ZellaLamb

On 1/1/2022 at 4:11 PM, Catclaws said:

I learned an important lesson today that I wanted to share in hopes of helping someone to avoid our situation.  We are scheduled to sail on Monday, 3 January. Because today was a holiday there were no COVID testing facilities open in our area we planned to use the Abbott EMed service.  We bought kits 8 October, thinking we would use them for a trip in October but saved them for the January trip.  We followed the rules about not opening the kit and figured with the 3 month extension on the expiration dates we were good to go.  Unfortunately the kits we received had expired 21 September, which was even before we ordered them and we did not realize that until we were opening the kits with the EMed proctor.  Now we are scrambling to find a test location for tomorrow or Monday morning with hopes of still making the cruise Monday.

 

  If you are using the Abbott test kits sold through Celebrity/Optum Store be sure to check your expiration dates (it was under the outer sleeve packaging).  Also, you may want to order more than you need.  We had ordered 3 kits but they only sent 2 kits.  They refunded our money for the 3rd but we would have been out of luck if we needed three.

Yes! The same thing happened to us! 

Hello all. This board does not seem very busy and I'm not surprised. We just returned from a 4 day Christmas cruise on the Celebrity Millenium. Our wheelchair accessible balcony cabin was 6017. Although I really shouldn't have been, I was surprised by how small the cabin was in comparison to many of the other ships we've been on. I've gotten spoiled by the newer, bigger ships in the fleet and when we booked this one, I had forgotten that it was a sister ship to the Summit, which we've been on many times. Maybe it has been so long now between cruises that I've forgotten what it was like.

The ship has a lot of charm and the crew is lovely but there are places that you should not expect to enjoy, such as the Spa or the solarium pool. There is a lift to the hot tub but not to the pool. If anyone has any specific questions, I would be happy to try to answer them for you.

Kate

2 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

Did you take any photos of the bathroom? How was the wait for elevators?

I did take photos of my stateroom bathroom and some public ones but they did not come out good enough to share. I actually have photos of bathroom fails from around the world. Weird, I know.  It doesn't seem like they replaced the toilets in the public bathrooms and the ones in the accessible stalls and in the regular ones are quite low and difficult to stand up from. We were travelling with friends who work out every morning and they even commented about it. Also, none of the bathroom doors are automatic.  The one in our stateroom was a decent height with appropriate grab bars, a sink that I could roll under and a tilted mirror. I also had a roll in shower with a fold up seat.

The wait for elevators was never bad. I found that folks were very considerate about making room and there were many stair walkers on our trip.

I loved following along on your posts, even though I was on the ship. It was fun to read about your experience from a Galaxy perspective. We've just made the lowly Select level. If you have any followers who would like to have more information about access for mobility challenged folks and for those of us who didn't have access to the Retreat, I would be happy to try and answer them! Have a great second half.

Kate and Rich

19 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

The staff said it was just part of Homeland Security assuring the safety of the ship.  Surprised me as someone was flying a drone near the ship in Tear Drop Park. 

Did you notice the gun boat in Newport? I never saw a helicopter in Bayonne but noticed heightened security in Newport and Portland. 

On 6/16/2019 at 11:28 AM, Jim_Iain said:

I have a quick question about space for playing board games, as you posted a picture of people playing a game of checkers in a bar area.  Do they have any area designated or appropriate for board game play?  We were on the Summit last year, and they made arrangements for us to use QSine a few times during sea days, but overall it was difficult to find space and we were asked to leave a number of areas where we attempted to play games.  We are booked again this year, but were hoping that the renovation would have changed the situation from last year.  

Hi Jim and IIan, I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to speak with you on this cruise but I saw you across the room a couple of times. I've seen a few questions here that I think I can answer. I was also surprised about the lack of a game room so I asked about it. When they refurbished the ship, they got rid of the library and game room to put in more state rooms. The activities manager now sets out various games on top of a table in the reflections lounge during the day. There really aren't any good tables for cards or board games, except perhaps in the indoor pool area. Books have been placed in cubbies along the wall in the hallway going to the lounge. 

There is a small elevator just outside the forward entrance doors on deck 11. You won’t need assistance to use it. There is a small wheelchair lift all the way in the aft, almost hidden from view. It is locked and requires a crew member to operate it. I never tried it but in my experience, it hasn’t worked on past cruises.

as an aside, one would think the upgrades to the ship would have included ADA improvements. They did not. This ship still doesn’t have automatic doors in most areas and the toilets in the public areas are so low that they are dangerous for many folks. All this being said, my stateroom is greatly improved with outlets next to the bed and USB ports.

The public bus from the airport to downtown Barcelona is accessible and roll right on. I'm not sure if they have public transportation to the port but I would look into it. Barcelona is one of the most accessible cities in Europe.

I have many good reasons to ask the question. Why would I "expect it"? I'm pretty sure that isn't what I said in my original post.

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 11:43 AM, Joseph2017China said:

 

Why would you expect a "discount" for leaving your car in a parking lot for a week?  We use a scooter, and always pay for our spot everyplace we go.  Only on occasion, do some cities have HC parking for free, but it is very unusual.

There are many places that offer discounted parking to vehicles that have accessibility equipment. We get a discounted rate at EWR . The ports of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are free to vehicles that have lifts. The reasoning is that we don't have as many options for parking and public transport.

On ‎5‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 8:46 AM, hctraveler said:

Wondering  about handicap parking at the port or near the port for a Princess cruise in late Oct.  I use a scooter.

Yes, there is a large garage. You may want to arrive fairly early so that you don't have to go all the way to the top. 

2 hours ago, jpcello said:

 

No. We parked there last year. Same price as everybody else.

Thank you.

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 8:15 PM, 1025cruise said:

I don't believe so. Why would there be?

There are many places that offer discounted parking to vehicles that have accessibility equipment. We get a discounted rate at EWR . The ports of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are free to vehicles that have lifts. The reasoning is that we don't have as many options for parking and public transport.

Does anyone know if there is discounted wheelchair accessible parking at the port in Bayonne? I've searched the website for Port Liberty but there is no mention of it.

I am onboard the brand new Celebrity Edge. Ask me any questions you have about access on this ship and I will try to answer them.

I think that Betty's point is that trying on several outfits in the stall takes up a lot of time. Of course others may use this stall if it isn't needed but using the only stall available for an extended period that doesn't involve flushing is just rude. Go to a real dressing room.

Darcie, just be aware that the airport in Amsterdam can be quite an ordeal. Allow more extra time there than you can imagine. They managed to misplace my wheelchair somewhere between landing and the baggage area. I waited for it for two hours. This is when it was supposed to be delivered to me at the door of the plane.

I am really happy to hear that LondonTowner. Things do change and I would hate to close up my travel opportunities because of a past experience .

I can only say that fifteen years ago we flew to Spain via CDG and it was one of my worst nightmares. Air France was absolutely horrible to us, starting at JFK where they would not allow me me to take my scooter to the gate and insisted that it be checked through (in pieces) to Spain. In CDG there was no jetway and they just pointed at the stairs and shrugged when I said that I could not negotiate the them. The story goes on and gets worse but I think you get the point. We vowed never to step foot or wheel in that place again.

Any HC Placard or HC License plate issued from a USA State is honored in all 50 states and USA Territories including some cities in Canada. Most DMV websites lists everywhere that State's placard is honored.

 

Interestingly, the City of New York DOES NOT honor any placard issued outside of the city for the purposes of using the designated spaces. I know this because my car was towed there and I went before a judge to argue against it. He told me that my plate wasn’t valid in the city. Me being a smart ass, I then asked him if that meant that I could throw away my crutches and walk. I had to pay my fine.

I understand that you are supposed to have some kind of proof but I just went to the ticket office in my wheelchair with my husband and we were waved in. This was true throughout Spain. They were really wonderful to me.

We have actually been to those seats. We accessed them on Deck two by going all the way to the end of the corridor. We were staying on deck two and decided to go exploring. :-)

We did have to work our way through equipment and stuff. It might be best to ask a crew member.

Hoping that some more folks will see this question so I'm bumping it up.

Yes, I own a FoldaWheel. It is made by Wheelchair88.com and I have the xl1000 model. I used it on a Baltic Cruise last year and it handled the ports very well. If you have someone that is with you that can fold it up and put it in the trunk of a taxi, even better. I bought the larger one because it had more powerful batteries and larger wheels. This was good and bad. This chair is wider than my Pride Gogo Elite Traveler Plus. It also has rear drive so the front wheels will sometimes take you where they want to go - like sideways down a slope. It does not handle chamfered edges well. It also sits rather low and so is more difficult to transfer out of.

All of that being said, it is my favorite travel chair. It will go all day, is lightweight and you can bring it anywhere. I am very lucky to have a big strong husband who can just tip the chair back on the large tires and it can actually climb a couple of steps and navigate cobble stones. I would never attempt those things on my own.

Good luck and I will be happy to answer any other questions, if I can.

All of the above advice great (especially the phone numbers of the taxi companies!). The only thing I would like to add is that I fly into Ft. Lauderdale quite often and have rarely had an issue getting a wheelchair access cab right at the curb. Only once, late at night, we were in the line for the taxis and an accessible van pulled up. Two guys jumped in front of us and grabbed it. They refused to get out and the driver took them. The dispatcher took down the medallion number and they were banned from the airport but we still didn't get a ride for about another 30 minutes.

Thank you. Of course, you are correct. I should have posted those things. I can transfer into a van but not into a bus. I will be using a portable electric wheelchair that folds up and weighs about 50lbs. My husband would do the lifting. I can walk a few steps.

I'm not interested in using the cruise line tours as they are vastly more expensive. There are a couple of people posting tours on the roll call that I may be able to join but I was interested if anyone on this board had had experience with those ports. We are going on the Celebrity Infinity on November 23rd.

Thanks so much for any additional input.

Kate