wisebear

MommaBear, thank you for your thoughtful and empathetic reply. Don't worry, I did nibble off my mom-in-laws plate at that meal. I wasn't in jeopardy of starving! But my point was the lack of independence available to me compared to other lines we have sailed. (There are more than my signature indicates - I haven't updated that in four years.)

Mindy, I promise you we made all the arrangements for disembarkation, checked and double-checked. Then when it came time, no wheelchair, nobody to help, no one to take responsibility - we were absolutely alone and helpless in a huge crowd. Even after making all the arrangements.

Also Mindy, why is cruising not for me anymore? My entire post is about how this trip was completely unlike all my other experiences with a scooter. I would certainly agree that Disney Cruise Lines is not for me anymore, and I posted this as a warning to others.

Chengkp, when I met on board with the Hotel Director, he told me that Disney DOES accept and follow ADA standards. Perhaps it is voluntary, but that is their stated policy. He agreed that my complaints were reasonable and should be addressed, particularly an accommodation for muster. I wish I could feel confident that they will be.

The phrase "sit-down meal" was used both by phone staff at the DcL disability line, and in repeated announcements in the boarding hall telling us that upon boarding we would have a choice of the upstairs buffet or a sit-down meal in Parrot Cay. I see now that they meant you would sit down at a dining room table after getting food from a buffet in the dining room. That to me is not a sit-down meal. Why the different verbiage? Why not tell people there are buffets available in two locations?

1025cruise, obviously you miss my point about being independent. I don't want you to open the door for me. I don't want staff putting their hands on me to get me up a ramp. I want to be able to get around the ship myself. That's the point of disability access legislation.

Thanks for your reply and info. It's a little more complicated, though. I have other medical issues that make being in a crowd a bad/painful idea. The point is that I asked for an accommodation and was denied.

Re the buffet, I do have a waiter help me at buffets when I must eat at one. But again, my point was that there was no table service available. On every cruise, it has always been our practice and our pleasure to board and enjoy a leisurely lunch served in one of the main dining rooms. This goes back to before my scooter days. I was displeased by the lack of this option as a cruiser, and discomfited by the situation as a disabled person.

Here are a few of my impressions after a four night cruise on the Disney Wonder as a disabled person using a mobility scooter. I believe the ship is not meeting it's claim to be disabled-friendly, and I had extreme difficulty navigating the ship as well as dealing with staff regarding my issues.

Some examples:

For the first time since I've needed a scooter, I was refused any accommodation for the safety drill. I spoke to five different staff members, explaining to each that I couldn't bring my scooter into the massive crowding of the drill, and was repeatedly told I had to attend. I mentioned that on other ships I was led to a lounge away from the crowd or allowed to remain in the cabin to view the safety video. I was told five times I had to attend in person. I was also asked: "Well, you can stand for a few minutes, can't you?" (We all know the safety drill is more than a few minutes.) And from another: "What is it about your condition that makes you think you can't attend?" I believe that in addition to being rude, intrusive and humiliating, these questions are illegal. Also, it just seems insane that they would want me maneuvering my scooter amongst hundreds of passengers, many of them young children darting about. I could so easily hurt someone. I would bet DCL's insurance company wouldn't want me driving a machine through that mob scene.

Upon boarding, I was dismayed to discover that there was no venue on the ship where I could be served lunch by a waiter while sitting at a table. While I can manage a short walk with my cane, I cannot navigate a buffet, and I'm far too unsteady to carry a plate back with my one available hand. I had been told that a sit-down meal would be available somewhere on the ship. It was not. To their credit, Disney staff eventually sent out a chef who agreed to make me something and send it out to me. It arrived about thirty minutes after my entire family had finished eating, but at least someone tried. Other lines I've traveled have always had someplace where I could be served a meal, even if it's a pub or a sports bar. On the Wonder - nothing.

The lack of automatic doors on the ship is shocking. The number of thresholds with huge bumps is disgraceful. In order to get to main parts of the ship, like the pool areas, I was forced to take my scooter over bumps that sent jolts of pain searing through my body. These bumps were all over the place, often trapping my wheels and jerking me to a painful stop or just sending the aforementioned pain up my spine. I couldn't get into the spa area without asking strangers for help. The same went for far too many venues throughout the ship. I bring a scooter at my expense so that I can be independent when I travel. Having to constantly beg strangers for help to open doors is humiliating. Disney, spend the money and make all doors automatic. Put some gentle ramps over those horrible thresholds. Other cruise lines have done it.

Although I had booked a cabin large enough to hold my scooter, for comfort I prefer to park it in the ships scooter parking area. I had been assured by Disney reps that the Wonder did have a secure parking area. Upon arrival, I found this to be a dark, isolated space behind an elevator shaft, completely out of sight. My scooter was vandalized there the first night of the cruise. Even in the dim light, my husband helped me straighten out the scooter so I could use it, but I never parked it there again. Although I reported the incident to the Hotel Director, no security tape was ever reviewed and I never heard another word about the vandalism of my property.

Prior to the cruise, I was repeatedly given incorrect information over the phone by Disney reps. A rep insisted I couldn't get a scooter into the cabin I had booked. I knew it would fit, and in fact it did fit in our cabin. With only four ships, why can't the system know which stateroom doors can accommodate a scooter? I was also told repeatedly to pick up my rented scooter at Guest Services. After waiting on a long line to pick it up, we were told that it had been delivered to my cabin (yes it fit inside my cabin), and that I couldn't access it until cabins were ready. This was not a good way to start off the cruise.

I actually have video evidence of much of what I've reported here, but I'm afraid to post it as I was detained by security while recording it. I was trying to document the site of one of my worst experiences - the boarding ramp in our final port. This ramp was so sharply angled that I was forced to use quite a bit of speed. I was slammed to a halt right at the top, my wheels caught and my scooter stalled out as multiple people converged on me trying to "help". After returning later to get video of the site, I was held against my will by a security officer while he threatened to put me off the ship and have me arrested. On debarkation morning, just as I was boarding my scooter to leave, another security officer appeared in the hallway accompanied by an armed police officer from the local authorities. I was informed they wanted to speak to me. I declined their invitation to speak. I was told we could speak in the public corridor or we could speak in my stateroom, but I wasn't going to be allowed to leave the ship until I contributed to their "report" about the "incident". I was told I had been recording in a restricted area. So why didn't someone just tell me that at the time? I could have gotten the same shot of the boarding ramp from another location. Anyway, I was imprisoned in my room for 15 minutes, despite my repeated requests to leave, while they basically scolded me for being unpleasant. I described what I had been through on the ship for the last four days, specifically the feeling of being kicked in the spine every time I crossed a threshold. I asked both of them how pleasant they would be if they had been kicked in the base of the spine fifty times. They left, and I was free to go.

The wheelchair that was supposed to be available for me to get off the ship? No staff member could locate one. My husband did spot one as I labored to walk off the ship with my cane. It was broken, wouldn't open fully and missing one foot rest, but we managed to use it - rather a fitting end to my treatment on the Disney Wonder.

David Weiser

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Thanks Gary & Clay.

Hey Gary - I followed the link you gave, and the text indicates the cruise is on the Costa Atlantica. But everything else references Princess. Do you know why?

Forget it, bbenson. Have a great cruise, Ithocles.

But did you even search just this forum on the term "jamaica"? I know you're at a computer, so did you think to maybe Google "gays in jamaica" before spending your money there?

And before people jump on me for being a hater, this is the GAY forum and I WILL be militant here about visiting jamaica.

I'm speechless. I just don't know how some people live with themselves.

Two weeks to go until our first cruise with a balcony! Thanks, all, for these inspiring posts!