princess cruise, or retirement home?

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Thanks... I honestly can't see that the OP is saying all elderly people are obnoxious, but it certainly sounds like they saw their share of it on that cruise. Bottom line is they experienced what they experienced, and all these defenders of the elderly were not there, so how can the assert that the OP just hates elderly people and was focusing on other peoples conversations. As I said, it is difficult to ignore when people are very loudly complaining a great deal.

 

Yes, but . . .

 

The title of the thread? "princess cruise or retirement home?" Does that not infer everyone was elderly? It's all in the presentation. Just saying . . . :)

[vince_g]

Yes, but . . .

 

The title of the thread? "princess cruise or retirement home?" Does that not infer everyone was elderly? It's all in the presentation. Just saying . . . :)

 

The title is misleading... I personally haven't experienced the majority of passengers being 80 or older on a Princess cruise. Now Cunard maybe...

[beatriz22]

sorry, but any of his there or nt, read how written.. his comments are offensive to older people, weather we are all there or not; and yes you can tune anyone out if you want.,..cruise ships are pretty big...and anywhere you are , there are bound to be people who annoy you, if youre on a vacation you should accept you are not at home with your friends;so be ready to be around some people youre not gonna like for 1 reason or another,.but "elderly" like anyone else have a right to complain, be happy, be loud, or quiet or anything , theyre are people..agrip should go to carnival cruises with 20 yr olds and party up.. if youre going to put yourself in a certain surrounding then deal with whatever goes your way and move on..I hear some retirement places are pretty rocking!

[icemaiden]

hi

i`m sitting here laughing at the posts and i suppose i would put myself in the prime of my life yrs, but the original post does refer to grumpy and moaning, but is the poster who is complaining about cruise or retirement home not moaning his or herself, no offence to the thread starter but everyone has a moan at something at sometime, we are human afterall

 

linda:p

[Kerry&LuAnn]

We've just been comparing the annual cost of living in a retirement home to the cost of staying on a cruise ship for a year. The cruise ship turns out to be a much better deal! So, when we retire, we're going to sell everything, board the first in a non-ending series of cruises, and never come home! :D

[Cruzin2paradise09]

The title is misleading... I personally haven't experienced the majority of passengers being 80 or older on a Princess cruise. Now Cunard maybe...

 

Exactly! DH and I were on the Crown on a 9-day in June -- it was very mixed. But it does come down to time of year . . . I would imagine an October cruise will have older crowd since schools are in session so the younger adults would be at home with their kids . . .

 

i`m sitting here laughing at the posts and i suppose i would put myself in the prime of my life yrs, but the original post does refer to grumpy and moaning, but is the poster who is complaining about cruise or retirement home not moaning his or herself, no offence to the thread starter but everyone has a moan at something at sometime, we are human afterall

 

 

You are correct, we all do moan and groan. But, again, there's is (and this is just MY opinion) standard moaning and groaning and then there's being kinda rude . . .

 

We weren't there - none of us. Rudeness is in the eye of the beholder (my grandma used to say that). And there's no excuse for a lack of courtesy. But, when you hear other people talking, and they aren't talking to you, do you REALLY know if they are just having a conversation about opinions/observations or are they really truly complaining? My opinion is no, you do not know that. Just like we do not know tone of "voice" on a message board.

 

The OP actually had a thread started over the summer (that I actually responded to) asking about the age range on Princess. But the OP never indicated when she'd be cruising or anything. So, nobody here misled her per se. She just didn't ask a specific enough question. Oh well.

[MiamiTraveler]

Wow, I thought the dress code in the dining room threads were bad. I think I am going to tune this thread all together. :)

[Capt. Mike]

You know folks it just comes down to being kind to others. We have been cruisers and world travelers for 40 years and I can relate to little of every post here. As I get older I see some of my friends and family becoming grouchy as they get older, most were powerful people in their earlier years and have a terrible time adjusting. My father-in-law is like that, he 92, a self made man and has outlived all his friends and almost his entire generation. Kinda sad. Before going odffon the old folks, try saying hi, you might be surprised what you may learn!

 

PS: Retiring on a cruise ship is cheaper than a retirement home. I pay the bills for father in law's, and it is true.

 

With that being said, these old farts are off to San Juan in the morning to catch the Crown Princess. At 0200 hours on Sunday morning you will find us in the disco celebrating my 62 birthday.

[stewartfan]

I understand what the person who started this thread is saying. I was on this cruise as well! I'm gay and was not part of the "bears" this was a shock to me as well. everyone on the cruise complained and complained about everything and the bears and the gays on the cruise. so now i'm going to complain about the old people on the cruise not all but the ones who i heard and seen complain about the dumbest things. like a finger print on the mirror in the elevator. everywhere i went elderly people were complaining. i kept my mouth shut about alot of things on the cruise. so since they can complain about gay and every little thing i have a right to complain about them. i had this elderly lady come up to me while i was outside on deck 7 and said to me can you belive that princess let all these gay's on the ship. i told her well they paid and i'm gay as well she gasp. and walked away.

[Colo Cruiser]

I understand what the person who started this thread is saying. I was on this cruise as well! I'm gay and was not part of the "bears" this was a shock to me as well. everyone on the cruise complained and complained about everything and the bears and the gays on the cruise. so now i'm going to complain about the old people on the cruise not all but the ones who i heard and seen complain about the dumbest things. like a finger print on the mirror in the elevator. everywhere i went elderly people were complaining. i kept my mouth shut about alot of things on the cruise. so since they can complain about gay and every little thing i have a right to complain about them. i had this elderly lady come up to me while i was outside on deck 7 and said to me can you belive that princess let all these gay's on the ship. i told her well they paid and i'm gay as well she gasp. and walked away.

 

 

Thanks for your take on this too. :)

[beatriz22]

there are rude people, uneducated people, prejudiced, all ages everywhere..just gotta go on and ignore it and be happy!!!

[COMBOY]

In Novemer 1990 I decided to go with my parents on a Princess Panama canal cruise. About a month before the cruise my mother got ill and could not go and my father of course stayed home. My parents insisted I go on without them. Once I boarded the ship in Acapulco there looked like there wasn't anyone under 70 - I was shocked. Prior this cruise my family and I went on summer cruises on RCCL with a very mixed crowd. I was 29 at the time and after 3 days I almost got off the ship in Costa Rica and flew home because I really felt out of place. I did have a nice dinner table of two really fun elderly sisters from Orlando, FL, a nice couple from Calfornia and a younger lady who was a tour leader for a travel agency hosting 50 on board so I decided to stay onboard the ship as I really enjoyed their company. Since I was traveling by myself they all kind of took me under their wing. After a week into the cruise there was a few other younger people whom finally appeared with as well as some of the younger entertainment staff. We all ended up hanging out together and having a blast. Moral of the story....sometime you just have to make lemonade out of lemons. I still think out of the 30+ since cruises I've been on it was one of my most memorable cruises. No, it wasn't a party cruise with the disco going into all hours; however, the transit of the Panama canal was spectacular, the food incredible and the ship (first Royal Princess) was beautiful and great table mates. I was incredibly lucky to had been able to cruise in such luxury at an early age. All in all it turned out better than I first thought.

 

Princess is a great line; however, my experience is that the passenger mix all depends on the time of year, destination and duration. I don't think your TA mislead you per se, but I think you probably would have better off on Carnival this time of year. Their are risk in any vacation you take - weather, crime, mechanical breakdown, passenger mix, etc,. No guarantees. Best of luck on your next cruise.

[tcdtcd]

I'm really sorry that our generation seems to have raised such a crop of whining, intolerant brats -- not many, thank heaven, but enough to make me respond to this OP.

I, too, used to think of anyone over 50 as "elderly," but as I enter my 80th decade, I'm grateful that I have the health and the income to holiday as I see fit.

So you don't like older people? Fine. Stay away from us and rock away in your little corner. Just remember that growing older is mandatory, while growing up is discretionary.

Flame me if you will.

 

:eek: 80th decade?? :eek:

Guillermo, DO tell us your secret!! You don't look a day over 625!!:)

[NavySis]

That sounds like a good plan. I would love to do that also. Maybe by the time I retire there will be ships like residencesea that are more reasonably priced so us non-millionares can own a place on a cruise ship.

[Guillermo]

:eek: 80th decade?? :eek:

Guillermo, DO tell us your secret!! You don't look a day over 625!!:)

 

Well, so much for my vaunted proofreading skills!

That aside, the secret of my longevity is in my easy-going manner, reluctance to criticize, and the avoiding of name-calling!http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Talking

[hubble]

I'm 42 and just returned last week from a 16 night Canada/New England Colonial cruise I took with my 65 year old Mother. It was the best vacation I've ever taken! I knew there would be a lot of older people on board and thought my Mom would enjoy it and meet new people closer to her age. I met some of the most friendly interesting people on this cruise. Very talkative, polite and a true pleasure to spend time with. I would guess there were less than 50 guests on board under 50 years of age. Even my Mom at 65, was on the younger side of the demographics. I must say, I would take the older crowd any day over the teenagers and a loud partying crowd of 20 somethings (been there, done that... on Carnival). I go on vacations for rest and relaxation, and I've found that on Princess.

 

Only with an older crowd will you every see parallel parking for the electric SCOOTERS in the dining room! We got a big laugh the first time we saw it. These "old folks" get around, have fun and don't let life pass them by just because they've hit their twilight years and are retired. Even aches & pains and hip replacements don't stop them. Most were far more active than I am, and I had a hard time keeping up with many twice my age. We especially loved anytime dining on this trip. It gave us a chance to meet many new people, hear facinating stories and in the end it really made me hope that I have a life as active and fullfilling as the new friends we made on this trip.

 

I always travel off season to avoid the crowds. In doing that, I do end up with the older crowd of cruisers. Summertime, and holiday sailings are a much younger and family oriented crowd. As are 7 days sailings versus the longer itineraries (especially Caribbean and Mexico).

[rugbypopsie]

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!

 

 

I generally assume the longer and more expensive the cruise the more likely to have an older age group, however it is kinda nice to be one of the "young ones" (I am rapidly approaching 60! Yikes...) the age range has never bothered us in any way on any of our cruises. Going on a 42 night one so I guess the others will be around 100 good for them...hope I will still be out doing my thing then.

[azsunshine]

my whole point of the post was that people were way older than 50 or 60, they were more like 80ish. And if those people are on and want to have a good time and party with the rest of us also fine. But when they are grumpy, and complain about every little thing that is not like they are used to at home, or when they are belittling the staff about the smallest things, that's when I have a problem.

 

I heard so many times on that cruise, people yelling at staff about things like "i want my donut now!!!" or how the coffee is awful or how come the ice cream guy would not scoop out 4 scoops of ice cream in four bowls for them to eat themselves. And complaining about gay men?!?!? I can't believe how close minded they are. I heard complaints about the choices of Halloween costumes and many more complaints. And no, most of "the bears" were not young, and yes I did go and "party" with them. but when there are only 3 girls in a club with shirtless men it's a little intimidating. Let them have their own fun.

 

I think that older people is fine. I think the cruiseline caters to them just a little too much. Most of the activities were geared towards the seniors on board and it just makes it a little less fun for the younger people.

 

A dear friend of mine loves the following quote. "as you are, I once was, as I am now, you someday will be". I hope you learn to enjoy all the time in between, and never quit looking for or creating your own celebrations!

 

I just returned from 10 days on the Emerald, and the group was certainly older, but no where near an average of 80! Are you sure you know what 80 looks like? I did not hear a single complaint from our group of 24 and the ages ranged from 45 to 75, and we were all cruise critic members meeting on board. We toured together, drank together, and had a grand time. You are critcising the people who made comments about the gay group on board, are you not doing the same thing to the "80" year olds? You are placing them in the same group by biased viewing. I can't believe how closed minded you are!

[fathercop]

AGRIP76 - I was on that cruise, too. I definitely saw more than 100 women under 40 on that cruise. *ouch* (DW just whacked me on the back of the head.) I think I was whacked on the back of the head about 300 times - I told her I was appreciating God's beauty, but I am more than happy with her. She didn't whack me for that last comment. :)

 

As far as the older crowd goes, I noticed that this particular cruise there was a larger group of "older" people - whatever that means. But if you would have been on my August 2006 cruise on the CB, we had OVER 600 passengers who were 18 and under, out of 3,000.

 

On the Diamond, September 2006, we had probably about 500 passengers who were 35 and under, out of 2900.

 

Each cruise is very different and of course every cruise has the obvious complainers who are not happy about a single dam^ thing.

 

On our cruise, though, I had the best time of any cruise I have been on to date. It was a blast!!! And I got a hefty bar bill to prove it, too!:D

 

I think you will just find that every cruise is very different. For example, when we were in Alaska, on Princess ships, we saw the Carnival ships (you know, the fun ships, with the young crowds of twenty somethings?) and the passengers getting off at the ports certainly seemed like they were much older than twenty something.

 

In the end, when you book a cruise, you just never know what you will find....kinda like a box of chocolates....:)

[fathercop]

AZSUNSHINE - Very good post and very much too the point. I learned something very important when I was in my twenties - being twenty something only lasts 10 years.

 

(AND WASN"T IT A GREAT CRUISE, ANYWAY???? WHAT A BLAST WITH THE CCers!!! *Fathercop covers his head so he won't get whacked by DW* The most beautiful, shapely, funny, friendly, energetic, spirited person I met was a woman from CA, who was dressed as yacht captain for Halloween, and she told me she just finished a wedding for one of her daughters. I swear she did not look a day over 32-33. I gave her a couple of police patches to take home as a souvenir. *ouch*)

[Essiesmom]

On my first 'modern day' cruise, Royal Princess 1999, I quickly concluded that the longer the cruise, the more 'exotic' the itinerary, the older the passenger average. I was with my sister, and we were in our 50's. My subsequent cruises haven't changed that opinion. Yes, Princess is more expensive than RCCL or Carnival...So maybe the percentage is a bit higher...But I can have a good time no matter the mix. The important part is to be 'on the boat'. We were on the Inaugural Cruise of the Star Princess in 2002. One day we found two empty seats with an older (than us) couple...And he kept up a continual monologue about how bad the ship/service/food was. Got the feeling he wouldn't be happy being happy. We just gobbled our food and left. E

[beatriz22]

I will "party" any day with my great parents who are in thier late 70's 80's, we all took a cruise together last yr , it was great,.age can be in the mind ..altho physically its not, ..1 of the wildest nights my sister and I ever ever had was with some adults who actually are pals of our parents, we'd gone back to the town we were from, our parents were not with us, these wonderful "older" people threw a party to welcome us, to this date I have never ever been to a wilder party or had a better time..took us days to recover, these people can party!!!.we were taught to give tons and tons of respect to those elder than us, whatever the age, we all can complain about something and no one is forced to listen to any of us ever..., the elderly have wisdom!!! respect them always...

[beatriz22]

I will "party" any day with my great parents who are in thier late 70's 80's, we all took a cruise together last yr , it was great,.age can be in the mind ..altho physically its not, ..1 of the wildest nights my sister and I ever ever had was with some adults who actually are pals of our parents, we'd gone back to the town we were from, our parents were not with us, these wonderful "older" people threw a party to welcome us, to this date I have never ever been to a wilder party or had a better time..took us days to recover, these people can party!!!.we were taught to give tons and tons of respect to those elder than us, whatever the age, we all can complain about something and no one is forced to listen to any of us ever..., the elderly have wisdom!!! respect them always...

[arabrab]

I understand what the person who started this thread is saying. I was on this cruise as well! I'm gay and was not part of the "bears" this was a shock to me as well. everyone on the cruise complained and complained about everything and the bears and the gays on the cruise. so now i'm going to complain about the old people on the cruise not all but the ones who i heard and seen complain about the dumbest things. like a finger print on the mirror in the elevator. everywhere i went elderly people were complaining. i kept my mouth shut about alot of things on the cruise. so since they can complain about gay and every little thing i have a right to complain about them. i had this elderly lady come up to me while i was outside on deck 7 and said to me can you belive that princess let all these gay's on the ship. i told her well they paid and i'm gay as well she gasp. and walked away.

 

 

Good for you. We brought my MIL on a cruise a few years ago when she was in her late 70's, and her complaints never stopped. My favorite was her complaint about the (incredibly attentive) cabin steward: he didn't leave her extra washcloths. Did she ask for them? No, she was annoyed because he didn't notice that she'd always used the ones she started the day with. :rolleyes: This guy was so incredibly nice and helpful about everything we asked for -- if she'd have asked for washcloths, I'm sure he would have left her a dozen. He was always around, and kept the cabins spotless. At dinner she shared with everyone at the table her litany of health problems and dietary restrictions -- on multiple nights. This room was too cold, that room was too hot. It was incredibly annoying. I love her to pieces, but the constant complaining made her very difficult to cruise with. On the other hand, she was not nearly as bad as one of the folks with a scooter -- she was either legally blind, incapable of driving, or simply careless beyond belief as she physically ran into people trying to navigate around.

 

We have dinner every month with a large group of couples of wildly varying ages. There are quite a few delightful and interesting couples in their 70s, and a few whiners in the same age group. I'm sorry that so many of the whiners chose to take the same cruise as the OP. (Though the ones I feel really sorry for are the staff.)

[Pam in CA]

I've been on cruises where there were a lot of very elderly and on other cruises with a much higher percentage of younger people. Some of the loudest, nastiest, rudest groups were on Christmas cruises to the Caribbean where there were many, many families and "younger" passengers. Crabbing and complaining isn't confined to the "elderly."

 

As has been said, it really depends on the itinerary, time of the year and length of the cruise. It's unreasonable to expect a lot of under-50s on a 10+ day cruise in November. Except for a very few school districts, most families will have kids in school or will be saving their money to travel when their kids are out of school. The people with the time and the means to take longer cruises with more exotic itineraries are not the ones with families; they're the older and the elderly. Basic research would have told you that and revised your expectations.

 

On my HAL cruise last summer, there was a 96 year-old lady cruising completely on her own at our table. She flew from Philadelphia to Amsterdam, boarded the ship and there she was. She was a HOOT! She had a twinkle in her eye and was ready to try anything and everything. I'd rather cruise with her than many others.