Considering a River Cruise - What are the Ages of Most Passengers?

[RDAJ23]

I am 46 and my husband will be celebrating his 50th in May. While we have many of our friends who are older than we are, I have heard mixed comments on the ages of River Cruise passengers.

Please let me know what experiences you have witnessed, in terms of your fellow passengers. I would really like a mix of ages as opposed to having everyone on the ship being much older than us.

[franski]

Hi -

I am 56 - DH is 58.

We tend to be on the younger end of the passenger list, but usually not the youngest.

We have met many passengers in their 60's, and 70's - many even older. We have not found an issue with that - but you will know what age group you are comfortable with. Some lines (Uniworld and Tauck) do run a Family Friendly Itinerary, so those sailings would most likely have younger people on board.

What we have found, is that the people on river cruises seem to be well-travelled....

As an fyi - the mix of nationalities can be quite different. For example, Vantage and Grand Circle do not market outside of the US - so the passengers are quite an homogenous group.

Scenic doesn't market heavily in the US - so their sailings have few Americans on board.

AMA, Uniworld, Avalon & Viking have a greater mix of nationalities.

Not sure if this helps.

Fran

[caviargal]

We began river cruising when I had just turned 50 and have done 6 so far. In my experience, AMA had the youngest demographic on both of our cruises with them - 2011 and 2012 - and was far more lively than our other experiences.

Many passengers were our age as all as younger and it changed the vibe of the experience overall. We have had diverse guest mixes as well.

We will stick with AMA from now on for overall quality and because we had a lot more fun on their river cruises due to demographic and also younger staff. CDs on both AMA cruise were about 30 years younger than on previous cruises which IMO changes the ambiance as well. It was not stuffy at all.

[alexandra cruiser]

all the major lines as well.Each ship,country,itinerary seems to vary re ages.Tend toward mid range of 60(with some younger and older).But its the physical fitness of other cruisers thats more important.Must be able to keep up(even with slower groups).We started in our 40s and NEVER had a problem with other passengers.Now we are one of the ones in their 60s and STILL enjoy the mix. Mostly well educated,well travelled,and interesting to talk to NO MATTER WHAT THE AGE,,it seems to me.

[jacksonnh]

I find that most people have many experiences to offer and stories to share, no matter what the age.

[YoungDubFan]

On our Avalon Rhine cruise last year, there was a nice mix from mid 30s (travelling with a large family group) up to high 70s. Almost everyone was very fit and able to walk the cobblestones. There was one elderly lady from India who used a lightweight transport chair and her husband always made sure he was off the boat first and to meeting places before the rest of the groups arrived. She obviously did not do some excursions, but it never slowed the rest of us down. After the 2nd day, Avalon offered a slower walkers group and she was always in this.

The majority of passengers were from the US and Canada with some Brits, Aussies, Indian, Japanese sprinkled in. All announcements are only made in English.

[we're sailing away....]

We were the youngest 58 & 59 most were late 70 BUT very fit

[Peacemkr59]

I've been on two. One with Avalon and one with Amawaterways. I found that the average age of the passengers was mid-50's. I found more young people on the Ama cruise during the summer with some couples in their 30's who brought along children. Yes, there are plenty in their 60's and 70's, even 80's but I still think that at least half were in the 50-60 age range. I also believe that the demographics is getting younger every year as the popularity of river cruises grows!

[tassietravellers]

On our Avalon cruise in August we had a good mix of people aged between about 40 and 80, but the majority would have been mid 50's to mid 60's.

Virtually everyone was quite active, although we did have one wheel chair , but this didnt seem to hinder the couple a great deal, apart from the cobble stone streets, that couldnt have been easy plus once when we were double docked, we had to go up to our sky deck, across the top deck of the next ship and then down the stairs on the other side, it would have been quite a chore for them. Most times it was just through the main deck of our ship to theirs, so quite easy.

[we're sailing away....]

I think it will start changing because of the baby boomer's ..

[Tarheel72]

I believe if you check you will find that river cruising is gaining in popularity and that the average age of the passenger is getting lower as more people take river cruises. My guess is that the average age in around 60 with a significant number of passengers under 55, as opposed to only a handful a decade ago. It is not unusual to find couples in their 30s cruising today and I think 10 or 15 years ago that would have been highly unusual.

[milling73]

We've booked Viking and found the average age to be mid 50's-60's. As stated by another --- nearly all are well-traveled, and we find other passengers to be very interesting conversationalists and pleasant. All on our first cruise (Rhine) were from US, Canada, or Australia, and it is my understanding that will mostly be the case if booking from North America.

There were no children, no teens and the river cruises aren't really suited for those ages. Entertainment is minimal, and directed to more mature groups, which was one of the aspects that appealed to us the most. We love river cruising and really have found nothing to fault.

[burtonnm]

I will be going on a river cruise next year with Collette Tours and Luftner Cruise line. I'm 25 and I'm going with my mom who is 56.

[Condocat]

Any cruise can be a crap shoot when it comes to trying to guess the combined ages of its typical passengers. We have been on river cruises where the group was was 45-55 with a few 20 -30 year olds sprinkled in. Another time, being in our 50s and 60s we were the youngest on the ship.
The bottomline is to have an open mind and enjoy people for who they are, not being judgementmental by their age and you will always meet fabulous folks.

If the age group is a factor, remember the longer the cruise, it typically attracts an older crowd as they no longer work and not restricted by vacation days!

Good luck planning!