I see a lot of replies to reviewers who complain about their cruise being more older people which blame the reason for the lack of 20- and 30-somethings on the time of the cruise. I’ve seen this said for Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises (young people don’t want to “give up” their holidays to go on a cruise), mid October and mid February cruises (most young people can’t afford to randomly take time off from school or work), and mid summer cruises (that’s when parents are going to be taking their young kids on cruises, and also when cruises are more expensive so younger people can’t afford it).

So what does that leave?? Spring Break cruises and cruises the last week of May (when college is out but elementary/middle/high school isn’t out yet)? The thing is, Spring Break and Finals are at different weeks during March and May for different colleges. And here in Florida, a lot of the elementary/middle/high school Spring Breaks are at the same time as college Spring Break, and let out for summer the same time as colleges. Plus that’s when cruises are expensive. Plus that’s when a lot of music festivals (that young people would rather spend their money on) are happening.

For background, my friends (a group of 3-4 of us) and I are28-36, no kids, and all have good jobs. And yes, (gasp) we would rather go on a cruise where there are more girls aged 18-38 🤷‍♂️ Or even just groups in their 20s and 30s to meet and hang out with.

So—any advice (without judgement on whether this is ageist or shallow or in some other way not what we should prioritize 🙄) on which time (and I guess cruise line, if you REALLY think it matters that much) is best for that?