Not getting any younger? Well cruise passengers really are!

I was recently reading an article on a daily newspaper about how the age of people who choose to go on a cruise for their holiday is changing. It seems that passengers under the age of 26 who cruise has increased by 46% year on year.

It’s no secret that the cruise lines are building much bigger ships and therefore they want to tap in to every market possible in order to fill up the huge number of cabins on every sailing. An empty cabin is a loss for the cruise line, so they are trying to appeal to a broad range of travellers.

We are now seeing waterslides and water parks as the norm on new ships. Harmony of the Seas & Carnival Vista, both launched this year are prime examples. Kids can also meet some of their favourite animated characters whilst on board such as the Dreamworks characters on Royal Caribbean ships, Nickelodeon characters on NCL, Disney have all their famous faces and now MSC have teamed up with LEGO & designed colourful new play areas on board their ships. Every day, kids  can play with a great selection of LEGO bricks and equipment in their Mini and Juniors Clubs and see giant Lego characters roaming the ship.

Even Fred Olsen, a cruise line not renowned for being particularly family friendly have also just announced a brand new kids club across their fleet of 4 ships called Little Skippers which will operate during the peak holiday times.

Themed cruises are also increasing, with several themes covering different musical generations – 60’s, 70’s 80’s etc. A party cruise to attract a younger clientele with top DJ’s on board sails on the 11th of June next year on Jewel of the Seas. Cult TV show The Walking Dead fans may be interested in the ‘Walker Stalker’ cruise, where passengers are invited to snap a selfie with some of the series’ biggest stars. This is on the Norwegian Pearl next February. P&O’s ever popular Strictly Come Dancing cruises are still going strong and the celebrity chefs they are working with are also proving to draw a lot of people on board.

In this age of modern technology for people that can’t bare to not be connected to wifi or switch off from social media the cruise lines have invested heavily in connectivity on board. Personally I think it’s nice to have a break from it.

So it’s no surprise that the average age of the cruise passengers is rapidly getting lower. Do you think that’s a good thing? Leave a comment. I’d be interested to know your thoughts.

Bye for now!