PRINCESS RELAXATION SURVEY RESULTS

Pam definitely knows how to relax

Are you relaxed? You should be. That's because today is National Relaxation Day. I'm afraid i didn't get the memo! Regardless, Princess Cruises did get the memo and today released results from its fourth annual Relaxation Report. Surprise! "The national survey revealed that men and women have different notions of what makes a vacation truly relaxing. In fact, maybe there is validity to the idea that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, because almost one in four women would rather read more, whereas 34 percent of men would rather have more sex on vacation than at home." More reading or more sex ... is that really a choice?

The survey also revealed that men might know how to better relax than women. In fact, 45 percent of men feel relaxed when they return home from vacation as opposed to 43 percent of women who feel tired and need a vacation from their vacation.

More results from the Princess survey:


Go Big or Go Home!
The majority of Americans aged 35 and older report that it typically takes them two or more days to settle into their vacation, perhaps needing extra time to unplug from the office. In fact, nearly two out of three Americans surveyed prefer at least a full week away on vacation, as opposed to a day off here and there, to completely check out and feel relaxed.

Celebrity Vacation Date
Men and women also seem to be at odds when asked which female celebrity they’d like to relax with – 40 percent of women would rather laugh with comedian Ellen DeGeneres, whereas 42 percent of men lean toward girl-next-door Taylor Swift and on-screen siren Scarlett Johansson. When asked which male celebrity Americans would want to vacation alongside, men and women came together and agreed collectively (22 percent) that leading hunk Hugh Jackman is their man of choice.

When it comes to a musical companion, Justin Timberlake wins hands down in a showdown with Rihanna, with 18 percent of men and women preferring to get their sexy back versus 13 percent who would rather shine bright like a diamond.

In analyzing generational preferences, Millenials (approximately 18-31 years of age) tend to prefer younger celebrity companions with almost one quarter choosing Scarlett Johansson (22 percent) and nearly one third choosing Ashton Kutcher (31 percent), while Boomers would rather spend a vacation relaxing with folks closer to their own age, Ellen DeGeneres (25 percent) and Anderson Cooper (22 percent).

No Wake Up Calls, Please!
Nothing says relaxation like burying yourself in white, crisp clean sheets with no alarm clock set. Millennials agree, with one in four choosing sleep as the activity they most enjoy doing more of on a relaxing vacation than when they are at home. On the other hand, only 14 percent of Americans 65 and older are eager to sleep on vacation.

Not surprising, while it may be challenging to achieve with children along for the ride, nearly one in four parents prefer sleeping more on vacation than non-parents. In fact, for parents, getting more sleep on vacation is more of a priority than having sex (23 percent and 20 percent respectively).

About the 2013 Survey
The Princess Cruises Vacation Relaxation survey was conducted by ORC International among 1,008 American adults, ages 18 and older, between Aug. 1 and Aug. 4, 2013, using the CARAVAN landline-cell phone combined sample methodology.