Sometimes I like to think of myself as an honorary senior. I like BINGO, hot water, black coffee, PINOCHLE… I struggle with technology, I really care about making memories, traveling, and I especially love cruising.

I thought the gentleman on the cruise ship was going to fall off of the boat… when I told him how I ended up the youngest paying person on board a Celebrity cruise ship for 12 days.

Picture it: The back of the boat or ‘Aft’ bar on a Celebrity cruise ship. We had just left port from 3 days in New Orleans. The sun is setting, the water has the colors of pinks and reds mixed with the blue water. Our boat is moving again. We were just a getting a beverage from the bar before going to see the live show in the theater in the front or ‘Bow’ of the ship.

A gentleman from a southern US state starts chatting us up thinking he was the youngest paying person on ship, seeing us and just had to know “why are you here?”
Seems a little crazy, after short introductions as you do at any sort of mixer event, he asked what we were doing on board because the ship was FULL of older adults, we guessed that the average age of the 3000 guests was at least 75, maybe 80 years old.
At first we said ‘we love cruising’ which is true, we do. And he said, but there are plenty of cruise lines for younger demographics such as ourselves.
Fair point sir, fair point.
We responded that New Orleans was a bucket list destination and when our cousin mentioned the itinerary we were ready to jump onto the trip immediately. He responded to that with a now quoted a million times phrase “Oh! You like doing hood rat s*** too?!”

Thinking that was enough to quell his curiosity, we tried to steer the conversation to something else. But it wasn’t enough..

This cruise was our 2nd cruise, and unlike Princess (our first cruise line) , Celebrity cruise line’s demographic completely different. I learned a lot by going on the 2 cruises, especially about how different ideal clients can be from each other… It’s really impressive how the two companies are fundamentally the same, but how entirely different the experiences were.

I’m still torn between the 2 lines honestly.

At the core, they both use similar boats, each room has a bed, closet, desk, and bathroom, even a tv and minifridge. They each had drink packages, and unlimited food, live entertainment, casinos, pools, hot tubs, a spa, gym, a dance club and places to sit and watch the ocean.

The way the drink packages work, the types and quality of the food were different, the decor and layouts were completely different. It was interesting to see how each chose to spend their money and what they chose to bring on board. Princess had amazing technology, with a wearable room key device they call “medallion” that helps bartenders know who you are, you use it to check in when you leave or get back on the ship, it even unlocks your room when you get close enough. Celebrity on the other had uses a hotel room key, which is fine nothing special. Princess also has screens on the walls and a really user friendly app you can use to see what’s happening on board or learn about the ports and the like. I don’t know much about Celebrity’s app, because it was broken the entire time I was on board.

Celebrity’s drink package allows you as much as you want of anything that is inside your drink package. Want a better coffee, smoothie option or specific liqueur then you’ll probably like the higher drink package. With Princess, it didn’t matter what you drank, but you were limited to a specific amount per day. I personally preferred Celebrity’s because I didn’t feel like I wanted to hoard drinks in my minifridge and I just had the package that included the beverages I wanted and never got hassled about how many I had left for the day or anything of that nature.

The types of meals on board each cruise line was similar. I love all types of foods and so it’s fun to have the opportunity to try different flavors and styles I might never try living in a landlocked state like Montana. I thought the ingredients were higher scale on Celebrity, think chicken thighs in sauce vs breaded boneless chicken in sauce. With fresh veggies and more whole ingredients, Celebrity also had a collection of made for you stations including a stir fry station, a pasta station, as well as a egg station in the mornings. Princess had better late night food options where as Celebrity only had pizza for late night snacks.

The bed on Celebrity was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever slept on, I found the spot where the two full beds touched and slept in the crack every night it had a little more squishiness on the edges of the mattress, sorry Josh. The bathroom and layout of the rooms we far superior on Princess. The TV, and fridge set up as well. On Celebrity we had a TV I think my grandma had when I was a wee kiddo. Where as Princess had a smart TV with movie streaming options that you’d see on a TV in your home.

The clientele on Celebrity was completely different (besides the group I travel with of course) than on Princess. Princess I’d say was average age mid 60’s, newly retired, empty nesters. The type you’d see at a senior center playing ping pong, staying active and playing cribbage. Celebrity was a little more upper class, older demographic by 10-15 years. There were more oxygen tanks, and walkers being used by patrons. Everyone I met had been lifelong “Celebrity people” cruising all the time, and taking advantage of the status that affords you on board ship, better rooms, better service, better amenities, and better dining options. All of those things exist on Princess, but everyone talked about it on Celebrity, it was a thiiiing to be a “Celebrity person.”

The entertainment at it’s core was similar on both, they have the production shows put on by the cruise line, and comedians come in. I’ve seen magic shows on both and musicians that will amaze you! There are shows safe for kids (neither line had a lot of kids on it) and after 10pm shows were no longer safe for children’s eyes.
Celebrity’s production shows had acrobats that would use silks to fly around above the audience, they had the 4th top violinist play a show, and top notch comedians. I thought their shows were just a step above Princess. With really amazing sets, costumes, and talent. Even the production director was a gem on Celebrity.

The staff on both ships were top notch, second to none. I think that the Princess ship had more English speaking staff members, and I think that they have more freedom to engage with the patrons. Celebrity felt more servant like and less engaging, it took me a few days to find staff members that would crack jokes with me and when I found the ones I liked I sought them out more. Insider tip: bring small bills to tip the ones who really stand out to you, they really appreciate it and go out of their way to remember you from the other 3000 people on board.

After connecting with us about the things he did in New Orleans and telling us about other “hood rat s*** “he enjoyed the southern gentleman said “I hear all of that… but why are you HERE… this ship is ooooold.” While demonstrating how a person with a walker walks on board ship he added “I’m old, and this collection of humans is old even by my standards. I was just thinking about how I was the youngest person on this ship at 58 years old and then I see you… YOU! What are yoooou doing here on this ship when there are plenty more out there?”

And I said “If you really want to know… I do sell Medicare”

And both Josh and I were worried about the guy as he was laughing so hard. Tipping over tables and chairs; worried that he would fall of the back of the ship!

So the answer to the prompt is any of them, especially those with a cruise ship port. Maybe someday I’ll get licensed in every state and be able to help people with their insurance options on board ship, but until then.. I’ll work hard on land to enjoy a cruise or two a year until I retire. Next time we will try Royal Caribbean, parent company of Celebrity, the points you accrue on there transfer to Celebrity, it’s a younger demographic and it was my Grammy’s favorite when she cruised.