At 67, am I too young for Holland America?

[comfortcove]

We are early to mid 50's, and feel like HAL is fine. If we have our kids, who are late teen to mid twenties, it is not the right cruise line. Holland America has very little entertainment, music or sports activity compared to some other lines for young adults. At age 67, i think you should be fine.

 

I do wish they would beef up the entertainment on HAL, but at least they now have dvds. If the piano bar is good, we are happy. We love the library, but also like to dance! We can always amuse ourselves, but hope for some good music onboard every sailing.

[Goldenfox]

My hubby and i visited the nightclub on the Westerdam in June. There was virtually every age group represented. We were dancing with teenagers all the way through this couple in their seventies till at least 1:30am. This may have been an exceptional cruise, but you won't know till you go. What's funny is that the older folks out-danced the younger, haha, i loved it! The DJ was great too, he even came out and danced as it got later.

 

 

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[Himself]

I had just about convinced myself to book our next cruise on Holland. But at dinner tonight a good friend and his wife were very negative about Holland because the age of the average Holland cruiser.

 

I had done a lot of research and had concluded the more sedate and impeccable service found on Holland might be a good match for the wife and I. Now I'm having second thoughts.

 

Can anyone help me here?

 

You are not too young.

[sammygoose]

Haha......your 67! stay young my friend. I'm 43 and was torched at the pub crawl by a 73 year passenger. Let's not quibble- I can hold my own- I work hard and play hard. I just don't need idiots,drunks,loudmouths,hairy chest contests,constant paging,ADD, silly games to entertain me.

Call me discerning,call HAL passengers discerning but we can roll too.

Depends on what you need to entertain you, I just don't need silly distractions on vacay...we make our own.

:p

[serendipity1499]

. Not Sheila but wear your capris just like in Florida. I'm thinking Sheila was talking about her TA

 

.

 

Yes believe that was it.. It was sometime last week that she posted..

Will take a couple of pairs...We're 1/2 packed..

It's windy & getting colder here.. will be in the mid to low 60's tonight..

Probably colder in Tampa & maybe rain on Sat & Sun...

Thanks again..Betty

[sevenseasnomad]

Age as they say is not a number but a state of mind. We enjoy HAL for its service, ambiance, and fellow passengers who generally are polite and well-traveled. DS is 27, has been sailing on HAL since 2010 and prefers it to the other 3 lines he's traveled. He loves "hanging with" some of the older passengers for their views on life and insights on travel, but come midnight he's normally in the disco or any bar that attracts his age group. Since he's only sailed on 7-10 day cruises, that may have skewed the demographic to a lower age.

 

You won't know if HAL is for you unless you try it. You may want to read some of the cc reviews and look for professional opinions in books specifically aimed at cruising to get a better idea. By all means, if you sail on one of the dam ships, come back & report. Regardless of which cruise line you choose, happy cruising.

[pmd98052]

We're 42 and 41 with two kids 5 and 8 - We just got off a 41 night Seattle to Auckland cruise and had a fabulous time on HAL - We've sailed with HAL once before as well on a 7 night Mexico cruise.

 

We've sailed NCL, Princess and HAL so far and would sail on any of them again. Next on our list to try are RCL and Carnival!

Edited November 15, 2013 by pmd98052

[OlsSalt]

We're 42 and 41 with two kids 5 and 8 - We just got off a 41 night Seattle to Auckland cruise and had a fabulous time on HAL - We've sailed with HAL once before as well on a 7 night Mexico cruise.

 

We've sailed NCL, Princess and HAL so far and would sail on any of them again. Next on our list to try are RCL and Carnival!

 

 

Wow, two kids ages 5 and 8 on a 41 day cruise. Please tell us more. How did you arrange school. How did the kids take to the ship for that long of a time and how did they feel when it was time to get off? You have a great story here. Hope you will share it a bit more. Thanks.

[pmd98052]

I received a 12 week sabbatical from work - school was supportive so we are home schooling for 11 weeks and they head back into school on Dec 2nd (left on Sep 29th). 41 days on the Oosterdam and another 3 weeks here with family in New Zealand.

 

Kids loved every second on the ship and, like us, did not want to get off at all - there were tears!

Edited November 15, 2013 by pmd98052

[Pearlbill]

Sedate..yes, impeccable service…no. The service was pretty good though. My husband and I are about 10 years younger than you. We usually cruise with Princess. We've done one NCL and one Carnival. Our first cruise with HAL Eurodam this past October has made us think long and hard about ever cruising again. It was boring! It seemed that once breakfast was over, a lot of passengers headed for the Crowsnest, read two pages of a book and then fell asleep, heads back and mouths wide open. It seems if they weren't in the Crowsnest, they were in one of the countless Windows 8 classes! Many didn't get off at the ports of call, as it was their 20th time doing that cruise and they had all "seen that, done that."

 

We are not into beer belly contests, drinking ourselves silly or any of that stuff but the sea days were truly boring. Thank goodness for the ports of call.

 

I guess it all depends on how "sedate" a time you want.

[cruz chic]

Sedate..yes, impeccable service…no. The service was pretty good though. My husband and I are about 10 years younger than you. We usually cruise with Princess. We've done one NCL and one Carnival. Our first cruise with HAL Eurodam this past October has made us think long and hard about ever cruising again. It was boring! It seemed that once breakfast was over, a lot of passengers headed for the Crowsnest, read two pages of a book and then fell asleep, heads back and mouths wide open. It seems if they weren't in the Crowsnest, they were in one of the countless Windows 8 classes! Many didn't get off at the ports of call, as it was their 20th time doing that cruise and they had all "seen that, done that."

 

We are not into beer belly contests, drinking ourselves silly or any of that stuff but the sea days were truly boring. Thank goodness for the ports of call.

 

I guess it all depends on how "sedate" a time you want.

I was on the same cruise as you. I think this was my best cruise to date. It's not because of anything that the cruise line did. I got off in every port except canaveral. I guess I would have been bored if I sat on my butt doing nothing all day. I could have stayed here and worked if I wanted to do that.

[Linda&Vern]

Sedate..yes, impeccable service…no. The service was pretty good though. My husband and I are about 10 years younger than you. We usually cruise with Princess. We've done one NCL and one Carnival. Our first cruise with HAL Eurodam this past October has made us think long and hard about ever cruising again. It was boring! It seemed that once breakfast was over, a lot of passengers headed for the Crowsnest, read two pages of a book and then fell asleep, heads back and mouths wide open. It seems if they weren't in the Crowsnest, they were in one of the countless Windows 8 classes! Many didn't get off at the ports of call, as it was their 20th time doing that cruise and they had all "seen that, done that."

 

We are not into beer belly contests, drinking ourselves silly or any of that stuff but the sea days were truly boring. Thank goodness for the ports of call.

 

I guess it all depends on how "sedate" a time you want.

Can you tell us what activities you would have preferred on the ship? I'm really curious. Also, just my personal point of view ... whatever DH and I decide to do or not do on any cruise certainly should not "bother" any of the other passengers. I'm shocked anyone would care if I choose to read, snooze, lay in the sun, or retreat to my cabin.

[doublebzz]

 

We are not into beer belly contests, drinking ourselves silly or any of that stuff but the sea days were truly boring. Thank goodness for the ports of call.

 

I guess it all depends on how "sedate" a time you want.

 

Each to their own. Actually, my wife loves to participate in beer belly contests.

[Pearlbill]

I was on the same cruise as you. I think this was my best cruise to date. It's not because of anything that the cruise line did. I got off in every port except canaveral. I guess I would have been bored if I sat on my butt doing nothing all day. I could have stayed here and worked if I wanted to do that.

 

 

We didn't sit on our butts all day. We went to just about every activity the CD planned. We walked around the deck. We even went to Bingo, (in desperation as we are not Bingo fans) tried to add some fun to it, but Jeremy said he had several requests from the Bingo regulars not to do the usual Bingo "silliness."Clickety-click 66, Quack quack, and so on. Jeremy just read the numbers out in a very monotone voice. It was all over in half an hour. Sadly, trivia was our highlight of the day!

 

You can walk the deck only for so long.

 

The evening entertainment was horrible. (Except for the Indonesian and Filipino Shows) There was a comedian/ventriloquist with a duck puppet that several people walked out on.

 

I remember a Princess cruise we were on, that every day had some terrific guest speakers. One talked about earthquakes, tsunamis and the changing earth. One talked about, and showed a film about cruise ship history. On the Princess Coral, we had a "Ryder Cup" in the miniature golf on the top deck of the ship.

 

I am just answering the OP. If you want sedate, HAL is the right cruise.

[Pearlbill]

Can you tell us what activities you would have preferred on the ship? I'm really curious. Also, just my personal point of view ... whatever DH and I decide to do or not do on any cruise certainly should not "bother" any of the other passengers. I'm shocked anyone would care if I choose to read, snooze, lay in the sun, or retreat to my cabin.

 

I don't care what everyone else is doing. It is just what a lot of passengers did on the HAL cruise I was on. They seemed happy doing it. HAL seemed happy they were happy. It just wasn't the cruise for me. I do care what I'm doing though.

[Pearlbill]

Each to their own. Actually, my wife loves to participate in beer belly contests.

 

LOL. Now that might be one I would enjoy! Does she do the "hairiest chest contest" as well?

[OlsSalt]

HAL has had some terrific enrichment speakers, but mainly on cruises that have more at-sea days. On a trans-atlantic cruise I think we had three different speaker series. And on the long voyage to Indonesia another great group that kept the day filled morning and afternoon

 

How many sea days did you have on this cruise? On our last cruise we had a lot of port days and had only a port enrichment speaker who provided in depth commentary in the showroom as well as when we were outside cruising past significant passages.

 

One problem I am seeing now is lectures scheduled at 3pm, the sam time as Tea which we hate to miss so this is a very unfortunate choice of scheduling for us. First we thought it was because one long cruise was Dutch/English bi-lingual so many talks had to be repeated in both languages.

 

But on the last cruise they only offered English language talks and they were also at 3pm. Not happy about this turn of events because we love especially the Indonesian and Royal Dutch Teas. But again, this was a very port heavy cruise so there was not a lot of free time flexibility for these onboard events.

[doublebzz]

LOL. Now that might be one I would enjoy! Does she do the "hairiest chest contest" as well?

 

Of course, and she took 2nd place as well.

[PunkiC]

My DH and I are 72 and 70 respectively and we just returned from a HAL crossing. DH mentioned several times that the other people on the ship were "so old". When we started talking to them, we discovered that most of them were younger that we are. :p

 

We did miss the Zumba classes which we really enjoy on Princess.

[trophy_23]

We are very late 20's and enjoy HAL so it really has nothing to do with age IMO. We like the food, the relaxing and the staff. Sure we have been confused for crew numerous times because we didn't fit the demographic, but we don't care, we just sail for the itinerary and the wonderful vacation they provide.

[cruz chic]

We didn't sit on our butts all day. We went to just about every activity the CD planned. We walked around the deck. We even went to Bingo, (in desperation as we are not Bingo fans) tried to add some fun to it, but Jeremy said he had several requests from the Bingo regulars not to do the usual Bingo "silliness."Clickety-click 66, Quack quack, and so on. Jeremy just read the numbers out in a very monotone voice. It was all over in half an hour. Sadly, trivia was our highlight of the day!

 

You can walk the deck only for so long.

 

The evening entertainment was horrible. (Except for the Indonesian and Filipino Shows) There was a comedian/ventriloquist with a duck puppet that several people walked out on.

 

I remember a Princess cruise we were on, that every day had some terrific guest speakers. One talked about earthquakes, tsunamis and the changing earth. One talked about, and showed a film about cruise ship history. On the Princess Coral, we had a "Ryder Cup" in the miniature golf on the top deck of the ship.

 

I am just answering the OP. If you want sedate, HAL is the right cruise.

 

There is no doubt the entertainment is better on Princess. I mentioned to the OP that you sort of need to be self entertaining on HAL. If you need to be entertained 24/7 Hal is likely not for you. I make my own fun so I don't need that. I'm not sure why people want every cruise line to be the same. We should all pick whatever cruise line fits our needs.

[cruz chic]

HAL has had some terrific enrichment speakers, but mainly on cruises that have more at-sea days. On a trans-atlantic cruise I think we had three different speaker series. And on the long voyage to Indonesia another great group that kept the day filled morning and afternoon

 

How many sea days did you have on this cruise? On our last cruise we had a lot of port days and had only a port enrichment speaker who provided in depth commentary in the showroom as well as when we were outside cruising past significant passages.

 

One problem I am seeing now is lectures scheduled at 3pm, the sam time as Tea which we hate to miss so this is a very unfortunate choice of scheduling for us. First we thought it was because one long cruise was Dutch/English bi-lingual so many talks had to be repeated in both languages.

 

But on the last cruise they only offered English language talks and they were also at 3pm. Not happy about this turn of events because we love especially the Indonesian and Royal Dutch Teas. But again, this was a very port heavy cruise so there was not a lot of free time flexibility for these onboard events.

There was only 3 days out of 15 IIRC on that cruise. Not really much time for speakers.

[happygran]

Hi

We are seriously considering a HAL cruise too. We haven't been cruising too long (only 2 years) but have had a couple on RCI, a couple on Celebrity, one on both NCL and P & O.

 

I'm 61 and OH is 69. We're not party animals, like good food and friendly service, not into shows, we're happy sitting with a glass of wine/cocktail in a bar listening to a piano/string quartet/jazz or just sometimes want to put on our dancing shoes.

 

We do enjoy Celebrity but have spotted an itinerary on Hal that appeals to us. How do you think we'll fit in?

 

Thanks.

[Lovely other]

I'm 40 although in my head I'm still 18. I really enjoyed HAL and found the sedate atmosphere of the ship balanced out the port intensive itinerary as we felt able to just kick back and relax after a heavy days sightseeing.

[OlsSalt]

Hi

We are seriously considering a HAL cruise too. We haven't been cruising too long (only 2 years) but have had a couple on RCI, a couple on Celebrity, one on both NCL and P & O.

 

I'm 61 and OH is 69. We're not party animals, like good food and friendly service, not into shows, we're happy sitting with a glass of wine/cocktail in a bar listening to a piano/string quartet/jazz or just sometimes want to put on our dancing shoes.

 

We do enjoy Celebrity but have spotted an itinerary on Hal that appeals to us. How do you think we'll fit in?

 

Thanks.

 

Sounds like a perfect match to me. HAL has always won us over on their itineraries too. We can't seem to leave them now.