Cruisin' as a Semi-Old Couple?

[vandy]

We will take our first cruise in 2017 and are in our mid 50's. No kids or grandkids with us, just us semi-old farts. Who has cruised as just an older couple? Would love to hear your comments and suggestions.

 

[gatordoc]

Early 50s here, and my wife and I just took our first Disney cruise last month. Just about the best vacation we've ever had, and we're booked to do another soon. We don't mind kids, but actually felt like we didn't see many except at some of the main shows. We went on some great excursions, but also took advantage of hanging out at some of the adult areas as well as the adult dining experiences. But we had a few fun character interactions too, and loved that no one cares if you let the little kid inside you come out Have a great time!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We are in our early 60's. Been cruising with Disney every year since 2000. We love DCL!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We are in our early 60's. Been cruising with Disney every year since 2000. We love DCL!

This would be us, also.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We've cruised with kids/grand kids, and without them. It's so much more relaxing with just us.

Don't let any friends tell you that Disney is just for kids. (We got that a lot after we spent our 10th wedding anniversary at WDW.) You don't have to be in your 2nd childhood to enjoy either the parks or the ships.

 

[Sir William]

We didn't start cruising until 2011 when our kids were in college. Now we average two cruises a year, with DCL being our favorite.

 

[jrabbit]

We most definitely are in that "Semi-Old" category. We have taken several cruises without the kids. Love every minute!! No Cooking, Cleaning, just leave that up to the awesome CM's onboard the ships. Eat what we want, sleep when we feel like it. Enjoy the atmosphere, the shows and other activities.

It helps that we love Disney. But it's not necessary.

A few years back we were on a Panama Canal cruise and DCL must have had "problems" filling the ship - because there was a huge group of old people with some sort of travel agent / tour operator. Talked to many of them early on in the cruise and they really were not that enthused with being on Disney. By the end of our two weeks lots and lots of them had booked their next DCL cruise.

 

[vandy]

Thanks for the replies so far. We will be doing a 4 night Bahamas on the Dream. Is there anything you really liked about your cruise (besides everything!). We aren't really night life or drinking people anymore, but may check out one of the lounges. The shows and movies look nice, but what else?

 

[jack87891]

Ditto to all the above. We did our first Disney cruise at age 53 and 51. That was just over 4 years and 6 Disney cruises ago. Number 7 is in 30 days. We've taken our adult kids on 2 cruises while the other 4 were just us. all of them were great. In fact, it's hard to imagine taking a cruise on another line

The only down side is you might become hooked and will feel like you need to play catch up!!

 

[Sir William]

Thanks for the replies so far. We will be doing a 4 night Bahamas on the Dream. Is there anything you really liked about your cruise (besides everything!). We aren't really night life or drinking people anymore, but may check out one of the lounges. The shows and movies look nice, but what else?

DW likes to relax by the pool, but I prefer to read on our veranda. I like to attend the cooking demos, and we enjoy the wine tastings. We've done brunch at Palos a couple of times. In the evenings we might enjoy the piano lounge, and we often go to the "adult" shows in the lounge, meaning there are no kids and the language can be a little more risqué than the family shows (nothing crude or vulgar). I've toured the bridge and the galley, and enjoyed walking around the ship looking at the collection of art and historical photos. Sometimes I might catch a recently released movie (saw Maleficent, Tron2, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens right after they were released). Ashore we may take an excursion, or just wander around the town on our own.

 

[MPS516]

It is really surprising how many couples our age do cruise DCL. We are not heavy party people anymore and love the more family friendly atmosphere, which does not mean parents with kids in tow. The evening is some of the best time aboard, we do show, dinner, often stop into a lounge for a bit before catching an adult live entertainer in Wavebands or Studio Sea (different names/different ships). Love sitting on deck and watching a late night movie on FunnelVision, stopping and listening to DJ and maybe a late nightcap before heading off to bed. The late evening we seem to have the ship to ourselves, seems like most of the younger couples are off to their staterooms probably getting kids to bed, much slower pace at night - very relaxing.

 

[SleepyDeb]

I'm 56 and DH is 58. Did a Southern Carribbean cruise at the end of Jan. We had a great time. We were at a table of 3 other couples who were around our age.

We like Disney because we're both just big kids. They have such a great product.

 

[ACDSNY]

We're in the same age group and have also cruised on Princess many times. DCL is our favorite, but we choose our cruises based on ports. We prefer the longer cruises. I laughed when my father towards the end of our Panama Canal cruise on Princess started telling table mates DCL knew how to take care of their passengers since he was the one that picked Princess over DCL. It's hard to explain, other than it's more personable and fun.

 

[lorimay]

We are in our 50's and cruise DCL solo a lot. We love it! Its our floating hotel that takes us to many new ports and destinations. I love what Disney offers and the cleanliness and service we get from Disney, I have yet to be enticed to try a new cruise line. I just booked cruise #13 for our 30th anniversary in 2017
I highly recommend DCL for adults.
We also travel sometimes with the kids and grandkids too. I do feel guilty when we travel without the grandkids. The always ask if we are going on "Mickey's Boat" without them.
We like the late dinner seating because we are never rushed on port days to get back on the ship early. We also love Palo for brunch and dinner at least once per cruise.
We book our port adventure's through Disney, that's just our preference. No worries about the ship leaving us behind if the excursion runs late.

Have a wonderful time

 

[kiford]

We are in our 50's, no children, but our first DCL cruise was in our 30's and our 9th with DCL was last July.

 

[Amanda129]

Thanks for the replies so far. We will be doing a 4 night Bahamas on the Dream. Is there anything you really liked about your cruise (besides everything!). We aren't really night life or drinking people anymore, but may check out one of the lounges. The shows and movies look nice, but what else?

I'm in my 30's and have never been a party/drinker/nightlife person - no kids, but have been on several Disney cruises with family (my favorite vacations!) I like sitting by the pool, enjoying the sunshine/air on the adult only decks, or just walking around to explore the ship. Sitting really anywhere and people-watching can be fun. For the organized activities, I've done some of the drawing classes, and really enjoy the cooking demos. I always book one or two spa treatments or massages as a treat.

 

[Racer X]

Hey! Who you callin old fart?! I thought 50 was the new 30?! Ditto above... fun with and without kids. Its also fun to be on a ship with so much energy.

 

[dclpluto]

DCL is the only cruiseline for me. I tried another cruiseline didn't like it. I'm 46 wife is 48. My parents have been on a few other cruise lines until I gave them a free cruise on DCL since that they have only been on DCL. There is plenty to do without kids.

 

[bobbiwoz]

69-71 here, we enjoy DCL a lot, but not exclusively.

 

[AnnaS]

We have cruised with family and friends many times. DH and I cruised a 4 night - first short one and first one as a couple only/no friends/family recently. We had a great time and will have no problem cruising alone again. We had early seating and were seated (did not request it) with three other couples similar age. Go and have fun - it's for all ages and plenty of adult only areas.