Liveaboard with fewer old people?
- Thread starter ivorynightfall
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scubafanatic
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In contrast, my company offers NO retirement benefits....no pension, no medical coverage, etc.
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Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!! Am I old? At almost 58, I guess I am well into old as defined here!! Ouch!
We did Blackbeard's several years ago and I can see how it would be easier and more fun for someone in their twenties. And yes, it's the old fogies who are generally more able to afford the more expensive dive trips.
All that aside, I've met old people (meaning my age and older) who are dull and lifeless - don't want to get stuck having to make small-talk with them. I've also met young people who are equally dull and boring. The worst are the divers who want to brag, don't want to hear about your experiences, and think they are the cat's meow. I have found them in young, old and in between - the blow-hards. Boorish people are the same on a LOB as on dry land and not of any specific age.
So my advice is to find someone to travel with so you'll have a friend to hang out with - but be open to meeting people of all ages. Pretty standard advice though, right?
We did Blackbeard's several years ago and I can see how it would be easier and more fun for someone in their twenties. And yes, it's the old fogies who are generally more able to afford the more expensive dive trips.
All that aside, I've met old people (meaning my age and older) who are dull and lifeless - don't want to get stuck having to make small-talk with them. I've also met young people who are equally dull and boring. The worst are the divers who want to brag, don't want to hear about your experiences, and think they are the cat's meow. I have found them in young, old and in between - the blow-hards. Boorish people are the same on a LOB as on dry land and not of any specific age.
So my advice is to find someone to travel with so you'll have a friend to hang out with - but be open to meeting people of all ages. Pretty standard advice though, right?
drrich2
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Glad I've been on live-aboards before; if I hadn't, I'd now be worried about being trapped at sea with the old people smell!
I've found live-aboard conversation interesting, apart from the diving, in terms of learning about what life's like where others live. Quite a range of experiences with geographic locations, jobs/careers, dive destinations they've been to and I haven't...
All good-natured teasing aside, it's not unusual for some to like at least a substantial portion of their fellows to be in a similar demographic. I don't know whether it'd mean more people in your demographic, but if you want to get some younger people in the mix, I'd consider Aggressor Fleet's Family Weeks. Neither of my Aggressor live-aboard trips were during family weeks, and I don't know how much different such a week makes on the customer base makeup, but I doubt they'd market this way if it didn't have an impact.
Richard.
I've found live-aboard conversation interesting, apart from the diving, in terms of learning about what life's like where others live. Quite a range of experiences with geographic locations, jobs/careers, dive destinations they've been to and I haven't...
All good-natured teasing aside, it's not unusual for some to like at least a substantial portion of their fellows to be in a similar demographic. I don't know whether it'd mean more people in your demographic, but if you want to get some younger people in the mix, I'd consider Aggressor Fleet's Family Weeks. Neither of my Aggressor live-aboard trips were during family weeks, and I don't know how much different such a week makes on the customer base makeup, but I doubt they'd market this way if it didn't have an impact.
Richard.
scubafanatic
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I suppose not.
Live long enough and your hearing may improve. Agilis is an amazing repository of arcane local diving information. Flora, fauna, and microenvironment. I suppose I was responding to his wry comment. I'm still trying to decide if it was intended to be ironic, sarcastic, or sardonic...
drrich2
Contributor
It would be interesting to contact a company (e.g.: Aggressor) or boat and ask how time of year impacts customer demographic. For example, if you get on www.cruisecritic.com and express a desire to cruise with few children, or you have or like kids and want plenty around, there are themes you'll see in responses:
1.) Working people often don't take over a week off at a time, and younger people often have less to spend. Long cruises, costing more by nature, tend to feature an older demographic.
2.) Many people don't like pulling kids out of school. Therefore, summer vacation, and spring and fall breaks, have more kids/families. While minors & their parents would seem most affected, I would guess college students would be, too.
3.) So, if you like kids, summer or break cruises, 7-days or less (maybe 3-4 days on spring break if you're looking for drunken college party scenes) might be just the ticket.
4.) If you avoid kids, how about a 10+ day cruise in February?
Live-aboard customers probably have different issues; most probably don't get many kids under 10 (minimum dive cert. age I think), so unless they get a lot of teen (or college) divers in summer, I doubt there's as radical a shift. But maybe some? If most parents are 18+ years older than their kids, and minimum cert. age 10, figure a lot of parents of 'certifiable' kids are in their 30's or 40's. I'd think the customer base would skew older on kids, but still...
Richard.
1.) Working people often don't take over a week off at a time, and younger people often have less to spend. Long cruises, costing more by nature, tend to feature an older demographic.
2.) Many people don't like pulling kids out of school. Therefore, summer vacation, and spring and fall breaks, have more kids/families. While minors & their parents would seem most affected, I would guess college students would be, too.
3.) So, if you like kids, summer or break cruises, 7-days or less (maybe 3-4 days on spring break if you're looking for drunken college party scenes) might be just the ticket.
4.) If you avoid kids, how about a 10+ day cruise in February?
Live-aboard customers probably have different issues; most probably don't get many kids under 10 (minimum dive cert. age I think), so unless they get a lot of teen (or college) divers in summer, I doubt there's as radical a shift. But maybe some? If most parents are 18+ years older than their kids, and minimum cert. age 10, figure a lot of parents of 'certifiable' kids are in their 30's or 40's. I'd think the customer base would skew older on kids, but still...
Richard.
When I was 10 years young, 20 seemed old. At 20 I thought I would be old at 40. Then it was 50. At 50 I decided old didn’t start til 60. Now approaching 60 I no longer consider anyone truly old unless they act it.
Nothing in common to talk about with fellow divers? :O
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