Best Mediterranean Cruise for younger couple

[scorben]

My husband and I just got married, we are in our early 30's, and I am looking for a good Medditerreanean cruise this summer. I read ship reviews and several say the average age for this type of cruise is over 50.

 

I am looking at 10-11 day Med trips on Celebrity, and 7 day on RCCL.

 

Can someone recommend the best cruise line for our age group? We like luxury, but we also like excitement.

 

I cant make a decision, please help!

:confused: :confused: SCORBEN

[dfwguy62]

I did the 12 day Med cruise on Brilliance of the Seas from RCCL in October. Average age was over 50, I'm pretty sure. But there were still a lot of 30s and 40s on the ship too. I wouldn't let that age thing stop you from taking a cruise that fits your schedule and itinerary desires. I'm 42 and never felt out of place or anything.

[Classynfun1]

I'm 26 and going to spend 22 days on Holland America Med. cruises. The way I look at it, the cruise is extremely port intensive and after a day of exploring, being in the sun, and then eating a great meal, I'll probably only have energy left for a show and/or a little dancing. HAL is perfect for that. TOO much excitement will lead to complete exhaustion the next day and I don't want to miss anything! Good luck...

[Jeepsterchick]

That was very good adivce. We were in our mid thirtys our first Med. Cruise and it was exhausing seeing all that there was to see, I think we were probably some of the earliest in bed! - Besides I dont recall sitting around with nothing but Grey haired folks, and if they were, they were sure young at heart, and that is what is important. We had a ball, and enjoyed every dinner, hearing about the days adventures.

Dont worry too much about that!

[Petoonya]

Cruised Millennium in May 2003 and there seemed to be a lot of honeymoon couples aboard- infact we did many of our private driver tours with a honeymoon couple who were late twenties. We are early 50's and I would say the average age on board was probably late 50's.

 

Have cruised many times on Celebrity and RCCL and you probably already know that Celebrity is a tad more upscale- food better and service touches a bit more elegant. Passenger/space ratio better on Celebrity too- and fewer passengers in overall on Millennium than Brilliance.

 

Have a 28 y/o son who is also planning a honeymoon and I have steered him towards Millennium- it was one of the best experiences of our lives- PERFECT honeymoon! If you do it be sure to plan a few extra days in Venice the most romantic city in the world!

 

Best wishes.....

[scorben]

would you recommend the galaxy cruise over the Spendour of the Seas?

[dogsrule]

Definitely Galaxy over Splendour-Better itinerary,ship,service, and food.

[Captain Canuck]

Just want to thank you for reminding me that I am OLD. Also, good idea to get your travel in while you are young and fit. My folks planned to travel once they were retired. Never got to do much as their health was not up to it. Have a great time.

[Trixsea]

As far as which ship, that is a matter of opinion. I have sailed on both the Spelndour and the Galaxy and I prefer the Galaxy. But that is my opinion. I like things more understated and formal. You should first decide where you want to go and for how many days.

 

By the way, I am 43.

[Bruin Steve]

I haven't sailed on the Galaxy, but I did cruise the Mediterranean on the Millennium in August of 2003...

It was NOT an older crowd...My dinner table was basically 40-somethings and 50-somethings, but the table next to us were all honeymoon couples in their 20s...With it being August and school vacation time in the US and general vacation time in Europe, there were lots of younger families on board (with the Europeans all at late seating dinner with the kids)...

 

With it being August, I think the heat scared away all of the really elderly folks...We just didn't see that many older folks on board...I'd say the bulk of the passengers were in the 35-55 range, but there were lots in the 20-35 range as well...

 

And really, the itinerary and the ship are more important...You won't have to deal with 80% of the passengers anyway and you'll fit right in with the other 20%...

 

I would choose Celebrity for the ships, the service and the food...

Plus, the itineraries are generally among the best thought out (look closely not only at the ports, but at how much time you get in each port)...

 

Good luck...

[Petoonya]

Scorben,

Ditto all the above about preferring Galaxy.

Have done Galaxy before and LOVED it.

Smaller ship, wonderful staff. You'll get all the

special touches that X is known for.

Best wishes and happy honeymoon.

[Cruzluvin]

Hi ! My husband and I are going on a med cruise on Carnival this summer. We are 26 and 28..I am assuming that we will be some of the younger adults on the cruise.

[emn]

I went on the the Splendour of the Seas two years ago and loved it.. we were early and late 30's.. Just booked the Celebrity Galaxy for September for my friend and myself (two single gals) and can't wait. I chose it for the itinerary and everyone I met on the last cruise regardless of age was great.

 

Elyse

[Queenk2]

We sailed the Splendor and loved it. This summer we are on the Galaxy... I also hope to love it. We have done many RCL and Celebrity cruises. Go with the Itinery you love, The cruise will be very port intensive so it doesn't matter who you are sailing with other than dinner. I have had a mix of dinner partners. Some of the most interesting where older than my husband and I. have fun!

[dbh62ark]

I'd like to chime in to agree with the advice given by Queenk2 and Jeepsterchick. My husband and I are in our early 40s and have been on all the European itineraries (been on 5 Med cruises) in the last 10 years. We frequently are seated with older passengers, and we have been delighted with the company at our dinner tables. We are still in touch with many of them, and I can truly say that I adore them. My husband said that when I was saying goodbye to two sisters in their 60s last year, they hugged me like I was their long lost sister. It makes me smile just thinking about them and the wonderful spirit that they have (one was recently widowed).

 

On one cruise of about 1,000 passengers, we probably only had 100 passengers under 40, but we had a BLAST!!! 50 and 60 and even 70 and 80 isn't what it used to be for sure! We like hearing the perspective of others who have more life experience than we do. Last year, while my husband was off doing some on-board sports activity while I was in a chair on the deck, I ended up talking to a WWII vet and his wife for about 3 hours instead of reading my book. I love those lazy days at sea. When I told my husband all about it, he felt like he had really missed something. We ate with them several times on that sailing. I love meeting new people of all ages--we also became friends last year with some honeymooners from Canada who were over a decade younger than us--and hearing about their life stories.

 

I like Captain Canuck's advice too. :)

 

I also agree with the statements above that you will have lots of activity and excitement in port. Generally, the casino and disco, etc. are not going to be as active on any European cruise as what you would see on a Caribbean cruise because passengers spend a lot of time in port. If that's really important to you, you might consider looking for an itinerary that has port stays well into the evening in places like Monte Carlo.

 

I agree with BruinSteve's advice regarding picking an itinerary and a ship first. If you want to find some passengers your own age on the ship, you'll find some on any European sailing. But I hope you will be open to getting to know passengers of all ages because I strongly believe that it will greatly enrich your travels. My first preference is always for itinerary, and from my perspective, longer is ALWAYS better for a cruise. :) If you combine that with a few days pre- and/or post-cruise, it's a great combination.

 

Hope you have a great trip,

Donna

[Robin G]

Great info, everyone. We're looking for a summertime Med. cruise line that would work for our 9 yr. old daughter, too. Some of the info on this thread helped me, too. We've heard the Med. cruises are mostly "old folks" especially Celebrity, which is the line we really wanted to do. We had reservations for August -- long story short, heard so much negative stuff (from cruise ship employees) that we postponed the cruise until we were more sure of what we were doing. We're probably over-thinking the whole dumb thing and should just book it and be done with it. Anyway, thanks for the input. I love CC!! :D

[steve_maureen]

My wife and I are in are thirties and have been on celebrity three times...last summer on the Galaxy in the Mediterranean. The Galaxy was great. The other trips on the Constellation and the Infinity were amazing. We were definitely on the younger end of the age range, but did not feel uncomfortable at all.

[vacationhappy]

We are in our early 40's and have chosen Princess for our upcoming cruise with our pre-teen kids. If we were not bringing the kids we probably would have chosen Celebrity Millie because we like to eat late (late seating) and enjoy a little formality.

 

However, we chose Princess primarily for their flexible dining, fresh water pools and laundry facilities. I felt that with a 3 week trip with pre- and post stays I needed to do some laundry. The kids prefer fresh water pools and we will never feel rushed to make a specific dinner schedule.

 

We do not consider this a once in a lifetime trip but more of the first of many.....;-)

[missyg176]

Have you looked into Windstar? That is what we are looking into this summer and we are also in our early 30's. Supposedly there are not many over the age of 60. Most are between 30- 50.

 

Missy