Best Disability Cabins on ships out of Australian ports

[Hip Synch]

Hi there, my son and I have MS. He is in a wheelchair and I use a walker. We are considering a short cruise out of Australia and would love to know which ships have the best disability cabins. We are thinking of the Jewel, Celebrity and Princess ships. Of course money is important as we are on Disability Pensions.

 

Any hints at all for people with a disability would be greatly appreciated especially if you should have any photo's of good cabins. Or know of sites with some.

 

We have found that there is not much information available combining people with a disability and cruises and this is a shame.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thank you

[xxoocruiser]

Hi there, my son and I have MS. He is in a wheelchair and I use a walker. We are considering a short cruise out of Australia and would love to know which ships have the best disability cabins. We are thinking of the Jewel, Celebrity and Princess ships. Of course money is important as we are on Disability Pensions.

 

Any hints at all for people with a disability would be greatly appreciated especially if you should have any photo's of good cabins. Or know of sites with some.

 

We have found that there is not much information available combining people with a disability and cruises and this is a shame.

Any information would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thank you

 

• Suggest you read this article http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=105
  
• Accessible cabins are limited and most people needing them book at least a year in advance. That's not to say that an accessible cabin can't be found in a shorter time span but it will be hit or miss and may not be in the category/price range that fits your budget. Prices even for accessible cabins fluctuate and are impacted by Supply versus Demand.
  
• As a general rule inside accessible cabins are the least expensive
  
• Generally the newer the ship the more accessible the ship.
  
• Best to choose an itinerary that has no tendered ports. As a general rule a wheelchair individual will not be allowed to tender unless the tender has roll-on capabilities. HAL is the only cruise line that has one tender per ship except the Prinsendam that has roll-on capabilities.
  
• If the individual likes to be in the water you need to check would ships have a lift into the pool. I know for certain Royal Caribbean Cruise lines has one hot tub and one pool with a chair lift fleet wide.
  

[MargoK]

Maybe my blog will help

 

http://www.travellingkellys.blogspot.co.nz

 

[jihwaan]

My husband is paraplegic and uses an electric wheelchair. We have had wheelchair accessible cabins on a Rhapsody of the Seas and the Sun Princess. On the Rhapsody we had a junior suite which had a balcony and that was nice. Cost is important to us also and as the Rhapsody cruise was only for 7 nights we decided to try the balcony cabin. The Sun cruise was for 13 nights so we had a inside cabin for that one due to cost and also availability.

 

From memory the Sun Princess has only two cabins with ocean view (plus a couple of obstructed view ones) that are wheelchair accessible so you need to book your cruise well in advance to secure the cabin you want. We book about 12 months prior to sailing, pay our deposit and then start saving for the final payment. This way you have quite a lot of time to get your money together.

 

Both cabins were great, plenty of room for the wheelchair plus hoist and both ships were easy to get around. We find cruising to be an enjoyable holiday for us but you do have to be aware that you probably won't be able to go ashore at the tendered ports.

[Shebbieal]

Look at Radiance of the Seas by Royal Carribean. Very very accessible! The cabin doors of the accessible cabins have automatic doors, very good feature!

 

Sherry

[Going Coastal]

Celebrity Solstice is very easy to use in both the accessible cabins and the public areas. It does regular itineraries there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[kitty9]

Celebrity Solstice is very easy to use in both the accessible cabins and the public areas. It does regular itineraries there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I agree with this. My experience on Solstice has always been positive. The one good thing is, unlike other ships I've been on, the bathroom in the accessible cabins on Solstice don't flood because of how they are designed. I cannot say that for the HAL ships I've been on. Despite the fact that HAL ships have the tender access, nothing else I've found on their ships were disabled friendly. All their access points to outside decks have a very high lip that causes mobility scooters to get stuck, and wheelchair wheels to get caught up. Their public bathrooms are recessed in alcoves and cannot be accessed with scooters or wheelchairs. Yes, they do have a couple accessible public bathrooms, but they are difficult to find and are in out of the way places. The other problem with the HAL accessible cabins are that their bathrooms flood terribly and their floors become as slippery as walking on ice.

[Hip Synch]

A big Thank You from Hip Synch. :) It is so good of all you lovely people to take the time to answer my queries. I have learnt a lot. e.g.

 

There can be a big difference between Cruise Lines.

Some have lips in doorways that can be quite a barrier.

Some showers flood the bathroom floor.

Public toilets can vary with accessibility and can be hard to find.

Book well in advance to get the room you want.

It is best to take your own wheelchair.

What balcony with obstructed view means.

 

A big thank you to those who took the trouble to put up photo's. They have been a great help when trying to visualise a cabin.

 

Once again thanks!:)

[Going Coastal]

You are more than welcome. Please come back after your cruise and tell us how it went.

[marquisite]

We are considering a short cruise out of Australia and would love to know which ships have the best disability cabins. We are thinking of the Jewel, Celebrity and Princess ships.

 

Hi, I've been on Pacific Jewel, as well as Radiance and Voyager OTS with some more senior relatives of mine, one of which is semi-confined to a wheelchair (limited mobility). I cannot compare accessible cabins as we've only tried one on the latest cruise (earlier cruises we used regular cabins).

 

What information I can offer, though, is a heads up that there are a number of door lips on Pacific Jewel (and I assume sister-ship Pacific Dawn) in public areas that can cause a manual wheelchair to jam up despite being pushed by a 2nd person. There's one near the Casino that comes to mind. A number of them will require navigating over backwards. Also not all of the MDR (Waterfront) is accessible - e.g. some tables are up on a raised platform. But the only time this might be a problem is if you rock up without a reservation (less table options = possible longer wait).

 

Radiance of the Seas was much more friendly for wheelchairs in public areas. I actually can't recall any 'bad' door lips on Radiance. A bonus for Radiance is the automated accessible toilet doors in public areas.

 

Voyager of the Seas is the other ship I've been on, and while it isn't quite as wheelchair friendly as Radiance OTS, it still beats Pacific Jewel by quite a long shot. Of course, Voyager is a large ship so there's potentially more distance to cover but you mention Celebrity, which I assume you mean Solstice, and that's a big ship as well. Disabled cabin doors on Voyager OTS are extra wide but not automatic. Our experience is the roll in shower does tend to flood the bathroom but water does not run towards the cabin carpet. A towel on the floor near the sink is usually enough to absorb most of the water. Accessible rooms with balconies have a carpeted ramp up to the balcony door but there's still a bit of a bump to get over. A good website for seeing inside the different classes of Voyager OTS accessible cabins is voyager-class.com

 

I can't speak for Princess or Celebrity as I've not cruised with them (with or without the relative whom requires the accessible features). So I may not be able to tell you everything you asked, but nonetheless hopefully this post helps make the choice easier!

Edited March 19, 2014 by marquisite