Wheelchair users on Costa Concordia?

I am just wondering if there were any wheelchair users on the Costa Concordia. How did they fare?

Probably need to post this on the Costa Cruise Forum http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138

I am just wondering if there were any wheelchair users on the Costa Concordia. How did they fare?[/

 

More then likely there were, but unless one was on the ship it is rather difficult to be able to answer the question.:rolleyes:

Probably need to post this on the Costa Cruise Forum http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138

Thanks for the recommendation about cross-posting, but looking at the other posts covering the disaster, I do not think it would get much attention. Really, I wonder if 2 strong crew members would arrive to carry me aboard a lifeboat in case of an emergency as frequently promised? I seriously doubt it.

Thanks for the recommendation about cross-posting, but looking at the other posts covering the disaster, I do not think it would get much attention. Really, I wonder if 2 strong crew members would arrive to carry me aboard a lifeboat in case of an emergency as frequently promised? I seriously doubt it.

Despite all the confusion , I still have faith in humanity that some able bodied individuals , thought maybe not crew, would come to assist those that might be phyically challenged.

After all perfect strangers did when the World Trade Towers were struck. Someone I knew of who was wheelchair bound and staying in one of the hotels in the World Trade Complex that day was carried down numerous flights of stairs by 2 men she didn't even know. There are good people in the world.

This disaster raises some serious questions for those of us who are disabled and confined to a wheelchair, in my case a power chair. Are we basically out of luck in such a situation? What could realistically be done to see that those who are significantly disabled be safely evacuated? If you asked the question of the cruise line at the time of booking how would they reply? Would they refuse to take you if you or your partner couldn't assist in your own evacuation?

This disaster raises some serious questions for those of us who are disabled and confined to a wheelchair, in my case a power chair. Are we basically out of luck in such a situation? What could realistically be done to see that those who are significantly disabled be safely evacuated? If you asked the question of the cruise line at the time of booking how would they reply? Would they refuse to take you if you or your partner couldn't assist in your own evacuation?

I would love to see a "practice" transport of a wheelchair user during muster. I still maintain doubts that in an emergency that a wheelchair user would be lifted aboard a lifeboat.

I would love to see a "practice" transport of a wheelchair user during muster. I still maintain doubts that in an emergency that a wheelchair user would be lifted aboard a lifeboat.

I've seen the lift they have to bring manual wheelchairs down the stairs when the elevators don't work when they brought it out I said I'd rather crawl on my backside then be on that thing in my chair

Looked similar to this picture

Some reports on the UK radio discussion programmes today that wheelchair users were getting squeezed and ignored. While this might be the case, no one claimed to have gone and helped out, so they couldn't have been terribly bothered by it and therefore I take it with a pinch of salt. I'd prefer to think of it as just having been an extreme version of normal wheelchair life, where some people around you are considerate and others are pig ignorant.

Although I might be a wheelchair user, I view it as only being because I survived an accident that could have finished me off, so every day is a blessing. I'm not going to let the possibiity of a rare event on a ship stop me from living as close to a normal life as I can. I do hope it doesn't deter anyone else.

Despite all the reports of (some of) the crew being the first to run, I'm sure there was a variety of responses, from the very noble to the utterly cowardly as xxoocruiser suggests.

On my first cruise with a wheelchair I asked the butler what I should do about muster in an emergency. He said, "get back to the cabin and I will personally get you where you need to go, even if I have to carry you on my back". I believed him. I hope there were people like that on the Concordia.

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Hubby is in a WC and can't walk or stand. The thought of what we would do in a situation such as Costa is always in the back of my mind. I'm not sure I have faith that other passengers would help. It seems to have become an "every man for himself world" out there. Will it keep us from cruising? Not at all, although i will be more vigilant in mapping out a way to get to the lifeboats if there is a disaster.

I've seen the lift they have to bring manual wheelchairs down the stairs when the elevators don't work when they brought it out I said I'd rather crawl on my backside then be on that thing in my chair

 

Looked similar to this picture

I can see that working fine in normal life but in an emergency your right with people freaking out rushing up or down the stairs I wouldn't get on that thing if I was in a wheelchair.

I've been knocked down stairs by people just trying to get to the midnight buffet.

I found this little tidbit from a crew member on the Concordia.....

She personally put a blind woman on a lifeboat, and saw two members of the crew carry passengers in wheelchairs on their backs and into lifeboats.

Where do you find the tidbit? I have been wondering (and worrying) about this and it would be reassuring to be able to read this tidbit. Thanks.

Where do you find the tidbit? I have been wondering (and worrying) about this and it would be reassuring to be able to read this tidbit. Thanks.

Here is the full article....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/18/us-italy-ship-crew-idUSTRE80G1D120120118

I read that article a couple of days ago. I also read an article about a passenger saying the same thing, but can't find it at the moment.

I was discussing this issue with DH as both our adult DS's have disabilities. On our first cruise they put a colored wristband on our one DS who uses a travel chair, but would require assistance in an emergency. It was like the wristband they gave to the Camp Carnival kids. They did not do this on our second cruise. I am inclined to ask about this wristband on our next cruise and if they still give them out to those who might need extra assistance in an emergency. We have also made contingent plans based on the Concordia incident on what we will do differencly as a family the next time we cruise.

I will say that I have found that other passengers are very helpful to me, especially when we have the need to get on tenders and I am trying to get my DS from the ship to the tender and down the stairs, etc. The crew is great also, but I have been impressed with the passengers offers to help. I would hope that this would hold true in an emergency. Can't guarantee it, but there is hope in my fellow humans.

This is a portion of a post on the Costa board:

Originally Posted by Dmetrius

In the same way cruise lines refuse boarding to a healthy mobile woman more than so-many-days preganant because of the problems she might cause on board, cruise lines might now want to consider refusing passage to unfortunately-immobilised persons who might create further chaos and drain upon precious crew resources in a time when the ship can least afford to assign two strong males to carry that one person AND a female crew-member to generally acompany the invalid and nanny them. This is the grim reality of the unfortunate situation for the immobilised, for the cruise line, for the crew whose task it might fall upon them, and for me and the other 70% of normally-mobile paying passengers who must politely give way to scooters and wheelchairs! In the same way cruise lines have devised child-free cruises, they may want to consider special cruises for invalids and the immobilized ....

Disgusting.

Being impaired myself, this article stuck with me. I would think the passengers referenced below were but a fraction of the total needing special assistance. The others would have been assisted by someone, hopefully other staffers who behaved like the purser.

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/europe/costa-concordia/44366/cruise-captain-%E2%80%98panicked%E2%80%99-ship%E2%80%99s-purser-was-hero#ixzz1kOAZRbql

Originally Posted by Dmetrius

In the same way cruise lines refuse boarding to a healthy mobile woman more than so-many-days preganant because of the problems she might cause on board, cruise lines might now want to consider refusing passage to unfortunately-immobilised persons who might create further chaos and drain upon precious crew resources in a time when the ship can least afford to assign two strong males to carry that one person AND a female crew-member to generally acompany the invalid and nanny them. This is the grim reality of the unfortunate situation for the immobilised, for the cruise line, for the crew whose task it might fall upon them, and for me and the other 70% of normally-mobile paying passengers who must politely give way to scooters and wheelchairs! In the same way cruise lines have devised child-free cruises, they may want to consider special cruises for invalids and the immobilized ....

Refused cruise passage to disabled? Well then might as well refuse us passage to trains, planes and autos to.

Why don't we just euathise us disabled so we don't get in your way.

Geez!

I know, right? How can someone be so ignorant?

I believe that the majority of people would surprise you and be more than helpful during an emergency. When disaster strikes, most people rise to the occasion and become super heroes...even when in normal day-to-day life they act like jerks.

I have a very good friend who is a quadruple amputee due to septic shock. Prior to her devastating illness, she was a vibrant and very physically fit woman. Even with her physical limitations, I know she would be helping others before helping herself. She has weathered her plight with an amazing attitude that, I hate to admit, I would not have. I am AB and she could run circles around me. :) Even in the unthinkable madness that surrounded the people trying to get off the Concordia, she would have been assisting others, whether AB or HC.

Keep the faith in your fellow human beings. The vast majority of us are very good people inside. Sad to say, but sometimes it takes a tragedy for some of us to show it.

This disaster rais'es some serious questions for those of us who are disabled and confined to a wheelchair, in my case a power chair. Are we basically out of luck in such a situation? What could realistically be done to see that those who are significantly disabled be safely evacuated? If you asked the question of the cruise line at the time of booking how would they reply? Would they refuse to take you if you or your partner couldn't assist in your own evacuation?

I for one would love to see ships be required to have W/C ramps on the ships.

I have been on 6 cruises....all in either a w/c or a scooter. Not once in all those drills has any crew come to me and say, "I am assigned to assist you in case of emergency and this is what we will do."

I read that article a couple of days ago. I also read an article about a passenger saying the same thing, but can't find it at the moment.

 

I was discussing this issue with DH as both our adult DS's have disabilities. On our first cruise they put a colored wristband on our one DS who uses a travel chair, but would require assistance in an emergency. It was like the wristband they gave to the Camp Carnival kids. They did not do this on our second cruise. I am inclined to ask about this wristband on our next cruise and if they still give them out to those who might need extra assistance in an emergency. We have also made contingent plans based on the Concordia incident on what we will do differencly as a family the next time we cruise.

 

I will say that I have found that other passengers are very helpful to me, especially when we have the need to get on tenders and I am trying to get my DS from the ship to the tender and down the stairs, etc. The crew is great also, but I have been impressed with the passengers offers to help. I would hope that this would hold true in an emergency. Can't guarantee it, but there is hope in my fellow humans.

I have never been issued one......six cruises.

Since I have become disabled I have sailed on Princess. During the last two or three cruises I asked that question of my room steward. Both times he/she said I was "listed" as needing assistance during an emergency and he/she and another room steward would check our cabin to see if I needed help as that was part of his/her job since he/she had an accessible cabin as part of his/her assignment. Now I felt pretty good about this when the steward was a 6 ft 4 inch Ukranian gentleman who looked like he could bench press the entire ship. Conversely, I hoped the small Thai lady brought a big friend with her as she was probably less than half my size. Having said all of that, I wonder what would happen in an actual emergency. When you get pushed out of the way or yelled at when trying to find a space on an elevator I cannot imagine that people are going to calmly line up to enter a lifeboat especially if they perceive that I am taking too long to enter. I can see some pushing and shoving and basically chaos similar to what happened on the Concordia. Hopefully everyone (able and disabled) will listen and follow directions that are correct and have everyone's best interests in mind.

Since I have become disabled I have sailed on Princess. During the last two or three cruises I asked that question of my room steward. Both times he/she said I was "listed" as needing assistance during an emergency and he/she and another room steward would check our cabin to see if I needed help as that was part of his/her job since he/she had an accessible cabin as part of his/her assignment. Now I felt pretty good about this when the steward was a 6 ft 4 inch Ukranian gentleman who looked like he could bench press the entire ship. Conversely, I hoped the small Thai lady brought a big friend with her as she was probably less than half my size. Having said all of that, I wonder what would happen in an actual emergency. When you get pushed out of the way or yelled at when trying to find a space on an elevator I cannot imagine that people are going to calmly line up to enter a lifeboat especially if they perceive that I am taking too long to enter. I can see some pushing and shoving and basically chaos similar to what happened on the Concordia. Hopefully everyone (able and disabled) will listen and follow directions that are correct and have everyone's best interests in mind.

Perhaps a lot depends on when the call goes out to evacuate the ship. In the case of the Concordia it appears that that announcement was delayed by an hour. Though there still would have been panic amoung the passengers as that's just human nature , IMO had the evacuation announcement been done earlier it may not have been as bad because the ship hadn't started to list to the side. There's a lot that can be learned from this incident and I beleive that there will be chances made industry wide.

On our last cruise (HAL Zaandam) in November last year, Officers said they and other crew members were not allowed to lift more than 25kg (around 50lbs) and that was why they were unable to help with getting me or my lightweight wheelchair onto the tender boat. The boats they were using were the ships own lifeboats. I wrote to HAL asking how, given the 25kg rule, I would get into a lifeboat in an emergency and 8 weeks later I'm still waiting for an answer. Like others have said, we'd hope that if disaster strikes our fellow passengers would lend a hand.