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Help with Feature Article on Best Ships For Disabled Cruisers


Brittany C
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Hello Everyone!

 

Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Brittany, and I am a new member of the Editorial team here at Cruise Critic! I will be working on updating our feature article: Top Ships for Cruisers with Disabilities http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=105. Currently, the lines we have listed are Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity, Crystal, Regent, and Disney. I wanted to hear from you, the cruisers who know this subject the best, on what additions or changes you think should be made to this list of lines and ships, based on your experiences. For example, I see a lot of Carnival cruisers out there, and Carnival has not been included on this list in the past.

 

Please share your thoughts and opinions so collectively we may provide the best information for our audience!

 

Thank you in advance, and I look forward to reading your responses!

 

Brittany, Cruise Critic Editorial Team Member

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rccl is by far the best for full time w/c users. They have the most w/c rooms and a great ramp system. I have sailed on all of their ships. The biggest obstacle is the grab bar behind the shower seat. They have begun removing them but I just got off the Freedom last week and the Liberty 4 months ago and the are still on them. The Oasis class does not have them. The problem with the bars is that they prevent fou from sitting back all the way and it becomes a balance problem. Princess is great but their ramps are terrible they have 2 inch steps and 2 regular steps at the bottom. They have to carry the wheeler in their 250 lb. chair.After 11 cruises we stopped because of this. We called Princess and faxed pictures of RCCL'S ramps and they still hven't changed them. We check everytime we see one in port Including last week. We sailed on the newest Holland America and found that the acessible rooms were noy easy to navigate a w/c in. On the plus side they are the only one that has a w/c lift for their tenders. Hope this helps . 52 cruises later I stll find that cruising is the best way to travel in a w/c and a certified accessible t/a is the best way to to book your excursions because they no more than the cruise lines as far as that goes.

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I also think RCCL is the best for accessibility and staff. I have never been denied going on a tender other then weather. I am a full time wheelchair user. This is one of the reasons I do not cruise Princess any longer. I also do not cruise Carnival due to no pool lifts on their ships as of the last time I checked which was last year. NCL does not have them on all of their ships. They might think those are small issues and might not be important but they are big for me.

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I've only cruised with Holland America on the Vista and Signature Class ships.

 

On all of the ships I've been on, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Zuiderdam the only problems I have encountered is:

 

1. The lack of more accessible public bathrooms. (one located Mid Ship Main Deck and 1 Mid Ship Lido Pool area, IIRC.)

 

2. All Staterooms should have (Especially HC rooms) Automatic door openers, not only for the main door into the stateroom, but also for the verandah doors leading to the verandah. Those verandah doors are SUPER heavy and when you are in a wheel chair or scooter, it is impossible to open them:(

 

3. One thing I would LOVE to see, or actually the terminology should better be described as Not Smell, is a NO Scent Policy for all crew members and all cleaning supplies used on the ships !!! Many many people, myself included, are highly allergic to scents such as perfumes, colognes, etc.. Try going to your stateroom, or to one of the dining venues with such an allergy and not being able to breath....

 

Joanie

Edited by IRL_Joanie
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Eurodam was the worst ship, by far, for accessibility. Most doorways to the outside decks have a 2 inch lip whereby scooters get stuck and you need to be pushed. The SA accessible suite I was in was the worst. It was in no way acceptable in terms of safety and accessibility. The entire bathroom floor flooded when you showered, and the tile floor was the shiny type that becomes like walking on ice when wet. The towel bar was 6 feet off the floor---how's someone in a wheelchair or scooter supposed to reach those towels? No automatic doors on accessible cabins. Public restrooms are not accessible because the doors to the bathrooms are recessed into a cove that a wheelchair can't maneuver. The two accessible bathrooms that I used both had broken auto doors. All in all, I would rate Eurodam a C- for accessibility.

 

The S Class ships of Celebrity are the best I've encountered. Their accessible cabins have auto doors. Easily 95% of their doors to the outside decks are automatic. All public restrooms have auto doors to get into the facility and auto doors to the stall. The accessible cabins are fantastic with the best roll in showers that don't flood the entire bathroom. And the ramps out to the verandas are easy to maneuver. The biggest problem, and this applies to every cruise ship, is that its nearly impossible to get around in the main dining room using a scooter or wheelchair. This class of ship also have lifts into the pools. My biggest complaint with Celebrity is that for ships that carry 2800 passengers, there are only 26 accessible cabins, and some of those are in horrible locations. For example, their 4 accessible Sky Suites are directly below the galley for the buffet, and its noisy 24/7. Believe me, I just returned from 11days in one of those suites and I didn't get one night's sleep because of the constant noise that sounded like a freight train.

 

Crystal ships are not great for the disabled. They have only 4 accessible cabins on Symphony and 6 on Serenity. Elevators can barely accommodate a scooter or wheelchair because they are so small. No automatic doors to the outside decks and those doors are very difficult to open for someone using any mobility device. Accessible cabins are adequate in size and the bathrooms are basically OK. No auto doors into the accessible cabins. Pool is not at all accessible. Seeing how many elderly and disabled sail Crystal, they should be ashamed for having far too few accessible cabins.

 

I've also sailed RCI, Princess, Regent, Carnival, NCL, Silversea, Seabourn and Cunard, but you probably have enough info on those lines. But if you don't, let me know and I'll tell you my experiences on those lines.

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Brittany, We are UK cruisers and so far our accessible cruises are limited to P&O and Celebrity sailings from Southampton.

The two P&O ships we have sailed, Azura and Ventura are both Princess Grand class, so have the same HC cabins. We have only used Balcony cabins so our views relate to them, although our next cruise will be in a partially obstructed view cabin, which we understand from comments on CC are very similar to the the balcony cabins. Compared with a standard balcony they are 50% wider which gives plenty of space for a WC; the wardrobes are along the wall opposite the bed rather than the walk in area next to the bathroom but they have equally impressive storage space, the bathroom is a roll in wet room style, again with plenty of space, BUT not much drawer or shelf space. There is a ramp out onto the balcony but as my wife uses a transit WC I am not sure how easy this is for self propelled chair users, the standard balconies are not very deep, only 4.5ft, but Deck C balconies are 9ft deep. Cabins doors and public toilet doors are all manual and there are only limited push button doors to access the Prom deck, but most lido and sun deck doors are automatic.

On Celebrity we have sailed on the Eclipse, a Solstice class ship. The cabin is again about 50% wider than standard but it does not feel as wide as the P&O cabins. Wardrobes and drawer space are in a similar position to P&O but not quite as generous, there is no over bed storage as the standard cabins have, but there are better bedside cabinets with both shelf and drawer space. There is ramp access to the balcony and I think the balconies are deeper than the standard P&O cabins. The cabins all have push button access as do all the public toilets on the ship, and most doors to outside decks are either automatic or have push button control.

Our averall view is that the Celebrity cabins are more luxurious, and certainly the bathrooms have higher quality fitments. The Celebrity website also has much better info. about HC cabin facilties, including whether the bathrooms have right or left handed grab handles, vital info for anyone with one sided paralysis. Both lines provide good quality service for wheelchair users on board with assistance in initial boarding and gangway help at all ports. Celebrity also offers better and more affordable accessible shore excursions, especially when they use full size coaches with WC lift access, and they also maximise full time WC passengers by encouraging those who can to transfer to a coach seat and store the WC in the luggage bay.

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............SNIP..........Eurodam was the worst ship, by far, for accessibility. Most doorways to the outside decks have a 2 inch lip whereby scooters get stuck and you need to be pushed. ..........SNIP...........

 

OMG!!! I totally forgot about those exits to the Promenade Deck on ALL the Holland America Line Ships!!!!! IF there is no one there to hold the door open (and I mean WIDE OPEN) for you, you cannot even attempt the Full Speed Ahead while praying you can make it over that humongous LIP from the inside of the ship to the promenade deck!!! Even with someone holding the door wide open, I have to position my scooter in an awkward position, almost like a slant from far right to far left angle, to attempt to make the Hard Run at that " \ " angle so as NOT to High Center the scooter on the lip!!

 

On the Nieuw Amsterdam this past 25 November I could not even attempt to make it to our Life Boat drill not only because of these "Lips" but also because the Life Boat assigned to me was accessible through the Galley........No Problem right?? WRONG!!!! The Galley has a 2-3 inch solid metal lip that you MUST STEP over in order to go out onto the Promenade Deck. Needless to say, I tried to arrange to meet with my Life Boat Captain BEFORE the Drill to try and get to my Station (never could find the person)...I was told to stay in my Cabin and watch the video. I did. Next morning I received a note from the Captain stating that I needed to be on the Promenade Deck, under Life Boat #1 at 5 pm that date or I would be put off the ship at the next port of call:eek: I then had to arrange (via the Concierge) a Ship crew member to come and get me just prior to 5 pm with a ship collapsible wheel chair to take me to the Make Up Drill.....Well 20 minutes after the MANDATORY 5 pm Make Up Drill Still NO crew Member NOR a Wheel Chair........ Concierge finally cornered my Room Steward as he came off his dinner break and asked him to assist me. Explanation afterwards from Concierge was that the originally assigned crew member FORGOT about me!!!

 

After going through the above HELL, I WANT to SEE each and Every Cruise Ship Make it mandatory to ask for volunteers and do a One Time Per Cruise, Drill Using a REAL Handicapped passenger to make sure that they can get us out/off the ship in a real emergency!!! I will personally Volunteer each cruise I am on to make sure they ALL know what to do with us!!!

 

I have no wish to become a sad story as some of the Concordia passengers have:( I feel that may be one of the reasons that some passengers were found in an aft lounge.... They were waiting for the crew to come and assist them because they were handicapped like I and so many others

 

ALL Ships, no matter the line, should not only have Automatic Doors specifically manufactured for and at a level that Handicapped Passengers can access, plus they should all have NO lip or a much lower lip to access the Promenade decks, Lido decks and all outside decks.

 

Keep in mind that for Holland America Line Ships (do not know about the other lines) the Life Boats can only be accessed via the Promenade Deck. If a Wheel Chair or scooter bound passenger cannot access the Promenade deck, we will be stuck inside the ship.........NOT a good situation!!

 

Joanie

Edited by IRL_Joanie
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Hi,

 

Not that I can add much to the accessibility issue, but just wanted to throw something out there to consider. DH and I travel with our 2 developmentlly disabled adult sons. One DS uses a wheelchair due to medical issues (heart condition, vision problems and issues with stairs on a moving ship). We have only sailed on Carnival. The only accessibility issue we have had is trying to find the one tiny elevator that goes up to the Serenity Deck. It is really hidden!

 

As far as how we are treated on the ships, the crew has always gone out of their way to make our sons feel comfortable and they always get to know them. The one who uses a wheelchair needs food cut up small and on our last cruise afte seeing us cut the food up for 2 days in the MDR, the food miraculously came out cut up small without us asking! Other DS has food allergies and the hostesses have made sure that his food is compliant with his allergies.

 

We do not request a HC accessible cabin, as DS can walk the few steps required to get into our cabin and I would rather somebody who really needs the HC cabin to get it. We have asked though for a shower chair and our room steward made sure we had it. overall, the crew has done an outstanding job on making out DS's feel like the adults they are.

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I just want to thank you all for your fantastic insight so far!

 

Your detailed descriptions of what works and what doesn't onboard, your thoughts, concerns and suggestions for improvements to HC cruising, are really helping me to understand the experience.

 

Will continue to check back on this thread, and refer to your comments when updating the article.

 

Our members are the best!

 

~Brittany

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Brittany, One thing I forgot to mention was the possibility of tendering for WC users. We only have experience in one port, Villefranche, on Celebrity Eclipse. On this cruise full time WC users were allowed to use the tender, but they had to be able to stand, if necessary. Celebrity had 2 doors open to the tender station from, I think deck 2 with steps down from both, but one had a platform lift which would take one WC and occupant at a time, and then the WC was rolled across a short gangway and th e occupant remained seated the entire time. We used a shore side tender both ways, but I did notice that a ships lifeboat in port also looked to have a level area where it would have been possible for wheelchairs to be located.

All the Solstice class ships have this facility and presumably utilise it where sea conditions allow.

Edited by terrierjohn
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I have to put in another good word for Celebrity. While the Solstice class ship's are wonderful for accessibility, even the older M class are easy to use and have consistently helpful staff, in my opinion.

Since my mobility issues began, I have progressed from a wheel chair pushed by a family member, to electric scooter, to stationary walker, to four wheel rollater, to a tri wheel now. I still have difficulty with steps up or over.

During that time I have sailed with Royal, Princess, and Oceania, as well as Celebrity, and happy to pass on anything that would be helpful to others.

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

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I am just off my second cruise on the NCL GEM

 

Great ship for a Full time wheelchair user (as I am)

Balcony rooms have a power sliding door onto the balcony (which is raised up so no ramp outside)

Power doors to go out on the promonade or upper decks

 

Bathrooms are big & the shower chair can hold my big butt

 

I have cruise on the NCL Dawn which worked fine & the RCCL Explorer of the Seas which was as accesable as the GEM

 

All had great crew willing to help at any time

 

On this last cruise we went to Samana which is a tender port and they will not let anyone on the tenders who cannot walk over 250lbs including the chair )that leaves me out)

 

I still would not have gone, I do not trust anyone picking me up, I neeed my arms to propel me and if I break an arm I can only push in circles

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Brittany

Is this article only about wheelchair access? Will you cover other disabilities? I have a severe hearing loss and I would LOVE to know which ships have listening systems, visual fire alarms, special telephones, captioned TV and movies etc.

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Thank you white rose ..... that was a point I was trying to make in a previous post. There are many types of disabilities ......hearing impaired .....vision impaired.....cognitive impaired....physical impaired, etc. Perhaps Brittany could do a series of articles focusing on one set of disabilities at a time.

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Thank you white rose ..... that was a point I was trying to make in a previous post. There are many types of disabilities ......hearing impaired .....vision impaired.....cognitive impaired....physical impaired, etc. Perhaps Brittany could do a series of articles focusing on one set of disabilities at a time.

 

Wonderful idea!

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  • 1 month later...
Brittany

Is this article only about wheelchair access? Will you cover other disabilities? I have a severe hearing loss and I would LOVE to know which ships have listening systems, visual fire alarms, special telephones, captioned TV and movies etc.

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I didn't forget about this thread! I'm in the process of reaching out to the cruise lines and going through what they say they have to offer cruisers with disabilities, and what you cruisers have to say!

 

whiterose, this article is meant to cover all disabilities, not just wheelchair use. I intend to include any information I find on the audiovisual elements you described above. It is an update to a piece that exists: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=105 and in that article it does mention helpful and recommended sites for blind and deaf travelers.

 

I know it is hard to lump all disabilities into one category because they are not alike, but this article is meant to rate top ships for overall accessibility.

 

Please continue to post anything, especially about any other lines not mentioned so far if you've had experience on them: Princess, Regent, Disney, Azamara...

 

Thank you so much! I will check in much sooner!

 

~

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Disney still needed?

 

Only cruised on the Magic (sistership of Wonder) but have a positive opinion of DCL. Very accessible, incl. public and accessible stateroom. One of the very few lines that have shower and tub in a acc. stateroom other than suites. We had a standerd verandah stateroom; HUGE. Beyond believe HUGE. Balcony? HUGE! Thanks to being totally aft and having the full turn of balcony. We had chairs and loungers on there and they would look...... well......... lost, so big it was. Downside; door not manageble to for me to operate with poor armstrenght/usage. Where desired stateroom host would open and close said door and within no time would new routines (and somehow always "just" seemed to be there) Had a big problem with that door as it was described to me over and over again as needing little to no strength to open beforehand.

 

We were 2, both wc users in one stateroom. Totalling 3 chairs (me power for getting round and manual for room). Plenty of room to store this, medical supplies, multiple suitcases (combined trip) and move around. Enough outlets to charge with a bit of planning.

 

Only 1 set of public doors not automated by pushbutton, but could reach same deck through other doors on front of ship. Almost always a crew member hanging around to open door, though. Did have lip, but no prob whatsoever for my powerchair.

 

Did loads solo (as did friend) and always a crew member around to help without needing to ask, but also remember me after one time as they kept track on who wanted help or who wanted no help.

 

Dining room crew; great about working with dietary needs. Room mate and table mates had NO clue (silly, but was still kinda hiding the extend of my problems) but I got all the info I needed, right upto amounts of cals, protein, etc. etc. without downright limiting any of my options or me not being able to eat along off normal menu and still fitting my dietary needs (which was a puzzle sometimes in the galley, I've been told).

 

Dining room itself; being assigned a larger table than party so there was more space to move around and allowing me to transfer to and from normal seat to powerchair (powerchair is too high to eat comfy, normal seat too painfull to sit on all dinner), but also put my powerchair in a tilt in between courses (takes up much more space). Different entry for one main diningroom that had stairs in their main entry and always plenty of crewmembers waiting there for you (read; we'ld be seated long before our tablemates), night 1 was invested to see how much space we needed to move around, and if any might needed to be changed to make things accessible (no such thing). All 3 main dining rooms (DCL has rotating main dining room assignment) very accessible. Buffet can be more challenging for some, but when entering line there would always be multiple castmembers asking if I wanted help. Or just refusing NOT to help.

 

Excursions; none accessible (was an eastern carr.) but I've come to very very soon expect that from a cruiseline and prefer doing it myself anyway. Did have a crewmember at excursion desk bend over backwards for me as I really wanted to sky-dive at Castaway Cay (private island DCL). Officially not an option with my disability. He kinda got it to an OK, but unfortunately we couldn't work it out with the landing being safe enough so a no go. Seemed even more disappointed about it than I did, he totally got into making a no a yes.

 

Doctors facility; yep I know......... anyhow; was impressed. Soon learned they actually not only gave them my medical info I provided on the forms, but doc took time before departure to read up on my syndrome. It's very very rare to find any doc to know what it means, so this was a surprise, let alone the depth of what he knew (would take going through many sources, and really investing time and effort). It worked out in my favor when indeed needing some help. I ended up getting most suited help for my syndrome which can be a problem in any hospital on mainlaind, he ended up learning even more about my syndrome and soms new suturing and plastering techniques. ;) Before I knew it I now not only had a doc and nurses checking up on me, but basically half the crew.

 

Drills; everybody in an accessible stateroom would be assign an easy enough to reach access. inside location for their drill. Same for those that proclaimed mobility disability in standard stateroom, for both drill and put onto paperworks in case of emergency. I know of one family with a child with autism, who also were assigned our location instead of the standard location for their stateroom based on their sons problems with crowds. We were in a restaurant and while crowded, much less than those standing in close lines elsewhere. Not sure which location they were assigned in case of emergency though.

 

Wasn't available then, but since they've built cabanas on the adult only beach of castaway cay, including one accessible one.

 

Had multiple other cruises planned with them over time, but unfort. had to cancel each time do to health. Shore desk is very good in general to work with, having as much as possible 1 direct contact. Amongst others we made arrangements for;

 

- taking along my own medical mattrass (requires 24/7 powersupply, would be approved by ships safety officer)

- more in depth food info

etc.

 

 

Other downsides;

 

- no access. tender if you can not transfer or use electrically driven aid (bonus; not needed for their privat island, where they dock unlike some other lines)

- no pool lifts, period. Can see this being a big downer for kids with an acc. disability when seeing the slide on the Fantasy or Dream.

- all access. staterooms on the 2 older ships are either totally in front or totally aft. Stateroom hosts are good at keeping the hallway clear enough so you can move along, but not all other guests might be. We were on deck 6 totally aft, would be woken up in mornings when backing up into port by thrusters (spelling?). Load and much movement. Downside for some, easy alarmclock for others.

- no access. path onto the adults only beach on Castaway Cay ( so had crewmembers get me situated)

 

 

Possible downside for those with autism or anxiety problems that have problems with load noices or fireworks; DCL has a firework party when in the caribbean (including the car. part of a TA cruise), firing the pyrotechnics from the highest up deck (off reach for public during prep. show etc.) Very nice show, but load alright.

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I like Disney. Rooms are bigger. Stated occupancy is higher, so we don't have to spring for mini-suite to fit family. The new ships have automatic door-opener. Very nice.

My complaint is that sometimes the HC rooms are not near the elevators, and navigating the hallways with WC can be interesting.

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Brittany

Is this article only about wheelchair access? Will you cover other disabilities? I have a severe hearing loss and I would LOVE to know which ships have listening systems, visual fire alarms, special telephones, captioned TV and movies etc.

 

I would be interested in that information, too. My husband is severely hearing impaired and can't hear a thing in the Showroom at Sea....or at any other lectures as well. It would be nice if HAL would provide listening systems for him to take along on shore excursions, too.

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We found the Westerdam on Holland America to be the best ship for tendering. My son could get off at every port in his electric scooter.

 

Disney was very good except that my sons scooter had problems "bottoming out" on the lip at the outside doors.

 

We found Princess the least accessible and never sail on them anymore.

 

RCCL had the nicest cabins. We could get one that accommodated 4 which is hard on some other lines, plus the bathroom was well designed.

 

One thing that is unfortunate for disabled passengers is that it so difficult to take advantage of special offers...3 & 4th passenger discounts (no cabins) free upgrades (again no cabins) etc.

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Best feature we've seen is RCI's Radiance class ships that have power door openers on the accessible cabins. My wife is right side hemiplegic from TBI and with only one hand to grap regular doors has limited ability to back up and pull it open from inside. Pushing a button to open the door was very liberating for her. In all other respects RCI has done a super job for her. Also, their web site has detailed info for every accessible cabin that other lines (notably NCL) don't. Never had a problem being able to use tenders but one time we got diverted from our tour group to use another tender platform that had a wheelchair lift and almost missed reconnecting with the group - had to literally flag the bus down as it was pulling away headed for Paris. :eek:

 

One thought for a feature we have never seen is row-end pool deck loungers reserved for wheelchair users. Row end is required for transfer to/from chair as opposed to all those other chairs wedged together. Would be nice to have a few row ends with wheelchair symbol on them.

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