Carnival space going to waste

My DH and I have been able to start traveling with our 25 yo son who is in a wheelchair. We were very spoiled with Disney and Princess and now have booked 2 more CCL cruises. We are looking to book a couple more but came to a halt because the desired itineraries were on Conquest class ships and the only triples were interior cabins.

The desired stateroom is an accessible Ocean Suite which is the largest staterooms on the ships at 450 sq ft and a balcony at 100 sq feet. There is a sofa in the stateroom but it can not be made into a bed. Now I really wanted this stateroom for a Panama Canal Cruise, volunteered to bring an air mattress, sleep on the floor, use the sofa or even sleep on the balcony but told sorry no way.

I want to find out what would the most tactical plan would be to motivate Carnival to use this stateroom as a triple rather than just a double. And not to be redundant but I know it is redundant, this is a challenge on almost all the Conquest Class ships.

Your problem is not Carnival in this case. It is maritime law. The ships have to have accountability of every person in a cabin and as such, the established capacity of each cabin is the limit.

Also, not knowing which ships are “Conquest class” I looked up the Conquest. The only cabins (9202 and 9203) on it that size are not accessible, but has sleeping accommodations for five. http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs.aspx This link shows the accessible cabins, routes and facilities for each ship.

Good luck,

Betty

Thank You Betty for your response. The specific cabins I was referring to Are Freedom and Valor 7228, Splendor 7226

These are all 450 sq feet and a 110 ft balcony.How can we influence Maritime law to reevaluate this space or how can Carnival modify this space to transition the occupancy to triple or even a quad?

Your problem is not Carnival in this case. It is maritime law. The ships have to have accountability of every person in a cabin and as such, the established capacity of each cabin is the limit.

 

Also, not knowing which ships are “Conquest class” I looked up the Conquest. The only cabins (9202 and 9203) on it that size are not accessible, but has sleeping accommodations for five. http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/special-needs.aspx This link shows the accessible cabins, routes and facilities for each ship.

 

Good luck,

Betty

You can't. Stop fighting city hall and find another ship/cruise line. The Coast Guard/Maritime law/SOLAS says that a ship cannot put more people in a cabin than that cabin was built for. Ships launched in 2000 and before were grandfathered and can add rollaways/cribs/trundles. depending on lifeboat capacity in those sectors. All conquest class ships and Splendor were launched in 2002 and later. You are banging you head against a wall that isn't going to budge. EM

I do not know if you have been talking to a TA or an idiot at Carnival. If it is your TA, I recommend that you fire him/her.

First of all, anything over 300 square feet is almost non existence. I copied the below info from VTG website.

Splendor 7226 and Freedom and Valor 7228

Ocean Suit Category OS

These extra-large rooms have a separate sitting area, whirlpool bath, spacious

balcony and vanity dressing table. Suite guests are also treated to VIP check-in

during embarkation. (Stateroom: 275 sq. ft., Balcony: 65 sq. ft.)

As far as Carnival and an accessible cabin that sleeps three; forget it! My scooter almost shared my bed. It was true togetherness. Actually, Carnival has the worse HC cabins available.

Please let us know what you find out about the true size.

Have you checked out Celebrity? I have stayed in some of their OV cabins that sleep up to 4. There was only 3 of us. Both NCL and Hal also have spacious accessible cabins. But with Hal, you should probably avoid a “modified” cabin, you need the standard “accessible” cabin. We are budget travelers so I cannot say anything about the balconies or suits.

Maritime Law is for the safety of all travelers. Don't even think about it.

Betty

I have been researching my self and confirming with Carnival but here is the official description of the cabins and I can find pictures of these monster cabins online to prove to myself these cabins exist. Betty here is the description. I think this part of Carnival's website is actually for travel agents. Scroll down to the appropiate cabin number.

Splendor 7226

http://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/the_fleet/SL_EmpressDeck.htm

Freedom and Valor 7228

https://www.goccl.com/~/media/Files/Irman/bookccl/the_fleet/Freedom/freedom.ashx

I would also add that it was explained to me that the Conquest ship Stateroom 7228 is considered modified and the bathroom includes a bath but not a roll in shower. The bathroom itself though has a central drain and the flexible hose in the bath can be used to give a shower in the bathroom. A request can be made for a shower chair.

I am not sure if I give up yet but I will continue to research.

Modified is the magic word.

Probably in an effort to comply with the ADA requirements by offering a cabin in every classification, i.e. suit, they utilized the the cabin that was next to it to create the HC space. Even though it has a roll in shower, verify that there is not a lip or step up into the bathroom. If you son uses a wheelchair, a lip probably would not be a problem.

Now I have a solution for you. Get one of your son's friends to go on the cruise and book one of the adjoining cabins.

The logical reason for not showing the cabin to scale is the fact that too many able bodied people book the accessible cabins for the additional space. That is also probably why there is not any general published information about the overall size.

Good luck,

Betty

You book an inside for one of you and the cabin you want for 2 of you....then just use the inside for storage or a second bathroom. Bring an air mattress and all sleep together. Only way you can do this if you absolutely want this cabin!

Thanks for the suggestions. We can pretty much make anything work we just like a bigger cabin with a balcony because we spend a lot of time in the stateroom. My son doesn't tolerate noise and heat very well but I couldn't leave him alone so we just take turns doing excursions solo while one of us relaxes on the balcony.

Why are you insisting on Carnival? Like a previous person mentioned, Celebrity has great accessible rooms and the S class ships even have a ramp that makes it easier for a wheelchair to go out onto the balcony. We book the accessible sky suite and they have doors that open with a push button. Think about it.