Ideas for "Younger" Cruisers?

I am 26 years old - My friends, my girlfried and myself are going on a 7-day to Mexico with RCCL. I have been on RCCL cruises before - but not with friends my own age. Any suggestions as to what we should do? We are ready to have a great time!

You're the same age as me man. You should be fine....especially going to Mexico. You can find active (though possibly expensive) excursions such as golf, snorkling, or fishing....or just save some cash and find some beaches to hang around on. Mix it up. A healthy mix of bar, beach, and casino should keep you plenty busy.

I am also 26 years old. I would suggest going to the dance clubs (lots of guys to dance and drink with), go to the shows, go to the beaches. There will be tons of people to meet your age.

4 of us went on the Eastern Route and honestly, we just hung out and laid low. Just relaxing on deck or on the beach, with some good drinks was entertainment enough. Although we did hit the dance club here and there, as well, and hung out in the sports bar a lot, too. I'd imagine it'd be easier to hang out on a cruise with people your own age than with your parents (trying to find something someone from different age and activity categories would all enjoy doing), I wouldn't worry.

Last year, my boyfriend and I went on a Princess cruise to Canada/New England---we didn't choose this, my mom bought it for us and the three of us went. It was a blast--he and I had a great time, but we (25 year olds) were BY FAR the youngest people on the ship (excluding the five year olds that were there with their parents).... seriously, the next youngest people were like two decades older. Let's just say the nightclub on board was a ghost town by 11 pm. So in three weeks, he and I are going (without mom) to the Carribean with another couple our age. We are betting on the theory "Young People Don't Take Cold Cruises". Hopefully there will be more people our age onboard! :)

Stephanie,

I had the same experience on the Princess. Everyone was very, very old. My husband and I were in late 20's mid 30's and we were the youngest people there. Everything including the entertaiment was very much geared towards an audience in their 60-80's. No more Princess cruises for us.

I wouldn't want to be stuck on a cruise with a bunch of 18 year old spring breakers but I also wouldn't want to be with a bunch of great grandparents either. My husband and I are in our late 20's and we prefer Carnival because of the younger crowd that tends to be on board. They also have the topless deck where you can escape from the all the kids and get great bar service while you're there! We had a blast last December and are going back January 2006!

Whoa! They have a topless deck on Carnival? Does anyone know if they have it for Princess? My boy even asked me today if I would go topless if they had a topless deck... and I gave a resounding YES--no tan lines... plus, I know alot of men that SHOULDN'T be topless... :)

I would say that your theory about cold cruises is somewhat accurate as we went to Alaska last year and there weren't too many younger people there. However we did meet some people that were in the early 30's probably that were really nice and more outgoing.

My feeling is this if your weekend includes going to a bar to hang out with friends or dance club than perhaps you should go with Carnival--but if you are the type of people (as my and my fiance are)--that laugh at those people than you are fine at any ship (not to say that we don't like to go to a bar now and then or dancing--but we would usually rather play a board game or go to a movie with friends than drink)...

I agree that the cold ship cruise theory is accurate and you'll also find much older people on Holland America - HAL has a reputation for having lots of much older people - i.e. 70's and and 80's. You should stick to Caribbean destinations and five to seven day cruises for a yoiunger crowd in general.

I cruised on the Princess Grand in october and the age range was more like late 30's to late 50's with a moderate number of older couples and some in their 20's but still very limited numbers. Our cruise was so subdued that all the lounges were quiet in the evening and even the disco was never really full. We were both late 40's and would have preferred a somewhat livelier crowd.

When we were in Cozumel we met a young guy - maybe mid 20's - who was there cruising on either NCL or RCCL (whichever one has the in-line skating track and the rock climbing wall). It was his third time on that line and he always went with groups of similarly aged friends. He loved it and found the on-board social scene to be lively.

This issue is the only thing that sticks in my mind about my first cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. My sister and i are in our twenties and are on a 9 day RCI caribbean cruise. We got the rock climbing wall.

It puts me in mind of a time when my sister and her friend were able to go to an expensive all-inclusive in Jamica for free thanks to a cousin who worked there. She said the guests, mostly women, were very cold to her. Most were older and married. Half thought my sister and her friend were lesbians. The other half seemed to percieve my sister and her friend as a threat because they would come and scoop their husband away if found talking to the girls. They managed to make their own fun outside of the resort.

I have been reading these boards and there doesn't seem to be any of this going on which is good.

They have bar service on topless decks now? That's new....

T