Mariner Status and Age

[Charlene1985]

I'm just curious how old you were when you hit your 2 star 3 star, 4 star, and 5 star milestones?  At 37, I'm usually one of the youngest on the HAL cruises, my husband is 51.  My two star Mariner status slightly embarrasses me when I present my card.  I absolutely love HAL and cruising (this will be our 4th cruise, 3rd on Holland America since 2018) but my husband jokingly says I'll probably be 5 starts by the time I turn 50.  We've decided that cruising is a much more enjoyable way to travel and we are planning an Alaskan cruise as well as researching an Australia and New Zealand cruise for 2023 and 2024.  We both work for the airlines and I fly to various European cities 5X a month so I get my "city" vacations and sight-seeing done while at work, but we are still interested in doing a Mediterranean cruise at some point as well.  He's cruised Royal Carribean and we have both taken a Carnival cruise before (we took an AmaWaterways cruise in 2019) and after reading many reviews and watching hours of YouTube ship tour videos, we can confidently say we have zero desire to try any other cruise line (other than Ama for a Danube cruise).  

[crystalspin]

First HAL cruise 1999 (after which 1*) I was 41.

Third HAL cruise 2014 (after which I was 2*+18pts) I was 56.

Fourth HAL cruise 20 15 (after which I was 3*+13pts) I was still 56. Note this was a 26-day TransAtlantic with a number of HAL excursions to add Onboard Spending Points!

 

Currently sitting at seven HAL cruises completed and 156 points (44 to go to 4*). The B2B we are booked on over coming New Year should put us to 4* if spending bonus points are figured as in the pre-COVID past!

 

ETA: I am 64 and will be 65 by the time of those cruises.

Edited September 20, 2022 by crystalspin

[Mary229]

I am 66 and have traveled extensively clocking many, many miles on our vehicles.   We sailed quite a bit in the late 80s into the early 2000s.  We cruised Carnival, Princess, Royal and a lot on Norwegian.  We didn’t switch to HAL until we offered to take Mom on a cruise and she insisted on HAL. The DH was an instant fan, I am a bit more flexible.   That was 2008 on the Maasdam.  Then we got busy doing other things and didn’t cruise again until 2016, 2017, 2018. (Oceana), 2019 and 3 times in 2022. So I am still at 3 star but very close to 4.  We recently received our 100 day medals.   I have never felt unwelcome on a HAL cruise ship, actually with the exception of Oceana I never felt unwelcome on any ship. I have always received the most gracious and kind service - it must be the salt air.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Mary229

[cwd79]

Started cruising Holland America at 31 and now I am 41 and a 3*. But have a cruise in Nov 2022 that will be enough to put me at a 4*. Very excited for free laundry. 

[JCP3]

This is an interesting exercise.

1* 46 2007

2* 50 2011

3* 52 2013

4* 56 2017

5* 65 2026 Estimate Currently at146 days to 5* with 60 days booked thru May 2023. 

[JCP3]

1 minute ago, cwd79 said:

Started cruising Holland America at 31 and now I am 41 and a 3*. But have a cruise in Nov 2022 that will be enough to put me at a 4*. Very excited for free laundry. 

Thats the big one.

 

[crystalspin]

39 minutes ago, Charlene1985 said:

At 37, I'm usually one of the youngest on the HAL cruises, my husband is 51.  My two star Mariner status slightly embarrasses me when I present my card.  ...we are still interested in doing a Mediterranean cruise at some point as well.  ...after reading many reviews and watching hours of YouTube ship tour videos, we can confidently say we have zero desire to try any other cruise line (other than Ama for a Danube cruise).  

You will be welcomed on HAL no matter the stars on your card! Just give those hard-workers a big smile!

 

We have one cruise each on NCL and RCI. I would not sail with NCL if the cruise was free. RCI was acceptable, with similar HIGH levels of service and a livelier Attrium; I would book again for the right price/right itinerary, but they do not email me so I will probably never find out about such a cruise! I have also booked and had to cancel 3 or 4 Princess cruises, but (1) they are no longer sailing out of S.California, and (2) Holland America suits us SO well it's hard to stray!

[dmcfad2]

I started cruising with HAL in 2011 at the age of 60. I don’t remember when I hit 4*, but it seems like I was at that level forever! I just hit 5 star on our last cruise and I am now 70. I would have hit 5* in 2020 at the age of 68, but we all know what happened. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by dmcfad2

[freestyling]

2009- 1st cruise with HAL 10 day Caribbean 1* 

2011- 2*

2013-3*

2014-4*

2016-5*

2021- 300 sea days

 

 

 

[crystalspin]

Like @dmcfad2, we would have certainly made 4* in March of 2020 on a long Hawaii-Tahiti cruise. "But we all know what happened." 

 

Now, we will have the free laundry FOR the make up So.Pacific cruise in 2024.

[fatcat04]

35 minutes ago, cwd79 said:

Started cruising Holland America at 31 and now I am 41 and a 3*. But have a cruise in Nov 2022 that will be enough to put me at a 4*. Very excited for free laundry. 

Very similar here. We started HAL cruising as a family when dh and I were in our 30's. We are mid 40's now and 3 star with 3 week long cruises to 4 star. Ds who is a 20 something just got his 3rd star on our last cruise before Covid in January 2020. Dd who is 4 years old is 2 star. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by fatcat04

[Nodakboiler]

Started sailing HAL in 2017 after retirement,  4* after 16 cruises and will be 5* after next 2 cruises. 

[RuthC]

I was already 4* (top star level at the time) when that recognition system was introduced. When the 5* category was introduced I was well past that level. 
I have no idea what age I was when either of those levels were introduced. 

I reached platinum level under the previous/simultaneous Mariner recognition plan a few years ago. 

[Cruising-along]

I was a late bloomer, first cruise wasn't until I was 53 but I was hooked immediately.  21 cruises later on HAL and a handful on Celebrity, I was 68 when I made 5-star.  No idea about the other levels.

[Wayfairers]

First cruise with HAL I was 40.  I didn’t keep up with how old I was for each of the star increases.  Currently 57 and 4*. Probably 5* before 60.  

[oaktreerb]

Consider that Alaska cruisetour days count the same as a cruise day.  If you have a suite the days are doubled on land as well as on the ship.  Those Alaska trips have made it much easier for us to reach 4* since we only began cruising in 2005.    If we hadn’t added  RCI, Seabourn, and Azamara to our cruise portfolio we would have made 5* by now.  

 

Age is just a number.  Stay healthy.

Edited September 21, 2022 by oaktreerb

[Charlene1985]

Thanks for all the replies!  We will have 72 at the end of this 10 day cruise.  We booked a Vista Suite so we’ll have 10 for the cruise plus 10 for the suite and from what I can gather, an additional 10 for purchasing the Have It All. Our other cruises were the same but only 7 nights each giving us 21 credit for each cruise.  Too bad once of them wasn’t 8 nights because then we would have 75 at the end of this one.  Maybe it would be worth it to book a single night cruise out of Seattle to Vancouver one weekend and earn the three credits needed before our next “real” cruise.  Ha!

Edited September 21, 2022 by Charlene1985

[saturn93]

First Cruise with HAL - 1 Star - 34 years old - October 2009 - 15 day Hawaii - Zaandam

2 Star - Hit 30 days at 36 years old - October/November 2011 - 15 day (originally 14 day) Hawaii - Oosterdam

Officially Started 2 Star - 37 years old - November/December 2012 - 14 day Caribbean - Westerdam

3 Star - 39 years old - August 2014 - 14 day Europe (Ireland/Scotland/Northern Ireland/Norway) - Rotterdam

Got Bronze Medallion for 100 days - 43 years old - July/August 2018 - 7 day Canada/New England (back half of BTB) - Veendam

4 Star - Likely to hit 200 days on a TBA cruise late 2023 - 48 years old, hopefully to be officially 4 Star by a 2024 cruise

5 Star - Likely never, as parents are nearing their mid 70's, and will likely curb/end cruising by then. They are already 4 Star.

 

I had two cruises set up in 2020, so if Covid did not happen, I would have been a 4 Star Mariner already.

Edited September 21, 2022 by saturn93

[Darfun]

I just became a 3* Mainer this year in April at the age of 26. Went on an Alaskan cruise 2 weeks ago so on my way to 4 star mariner

[Btimmer]

When we started serious cruising in 2013, we had 7 days on HAL.  We're now 5* and have been for 4 years or so.  For us, we never pursued the stars, but we did yearn for the free laundry.  Our average cruise length has been 21 days so the higher levels came pretty rapidly.  We'll pass through 700 nights later this year.

[ski ww]

Don't worry about how old you are nobody cares, just enjoy yourself. The longer cruises rack up days faster, spending money on board also helps. Paying for two or three ships excursions per cruise also help, when spending money on board. Our 12 old great grand daughter is well on her way after two cruises with 36 days.

[PACD_JG]

4 hours ago, ski ww said:

Our 12 old great grand daughter is well on her way after two cruises with 36 days.

I'm sure there are quite a number of children/grandchildren who have a higher mariner status than regulars on this forum.

[Mary229]

Just now, PACD_JG said:

I'm sure there are quite a number of children/grandchildren who have a higher mariner status than regulars on this forum.

That and some had the 3x rule applied to expenditures, that is now 2x

[westview1]

I was 47 on my 1st HAL cruise.  At the moment I am 3* but have cruises booked in October and November/December that will put me at 4*, I'm 57 which means it took me 10 years.  I do love the service and entertainment on HAL and love the Pinnacle class ships.

[zelker]

Our first HAL cruise was in 2004.  We have sailed on 13 HAL cruises (avg. length 19 days) and just reached 5* this summer after #13.  We always book suites so that gives us double points which add up quickly.  Add in points for onboard spending and, well, here we are.....

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by zelker