Jump to content

Elevator priority


1980dory
 Share

Recommended Posts

Perhaps elevators should have handicap priority. Too many times I have waited first in line in my scooter, only to have the elevator come and it become filled with able bodied people crowding in. As the doors close, they all look at me as if to say "Tough luck" because I wasn't fast enough, or rude enough to run them down to get on.

On one occasion, after I was on, an elderly lady came on with a walker and was berated by an able body because she wouldn't/couldn't get out of his way when he entered. He had the audacity to tell her that he had 'paid his cruise fare too'! I find this behavior appalling!

Why aren't the elevators designated as handicapped priority?

Why do people have to be so rude and inconsiderate?

If you are able bodied today-great! Tomorrow, you may not be though (just like I was).

I don't have the option of taking the stairs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On some NCL ships they attempted to limit one elevator for the HC on a first basis by putting a code in their cabin key card. The reason for this is the fact that only one elevator went into the lower dining room. I think NCL just gave up attempting to monitor it and discontinued the key code. I remember having to wait for loads of AB using it before we even got a chance. I was tempted to make “HC” signs for that elevator for our second cruise on their Jewel class ships but resisted.

I do not mind waiting for my turn, however I do get a bit irritated when people push or sneak in front of me in any line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Handicap elevator ... Really ? With all due respect don't understand the sense of entitlement that some individuals think should come with having a disability

 

Personally I don't have an issue with the elevators not being designated HC Only, Nor do I have an issue when able-bodied passengers choose to be snarky and voice their discontent to people who have disabilities as it's all how you deal with the matter. When someone blurts out a rude comment I respond by saying politely... Karma's a funny thing so hope you never find yourself in a similar situation. Enjoy the cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Handicap elevator ... Really ? With all due respect don't understand the sense of entitlement that some individuals think should come with having a disability

 

Personally I don't have an issue with the elevators not being designated HC Only, Nor do I have an issue when able-bodied passengers choose to be snarky and voice their discontent to people who have disabilities as it's all how you deal with the matter. When someone blurts out a rude comment I respond by saying politely... Karma's a funny thing so hope you never find yourself in a similar situation. Enjoy the cruise.

 

 

wholeheartedly agree ,and up until 7 weeks ago, I was in a wheelchair part time and a cane full time. ( yay for new hips)

 

NONE OF US are entitled to special treatment or a better time just because we identify as disabled, whether it manifests physically for all to see, or internally . designate one elevator to be HA only and then you will have all the rude HANDICAPPED people vying for access and running each other down trying to be first in the elevator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree. There should be NO preferential treatment for those who are less-than-able-bodied. Having said that, courtesy dictates that those waiting for elevators first should be the first to get them. Unfortunately, there are always those incredibly rude people who push themselves in front of everyone else to get on the elevators first. Fortunately for DH, I can be just as pushy and don't hesitate to call those people out. We don't mind taking our turn (if others are there first, they get to go first), but I cannot and do not abide those who think that they are entitled to get in front of everyone else who had already been waiting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have recently discovered ‘womansplaining’, explaining to the privileged person objecting to my standing/sitting/waiting etc in some detail in a calm patient but fairly loud voice about my condition, where the lifts are, the difficulty of stairs, how I have explicit permission to be where I am, perhaps they are unfamiliar with the ship/theatre/site etc and so I can assist in explaining in detail how people such as myself get around. It generally produces silence on their part (eventually) and a small consolation on mine. Of course, often, one has no strength for it, but when you do it may be saving the next individual from the remarks/behaviour of the cretin you are dealing with.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am with you on this. Some people are not just too inconsiderate but rude. I also have mobility issues. I hope they assign a handicap elevator like in toilets.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

FYI Toilets marked with the International Wheelchair Insignia are Not for the sole use of people with disabilities. In fact any one can use them even if abled-bodied. Rather the International Wheelchair Insignia is placed there to let people know that the washroom can accommodate a wheelchair as well as other mobility devices and that it has features such as grab bars.

 

It's also important to note that in the USA even The American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not specify that washrooms marked with the International Wheelchair Insignia are for the sole use of individuals with disabilities. So what do you expect to accomplish by having an elevator on cruise ships marked with the International Wheelchair Insignia....after all the insignia would just denote that the elevator can accommodate a wheelchair and or other mobility device ?

Edited by xxoocruiser
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps elevators should have handicap priority. Too many times I have waited first in line in my scooter, only to have the elevator come and it become filled with able bodied people crowding in. As the doors close, they all look at me as if to say "Tough luck" because I wasn't fast enough, or rude enough to run them down to get on.

On one occasion, after I was on, an elderly lady came on with a walker and was berated by an able body because she wouldn't/couldn't get out of his way when he entered. He had the audacity to tell her that he had 'paid his cruise fare too'! I find this behavior appalling!

Why aren't the elevators designated as handicapped priority?

Why do people have to be so rude and inconsiderate?

If you are able bodied today-great! Tomorrow, you may not be though (just like I was).

I don't have the option of taking the stairs.

 

Problem is, even if they declared it HC priority, rude will be rude. They'd have to have a crew member stationed at each elevator and each floor.

 

I don't know why people are rude. And I don't see it getting any better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just got off the Norwegian Escape and always had to wait for an empty or nearly empty elevator to be able to get on. We always got on an elevator going the wrong way if there was room; at least we were on an elevator.

 

Our suggestion to NCL while on board was that during peak times to designate an elevator as being for handicapped use only.

 

Everything was doable, but it would have been nice to be able to get an elevator within a reasonable amount of time, say at disembarkation.

 

I do have to add that everyone on the ship who we encountered, passengers included, were more than kind to those with disabilities. All in all, a great cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not think they need a handicapped elevator, people just need to use common sense

Being a full time wheelchair user, I have had my share of people who would not give me an inch to get by or fit

On many occasion my wife tells people waiting, that the stairs work fine and my husband would love to use the stairs

We have cruised mostly out of New York and our last cruise was out of Miami, and the people who boarded in Miami were so accommodating and some left the elevator and took the stairs so I could get on. I always tell people if I run over your foot

it will ruin your cruise

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just got off the Norwegian Escape and always had to wait for an empty or nearly empty elevator to be able to get on. We always got on an elevator going the wrong way if there was room; at least we were on an elevator.

umm that happens to EVERYBODY especially after shows and the end of dinner or the muster. not just this eof us who cannot just blithely go around the corner and take the stairs. it quite often IS faster to go the opposite way first and I will do it without guilt or regret. if I absolutely MUST get on an elevator RIGHT NOW, and the banks I am at are crowded( Centrum usually) then dangit I will head Aft.

Our suggestion to NCL while on board was that during peak times to designate an elevator as being for handicapped use only. again silly and stupid. one elevator for the three dozen scooters, 45 little old ladies with canes and 15 with and hearts?! I'd still be waiting. and sorry but we are NOT entitled to exclusive access of ANY public spaces on board.

 

Everything was doable, but it would have been nice to be able to get an elevator within a reasonable amount of time, say at disembarkation. thats just a pipe dream. disembarkation is a totally different process.

 

I do have to add that everyone on the ship who we encountered, passengers included, were more than kind to those with disabilities. All in all, a great cruise.

 

again you have unreasonable expectations

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not think they need a handicapped elevator, people just need to use common sense

Being a full time wheelchair user, I have had my share of people who would not give me an inch to get by or fit

On many occasion my wife tells people waiting, that the stairs work fine and my husband would love to use the stairs

We have cruised mostly out of New York and our last cruise was out of Miami, and the people who boarded in Miami were so accommodating and some left the elevator and took the stairs so I could get on. I always tell people if I run over your foot

it will ruin your cruise

 

 

I would venture to say about 75% of the time mr spook would take the stairs and usually beat me in the elevator to whatever deck we were headed to.

Edited by spookwife
typo demon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It goes both ways. We are currently on a cruise with a large woman on a travel scoot who parks herself in the middle of the elevator so no one else can get on. She’s giving all of us with mobility issues a bad name

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It goes both ways. We are currently on a cruise with a large woman on a travel scoot who parks herself in the middle of the elevator so no one else can get on. She’s giving all of us with mobility issues a bad name

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I park as far as I can against the wall, even had a few ladies sit on my lap, it's all good

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps elevators should have handicap priority. Too many times I have waited first in line in my scooter, only to have the elevator come and it become filled with able bodied people crowding in. As the doors close, they all look at me as if to say "Tough luck" because I wasn't fast enough, or rude enough to run them down to get on.

On one occasion, after I was on, an elderly lady came on with a walker and was berated by an able body because she wouldn't/couldn't get out of his way when he entered. He had the audacity to tell her that he had 'paid his cruise fare too'! I find this behavior appalling!

Why aren't the elevators designated as handicapped priority?

Why do people have to be so rude and inconsiderate?

If you are able bodied today-great! Tomorrow, you may not be though (just like I was).

I don't have the option of taking the stairs.

Every cruise ship should have one special elevator for those of us that have a disability .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every cruise ship should have one special elevator for those of us that have a disability .

 

 

 

First of all if I want an elevator For those who are physically challenged i am considered to have a sense of entitlement?

 

I guess parking in a handicap spot means I have a since of entitlement too.and so does anyone else that parks in these spots regardless if you have a handicap sticker or not

 

Now possible solution is having your sea card programmed to work on a set designated elevators

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's absurd to think that an elevator should sit empty and unused, while people are waiting for one, because it's been reserved only for the disabled.

 

I use a scooter on board, and when I get there first, I drive right over toward the door so I can get on, leaving space for people to exit; I insist on my right to space (politely) on the elevator. If the elevator arrives too full, I wait for the next one. If there is room for me, I suggest to those on board how they can arrange themselves so I don't run over their toes (amazing how couples can't separate to opposite sides for the brief ride :rolleyes:).

 

But if there are jerks who push their way through, I remember I am in no rush, get a good look at them for next time, and relax until the next elevator comes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The issue is that there are some people who feel entitled, both mobility challenged and not.

 

As for HC only, if I'm having a bad lung day and know that more than a few stairs will send me reaching for my inhaler, i dont feel the need to disclose that to the cruiseline just to get access to the special elevator.

 

We often wait our turn and have called out line jumpers. Nothing will cure some people.

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had family members for the past 25 years that were/are handicapped for a variety of reasons: stroke, Parkinson's, being elderly. So, I have a LOT of experience taking a handicapped person out and about. I just extend my normal habits on cruise ships.

 

I have self-assigned myself as "elevator monitor" on cruise ships, and I have physically blocked people by holding out my arm so a person in a wheelchair could get on first. I'm polite about it, but firm. Many times I will stand next to the handicapped person waiting for an elevator, so the occupants have to move to one side to get off, and leaving a clear path for the handicapped person to get on. It would be rude to block people from getting off on one side normally, but I have seen over the years how inconsiderate people are about letting someone get on the elevator in a scooter or wheelchair, and it upsets me to see someone wait and wait. So, just blocking the path is sometimes the only way to do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perhaps elevators should have handicap priority. Too many times I have waited first in line in my scooter, only to have the elevator come and it become filled with able bodied people crowding in. As the doors close, they all look at me as if to say "Tough luck" because I wasn't fast enough, or rude enough to run them down to get on.

On one occasion, after I was on, an elderly lady came on with a walker and was berated by an able body because she wouldn't/couldn't get out of his way when he entered. He had the audacity to tell her that he had 'paid his cruise fare too'! I find this behavior appalling!

Why aren't the elevators designated as handicapped priority?

Why do people have to be so rude and inconsiderate?

If you are able bodied today-great! Tomorrow, you may not be though (just like I was).

I don't have the option of taking the stairs.

 

No, I disagree completely. No need for an elevator to be designated handicapped only. I've used my mobility scooter on our most recent cruises, and for me, it has never been a problem. I haven't run into any rude people at all while I waited for the elevator. If that ever happens though, I will ever so politely caution them "never say never" and that they may one day be in the same position that I find myself in today. If anything, most people have been very considerate.

 

We are very familiar with where the elevators are located, and our choice of AFT cabins keeps us close to AFT elevators that are very under utilized. Even with elevators located mid-ship though, I've never had a problem. If occasionally there are folks waiting with us for the elevator, we tell them to go ahead, and I would never push my way in. We don't mind waiting at all, we're on vacation...no rushing for us.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem is that common courtesy and kindness doesn’t always happen and so that is why people make special provision for the disabled : marked seats and wheelchair spaces on public transport, marked parking spaces, seats and spaces set aside in all sorts of public venues, all due to the fact that if they didn’t many people would not make space for the wheelchair or give up their seat for the person who needs it more. There is even talk of issuing badges in London that say please give me a seat ! I think there is a case for some people to get priority access to lifts, particularly those people in wheelchairs who are severely disabled and conceivably in urgent need of going somewhere or other.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem is that common courtesy and kindness doesn’t always happen and so that is why people make special provision for the disabled : marked seats and wheelchair spaces on public transport, marked parking spaces, seats and spaces set aside in all sorts of public venues, all due to the fact that if they didn’t many people would not make space for the wheelchair or give up their seat for the person who needs it more. There is even talk of issuing badges in London that say please give me a seat ! I think there is a case for some people to get priority access to lifts, particularly those people in wheelchairs who are severely disabled and conceivably in urgent need of going somewhere or other.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Unless it's a medical emergency, severity of disability is not a reason to have priority boarding an elevator. Who do you expect to be responsible for determining one's level of disability is greater than another passenger in deciding who is given priority over someone else boarding the elevator ? No one, not passengers, cruise line corporate personal and or the ship's personnel, can ask questions regarding one's level of disability. If such a suggestion was implemented by the cruise lines it would be met with a great deal of legal push back on at least 2 bases:

  • The cruise line's policy would have selectively discriminated within a specific class of passengers by providing on board services (i.e. used of elevators) to passengers with disabilities based on the level of severity of their disability.
  • In order to implement such policy the cruise line would have ask information of the passenger that violates privacy laws. It definitely would violate USA Federal Privacy Laws and surely other countries has similar privacy protection laws.

Additionally traveling with durable medical equipment normally means scheduling more time to get somewhere, including additional time to wait for an elevator that has room for the wheelchair, scooter, walker etc. Therefore if the individual did not plan for additional time than that does not constitute a viable reason as to why someone with a disability should be given and or expect priority over passengers to board the elevator. After all passengers waiting for the elevator are all needing to go somewhere and who is to determine that where a disabled person is going is more important than able-bodied passengers ?

Edited by xxoocruiser
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saying there is a legal issue with providing priority access to lifts is an obvious piece of nonsense: cruise ships travel all over the world under many legal systems, I would be surprised to hear of a jurisdiction that has problems with providing priority access to the disabled, certainly here in the U.K. and Europe we travel regularly on ships (ferries) that provide lifts with providing priority access for the disabled!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saying there is a legal issue with providing priority access to lifts is an obvious piece of nonsense: cruise ships travel all over the world under many legal systems, I would be surprised to hear of a jurisdiction that has problems with providing priority access to the disabled, certainly here in the U.K. and Europe we travel regularly on ships (ferries) that provide lifts with providing priority access for the disabled!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Being that you specifcally stated in Post #22 of this thread "particularly those people in wheelchairs who are severely disabled and conceivably in urgent need of going somewhere or other." I beleive that most juridictions would have an issue with the cruise lines implementing a policy of priorty elevator use based on one's level of severity of disablilty, which by the way cannot be determined without a complete medical accessent by the cruise line which is not allowed to be done under privacy laws, and granting priority bgranted to passengers in wheelchairs that have an urgernt need of going somewhere. Don't know about the UK and Eurpoe but here in the USA that is considered selective descrimination within a specific class of people...that class being the disabled. For the record if a Foreign Flagged ship embarks from a USA Port than the suit can be filed with the USA Federal Department of Justice.

 

WIth all due respect it comes down to people ( not everyone) that believe having a disability entitles an individual to have priorty over passengers. Unless it's a medical emergency I personally believe that no one with a disability ( including me) has priorty over any other passenger regardless of severity of disabilty and or urgent need to get somewhere whether using a wheelchair or using any other durable medical equipment.

Edited by xxoocruiser
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...