Solstice in September - questions on demographics?

[QueenDido]

I'm planning a cruise for my best friend and I as a girls' getaway kind of thing. I am strongly leaning towards Celebrity as I have very fond memories of it from sailing as a kid, and I hear that the food is the best for the price...

 

My question is - is an early September cruise to the Caribbean on the Solstice going to have a fun atmosphere for two twenty-somethings? We don't need best legs contests at the pool - we're completely uninterested in a Carnival frat boy atmosphere - but we would like to see some other people our age and have the occasional night of dancing along with our mellow drink by the pool.

 

Thoughts from Celebrity veterans?

[gtexan]

Ive never actually sailed Celebrity, but did decide recently to book with them, so hope this helps:

 

 

I was reading the Frommers guide to cruise ships and noticed something interesting.

 

The average targeted age for almost all cruise ships is 30 year old couples to 60 year old couples.

 

Now, with that being said, the ammenties the cruise ships offer vary from line to line:

1. Carnival and Disney are geared mostly for families. Activies like waterslides and arcades are very prominent and advertised that way.

2. Royal Caribbean are geared for a slightly younger generation of young adults. Rock climbing walls, mini golf, etc.

3. Princess and Celebrity are geared for slightly older crowds, with Celebrity targeting a slightly older contingent than Princess.

 

 

Even with these targeted demographics, the age of your cruise shipmates is going to depend mostly on the time and length and destination of your cruise.

 

Going on a 8+ day cruise? Or 14? These attract older crowds because non-retirees typically can't take off work that long

Going in the middle of the week or during the school year? These attract older crowds because families with children can't leave whenever they want.

 

On the other hand, if you:

Go in during the holidays you'll see more families

Cruise over spring break you'll see more 18-25 year olds

 

 

My 29 year old cousin and his wife just returned from a cruise on Royal Caribbean. They went during a non holiday period, and even though they were on Royal Caribbean which "targets" a younger demographic, their ship was mostly made up of the 50-70 year old demographic.

 

So you have to ask yourself a) What type of atmosphere do I want and b) Who do I want to sail with?

 

My wife and I are both in our 20s and we ultimately decided to go with Celebrity because it gave us the best chance of avoiding being surrounded by young children, the most refinement, and still plenty of the fun stuff other cruises advertise so heavily (night clubs, good shows, etc). We're doing a very port intensive cruise (only 1 day at sea), so ship atmosphere wasn't the most important consideration.

 

We like a mix of fancy and fun, so Celebrity's upscale feel + the fact that we're going on spring break seemed like a good choice. We expect there to be a good mix of people, and with the huge diversity of activities (from strings performances to disco) we feel like we'll be able to find something to itnerest us no matter what our mood is.

 

It was difficult choosing between Princess and Celebrity, because Princess seems to be geared for younger crowds, but ultimately the ports of call were what sealed the deal for us.

 

If I were you, I'd consider RCCI, Princess, and Celebrity (level of "party atmopshere" decreases in that order). Theres a lot of threads on this forum and in the other forums where people compare the two lines directly, so you'll get a good idea of how much fun each one will be.

[QueenDido]

Thanks for that - it sounds like you and your wife are looking for basically the same things we are. I wish I knew what the early September crowd was like...

 

I have recently cruised on RCCL and was hoping for something a little more refined than that this time around, which was why I am leaning towards celebrity. I've never cruised with Princess but perhaps that deserves some research.

 

Thanks!

[sunlovermtl]

I'm planning a cruise for my best friend and I as a girls' getaway kind of thing. I am strongly leaning towards Celebrity as I have very fond memories of it from sailing as a kid, and I hear that the food is the best for the price...

 

My question is - is an early September cruise to the Caribbean on the Solstice going to have a fun atmosphere for two twenty-somethings? We don't need best legs contests at the pool - we're completely uninterested in a Carnival frat boy atmosphere - but we would like to see some other people our age and have the occasional night of dancing along with our mellow drink by the pool.

 

Thoughts from Celebrity veterans?

 

Well September should be a good time. We did our first cruise at age 26 and 29 on the Century. Since we have sailed the Horizon, Constellation twice (we love Perry Grant) and the Summit. The itinerary makes a huge difference and usually a western caribbean cruise will garner a younger crowd. Princess was really fun as well and kind of in between Carnival and Celebrity. We are Celebrity elite members now so hands down it is Celebrity for us. 5-7 day cruises are usually younger. Our last 14 day Panama Canal cruise had the oldest crowd ever. Even older than our 3 Holland America cruises.

 

happy sailing

Claudette

[eandj]

I'm planning a cruise for my best friend and I as a girls' getaway kind of thing. I am strongly leaning towards Celebrity as I have very fond memories of it from sailing as a kid, and I hear that the food is the best for the price...

 

My question is - is an early September cruise to the Caribbean on the Solstice going to have a fun atmosphere for two twenty-somethings? We don't need best legs contests at the pool - we're completely uninterested in a Carnival frat boy atmosphere - but we would like to see some other people our age and have the occasional night of dancing along with our mellow drink by the pool.

 

Thoughts from Celebrity veterans?

 

I would not choose X in your case. Altho we love it for it's quieter atmosphere. I would look at RCL or Princess. Since you will going during hurricane season, you need a ship with lots of things to do of your interest onboard in case you miss a port or the weather isn't favorable for suntanning all day.

[QueenDido]

Hurricane Season!

 

I hadn't thought of that. Sounds kind of terrifying. How long does Hurricane season last?

 

Thanks!

[gtexan]

Hurricane Season!

 

I hadn't thought of that. Sounds kind of terrifying. How long does Hurricane season last?

 

Thanks!

 

Hurricane season is June 1st through November 30th, but 96% of major hurricanes occur between August and October.

 

Thats why rates are usually so much lower in those dates, as hurricanes either mean dangerous sailing or altered routes to avoid dangerous sailing.

 

Heres a good overview:

http://travelwithkids.about.com/od/caribbeanfamilyvacations/qt/hurricane_seaso.htm

 

Unfortunately:

Hurricane Season in the Caribbean: Different Areas

Some islands are less prone to violent storms than others, and holiday-ers can try to pick spots strategically.

 

The Dutch Caribbean "ABC" islands -- Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, are clustered close to Venezuela, and considered to be out of the main hurricane zone; Trinidad and Tobago, too, are south of the hurricane belt and rarely get hit.

 

 

Also, some say that the eastern Caribbean and US East Coast are most at risk mid-August to mid-September, whereas in the western Caribbean (which includes Mexico and Belize), the season intensifies from mid-September into early November. But Jamaica, in the western Caribbean, has mainly been hit late August-early September...

 

Unfortunately, Mother Nature isn't reading any calendars or maps.

 

Forecasts for 2010 Hurricane Season

Still, every year hurricane specialists give their best shot at forecasts for the hurricane season. For example, the Tropical Meteorology Project at Colorado State University has ongoing Tropical Storm Forecasts. Their 2009 forecast predicted "slightly below-average activity for the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season" and indeed 2009 was lenient. Unfortunately, for 2010:

 

 

•"We foresee an above-average Atlantic basin tropical cyclone season in 2010 and anticipate an above-average probability of U.S. and Caribbean major hurricane landfall.".

This forecast dates from 9 December 2009; check the site for updates.

 

Meteorologists are notoriously bad at predictions though :)

 

As long as youre intelligent about when you go where, and have the necessary precautions set in case your trip is affected, theres no need to worry about it

[QueenDido]

This discussion has made me think that maybe we'd be better off paying the premium for a summer or Spring Break time frame cruise and being able to avoid Hurricanes, have a bit of a younger crowd, and still enjoy the advantages of Celebrity.

 

I am also doing some research into Princess.

[Lois R]

Hurricane Season!

 

I hadn't thought of that. Sounds kind of terrifying. How long does Hurricane season last?

 

Thanks!

 

Starts June 1st....goes to Nov 30th....some seasons there are none,

while other seasons....2004 and 2005 were horrific:(

2004 we had 4 of them....(Florida) and of course 2005 was Katrina.

Last couple of years have been nice and calm:)

I see you live in Georgia...surprised you don't know about hurricane season?

[greg_atlanta]

But summer (and holidays) also means the crowd is a bit too young...... lots of families with young children.

 

Newer ships tend to attract a younger crowd -- so do lower prices!

[Lois R]

But summer (and holidays) also means the crowd is a bit too young...... lots of families with young children.

 

Newer ships tend to attract a younger crowd -- so do lower prices!

 

Hi Greg,:) actually Hurricane season brings lower prices too;)

[royalcruz]

I have gone on RCCL the second week of September several times because they offer great pricing, but with great pricing comes a wild crowd. Celebrity is offering great pricing the same week, and it might be really enjoyable for you, more refined but not too mature. On the other hand, you might find it too boring and stuffy at your age. I didn't enjoy Celebrity in my 20s but loved it in my 30s. The Solstice has a really cool martini bar/lounge.

[Straughn]

I completely understand your concern about being the young kids on the cruise. I have been on several Celebrity and RCCL cruises in the early to mid September time frame. I don't recall the numbers of folks over 50 being any greater or lesser than any other time of the year. I will say that the Holland America cruise I did one March had, by far, the oldest population I have ever encountered on any cruise line with any destination. I think the ratio of passengers with walkers/canes/wheelchairs/scooters compared to those w/o was about 2 to 1.

 

I think what you need to focus on, more than age, is the overall style of cruising for which a line is noted. X is definitely going to have a more sedate crowd, regardless of age, than RCCL or Carnival. I cruised on Mercury last November and found that there were plenty of people, of all ages, in the disco late into the evening. Were they out of control and over alcoholed- absolutely not. They were having a good time dancing and enjoying whatever event the Cruise Director and her staff had organized. I didn't witness any inappropriate behavior on the entire cruise. The demographics were mixed: a lot of familes ranging from small babies to 80+ folks-but no one age range dominated. On all my X cruises, I have seen plenty of passengers in their 20-30's who want to have a good time but don't need the "party-hardy" style of cruising.

 

As several PP have noted, in early September,what you won't have is a lot of school age kids running up and down the halls and cannon balling into the pools. For me, that is a more annoying occurrence than elderly people napping quietly in the Solarium.

[gtexan]

This discussion has made me think that maybe we'd be better off paying the premium for a summer or Spring Break time frame cruise and being able to avoid Hurricanes, have a bit of a younger crowd, and still enjoy the advantages of Celebrity.

 

I am also doing some research into Princess.

 

 

The most young people will be during the summer, when wedding season is in full swing, as you'll get tons of honeymooners. But this can be a mixed blessing hehe :)

 

As for hurricane season, its a bit of a risk, but its also better to be on a boat than on a resort, because at least the boat can move out of the way while you're totally stuck at whatever resort you happen to be at.

 

You can always book the extra insurance in case your worried, and then just cancel if it looks daunting closer to the debarkation date.

 

The weather people forcasted a wet winter (el nino year) and because of el nino, its possible we could have a bad hurricane season (as we did the last el nino years)

[QueenDido]

Thanks for all the tips, guys! I wound up booking for spring instead of September, and sticking with Celebrity. March 6 2011 here we come!