Handicapped upgrade

[onelegcraig]

We recently sailed on the Vision of the Seas out of Santo Domingo. We booked almost two years out in order to get a wheelchair accessible balcony stateroom (only 2 on the ship). I inquired at the pier about a possible upgrade to a suite, to be told that no upgrades were available. Later in the week we met an able-bodied couple, on their first RCI cruise, who had been upgraded at the pier to a wheelchair accessible suite from a regular balcony stateroom, without asking for one. This was our fourth RCI cruise. Am I wrong in thinking that a handicapped upgrade should first be offered to a wheelchair bound, repeat customer? When I e-mailed RCI, I only received a standard stock reply, not really addressing my concern.

[uppitycats]

We recently sailed on the Vision of the Seas out of Santo Domingo. We booked almost two years out in order to get a wheelchair accessible balcony stateroom (only 2 on the ship). I inquired at the pier about a possible upgrade to a suite, to be told that no upgrades were available. Later in the week we met an able-bodied couple, on their first RCI cruise, who had been upgraded at the pier to a wheelchair accessible suite from a regular balcony stateroom, without asking for one. This was our fourth RCI cruise. Am I wrong in thinking that a handicapped upgrade should first be offered to a wheelchair bound, repeat customer? When I e-mailed RCI, I only received a standard stock reply, not really addressing my concern.

 

In my experience it is impossible to expect or receive a significant upgrade at the pier. Perhaps if you had been in regular touch with your travel agent, or with the cruise line itself prior to your cruise, you might have been made aware of the possible upgrade, and you could have chosen to take it or not. But otherwise, you've learned a hard reality: handicap-accessible cabins are booked "first come, first served" regardless of whether the customer truly is handicapped or not.

 

I'm sorry. I hope you otherwise enjoyed your cruise.

[leoandhugh]

The practice of most cruise lines including RCI and HAL is that you, needing an accessible cabin, already have one. It is entirely possible that the person(s) who got the suite may have been booked in a non-accessible cabin and developed a condition such as broken bone(s) after making their initial booking. If this were the case, the cruise line will offer the accessible cabin or suite to one who needs an accessible cabin but none were available at the time of their original booking and, at that time, they did not need one. We had a similar situation happen to us on HAL and had the practice explained to us in detail - and frankly, I could not fault it.:) they go by need and not by how many past cruises or days you have with them.

[leoandhugh]

and did the couple who got the suite tell you they were able bodied and did not need an accessible cabin? or did you assume that perhaps because they were not using a wheelchair. there are many handicapped persons who show no visible signs of being HC - such as someone with epilepsy or early stages MS.

[Arwenmark]

While most of you replying are assuming that the OP guessed about the people in the cabin, BUT they mention meeting them later in the week and they have a lot of information, so I am assuming rather that that they talked about this with them and found out that way.

 

As to the upgrade question. It is just another of the appauling facts about how the cruiselines handle HC passengers. I would be very surprised if there are any of us here that regularly book HC cabins that have EVER been offered an upgrade paid or otherwise.

 

However people are routinely given "upgrades" to HC cabins that are left over near sailing time.

 

and YES I agree wholeheartedly with the OP that they SHOULD be offering upgrades to HC passengers when available but they don't do it.

[wrp96]

When they say they got the upgrade at the pier, did they purchase an upgrade at the pier? If cabins are available, RCCL offers you the opportunity to purchase an upgrade at the pier for a discounted rate by visiting the pier coordinator. This may be what the couple did - which would be no different than an able bodied person booking a handicapped cabin if it was still available the week before the cruise. Definitely possible if they were one of the first people to check-in.

[onelegcraig]

We did get to know the couple fairly well, spent quite a lot of time with them, and exchanged e-mail addresses etc. They did not request or pay for an upgrade, were surprised when they received it at the pier, and did not even know it was a wheelchair suite until they saw the bathroom layout (grab bars, roll in shower, etc). They mentioned to us how the bathroom floods with each shower, and we gave them the tip of using rolled up towels to form a 'dam' to keep the water in the shower area. They are a very nice couple, and I don't resent them, I just feel that the upgrade should have been offered to us or the other wheelchair user on the ship.

[Umbarger]

Giving a handicapped upgrade to a handicapped cruiser? Never. Only in a perfect world perhaps. :rolleyes:

 

I agree with everything Arwenmark said.

[chevroeil]

Hi,

 

On our last cruise, we booked an obstructed view Wheelchair accessible cabin. A couple of weeks before departing we got an offer to a balcony upgrade for about 100$ and YES it was a wheelchair accessible cabin!

 

Probably won't happen again but I still continue to beg the fairy!;)