princess cruise, or retirement home?

[agrip76]

We just got back from the emerald princess on 10/27, and I have to say I was in shock with the amount of elderly people on the cruise. I first have to say, the ship was beautiful, and we had the time of our lives. We had a mini suite, and I would never go cruising without one. The service was excellent, and the islands were so much fun. The staff went out of their way to show everyone a good time. Here is the sad part, and I am not exaggerating. Out of 3000 people on the Emerald, there were less than 100 people under 40. I honestly would say the average age was 75 or 80. And one more thing, I have never met such close minded people on a cruise. We cruised with "the bears" and people complained that they should have been told they would be on our cruise because they would not have gone.

 

First of all it's against the law. Should the cruise call you and say "there is a large group of white people on the ship" or "there is a huge african american group coming on the Emerald" Wake up people, they didn't bother anyone, they stayed to themselves and had a good time. And I didn't hear them complain half as much as the elderly people on the cruise. Maybe I am just way too young, but I have never heard so much complaining about everything on the cruise!!!! The cruise can't read your mind, they are not going to do things exactly the way you want it!!!!

 

For those looking for a cruise that are under 50 or those that want more of a "alive" feeling on your vacation, don't choose Princess. Choose carnival. They know how to have a good time.

[ClipperMiami]

We just got back from the emerald princess on 10/27, and I have to say I was in shock with the amount of elderly people on the cruise. I first have to say, the ship was beautiful, and we had the time of our lives. We had a mini suite, and I would never go cruising without one. The service was excellent, and the islands were so much fun. The staff went out of their way to show everyone a good time. Here is the sad part, and I am not exaggerating. Out of 3000 people on the Emerald, there were less than 100 people under 40. I honestly would say the average age was 75 or 80. And one more thing, I have never met such close minded people on a cruise. We cruised with "the bears" and people complained that they should have been told they would be on our cruise because they would not have gone.

 

First of all it's against the law. Should the cruise call you and say "there is a large group of white people on the ship" or "there is a huge african american group coming on the Emerald" Wake up people, they didn't bother anyone, they stayed to themselves and had a good time. And I didn't hear them complain half as much as the elderly people on the cruise. Maybe I am just way too young, but I have never heard so much complaining about everything on the cruise!!!! The cruise can't read your mind, they are not going to do things exactly the way you want it!!!!

 

For those looking for a cruise that are under 50 or those that want more of a "alive" feeling on your vacation, don't choose Princess. Choose carnival. They know how to have a good time.

With any luck you will be unfortunate enough to be that age one day ... when you are try not to complain too much, someone younger may not like it.

[imagine1]

Mind telling us who "the bears" are?

[agrip76]

I'm not complaining, i'm stating a fact. People don't have to agree with being gay or lesbian but to loudly complain about them is rude. I also think a lot of travel agents and Princess as well, give misleading information about the age range on their cruise line. I was told by my travel agent and the cruise line that they have almost a 50/50 ratio of younger and older people. They should not tell people that.

 

We were not expecting a spring break party, but a little more lively nightlife on the ship would have been nice.

[Colo Cruiser]

Mind telling us who "the bears" are?

 

http://www.bearcruise.com/

 

bear voyage 2007 dot com

[SoSueMe]

Hmmmm. I'll take "Princess Cruise". Thanks. :D

 

Sorry you had a bad experience. I read a lot of similar comments about Holland America and as a result picked Princess for our first cruise. On our 10/7 cruise on Caribbean Princess we were very pleased at the broad age range. Not many kids, but lots of 20-somethings and 30-somethings (there were 9 weddings onboard that week, not counting those married on land and honeymooning). Great nightly entertainment with plenty of choices.

 

Carnival?! No thanks, definitely not my taste.

[cruiserjanet]

I'm with SoSueMe on this one. On each of our Princess cruises, our dinner tablemates had kids that were older than us. We were so fortunate to get the tablemates we had because we had the best time with them. So many interesting conversations. We would walk down the hallways and hear other people complaining but we would ignore them because we were having a good time. We've had conversations at breakfast where people were complaining but we would try and turn the conversation toward the positive and thus ended breakfast on a good note. Looking forward to many cruises on Princess.

[Sea Fan]

Agrip76~its good you know what you don't want...Carnival sounds like a good fit for you. I have been on several Princess cruises with all ages and types. I'm in my 50's and really active I enjoy the senior cruisers as well as the Bears (Gay Men usually hairy) the name cracks me up. The cruises I have been on have had a great mix and I have enjoyed them all. I understand that sometimes special groups tend to cause certain areas of the ship to be closed. That would be a problem, but not one have run into. In 20 years or so I will be one of those elderly cruisers...it's a whole different world with different issues. Try to be a little tolerant because you will be there some day.

The longer the cruise usually the older the crowd, I have partied with some of this older crowd...they put me to shame.

Viva La Difference

Dianne

[Starz723]

Ive only cruised in July, partly because my son is out of school. He's 15.

 

Correct me if Im wrong, but during the summer months wont you find alot more families and younger people cruising? Even if the cruise line you choose generally attracts an older crowd?

 

This will be my first cruise on the Princess line. Ive done 3 cruises with Carnival and had an absolute blast. It really is a fun ship. I chose Princess because I want to try something different. Im hoping its not too sedate?

 

Im hoping that sailing in July will bring a more diverse crowd on Princess.

 

Any comments?'

 

Thanks

 

Marge

 

 

Sailing Carribean Princess

July 10, 2008

[tamariadawn]

My husband and I were also on the 10/27/07 10 day Emerald Princess cruise. We are 42 and 43 years of age. We again were the youngest persons on the bus to take us to Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale). This was our 4th Princess cruise. We did Carnival when we were 26 and thought the others were old, too--but not to the point of noticing them being "blue hairs".

 

I also noticed--again--that most of the passengers on the Princess ship were older than us. Maybe a few sprinklings of 20-30 somethings who were usually honeymooning. About 10% forty somethings like us, a few 50 somethings, and at least 60% seniors aged 65+. I figure it had something to do with older people saving their money ie: can afford to cruise. No one in my circle of friends cruises except for my inlaws and they are in their 60's.

 

What you do is just hook up with people in your age group and hang out with them. You also can socialize with the older folks (what fun would it be to cruise with just 2 other people?).

[Sea Fan]

Marge, I cruised to Alaska in August out of Seattle, and there were kids everywhere and they seemed to be having a really good time. The neat thing was we could be alone or right in the middle of the action. Never had any problems. I think if someone is concerned about too many kids they don't cruise in the summer at least not on the 7 day trips.

 

I don't think you have to worry about it being too sedate, your kids will have a ball and so will you!

 

Dianne

[JLC@SD]

Out of 3000 people on the Emerald, there were less than 100 people under 40. I honestly would say the average age was 75 or 80. And one more thing, I have never met such close minded people on a cruise.

 

......haven't you heard.....75 is the new 40......;)

[cruiserbryce]

part of me thinks this may be a seasonal thing...the average age of the Vision of the seas cruise we just did was higher than we had been on before...it really didnt affect our trip...when we cruise we tend to spend most of our time together so the avg age of the ship doesnt really do anything...I must say though...I would rather it be that way than have the average age be in the 20's and be on a spring breakish cruise...

[sledhead]

We just got off of the Crown last week and had a blast !! We are in our late 30's and we found a great mix of ages. Skywalkers was jamming till 3 am everynight !!

 

I think it might come down to the itinerary and time of year but we have been on RCL and Carnival and found Princess to be a great party !!!

[Nicola26h]

We are in our 20's and I knew when we booked that alot of older people go on cruises but I don't think it will bother us. Having never been on a cruise before I don't know what to expect but we plan to have fun together no matter who we share the ship with.

 

Reading some of the posts on here and in the Roll Calls I think the older people will give us a run for our money, I bet they'll still be up past midnight while we fall into bed!

 

As for "the bears" again that wouldn't bother us they have as much right as we do to be on holiday. Older generations were brought up when it was viewed as "wrong" so they can't help thinking like that.

[janetz]

Ive only cruised in July, partly because my son is out of school. He's 15.

 

Correct me if Im wrong, but during the summer months wont you find alot more families and younger people cruising? Even if the cruise line you choose generally attracts an older crowd?

 

This will be my first cruise on the Princess line. Ive done 3 cruises with Carnival and had an absolute blast. It really is a fun ship. I chose Princess because I want to try something different. Im hoping its not too sedate?

 

Im hoping that sailing in July will bring a more diverse crowd on Princess.

 

Any comments?'

 

Thanks

 

Marge

 

 

Sailing Carribean Princess

July 10, 2008

 

 

 

 

Sailing in the summer there will be many young people onboard. :)

[loveJake]

We sailed on the Carnival Glory in Dec 2005, the Star Princess in Dec 2006 and the age brackets were the same for both ships. A lot of over 70 people, wheel chairs and power chairs. We are lin our 50's and we felt young. Think it also has something to do with the time of year. We also have sailed Disney 7 times, all in August, taking our grandkids, there we felt like the over-the-hill gang. But I enjoyed the kids and younger, we are very active, better then the demanding older crowds that we met on the Star and Glory.

[spongerob]

It's a bit of a mistake to advise against Princess based on the range of ages you saw on your cruise. There are times when younger people, many of whom have families are more likely to travel, and times when you will find more older people traveling. Also, longer cruises tend to have a higher proportion of older people.

 

We've been on a couple of cruises where we felt like we were the youngest people on the ship. It didn't prevent us having a good time. Whe we run into the inevitable cranky people, we just promise ourselves that we won't be that way if we are still able to travel when we get up there.

[8 Bells]

I noticed a lot of elderly people on our cruise to the Panama Canal, but thought it was related more to the destination than anything else. Oh well .... hope I will still be able to afford it in my golden years! :)

[Cruise Junky]

To the OP, maybe it was Princess's sick sense of humour, pair you guys up with a few groups from the retirement homes and not tell you either :)

[RSWBADGER]

I'm not complaining, i'm stating a fact. People don't have to agree with being gay or lesbian but to loudly complain about them is rude. I also think a lot of travel agents and Princess as well, give misleading information about the age range on their cruise line. I was told by my travel agent and the cruise line that they have almost a 50/50 ratio of younger and older people. They should not tell people that.

 

We were not expecting a spring break party, but a little more lively nightlife on the ship would have been nice.

 

It appears the joke is on you, had you done your research before your cruise (Cruise Critics) and not taken the sole advice of your travel agent things might have been different. :confused:

 

Princess offers great cruise destinations and ships, sometimes it's what you make of the cruise, and your attitude will decide whether or not you have a good time. If you have a positive attitude you'll enjoy almost anything.

[BTfan]

In general..The longer the cruise, the older the cruisers. Particularly during the school year. A 10 day Carnival cruise probably wouldn't be much different

[agrip76]

actually the joke isn't on me. I posted many times on here asking about ages on Princess, everyone said there would be tons of younger aged people. I also DID know that there would be more of an older crowd, which we were fine with, but we did not know the average age would be 80!

[beatriz22]

I say good good good for the so called "elderly " you refer to; still wanting to get out and enjoy themselves, what did you do crash their conversations? People of ALL ages will complain about s thing or other,uneducated people , all ages and economic stratas will complain about certain types of people, not just the elderly, and if theyre not talking to you what do you care? If they are say ok and walk away...a party can be found within yoursleves..I am not "elderly" but my parents are getting up there and I repsect their joy for life and happiness in getting out and doing things...If I make to 80 I hope I am still drinking my coronas and having fun!......and taking cruises.........

[Capt. Mike]

I agree with a previous poster, any cruise over seven days will have a lot more older folks. It's a deal that comes with age, if you are retired or in my case, I'm 61 and get 6 weeks of vacation a year so I can take longer vacation. Younger folks will not waste a 2 week vacation on a ten day cruise and probably when I was younger I wouldn't either. We sailed on a 10 day a few years ago to the PC out of Galveston and I do believe we were the youngest on board. Never ever had to look for a pool chair and the disco was always empty. Luckly we were traveling with several cousins we hadn't seen in years and we made our own fun. But if we had been young it truly might have been a depressing trip.