Tips for 'permanent' wheelchair user Koningsdam, Alaska, May

[Sharon Almond]

Hi everyone,

 

Booked on the Koningsdam for an Alaska cruise next year. The other half uses a wheelchair (he can't walk at all). Just wondered if anyone had any tips that would be useful for us to know about in advance. We don't need any assistance as we are pretty self sufficient as a team, but always handy to have some inside knowledge/tips.

 

We have cruised once before on a Def Leppard Cruise that I won a few years back! But other than that we are pretty much new to cruising... This time I am hoping for no storms, that we are able to get off the ship for day trips and that no one dies!

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, Sharon Almond said:

Hi everyone,

 

Booked on the Koningsdam for an Alaska cruise next year. The other half uses a wheelchair (he can't walk at all). Just wondered if anyone had any tips that would be useful for us to know about in advance. We don't need any assistance as we are pretty self sufficient as a team, but always handy to have some inside knowledge/tips.

 

We have cruised once before on a Def Leppard Cruise that I won a few years back! But other than that we are pretty much new to cruising... This time I am hoping for no storms, that we are able to get off the ship for day trips and that no one dies!

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

If you have your own wheelchair, HAL will provide a pusher for embarkation and disembarkation, as well as assistance when leaving/boarding the ship for excursions.  There is a form to complete for HAL to let them know of your special needs.

 

Scooter rental is another option.

 

Here is a link to the current Room Service (mostly free 24/7):

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Room-Service-and-Breakfast-Card.pdf

[Sharon Almond]

7 minutes ago, Crew News said:

If you have your own wheelchair, HAL will provide a pusher for embarkation and disembarkation, as well as assistance when leaving/boarding the ship for excursions.  There is a form to complete for HAL to let them know of your special needs.

 

Scooter rental is another option.

 

Here is a link to the current Room Service (mostly free 24/7):

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Room-Service-and-Breakfast-Card.pdf

Thanks, we don't need assistance and have filled in the form already. Looking more for tips regarding the ship and places we will be visiting. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, Sharon Almond said:

Thanks, we don't need assistance and have filled in the form already. Looking more for tips regarding the ship and places we will be visiting. 

 

What's your itinerary?

 

[Mary229]

There may be some ports where you may need assistance, just let them know.  Most of the towns you will be visiting are fairly easy to get around by chair.   Bring a poncho!  I heard about this last week. If you are traveling to and from Seattle luggage direct is free and having traveled with my mother in a chair I know the hassle we have with getting our luggage assembled 

Port of Seattle luggage

[Caribbean Chris]

Alaska is a great destination choice because shore excursions and venues generally will comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. I travel with a large Labrador service dog, and notified HAL of the excursions I had booked in advance. You should be able to request information on whale watching boats with wheelchair access, passenger buses with lifts, etc.

 

If there’s a tour you are interested in, you can sometimes get information on the website about access or just call and talk to the tour operator directly. It just depends on what you might enjoy seeing or doing. We took a couple of wildlife boat tours and the staff on board were accommodating. A small plane flightseeing tour might be hard, but it would be worth investigating.

 

A lot of the ports are in or near state or Federal land, such as Tongass National Forest; therefore the visitor centers (for example at Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier) are accessible and have accessible paths - see the Tongass visitor information brochure for some of the ports.  https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd624530.pdf

 

Enjoy! We’ve taken three Alaska cruises and I’d go back any time.

[Sharon Almond]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

What's your itinerary?

 

It's the alaska 7 day trip. Juneau. Skagway, glacier Bay and ketchikan. Departing from vancouver. 

[Sharon Almond]

30 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Alaska is a great destination choice because shore excursions and venues generally will comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. I travel with a large Labrador service dog, and notified HAL of the excursions I had booked in advance. You should be able to request information on whale watching boats with wheelchair access, passenger buses with lifts, etc.

 

If there’s a tour you are interested in, you can sometimes get information on the website about access or just call and talk to the tour operator directly. It just depends on what you might enjoy seeing or doing. We took a couple of wildlife boat tours and the staff on board were accommodating. A small plane flightseeing tour might be hard, but it would be worth investigating.

 

A lot of the ports are in or near state or Federal land, such as Tongass National Forest; therefore the visitor centers (for example at Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier) are accessible and have accessible paths - see the Tongass visitor information brochure for some of the ports.  https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd624530.pdf

 

Enjoy! We’ve taken three Alaska cruises and I’d go back any time.

Thanks for the info. We have booked whale watching and the train through Hal, both have wheelchair options. Hal have been great with info. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Sharon Almond

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 minutes ago, Sharon Almond said:

Thanks for the info. We have booked whale watching and the train through Hal, both have wheelchair options. Hal have been great with info. 

 

The train is great. I like that HAL offers accessible tours as a separate booking. You won't be on your own tour, but it's a way for them to show which tours are accessible. And they should alert the vendor to expect a wheelchair on the tour. 

 

[Homosassa]

Go to the following forum and ask for specific tips for each of your ports:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

 

We traveled with a friend who uses a motorized scooter two years ago and the people on the forum gave me very port specific tips and information about each port. 

[sevenseasnomad]

First, welcome to cruise critic!  And to the HAL board!  You may also receive a lot of information on the Special Interest boards, which has a separate section for "wheelchair cruising."

 

Koningsdam is one of the newer HAL ships, and she's a beauty, although her Promenade Deck is extremely narrow and barely allows one passenger to walk.  It's the one drawback to this ship, IMO.  If you visit halfacts.com or youtube.com, you can find a lot of photographs/video that let you tour the ship, so you have an idea of the interiors/cabin layout.  Decks 2 and 3 with the public rooms are wider than the other HAL vessels and allow for great wheelchair access.  The World Stage has a relatively larger area for wheelchair seating than the other ships, too.  Arrive early, maybe 15 minutes, if you're interested in a particular show.  Although the décor and art work is more modern that other vessels in the fleet, the K delivers the same great service and quiet, relaxing ambiance.  The midship Lido pool area can become noisy as sound travels up two decks.  I find the 2nd deck in this area better suited to reading and talking.

 

Make certain you try Dive-In (I love the Nathan's hot dogs), New York Deli, and Dutch Café.  These three alternative eateries serve free food with some beverages that cost extra.  The other specialty restaurants, especially Tamarind are worth a try.  These carry an upcharge.  You can book prior to leaving home via HAL's website.  

 

Alaska is awe-inspiring and a wonderful area to cruise.  HAL has had a presence in Alaska longer than any other cruise line, I believe, so they know what they're doing.  Have a lovely, relaxing cruise.

[DebbieMacG]

9 hours ago, Sharon Almond said:

Hi everyone,

 

Booked on the Koningsdam for an Alaska cruise next year. The other half uses a wheelchair (he can't walk at all). Just wondered if anyone had any tips that would be useful for us to know about in advance. We don't need any assistance as we are pretty self sufficient as a team, but always handy to have some inside knowledge/tips.

 

We have cruised once before on a Def Leppard Cruise that I won a few years back! But other than that we are pretty much new to cruising... This time I am hoping for no storms, that we are able to get off the ship for day trips and that no one dies!

 

Thanks for all your help!

 

Hi Sharon, I board the Nieuw statendam in 4 weeks and although it’s not the Koningsdam it’s the same class of ship. I use a power chair and so I’ll let you know how things are on board if you would like,  i’ve got an accessible interior cabin, it was the only accessible I could get.  I’m also going to be doing the retreat and have booked a cabana in lieu of a balcony. I’ll look out for any pluses and minuses regarding accessibility and report back 

[Sharon Almond]

That would be fantastic. Last time we worked out really quickly which lifts (elevators) were quieter, good places to sit when eating etc... 

 

We have booked an accessible room with a partially obstructed view. Hal sent photos of the room. It is huge! They have been amazing answering all my questions. 

[Sharon Almond]

7 hours ago, sevenseasnomad said:

First, welcome to cruise critic!  And to the HAL board!  You may also receive a lot of information on the Special Interest boards, which has a separate section for "wheelchair cruising."

 

Koningsdam is one of the newer HAL ships, and she's a beauty, although her Promenade Deck is extremely narrow and barely allows one passenger to walk.  It's the one drawback to this ship, IMO.  If you visit halfacts.com or youtube.com, you can find a lot of photographs/video that let you tour the ship, so you have an idea of the interiors/cabin layout.  Decks 2 and 3 with the public rooms are wider than the other HAL vessels and allow for great wheelchair access.  The World Stage has a relatively larger area for wheelchair seating than the other ships, too.  Arrive early, maybe 15 minutes, if you're interested in a particular show.  Although the décor and art work is more modern that other vessels in the fleet, the K delivers the same great service and quiet, relaxing ambiance.  The midship Lido pool area can become noisy as sound travels up two decks.  I find the 2nd deck in this area better suited to reading and talking.

 

Make certain you try Dive-In (I love the Nathan's hot dogs), New York Deli, and Dutch Café.  These three alternative eateries serve free food with some beverages that cost extra.  The other specialty restaurants, especially Tamarind are worth a try.  These carry an upcharge.  You can book prior to leaving home via HAL's website.  

 

Alaska is awe-inspiring and a wonderful area to cruise.  HAL has had a presence in Alaska longer than any other cruise line, I believe, so they know what they're doing.  Have a lovely, relaxing cruise.

Thanks, for the info. I think dive in will be a regular for us. Last time we preferred to have breakfast and evening meal in the main restaurant as the buffet was really busy, but dive in sounds great for lunch. We have a free meal at pinnacle grill, but would like to try out other places as well. 

 

We are keen to see a few shows so we will arrive early. We will check that out as soon as we can so we know where the wheelchair spaces are. 

 

We picked this ship because the accessible rooms are perfect for us and there appeared to be better circulation space in most aread. We picked this particular alaska trip as there are no tenders. 

 

Looking forward to some sightseeing. This will be my second attempt at seeing whales. We did this in Iceland a few years back and didn't see any... So hopefully this is going to be the highlight of the trip for me. 

[Sharon Almond]

8 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Go to the following forum and ask for specific tips for each of your ports:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

 

We traveled with a friend who uses a motorized scooter two years ago and the people on the forum gave me very port specific tips and information about each port. 

Thanks, will certainly take a look. 

[510picker]

I don't have anything to add specific to Alaska, but I will say you've booked a great ship to be on as far as accessibility goes. We cruised on Koningsdam last November and of the 15 cruises we've been on,  it was the best cabin and balcony we've ever had. I am a full-time wheelchair user and we were in cabin 4096. The link below is to photos from our trip and it has some photos of the cabin for reference. Which cabin do you have booked?

 

https://pbase.com/510picker/koningsdam_november_2018_cruise_

[Sharon Almond]

13 minutes ago, 510picker said:

I don't have anything to add specific to Alaska, but I will say you've booked a great ship to be on as far as accessibility goes. We cruised on Koningsdam last November and of the 15 cruises we've been on,  it was the best cabin and balcony we've ever had. I am a full-time wheelchair user and we were in cabin 4096. The link below is to photos from our trip and it has some photos of the cabin for reference. Which cabin do you have booked?

 

https://pbase.com/510picker/koningsdam_november_2018_cruise_

We have booked the one directly opposite yours in the same floor, so its a mirror image! HAL sent lots of photos for us, including the view from the balcony which like yours is huge.  We were a bit worried how obstructed the view was, but we will still be able to see lots and the lifeboat only covers part of it. 

 

Did you get much noise from other floors or people passing by outside?

Edited October 31, 2019 by Sharon Almond

[510picker]

49 minutes ago, Sharon Almond said:

We have booked the one directly opposite yours in the same floor, so its a mirror image! HAL sent lots of photos for us, including the view from the balcony which like yours is huge.  We were a bit worried how obstructed the view was, but we will still be able to see lots and the lifeboat only covers part of it. 

 

Did you get much noise from other floors or people passing by outside?

 

We were worried about the view as well, but I was very happy with it. The deck is totally covered, which is great in the Caribbean for protection from sun and rain. You also get a good view of the walking area on the deck below, which makes for good people watching. We had absolutely no issues with noise.

 

We have a cruise in a couple of weeks on the Nieuw Statedam and we tried to book this cabin again, but both sides were unavailable. We are booked in 4146, which appears to be more obstructed based on the deck plan.

[ksqueak]

On 10/31/2019 at 3:25 AM, Sharon Almond said:

 This will be my second attempt at seeing whales. We did this in Iceland a few years back and didn't see any... So hopefully this is going to be the highlight of the trip for me. 

 

I've done the whale watching twice in Juneau and both times, plenty of whales.  The company HAL used I believe has seen whales every excursion!  Enjoy your cruise!