Is HAL for pardon me the wheelchair bound?

[OVgirl]

We've cruised both Celebrity and HAL and find that they are more the same than different.

[PathfinderEss]

The demographics can range between early 50's to late 70's on most cruise ship. As most people cruising are retired that pushes the age group up, but these are the people who have the time and the money to cruise.

On all the different cruise lines we have been on we have never felt out of place. We started seriously cruising when we were in our 50"s.

[sail7seas]

We're more into having a good time, but not drinking our faces off and about good food, learning, but my DW is sick of sailing to the caribbean right now.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

With all respect, is your DH aware HAL sails Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Hawaii, Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand.......

 

Where does it say HAL is only sailing Caribbean? :D

 

Also, before being so judgmental about those in wheelchairs, keep in mind any one of us can end up there in the blink of an eye. But for the grace of God........

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2015 by sail7seas

[RuthC]

HAL for the wheelchair bound? Oh, no. Scooters, rollators, walkers, and even crutches and canes meet the requirements on this line. So long as you need at least one of those at least part of the time, you will fit in fine on HAL.

[jimicaj]

My husband and I are in our late 20s and prefer HAL over carnival any day of the week.

 

Might I point out that there are many active, able bodied seniors as well as many disabled young people. I'm not sure how someone needing to utilize a wheelchair has any implication toward their ability to enjoy life to the fullest (or stay out late...)

[summersigh]

hal for the wheelchair bound? Oh, no. Scooters, rollators, walkers, and even crutches and canes meet the requirements on this line. So long as you need at least one of those at least part of the time, you will fit in fine on hal.

 

roflmfo:d:d

[GUT2407]

For a long time I've been thinking of trying HAL this thread persuades me I must do, it describes us to a "T", except I do like a good Hamburger

[sail7seas]

For a long time I've been thinking of trying HAL this thread persuades me I must do, it describes us to a "T", except I do like a good Hamburger

 

HAL recently introduced a new place for burgers on board.......

 

Dive In.

Some have reported they think the burgers very good. :)

 

[GUT2407]

HAL recently introduced a new place for burgers on board.......

 

Dive In.

Some have reported they think the burgers very good. :)

 

 

 

So I've heard, but earlier someone said HAL's not for those who lke 'burgers, so I guess I'll have to give it a miss:D

[legalslave]

If your idea of fun is to drink to you puke (or if you are one of the "15 drinks don't even make me tipsy" folks), HAL is not for you.

 

If you need ear damaging music levels on the pool deck or in any other public

area, HAL is not for you.

 

If you can enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, civilized conversation, live music throughout the ship consisting of string quartets, solo performers, and vocalists, HAL is for you.

 

If you don't require grits, greasy hamburgers, and "American" food (at least the type served in Denny's) but can instead enjoy food different from what you eat at home (see first part of sentence), HAL is for you.

 

Grits are primarily served in the Southern part of the USA. That's where I first experienced eating them. I like them as a special treat for breakfast on HAL. My other favs on HAL are Escargot, Steak Tartare, Lamb and Lobster Bisque. All of these items are served on HAL along with greasy hamburgers and "American" food. As for wheelchairs, there are quite a few. Staff always goes out of their way to assist anyone with a physical disability as far as I have seen.

 

Diane

[take us away]

You should be happy with Celebrity so enjoy the cruise! We started cruising HAL when I was in my 30's and enjoyed it very much, have tried many cruise lines along the way - including several cruises on Celebrity which were great - and now stick to HAL as we now have time for the longer cruises and we cannot seem to find the service on other lines that we find on HAL, plus many other reasons,

 

If you read demographics for cruises to the Caribbean, it is almost equivalent across the lines (if you leave Carnival out of the picture as seems to be the preferred line for 20-30 partiers).

 

Dive-in burgers are better than average - the chicken sandwich is wonderful, GH likes the hot dogs!

Edited January 5, 2015 by take us away

[sapper1]

HAL for the wheelchair bound? Oh, no. Scooters, rollators, walkers, and even crutches and canes meet the requirements on this line. So long as you need at least one of those at least part of the time, you will fit in fine on HAL.

 

Very good post, Ruth.

People from 5 to 95 can be found in wheelchairs for one reason or another. I have been trying to understand why the OP feels they have to be avoided to the point where she does not want to be on a cruise with any of them. Most peculiar aversion indeed. :confused:

[serendipity1499]

HAL for the wheelchair bound? Oh, no. Scooters, rollators, walkers, and even crutches and canes meet the requirements on this line. So long as you need at least one of those at least part of the time, you will fit in fine on HAL.

 

Love it! :D:D:p:)

 

Thanks for the laugh..Needed it this morning..:)

Edited January 5, 2015 by serendipity1499

[dfish]

HAL for the wheelchair bound? Oh, no. Scooters, rollators, walkers, and even crutches and canes meet the requirements on this line. So long as you need at least one of those at least part of the time, you will fit in fine on HAL.

 

I hope HAL doesn't cancel my reservation. I booked a cruise with only a knee brace. I hope that is good enough.

 

Debbie

[Riversedge]

We do think of Holland America as a cruiseline for older people. I think part of that is the longer itineraries that people don't have time to do when they're working. That's the reason we cruise them but we do prefer to cruise on a ship with more going on.

 

This is an excerpt from an email I got from a friend (They are in their 60's) yesterday who was on a 2 week Caribbean cruise with HAL:

" OMG, the cruise was nothing but really very old people. At one point we were listening to the musicians in the Adagio lounge and I looked around and realized we were really in an assisted living facility. Their heads were either tilted back sleeping, or tilted forward and drooling. LOL. At least considering the age group, we had the hot spa and pool to ourselves. No one could get in. "

 

No, not all HAL cruises are this bad, but be prepared that they could be.

[RuthC]

I hope HAL doesn't cancel my reservation. I booked a cruise with only a knee brace. I hope that is good enough.

 

Debbie

You can have a special dispensation so the brace will qualify.

This time. ;)

[Homosassa]

Sorry, folks, I said "greasy" hamburgers like the gray, rancid grease taste of another cruise line's popular burger spot. One bite of said burger and it went right in the trash. I did try the burger straight without a roll or any fixings so I didn't have anything to mask the off flavor and gray color of the meat. A good juicy burger is right up my alley.

 

I also found out that for a cruise I didn't need ear blasting music, liver damaging drinking, or food that I normally eat listed as an exotic "did you ever" food item in the dining room (and the items were poorly prepared as the line obviously expected their clientele not to know better).

 

My husband and I started cruising in our mid-twenties, now in our sixties. HAL and Celebrity have been favorites all along. Of course, Celebrity was Chandris when we started cruising with them.

 

My daughter, now 31, declared in her twenties that she loved HAL, hated her experience on Carnival.

 

I admit that I have a bad knee and sometimes need to wear a brace. However, I injured the knee at 20 and the brace became an accessory then.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Homosassa

[babyher]

HAL for the wheelchair bound? Oh, no. Scooters, rollators, walkers, and even crutches and canes meet the requirements on this line. So long as you need at least one of those at least part of the time, you will fit in fine on HAL.

 

 

 

 

I hear when Jerry Lewis sings "You'll never walk alone " at the farewell show there isn't a dry eye in the place . :)

[bert425]

We do think of Holland America as a cruiseline for older people. I think part of that is the longer itineraries that people don't have time to do when they're working. That's the reason we cruise them but we do prefer to cruise on a ship with more going on.

 

This is an excerpt from an email I got from a friend (They are in their 60's) yesterday who was on a 2 week Caribbean cruise with HAL:

" OMG, the cruise was nothing but really very old people. At one point we were listening to the musicians in the Adagio lounge and I looked around and realized we were really in an assisted living facility. Their heads were either tilted back sleeping, or tilted forward and drooling. LOL. At least considering the age group, we had the hot spa and pool to ourselves. No one could get in. "

 

No, not all HAL cruises are this bad, but be prepared that they could be.

 

We did our first HAL cruise in Nov (Southern Caribbean on Nordam in Nov), and the crowd mix was closer to:

 

40% 75+

30% 60-74

20% 45-59

10% -44

 

and there were only about 8 kids younger than 10 on the ship.

 

Now, it DID turn out that there was not a whole lot to do after ~9pm (although there were some options, they did not seem popular -- BBKing club being the exception there, as it stayed crowded all night).

 

and it also turned out there was not a lot to do on sea days (typical day activities were: "Needlepoint group" "Bridge players group" and "Napkin arranging").

 

but that said, we did not experience folks sleeping and/or drooling all over the ship, and although there WERE quite a number of canes, walker, wheelchairs, and scooters. . really, the only place it even bothered us enough that we noticed it was in Lido (and that's purely because it's so crowded there that there is no place to move anyways. . so it's more noticable. But we only ate in Lido a couple of times on a 10 day cruise).

 

so yeah. . HAL does have the reputation of being an older line, and we were slightly concerned prior to our going as well. . but it was a fairly active crowd, and honestly, the only thing that feeds into that image?

 

the level of the "entertainment" in the showroom. It's clearly targeted at an older crowd (70+). (Comedians, ukelele players, big band, etc).

 

but we found plenty of other things to keep us occupied, so that wasn't too big a deal.

 

we enjoyed the cruise very much, and WOULD consider HAL in the future . . tho we're likely to do our next cruise on our "typical" line, X.

[510picker]

Is HAL for pardon me the wheelchair bound?

 

Yep, and I've enjoyed every HAL cruise I've taken, but being "wheelchair bound" has nothing to do with being in bed by 8. Wheelchairs neither discriminate against age nor do they dictate what time I go to bed. Cruising is a wonderful vacation option for us "wheelchair bound". Hopefully you will never have to be "wheelchair bound" to find out how limited our options are.

 

[LSEA]

Yep, and I've enjoyed every HAL cruise I've taken, but being "wheelchair bound" has nothing to do with being in bed by 8. Wheelchairs neither discriminate against age nor do they dictate what time I go to bed. Cruising is a wonderful vacation option for us "wheelchair bound". Hopefully you will never have to be "wheelchair bound" to find out how limited our options are.

 

 

Thank You! Fabulous picture!

[DrTee]

I have to echo that the subject heading is unclear and even offensive. Some young people use wheelchairs, and most older people do not. The phrases "confined to a wheelchair" and "wheelchair-bound" are equally problematic, as they perpetuate perceptions of helplessness. And they do get out of the wheelchairs at times!!

[DrTee]

I hear when Jerry Lewis sings "You'll never walk alone " at the farewell show there isn't a dry eye in the place . :)

 

Good one

[kazu]

Yep, and I've enjoyed every HAL cruise I've taken, but being "wheelchair bound" has nothing to do with being in bed by 8. Wheelchairs neither discriminate against age nor do they dictate what time I go to bed. Cruising is a wonderful vacation option for us "wheelchair bound". Hopefully you will never have to be "wheelchair bound" to find out how limited our options are.

 

 

What a nice picture :) You are so right - there but for the grace of God......

 

You both look very happy :D

[sapper1]

Yep, and I've enjoyed every HAL cruise I've taken, but being "wheelchair bound" has nothing to do with being in bed by 8. Wheelchairs neither discriminate against age nor do they dictate what time I go to bed. Cruising is a wonderful vacation option for us "wheelchair bound". Hopefully you will never have to be "wheelchair bound" to find out how limited our options are.

 

 

What a lovely looking couple you are!