Was she cranky or right- Disabled person in a group

[mzloolue]

Perhaps the lady was frustrated.

 

We don't know what kind of burdens others are carrying.

[cruizinisthebest]

Perhaps the lady was frustrated.

 

We don't know what kind of burdens others are carrying.

 

That's the truth. And she doesn't know what other people around her are carrying either. Just because you aren't loud or obnoxious or visibly disabled means nothing. Everyone goes through things and chances are someone that had to listen to her - including the staff- were overwhelmed or having personal issues. You're on the cruise to relax and take it down a notch. Not raise the roof!

 

It's cranky FTW!!

[twinbee]

I am 100% wheelchair dependent and last November while on the Breeze we docked in Nassau. I remember the ramp being very steep. My husband had to wheel me down backwards. When we got back on the ship my husband had to have help to wheel me up. I do remember thinking there had to be something that could be done to make that ramp not so steep. I do not know what, but it did scare me.

[Love my butler]

I vote entitled. So many people in society today feel entitled. Your problems are not my problems.

[Caribbeanqueen03]

Sorry to say, but she sounds like a bitter person that whatever caused her child to be wheelchair bound occurred. I don't think anything could have made her happy.

 

 

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[Pine Bluff]

At first I thought this person was just being really cranky, but I thought I would post the two situations on the board. A mother was travelling with her son in a wheel chair. I ran into her twice while on a cruise while she was complaining to staff and escalating to management.

 

Situation 1 - At Nassau the angle of the boarding ramp was steep. With in the first two seconds of her pushing the wheelchair up the ramp a crew member offered her assistance and helped her make it up the ramp. When she got in she started loudly complaining that the ramp wasn't ADA compliant. The crew members stated that the port supplies the platforms on the piers and also things like low tide sometimes make the angle steeper. She was not satisfied with this response and demanded to see someone in charge. They referred her to guest services (I sometimes feel really sorry for those folks).

 

Situation 2 - We did self-assist debarkation and again saw her down there complaining that there was no assistance on the self-assist debarkation.

 

At first I thought she was just being a negative person since in both situation the crew were very attentive, however I don't have any relatives who use a wheel chair or disabled so I thought I may be prematurely judging this person, any thoughts?

 

 

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I agree with cranky, in an attempt to try to use disability priviledge.

[lady_cruiser]

I vote "over-whelmed" with having to constantly take care of a child living in a wheel chair. She needs to find a support group as fast as she can.

[lisanjosh]

Cranky Cranky Cranky!

 

Just because she is overwhelmed doesn't give her the right to treat the people that are trying to help her like crap.

[RWolver672]

I won't comment on her being cranky or not. I wasn't there and don't know what else she went through before that happened.

 

What I will say from experience is that we were on a Carnival cruise with my SIL who was recovering from foot surgery and was in a wheelchair. The crew was fantastic in helping her but the ramp was too narrow for the chair to fit at the end of it. (It was a normal sized chair too.) She had to get up and walk the last few steps, which in turn screwed up the surgery she just had.

[RuthlessBoss]

I won't comment on her being cranky or not. I wasn't there and don't know what else she went through before that happened.

 

What I will say from experience is that we were on a Carnival cruise with my SIL who was recovering from foot surgery and was in a wheelchair. The crew was fantastic in helping her but the ramp was too narrow for the chair to fit at the end of it. (It was a normal sized chair too.) She had to get up and walk the last few steps, which in turn screwed up the surgery she just had.

 

Not sure why this could happen. There are so many wheelchairs and scooters that go up and down a ramp on every sailing.

[ibcnusoon]

She was cranky! Although I will admit that the ramp in Nassau is not wheelchair friendly but the crew must know this and they did hurry down the ramp to push/pull my Dad up in a wheelchair (I was struggling too) - and this was on an NCL ship, so all cruiselines are on alert to help those in wheelchairs, etc.

[RWolver672]

Not sure why this could happen. There are so many wheelchairs and scooters that go up and down a ramp on every sailing.

 

Not sure why it happened either. It was in Montego Bay. The ramp was wide enough except for the very end when you get off of it. There were brackets holding the hand rails that stuck out and wouldn't let the wheelchair through.

[UATLB]

cranky!!

[aaron3219]

Sounds to me like she is just a miserable person and wants to make everyone else miserable by complaining loudly and often.

 

I know the type

[cruisnpat]

I think she is a very cranky person and thinks people owe her.

[cache_r_joe]

I'm the parent of a mobility challenged adult. Here is my perspective. You cannot always reasonably expect to be accommodated. I'm from Canada so I'm not up on the ADA guidelines but I would suggest that in some cases it is simply no possible to accommodate. You cannot control the height of the tides or the piers. If we expected an issue I would speak to someone well in advance and see what could be done and at what time it would be convenient for us to come down.

 

On the demarkation day, I seem to remember being able to leave on our own, but also an announcement for those who needed assistance. Again, if we needed help we would speak up.

 

People with disabilities need to be strong advocates for themselves. That doesn't mean verbally abusing everyone who doesn't foresee your needs. It means you speak up well in advance so they can help where possible and politely educate where needed.

 

 

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[Dayenu]

Situation 1 - At Nassau the angle of the boarding ramp was steep. With in the first two seconds of her pushing the wheelchair up the ramp a crew member offered her assistance and helped her make it up the ramp. When she got in she started loudly complaining that the ramp wasn't ADA compliant. The crew members stated that the port supplies the platforms on the piers and also things like low tide sometimes make the angle steeper. She was not satisfied with this response and demanded to see someone in charge. They referred her to guest services (I sometimes feel really sorry for those folks).

 

Situation 2 - We did self-assist debarkation and again saw her down there complaining that there was no assistance on the self-assist debarkation.

 

 

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1) One cannot assume the same rules and laws in other countries. She got help, what was she complaining about? Are there (any) ADA laws in Bahamas?

 

2) There is assistance on debarkation, on some ships, starting right away, on some much later, when the main crowd disperses. Did she fill out the help form?

[Terre]

Yeah, cranky. I think she's using her son's disability to get special treatment. Self assist means you don't get any special assistance for disembarking early -- you do it yourself, honey.

 

I'm the parent of a mobility challenged adult. Here is my perspective. You cannot always reasonably expect to be accommodated. I'm from Canada so I'm not up on the ADA guidelines but I would suggest that in some cases it is simply no possible to accommodate. You cannot control the height of the tides or the piers. If we expected an issue I would speak to someone well in advance and see what could be done and at what time it would be convenient for us to come down.

 

On the demarkation day, I seem to remember being able to leave on our own, but also an announcement for those who needed assistance. Again, if we needed help we would speak up.

 

People with disabilities need to be strong advocates for themselves. That doesn't mean verbally abusing everyone who doesn't foresee your needs. It means you speak up well in advance so they can help where possible and politely educate where needed.

 

 

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Well said.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Terre

[Need-a-vacation]

Someone that's overwhelmed or stressed by their situation may get rude and cranky about stuff like this, but are generally grateful when people help them navigate the difficulty. Not going on a tirade about how they are out of compliance with the law even though they were helped as much as possible. The ramp situation is certainly not ideal for a wheelchair, but they did everything they could do at that moment to address it. She sounds more like a mom on a mission to find every shortcoming out there in accommodating those with disabilities.

 

I think it's important to make people aware when a situation is set up in a way that creates a difficulty because it might be something that can be addressed for the long term. The ramp is probably not in that category, but lots of things might be. But being a jerk to the people at the door that can't do a blasted thing about it is not the way to improve awareness and get things changed when possible.

 

Perhaps what cruise lines CAN do is get ahead of the situation and manage expectations by providing a "hints and tips" type package for passengers that have identified themselves as disabled in some fashion. It could include information like "some passengers find the ramp at Nassau a little steep depending on the conditions in port that day. We will have staff there to help passengers up and down the ramp as needed" or something like that. I think the passenger who couldn't get their wheelchair through at the top of the ramp should let the special needs department know. The solution might be a simple as the ship having it's own right-sized chair available at the ramp like they do for getting passengers on a plane.

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

At first I thought this person was just being really cranky, but I thought I would post the two situations on the board. A mother was travelling with her son in a wheel chair. I ran into her twice while on a cruise while she was complaining to staff and escalating to management.

 

Situation 1 - At Nassau the angle of the boarding ramp was steep. With in the first two seconds of her pushing the wheelchair up the ramp a crew member offered her assistance and helped her make it up the ramp. When she got in she started loudly complaining that the ramp wasn't ADA compliant. The crew members stated that the port supplies the platforms on the piers and also things like low tide sometimes make the angle steeper. She was not satisfied with this response and demanded to see someone in charge. They referred her to guest services (I sometimes feel really sorry for those folks).

 

Situation 2 - We did self-assist debarkation and again saw her down there complaining that there was no assistance on the self-assist debarkation.

 

At first I thought she was just being a negative person since in both situation the crew were very attentive, however I don't have any relatives who use a wheel chair or disabled so I thought I may be prematurely judging this person, any thoughts?

 

 

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SO I'm not a disabled person, but for years I was a high school Sp. Ed. teacher, and a huge part of my job was to take the kids out in the community. Mind you, I'm 5"3, some of these "kids" were 6"3, 250+ pounds, in wheelchairs. I learned very quickly that the world is not always made easy for the disabled, and figuring out ways to cope is a lot more productive than sitting around complaining about it.:)

 

Situation #1-As many have pointed out, ADA is an AMERICAN Act, she was in The Bahamas, so it's a non-issue. Solve the problem and deal with it.

 

Situation #2-She chose to do self-assist??? Really?? The last thing a person who requires MORE assistance than the usual person should do is to choose self-assist. When I was out with the kids I would welcome any and all assistance, so the last thing I would ever do was to put myself in a situation that would offer zero assistance by definition. Sorry, that's just poor decision making.

 

Not sure if she's cranky, but to me she seems like her expectations are irrational.

[Disconnections]

SO I'm not a disabled person, but for years I was a high school Sp. Ed. teacher, and a huge part of my job was to take the kids out in the community. Mind you, I'm 5"3, some of these "kids" were 6"3, 250+ pounds, in wheelchairs. I learned very quickly that the world is not always made easy for the disabled, and figuring out ways to cope is a lot more productive than sitting around complaining about it.:)

 

Situation #1-As many have pointed out, ADA is an AMERICAN Act, she was in The Bahamas, so it's a non-issue. Solve the problem and deal with it.

 

Situation #2-She chose to do self-assist??? Really?? The last thing a person who requires MORE assistance than the usual person should do is to choose self-assist. When I was out with the kids I would welcome any and all assistance, so the last thing I would ever do was to put myself in a situation that would offer zero assistance by definition. Sorry, that's just poor decision making.

 

Not sure if she's cranky, but to me she seems like her expectations are irrational.

 

As stated in Post #20, as ruled by the Supreme Court, all foreign flagged passenger cruise ships that have an American port of call are required to be in full accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

If the gangway is being used as a way to transport passengers from the cruise ship to land and part of the gangway is touching or inside the ship, reasonable consideration should be made. At least the gangway on Carnival is not similar to some other cruise lines, where there are only steps, but still considered a ramp by the cruise line.

 

I will not vote if this passenger is cranky or correct without being able to see the situation in person. It isn't fair to pass judgement on someone without physically being there or knowing the full story.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Disconnections

[PhoenixDawgCruising]

As stated in Post #20, as ruled by the Supreme Court, all foreign flagged passenger cruise ships that have an American port of call are required to be in full accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

If the gangway is being used as a way to transport passengers from the cruise ship to land and part of the gangway is touching or inside the ship, reasonable consideration should be made. At least the gangway on Carnival is not similar to some other cruise lines, where there are only steps, but still considered a ramp by the cruise line.

 

I will not vote if this passenger is cranky or correct without being able to see the situation in person. It isn't fair to pass judgement on someone without physically being there or knowing the full story.

 

It is simply unreasonale to expect to be treated in other countries as you are accustomed to being treated in the US, it simply isn't going to happen.

 

Just as restuarants in other countries arn't checked and rated as ours are, seatbelts and baby seats my not be required for kids, it's all different. So a smart traveler learns to adapt themselves in the best, safest way possible, instead of relying on the governement in another country.

 

Americans are used to EVERYTHING being regulated, so we expect a certain amount of safety and comfort in our daily lives. Well, once you leave the US, that goes out the window, so adapt. Or stay home.

[Disconnections]

It is simply unreasonale to expect to be treated in other countries as you are accustomed to being treated in the US, it simply isn't going to happen.

 

Just as restuarants in other countries arn't checked and rated as ours are, seatbelts and baby seats my not be required for kids, it's all different. So a smart traveler learns to adapt themselves in the best, safest way possible, instead of relying on the governement in another country.

 

Americans are used to EVERYTHING being regulated, so we expect a certain amount of safety and comfort in our daily lives. Well, once you leave the US, that goes out the window, so adapt. Or stay home.

 

As I said in post #20, foreign countries do not need to give consideration to those who require special needs. However, all cruise ships that have an American port of call, port of embarkation or a port of disembarkation are REQUIRED to be in FULL compliance with the ADA.

 

Believe me, as someone who is traveling for leisure international each month, I think I have adapted to the expectations when traveling internationally. However, it doesn't change the fact that cruise ships need to be ADA accessible. You should do some research. It was ruled in June 2005.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Disconnections

[firerunner]

i vote overwhelmed and frustrated. Can't be easy to travel with a handicapped person. I think some compassion is in order.

 

agreed 100%

[stargate fan]

I vote cranky, but also think of PITA. Y'all know what that means? :D

 

yes with falafel :D

 

And homemade Tachina!! :D