HAL Excursions Question re: Snorkeling Max Age Restrictions & other ?

[daybrake]

New HAL cruisers here -- in looking at some of the HAL excursions in the Caribbean, many snorkeling excursions have a maximum age limit of 70.

My husband is 74 and in excellent health (rides a bike 40+ miles a day, no health problems, etc.)  How strict is HAL on these maximum age limits?

 

If he pre-books and pays for the excursion and then they won't let him go due to age -- will HAL refund it?

 

Also, we will have quite a bit of OBC - can we use them to pre-book excursions or do you have to wait until onboard?

 

If you have to pay to pre-book excursions, can you get your payment refunded once you board and have the OBC credit applied for the excursion payment at that time?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[1025cruise]

Unfortunately, very strict. Due to the insurance company.

[OlsSalt]

Where are you being restricted?  We had the same problem in Bonaire, and just did a snorkeling trip to Little Bonaire on our own.

 

Other HAL snorkeling excursions we took were not all that great - crowded, long boat rides to get to the destinations, and/or  not much to see. So while disappointing, it may not be such a terrible set back to not do them and try to arrange something on your own.

 

One other aspect we found as we got older with less upper body strength, is how hard it was to hoist ourselves back on the snorkeling boats. So one may want to look for boats that have easy or low entry platforms, instead of a little ladder over the side of the boat. 

 

Best snorkeling excursion we had with HAL was a drift dive excursion in Bora Bora, I believe. Somewhere in Polynesia.

[Fouremco]

DW and I are both 75, and while we have stopped scuba diving, we continue to enjoy our snorkeling. We don't bother with ship's excursions, and instead head off on our own. For example, in a couple of weeks we'll be in Curaçao, and will rent a car and visit some of our favourite spots there. Most Caribbean islands that have decent snorkeling have good sites available from the shore, and you can rent a car for the day for less than the cost of one person taking an excursion. Or a golf cart if you are heading to Bonaire, ideal for hitting as many dive/snorkel sites possible within your available time.

[Dutchman48]

3 hours ago, daybrake said:

New HAL cruisers here -- in looking at some of the HAL excursions in the Caribbean, many snorkeling excursions have a maximum age limit of 70.

My husband is 74 and in excellent health (rides a bike 40+ miles a day, no health problems, etc.)  How strict is HAL on these maximum age limits?

 

If he pre-books and pays for the excursion and then they won't let him go due to age -- will HAL refund it?

 

Also, we will have quite a bit of OBC - can we use them to pre-book excursions or do you have to wait until onboard?

 

If you have to pay to pre-book excursions, can you get your payment refunded once you board and have the OBC credit applied for the excursion payment at that time?

Thanks for your advice!

 

Not a HAL restriction. The restriction is set by the tour company due to their insurance policies.

Contact the excursion desk or the tour company to see if it is possible to get a waiver. 

On our last cruise two excursions had the age restriction and I had mixed results. One had a form I was able to download and have my doctor fill out, the other would not waive the restriction.

 

Never hurts to ask the most they can say is no.

[oakridger]

11 hours ago, daybrake said:

Also, we will have quite a bit of OBC - can we use them to pre-book excursions or do you have to wait until onboard? You must book onboard to use Onboard Credit.....unless.....

 

If you have to pay to pre-book excursions, (You do) can you get your payment refunded once you board and have the OBC credit applied for the excursion payment at that time?  Yes.  Go to the excursion desk to have them do this.

 

Have fun!

 

~Nancy

[POA1]

We ran into something similar with my father in law. He was upper 70s and we wanted to go to Stingray City in Cayman. We simply booked with a private company. Don't risk booking something you know you cannot do. HAL has everyone's date of birth.

[Ipeeinthepools]

20 hours ago, daybrake said:

New HAL cruisers here -- in looking at some of the HAL excursions in the Caribbean, many snorkeling excursions have a maximum age limit of 70.

My husband is 74 and in excellent health (rides a bike 40+ miles a day, no health problems, etc.)  How strict is HAL on these maximum age limits?

 

If he pre-books and pays for the excursion and then they won't let him go due to age -- will HAL refund it?

 

Also, we will have quite a bit of OBC - can we use them to pre-book excursions or do you have to wait until onboard?

 

If you have to pay to pre-book excursions, can you get your payment refunded once you board and have the OBC credit applied for the excursion payment at that time?

Thanks for your advice!

 

 

Which excursions did you find these restrictions?  I took a quick look at some snorkeling excursions on my future trips and I didn't see any max age limits.

[Fouremco]

29 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

Which excursions did you find these restrictions?  I took a quick look at some snorkeling excursions on my future trips and I didn't see any max age limits.

I didn't have the time to go hunting in HAL's current lineup of snorkel excursions, but this is from their Bonaire listing a few years ago:

 

Minimum age is 10 years; maximum age is 70

years. Maximum weight is 250 lbs. Mask,

snorkel, fins and snorkel vest included.

Participants must be able to swim. Guests

with a heart condition, asthma, mobility

limitations, walking disabilities, leg injuries,

chest injuries and/or recovering from

surgery, and women who are more than 5

months pregnant are not allowed to

participate.

[Hlitner]

Like Fouremco, we are in our 70s, no longer do SCUBA, and generally do our own thing when it comes to snorkeling.  In some places we can simply snorkel from beaches (with our fins we can easily handle longer distances to reefs) and in some places we will book private tours.  A good example is the wonderful snorkel tour in Bonaire on the Woodwind (Dee is a wonderful owner.host).  

 

I should add that there are interesting options that can save money and avoid the large groups.  For example, on the island of Dominica, many folks want to snorkel at Champagne Reef (not actually much of a reef) and they will do it via expensive large group cruise line boat excursions.  But one can simply grab a taxi out to to the shore facility and easily swim out to the same spot (for a lot less money than an excursion).  On the island of Curacao there are many snorkel sites, off beaches, that can be reached with a rental car (some are close enough to use a taxi).

 

Hank