River cruise demographics - how old are river cruisers?

What are river cruise demographics?  How old is the average river cruise passenger?

Things to consider

[list type="check"]

• Excursions:  While you can certainly sit back and watch the world go by, the vast majority of river cruise passengers are on a walking excursion every day
• Food: Ocean cruises seem to serve food 24/7 but river cruises don't.  River cruises have defined eating times and portions are reasonable.  People are not not eating constantly.
• Activities: Some passengers will be biking on any given day while others  will be taking active walking options.  Yes, slow walking tours are available but my observation is that a minority of the passengers use these.
• ADA: The American Disabilities Act does not apply in Europe or to river cruise ships.  So passengers will need to climb stairs. While accommodations on the ship can be made for some disabilities, generally passengers are independently mobile.
• Exploration:  Exploring each new city or town, whether on your own or in a group, requires independence and some exploratory impulses.  Young people are simply more willing to wander and get lost than the old.
• Price point:  River cruises are beyond the reach of the true budget traveler.  These trips do not compete with youth hostels in any way shape or form.
• Children: River cruises typically don't have kids running afoot.  But there are exceptions and more recently some cruise lines are actively pursing this market (or have plans to).
• Nightlife:  there's very little entertainment on river cruises in the evenings.  Most river cruises have some small musical groups after dinner and there may be some dancing involved.  We have been on cruises with lots of after dinner drinking and carrying on but rarely are people up much past midnight.  There's no disco or Broadway style shows.  Sometimes you'll docked in the evening and can take advantage of the city after dinner (in Amsterdam, Paris or Vienna for example).

[/list]

Diversity in numbers - river cruise demographics:

We have been on cruises with very spry 75 year olds as well as with honeymooners in their 30's.  Many passengers  are +/- 10 years of retiring. They are highly educated either formally or via the school of hard knocks. Passengers are very worldly and  financially well off and most are from the Anglo countries of  US, Brits, Australians.  We've met some Europeans and some Brazilians to be sure but most of those that travel on US based river cruises are American.

The answer is...

There's an old saying when dealing with statistics that averages lie and that's true for river cruise demographics.  So while we can provide an average age, know that there's great variation involved.  This means that the average age varies by cruise line, itinerary and date.  With that said, for at least one cruise line, the average age is 55 years old.  Surprised?  You won't see any walkers outside the restaurants, you won't see people falling asleep at dinner and you won't see strollers jamming the hallways.  But you will see active adults, interested in experiencing and learning about new cultures and seeing world class cities.

Not sure how best you would fit?  A great travel agent can guide you to choose the river cruise that fits your desired demographic.

Want to know more?  Check out Am I Too Young or Too Old For A River Cruise?