How old is the Volendam crowd, they have 30 wheelchairs

[Italian Nancy]

Just read the reviews on the Volendam and when they said they had 30 wheelchairs aboard, that scared the *&%% out of me.. we are a very young early 50's couple and don't want to be the youngest on board..

comments ??

[sail7seas]

Beats me how anyone would know how many wheelchairs any ships may or may not have but, IMO, the demographics on HAL are exactly the same as Princess and Celebrity when you compare apples to apples.

For a ten days cruise, right away you have an older crowd than a seven day cruise. In the Caribbean when school is in session, you will have few young families. Holidays and school vacations, you'll have lots of young folks on all the major cruiselines. Older folks can cruise longer and often have more 'discretionary income' to spend on cruising. Younger working people do not have as much free time.

We've cruised the other lines and find exactly the same demographics for the same sort of cruise.

[super_grover]

Just wondering why you assumed that this meant that there were elderly people aboard. While HAL is known for having a relatively older crowd, anyone of any age can be in a wheelchair :)

[michmike]

You'll be fine. We were on the Volendam a couple of weeks ago and there were only a dozen or so folks in wheelchairs and about 4 on motorized scooters. Granted, a number with canes, but given how rough the seas were that trip, a cane wasn't a bad deal. There were plenty of folks in their mid to late 40s and a sprinkling of folks younger than that.

On the other hand, don't automatically dismiss anyone over 55 as having one foot in the grave. Our most memorable tablemates were an absolute hoot and partied with the best of us and they were 91 and 90. We met a great group of people on our Volendam trip, 14 of them from our cruise critic get together onboard. And there was always a group of partiers in the crow's nest until it closed up.

Don't know about you, but I'll take the geriatric set any day over a bunch of kids running wild on the ship.

BTW, our group of 4 ran from 54-57 and other than crummy weather in a number of ports, we had a great time. Go to some of the game sessions like trivia, scattergories, mad gabs etc. That's a good place to meet a bunch of fun loving people.

Have a great trip and join your fellow passengers in enjoying the prunes offered every morning in the lido. *L*

[doone]

Just remember, the longer the cruise, the older the guests will be onboard, this is true of any cruise line, not just HAL.

I am 47 years old and have been sailing HAL for well over 20 years. Each time I sail, there is a very different mix of guests onboard than the last time I sailed. I have met the nicest people onboard all my HAL cruises, I am sure you will as well. Your going to have the time of your life, make age just what it is, a number.

[CaptData]

Hi, I'm 50 and use a wheelchair. I have used one for the past 5 years off and on (MS). I would like to know how you found out about the number of wheelchairs on board unless it is a group traveling together that you know of. The lines do not give out this info and many people are given H/C rooms who do not need them (after everyone has tried to sell them). If you are counting by the H/C room usuallt only one person in the cabin needs it. I travel by myself (with a group tour). In my group there is two of 140+ that use a wheelchair the other is full time and I am part time. We have three H/C cabins, the other cabin is for someone who has hearing and sight problems (does not use wheelchair but need e-cord).

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am also curious how you know that the Volendam has 30 wheel chairs.

Were you checking out every nook and cranny and counting them? I know that there are several in the infirmery on all the ships.

[Italian Nancy]

I read the cruisecritic review of the Volendam and they tell in the first couple of paragraphs they have 30 wheelchairs available for guests to use.

[super_grover]

On a ship of roughly 2000 people that doesnt seem unreasonable to me. Anyone at any time could sprain an ankle or something like that. Or perhaps they use a wheel chair part time at home and didnt bring it in anticipation of using one on the ship if they needed it.
I think that your assumption that they have that many wheel chairs because they will all be needed by older people is misplaced. If you are worried about being the youngest on board, invite a friend who is younger than you :D

[Stevesan]

I read the cruisecritic review of the Volendam and they tell in the first couple of paragraphs they have 30 wheelchairs available for guests to use.Do you really consider that an inordinate quantity?

Capacity = 1440
Wheelchairs = 30
%Wheelchairs = 2.1

[Italian Nancy]

I just found it odd they would mention how many they had, as someone else noted, where did I find the information, it isn't normally posted..


I would stil prefer an older crowd to tons of little rug rats running around the ship

[sail7seas]

I read the cruisecritic review of the Volendam and they tell in the first couple of paragraphs they have 30 wheelchairs available for guests to use.

Nothing personal, seeing as I don't even know who wrote it, but just because they wrote it, it does not necessarily mean it is true or for the matter, untrue.

But, gee......they sound like fun folks. Instead of partaking of activities around the ship, their idea of what to do was 'count wheelchairs'.

Even if there are 30 (and I really don't care if there are or not), that is not such a huge number for 1,200+ pax. We have seen folks who use a wheel chair to board the ship but are never seen in one again. They have trouble standing for a long time and rather than be uncomfortable waiting to board, they request a wheelchair and they then get priority boarding.

It would not negatively impact my enjoyment in any way whatsoever for however many of my fellow pax to be in a wheelchair. But for the grace of God, it could be any of us. Are they any less interesting, any less fun?

I'm getting upset writing this message....I'd best stop.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[tomc]

Those wheelchairs are for people who have decided they are going to get out and enjoy life, rather than sit around home. Traveling to the ship can be difficult and tiring for the able-bodied; more so for those who don't look like the guy and gal in the Bowflex ads. A few hours off your feet can make a big difference. After that, watch out! (For those who are currently able-bodied and don't care to be looking at folks who use adaptive aids, we'll leave the light on for you...)

[Mary Ellen]

30 wheelchairs aboard, that scared the *&%% out of me..

Ok, I’ve got to admit I’m curious as to why that would scare the “*&%%” out of you. Are you afraid using a wheelchair is contagious??

I’m just now 50 and have happily been sailing on HAL since my 20s and NEVER given a thought as whether I was the youngest on board. Obviously, since I’ve been sailing HAL for over 30 years, it isn’t an issue for us. Actually, even on our 10-day cruise (and yes, the passengers as a whole were older) for my 40th birthday, I wasn’t the youngest on board. There was a young couple with 2 children in strollers. I imagine the toddlers were the youngest on that cruise. They seemed quite happy too.

Oh, my brother, who uses an ECV or wheelchair, hasn’t yet hit 50. He also sails on HAL. Hopefully he won’t scare the “*&%%” out of you. He, as TomC said, is out enjoying life.

[elmorejj]

Thank you Tom, you said it all!!....jean :cool:

[sail7seas]

Yes, Tom.....


Thank you for your message.

[allen.crawford]

This talk of wheel chairs on board the ship reminds me of our last cruise.

We arrived at FLL and boarded the bus destined for Port Everglades. A gentleman boarded the bus (un-assisted). When we arrived at the port, a wheel chair was waiting for the man.

Since he was in a wheel chair, he was whisked aboard the ship ahead of the hundreds of others waiting in line.

We "bumped" into him numerous times during the 14 day cruise. On none of those occasions did we see him a wheelchair. In fact, he was very adept at butting in the food line on the Lido deck.

ALMOST made me want to request a wheel chair next time we go to board a HAL ship.

[tomc]

I am occasionally forthright in my comments. I would have said something. With a smile, of course. Then, again, a-h's never get the point.

[gizmo]

Ok, I’ve got to admit I’m curious as to why that would scare the “*&%%” out of you. Are you afraid using a wheelchair is contagious??

I’m just now 50 and have happily been sailing on HAL since my 20s and NEVER given a thought as whether I was the youngest on board. Obviously, since I’ve been sailing HAL for over 30 years, it isn’t an issue for us. Actually, even on our 10-day cruise (and yes, the passengers as a whole were older) for my 40th birthday, I wasn’t the youngest on board. There was a young couple with 2 children in strollers. I imagine the toddlers were the youngest on that cruise. They seemed quite happy too.

Oh, my brother, who uses an ECV or wheelchair, hasn’t yet hit 50. He also sails on HAL. Hopefully he won’t scare the “*&%%” out of you. He, as TomC said, is out enjoying life.
There are different ways of looking at this.

People work hard for the money they are going to spend on a vacation. Some people prefer to be around people in there own age group. Others may prefer to vacation where less kids will be found and then there are others that age does not make a difference. There is nothing wrong with any of this.

Tom's post is absolutely correct, but wheel chairs are associated with the elderly. I did not read the OP as being negative towards people who use wheel chairs nor being afraid that using a wheel chair is contagious, but more of an age concern.

[lipoppop]

Just read the reviews on the Volendam and when they said they had 30 wheelchairs aboard, that scared the *&%% out of me.. we are a very young early 50's couple and don't want to be the youngest on board..

comments ??

The last time I went treking with a group in Tibet I was 69 and the youngsters, most in their 20's and I blended well together. When I went alone to Ethiopia last year the youngters that I met and I enjoyed each others company. I could go on and on about the other 60 or so countries I have travelled to but I think you get the idea.

It is not age in years but in heart that makes for a good cruise with your ship mates.
:cool:

[Italian Nancy]

I meant no offense with my questions, seems like it was taken that way. I apologize. As Gizmo wrote, I was more concerned with the age factor rather than people with disabilities.

[tomc]

Old age ain't what it used to be and you will find some of the grannies will dance you under the table. Besides, with their experiences, they make great travel companions.

[gizmo]

Tomc,

You are right again. I have an Aunt that has probably out cruised every one on this board. She is up in her 80's, still sailing Hal, and would out dance anyone. :)

[Mary Ellen]

While I realize no offense was meant, I did take offense to the way it was asked. I can understand concern given HAL (undeserved IMHO) reputation. We've all seen questions asking "I'm (X) years old, will I be the youngest?", "Just HOW old will the other passengers be?", "I'm conerned about the average age of the other passengers.". But "that scared the *&%% out of me" just got to me. Old age isn't contagious and that aspect of the question is actually what I spent most of my post addressing. Not wanting to be around people (for whatever reason) in wheelchairs pushes my buttons.

Italian Nancy please continue to ask your questions. I really DO believe that there is no such thing as a dumb question.

[Winks]

My wife and I are early 50s. She has MS and must use a wheelchair. Hooland is geared toward that, in our experience. In any event though, we prefer the older crowd on Holland. They are more couteous than the young, in a hurry, crowd; more tolerant of my wife's wheelchair; tend to joke around and be more friendly at the dinner table; and do not crowd everyone else out of the hot tub. Then again, they aren't as shapely as the younger crowd in the hot tub (but then neither am I anymore). So, if the oldsters scare you away, fine. We enjoy their company.

[mmacdcc]

I'm also wondering why you're so concerned with age. You said you were early 50's right?

So would you want to be on a ship with only a bunch of 20 somethings?

I'm also 50's, and a mix of ages is nice. I certainly wouldn't want to be the OLDEST person on the ship. I don't look horrible, but I certainly don't compare to some 22 yr old in a bikini. :cool: However, put me against a 70 yr old and I look pretty good. :rolleyes:

And while I like a wide variety of music, I can't take the extremely loud, can't-hear-yourself-think rock/hip hop stuff for very long anymore (not that I ever could when I was young).

That said, I do like younger people. I work in a field full of young people, and I work at a college so I deal with lots of different people all the time. We have young students in wheelchairs, on crutches -- heck, we have staff that have handicaps too.

Wheelchairs don't mean old people. They mean people who can't walk well (or at all). Whether or not you can walk doesn't say anything about you other than your legs don't work well.

So explain again why you're so worried about there being many people older than you on the cruise? I still don't understand that.

[Peggy Sue]

Hi,

We recently returned from the 11/6 Volendam cruise where we met a fantastic group of people from cruise critic. most of us were in our 40's and 50's .. a few younger, a few older. We had a fantastic time together.

The average age aboard was indeed older than 50, but there were many of us in our 50's, and passengers younger than us. That said, we enjoyed every person we met that happened to be older than we were. We met them in the lido, dining room, lounges, etc Had fantastic conversations with them.

As s7s stated earlier, as a 10 day cruise, the demographics will be older...we were docked next to the zuiderdam in tortola and it was quite interesting to see families spilling out of the ship ... it was a 7 night cruise.

You will have a fantastic time...go and enjoy! Besides, I think we had all the rain and clouds for the entire season, so your bound to have sunny, beautiful days...what more could you ask for???

Did we see a lot of wheelchairs on board? You know, I don't even recall...I'm sure there were some, but certainly nothing that I remember... i do recall one woman on a scooter, but that's only because we seemed to be on the same "schedule", as we often saw her in the lido when we were there, and we engaged in pleasant conversation waiting in line, etc.

Have fun!!

[Oceanwench]

I enjoyed many of the comments in this thread.
Thanks to those who stood up against what they perceived as discriminatory remarks against the disabled!

The writer said she had the @#$% scared out of her by the # of wheelchairs, and that set off alarms for me.

My husband is in a wheelchair [MS] and one reason we love HAL is that there are plenty of accessible rooms onboard their ships.
Some cruise lines have as few as 4!

Does someone really judge how much fun a cruise is by the # of wheelchairs available for pax?
Wow.

As far as allen crawford's comment on someone using a wheelchair to check in at the port, but not using the chair later on the cruise: People with MS often have great fatigue, even when they have no other symptoms that are evident.
When my husband first was diagnosed with the disease, he was able to walk short distances, but had to use a wheelchair for longer distances.
Coming off an airplane, he would need a wheelchair to get to the parking garage -- as an example.
I know he never would have been able to stand in a slow-moving line such as the one at Port Everglades.

Once I heard a woman at Disney World say "not fair" when guests in wheelchairs were allowed into a stadium area first ... and I thought, yes, not fair that these people can't walk, run, dance ...
My husband would gladly stand in a line ... if it meant he could walk.

P.S. Maybe the CC'ers with MS would like to get together and plan a cruise??? We could scare the @#$% out of some folks!!!

[tomc]

Once I heard a woman at Disney World say "not fair" when guests in wheelchairs were allowed into a stadium area first ... and I thought, yes, not fair that these people can't walk, run, dance ... My husband would gladly stand in a line ... if it meant he could walk. After something happened to me in public that caused a person to reprimand me, I said, "Care to trade places?"

[johno95]

certain cruise lines attract a more senior crowd. a higher percentage of seniors appreciate (but may not absolutely need) a wheelchair. (if they needed one, they would bring one from home.) on a ship with a younger crowd (ie. Carnival), a lower percentage of passengers appreciate wheeling around in a wheelchair. they may or may not have a lower ratio of wheelchairs on hand. as another poster alluded to, longer cruises during the school year may attract older crowds, even on Carnival.

sorry if i bored most of you with this.
Just wondering why you assumed that this meant that there were elderly people aboard. While HAL is known for having a relatively older crowd, anyone of any age can be in a wheelchair :)

[Esme]

Oceanwench - OP would have been even more frightened if she had been on the Volendam this week - they have 80 wheelchair users. :D

I used to work with the disabled and some of them had MS - these were not old people, these were young ones in their 20's and they enjoyed life as much as they were able to.

So glad your husband and you are still able to enjoy cruising and hope you will be able to do so for a long time. Good for you.

I will always remember Murray, a young man with MD from Canada. He was on our cruise back in the early 80's....a gift from the Wish Foundation....with a companion. Although he was confined to a wheelchair, he had a wonderful time going to the beach at Megan's Bay, to the disco, on tours - he had the time of his life, which sadly came to an end a few years after his cruise.

[clopaw]

After something happened to me in public that caused a person to reprimand me, I said, "Care to trade places?"


My husband is visually impaired and uses a guide dog. Once on vacation, a woman said to him, "you're so lucky, you get to bring your dog with you." Much as he loves that dog, "care to trade places?" is exactly right.

[johno95]

Allen's post reminded me of when I go grocery shopping at home, and pass by the handicapped parking spaces. Looking at these full spaces, I think, "There are ALWAYS people that will take advantage of a privilege designed for people with disabilities, when they themselves are not disabled at all."

I am not anyone to judge if you need a wheelchair on a cruise or not. You may not even be officially disabled in your physician's eyes. Such a label doesn't matter. You go ahead and get a wheelchair if you need it on your cruise. Or if you need it just for the embarkation. A cruise can be tiring and stressful for the fittest of people!!!

But I think it's hilarious that someone would "need" (or desire) a wheelchair at just the embarkation point. (A seasoned cruiser knows you get to go to the front of the line if you're in a wheelchair.) But he doesn't need it on the ship.

It is very possible that this cruiser needed that wheelchair for what he saw was the long, tough, tiring part of his trip. Maybe the sun was beating down. Once on the ship, there are many reasons why (even if he wished he had that chair) he didn't want to rely on a wheelchair. Maybe he had lots of resting places. Or it was difficult to navigate the hallways and stateroom door in one. Who knows.

But let's just say it is POSSIBLE that he was trying to cheat the system. Like parking in a handicapped space because he "is just running in to the store." Call me jaded.

-John...As far as allen crawford's comment on someone using a wheelchair to check in at the port, but not using the chair later on the cruise: People with MS often have great fatigue...

[Oceanwench]

Allen's post reminded me of when I go grocery shopping at home, and pass by the handicapped parking spaces. Looking at these full spaces, I think, "There are ALWAYS people that will take advantage of a privilege designed for people with disabilities, when they themselves are not disabled at all."


I know this is really straying off the topic, but do all those cars parked in those spaces have handicapped tags or license plates?
Yes, there are people who take advantge of the privilege, but it's not up to you or me to police them!

Let me give you an example of how things can be misinterpreted.
My husband and I drive to the mall in our handicapped accessible van. We park in a handicapped space and go into the mall. He is in his power chair.
As we shop, I get overburdened with bags. He cannot help carry them. I leave him inside the mall and run out to the van to stash the bags in the trunk.
You drive by and see me, an apparent able-bodied woman carrying heavy bags, putting my purchases in the trunk.
What do you think?
That I am taking advantage of a handicapped parking space?

I am just saying that there are many types of handicaps, and all are not evident to the observer.
A person in a wheelchair may need the chair for long distances only, or because he/she can't stand for long periods of time.

I guess having experienced life with a disabled husband, I see things differently and I am not so willing to judge someone else in a wheelchair.

And HAL has a separate line for those in wheelchairs ... they don't go to the head of the line.
Actually, when we were boarding the Oosterdam last month, we were fourth in line at the single agent assisting those in wheelchairs.
I noticed there were many agents [a dozen or more] assisting the other pax in the long line.
So maybe the time they waited was almost the same as the time we waited?
I don't know ...
HAL made the decision to make a separate queue for pax in wheelchairs. It wouldn't have mattered to us if we had to go in the general line.

[bkreader]

Oceanwench,

Loved your post. I had a similar experience with my late mother-in-law, who had a portable handicap vehicle tag. Once I left her sitting on a bench in the mall while I carried a big package out to the car. The nasty stares I got - I thought someone was going to yell at me.

As for the wheelchairs, we took my then 86-year-old mother on a cruise on the Dawn. We used a wheelchair for her to get on and off. The waiting in line and then the long walk aboard would have been way too much for her. She didn't need a wheelchair while on the ship - she could walk to dinner okay and we only did excursions where she wouldn't have to walk too far. NCL did take the wheelchairs first - we ended up being the second passengers to board the ship. - Jane