Port of Boston Never Again

Just returnded from an RCCL cruise that departed from the port of the Boston. The Port of Boston is very disorganized :eek:, even the Able Body were not very happy with the port procedures. For those that were disabled ( as myself ) words can't even describe how hard it was to get any assistance. Many passengers were over heard saying that though they liked the cruise they would never book out of Boston again. Me included.

Boarding

• boarded through a dirty old warehouse with no washroom facilities. Only dirty porta potties .
  
• Not enough chairs for everyone.
  
• There were only 2 ( yes 2 porters ). They stood at the openning of the warehouse and all the passengers had to line up ( including disabled) and bring their own luggage to the porters. Needless to say the porters were not getting the tips they were expecting.
  
• There was over an a 1 hour wait for wheelchair assistance to get on the ship.
  
• Anyone that rented equipment from CareVacations or Special Needs at Seas did not receive it until 10 minutes before the ship pulled out of Port. Both companies had all equipment delivered to the pier in more than sufficient time to have it in the state rooms by 2PM at stated on the contracts. US Customs and Boarder Patrol held every thing up including the RCCL's supply trucks. For what reason even Carevacations could not tell me ? Carevacations was just as frustrated as with the whole mess as I was .
  

Disembarkation

• Again only 2 porters were available that I could see. Was able to get one by waving money . As a side note the person organizing the taxis was exceptional !
  
• Though RCCL did make arrangements with the Port Authority to have anyone disabled exit from Deck 2 which was a straight walk out onto the pier . The location was all the way at the front of the ship which was quite a long walk back to luggage staging area. Again it would be over an hour wait to get wheel chair assistance to be taken to get your bags. Though steep, I chose to exit from the deck 4 with the rest of the passengers slowly using my walker .Yes I was yelled sat and hackled by able body to hurry up but I just walked at my own pace. The luggage was all lined up right as you got off the main gangway.
   
  

Over all the cruise was very good. The Jewel of the Seas is very acessible. In RCCL's defense most of the difficulties that a were expereienced were directly due to the decisions that were being made by US Customs and Boarder Control which were out of the control of RCCL.

If anyone would like any more specific information about this cruise just ask and I'll be able to try to assist you with the answers.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.I will be sailing out of Boston in October on the Jewel. I'm in a power wheelchair and can't walk at all. This will be our 3rd cruise out of Boston. We park in the garage by the port. We have never had a problem with service at the wharehouse. I don't wait for w/c assistance. I wheel myself in my power chair and my wife pushes the manual chair with our carry on in the seat. I would rather drive 45 minutes to the port even if I did have slow service than to have to deal with THE AIRPORTS. I will let you know what if the service wasn't up to par. We also prefer to drive 4to 5 hours to Bayonne ,NJ. rather than fly from Logan. There is not much difference in time. We sailed on the Jewel thru the Panama Canal and also to Scandanavia Russia. It's a beautiful ship but I like the big ones that have a grand promenade. The explorer class is'nt bad. The Freedom class is better but the Oasis is unbelievable. We will be on the Allure in January. Even with the hassels of getting to the ships the cruise last for a week and we are lucky to be on them. If your going to fly to get on a big one Fort Lauderdale airport is very nice and Miami is a night mare. One last comment. If you go on the Oasis or Allure you are boarding the ship within 15 minutes of arriving in the port. Happy sailing

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.I will be sailing out of Boston in October on the Jewel. I'm in a power wheelchair and can't walk at all. This will be our 3rd cruise out of Boston. We park in the garage by the port. We have never had a problem with service at the wharehouse. I don't wait for w/c assistance. I wheel myself in my power chair and my wife pushes the manual chair with our carry on in the seat. I would rather drive 45 minutes to the port even if I did have slow service than to have to deal with THE AIRPORTS. I will let you know what if the service wasn't up to par. We also prefer to drive 4to 5 hours to Bayonne ,NJ. rather than fly from Logan. There is not much difference in time. We sailed on the Jewel thru the Panama Canal and also to Scandanavia Russia. It's a beautiful ship but I like the big ones that have a grand promenade. The explorer class is'nt bad. The Freedom class is better but the Oasis is unbelievable. We will be on the Allure in January. Even with the hassels of getting to the ships the cruise last for a week and we are lucky to be on them. If your going to fly to get on a big one Fort Lauderdale airport is very nice and Miami is a night mare. One last comment. If you go on the Oasis or Allure you are boarding the ship within 15 minutes of arriving in the port. Happy sailing

Part of the confusion may have been that my sailing was the first for the Jewel this fall season . The ship had just returned from a European TA that morning. By the time your cruise comes hopefully the kinks will be worked out. I would definitely do another New England Cruise but maybe out of Baltimore next time or later in October from Boston.

Good to know about the Allure. Plan on being on it November 2011.

Have a great cruise. Due to the extreme heat that New England had this summer there was not an early frost which contributes to the color change. The colors will be in full glory when your cruise.

All the hassle was worth it because I did enjoy the cruise. Lot of nice people on board. The food was excellent and can't say enough good about my cabin stewart, waiter and assistance waiter.

We will be on the Allure in JAN.2011 and Nov.2011

Is there handicap parking in the garage and how much is it? How far do you have to walk to get on the ship after parking in the garage?

Thanks we will be on the jewel Oct 23:)

Is there handicap parking in the garage and how much is it? How far do you have to walk to get on the ship after parking in the garage?

Thanks we will be on the jewel Oct 23:)

• Did not use the parking garage. But some in our group did.
  
• Cost $16.00 a day think you have to show your cruise ticket for that rate
  
• Handicap Parking : yes - but I will tell you due to the average age of the passengers for this cruise there will be a lot who are eligible for HC parking. Don't know how many HC spaces are available.
  
• Distance is equivalant to a frew blocks due to the length of the warehouse. If someone in your group is disabled suggest dropping them off at the entrance to warehouse . Entrance is marked by a big white banner "WELCOME JEWEL OF THE SEAS" but may be hidden by buses so drive slowly. Than park the car.
  

This link might helped you with in getting to the garage http://www.massport.com/port-of-boston/Cruiseport%20Boston/ParkingServices.aspx

Would like to know opinions of others as to what ports are the most accommodating for disabled cruisers in getting through embarkation and debarkation processes.

Would like to know opinions of others as to what ports are the most accommodating for disabled cruisers in getting through embarkation and debarkation processes.

Boston is the only port that I ever experienced any issues. That's not to say I won't take another New England/Canada cruise. I'll just take one from Baltimore or New York the next time.

Never had problems with Seattle, Vancouver, Seward Alaska, Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Barcelonia, Rome ( Civitavecchia ) and Athens. That's not to say there won't ever be issues. Remember evey cruise line is different and the personel changes all the time. You just have to be able to go with the flow knowing that once you get on board everything will be easier.

I use a walker and found Baltimore to be wonderful. Bayonne was fine for embarkation but disembarkation was poor. Other cruisers pushed ahead of me to board the shuttle bus and no cruise personnel did anything to help me Once on the shuttle there were no seats left and nobody offered me their seat even though it was clear that I was disabled. cannot fault cruise personnel for other passengers poor behavior but if they had made sure to help streamline my boarding the bus I should have been boarded while seats we still available.

Would like to know opinions of others as to what ports are the most accommodating for disabled cruisers in getting through embarkation and debarkation processes.

We have sailed out of:

*Galveston (Carnival)- Absolutely no problems. They are very well organized.

*New Orleans (pre-Katrina) (Carnival)- The only problem was the massive line of cars to drop off and parking. Once in the terminal, it was pretty smooth.

*San Diego (Celebrity)- Our TA said there would be an HC bus from the airport. There wasn't. I managed to get on the regular "kneeling" bus and my scooter went in the storage area. If you need the HC bus, talk to the cruise line directly. No problems otherwise.

I just read in the papeer that they have completely revamp the terminal. I'm sailing on the Jewel in another week I will report when I get back from N.E -canada

I just read in the paper that they have completely revamp the terminal. I'm sailing on the Jewel in another week I will report when I get back from N.E -canada

Read the same article. Will be very interested to read your report. The day I departed there there were 3 ships in Port - RCCL, HAL and I think Celebrity . From what I saw it appeared that there was no way 3 ships could all dock at the new terminal at the same time.