HAL and "old"

[ontheweb]

Even though we are using a travel agent, I called HAL with a question about the itinerary after I received an e-mail from my agent forwarding a HAL fax about a change in an itinerary.

 

To confirm who I was, the agent said "Can I have your date of birth?". After giving it, I jokingly said, "So you want to be as old as me.". (I'm in my early 70s.) She laughed and replied, "You're not old." I thought that was funny, even though I do not consider myself old, but also wondered if a customer service representative from a different line would have said the same thing.

[Homosassa]

To some people, age is just a number.

 

You also don't know the agent's frame of reference as to what she may consider old. She may have family that live well into their eighties and nineties with mental and physical abilities intact.

 

Yes, depending on the person you speak to, you may hear the same thing on other cruise lines.

[mame42]

Thank goodness for HAL! A friend of mine, an active. fit, healthy 77, is embarking on her first European cruise next month on RCL. Much to her dismay, she found that RCL banned her from the excursions she desired (basically anything that required walking or climbing stairs) because she was over 75.

[Roz]

Yes, depends on your frame of reference. I come from a family where people live and are active into their 90s and 100s, so being 60, 70, or 80 is young to me.

 

Roz

[sail7seas]

I f one is to judge by the njumber of times, posters here make reference to old in relation to HAL cruisers, we must all be old as dirt. What a risk to think we could fill a whole HAL ship with us old timers.

 

Sorry but I do not understand the OP. is there a point or a question in the post? If so, it went right over my head.

[OlsSalt]

Thank goodness for HAL! A friend of mine, an active. fit, healthy 77, is embarking on her first European cruise next month on RCL. Much to her dismay, she found that RCL banned her from the excursions she desired (basically anything that required walking or climbing stairs) because she was over 75.

 

We ran into this recently on a HAL cruise for snorkeling excursions in the Caribbean. I suspect this is an insurance requirement for the HAL shore excursions. We found private tours locally that did not have this restriction. Same thing with rental cars too - often there are age restrictions up front which are also probably insurance related.

[Fouremco]

We ran into this recently on a HAL cruise for snorkeling excursions in the Caribbean. I suspect this is an insurance requirement for the HAL shore excursions. We found private tours locally that did not have this restriction. Same thing with rental cars too - often there are age restrictions up front which are also probably insurance related.

Agreed. In most cases, the restrictions are imposed by the insurance companies on the excursion providers, and it has nothing to do with the policies of the cruise lines. For example, an excursion provider in Bonaire has the same age restrictions for its snorkelling tours whether it's a cruise ship's excursion or an open public excursion when no cruise ship is in port. Insurance companies base their policies on actuarial analysis, not individual fitness levels, so if their findings indicate that they'd face a high risk of pay out by allowing 75 year olds to join the snorkel outing, they'll impose the age restriction on the excursion provider.

[jkrislc]

Thank goodness for HAL! A friend of mine, an active. fit, healthy 77, is embarking on her first European cruise next month on RCL. Much to her dismay, she found that RCL banned her from the excursions she desired (basically anything that required walking or climbing stairs) because she was over 75.

Princess does the same thing, but at 70 for several excursions. My father in law had to work with his TA to get a waiver to book a snorkeling tour in Alaska as he was 72 at the time and the she cut off was 70.

 

On Carnival, we had the opposite experience. My son was too young for an excursion by three weeks. We were able to work with the vendor and the cruise line to get a waiver, though.

[Sea girl 23]

I f one is to judge by the njumber of times, posters here make reference to old in relation to HAL cruisers, we must all be old as dirt. What a risk to think we could fill a whole HAL ship with us old timers.

 

Sorry but I do not understand the OP. is there a point or a question in the post? If so, it went right over my head.

 

Noses tend to get bent when someone mentions "old" people. For a few people, there's a knee jerk reaction.:confused:

[Old As Dirt Mom]

;pDid someone say "old as dirt"? That's me - I'm old, I'm mean, I'm cantankerous, and I hate change! I whack people on the shins with my walker and stab them out of my way with my cane! I wake up at 5 am, shoveling sugars and creamer from the Lido into my purse at 5:30 am,and I'm in bed before the cabin stewards can do the nightly bed turn-down. I stand by the main dining room entrance at 5:15 pm every evening, ready to push my way to my (solo) table as soon as the trough opens. I never spend a penny on board the ship, and I never tip! ;pGah!

 

In reality, my 76 year-old mother-in-law runs circles around me, and I call her the energizer bunny. She is a party girl. I'm taking her with me on an Alaska cruise next summer, and I know she will close the bar down and walk 10 miles around the prom deck daily, while I collapse in a puddle at her feet.:D And that's even before the glacier hiking and kayaking. Did someone mention snorkeling in Ketchikan? Hahaha.

[sail7seas]

Noses tend to get bent when someone mentions "old" people. For a few people, there's a knee jerk reaction.:confused:

here we go a gsin.

 

 

Soo, if you recogniz e that or think you do, t hen why do you continue to Make old age comments? Such Respect........................ :D

 

 

 

 

IF you are really lucky, you might be old one day yourself. There is only one alternative to growing older. Take your pick. :) And kindly consid er being nice about it in the meantime. .

Edited May 19, 2018 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

;pDid someone say "old as dirt"? That's me - I'm old, I'm mean, I'm cantankerous, and I hate change! I whack people on the shins with my walker and stab them out of my way with my cane! I wake up at 5 am, shoveling sugars and creamer from the Lido into my purse at 5:30 am,and I'm in bed before the cabin stewards can do the nightly bed turn-down. I stand by the main dining room entrance at 5:15 pm every evening, ready to push my way to my (solo) table as soon as the trough opens. I never spend a penny on board the ship, and I never tip! ;pGah!

 

In reality, my 76 year-old mother-in-law runs circles around me, and I call her the energizer bunny. She is a party girl. I'm taking her with me on an Alaska cruise next summer, and I know she will close the bar down and walk 10 miles around the prom deck daily, while I collapse in a puddle at her feet.:D And that's even before the glacier hiking and kayaking. Did someone mention snorkeling in Ketchikan? Hahaha.

 

 

Fun :)

[Sea girl 23]

I have heard the "you'll get old one day" comment more than once here..usually from the same couple of people. This is not a personal attack;it's the truth..and don't think I don't know I'm going to get old.

[lenquixote66]

Even though we are using a travel agent, I called HAL with a question about the itinerary after I received an e-mail from my agent forwarding a HAL fax about a change in an itinerary.

 

To confirm who I was, the agent said "Can I have your date of birth?". After giving it, I jokingly said, "So you want to be as old as me.". (I'm in my early 70s.) She laughed and replied, "You're not old." I thought that was funny, even though I do not consider myself old, but also wondered if a customer service representative from a different line would have said the same thing.

 

Age is just a number .I know a guy who is 99 and is still engaged in competitive sports.

[OlsSalt]

Noses tend to get bent when someone mentions "old" people. For a few people, there's a knee jerk reaction.:confused:

 

And for others, there is a knee-jerk reaction to scold.

[Sea girl 23]

Old is relative;My parents cruise, and they are hale and hearty and in their mid-80's.They do the all-day excursions and love them.Are they tired at the end of the day?Yes,but they say it's worth it.

 

Like I said before,there is truth in the fact that there are a lot of older HAL cruisers.It just seems like a silly thing to get upset about.Quite a few of those people are like my parents, and others are in need of assistance.That's fine.But the level of denial on here is incredible. You can make as many comments as you want..doesn't change the fact that there's some truth to it.

[oaktreerb]

Even though we are using a travel agent, I called HAL with a question about the itinerary after I received an e-mail from my agent forwarding a HAL fax about a change in an itinerary.

 

To confirm who I was, the agent said "Can I have your date of birth?". After giving it, I jokingly said, "So you want to be as old as me.". (I'm in my early 70s.) She laughed and replied, "You're not old." I thought that was funny, even though I do not consider myself old, but also wondered if a customer service representative from a different line would have said the same thing.

 

I would expect any good customer service rep to respond in a friendly and diplomatic way and she did.

[ontheweb]

I f one is to judge by the njumber of times, posters here make reference to old in relation to HAL cruisers, we must all be old as dirt. What a risk to think we could fill a whole HAL ship with us old timers.

 

Sorry but I do not understand the OP. is there a point or a question in the post? If so, it went right over my head.

 

OP here. I just thought it was funny, and wanted to post it.

 

And I consider myself young. My parents lived to be 101 and 98, and each of them only passed away because of a fall.

[Pernilla]

Thank goodness for HAL! A friend of mine, an active. fit, healthy 77, is embarking on her first European cruise next month on RCL. Much to her dismay, she found that RCL banned her from the excursions she desired (basically anything that required walking or climbing stairs) because she was over 75.

 

As a suggestion, she might look at Tours By Locals and WithLocals. WithLocals is mostly walking tours -- we did a couple in different places and the guides always took into account our physical condition.

 

Tours by Locals usually have guides and drivers. We've also used them in several cities and were taken exactly where we wanted to go. Again, the guides are very accommodating.

 

Since both companies plan their trips based upon the desires of the person(s) booking the tours, they give you what you want. We have been very happy to have private tours, usually at about the same price (or less) than HAL's tours.