The myth of "flagging" rooms

[Oceanwench]

I know a lot of AB folks like to claim they booked an HC cabin -- but assure everyone that they'd be "happy" to move if a person with disabilities needed the cabin.

 

They soothe their consciences by saying the cruise line has the room flagged -- or specially noted -- so that a reservations person knows it's an AB person in an HC room.

 

Over and over again some of us have tried to tell people it isn't true -- at least not on all cruise lines.

 

DH and I tested this once, a few years ago. We were unable to get the HC cabin of our choice on a certain week on a HAL ship, so we settled for the following week [and a different itinerary]. I went on the roll call for that particular week to see what we had missed -- and read a post from a woman who bragged about scoring the HC cabin we wanted ... and how she was AB but "would give it up" if need be. This woman actually included the cabin number in her post! [This was 6 months or more out from sailing date.]

 

Well, DH called HAL and asked if that HC room were available ... they said no. He asked if it had been booked by an AB person. The cruise line rep said of course not, only persons with handicaps are allowed to book HC cabins!

I posted about that experience on the roll call, to let the woman know that she'd taken a room away from a person who really needed it!

 

Anyway ... excuse the ramble ...

 

DH and I are looking at several cruises on HAL for Feb/March.

Maasdam is one possibility.

Another is a Vista ship, which he is more comfortable with.

We decided if we take the Vista, we'll really splurge and get a suite -- an aft suite.

 

Well, guess what. Nine months out, and the two HC aft suites are booked.

So DH asked the HAL reservations person to check if those cabins were booked by AB people who were willing to move ...

Um, no.

The reservations person said that the cabins are booked, the people in them "must be handicapped, but I can't tell you if they are or not."

When asked about "flagging" cabins, she said "That is not done."

 

So ... just wanted to vent about it, I guess.

[Valentine's Mom]

I know how you feel Oceanwench. My husband and I tried last year to get a HCC cabin one year out on 3 different lines and 4 different dates! We just gave up and took the larger room. Sometimes I wonder if that's what they want us to do.:( It's very frustrating!

[Umbarger]

I know how frustrating it is.

 

I posted on a Princess thread. The op had 2 adults and 2 children so Princess gave her a HC cabin. She said she would gladly give it up if someone handicapped needed it. Posters agreed with her and said Princess would 'flag the booking'.

 

To prove my point. I called Princess and asked about her cabin number and sailing date. I inquired about her cabin and if it was available for handicapped cruisers. I was told it was NOT available. I asked if the cabin was booked by Handicapped cruisers. I was told that handicapped people must be booked in this cabin since it was a handicapped cabin. Princess also advised me they DID NOT KNOW if the people in the cabin were handicapped or able bodied and even if they did know they couldn't tell me since it is a matter of privacy.

 

I told the op this. She is still holding the cabin. All the posters who said Princess would flag the booking never responded to my post.

 

Makes me want to burn a biscuit. :mad:

 

Linda

[JLC@SD]

We met a couple on a cruise.....and they had a disabled cabin.......which they said they booked.......because the husband was tall ........and he needed the extra room.....:rolleyes:

[cindersue]

In 1998 or so my sis and I booked our 1st Balcony cabin on the Grand. We opted for a catagory upgrade rate. Princess GAVE us a HC cabin...When we got our docs and looked at the room I realized it was and HC cabin. I called them Immediately and told them We didn't need it or want it. It should be reserved for someone who needed it... I asked to be moved. The agent said she couldn't move us.The docs were out and that was the room we were assigned... I asked to be flagged and moved if someone asked for an HC cabin even if it meant a lower catagory...I did call and ask a few more times if it had been requested and was told No.. So SOMETIMES it isn't the ABs fault...

Now I called and asked to be moved to an HC cabin after we booked and made our final payment. My husband has physical limitations and trouble standing and walking and will need to use a powerchair...The agent said there are NO HC cabins available on the ship!!! Call your TA and get on the waitlist.. So my TA calls and finds out there is one still open in a higher category but we can't upgrade because it's only available for new bookings. If we want the cabin we would lose 50% of our original rate ($1399) and pay full price for an obstructed window (approx $5000 for the cabin)..Peeved!!!

[ndsumfun]

I had to write....

 

I called to check on a Carnival cruise & they advised no "inside" wc accessible cabins available. Well my TA said she would call & check because she had a "friend" in the special needs department.......well what do you know there was one available!

[Oceanwench]

In 1998 or so my sis and I booked our 1st Balcony cabin on the Grand. We opted for a catagory upgrade rate. Princess GAVE us a HC cabin...When we got our docs and looked at the room I realized it was and HC cabin. I called them Immediately and told them We didn't need it or want it. It should be reserved for someone who needed it... I asked to be moved. The agent said she couldn't move us.The docs were out and that was the room we were assigned... I asked to be flagged and moved if someone asked for an HC cabin even if it meant a lower catagory...I did call and ask a few more times if it had been requested and was told No.. So SOMETIMES it isn't the ABs fault...

 

 

Perhaps you were assigned an HC cabin only a few weeks out from sailing?

That is what the cruise lines do, and it's no big deal. No one thinks the ships ought to leave HC cabins empty if, close to the sailing date, they have AB pax they can book into them.

 

If you were given an HC cabin at the time of booking, and it was months before the sailing date, then your TA or reservations clerk was wrong to book you into that cabin.

Cruise line reservations agents know which rooms are HC accessible -- they have the deck plans.

TAs do too.

And the deck plans are online for pax as well.

[cindersue]

Perhaps you were assigned an HC cabin only a few weeks out from sailing?

That is what the cruise lines do, and it's no big deal. No one thinks the ships ought to leave HC cabins empty if, close to the sailing date, they have AB pax they can book into them.

 

If you were given an HC cabin at the time of booking, and it was months before the sailing date, then your TA or reservations clerk was wrong to book you into that cabin.

Cruise line reservations agents know which rooms are HC accessible -- they have the deck plans.

TAs do too.

And the deck plans are online for pax as well.

 

Yes, we waited until acouple weeks before the sailing to find out where our room would be.. And I understand that they want to fill the rooms...I just felt abit guilty being in that room period... Just hoping that no one called last minute who needed it!

I just don't understand how people would book a HC room on purpose knowing that someone else might need it...:confused: Then again how many ABs see nothing wrong with parking in the HC space just to run in the store for a minute!!!:mad:

[NorthernLite]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=592919

 

Celebrity is doing it four months out..grrr

[Travelitis]

I'm trying to book Jan 09 and thought it suspicious that Liberty of the Seas had only 1 avbl accessible cabin. Well, I called my TA to compare Carnival rates and see if there's a military rate, and she saw no HC cabins on 3 ships. She said that she was going to call a certain dept. to find out if those were AB people in there or not, because they sometimes book way in advance to get the extra space of a HC cabin. She rather dislikes the practice. I missed her call, but I'll get back to her tomorrow. It's really frustrating to book 19 mos. out and not be able to find cabins. My son has to take his scooter, and we'd settle for a regular cabin if it would fit through the door. It's just really frustrating.

[CPT Trips]

This is one of those subjects that p****s me off! More than chair hogs and kids in the solarium.

 

I wish I could remember which on-line agency it was, but the TA very nicely asked what kind of accommodations we needed while we were booking. She then told us the cabin we requested was accessible and if we booked it, one of two things would happen. We might get moved if the cabin were needed, or, more likely someone with a disability would be unable to book the cruise.

 

Needless to say, the low key guilt trip worked. Too bad more agents don't handle it that way. And to those TABs who book the HC cabin - there is a special place for you . . .

[Travelitis]

For our Oct. cruise an online TA tried to talk us into booking an accessible cabin for the space, swearing we'd be moved if it was needed. I refused and told him about our son and that I would never want to take that risk that someone who needed it didn't get it. He STILL PERSISTED with the myth of flagging argument.

 

(are we not allowed to say which agency it was? I keep taking the "He Who Must Not Be Named" approach, but I'd love to share who this was.)

 

A Carnival agent told me they are very particular and have to provide info stating that the modified cabin is needed (I think they have to put why). It turns out there were cabins, but she had to call and get one released and confirm we actually needed it. I liked that.

[etoile]

(are we not allowed to say which agency it was? I keep taking the "He Who Must Not Be Named" approach, but I'd love to share who this was.)

The way I understand the rules is that we are not allowed to promote for certain agencies...like "oh wow we booked through them they are cheap you should too" type stuff. But I think mentioning the name of an agency with bad practices would be okay. I'm not a moderator though, I might be wrong...that's just my opinion.

[LauraS]

The way I understand the rules is that we are not allowed to promote for certain agencies...like "oh wow we booked through them they are cheap you should too" type stuff. But I think mentioning the name of an agency with bad practices would be okay. I'm not a moderator though, I might be wrong...that's just my opinion.

 

Actually, allowing negative discussions would be unfair, since we don't allow the recommendation of travel agents.

 

Laura

[etoile]

Actually, allowing negative discussions would be unfair, since we don't allow the recommendation of travel agents.

 

Laura

Thank you for the clarification Laura!

[Kudos2Fly]

I normally don't go in to this section of cruise critic, but how do people find these rooms? I mean I have never seen them on the deck plans saying a current room was HC.

 

Personally I always did gty. or just pick a room. I have never gotten a HC room. I won't go out of my way to book a HC room to begin with... Is it word of mouth or are they on the deck plans and I just don't know it?

 

If a room is a HC room the cruise line should keep that for a HC person and not AB. IIsn't that the point of the room.. I have been in HC rooms, but only at hotels which I never asked for... yes they are bigger but I don't like the bathroom setup so I wouldn't go out of my way for one.

[etoile]

I normally don't go in to this section of cruise critic, but how do people find these rooms? I mean I have never seen them on the deck plans saying a current room was HC.

 

Personally I always did gty. or just pick a room. I have never gotten a HC room. I won't go out of my way to book a HC room to begin with... Is it word of mouth or are they on the deck plans and I just don't know it?

 

If a room is a HC room the cruise line should keep that for a HC person and not AB. IIsn't that the point of the room.. I have been in HC rooms, but only at hotels which I never asked for... yes they are bigger but I don't like the bathroom setup so I wouldn't go out of my way for one.

 

Yes, they are marked on deck plans. Sometimes they use a little HC symbol (man in wheelchair) but most of the time it is just a dot or cross and you have to check the legend. That is how I developed my accessible cabin database - by examining deck plans, plus some input from RCI.

 

However, Carnival doesn't do this. For Carnival, you have to look at confusing maps that show where wheelchairs are able to go. Some of the marked areas are cabins, so those are the accessible ones.

[Kudos2Fly]

Well I got what you where talking about. Well good thing I'm not booked in a HC room, but right next to one. Not many rooms available for a HC person. I can see how someone would get upset with not being about to get those rooms then finding out that someone book one and doesn't really need it.

 

Well I will keep this in mind when booking next time.

[Benita]

Am I the only person who has had the experience of an AB person being bumped from a HC room? Everybody keeps posting that the cabins are not flagged and AB passengers do not get moved. I broke my ankle a few weeks before a planned Royal Caribbean cruise and was wheelchair bound for three months. I called the handicapped desk at Royal Caribbean about two weeks before departure and explained my plight. I was told that one cabin was given to an AB person and that Royal Caribbean would switch our cabins. He told me what cabin number to write on the luggage tags and called the AB passengers and told them their new cabin number.

[leoandhugh]

Benita - Were you already booked and deposited when you broke your ankle, necessitating a change to an accessible cabin? I am assuming that you were already booked. I doubt, under the same situation of your needing an accessible cabin, but not booked at that point, that there would not have been any attempt to move someone already booked to accomodate you, just trying to book an accessible cabin. That is really the thrust of this thread - very few accessible cabins per ship, and there used to be no attempt made to determine whether the booking passenger was indeed handicapped. Things are now improving and more and more cruise lines are beginning to ask questions to help them determine whether or not the accessible booking is valid and legitimate:) :)

[Benita]

LeoandHugh - I had booked the cruise about 6 months before my injury and made the final payment a month before. I told the Royal Caribbean rep that we were going on the cruise even if I had to keep a regular cabin, but wanted to see if I could switch.

[Hebe]

LeoandHugh - I had booked the cruise about 6 months before my injury and made the final payment a month before. I told the Royal Caribbean rep that we were going on the cruise even if I had to keep a regular cabin, but wanted to see if I could switch.

 

If you changed at the last minute, they may have put a GTY in a WA cabin so they knew they were AB. Since it was a GTY, they could move then. The point is people who are not put in the cabin but book it directly. For example, we wait listed 10 months for a handicap balcony cabin. Our TA is very aggressive and when he challenged if the people in the cabins needed it -- he was told they could not ask. By the roll call, I found out one of the people in WA had the TA book it -- but there was nothing we could do. As it turned out, we still went on the cruise because we were going with friends and it as Transatlantic so it was not just go another week. The cabin steward was great and as soon as he saw the door open, he came running since we had to carry my husband thru the door.