Princess for Newlyweds

[stephp6]

Hi All,

We just got back from our honeymoon on the Grand Princess 12 night Greek Isles Cruise leaving Venice June 7th.

 

As a couple in their early thirties - here is our assesment and advice for others considering Princess.

 

The ship was huge and beautiful and the service was great. Nothing bad to say about it. The tours at the port wre very well organized and very educational.

 

The only downfall about the cruise is that most of passengers were 55+ and after about 11pm there was really nothing to do but go to the casino. After about 6 days my husband got a bit antsy. We met a few other 30-something honeymooners that felt the same way.

 

I am not sure we would do a 12 nighter on Princess again. We understand that Princess is more costly and it was a longer cruise so that is the reason for the "older" passengers but we were hoping for a little late night excitement with activities onboard.

 

Just a thought to all the honeymooners out there deciding on a trip.

The port were amazing - Mykonos and Santorini were the most beautiful. We rented scooters in both islands and saw everything.

 

Cheers,

Stephanie

[kevinsac]

Steph -- congrats on your wedding....and welcome home from a mostly-fun cruise honeymoon.

 

It's a general rule amongst cruisers--the more sophisticated the itinerary, the more expensive the cruise line, the longer the cruise....the old the crowd will be. Younger generally equals shorter cruise (less vacation time at work) and a more economically-feasible itinerary (Carib or Mexico) and a party atmosphere.

 

I'm early 40s (or, mid-40s, depending on my mood for the day) and we are taking an 18-day cruise SEA-Alaska-Russia-Korea-Japan cruise this fall. I am anticipating a crowd which is generally more mature (I, too, will be that age sometime.....don;t want to call them "old!") on our itinerary.

 

I also have sailed on Cunard many times and some of the other high-end lines. There are always some young folks (dot.com retirees!) but overwhelmingly a bit older.

 

cheers

[helenb]

Congratulations!

 

I too had my honeymoon on the Grand. It left Venice on June 7th 1999 and we were on it! We had a fantastic time.

 

I agree that most of the crowd was older, but frankly at night we tried the disco and it was so full of smoke we just left. We really enjoyed dancing to the live bands in the little bars and the comedians and shows in the other bars/theatre. Of course, we were in bed by 11 pm because we were up at 7 am to make the most of the ports.

 

Yes, on longer/more expensive cruises there tends to be an older crowd, but as long as you are there for the ports then that become less of an issue. Honestly, we were paired in the dining room with another honeymoon couple and after the first night we had little to say to them. We just didn't have much in common. Meanwhile we met a number of couples in their 60s, 70s and beyond with whom we had great fun and enjoyed talking. I think it is personality that matters more than age.

 

In any case, I can tell that you enjoyed your itinerary and *that's* what you're going to remember in the years to come. Congrats again!

[MCManders99]

My DH and I cruised Sun Princess this past May in Alaska for our Honeymoon. It was Fabulous. Yes, the crowd was majority older, but it didn't bother us one bit. We are in our late 20's. We didn't go to the disco at all, excpet for when it was time for the muster drill (it was our station). We spent most of the time on our balcony. We met a few couples (same age) on their honeymoon also. But age didn't mean anything to us. We were on our honeymoon.. it was about us.. not others.

[cpr1992]

;) Will be going on our honeymoon Oct.16,2005; On the Star Princess. We are over 55, but love to party! Hope we can find some dancing after 11:00 PM. ;)

[T_Bird]

Congratulations Stephanie!

We are also in our early to mid 30s and just booked our honeymoon with Princess. We are traveling on the Sun Princess for 10 nights in the Caribbean. I assume we will spend quite a bit of time alone. However, when we feel like going out and partying, I hope we find some fellow cruisers to party with. Either way, we are both looking forward to the cruise (almost more than the wedding itself)!

 

Cheers,

Tracey