Dinkachu

I would be glad to contribute to your Q and A.

 

Why are there so few HC cabins? It seems they book early and if a handicapped person didn't book one someone else would love it.

 

I bring my scooter to cruise. How about one tender that could help us get to shore?

 

I would love to have a chair with ottoman but it dosn't seem possible. Could we get a few items to assist the handicapped?

 

Some of the ships have solo cabins, how about HC solo cabins?

 

Thank you and good luck

 

4boysnana

We have noticed that our accessible rooms are never in prime parts of the ship - they are on the least desirable floors, back in the corners, etc. Yet, we pay full price.

We cruise with 2 handicapped people, both in wheelchairs (one brings a scooter and push chair) and one on oxygen. We have gotten to ports on Carnival only to discover the wide wheelchair would not fit down their ramp and mom was unable to get off at any of 3 ports. Very disappointing. We would not have booked that cruise had we known they used a split ramp with a very limited width to get off at each port. Now we are booked on a cruise only to find out that Belize tenders and that passengers have to be carried down stairs to get onto tenders. It would be so valuable to have a definitive list of accessible ports. Thank you. If we can answer any questions we will be glad to. We travel with a scooter, wheelchairs, walker, oxygen and bi-pap machine. We also have a very overweight passenger - but have no idea how to find a list of 'obese' friendly cruises.

While we still find the service in the dining room and from room stewards adequate, we have seen less enthusiastic service since the pre-paid gratuities were put into practice. We have taken to letting our room steward know that we will leave an additional tip for outstanding service and have seen a return to 'over and above' service. New Dynamic Dining means we won't have the same dining room staff, so that relationship will not be the same as before. Other than the convenience of having tips prepaid, we find little advantage for cruisers.

My dad loves the zip line and he is 83 years young. We got the room on floor 14 right where the zip line lands, so when he hears the 'thump' from people landing he runs and gets in line. Enjoy!

We have sailed other cruise lines and always came back to RCI as they had lovely ships, great service, decent food and good shows. You paid a little more, but we always felt it was worth it. Their loyalty program used to be great, not so much anymore. If you don't get a full suite, you can no longer order a full room service meal. No more midnight buffets. Bingo is 30.00 a pop. Our last 2 cruises with RCI have had less than stellar food, unless we 'pay extra' for decent food in the specialty restaurants. We've seen a slip in service and attitude once the prepaid tips went into effect. We are booked on Allure in December, after dry dock and we have great hopes that it will be the cruise that keeps us with RCI. After that, we are thinking of exploring other lines. We will not go back to Carnival. Maybe Princess, back to Disney, Norwegian, Holland American, we are just not sure. But we are sure that we won't continue to pay the RCI prices if service continues to slip.

We cruise on Holidays and always decorate our door. The doors are metal and magnets work well. On two of our cruises we had door decorations disappear. One was found on another door down the hall. Our room steward found it for us. Now we personalize our decorations with room number, sometimes a greeting like, "Merry Christmas from the Florida Cruisers". We have not lost any decorations since we make them personal.

We were on Allure with three 80 - 84 year olds. One was very picky. We ate at 150, Giovanni's, Samba's, Rita's, and many other places with them. CHOPS was the best for a family celebration with our picky eater. It was a very nice meal with plenty of simple food they liked. Picky granny's favorite place to eat on the ship was Johnny Rockets (go figure). We've booked Christmas this year to celebrate our son's college graduation and we'll book CHOPS again for the family dinner.

I just read all 5 pages and was surprised no one said the midnight chocolate buffet. To me chocolate is a seperate and necessary food group and I was in heaven. I also enjoyed the cold soups and the scrambled eggs. I think my husband liked the steaks and knowing he could have one every night was good for him.

 

Keep the list going.

Connie

On our last Allure cruise they had done away with the midnight buffets and we missed them! The midnight Christmas chocolate buffet was a sight to behold. Has RCI re-indroduced a midnight buffet?:confused:

Welcome to Cruise Critic. :) We look forward to the facts :eek:

 

 

 

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We had a good trip on this ship a few years back, so it will be interesting to learn what has changed before we book again. As ChipLondon indicated: looking forward to the facts.

PS - ChipLondon - yes, I tried to squish the bug on the screen.:rolleyes:

We have taken cases of water with us and purchased the package from Royal. The cases of Royal water are larger bottles and we loved the convenience of having them delivered right to the stateroom. We put luggage tags on the cases we carried and there was no issue having them delivered to the room. It is just a matter of cash vs convenience. The bottled water actually has more sodium than the de-salinated water. We carry water as we travel with 2 handicapped people who have a difficult time getting to water and it is all they drink. In the dining rooms, they drink the de-salintated water.

I am in a wheelchair and on oxygen. We arrive at Port Everglades between 11 am and noon. If you have a handicapped parking permit you will have reserved parking spots. They will also allow you to unload disabled passengers right at the entry to the door. We have always been the first on board. Oasis and Allure are very handicapped friendly ships. Enjoy!

Is Johnny Rockets still a sit down, dance and singing show place, and is it one set fee or has it gone carry out only and a la carte like it is on Quantum?

Cruising with children ages 2, 3, 10 and 12 on Allure of the Seas. Will any of the children be permitted in the Specialty Restaurants such as Giovanni's Table, Chops Steakhouse, Sambas, Etc. We could not find any info on the Royal Caribbean site about ages allowed at the specialty restaurants. We can start making reservations Jan 1, so I want to be prepared. Thank you!:confused:

I would rather buy their bottled water package than go through the hassle of taking it onboard, but it cost me 50.00 plus an 8.00 gratuity for 16 bottles of water to be delivered to my stateroom! I flinched, but bought it anyway. Now, if I want diet Dr Pepper I either bring it or do without since you can't buy it on board at any price. I'm just saying, if they don't want us to bring bottled water and Dr Pepper onboard, offer them at a reasonable price.

Happy Sailing!

Allure - NEXT SUNDAY

Radiance 3/2011

Legend (Carnival) 8/2010

Freedom 12/2009

Grandeur 12/2008

Mariner 12/2007

Wonder (Disney 3/2000)

Emerald Seas (Easern 7/1974)

I appreciate all of your suggestions and have put them to use.

WE have a scooter being delivered to the stateroom and will arrive in the manual wheelchair - so we can switch from one to another when it works best. I am excited to be able to travel with my family and am grateful that the ship will make it possible for me to vacation aboard!

WE get these postcards all the time. We have friends whose daughter worked for one of these companies. The 'Cruise' is basically a ride to the island. They drop you off and take a group back to pick up more people. You pay for transportation to the hotel, every bite of food, drink, taxes, tips and 'processing fees', then you pay for the hotel (they give you a discount if you use their hotel), food, etc. By the end, you end up paying more than you would for a regular cruise. Our advice would be to watch for specials and sales and do a conventional cruise.

Happy Cruising!

We leave in 8 weeks for Christmas aboard the Allure. From pictures posted here on Cruise critics we have some concerns about certain venues with the wheelchair. The Aqua Theater, for example, seems to have no room for a wheelchair. We have reservations to decorate cupcakes in the cupcake cupboard, but I don't think the scooter will fit in there and the wheelchair will be too short to reach the tables.

We are traveling to Port Everglades with a wheelchair and have a scooter waiting for us in the accessible cabin.

Any information you have using wheelchairs or scooters on Allure or Oasis will be greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU!!!

We enjoyed Capt. Johnny so much on Mariner and were delighted to see that he

is on Allure right now -as we are booked in December, but since his rotation started in June - we are wondering if he will still be on Allure in December.

Does anyone know how long the rotations last?

Thanks,

Dinkachu (Lindy)

My cousin does PD and cruises. I am wheelchair bound on oxygen. We have had some disasters with Carnival (a room steward broke my oxygen concentrator, we couldn't get wheelchairs down the narrow ramp and were stuck on the ship, etc), but found Royal Caribbean to be much more attentive to special needs at sea. We don't pack anything that we need. All medical supplies come with us in a rolling suitcase. Enjoy your trip!

It is very common for passengers to use a CPAP and RCI will gladly help you. Generally there are no outlets near the night tables next to the bed. You will need an extension cord. Most times your cabin steward will provide it as soon as he sees that you have a CPAP. To be safe, you can always ask.

 

If you use Distilled Water for your Humidifier, it is best if you ask the Special Needs Dept ahead of time. They can best reached at special_needs@rccl.com or (866) 592-7225.

Allure and Oasis have outlets behind the bed next to the nightstand - a perfect place to plug in the c-pap or bi-pap!

Packing .... hired the dog sitter.... bought food for both....

sailing in 7 days on Radiance!!!