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Booking an handicap cabin if not disabled?


pmatawan
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On 2/19/2021 at 8:11 PM, RunBikeCruiseDC said:

I'm not disabled but I ended up breaking a leg and having surgery shortly before a cruise.  Luckily they were able to work things out for me as I needed more room to shower (and sit) due to the cast.  I was really worried about those elevated bathrooms and tiny showers in an older ship, it would have been miserable for me.  I realized how difficult it is to get around older ships from that experience, I gained a lot of perspective about what disabled folks deal with from that experience. 

 

I actually broke my ankle on a shore excursion on my very first cruise!  (My avatar is my actual x-ray).  It was an NCL cruise, and they took really good care of me.  We'd originally booked our group of four in a single cabin, and when I got out of the hospital and rejoined the cruise, they moved my sister and me into a second cabin.  There weren't any handicapped cabins available, but I got by.  NCL loaned me a wheelchair for the duration (2nd half of a 13 day cruise).  I had crutches that I used inside the cabin, and my sister would fold up the wheelchair and set it in a corner.  Bathing was more of a challenge.  I had to get by with sponge baths, and my sister helped me wash my hair with the shower spray.  

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So back in October 2010 I was booked in an Aft Mini Suite on the Jewel out of New York. I was given a handicapped cabin. Biggest cabin I've been in including the Aft Penthouse I was in a few months later on the Jewel.

 

After sail away, I got a call from Guest Services that someone with a broken leg (i think thats what it was, long time ago . . .) needed the cabin and asking if I was willing to part with it and move to another cabin. I replied that it wouldn't be a problem, I just needed someone to help me move my luggage after I packed it back up. Just after I packed back up, guest services called back and told me never mind that the passenger declined being moved. But they threw a twist at me. They told me that for being nice enough to agree, even though I didn't have to move, that they would take care of me the rest of the cruise. They basically treated me, who was in a mini suite, with the privileges of concierge class suite perks. While I didn't have a butler, I had someone I could call if I needed anything. 

 

So if you end up in a handicap cabin and someone needs it, my advice is not to say no. Not only will you be doing a kind gesture, you never know what the cruise line might do to "reward" your generosity. 

 

P.S. I didn't agree to it expecting to get anything from it. 

 

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We went on a cruise with a group of friends back in August 2013 (Carnival Liberty). Two of the guys in our group decided to ask the cruise line a few days before sailing if they could upgrade their room. To their surprise, an accessible cabin was available, so they took it. It was huge! One of the two worked for ICE, and he was pressed into service late one night when we encountered a small boat allegedly headed to the US from another country (I think it was Honduras). The captain did the honorable thing and provided them with food and water, which delayed us a little while but was such a nice gesture and applauded by the passengers. Sorry to go off-topic a bit. We'd never dream of getting a HC room unless we qualified for it.

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The reality is that quite often cruise lines have more handicapped rooms available than handicapped folks who need them. Who do you think is going to be occupying them with a full ship of passengers and few handicapped folks? 

After initially getting one purely by accident, and probably related to our "over 70" age, I began to ask for them with the stated understanding that if needed for someone actually handicapped we will gladly give it up and move to a regular cabin. When available we have been given one with that stated condition. 

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Cabins are indeed much larger. But- I’ve traveled with family members with disabilities and they needed that space and access. Don’t book unless you really need it. I’d hate to see someone who does need it be denied. And I have heard of able bodied persons being bounced out of a room when there are folks who need it more. On the other hand, if you book at last minute and it’s available, enjoy! 

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13 hours ago, sloperate said:

The reality is that quite often cruise lines have more handicapped rooms available than handicapped folks who need them. Who do you think is going to be occupying them with a full ship of passengers and few handicapped folks? 

After initially getting one purely by accident, and probably related to our "over 70" age, I began to ask for them with the stated understanding that if needed for someone actually handicapped we will gladly give it up and move to a regular cabin. When available we have been given one with that stated condition. 

What you don't understand is that once you book the cabin, it will not show as available for someone who is disabled to book (so how will they ask you to move?)  I get that you are over 70, but not sure how that translates to disabled.  If you need a simple mobility assistance device (e.g. a booster to elevate a toilet seat so that it's easier to get up & down or a shower seat, etc.) you can easily request those for a standard room.  The accessible cabins have the floor space that is needed by people who are in wheelchairs.)  PLEASE reconsider your practice since it truly impacts those in need.

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13 hours ago, Minngammy said:

 On the other hand, if you book at last minute and it’s available, enjoy! 

I've pointed this out before, but for those who have not actually stayed in an accessible cabin, it's not necessarily something you will "enjoy".  For example, the bathroom - while larger - is definitely "hospital grade".  Even in the Haven, it's nowhere's near as nice as a standard bathroom. (and there's NO cabinet storage - ugh!!!)  As far as furniture, in an accessible balcony or mini-suite you will NOT have the furniture that you'd find in a standard room (couch, coffee table, etc.)  The floor plan of the room is much bigger, but it is EMPTY space (furniture is removed to allow for wheelchair movement.)

 

In the Haven on Breakaway and Breakaway-plus class ships, the accessible cabins are one big room (no separate living room/bedroom like the other Penthouse Haven cabins.)

 

So, again, accessible rooms are definitely bigger, but they are configured for people with special needs and may be missing many of the features you rely on (and enjoy) in a standard cabin.

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I feel much safer in my accessible suite on Bliss, but it is a trade off in some areas, as pcakes points out. I especially appreciate the automatic door control so I don't have to struggle with my walker to get in and out of the stateroom. 

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Why on earth is this even a topic of discussion? If you are not disabled, do not book an accessible cabin! That floor space and those ramps onto the balcony are not for your enjoyment, they're for your necessity if you have mobility aids. That shower is not to luxuriate in, it's to roll in. Those handrails are not to steady yourself after one too many mojitos, they are to stop you falling over on the loo.

 

Also, please can we stop the use of the word "handicapped". The correct term is disabled, as a pose to able bodied. It's outdated and offensive. 

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  • 7 months later...
On 2/28/2021 at 10:00 PM, sloperate said:

The reality is that quite often cruise lines have more handicapped rooms available than handicapped folks who need them. Who do you think is going to be occupying them with a full ship of passengers and few handicapped folks? 

After initially getting one purely by accident, and probably related to our "over 70" age, I began to ask for them with the stated understanding that if needed for someone actually handicapped we will gladly give it up and move to a regular cabin. When available we have been given one with that stated condition. 

Just plain wrong and selfish, people who need accessible cabins generally don’t cruise if they can’t get an accessible cabin. If they don’t cruise how can they bump you out of the cabin that you really don’t need?!

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