Cruise Ship Demographics

[LarryF]

If I call princess, can they tell me the percentages of age groups on a particular ship that sails in 4 months from now?

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

[kooljamming]

If I call princess, can they tell me the percentages of age groups on a particular ship that sails in 4 months from now?

 

Thanks,

 

Larry

 

They can tell you the number of children booked so far by age group.

[LarryF]

They can tell you the number of children booked so far by age group.

 

We're looking at a Canada/NE cruise in October and much more concerned about the number adults over 75, not that I have anything against the elderly, I just prefer not to sail with them. :)

[paul929207]

I don't know that Princess would know the age of passengers until they complete the immigration forms.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We did a repo a year and a half ago from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale toward the end of October. There were plenty of older cruisers but I couldn't tell you how many were over 75. You can expect an older passenger complement on these "leaf peeper" cruises so I guess it depends on what age you draw the line at to old for you. For us, it was one of our best cruises ever.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We're looking at a Canada/NE cruise in October and much more concerned about the number adults over 75, not that I have anything against the elderly, I just prefer not to sail with them. :)

 

Does this mean that you will no longer cruise once you reach 75?

 

When I was golfing last week, my friend and I were paired with a couple who were near 80. He shot an 80 and put rest of us to shame. I had the best time talking with him and learning about his life. I often find this to be the case. Just think about how much more you can learn from someone over 75 as opposed to under 25.

[jhannah]

I don't believe any cruise line will disclose this information.

[kooljamming]

We're looking at a Canada/NE cruise in October and much more concerned about the number adults over 75, not that I have anything against the elderly, I just prefer not to sail with them. :)

 

Unfortunately not, they won't provide that. They have the number of kids broken down into infants, ages 3-12 and 13-17. Basically they make it easy for the older folks to avoid the 'lovely' kids but not the other way around:( On behalf of the lovely kids, this is not fair:D On our cruise to Alaska in August, there are 74 infants, 153 (3-12 yr olds) and 122 teenagers. The rest of passengers 18 and UP. I like a good mix for our vacation. I truly enjoy meeting much older couples, kinda inspiring!

[cruzendude]

Does this mean that you will no longer cruise once you reach 75?

 

When I was golfing last week, my friend and I were paired with a couple who were near 80. He shot an 80 and put rest of us to shame. I had the best time talking with him and learning about his life. I often find this to be the case. Just think about how much more you can learn from someone over 75 as opposed to under 25.

 

Why worry about the reason someone would want to cruise with a certain demographic? Its their vacation and can plan accordingly..

 

No matter what cruise your on there is going to be a lot of older cruisers, its just the nature of the beast......personally I like to cruise with a limited number of them as well AND a limited number of kids....it just keeps the number of times my toes get ran over by scooters and the number of kids tantrums I have to listen to while on vacation to a minimum....:eek:

 

That said I would think ANY cruise to see the fall colors of New England will have a HUGE number of older cruisers on it...

[LarryF]

I didn't mean to get people riled up!:D My wife and I are in our mid 50's and prefer to cruise with a good mix of ages with the median age being between 50 and 60 years old. Of course I will cruise when I'm 75 and even when I'm 105 if I am alive and healthy, but I won't be offended someone prefers to sail with others there age.

 

Now I'll probably get people more riled up, but the reason I asked this question is because we are trying to decide whether to cruise on the Caribbean Princess or the Carnival Triumph on October 3 to Canada/NE. Both cruises have similar itineraries, both depart from NYC and both are priced at within $50 of each other. I have Carnival stock, so I can get obc on either cruise. I can get $50 more obc with Princess by using one of my FCC's (already used the other FCC on the Crowne in January). We are very loyal Platinum Princess Cruisers getting ever closer to being elite. Both cruise ships are 10 years old and both cruise ships had dry dock rennovations about a year ago.

 

Our biggest priorities for this trip are to see and experience the ports. My biggest priority for cruising in general is to unwind and forget about work and to meet as many new people as possible. So, my decision has come down to which cruise I will have the best opportunity to meet new people. Currently there is almost no activity on the Caribbean Princess roll call board (6 posts between 2 people) and the Carnival Triumph has more activity (about 50 posts between 8 or 10 people - all in their 50s).

 

My gut is telling me to book the Carnival cruise, but my loyalty and familiararity with Princess is making it hard for me to sway away. :confused:

 

So what I'd like to know, especially from those of you who have cruised on both lines recently, what your thoughts are, but let's please not turn this into a Princess or Carnival bashing party!

[Parrot Mom]

We're looking at a Canada/NE cruise in October and much more concerned about the number adults over 75, not that I have anything against the elderly, I just prefer not to sail with them. :)

 

WOW..we are in our 70's in age, but have not grownup yet.. and we dont like cruising with OLD PEOPLE. old people can be those in their 50's who act old. I've met more seniors who are more interesting than many of the younger people.. On a 2 week Canada/NE cruise of 2 weeks.. you may get more senior citizens.. On our 20 years plus of cruises we have been befriended and adopted by most people much younger than ourselves..Loosen up..we are fun.. and I don't wear my age on my shirt.. and I won't hold it against you for being young.

[G'ma]

I can't quote the websites due to CC community guidelines, but if you google "age demographics Princess Cruises", you'll find a list of the average on each cruise line.

 

Princess is showing 35-65...

 

There are usually more younger folks for the Caribbean shorter cruises and older folks for the Caribbean longer cruises, Europe and Asia.....

[Pam in CA]

If you're planning a cruise to NE/Canada in October, you'll find a greater percentage of people without schoolage children no matter which ship or cruiseline you're on. If the cruise is longer than 7 days, the older the passengers. The larger the ship, the younger the age group. These are generalities, not specifics and that said, I have taken quite a few longer, "exotic" cruises where one would expect an older group of passengers but the ages have always been mixed and never, ever the majority over 75 years old. There will be many in the 50 - 60 YO age group with some younger, some older. And always, there could be an abberation to generalities but you won't know that until you board and are underway.

[pjs9876]

HHHHnnnnn... lets see if I have this straight. Both ships have over 2,500 folks on board and you don't think you can find folks you might like to get to know and have fun with? :eek:

 

Too many folks taking up the hot tubs or the disco? If I follow your logic then all the "older folks" will have gone to bed anyway so that just leaves more space for you to party. Do the late dining and the late show and you might have a very large yacht to yourself!

 

Yes, I would expect the "leaf group" to be a little more sedate. I think you could find the escape you seek without being feeling like you are in a nursing home. My 83 year old aunt put me to shame on the hills of San Francisco and she was pushing my mom in a wheelchair!:p

[kooljamming]

Our biggest priorities for this trip are to see and experience the ports. My biggest priority for cruising in general is to unwind and forget about work and to meet as many new people as possible. So, my decision has come down to which cruise I will have the best opportunity to meet new people. Currently there is almost no activity on the Caribbean Princess roll call board (6 posts between 2 people) and the Carnival Triumph has more activity (about 50 posts between 8 or 10 people - all in their 50s).

 

My gut is telling me to book the Carnival cruise, but my loyalty and familiararity with Princess is making it hard for me to sway away. :confused:

 

So what I'd like to know, especially from those of you who have cruised on both lines recently, what your thoughts are, but let's please not turn this into a Princess or Carnival bashing party!

 

Follow your guts. In the past 5 years I have done RCCL, Carnival and most recently Princess. Long before my cruise started I met some wonderful people on the roll call. I met ladies who shared my passion of late night dancing (with or w/o our better halves:D) and that made my Princess vacation even more memorable. Others on the roll call I had the opportunity to have lunch with or just enjoyed seeing a familiar face around the ship. I am more interest in where I am going, and the people I am going with, than what I am going on. The ship was wonderful but thanks to my roll call, I felt my vacation started long before I got on-board. I kinda think you might be feeling the same way on the Carnival roll call. A good group can make for a great trip. We are in our mid 40's to very early 50. I took a chance on Princess (though still a RCCL and Carnival fan) and had a great time, follow your guts and take a chance on the FUN ship with the FUN people on roll call.

 

BTW - preferred the food by far on Carnival. My next cruise will more than likely be on Carnival, if we are not cruised out after this year.

[Anubi]

We're looking at a Canada/NE cruise in October and much more concerned about the number adults over 75, not that I have anything against the elderly, I just prefer not to sail with them. :)

 

Oh Larry, now you've done it. I mentioned on another thread that our last cruise had a large number of "retirees" and got jumped on! You are going to get bashed my friend. Let me know if you need me to lob a few snowballs ;)

[mr green]

I don't believe any cruise line will disclose this information.

 

The first time through the Panama Canal, Sun Princess 2002, the Captain anounced the average age of the cruisers as 75. We helped to keep the number low!:)

 

john

[Meiying]

We're looking at a Canada/NE cruise in October and much more concerned about the number adults over 75, not that I have anything against the elderly, I just prefer not to sail with them. :)

 

We did this cruise for our honeymoon last year and it definitely was an "older" crowd than you would find on your usual Caribbean/Bahamas cruise. Even though we noticed these demographics, this did not detract from our cruise in any way...the CB is a beautiful ship and the ports that the NE/Canada itinerary takes you to are wonderful.

[Parrot Mom]

Know I answered you before and I didn't intend to "bash" you.. lol. but we prefer NOT to cruise with school age kids whose parents let them have free reign of the ship.. that is why we pick before school is out first week in June or mid-September or the longer cruises from Europe in the fall.. Besides I've met many couples who have cruised who retired early..like in their late 50's..

[LarryF]

Oh Larry, now you've done it. I mentioned on another thread that our last cruise had a large number of "retirees" and got jumped on! You are going to get bashed my friend. Let me know if you need me to lob a few snowballs ;)

 

My foot is already half way down my throat and I'm scared to death if I post anything else to this thread my whole leg will be down my throat! :eek: I don't think a few snowballs will stop this group! :rolleyes:

 

Thanks "kooljamming" for answering my initial question as to whether Princess will give out the age groups of its passengers and also thanks for the great advice! :) Also thanks to everyone that replied. I have been enlightened! :) Can I take my foot out of my mouth now?! :D

 

Larry

[Anubi]

My foot is already half way down my throat and I'm scared to death if I post anything else to this thread my whole leg will be down my throat! :eek: I don't think a few snowballs will stop this group! :rolleyes:

 

Thanks "kooljamming" for answering my initial question as to whether Princess will give out the age groups of its passengers and also thanks for the great advice! :) Also thanks to everyone that replied. I have been enlightened! :) Can I take my foot out of my mouth now?! :D

 

Larry

 

No, you're just too cute with your foot in your mouth...I don't remember seeing you without it LOL :p

[magicnelly]

No, keep it there. That way we can recognize you onboard and steer clear.

[caber]

We are doing Canada/ New England at the end of October. Come over to the Roll Call. Most of us are 50/60 with some younger and some older.

 

Age is just a number. We cruised with a man who was in his eighties and still flying his own plane.

[Happy2Cruise4Fun]

We did Canada/New England in October 07. I could count the number of children on 1 hand. Seemed most were in their 50's and up. I had no complaints with the age groups on board and we are mid to later 30's.

[mr green]

We are doing Canada/ New England at the end of October. Come over to the Roll Call. Most of us are 50/60 with some younger and some older.

 

Age is just a number. We cruised with a man who was in his eighties and still flying his own plane.

 

You must remember too that the ages of persons on Cruise Critics are younger that the overall cruiser age.

 

john