30 Somethings Cruising Princess in Two Weeks. Will there be others like us?

My wife and I are taking a vacation without kids in two weeks. We are both in our 30s. The timing is late April and the cruise is 4 days. Will there be others like us, or are Princess cruises mostly older folk?

And for extra credit. It's a short cruise. Any advice on meeting people similar to us quickly? We requested a table for 6 at the late dinner time to meet others. But of course we don't know who they will be.

Any advice appreciated!

This should not be a concern. MANY venues to choose from. MY ADVICE, get into "cruise mode" ASAP. Your there to relax and have fun. Do things you don't do at home and eat something you've never tried. No one is going to get you to join in, it's up to you to get off your butt.

Longer cruises attract older people. You should be fine

My wife and I are taking a vacation without kids in two weeks. We are both in our 30s. The timing is late April and the cruise is 4 days. Will there be others like us, or are Princess cruises mostly older folk?

 

And for extra credit. It's a short cruise. Any advice on meeting people similar to us quickly? We requested a table for 6 at the late dinner time to meet others. But of course we don't know who they will be.

 

Any advice appreciated!

Yes, there will be folks in their 30s, and 20s and 40s and 50s and so on. All ages onboard., especially as its a short cruise - shorter cruises tend to attract younger folks, as they don't take so much vacation time, or cost as much...

You'll be seated with others, who may be in similar age bracket, or may not - even if they're older or younger, they'll likely be quite enjoyable people, regardless of age...

Go with an open mind, age is onky a number, especially on cruises. Many older folks who are lots more fun than some who may be similar age to you . And vice versa...

Chances are that your dinner mates will be older than you, but for us that has never been a problem. Most are good table mates, some not so much, but I imagine that would have been true of them when they were younger as well.

Not that we are spring chickens, but the demographic on Princess definitely skews to the retirement end of the spectrum, but there are always some younger folk on board. We have been on two cruises that have had weddings on them with a larger group of 20-30 somethings tied to those events.

The longer the cruise, generally, the older the average age, but it doesn't bother us now (in our 50s), and wouldn't have bothered us at all in our 30s). For your short cruise, there will likely be more younger people, but I would still bet half the passenger list has hit retirement age.

Don

We just got off the Ruby (7 day Mex Riviera Cruise), upper 30s, left kids at home (woohoo!). We loved it and most people were really friendly. Met and chatted with people of all ages. While there definitely were more people in the 50+ age group, there still were a good number of people in the 30-45 range.

The one thing that we noticed though, if you’re a night owl (which we are), the ship shuts down around 10:30/11pm. Some people may still be watching the MUTS 10pm movie, but inside it was a ghost town! We would head up to Skywalkers nightclub to even just find people or a place to get a drink. Some nights there would only be 5-10 people, other nights, 50+ people. I think it depended on the port arrival times. But we would do it again in a heartbeat. Enjoy!

Also, find your roll call on the boards here and see if anyone is around your age/life stage and wants to meet for drinks the first night. That could be a good, fast way to find other people that want to socialize.

You will find a wide range of ages on the ship. The pool during the day and the lounges in the late afternoon and on would be the place to meet others.

You'll be fine! Many in your age group take advantage of shorter cruises. :)

On a four day cruise you should find plenty of people around your age to socialize with.

Now on a 35 day cruise on Princess that would be a different matter. :D

My wife and I are taking a vacation without kids in two weeks. We are both in our 30s. The timing is late April and the cruise is 4 days. Will there be others like us, or are Princess cruises mostly older folk?

 

And for extra credit. It's a short cruise. Any advice on meeting people similar to us quickly? We requested a table for 6 at the late dinner time to meet others. But of course we don't know who they will be.

 

Any advice appreciated!

Shorter cruises attract younger crowds, however...

It looks like you are on a four day repositioning cruise that was also sold as a FLL-Vancouver full Panama Canal transit voyage. That cruise attracts an older crowd for sure. You might see some folks your age doing the repo but it will most likely lean towards an older group.

If you were doing a four day RT, then yes you'd see more younger folks. But in my experience (I've done the short repos LA-VAN several times) it hasn't been a younger group when also part of the Panama Canal trip.

The best place to ask that question is on your roll call. Hard to say as it varies with each cruise.

I’m in my thirties and from my experience there’s always a good range of ages even if it mostly skews towards an older crowd. I don’t mind though, I’ve had plenty of great conversations with older people and still found plenty in common to talk about!

I'm in my mid 50's, my husband is 50. The couple that we met and hung out the most with on our last cruise was at least 10 years older. They were fun!

It will be ok, especially if you are traveling with a group. Make no mistake about it, the population on a typical Princess cruise is somewhere around 75 but we tend to go on longer cruises so that may be why they're older....we're in our early/mid 60's and we sometimes feel like the young'uns!

With that said, I am taking my 30 something daughter on a cruise in May. Her first Princess cruise so I did warn her, but it will be fine. Trivia and bingo, the food/drink and the pool parties are for all ages! Club fusion won't be very crowded for dancing late night and it depends on your preferance whether that's good or bad! LOL!

Go with an open mind, be prepared to jump out of the way of the scooters and go with the flow and you will enjoy your cruise and then you can decide if this is your cup of tea and whether you want to sail with Princess again!

Also, go up on deck to the sail-a-way party! Drinking and dancing and a party atmostphere! Everyone is getting in "cruise vacation mode" and you may find some others in your age range!

Shorter cruises typically have a younger demographic anyway, and beyond that, there are usually some 30 something’s on each sailing anyway. We are in our mid 30s and have been consistently cruising Princess together since our early 20s. We are usually among the younger demo but still have tons of fun. Age is so relative, and cruisers in general are such fun, friendly people. Go and have a blast!

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Agree. Short cruises attract some younger than 40 Cruises longer than 2-3 weeks attract retirees not all of whom are over 65. Mike

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Great mix of passengers on the shorter cruises...

Unfortunately, unless things have changed... the menus, service, etc... were very much cut-back, lacking, on the one shortie we were on a few years ago. If this is your first cruise, and you are thinking of fine dining with steak, lobster, etc... Just be aware and adjust your expectations on a shortie. If you are wanting that kind of experience, book the Crown Grill, etc...

I am assuming that the main pool will be lively, with MUTS going, some entertainment, maybe... Activity staff there.

But, probably not like Carnival... Which I have never cruised... but just from general info.

Older passengers most often choose early dining.

I am guessing that late dining might be less less busy with more absentees in the MDR.

Just a guess....

Enjoy!!!

I think you will be fine. Your plan is right on. Good luck and have a good time.

Tony

We started cruising P Princess in our 30s and had a great time. We also met some delightful seniors who we learned a lot from they were the best dinner mates of all and had very interesting stories

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My wife and I are taking a vacation without kids in two weeks. We are both in our 30s. The timing is late April and the cruise is 4 days. Will there be others like us, or are Princess cruises mostly older folk?

 

And for extra credit. It's a short cruise. Any advice on meeting people similar to us quickly? We requested a table for 6 at the late dinner time to meet others. But of course we don't know who they will be.

 

Any advice appreciated!

To me Princess is like an upscale Royal Caribbean. You'll find a few less kiddies (not many in April) around but a mixture of folks from mid 20's and up. Royal Caribbean used to be our favourite line and we've cruised more on that line than any other but we're more and more moving to Princess because of the food and the service. You'll find an active cruise of all ages on Princess and you'll fit in quite well.

Enjoy your cruise

Quite possibly, you will be in luck. We did a short sailing (3 nights) with my 20 year old nephews once and there were zero fellow passengers that were in their age group. Then again, we've been on a three night sailing that was full of kids and parents that were in your age group. It all just depends on the specific sailing itself.

To meet up with people rather quickly, this is what I would advise:

Join your roll call and just ask the question. Of course, the people that are on cruisecritic would not represent a large swath of your fellow passengers but you might meet some people ahead of time or at least get a feel of what that group is like.

Go to the Piano Bar at night

Don't be afraid to share a table with others in the dining room

Check out the pool deck

Get involved in the games onboard (trivia, pool games, mini golf, etc)

Join in on the exercise programs (organized walks, spinning, zumba)

Check out the group activities (pop choir -- not sure if that would be on a shorter sailing, crafting, card playing if interested, wine tasting event, etc)

Book more active excursions

BTW, we've been on quite a few cruises and still remember our first one on Princess. We were in our early 30s and had traditional seating in the MDR ... well, that's all they offered at that time. We were sitting at our table for quite some time before noticing this very elderly couple with their daughter walk in. Oh my goodness ... that was the most fun we've ever had before ... they were an absolute kick in the shorts ... and they were well over 90 years old. My DH and Dottie (the elderly woman) even entered a dance contest together and won first place. So, even though you may not find people your age, you can and probably will still have a blast.