Booking an Accessible Cabin

[Jasukkie]

(Asking for a friend) What is required for booking an accessible cabin? The person in question is a scooter user, can walk with a walker or cane for short distances, and would do better without the step up to the bathroom. One travel agency website says accessible cabins should only be booked by full-time wheelchair users and the party risks being re-booked with potential upcharges if they book fraudulently. Does anyone have experience being a scooter user and booking an accessible cabin? Royal's special needs for seems to include scooter users and doesn't have any language saying full-time wheelchair use is required, at least that I could find.

[1025cruise]

The person in question should not feel guilty booking an accessible cabin.

[Bloodgem]

If your friend has a scooter and needs a step free bathroom then book an accessible cabin. As long as your friend fills in Royal's special needs form then she/he should not be moved from the cabin.

[Rubyfisch]

Many full time wheel chair users can walk short distances with a mobility aid. It doesn't mean that they don't need accommodations or shouldn't request them.

 

My mother uses a wheelchair to get around outside the house, but can walk short distances with the aid of something or someone to hold onto. I booked a handicapped cabin for our first cruise, and she reached out to the special needs team and it wasn't an issue. We stayed in normal cabins after that, as the small size actually makes it easier for her.

 

My guess is the travel agency is just saying "no, you can't book a handicapped cabin because you aren't as limber as you used to be as a way to get a bigger room and it isn't our fault if Royal moves you."

[mets123]

My wife is a stroke survivor and fits the OP description to a "T". She can walk twenty five feet or so with a cane but needs the wheelchair to get around. On a ship we rent a scooter for convenience. A handicapped cabin is a must for her. She could not get by without the grab bar in the bathroom and the sit down shower. And there is no step getting in and out of the bathroom. She is the text book example of some who needs an accessible room. Don't let the travel agency tell you you otherwise.

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

(Asking for a friend) What is required for booking an accessible cabin? The person in question is a scooter user, can walk with a walker or cane for short distances, and would do better without the step up to the bathroom. One travel agency website says accessible cabins should only be booked by full-time wheelchair users and the party risks being re-booked with potential upcharges if they book fraudulently. Does anyone have experience being a scooter user and booking an accessible cabin? Royal's special needs for seems to include scooter users and doesn't have any language saying full-time wheelchair use is required, at least that I could find.

I booked an Accessible on my last cruise.I cannot walk at all without a cane or a Walker and not at all with both .I have to hold another person or have them hold me.I need a high rise toilet and grab bars everywhere.

What I object to are people who have no disabilities who are allowed to book these cabins.

[fsufancc]

My MIL had a form of Parkinson's and could get around with a walker or on someone's arm for a short distance.  We also brought a wheelchair for use to get to the MDR, boarding and such.  TA had no issue getting her (and my FIL) an accessible room.  If your TA is not cooperating, then push back hard. 

 

Once on-board, no one is going to become the "handicapped" police and move someone.  I gave their room steward a $50 before we set sail and asked them to be diligent to their needs as they were several floors from the rest of the family. Everyone was satisfied.

[Jasukkie]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your answers. 

[CatLadyFemme]

I am a cane and sometimes walker/rollator user. I need no step and the shower seat in the accessible cabin, despite not using a wheelchair at all. I echo everyone else; they should feel free to book it to meet their needs.

[Tee & Chilli]

Depending on the scooter, sometimes an accessible cabin is needed for the scooter to fit through the door. Other features are the raised toilet seat and emergency pull cord in the bathroom. 

[auntjoy036]

special_needs@rccl.com is the email address for accessibility questions.

 

Before I reserved an accessible cabin for my Mom for the first time I emailed the cruise line’s special needs department. I outlined what Mom needed to be safe (raised toilet seat or grab bars by the toilet, low or no step over in the shower, and grab bars in the shower). I asked whether we could/should reserve an accessible cabin. They said yes.

 

I don’t recall whether that first accessible cruise was on Royal, Celebrity, or Holland. Mom and I sailed on all three during those years.

[PTAngel]

When DH cruises, we get an accessible cabin because he uses a scooter &/or rollator.  When I cruise without him, I get an accessible if possible because I use a cane.  I have a history of falling & don't want to risk that on a cruise.  I booked a regular cabin last month because there was no accessible cabin available in the interior class.  I made out but I was extremely careful.  As others have said, the higher toilet & grab bars are pretty much a necessity.

[TVLady3]

My son is a 48 year old Down Syndrome adult and I have taken him on over 40 cruises. I always try to get an accessible cabin because I need to take care of his daily hygiene and toileting needs. He can not do certain things by himself. He is not in a wheel chair. Me, I just bring my cane. It is not mandatory to book an accessible cabin that you must be in a chair.

[texasparalegal]

I'm going to post this since I never thought it would actually happen and as a TA I had not seen it happen before.

 

I travel with my mom, who has some mobility challenges. She needs to be able to walk in the shower, raised toilet seat, no lip into the bathroom, uses a cane, plus she does not sleep in a bed, we order a sleeper chair to be delivered to the room.  We book accessible cabins. We sailed on Adventure of the Seas back in late 2021 with an OV accessible room. Imagine my surprise when we were going through the last checkin point and someone told us that we had been moved.  

 

We went immediately to guest services, to find out that they moved us out of our OV accessible and into a standard OV because they were using the cabins in our area for potential quarantine cabins. This was decided by who knows who, ship staff, land staff, whomever made such a decision but never notified me as the agent or me as the client.  The sleeper chair was delivered to a standard OV and of course you can imagine that once it was put together and placed in the room, there was no way to even get past it to the bed. We spent hours at GS, trying to get this sorted out. There were no vacant HC cabins available (we were told) and no one seemed to realize that this was a BIG DEAL. 

 

We ended up in a JS to accommodate the sleeper chair, but this cabin has a tub and there is no way my mom could get her leg over the side. So they gave us the key to a vacant inside across the hall.  Imagine a 85 yo woman having to pull open a cabin door, walk across the hall, open another door and then use the shower on her own because they TOOK AWAY OUR HC CABIN! I tried as best I could to assist but she is pretty independent and tried to manage as much as possible on her own.

 

Needless to say, it was a stressful cruise. I never thought that it would happen, but it did.  I encourage everyone to make sure they fill out and submit their accessible needs form to the Special Needs department when booking an accessible cabin (and follow up prior to sailing to be sure they have it and have noted it). No one needs that kind of stress on vacation.