Disability ship upgrades

[meatloafsfan]

That is interesting...please let me know which ships have on demand automatic doors direct from interior to exterior spaces...I'd like to check them out and to see how they handled the force/weight/hinge issue and the extent of the ramps both directions for compliance. Thanks.

 

Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Celebrity Equinox. Those are recent ships I've sailed that had many automatic doors from inside to outside. Oh, and Explorer of the Seas had automatic doors from inside to outside from the elevator area forward, to the Adult pool area. I think they had a set of double doors, both were automatic - oh, and the same thing going from the aft elevator / buffet area to the pool deck.

 

Thinking back, the Carnival Dream may have had one somewhere as well but I think only in 1 place.

 

And the Carnival Pride has automatic doors from the buffet to the pool deck. They just also have a mismatched ramp (it looked out of alignment with the door so there was a big hump to go over).

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy. Celebrity Equinox. Those are recent ships I've sailed that had many automatic doors from inside to outside. Oh, and Explorer of the Seas had automatic doors from inside to outside from the elevator area forward, to the Adult pool area. I think they had a set of double doors, both were automatic - oh, and the same thing going from the aft elevator / buffet area to the pool deck.

 

Thinking back, the Carnival Dream may have had one somewhere as well but I think only in 1 place.

 

And the Carnival Pride has automatic doors from the buffet to the pool deck. They just also have a mismatched ramp (it looked out of alignment with the door so there was a big hump to go over).

 

You are talking about sliding doors not hinged doors...big difference. On the newer ships there are sliding doors leading from the interior to the promenade deck and some from the buffet areas to the lido decks. But these doors are closed during high wind or rainy conditions.

 

What we were writing about earlier were the swing doors that go from inside to outside...like those on the secret decks, or from more remote areas to the outside decks. These doors are very heavy and can't be used with an automatic hold open and push button that are used on many land based swing doors. To retrofit older ships with only swing doors to sliding doors is a very costly measure.

 

The biggest issue, irregardless, is that thresholds at these doors are only allowed to be 1/2".....the ramps I have seen are much steeper than this and are really tripping hazards.

[abisha]

You do not need to show "proof" of a disability. A cruiseline can request a personal affidavit to attest to the fact you are booking an accessible cabin for "need" but they cannot ask you what the "need" is. The bottom line is that anyone can book an accessible cabin if they really want to and no one can stop it from happening. It becomes a matter of integrity on the part of the passenger. Many accessible cabins are booked by people who "choose" to use a scooter and or wheelchair to assist them in their mobility issues but are not "confined" to them (and I'm not saying this is wrong by any means) and this is why some accessible cabins are deemed modified since the need is for more room.

 

Modified cabins do not require roll in showers, wheel chair space at the sides of toilets, modified closets where rods are accessible by someone confined to a wheel chair, roll up space at a wash basin, room at the side of a bed for transfer space. They are usually equipped with grab bars in the shower and at the toilet, a wider entry door, and a "parking" area for the scooter or wheelchair.

 

This decision to require ADA regulations outside of staterooms just boggles my mind. The ADA design standards book is over 250 pages.

 

My husband has MS and cannot walk long distances. He rents a scooter for when we cruise, but we have found that we do not need to book an accessible cabin just because of the sole use of renting a scooter. The scooter fits through the doorway of any standard sized cabin on the ship (we've found this on other cruiselines as well). He just "parks" the scooter in front of the desk or near the desk and plugs in the cord at the desk to charge the battery. There's sufficient space to walk around the scooter and cabin.

 

I don't think people know this. I think they feel they need an accessible cabin for the sole purpose of renting/bring on a scooter. Maybe the cruiseline should mention this for those doing so.

 

My issues lie in other areas. The scooter gets stuck when trying to roll over doorway threshholds around various points of the ship (the threshholds stick up too much). And when there are long lines to get back on the ship or long lines to get back on a tender heading back on the ship, that becomes a problem for anyone who has mobility issue and cannot stand up that long. This happened to my husband who didn't have his scooter (because it wasn't allowed on the bus for the excursion). I had to run to front of tender line and flag down a worker there. He and another worker went to the aid of my DH, helped him walk to the tender and got him right on.

 

In this case, they should have a separate line for something like this.

 

Also, we find there's no enough space in their dining areas to navigate a scooter. My DH has to "park" his scoooter outside of the MDR because it simply won't fit around the tables and nowhere to park it in side. The Lido buffet area is like an obstacle course for him. We always struggle to find a table near the outside isle where people walk.

 

I hope some of these issues get resolved.

[WpgCruise]

That is interesting...please let me know which ships have on demand automatic doors direct from interior to exterior spaces...I'd like to check them out and to see how they handled the force/weight/hinge issue and the extent of the ramps both directions for compliance. Thanks.

 

 

 

Celebrities "S" Class ships have automatic doors direct from interior to exterior spaces.

Edited July 31, 2015 by WpgCruise

[cjankowski]

My husband has MS and cannot walk long distances. He rents a scooter for when we cruise, but we have found that we do not need to book an accessible cabin just because of the sole use of renting a scooter. The scooter fits through the doorway of any standard sized cabin on the ship (we've found this on other cruiselines as well). He just "parks" the scooter in front of the desk or near the desk and plugs in the cord at the desk to charge the battery. There's sufficient space to walk around the scooter and cabin.

 

I don't think people know this. I think they feel they need an accessible cabin for the sole purpose of renting/bring on a scooter. Maybe the cruiseline should mention this for those doing so.

 

My issues lie in other areas. The scooter gets stuck when trying to roll over doorway threshholds around various points of the ship (the threshholds stick up too much). And when there are long lines to get back on the ship or long lines to get back on a tender heading back on the ship, that becomes a problem for anyone who has mobility issue and cannot stand up that long. This happened to my husband who didn't have his scooter (because it wasn't allowed on the bus for the excursion). I had to run to front of tender line and flag down a worker there. He and another worker went to the aid of my DH, helped him walk to the tender and got him right on.

 

In this case, they should have a separate line for something like this.

 

Also, we find there's no enough space in their dining areas to navigate a scooter. My DH has to "park" his scoooter outside of the MDR because it simply won't fit around the tables and nowhere to park it in side. The Lido buffet area is like an obstacle course for him. We always struggle to find a table near the outside isle where people walk.

 

I hope some of these issues get resolved.

 

My husband also has MS. He travels with his scooter as well. One thing that people must keep in mind is the size of scooter, as his is to wide to fit in a reg cabin. The scooter can't be wider than the door and framework, which is like 22" wide. For my husband his scooter is somewhere around 23" wide, so he can't use in a reg room with his own :( We do have a trip planned and we are going to rent a travel size one, just to fit in the room, but it makes me sad to have to spend the extra money to rent when he owns one. And it wont be as comfortable to him either, but hope it does the job he needs.

 

We have always found that you can ride your scooter into the dining room and he just sits at table with us. The staff will park scooter in back until ready to leave. This works well for us as he could never walk to our table if leaving it parked outside. Agree about Lido, sometimes it is hard to find tables, but we just walk around until we find a place or ask a staff member to help us out.

 

I think one of the things you have to keep in mind is that you must do what is best for yourself / family in any way possible.

Edited July 31, 2015 by cjankowski

[meatloafsfan]

You are talking about sliding doors not hinged doors...big difference. On the newer ships there are sliding doors leading from the interior to the promenade deck and some from the buffet areas to the lido decks. But these doors are closed during high wind or rainy conditions.

 

What we were writing about earlier were the swing doors that go from inside to outside...like those on the secret decks, or from more remote areas to the outside decks. These doors are very heavy and can't be used with an automatic hold open and push button that are used on many land based swing doors. To retrofit older ships with only swing doors to sliding doors is a very costly measure.

 

The biggest issue, irregardless, is that thresholds at these doors are only allowed to be 1/2".....the ramps I have seen are much steeper than this and are really tripping hazards.

 

Actually, the Disney Dream and Fantasy has a door mid ship on the pool deck that is a swing door.

[abisha]

My husband also has MS. He travels with his scooter as well. One thing that people must keep in mind is the size of scooter, as his is to wide to fit in a reg cabin. The scooter can't be wider than the door and framework, which is like 22" wide. For my husband his scooter is somewhere around 23" wide, so he can't use in a reg room with his own :( We do have a trip planned and we are going to rent a travel size one, just to fit in the room, but it makes me sad to have to spend the extra money to rent when he owns one. And it wont be as comfortable to him either, but hope it does the job he needs.

 

We have always found that you can ride your scooter into the dining room and he just sits at table with us. The staff will park scooter in back until ready to leave. This works well for us as he could never walk to our table if leaving it parked outside. Agree about Lido, sometimes it is hard to find tables, but we just walk around until we find a place or ask a staff member to help us out.

 

I think one of the things you have to keep in mind is that you must do what is best for yourself / family in any way possible.

 

If you do rent a scooter for cruising, consider "special needs at sea dot com". DH has rented both sizes on their website. One is a more "heavy duty" one. He has found that both sizes do fit through the door of the standard cabin without any issues. Both sizes fit fine in a standard cabin. Lately he tends to stick with the 3-wheeled scooter. The seat is a tad smaller than the heavy duty one, but the entire scooter is a bit more light weight. This comes in handy when he does get stuck on bumps here and there and literally has to get out of it and pick it up to move over the bump.

[Cruiseboy06]

You must provide a doctor's certification as to your disability. I for one am glad to see these changes. My brother is in a chair with limited mobility and they have to provide proof each time they book. We booked the Bermuda cruise out of Port Canaveral in May 2016 and invited them to go with us, but they said they are done with Carnival because of the limited amount of rooms and always having to be in the very front of the ship so were going to try other lines until Carnival did something about it. Maybe this will help us be able to "family cruise" again.

 

 

There are accessible cabins throughout the ship, but they are limited, and they are not all in the front of the ship....... True they need to have more accessible cabins...... I stayed in a middle, back, and front of the ship.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Cruiseboy06

[CruiseDawg2001]

$350,000 to people with disabilities not caused by the cruise line, who were marginally inconvenienced by designs that were in no way intended to discriminate, all to participate in a leisure activity that is in no way necessary in their lives.

[kybluecruiser]

I just wish they had staterooms with more grab bars in the bathrooms. That would help my mother. She isn't wheelchair bound but does have some mobility issues. I only bring the wheelchair to use in port because she can't walk that far.

[nadinenurse1]

:mad:Well here goes..I also use a w/c for distances, I am a nurse and hurt my back. catching a patient who fell I left the nursing home that day in an ambulance and she was fine. So, I look disability free, but wait until you see me in a hallway leaning on the wall in pain after I have tried to walk to the dinning room as people are generally mean in elevators, hallways, etc. and step on me, ignore me , do not let me in the elevator -regular w/c not a scooter , but, when walking, none of those things happen, and for the ruling, thank god, I do not want special treatment, just equal treatment. I must have a shower chair or bench as even the time standing in a shower is too long,without a conditions, I lose alot of joy out of life. If I walk too much, the discs swell and I am bed bound for days, nice way to cruise, eh !! In conclusion, the more Accessible rooms the better:)

[Peemagg]

I truly feel that most people (again not all) that are against this, have never had to travel that way themselves or with someone else and personally seen what the obstacles are for those with various disabilities.

 

As was said before, we don't want special access or treatment, just equal access and treatment.

[kybluecruiser]

I truly feel that most people (again not all) that are against this, have never had to travel that way themselves or with someone else and personally seen what the obstacles are for those with various disabilities.

 

As was said before, we don't want special access or treatment, just equal access and treatment.

 

 

 

:mad:Well here goes..I also use a w/c for distances, I am a nurse and hurt my back. catching a patient who fell I left the nursing home that day in an ambulance and she was fine. So, I look disability free, but wait until you see me in a hallway leaning on the wall in pain after I have tried to walk to the dinning room as people are generally mean in elevators, hallways, etc. and step on me, ignore me , do not let me in the elevator -regular w/c not a scooter , but, when walking, none of those things happen, and for the ruling, thank god, I do not want special treatment, just equal treatment. I must have a shower chair or bench as even the time standing in a shower is too long,without a conditions, I lose alot of joy out of life. If I walk too much, the discs swell and I am bed bound for days, nice way to cruise, eh !! In conclusion, the more Accessible rooms the better:)

 

 

Well said!

[denas]

I wish Carnival would add more modified accessible rooms that accommodate more than 2. Our youngest uses a wheelchair. There are very few cabins on any lines that even consider that a family might want to bring a child with a disability on the cruise and parents like to share a cabin. I called the day bookings opened on the Pride for next summer to try and get the ONLY accessible cabin that can accommodate more than 2 on the Pride (which is a Suite) and it was already booked. There are a couple of rooms on newer ships that can accommodate more than two, but it is rare. Carnival isn't the only one that is bad about this. RCCL has some insides that can accommodate 4, but if you want a window or a balcony, your only option is a suite.

[kteachcruiser52]

I agree with you. I started to learn sign language. I really enjoyed learning. I often thought about people on cruise ships who still need someone to interpret for the deaf. Just to become an interrupter it requires a BA. So much schooling. So I had to quit. But if someone around me needed help I would help someone.

 

I usually had hearing impaired children in my class as our school was the one in our group of 4 districts that had the program. One year 25% of my class needed a sign language interpreter. They were not required to have a BA. In fact, none of them over the years had a BA. They were just required to proficient in sign language. It worked very well. It is amazing how much sign language other non hearing impaired children can learn when they are exposed to it each day.

Edited August 4, 2015 by kteachcruiser52

[katiel53]

I have seen many posts on here where non-handicapped people brag about booking a handicap cabin for the extra space. I, personally, think it's selfish and arrogant to do so, but there are some very inconsiderate passengers.

 

I think there should be a cut off time though for allocating those cabins to anyone/everyone. For example if a week or less before the cruise some handicap cabins aren't sold, then they should be made available as if Carnival or any line is obligated to have x many of those and they aren't being used, it's not right to have the line sail with those empty cabins on the off chance that the day of the cruise someone might want/need one.

 

I do wish there had to be some proof given that someone is handicapped though as we all know with the liars and schemers out there, this will continue as is.

 

It's kind of like saying your dog is a service dog, while it rides around dressed in baby clothes in a stroller while on the ship.

[Eileenfa1]

Katiel53 not all disabilities u can see. Sometimes u are better one day- some days you are in a wheelchair. It's hard enough to explain to every dr one sees much less a carnival rep. We don't want to explain to every person what our disease is and what's wrong with us.

[snowball's mom]

Katiel53 not all disabilities u can see. Sometimes u are better one day- some days you are in a wheelchair. It's hard enough to explain to every dr one sees much less a carnival rep. We don't want to explain to every person what our disease is and what's wrong with us.

 

Well said, Eileen. Maybe the world would be a kinder place if everyone had to experience a few hidden disabilities for a few days to see how difficult it can be.

[Eileenfa1]

Thanks snowballs mom. Some people just don't understand how it feels and there's nothing u can do about it.

[Swampbabe]

Well said' date=' Eileen. Maybe the world would be a kinder place if everyone had to experience a few hidden disabilities for a few days to see how difficult it can be.[/quote']

 

Katiel53 not all disabilities u can see. Sometimes u are better one day- some days you are in a wheelchair. It's hard enough to explain to every dr one sees much less a carnival rep. We don't want to explain to every person what our disease is and what's wrong with us.

 

I think you both misunderstood her intent. I understand that you don't want to get into the specifics of your disability but if there is no way to verify that a passenger needs an accessible cabin, able bodied folks will continue to book them for more room or the possibility to be upgraded for free.

[becky48417]

Well said' date=' Eileen. Maybe the world would be a kinder place if everyone had to experience a few hidden disabilities for a few days to see how difficult it can be.[/quote']

 

I completely agree. I am a relatively fit 39 year old but have had 3 knee surgeries in a year and am now permanently disabled. I always get dirty looks for parking in handicapped spots and was actually confronted by a woman last year. In shock, I pulled up my pant leg to show my scars and explained my situation. In hindsight, I should have told her to mind her own business but I think I educated her that day so she won't do that to anyone else!

[Eileenfa1]

I'm 40 yrs old and have 13 disk in my back and neck herniated and torn and scoliosis due to my one main disease I have. If you look at me I look great until u realize I have one hip about 3 inches higher than the other. An on a cane

[RuthlessBoss]

I have seen many posts on here where non-handicapped people brag about booking a handicap cabin for the extra space. I, personally, think it's selfish and arrogant to do so, but there are some very inconsiderate passengers.

 

I think there should be a cut off time though for allocating those cabins to anyone/everyone. For example if a week or less before the cruise some handicap cabins aren't sold, then they should be made available as if Carnival or any line is obligated to have x many of those and they aren't being used, it's not right to have the line sail with those empty cabins on the off chance that the day of the cruise someone might want/need one.

 

I do wish there had to be some proof given that someone is handicapped though as we all know with the liars and schemers out there, this will continue as is.

 

It's kind of like saying your dog is a service dog, while it rides around dressed in baby clothes in a stroller while on the ship.

 

When we booked a handicap cabin, we had to fill out a form. I don't call that as explaining to everyone but it was proof of the need. I don't recall if it was Carnival.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

When we booked a handicap cabin, we had to fill out a form. I don't call that as explaining to everyone but it was proof of the need. I don't recall if it was Carnival.

 

Federal law states that you can ask someone if they need an accessible cabin with a yes or no but they cannot ask you the nature of your disability or a doctor's testament confirming a disability. It is completely an honor system.

 

For those who do have a disability why are you so mad if people give you a questioning look? I'd be thrilled if someone "thought" I looked fully capable. I sat and pointed out the significant sites to someone I was sitting on a bench with only to have them giggle and point out that they were, for all intents and purposes, blind. We had a good laugh and he said he appreciated my running narrative though my "see, over behind there" started to get a little uncomfortable.

 

And the reason some people may look at you "funny or weird" is because they really are trying to look out for those of you who really need the assistance....giving them a hard time won't make them so apt to be protective next time around.

[KatPem]

I just hate the assumption that people who don't appear to be handicapped aren't. I have a 34 year old friend who is slim and gorgeous and she gets grief all the time when she uses the handicap spot with her HC plates.

 

 

Amen! I am a 39 year old female that looks younger and healthy...although I was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis) 6 years ago. I don't look it but I definitely fell handicapped...some days more than others...it's not always a 'slow' thing, it can be a balance thing or a pain thing, or an issue that happens suddenly from overheating. I have only ever had one person say anything to me so far surprisingly, I have had several nasty looks though.