright. Last few nights played high dollar slots and roulette; all in all probably was down $250 in casino.

 

-Drink selection was great. For my wife who likes to try new drinks, and might need a little inspiration all the lounges had a great selection and each was usually different usually based on the theme of the lounge.

 

-Ports were great. We chose this cruise based on the ports mainly.

Princess Cays was actually a lot nicer than I thought t would be. Still prefer CoCoCay from RCCL based on water/beauty and nicer cookout.

St Thomas was beautiful as always, coming in from Crown Bay was a nice change. Went to Emerald Beach Resort in Lindbergh Bay for the first time, nice relaxing day. Stopped off at Paradise Point fro some nice bushwackers and a nice view.

St. Kitts was probably our least favorite port day, we planned on going to the Marriott for a day pass. But, considering the ship left at 3:30, we figured we didn't have enough time. So we went to Frigate Bay Beach. I've heard a lot of good things about this place. Well, the sand was ugly and full of trash. The water was nice. It was crowded and the vendors were absolutely intolerable. One guy after repeatedly being told 'no thanks' would grab at my wife's feet to give an unwelcomed aloe massage. Some of the vendors were nice and new when they weren't welcome but they were in the minority.

Barbados was beautiful, we went to Accra Beach which was such a pretty beach.

 

More in a bit, got to run for a second.

[brianroberts2526]

-In Dominica we booked a tour with Bumpiing Tours, and it was by far the highlight of the trip.

In Antigua spend a nice day at Long Bay.

Another great complaining moment. We had to go through customs prior to getting off at St Thomas. It was the fastest moving line of the whole cruise, honestly. The people in front of us "I'm so ----- off at this cruise line, I've never had to do this on Carnival."

 

-Went to Vines once. Good wine selection, they did not have raclette when we went, but did have other cheese plates. Did not try sushi. By day 3, either from cheese or fish, if you walked by, it smelled like a dead animal.

 

-Went to Adagio once. Should have went more. Very, very cozy atmosphere, definitely one of the better places for a pre dinner drink .

[RvrCrzr]

Nice review. Coffee is horrible on all cruise lines I've sailed. Good to hear the liquor enforcement is still lax. :)

[brianroberts2526]

Nice review. Coffee is horrible on all cruise lines I've sailed. Good to hear the liquor enforcement is still lax. :)

 

Ive actually liked the coffee on other lines, this stuff was closer to water than coffee.

[brianroberts2526]

Some more,

-Stayed at the Comfort Suites Airport and Cruiseport. Clean room, small gym, decent breakfast if you get there early. Room was on road side and pretty loud. Took shuttle to port, so room more than payed for itself.

 

-Port Everglades. What a mess. The classic comedy duo of unorganization (port) and thinking you are the only person in the word (majority of passengers), made for some good laughs. Embarking was annoying but tolerable. On the way back we thought a taxi back to the hotel would be faster. The taxi area is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

-Always a nice spot to eat breakfast from the buffet with a view near the aft pool.

[brianroberts2526]

-Only went to Skywalkers once, during sailaway, spectacular view. Other great view is above the bridge on lido forward.

 

-the basketball/tennis area and golf area did not look as fun as I thought. And the jogging track is a circle that needs to be run 16 times to make a mile, may as well stick to the treadmill.

 

-Crooners is a nice area with a lot of fun martinis to try. The music is not my style, and the service here was probably the least best of the lounges

[sherman931]

Great review..thanks for sharing

[donnaman43]

Loved your review. We will be on the Emerald in Jan. Can you tell me more about your tour in Dominica? What did you do? Thanks

[brianroberts2526]

Loved your review. We will be on the Emerald in Jan. Can you tell me more about your tour in Dominica? What did you do? Thanks

 

 

We booked privately with Bumpiing Tours:

 

http://www.bumpiingtours.com/

 

I emailed them that we had a group of 5 that wanted a tour and what we wanted, he sent us instructions and said to make payment after the tour.

 

We arrived in port at 8am and met our guide at 8:30 right outside of the port. It is two brothers who run the tour Levi and Gary. We had Gary, they both have nice, newer vans. We chose to go at it privately, like we usually do, because it is usually more cheaper and intimate, and you see a lot more while avoiding the herd like mentality of a ship excursion.

 

We ended up in a van with 12 people I think it was. It was a gloomy day for the most part.

 

First we started the drive to TiTou Gorge. It's a pretty good drive, on some skinny roads, very, very high. So, if you are afraid of heights, that may be an issue. When we got to Titou Gorge it was drizzling, and we were wishing we brought more than the clothes we had on and one towel.

You walk a bit through the woods and over a bridge and you come to this pool. It is very underwhelming at first just a small pool of water with concrete around it and not very natural looking. The water is very chilly, I'd estimate 65F. But when you get in, Gary tells us to follow him. We swim into what is no more than a crack in the rock wall. The water is deep, with some places you can stand against the rock, very cold and dark. But, it is spectacular. When you look up its like you are in a small canyon and it's a rock face on both sides and all green up there. Then the more you swim in, you realize that there is a waterfall. A really cool experience. We had a water camera, and none of the pictures came out.

 

At every stop we make Gary basically says, 'just say when you are ready'. No, real schedule, which is awesome.

Also after each stop it is drink time, he brings a huge cooler with him packed to the top with Dominican bottled water, flavored Dominican soda (so much sugar), and Kubuli, a Dominican lager. I probably had 4 beers myself.

 

Then the next stop was Trafalgar Falls. There are two amazing falls there. When you pull up he provides you with a ticket to get into the park so you don't have to purchase one. There is a cafe, bathrooms, and a small market there as well.

Most of the tours go here, and most just check out the falls. We went to the hot pools. You get in the first pool and it is waste deep, and that water falls into pool after pool until it empties into the river of the falls.

This is where not having a schedule was great, we all agreed we wanted to hang out there for quite a while. The hot pools were the highlight of the cruise for me. So much fun exploring, the rocks did get pretty slippery but I climbed all the way down to the river. I'd be standing in the final pool of hot water which I'd estimate to be 95F and inches away would be the water from the falls which is like 65F.

One thing, I wouldn't wear a light colored bathing suit because the water is full of minerals and the residue does gather on the rocks and the bottom of the pools.

And, also if you are bothered by locals and their liking of the natural herbs ;) you may get offended.

 

I'll put some pics from Trafalgar below.

 

After that we trooped over to Wotten Waven sulpher springs. This was my least favorite part. It is interesting to see though. You just park in the street, and there are just a ton of vendors sitting there in the middle of no where. You walk to the end of this dock and see where the gasses from underground are bubbling at the surface. Some nice natural info from Gary, but not worth the ride out there IMO.

The tour was very cool, every now and then he would just stop in the road and jump out to go grab a plant to show us or some fruit.

We were talking about all the bananas and he stopped at a fruit stand and got a big bunch of bananas for us, he also stopped and got some cigarettes for some in our group.

We also took a drive through the botanical gardens (you don't see much).

And we also stopped at a nice lookout point, with a small market, that had a breathtaking view of the ship docked at Roseau.

SO far, this was about 4 hours I would say.

 

This was what was included in our tour. We also did the -extra- option of going snorkeling at champagne reef. It added about an hour to the tour. We rode down there, with him forewarning us of the conditions not being good for snorkeling. We got out there, and he was right. The beach, well there is no sand it's all smooth rocks, and really cool to explore. There was also a little bar/cafe there.

 

So he drove us back all the way right up to the ship.

Said we can pay him now, the tour was $40, champagne reef was an extra $7.50 but he didn't charge us since we didn't snorkel.

 

In 6 cruises, and having done all kinds of different things, most not with the ship; this was by far the biggest bang for the buck; and everyone in he van agreed.

[Clutterlady]

Thanks for your fair review. Can't wait to board the Emerald!

 

Have to laugh about the scooters.....agree with you 100%:p

[nceyeguy]

Thanks for posting Brian. The info you provided was great, as we will be back on the Emerald next week with the same itinerary.

[B and B Rookie Cannucks]

Great review! This will be our first Princess cruise having sailed on Carnival our previous 3 cruises. We have also booked with Bumping Tours so I really appreciate your detailed review of that excursion. Thanks again for writing such an excellent well rounded review!:)

[Cruisin Bob]

It did seem like a fair review. Now would you indulge me and tell us which line do you prefer and why?

[RM]

Nice review! Thanks for posting. What did you do in St. Kitts?

[Name Of The Game]

My mom and I have an Emerald cruise booked for next year when I'll be 22. So do you think the odds of me finding a chick under 25 to hang out with is pretty slim? :rolleyes:

[brianroberts2526]

It did seem like a fair review. Now would you indulge me and tell us which line do you prefer and why?

 

 

I'd say, right now, if the three lines I've been on were offering similar itineraries on similar class ships; I'd go on the one offering the best price.

But, I would like to get one more Princess cruise under my belt. Because, my biggest complaint that was directly related to the line or the ship was probably the gym hours related to the breakfast dining room hours. Which, if that is your biggest complaint, I'd call that a great cruise.

All other complaints were related to other passengers, so I'd like to see if I would have similar experiences on another cruise with them to see if it were a one time thing or just the type of people the line attracts. And, preemptive attack here, I'm not just referring to the older people on the cruise. The biggest nuisance on the cruise was a couple who couldn't be more than 30.

[brianroberts2526]

Nice review! Thanks for posting. What did you do in St. Kitts?

 

We planned on going to the Marriott for a room for the day.

Considering the ship left at 3:30, we figured we didn't have enough time, and thought we'd save a few bucks.

 

So we went to Frigate Bay Beach.

I've read a lot of good things about this beach on CC.

 

Well, the sand was ugly and full of trash. Trash in the water too.

The water was alright other than that. Snorkeling, I didn't try, but I saw others try and most of them came inches from being made into soup by large boats that were driving in and out.

-It was crowded and the vendors were absolutely intolerable.-

Biggest complaint right there.

One guy was especially intrusive. Didn't understand no apparently.

I would say at every 3-5 minutes, the entire time we were there, we were being asked if we wanted an aloe massage.

 

We still had fun, we always do, if we aren't working.

Had some good drink deals in a few places, and decent views of the mountains if you walked around. Spent a lot of time skipping rocks, that was fun. Some real nice smooth rocks to be found.

[brianroberts2526]

My mom and I have an Emerald cruise booked for next year when I'll be 22. So do you think the odds of me finding a chick under 25 to hang out with is pretty slim? :rolleyes:

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say that. Yes, younger people are few and far between, but I did notice a few. So the amount of young, single females would be small to pick from. but, you'd have to look at it both ways; the amount of young, single males for them to pick from is the same. So, your choices might be low, but your odds are just as high.

I would say I noticed at least a couple dozen (doesn't seem like much) 'attractive' girls who had to be around my age (25); whether they were single or not I couldn't tell you. Being as I'm married and we booked an inside stateroom, which has no couch for me to be kicked off onto.

[bridedoll1026]

Oh nooooooo! Not scooters! Got this ship booked for next October, hope that the scooter census is resolved. Thanks for your review!:D

[Cruisin Bob]

I'd say, right now, if the three lines I've been on were offering similar itineraries on similar class ships; I'd go on the one offering the best price.

But, I would like to get one more Princess cruise under my belt. Because, my biggest complaint that was directly related to the line or the ship was probably the gym hours related to the breakfast dining room hours. Which, if that is your biggest complaint, I'd call that a great cruise.

All other complaints were related to other passengers, so I'd like to see if I would have similar experiences on another cruise with them to see if it were a one time thing or just the type of people the line attracts. And, preemptive attack here, I'm not just referring to the older people on the cruise. The biggest nuisance on the cruise was a couple who couldn't be more than 30.

 

Passengers vary by season and length of cruise. You might want to try a 7 day Princess cruise as a better comparison to the other lines.

 

I prefer the 10 day to avoid lots of kids and get more ports. I also just want tea and cereal in the morning so the buffet is fine with me.

 

BTW you are lucky you did not snorkel Champagne reef. The currents were treacherous that day. It was unfortunate because it is a wonderful snorkel otherwise.

[brianroberts2526]

It really was a great cruise, because I keep remembering other things to add to the review, lol.

 

-Tea Time! My 2nd new favorite thing. A lot of mornings we would get coffee and fruit for room service, workout and get a small breakfast after. Usually a salad or something light for lunch and not have dinner until 8:15. Tea time was the perfect remedy. Very nice and relaxing, and a nice getaway for a little while from the normal cruise routine. And the scones. Argh these cravings are killing me.

 

-Pursers desk. Very efficient, much more so than any other cruise I have been on. Even on the last day, I walked right up to get a charge on my bill fixed. And the two other times I used the purser for something it was quick and painless.

 

-Oh, another story of the "complainers of the high seas." When we went to the Crown Grill, a group of about 6 was seated behind us. They left as we were getting our appetizer. When they got their desert, it wasn't how they thought it would be, consistency-wise I suppose. The waiter explained that this is how the dish is supposed to be prepared and offered to get them something else. They declined but went on and on and were very rude to the waiter. Repeatedly saying, "I don't know where you went to culinary school, but this isn't right" or "what culinary school did you attend."

The waiter cracked me up with his reply, "Well, I'm a waiter; you can ask the chef where he attended culinary school."

 

And then, as they got their bill, they argued every charge. But the best was the $15 corkage fee for the bottle of wine they brought (of lousy wine to boot), he explained that these are the rules. They went on to repeat themselves about a dozen times, that in the dining room it is only a $5 charge.

 

Free entertainment in the Crown Grill, can't be beat...

[bcruiser1]

-I thought the 'Princess ships being mostly older people' was an exaggeration. It's not. Which is fine, my wife and I work hard and are there to relax not to party and here children cry. But there were more electric carts than children, and those are just as annoying. I am surprised that my toes are still intact.

So we dont mind an older crowd but some of these folks were absurd. They thought they were the only people on the boat. I have never heard so much complaining on a cruise and for no reason too. More on that later. Oh one other tip for older cruisers, if you get offended when people take an unused chair from near you without asking. Turn up your hearing aid, maybe they were asking. This was the case with an older man in the Wheelhouse lounge. He was extremely rude to my wife when she borrowed an empty chair near him. Rude enough where if he were 50 years younger, a black eye might be my response instead of a confused look, which is all I could come up with.

 

.

 

Robert,

 

We were on the Emerald last December from the 10th to the 20th, and I need to tell you, we found the same thing you did. My husband and I are in our 40's and 50's and we have a 14 yo who went with us on the cruise.

 

One night, we were in an elevator going to dinner, and when the elevator stopped and the door started opening, a man on a scooter behind my son shouted "move" at him. It infuriated me. I turned around to my son in front of the man on his scooter, and a whole crowded elevator, and I said, "Alex, we never expect you to be as rude as they way you were just treated," and then I turned to the man, and said, "excuse me is the language that we use. We're all going to the same place, you need to relax."

 

That was only one instance, there were several. I would have been more tolerant if the rudeness that we saw wasn't so blatent. At times I felt very sorry for the staff because they were treated sometimes, as less than equals. I wasn't all that impressed with the staff, however, when I saw them be rude right back to the passengers.

 

I don't think I'd go back on the Emerald. It was too crowded during the day. At night it seemed that several people went to bed early....but there wasn't room at a lot of the shows, or in the casino. It was simply that there were too many people and not enough room for everyone. The Horizon Court or the dinning rooms weren't any bigger than they were on the Grand Princess.

 

Next week, were going on the Island Princess to the Panama Canal. I can't wait!

 

We also thought Dominica was the best Island we went to, and we hit Aruba, Bonaire, St. Martin, Grenada, Princess Cay and Dominica.

 

Brenda from Denver

[sewingmolly]

Thanks for review. I've just booked this cruise for April. I was worried about the demographics before and now after reading this review, I'm more concerned. I'd really rather cruise with a mix of ages. We've been on 3 other cruises, all on Princess, all 7 day when school was out. I actually enjoyed the 1,000 kids at Spring Break. Even though this cruise is 10 day, I booked the cruise over Easter, hoping that it won't be mostly older people. - although my definition of older may not coincide with the OP's.

[vickie_bernie]

Great review, I've enjoyed it and I would really have to agree with a lot that you said. We did the Emerald for 20 days last Jan and ironically the first sailing was an older demographic, but the second sailing was much much younger.

 

We had a great time on both sailings but we hung out with more people our age on the first "older" demograhics with people our age (40s) .... weird I know

 

Yes there are always complainers -- and it is funny how you never forget them -- loved your comment about the HC and length of time for you to get syrup... I agree I gave up trying to get toast -- the set up is nuts, unless there is no one there

 

I too hate Princess' robes, Carnivals are much much nicer.

 

Loved your Dominica pictures, we too were at that falls, but we were soaked because of the rain and since we were soaked we just went into the falls totally dressed! It was so much fun!

 

Man I too wish the dining room was open later for breakfast.

 

Thanks again hope you are feeling better soon

[brianroberts2526]

Thanks for review. I've just booked this cruise for April. I was worried about the demographics before and now after reading this review, I'm more concerned. I'd really rather cruise with a mix of ages. We've been on 3 other cruises, all on Princess, all 7 day when school was out. I actually enjoyed the 1,000 kids at Spring Break. Even though this cruise is 10 day, I booked the cruise over Easter, hoping that it won't be mostly older people. - although my definition of older may not coincide with the OP's.

 

I believe I heard that there were 300 children on this Thanksgiving cruise. So about 10%. There were definitely 2 in the room next to us, 4 if you count the parents.