Determine Fellow Passengers on a Cruise

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You're ready to book a cruise but you're wondering what type of other passengers might be on your ship. As a general rule, short cruises, especially the "cruise to nowhere" and the three-day cruises attract a younger crowd. Carnival Cruise Lines used to be known as party ships but other than these cruises of very short duration that's no longer true. Here are some hints to help you pick the cruise with the best passenger complement for your lifestyle.

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Decide what you'd like to do on your cruise. Do you prefer to sleep in or get up early? Do you like dinner at five or six o'clock or do you prefer dinner around eight p.m.? Will you be catching the sun's latest rays until as late as possible? Will you be dancing 'til the wee hours? If you're into late dancing and night clubbing, you'll probably want a ship with a younger crowd who also enjoy this. If you like tours and adventures, which start early in the day, you'll be with passengers who will usually retire to their staterooms long before the partying ends in the night clubs.;

Estimate a budget for your cruise. In general, longer cruises get older passengers that have the time and money for a longer cruise. More expensive cruise lines (Crystal, Seabourne, Silversea) usually attract an older crowd with more money. There are also fewer children on longer cruises and on the more expensive lines.;

Visit CruiseCritic.com and CruiseMate.com. Both sites have great articles and message boards about the different ships and which line is best known for certain types of cruisers.;

Determine when you want to travel. If you go during spring break, almost every cruise will be full of partying college kids. In the summer, many cruises will have a large percentage of children on board. This is also true during the winter holiday season. The Alaskan cruise season (mid-May through mid-September) usually attracts a very active group with a good amount of children; their evenings end early. (I'm a late night person and I was almost always the only one enjoying a late drink or a cup of coffee at midnight.);

Pick where you might like to go on your cruise. Many of the seven-day Mexican and Caribbean cruises attract a younger crowd than a fourteen-day cruise to South America. A cruise originating in Europe will have a larger complement of Europeans. (NOTE: European passengers are more apt to smoke than their American counterparts and most of the ship's public areas allow smoking.);

Decide what cruise line(s) you're interested in using. The European lines (Costa, MSC, etc.) will have more Europeans (and smokers) on board and there will not be as many English-speaking passengers. Again, the more expensive lines will have an older crowd.;

Determine who is cruising with you. If you have children accompanying you, you'll want to choose a line with a good children's program for their ages. There will be more children on cruises in general during the summer months and during the winter holiday season.;

Book your cruise when you've narrowed your choices down to a few selections. If you use a travel agent, you might double-check as to the type of passengers that might be cruising with you. But, in the end, you'll find similar people on most cruises as you choose the various activities you participate in.;

Unless you're with a group of your own, much of the fun on a cruise is meeting and getting to know your table mates. Be sure to request if you want a large group, all couples, all singles and/or all women or all men at your table.;

Don't care for your table mates? Too many people at your table? Not enough people at your table? Just go to the maitre'd and request a change. It's best to do this on the second day.;

http://www.cruisecritic.com

http://www.cruisemates.com