Favorite Cruise line........

[Buckeyeair]

Are all the cruise lines the same as far as facilities and treatment of HC cruisers or do you prefer one over the others and why ??

Thanks;

glenn

[CruisinOnWheels]

from our experience....and this is our first cruise

 

Royal Caribbean has earned us as a lifetime customer.

 

Their special services department is outstanding, very professional and commited to meeting your needs! Many feel they set the standard for service to persons with disabilities.

[leoandhugh]

on the newer ships, rccl have done a much better job on handicapped accessible accomodation than other main stream cruise lines. another area in which we have found they excel is their special needs department. I dont know whether it is the people that work there or better management but we find the department personnel have a very clear understanding of disability needs. we have also found the descriptions in shore excursion literature about difficulties encountered to be very accurate.:)

[NorthernLite]

on the newer ships, rccl have done a much better job on handicapped accessible accomodation than other main stream cruise lines. another area in which we have found they excel is their special needs department. I dont know whether it is the people that work there or better management but we find the department personnel have a very clear understanding of disability needs. we have also found the descriptions in shore excursion literature about difficulties encountered to be very accurate.:)

 

It has been Celebrity but when I called RCCL's special needs shore excursions for our upcoming Eastern Med, 14 day cruise on Galaxy none were available. None! This is a new itienerary with stops in Romania and Ukraine added. They couldn't find anything or ask for contracts to include minivans or lift equipped buses? And yes, this is a possibility especially for Odessa the largest commercial port in the former Soviet Union.

 

I'm just not so sure great food is enough to keep us going back after this one. I normally search out and make our own, much cheaper, tours but after being sick for a month I figured this time I'd let it ride. When we did a transatlantic on the Constellation after Celebrity announced they had begun to add the new tender escalators the special needs crew again couldn't say which ship/ships had them. We were on the ship 2 days before the pursor could answer my question. I asked right after we checked our room and did the fire drill. Yes, the Constellation has one and no, as of May this year they had never used it.

 

Haven't been on an RC ship yet but am looking at Princess or Crystal next. We have tried the Norwegian Sun, inaugural cruise 3 weeks after 9-11. For a first cruise very nice. No being afraid that living on "quad-time" would make dinner mates wait or miss events that we had promised someone we would meet them at. Been on the Carnival Legend twice because of the home port thing. It's really nice to drive less than 30 minutes, park and get on the ship. Beds on both Norwegian and the Legend were soooooooo much better than on any Celebrity ships so far. Good height for both transfers and people who help others with dressing. Service on both were great except the 2nd year on the Legend. I guess once a new ship's crrew has things down and the trainers leave so does some of the food and service. Carnival still out does Celebrity (the Spirit Class) on entertainment. Having experienced the Cirque de Soliel that's saying a lot.

[kitty9]

For me, as far as being disabled and getting the very best assistance, it's Crystal, hands down. Those people in their travel office have made some of my excursions possible, and gone the extra mile, that no other cruise line has done. I didn't think I could physically do the trip to see the Taj Mahal, and their shore excursion staff did everything they could to make it happen. I wanted to see the Military Tattoo in Scotland but the walk to the castle was over a mile, uphill, but Crystal hired a special bus and brought all of us who are disabled right into the viewing area for the show. There are so many other instances I can give, but you get the idea.

 

NorthernLite, not to poo-poo your experience with Celebrity and not having accessible tours, believe me it's not completely their fault. If you've not been to that part of the world before, you will discover that many parts are still living in the dark ages with respect to accessibility services. Plus, that particular itinerary is rife with tourist sites that are not at all accessible for those with disabilities. I've been to all those cities on your itinerary and with the exception of Athens, just about everything of interest is very physically challenging, and in many cases, nearly impossible for those with with more involved disabilities. Even though Odessa is a large port, and Constanta is a larger city, both of them are still living in the 1950's with regards to accessibility issues, so there not being services or accessible transportation available is not the fault of the cruise line. I know that even the luxury lines like Seabourn or Crystal, who go out of their way to make good things happen for their disabled guests, if the services aren't there, they just aren't there and nothing can be done about it.

 

I would suggest contacting private companies in those cities where the cruise line isn't offering anything for you, and see if you can't make your own arrangements. That's what I've had to do on many of my cruises where the cruise line was unable to provide services. It's just the nature of things you have to handle when you're disabled.

[NorthernLite]

NorthernLite, not to poo-poo your experience with Celebrity and not having accessible tours, believe me it's not completely their fault. If you've not been to that part of the world before, you will discover that many parts are still living in the dark ages with respect to accessibility services. Plus, that particular itinerary is rife with tourist sites that are not at all accessible for those with disabilities. I've been to all those cities on your itinerary and with the exception of Athens, just about everything of interest is very physically challenging, and in many cases, nearly impossible for those with with more involved disabilities. Even though Odessa is a large port, and Constanta is a larger city, both of them are still living in the 1950's with regards to accessibility issues, so there not being services or accessible transportation available is not the fault of the cruise line. I know that even the luxury lines like Seabourn or Crystal, who go out of their way to make good things happen for their disabled guests, if the services aren't there, they just aren't there and nothing can be done about it.

 

I would suggest contacting private companies in those cities where the cruise line isn't offering anything for you, and see if you can't make your own arrangements. That's what I've had to do on many of my cruises where the cruise line was unable to provide services. It's just the nature of things you have to handle when you're disabled.

 

I lived in Rome for 3 years and know how bad that can be and the same with Naples. Glad we did all that before the lead sled became a part of my life. But when I asked about Athens I got the same answers. They have 1280 public bses with ramps. They have a paratransit fleet of another 280 for school kids. The Acropolis was made accessible in 2004 and I have the way around it by a paralympian. Very ingenius work so it wouldn't detract from its historic perspective. And most Greek ferries are w/c accessible now including to Delos. We're going with friends and so Delos was my chose of what to do. We all pick one 'must do' and then add. I realize the bumpy ride it will be as do my friends. I'm not expecting every stop to have access but one in 14 days? We are looking at Crystal for future cruises. It's rough to have an optimistic but realistic attitude against some, at times, rather rude people.

 

I really just wanted to be able to not do all the work this time. And how can the cruise lines not know what eqipment they have on board? I do like the Galaxy though... And hairy chest contests are not my thing.

[kitty9]

NorthernLite, believe me, I know about rude people. I started hiring private guides for many of my cruises because I got sick of hearing people complain about my slowing the tours down because I have to walk so slow with my cane. But wouldn't you know it, these same jerks were always the ones who were 10 minutes late getting back to the bus at every stop, while I was just sitting there quietly waiting for them. I found the private guides, especially in the more difficult cities, to be a godsend.