Saturday, January 17, 2004

Many seniors enjoy sailing off into sunset

By LINDA WALTON
NEWS-JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — What type of vacation are today’s seniors taking?

A view from the sixth floor of the Mills House in Charleston offers this surrealistic view of the Carnival cruise ship Victory sitting in the harbor behind the spire of St. Philip’s church. (Photo: News-Journal/Drew Murphy)

They are choosing to go where they can have peace and quiet or an active party atmosphere, where there is plenty of food and entertainment and dress is casual or formal, whichever they want.

And there is no carrying around luggage from one vacation stop to the next.

Cruises are in and seniors are a large part of that industry’s business.

“It is the best bet as far as traveling,” said Carol Williamson, owner of Coronado Travel. “A majority of our business is with seniors.”

And why not, since it has become a lot easier to board a ship with several of the big cruise lines docking at Port Canaveral, just a short drive away, as compared to embarking from Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

“That helps with more to offer,” Williamson said, since the Holland American Carnival and Royal Caribbean all dock at Canaveral, picking up and then leaving off passengers.

And so far, she said, neither scattered reports of illnesses cropping up aboard ship nor the suggested threat warned by federal officials of terrorism have slowed the number of cruises being booked by her office.

So when do the very best rates pop up for cruises?

According to Williamson, that occurs during hurricane season.

“We’ve seen times then when the port charges are more than the tickets,” she said.

Choosing a specific cruise depends on a person’s desires.

“There are cruises specifically designed for the older traveler, such as those that will have the big band music of yesteryear and special lectures that would appeal to seniors,” she said.

There also are cruises for the avid bridge players, where tables are made available for several hours a day for the card players to swing into action. Some may be interested in golf or tennis or the offshore excursions; another might want to go to the movies.

“There are non-stop activities but a person can do as much or as little as they want,” she said.

Most of the senior cruises also have gentlemen hosts who are available to dance with single women or share a meal.

“These are nice men, many of them widowed, who also want to remain social and who do it by working for the cruise line,” Williamson said.

According to the travel company owner, Carnival is the cruise ship with the most senior rates. A check of various Internet sources on cruises in general also revealed other senior deals, such as the Princess Line, which frequently offers two tickets for the price of one but is quantity-controlled.

Singles traveling alone pay the highest rates, often 110 to 200 percent more than a couple who would share a state room. The Crystal Cruise line, however, offers a 15 percent additional fee for singles on select cruises.

And for the single traveler booking a trip who doesn’t want to pay more, there also is the option of the cruise company booking another person, trying to stay within the same age group, into the doubles stateroom to bring the price of the cruise down.

Most of the cruise ships have facilities for disabled people with wheelchair access to the ship, cabins and for participating in activities.

The Princess Cruises has a special wheelchair transport gangway mechanism for boarding and other cruise ships have facilities for the disabled throughout.

Seeing-eye and hearing dogs are welcome on board for the blind or hearing-impaired traveler and elevators on most cruise ships now even have Braille buttons.

For the hearing-impaired, telephone amplifiers are available as well as visual smoke detectors, door knock sensors and text telephones. And handicapped people who use the mechanized scooters also can take them aboard.

“Most of the cruise ships also honor special diets,” Williamson said. Those with salt free, low carbohydrate or kosher requirements should make their requests known in advance.

Cruise ships also have fully-equipped medical facilities, staffed to handle almost any emergency. There is a ship’s doctor aboard and passengers can visit the medical facilities on a pay-per-visit basis. Most ships have no provisions to accept Medicare or health insurance.

In the event of a major emergency that can’t be handled in the ship’s medical facility, a patient usually will be airlifted off to the nearest onshore hospital that can handle the emergency.

Williamson said area seniors have found cruises a great way to celebrate special occasions.

“We have booked honeymoon couples, those celebrating anniversaries who often also take family members along and class reunions,” she said.

Taking a cruise also is a good way to manage a vacation budget since there are no surprises in the costs of meals, lodging and entertainment, which all are inclusive in the price of a ticket.

It’s also a stress-free way for seeing and doing a lot, on ship and offshore, without worrying about carting luggage around and looking for a parking spot.

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