What the Heck Kind of People Cross the Atlantic by Ship Nowadays?

In the 17th century, a trip across the Atlantic Ocean meant a hazardous and, at best, unpleasant voyage of at least six weeks on a small wooden ship.
Our crossing on the lovely Norwegian Jewel from Miami to the Mediterranean takes us 15 days.

So, the kinds of people onboard are the kind of people who can get away from their land-life for 15 days straight.

There are only about 20 folks on board under the age of 18, and most of them are home schooled. A lot of them have parents who are a bit older (i.e. the youngest child on the ship, who is 2, has a mother of 46 and a father of 61) and who are planning on staying in Europe after the cruise ends to travel and sightsee.

The working-aged folks usually come from careers that are high paying and pretty autonomous, like information technology. Most of the couples don’t have children. And, there is a pretty sizeable gay population on board as well.

So that accounts for about 56 of the 2,000 passengers. Which means that the vast majority of folks who can afford to leave home for 15 days straight are retired. And the vast majority of folks who are retired are over the age of 65.

Old people rule this ship.

In fact, the couple pictured here won Sunday night’s round robin basketball championship.

Gone are the Spring Breakers, with their backwards baseball caps and unsolicited, “Wooooooooo!” screams. Gone are the families with screaming kids who had to pull so many strings to even afford 5 days away from their jobs. And gone are the days in the library where you could sit and read without 4 to 5 people farting every hour.

Yup, these old folks fart. Loudly, often, and without apologizing. In fact, people on this cruise fart everywhere, in the elevators, by the pool, at dinner, and the majority of them don’t even know they did it, or have reached the age where they just don’t care.

Nonetheless, Steve and I have both said that these are our kind of people. Everyone reads. No one is hammered and screaming the lyrics to Jimmy Buffett songs. And, you can always blame it on the retiree sitting next to you.