Senior Citizens: First cruiseship to be certified as a "BTC Senior Citizen Cruise". ["BTC" =...
...Better Tomorrow Challenges] To be so certified, it has to have the following:
1) No use of "tenders" (small transfer boats). The cruiseship always harbors at a pier and is securely fastened to the pier to the point where it doesn't rock with the waves. [Many senior citizens fear trying to get onto and off of a tender that is bobbing up and down next to the ship and all senior citizens hate tenders that bounce up and down as they go to and from the piers.]
2) All piers visited by the cruiseship must have elevator towers so passengers do not have to go up and down long angled gangplanks OR the ship has an exit at pier level that passengers can use, but even here, the passengers can use a small hydraulic platform so they do not have to walk up or down any stairs. [Many senior citizens really hate long angled gang planks to get onto and off of cruiseships.]
3) All off-ship excursions require no long-distance walking nor any hiking or climbing. Every port offers a guided bus tour of its port.
4) One side of the ship has stadium seating so local historians from the island/country can come on board and give sail-by coastline lectures. A powerful colored searchlight or colored wide-beam laser must be used whose point of illumination can be easily seen in broad daylight and then used to literally highlight historic buildings, rock formations, etc. of the coastline while the historian gives a lecture on them and answers questions from the audience. Each lecture must have at least one assistant who moves through the audience with a wireless microphone so guests can ask questions and the lecturer and the rest of the audience can hear their questions. Every port and sail-by coastline is given this lecture treatment.
5) Captain of the ship is ordered to take the routes that cause the ship to bob up and down the least. [This will require ships to more closely hug the coastlines and not go out into deep seas, but a bobbing ship forces many senior citizens to stay where they are (literally where they are when it starts bobbing) and if it lasts too long, ruins the cruise for them.]
6) No public stairs in the entire ship. Only elevators. [Stairs are the sworn mortal enemies of all senior citizens.]
7) No buffet meals. All meals are served to passengers. [Many senior citizens just don't have the dexterity and/or balance to take advantage of buffets.]
8) All cabin bathrooms are handicapped equipped for senior citizens. [Lots of railings in the showers and bathtubs, elevated toilet seats, and voice-activated lights.]
9) All swimming pools are heated salt water pools and have gradual slopes leading into and out of them.
10) All deck and lounge chairs are motorized to help a person get into and out of them.
11) A geriatrician is part of the medical staff on board the ship.
12) For those passengers who wish it and at no extra charge, the ship is equipped with its own medical alert system whereby passengers can wear an emergency button as a necklace or wristwatch. Pressing the emergency button sends out an emergency signal that identifies the passenger's location on the ship. All crew members must carry tracking devises so if such an alert went out, the crew members closest to the passenger can arrive as soon as possible and then they use a cellphone to communicate the situation to the medical clinic while a stretcher crew races to the scene.
13) A full pharmacy is located on the ship. The cruiseline calls all its passengers ahead of time to inquire about medication they need and then ensure they stock that in their ship's pharmacy in case the passenger loses theirs, runs out of them, etc. The cruiseline also offers to contact the passenger's doctor and, with such permission, has an electronic version of all the passenger's medical records transferred onto the ship for immediate access by the ship's physician. The ship's medical clinic must also be located within easy access of the passenger cabins and manned by at least one nurse 24/7.
14) All lifeboats are designed to take on passengers in wheelchairs and can be quickly yet smoothly lowered to the ocean without any drops.
Future Challenges: First cruiseline to offer a BTC Senior Citizen certified cruiseship for the:
1) Caribbean.
2) Mediterranean Sea.
3) Pacific Islands.
4) Great Lakes.
5) World. [An around-the-world cruise.]
First cruiseline to have:
6) One of their cruiseships be a full-time nursing home traveling around the world at least once each year. Almost all of its passengers are nursing home residents. The only exceptions being at least 100 cabins for relatives and friends of nursing home residents to visit and vacation with residents for one week (and one week only) as they travel the world. Those who are not relatives or friends of a nursing home resident cannot board the ship. [Odd as it might sound, it is currently cheaper to live on a cruiseship than to stay in a nursing home in the USA. And by being on a nursing-home cruiseship, one's final years can be more enjoyable by at least seeing new ports every week from the ship's promenade deck. A change of atmosphere. A sense of adventure. And even if one is unable to go on off-ship excursions, one can still enjoy hearing from those who have. Lastly and just as importantly, perhaps more relatives (children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren) will visit if they can also do a little vacationing at the same time.]
7) One of its ships do Future Challenge #6 and have one of its residents die, their body cremated, and, at the end of a funeral ceremony on the cruiseship, their ashes scattered onto the sea while in international waters or in their favorite harbor when the ship returns there.
8) All of its ships be FC #6. To win this future challenge, the cruiseline must have at least 2 nursing-home cruiseships.
First cruiseline to do Future Challenge #8 and have a larger nursing home population than:
9) The US state with the smallest nursing home population.
10) The US state with the largest nursing home population.
Discussion:If you would like to discuss this challenge with others, click here to go to this challenge's discussion forum.