Fellow Travelers,

I don't know if you can answer or can help in anyway, but I'm desperate.

I booked a 20 day Mediterranean Cruise with Holland America back in February for my Honeymoon. My wedding is May 22 and the ship leaves May 29. I am 23 and my new bride to be is 20. I have paid for everything already, the airlines, hotel in Rome, and cruise.

However, they have just informed me that they are not going to let us sale because Kelly, my wife, is too young. We are 2 weeks away from our wedding!!! They didn't inform me of this before, nor do they say anything on their website. Because I am not over 25, they are denying us. On other websites, age requirements are waived for married couples if they are both over 18 and can show proof of marriage.

What should I do???

Can you please advise or help???

Thats terrible. If you booked in Feb. why did it tale so long for them to inform you of this and who did you book with? I too could not find anything on their web site about age limitations though there has to be one.

Yes, there are age restrictions for HAL. It is hard to believe that your travel agent didn't inform you. Time to get a new TA.

Is it possible to get a power of attorney and become your girlfriend's guardian in less than 2 weeks? (I'm not a lawyer and have no idea if that would work).

I have no idea what to tell you. So sorry that your honeymoon will be spoiled and ALL that money down the drain!

At least you can still fly to Rome and have a hotel there. Get that travel agent busy on arrangements to stay longer in Italy, maybe.

OR....hopefully your TA took out insurance for you and you can get the entire honeymoon refunded to you.
Best of luck. Report back to us on your outcome!
So sorry!!!

Forget my hint of "guardianship" listed above. I forgot you have to be 25 yrs. old to have someone under 21 with you.

When your girlfriend filled out her "papers" did she use her married name? same as yours? Passport with her new name on it?? Maybe that was what also sent up a red flag. Not that changing it would help...just thinking outloud.

Continued best wishes!

Could you just go up to the courthouse and get a civil marriage by a Justice of the Peace asap? I take it that it's the one week lead time that is a problem -- would the extra week be enough?

It shouldn't prevent you from having another wedding ceremony on 5/29, I wouldn't think.

Here is HAL age policy:
Guests under 21 years of age must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or chaperone who is at least 25 years old; one adult chaperone is required for every five people under the age of 21.

Why those dummkopfs didn't make exception for married couples like every other cruise line does, beats me. Get on the phone and go to the hightest ranked HAL customer service officer. Don't give them a break until they let you board.

Why should married people of age 20 & 23 be treated any differently than single people of the same age?

A better question would be, why didn't HAL deny their booking when they booked?

The very first cruise I booked for my family, we were asked our birthdates up front, and then informed that guests under 25 would not be allowed to room together (my brother and I were then under 25, and he was under 21), which we thought was weird since we had booked 1 room for the 4 of us.

Anyway, ask HAL exactly what it is they require so that you can go on this cruise, and do what you can to get everything HAL requires.

Good luck!

WE ARE GOING ON OUR CRUISE!!!!!

My travel agent drove over to tell me the news, because she was so excited and couldn’t do it over the phone. She had got a call from her HAL rep at 8AM, 6AM Seattle time, who had been pushing this case with Holland America.

The HAL rep’s name was Alicia and I want to give a big thanks to her for really sticking it out for us. I know she had to reopen our case and go above and beyond to find someone who would listen. She said she got a call at 1AM from her director who was told that we would be allowed to board. I am so excited!!!

I can’t thank all of you enough, who kept posting all day yesterday and last night. There was so little hope because HAL had faxed over our cancellation notice yesterday afternoon and were only going to refund $400. But you guys kept talking and spurring debate on this arbitrary age requirement rule of being 25. I know they were listening to all of us, even if they didn’t say so.

If we had gotten no response by this afternoon, I had planned to start using all of your great ideas out there. I’m just so happy it didn’t have to make it to that stage. I’ve been on three HAL cruises with my family and always considered there service the best. That is why I selected them for my honeymoon. I’m so glad they didn’t let me down.

Alicia said it had made her day being able to come in to work early and make that call. It is her birthday too, so an extra Happy Birthday to you and a big thanks from us Alicia. Enjoy the flowers!

And thanks again everyone for your support, ideas, and help in this matter!!!

Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you. I couldn't believe what I read - that is so crazy but thank goodness HAL has seen the light. I have been on over 30 HAL cruises alone and have always been a big supporter of them and was extremely disappointed in them when I read your post. They must realize that the Internet - Cruise Critics and Fodors in particular have a lot of influence and it certainly would have damaged their credibility if they had gone ahead and denied you. Have a wonderful wedding and a wonderful cruise. I think HAL should have champagne waiting for you after what they put you through!!!

That is great news and a huge relief. I'm glad they saw fit to do the right thing for you. Excellent indeed. Have a great future. PS, get it in writing on official HAL letterhead.

Wow, I had no idea that HAL had such age restrictions.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, and I am glad everything turned out so good for you.

The next logical question is "what do you wear" just teasing you.

And I'm sure many of us would not know about this restriction, so thank you for letting us know.

Azzielucky13, I'm glad everything turned out okay for the two of you. The only reason I knew about age restrictions was because I noticed it in the back of Carnival's cruise booklet under Essential Information in a section titled Minor Guests. I have to have a signed letter from my daughter and son-in-law authorizing my granddaughter to travel with me. However, my travel agent had already mentioned it to me.

At any rate, have a wonderful time.

Azzielucky13:
Glad to hear your news was good news.
Now get out there and enjoy your wedding and HONEYMOON!!!
Sincerely, Cruiser

I never knew such age restrictions existed, but HAL really screwed up when they allowed the booking in the first place. I'm so glad for you, have a great trip!!

I did not know but I'm not surprised about the restrictions. My daughter and son-in-law had to have my husband sign for their honeymoon hotel because they were both under 25 yrs of age.

You made me start thinking about my son's age.

We're going on HAL on La Grande family cruise this summer -- us, Dan, his fiance, and her parents. They're sharing a room.

I had to spend a few minutes thinking about his age to compute that he's over 25, albeit just by half a year

nb -- I believe both your TA and HAL would have been liable for fraudulently accepting your reservation if you had been upfront about your age from the beginning. But your TA should have also realized that HAL doesn't cater to younger couples, and should have booked you on Princess

I believe HAL should give you a free cabin upgrade after putting you through all this. Getting married is stressful enough without this aggravation.

Best of luck to you both and have a great honeymoon.

<< But your TA should have also realized that HAL doesn't cater to younger couples, and should have booked you on Princess>>

Huh? There is no line that caters to 20 somethings in Europe and longer and more expensive cruises attract and older crowd - period.

I daresay on a 20 day cruise the demographic will be much the same on any line.

I like the size of HALs ship and the service and ambiance we have always experienced on their ships. And the large cabins and wonderful bedding will be a great plus on a honeymoon