Tick Tock, Tick Tock, TICK TOCK....

[SmoothFlying]

As the BIG life clock speeds faster and faster towards...well we all know, it's final destination😱. Especially since we older (70 +) cruisers have had almost two years taken away from what limited time we have left. IF, you fit into this segment of cruising do you find yourself hoping, 'Just ONE more, just give me one more year of decent enough health too take a cruise and enjoy it. I've noticed that I've had this very same thought in the past year and a half as we've lost 3-4  cruises, and I was just wondering.. Was I the ONLY one ? Perhaps it's just the rantings of an old man.

 

Mac 

[dogs4fun]

Well bless your heart! After reading many similar comments on these forums, you are definitely not the only one! I hope this pandemic ends soon and that you enjoy many more cruises in the future - not just one more. Stay healthy and think positive thoughts! 🙂

[pris993]

Understand fully, I am trying to support my DH visit family in Israel.  We had one last trip in May 2020 cancelled.  He is 89, in good overall health but a bit senile.  Flying to Israel at his age is challenging and we are waiting for all the covid 19 travel requirements to be lifted.  We are both vaccinated but even so, PCR tests within 72 hours are required both directions, permission to entry the country must be requested 14-30 days prior to departure, copies of  Covid 19 health insurance, copies of passports of travelers and family being visited must be submitted to get approval to travel.  All these added travel requirements make a complicated trip worse.  So we wait. Like you say the clock is ticking. 

[BoozinCroozin]

I am still quite a ways from that, but I get exactly what you are saying. Travel while you can and are healthy, explore the world, there will be a time you won't be able to. My dad put off retirement so long that he only had about 3-4 years of it. Enjoy life and do what you can now because you may not be able to later.

[SmoothFlying]

1 hour ago, dogs4fun said:

Well bless your heart! After reading many similar comments on these forums, you are definitely not the only one! I hope this pandemic ends soon and that you enjoy many more cruises in the future - not just one more. Stay healthy and think positive thoughts! 🙂

 

Thankyou so very much for those wonderful thoughts. We all, who not only love to cruise AND trying to get by one day at a time need to know that we're not alone in today's world.

Kindest regards till we all cruise again,

Mac

 

[Blondilu]

I'm turning 68 soon and no, you are not alone. I've had the same thoughts recently.

[SmoothFlying]

44 minutes ago, pris993 said:

Understand fully, I am trying to support my DH visit family in Israel.  We had one last trip in May 2020 cancelled.  He is 89, in good overall health but a bit senile.  Flying to Israel at his age is challenging and we are waiting for all the covid 19 travel requirements to be lifted.  We are both vaccinated but even so, PCR tests within 72 hours are required both directions, permission to entry the country must be requested 14-30 days prior to departure, copies of  Covid 19 health insurance, copies of passports of travelers and family being visited must be submitted to get approval to travel.  All these added travel requirements make a complicated trip worse.  So we wait. Like you say the clock is ticking. 

I always tell my wife, 'You never know just how lucky you are, till you see how tough life can be for others having tougher situations to deal with'. Your tough times make ashamed to complain about merely getting old. I hope your situation speedily takes a positive turn.

 

Mac 

[Tapi]

I’m half your age and the same thoughts cross my mind.
 

After I was involved in a serious accident two years ago and I spent 4 months in and out of hospitals, I don’t want to take life for granted anymore. 
 

 

[SmoothFlying]

41 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

I am still quite a ways from that, but I get exactly what you are saying. Travel while you can and are healthy, explore the world, there will be a time you won't be able to. My dad put off retirement so long that he only had about 3-4 years of it. Enjoy life and do what you can now because you may not be able to later.

So glad to hear you're NO where close to the big 'SEVEN OH' 😄. Your remarks about you Dad remind me about my Dad's situation. He worked foe the same company for forty years and NEVER took a vacation longer than a week (and that was to visit a sister in Fla. He retied at 65 and by 72 he passed away. Life can be all too brief

 

Mac

[SmoothFlying]

23 minutes ago, Blondilu said:

I'm turning 68 soon and no, you are not alone. I've had the same thoughts recently.

Hopefully you also are enjoying OR very close to enjoying retirement !

Mac

[SmoothFlying]

9 minutes ago, Tapi said:

I’m half your age and the same thoughts cross my mind.
 

After I was involved in a serious accident two years ago and I spent 4 months in and out of hospitals, I don’t want to take life for granted anymore. 
 

 

You ARE living proof how fast our lives can turn on a dime. So GLAD to hear you're not about too take life for granted ! Good for YOU.

[navybankerteacher]

I only started SERIOUS cruising (two or three per year) when I was just short of 65.  I occasionally wonder what the “too old to cruise” age is - but, while I no longer scuba or sky dive, I am of the opinion that cruising need not go off the table for the foreseeable future.

[Toofarfromthesea]

Personally I find that just enjoying the things I CAN do and not worrying about or lamenting the things I CAN'T do has made life pleasant and fullfilling.  So if I cruise again, great.  If I can't cruise again, fine.  Cruising is a very pleasant leisure activity, but it is not a necessity of my life.

[lobsternight]

37 minutes ago, Tapi said:

I’m half your age and the same thoughts cross my mind.
 

After I was involved in a serious accident two years ago and I spent 4 months in and out of hospitals, I don’t want to take life for granted anymore. 
 

 

I know what you are saying.  At 52 I nearly checked out.  So now life is about making happy memories for myself and my family.  We all love to cruise so 2 on the books right now and researching a third. 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said:

but, while I no longer scuba or sky dive, 

 

Remember former President George Herbert Walker Bush was sky diving in his 90's.  

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, SmoothFlying said:

Was I the ONLY one ?

 

Certainly not!  When I retired, my PCP told me:  "If you go home and sit in your Lazy-Boy and do little else, you will not be around for long."  

 

While I already had much travel experience in my past, I accelerated what I had been doing with regards to travel.  Now, I am slightly regretful that I didn't do even more because the opportunities and finances were there.

 

I feel as you that I have lost nearly 18 months of travel opportunities because of the pandemic.  My physical condition today is not as good as it was 18 months ago.  I have three travel goals with one being "one more cruise".  The following poster says it well, however.

 

1 hour ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

If I can't cruise again, fine.  Cruising is a very pleasant leisure activity, but it is not a necessity of my life.

 

This is my thinking as well.  

 

If I must,  I will "virtually cruise" by reading the reports and viewing their photos and videos of others.  

[Roz]

To the OP, my sentiments exactly.  So many things in my life have been on hold for the past 18 months.  I considered retiring last year but then realized all the things I wanted to do in retirement wouldn't be available to me due to the pandemic.  

 

On top of everything else, I had open heart surgery at the end of May so I'm realizing more and more my time on earth isn't infinite.  I pushed my retirement date out to November of next year.  I hope we're in a much better place as far as travel by then.  

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Remember former President George Herbert Walker Bush was sky diving in his 90's.  

Now, there was a man.

[pris993]

8 hours ago, SmoothFlying said:

I always tell my wife, 'You never know just how lucky you are, till you see how tough life can be for others having tougher situations to deal with'. Your tough times make ashamed to complain about merely getting old. I hope your situation speedily takes a positive turn.

 

Mac 

Thanks, God willing we all will be able to follow our travel dreams, no matter how old we get.  

[Lakesregion]

9 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I only started SERIOUS cruising (two or three per year) when I was just short of 65.  I occasionally wonder what the “too old to cruise” age is - but, while I no longer scuba or sky dive, I am of the opinion that cruising need not go off the table for the foreseeable future.

Booked for the 2023 QM2 world cruise and will be 84 that June celebrating my brothers 80th birthday and we plan to close the disco on many an evening. So there is no age limit to having fun on a cruise. Age is simply a number.

 

[BoozinCroozin]

14 hours ago, SmoothFlying said:

So glad to hear you're NO where close to the big 'SEVEN OH' 😄. Your remarks about you Dad remind me about my Dad's situation. He worked foe the same company for forty years and NEVER took a vacation longer than a week (and that was to visit a sister in Fla. He retied at 65 and by 72 he passed away. Life can be all too brief

 

Mac

I am closer to 70 than I am 20. My dad did the same, but at least growing up it was a family company. I remember month long camping trips over the Summers. Hopping in the car with the camper in tow going to different places every 3-4 days for a couple weeks. He worked there for 35 years because statistically 80% of retires died within one year after retirement. He enjoyed it for 5 years, but that is all he lasted unfortunately. Once I got laid off 2 years ago, I reassessed everything. Found a much healthier job, took a minor pay cut, and have a solution to reach retirement by 62. Planning family first (then covid hit), friends second, and work third. It was nice to be able to prioritize life like that with the new job. There are down sides to it, but nothing that is difficult to manage to.

[DirtyDawg]

My hope is that everyone can get back to what they enjoy doing after this pandemic is finished, whether it is cruising, some other form of travel, seeing family again, golf, volunteering, working 80 hours a week, or whatever floats your boat.

 

While it's true we have lost eighteen months or so of cruising, on the bright side, we are still alive. Three and a half million people worldwide have died of Covid so far and the WHO thinks the actual numbers are 2-3 times higher. Those people don't have to worry when and where their next cruise will be. 

 

As for age being only a number. True, age is only a number but so is blood pressure. But too high of either tends to be  👼 . 

 

BTW, if I had started this thread I would have not titled it "tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock". My title would have been; "pop-snap-crackle, pop-snap-crackle", the sounds my knees started to make when I hit 60. 😬

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by DirtyDawg

[WatchHill]

Both DH and I are in our 70's and for the past decade have been enjoying the time to travel on extended trips as we're no long bound by employment schedules. Just as the pandemic hit, we were planning a trip to England to attend a family wedding and extend our time there with a road trip [we've done multiple BI cruises].  Last year we also planned a river cruise and annual get-way cruise to the Caribbean to escape the cold New England winters. Alas, no cruise, no road trips.

 

At this point in our lives, we realize health and age are prime factors in any travel decisions. Car rentals have age restrictions and neither of us would entertain a canned bus tour. I'm not comfortable with cruising until I feel the vaccine/no vaccine issue is formalized and there is a documented history of cruises without incident. We could easily fly to any place in the USA, but car rentals are absurd $$ even if we could get a rental. Flying overseas is problematic as the USA is an Amber country, need to quarantine and multiple covid tests required for entry and return. 

 

Yes, I do feel we have lost a lot of travel opportunities and can only hope more people are vaccinated and observe all safety protocols to protect themselves, families and each and every one of us.  

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

…statistically 80% of retires died within one year after retirement. …

The answer is to retire early - and  by easing into it.  I took early retirement after 32 years - with one bank as it morphed through a couple of mergers.  Then worked as a consultant for two other banks for the next three years - but for just three or (rarely) four days a week, then as an expert witness in litigation, while taking up substitute teaching and tutoring, and finally just volunteering as an ESL and adult literacy one-on-one tutor.

 

I think suddenly transitioning from a 40+ hour week (plus probable 2 plus hour daily commute time) to full-time couch-potatoing would be a sure recipe for sudden system breakdown.

[tip]

We are now both turning seventy this year.  We have  thirty-one cruises under our belts, our last being in November of 2019.  We had a fourteen day back to back cruise scheduled for November of 2020, but needless to say, it was cancelled.  We now have a fourteen day back to back cruise scheduled for this November-December.  We hope that we shall sail.

 

Each time we cruise lately I wonder if it will be our last.  I have often said that we shall continue to cruise until we can no longer make it up the gangplank!  In late April of 2020 me darling wife of forty-eight years suffered a severe stroke.  While she is still quite lucid, she is unable to get around with out a walker or wheelchair and depends upon me for many daily tasks.  We have talked about whether to continue or cancel and she wants to take at least one more cruise.  We know that things will be different.  Flying will be more difficult and we shall have to bring the walker and plan on renting a wheelchair on the cruise.  We have been to all of the ports more than once and have decided that staying on the ship is something with which we can live.

 

If this cruise goes well, we shall not hesitate to book another.  If it is overwhelming, we shall have had the satisfaction of having sailed on thirty-two cruises.