traveling with 85 year old father

[4boys_123]

My question is has anyone gone on a cruise with an elderly parent? What cruise line would you recommend? Travel would be a cruise to Alaska. Thanks for you input.

[ehfl]

Check out the senior cruising forum.

 

If you need an accessible room, make sure you confirm it with the cruise line (NOT your travel agent) BEFORE you board.

[kitty9]

My mom is 81 and she loves Celebrity. As a matter of fact, we're taking mom on her second Alaska cruise in July, on Celebrity Infinity. She went with us last year on the same cruise and ship.

[CowPrincess]

Hi, we've seen lots of senior to elderly people on Holland America. They and Celebrity are quite similar from what the reviews say. Can't say personally, as I've only travelled Holland America and Princess.

 

Holland America runs a number of Alaska cruises out of Vancouver, which seem to (from what I've read) have a less "wavey" route for the first day or two. So if "motion of the ocean" is a concern, you might want to consider leaving from Vancouver.

 

Regardless of what line you choose, PLEASE make sure you have adequate travel insurance for your dad and yourself as his "caregiver".

[PennyAgain]

We traveled and cruised with elder folks for a long time starting out when they were in their independent late 60's and continuing well into their late 80's.

 

As they aged we had to do more and more of the preparation, planning and just plain hard work along the way. As they got older we did all the luggage hefting, making arrangements (planning flight connections with plenty of time) of getting them to airports, to planes, changing planes, etc.

 

We had to watch constantly for tip hazards, stairs and problems getting into bathtubs and etc.

 

They preferred Holland America as they got way up in years.

 

The better rooms on Holland America have bathtubs which we had to avoid as time passed.

 

Their cruising ended when my late MIL had severe leg swelling on a cruise that the ship's doc felt was very risky for her.

 

It can be done, they enjoyed their travels, but it takes a lot of planning and effort. Yes, we did buy travel insurance even though the folks believed Medicare would pay for everything (it didn't).

 

Good luck!

[Bonnie J.]

We were on NCL's small, old Majesty for New Years a year ago. We met a delightful lady cruising with her son and his family. She was 100 years old! We would see her often, usually with a book or enjoying the deck. She moved slowly but we 'd pass her inside. During the lifeboat drill two young men came up to her and told her they would be her escoorts if a problem arose on the ship - ie had to use lifeboats! They said they would find her and help her get where she had to be. Noticed other escorts at the drill for other elderly passengers. Don't know what she did about excursions but she enjoyed the cruise!

[paul929207]

My mother is 84 and sailing the Caribbean as I write. She usually travels with a friend, not with any of us kids.

[popsec]

My question is has anyone gone on a cruise with an elderly parent? What cruise line would you recommend? Travel would be a cruise to Alaska. Thanks for you input.

 

When my mom was 85 I took her on her 1st cruise on Celebrity. It was a good fit for her.....the crew was awesome and couldn't do enough for her (they never even let her carry her own tray in the buffet!). Also, she really enjoyed the music played in the various lounges and the tribute to Sinatra one day. This year my sister and I went with her on a 4 day on Carnival. It was harder keeping her entertained during the day and music that was enjoyable for her was harder to find.

[Robb]

Have not traveled WITH them..........gave my mom a cruise to Alaska for her 80th birthday, she took her boyfriend.........age 93 at the time. Last year they did a bus tour of Europe alone. Not at ages 83 and 96 they are planning their own cruise for this summer. They have slowed down a little but still run circles around me.:D

[RetireeWannabee]

While my mother is not quite that senior, I took her to Alaska in Sept 06 and she's in her mid-70s with mobility issues, one deaf ear, Lupus and some food aversions.

 

We went on Princess and had a great time.

 

I did carefully choose our shore excursions in order to not do something too strenuous. She was game for dog-sledding on a glacier and the hardest part was getting in and out of the helicopter.

 

If at all possible, do some flight-seeing as it's spectacular. You simply must see those glaciers from above.

 

We did the railroad excursion in Skagway and it was quite pretty and informative. Visited a totem pole park in Ketch which was fun.

 

Considering whale watching in Juneau.

 

And if at all possible, visit Glacier Bay. That was a phenomenal day.

 

I suggest Princess as we got so much more out of the cruise by having the naturalist broadcasting. We also might have missed the whales when we were leaving Juneau had we not been alerted to them by her announcing it.

 

We turned on the tv to her broadcast and enjoyed from the privacy of our balcony.

 

AND, the Anytime Dining fit very well with the itinerary. Didn't have to board from shore early to make dinner.

[firefly333]

We were on the Ecstasy with a man celebrating his 94th birthday. He was pretty spry for his age. Many others bring parents in scooters or a walker to help them get around.

[junglejane]

We went to Alaska on the Celebrity Infinity with my mother when she was 85. In fact, it was a family reunion in celebration of her 85th birthday. There were 16 of us and she treated us all to the cruise. In most ways it was a wonderful, unforgettable experience. We have cool pictures of my mom on the helicopter ride to a glacier in Juneau and on the Misty Fjords flightseeing trip.

 

However, I do think you have to be realistic about your expectations. For example, I did not try to have my mother tender in Sitka because I didn't think she'd handle that well. Also, she is hard of hearing and had a hard time at breakfast and lunch in the dining room where it was open seating and we'd get seated with strangers. She needed constant assistance getting anywhere, and it almost always fell to me to handle that. That was fine, but it meant that I couldn't always do the things that I wanted to.

 

We also had her share a balcony cabin with my 22 year old niece (her granddaughter). In retrospect, it would have been better to just pay a single supplement for her to have a room to herself, because they operated on totally different schedules and my mom wasn't used to having a roommate at all, much less one who came to bed late at night and then slept in late every morning.

 

Finally, I would say that all the disruptions in her normal routine made her more cranky and irritable than normal. Obviously you know your father's personality the best, and are the best judge of how he'd do when taken out of his normal routine. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, just that if you do, be prepared to make changes in your own cruise expectations to accomodate him.

 

--Junglejane

[jlp20]

My question is has anyone gone on a cruise with an elderly parent? What cruise line would you recommend? Travel would be a cruise to Alaska. Thanks for you input.

 

Not to put a damper on your plans, but remember to get travel or cruise insurance to cover ALL of the people in your group. Age is one of the factors in insurance price, so don’t be surprised at a wide spectrum of prices for the same coverage.

 

When you make the initial booking, a “clock” starts ticking. You have about ten days to purchase travel insurance so that “pre-existing” conditions are covered. Also be aware that not all policies are the same. Be sure that travel to and from the ship are also covered. Not recommending any site, but places like insuremytrip dot com make picking the right policy easier.

[Seabee]

I took my parents on a cruise when they were in the 80s. We went on Celebrity's Horizon which was a small ship (probably 50,000 tons?). At any rate they were very happy about the smaller ship...kept talking about how close everything was. They had cruised many times before, butr typically on larger ships (although when they first cruised, 50,000 Tons was a large ship).

 

I'd consider a smaller ship if one is available.

[gebo]

Remember that even a mobile senior will have long distances to manuver on a cruise. Royal Carribean was nice enough to loan my mom a wheel chair at no cost when mom realized that distances were too far to walk. She now owns a transport chair. HAL literaly takes the chair away from me when I enter the dining room or have to board a launch. When we inform the excursion people that mom is wheel chair bound they provide either bungee cords to stabilize her or make room for her to sit while we snorkel. Only once did we have a handicap room but that was afer a broken hip and the promise of an upcoming cruise helped rehab to progress at a surprising rate. Only bad news was a Carnival cruise where the weather was cold and there was no heat available...mom ended up with bronchitis, which delayed our next reservation. good luck, and bon voyage!