Handicapped Rooms- Pride of America?

[ehough]

DH and I just booked our Pride of America cruise for Sept 2007. We used Cruise Compete, and the TA we worked with gave us a handicapped inside room in category K. We're not handicapped, although from what I understand a handicapped room is bigger than a standard room, and we're happy about that.

 

What differences can we expect between a standard inside room and a handicapped inside room? What do you suppose our chances are of being bumped from the room, seeing as how we're not handicapped and there may be a handicapped passenger who needs the room? Would we be bumped to a standard inside room?

 

Thanks for any help.

[TheDivineMsM]

:mad: You have absolutely no right to an accessable cabin...especially being booked a year out. These few cabins are built for the people who really need them...not for selfish, insensitive people who think they need more room.

You should refuse the cabin and report your unscrupulous TA for even suggesting it. Should you take the cabin, just remember you are keeping someone else from cruising. Can you live with that? Please leave it for someone who really needs it.

[CruisinMK]

That is a seriously unethical travel agent.

 

If you book close to sail date, then fine sometimes they give handicap rooms to you. But a year out is ridiculous, that's just wrong.

 

Anyway contact the travel agent and explain your conscience would bother you if you took a handicap room away from those who actually need them.

[Oceanwench]

You should contact your unethical TA and tell her you are not in need of a HC cabin.

If you take it, you are taking it away from people with handicaps or mobility problems who CANNOT stay in a standard cabin.

 

Yes, you see extra floor space, and you think that's great. Now you've got one of the biggest cabins for the money! Well guess what -- that space is designed so a person in a wheelchair can go on vacation. So he/she can maneuver in the cabin and in the bathroom.

It's not designed so some able-bodied passenger has bragging rights.

 

Do what's right.

 

I sincerely hope you never have to deal with a disability, your own or someone whom you love.

But if you do, you will become an advocate.

 

Spend a day in a wheelchair and you'll see.

 

Oh -- just a little information for you. The Pride of America has just over 1,000 cabins. Twenty-one of those are wheelchair-accessible.

Do the math. You can access those 1,000-plus rooms. A person in a wheelchair can access 21 rooms.

Do you really think it's right for you to take one of those 21 rooms when you don't need it?

[ehough]

For starters, I don't think there was a need for such mean-spirited replies.

 

I was not aware that there were so few handicapped cabins, nor did I request one. Nor did I state anywhere that I would be unhappy to give up my HC cabin if it was needed. In fact, I specifically asked what the chances of that happening were, because I do realize that some people do require these cabins and certainly would not object to being bumped if someone needed the cabin. I was just wondering how likely that was, considering I had no idea how many HC cabins were available. I guess I just assumed that since we obviously don't need the HC room that we would get "bumped" automatically if someone did need it. I take it this is not the case, and even if it is, we should indeed leave the room open for those who need it.

 

I'm not being selfish or insensitive by "thinking I need more room". As I said, I had no idea that it was such a hot topic. Had I known that this was a big no-no, I would have asked right away to have my room switched. I didn't know. Yes, I was happy about having more room, but pretty much everyone on this board is looking for a way to have more room for the money they pay. I didn't realize this was an unethical way of having more room, and now that I do, I don't want the extra room if it means I'm taking it from someone who needs it.

 

Why would a TA give us an HC room so far out if there are so few HC rooms? I just figured, albeit incorrectly, that if two able-bodied people were being given an HC room a year ahead that there must be a large quantity. Clearly, I was wrong, and I will contact her ASAP to have this corrected.

 

I realize now that I have no rights to this room, but I also don't think there was a need for everyone to respond the way they did. There's no need to jump to the conclusion that I'm selfish, insensitive, and looking for bragging rights. That's not the case at all. I honestly had no idea at how lacking the ships are in HC facilities, and obviously my preconceived notions of this weren't helped when I was handed an HC room a year in advance.

 

Chalk it up to ignorance, but now that I know, I will ask for a smaller room and see what I can do about reporting the TA for giving away such a valuable room.

[sadiwest]

...On the other hand...we DID request a HC room (DH is legally disabled & we will be bringing his wheelchair) and had NO idea it'd cost more than a 'regular' inside cabin. I honestly assumed that if it was required and you had a legitimate need that they couldn't charge extra for it. But they did & we paid to secure the cabin.

 

Though the responses you got were indeed 'angry' I think the 'blame' is with the TA who should know better in terms of the number of rooms available, etc. When you request that they change the room assignment, I'd make sure they didn't originally charge more for that cabin. On the Spirit, I was told we were paying $50 more per person for the HC cabin.

 

I'm sorry you got jumped on here.....

:(

Sandi

[Cobra1365]

Whoa! Back Off People! They are asking a valid question! For your info, when we booked our 9 Sep cruise on PoAM, we booked through NCL and THEY gave us a HC room!

We subsequently changed rooms, but only after calling them on the issue.

So, the OP asked if they would be bumped if a HC person needed the room. Answer yes.

Other than that, I think the negative replies here go far in reducing the help that people are asking for.

I think a simple answer such as: You may want to contact NCL and tell them you would like to retain the room but fully understand if there is a need to change rooms to accomodate a HC person.

See how this can be done without being so negative!

[CruisinMK]

That is a seriously unethical travel agent.

 

If you book close to sail date, then fine sometimes they give handicap rooms to you. But a year out is ridiculous, that's just wrong.

 

Anyway contact the travel agent and explain your conscience would bother you if you took a handicap room away from those who actually need them.

 

That wasn't a mean spirited reply was it?

Thought it was a straightforward explanation of the situation and what your responsibilities are.

I read oceanwench's reply and hers didn't seem mean either.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[TheDivineMsM]

Two misconceptions here...

 

1. Once you are booked into an accessable room, you are rarely asked to move. The cabin is taken from the inventory and no record is kept on who is in that cabin. So the ans. is no you will not be asked to move. For verification, go to the Disabled thread of this board and read story after story of people who were denied a cruise because some able bodied person had already booked a cabin that rightfully belong to them.

 

2. Accessable cabins do not cost extra...unless this is something new, I think some one was taken advantage of.

 

I am happy the OP is doing the right thing. I hope she writes back and reports what her TA had to say.

[newlywedcruisers]

In the OP's defense, trying to look at it from his or her angle, some of the repsonses may have been a bit harsh.

 

Now to the OP-

Seriously report your travel agent, I'm sure the way they talked to you about it made it sound fine, but thats ridiculous on their part.

 

But when you are finaly able to go on your cruise have fun!

[ehough]

MikeKaye, you're right, yours was a straightforward explanation and I was not meaning to call your reply mean-spirited. I should have been more specific, and I apologize for the confusion. I appreciate your explanation without insults :)

 

I have gone over our reservation from the TA and it makes no mention of an extra charge for an HC room, so I would have to agree with TheDivineMsM on that one- there does not appear to be an extra charge for an HC room.

 

I can't believe they don't "bump" able bodied people from an HC room if the people who actually require the room want to cruise. I hate to think of how many able-bodied people just assume that this courtesy would be extended to handicapped people and keep the room, assuming they'd get bumped. That is what we were planning on doing, of course now we know differently.

 

For the record, when I talked to the TA, she didn't make it sound fine. She didn't mention the HC room at all! This, of course, only added to my confusion. I figured she was giving us an HC room to be nice and if someone needed it, they'd get it.

 

I left a message for the TA earlier today stating that I would like to leave the HC room for someone who needs it and that we would be just as happy with a regular stateroom. She has not called back :rolleyes: I'm planning on giving her a couple more hours and if she does not respond I will go above her in order to get this resolved by the end of the day.

[CruisinMK]

So, the OP asked if they would be bumped if a HC person needed the room. Answer yes.

 

 

Wrong! Answer generally no.

 

Contrary to popular conception cruiselines do not generally bump existing bookings in handicap cabins to accomodate those who actually need them.

This has come out in long discussions on the disabled forum here from people talking to the cruiselines to see what policy REALLY is and what REALLY happens.

 

This happens many times where I call the cruiseline and they say handicap inventory gone, that is that. Do you think they go through and ask the passengers in each HC room whether they actually need it? Not as a rule. I get the same answer several different calls, inventory gone. I persist and one person says "well we have one but it isn't for sale, let me talk to supervisor". This was the latitudes line! They open it up for me. Similar happened on HAL, NCL 2x. I am very glad they accomodated me in the end, but your typical caller would have simply accepted the first or second answer that inventory was gone.

 

This is an emotional issue because

 

1) Cruiselines often are not making any attempt to verify passengers need the handicap cabins even for bookings far out. HAL now requires people to submit a form, some lines may sometimes ask verbally if you need it, but some lines habitually do nothing.

 

2) Some people (not the person who started this discussion) deliberately book HC cabins when they are able-bodied, because they want the extra room. Some even then gloat in these forums about it.

 

3) Some unethical TA's are getting it for their clients as a "perk" (perhaps the one in this discussion). But it is still the passengers responsibility to speak up to the cruiseline immediately if they don't need the cabin. There have been postings on forums with people actually gloating that they got the handicap cabin when they don't need one.

 

4) You think it is ok because the cruiseline will ask and move you if someone needs the room, but that often is not reality. They will simply tell the handicap person nothing is available, inventory gone.

 

Please be understanding if handicap people are emotional on the subject, I think all of our egos can handle someone explaining to us what the right thing is to do.

[Cobra1365]

When I called back to tNCL, they told me that they would gladly change my room, but that if they had needed it, they would have contacted me. I have not gone to the Disabled boards here. I was going from personal experience dealing directly with NCL.

[ehough]

Just to update, after a bit of finagling, I spoke with my TA's supervisor (the TA never did call me back...), who assured me that I would be moved from the HC cabin if a disabled person needed the room. He seemed a little taken aback when I told him I thought it was unethical of the TA to have given it to me considering how far away we are from sailing and how few HC cabins there are, and he basically explained that she probably did it as an extra "perk" for us. He kept assuring me that they have done this before and that anyone actually needing the room would get it instead of us.

I told him thanks but no thanks and now have another stateroom.

[dyslexic pirate]

On RCL we were booked into a handicapped room. We didn't request it and didn't even know it until we slid our card in and opened the door. (this was before I discovered cruise critic and didn't research cabins etc. to death!!)

 

We were shocked that we were assigned the room (gty balcony) as we thought for sure they were the first ones to be booked. We alerted our steward that we weren't handicapped and asked if there'd been a mistake. She said sometimes they aren't requested and since it was what was left we got it.

 

By the way it was a little extra roomy and the main difference was in the bathroom. It had the extra bars near the toilet and in the shower. Also the sink was lower. The actual square footage of the bathroom area was also bigger to accomodate a wheel chair. And the shower was larger with a little stool in it. I can't remember any special accomodations on the balcony area itself.

[Treven]

Two misconceptions here...

 

1. Once you are booked into an accessable room, you are rarely asked to move. The cabin is taken from the inventory and no record is kept on who is in that cabin. So the ans. is no you will not be asked to move. For verification, go to the Disabled thread of this board and read story after story of people who were denied a cruise because some able bodied person had already booked a cabin that rightfully belong to them.

 

2. Accessable cabins do not cost extra...unless this is something new, I think some one was taken advantage of.

 

I am happy the OP is doing the right thing. I hope she writes back and reports what her TA had to say.

I'm not being charged any more for a handicapped cabin than I have been charged in the past for a regular (able bodied) cabin. This is true up through my next two cruises; late October & late next April.

[katyluvzcruising]

I just did some research and it looks like we have one of these rooms-accesible. But I booked directly through the cruise line. We wanted an ocean view. She gave me the price. I decided it was too expensive and asked about the inside staterooms. The lady told me there were only larger staterooms available. I asked her what the price was assuming it would be more than the smaller ocean view and she told me it was actually 200 cheaper. I asked her why this was the case. She said that's just the way it is sometimes. They ran out of smaller inside cabins. She didn't say anything about it being a handicapped room. I didn't realize it until I looked at the deck plans. Maybe she didn't know. She said she'd only been working there for two months. She even told me the room was right next to the elevator. Now I understand why.