Disabled and cruised on the Inspiration!!!!!!!!!!

We returned Thursday from our inspiration cruise and I wanted to do an indepth review. I am disabled and in a wheelchair, age 46, Husband is 50 and this was our first adventure!!

The FEW reviews I read by disabled people scared the poop out of me, hence the review.

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PRE- CRUISE

This was probably the MOST disappointing part of our cruise. Since we have to bring the chair, I was unable to book ANY rooms with a shuttle service. The shuttle is not equipped to bring the chair. We then decided to splurge a little and stay at the embassy suites downtown tampa.

The rooms, furniture and over all appearance was beautiful and well kept!!!

The problems...cost 140.00 (ok not bad)

Internet 15.00 (ok we KNEW this also)

Mandatory valet parking 20.00 (we knew this)

But it is located blocks away fro9m channelside, we thought ok we can take the trolley, guess what..no access. Hence no wheelchair.

Ok we can walk, again, at least a few blocks before channelside, I was not wasting any of my precious energy on a hot walk.

Next thought was ok we can drive, well every time they bring the vehicle they want a tip and every time they park the vehicle they want a tip and then loading and unloading the chair. This can be a royal pain.

So we stayed at the motel, but they had nothing to do. The gift shop was smaller then our closet, and Trolley (The restaurant) was more like a bar. Not our scene really.

We are used to getting a nice room and being steps away from other restaurants and shops. This place is very nice but they have a HUGE foray that can maybe be better utilized for decent dining, larger gift shop etc.

They brag about a managers special, free drinks and appetizers, well drinks were ok, (if you drink) appetizers were nachos and salsa. Shrugs just ok but not a focal point AND they did have a free breakfast, but again it was YUMMY but served cafeteria style in a cafeteria like setting. Just wasnt our cup of tea, we like service we like to talk to our waitress ect...

So we stayed there went to bed and got up bright and early and headed to channelside to park!

YES PARKING WAS FREE AT Tampa Port Authority, saved us $75.00, and they again stated ONLY if you have a permit and a modified vehicle. Parking was easy and painless. We crossed the road and headed to the port! (around 11ish)

Being in my wheelchair I was bumped up the line from the moment we entered the port, I held this red signed they gave me that said Special Assistance, and I swear husband and I were twenty minutes at most, from entering to getting on the ship.

Kudos to the port authority and to carnival on a job well done!!!

Coming up day one and how I missed the meet and greet (sorry!), more pics, what is accessible and what isnt and swimming with the sting rays!!!

YAY... Looking forward to this! A good friend of mine is a paraplegic, the funniest, most intelligent person on earth, and I have been trying to get her & hubby on a cruise with us. I've traveled with her alot, but just can't get her on the ship yet.

BTW... we stayed at the same Embassy Suites & loved it, but I understand exactly what you're saying.

And.... I just noticed that you two are the same age. Debbie, is that you?? Did you cruise without me? LOL....

We could not have been happier getting on the ship.l It was SO easy! We get on and head up to the Lido deck.

And of course our first and ONLY drinks. On a side note here, we bought 8 bar coupons, and never used them. Wheelchair, drugs and a gently swaying ship made for a confused mind, my body was unsure what was going on! I have balance issues due to the disease, and when we added a drink and the sway of the ship, I looked stoned! Hence only the one AND we never purchased the endless soda either.

They have SO MUCH, water, sweet tea, unsweet tea, white milk, chocolate milk, lemonaide, orange juice, fruit juice and coffee and water! If you are not a heavy soda dinker, then I would bypass the endless soda and drink what is offered for there is PLENTY of it! We did bring our own insulated mugs and kept those filled with our drink of choice (coffee for hubby, lemonade for me)

A few pictures from the ship over looking the port. One is of the florida aquarium, if you have never been there then it is a good place to go, before or after your cruise! Nice set up, good price and completely accessible!!!

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First impression of the ship. We began to explore almost immediately, Some doors are not wheelchair accessible, HOWEVER, if you go a few more feet there will be an other one, that is and that brings you to the same place.

The ramps at the doors are a little rough BUT if you know what you are doing and know how to operate your chair then they are not that bad (other then geting off at the ports which I will talk about when I get to that part) They really are no worse then a curb at a road.

On the first day we pretty much explored the entire ship, and the only area NOT accessible to me, top deck. I could get to the spa but not to the track or to play mini golf. (not that I could stand to play but it would have been nice to see it.)

Also, I have balance issues, and at home, in my house, I walk with a cane. I found on the ship that I ws unable to walk at all. I tried and I literally looked like I was drunk. The fear of falling was HUGE and after about 100 feet a carnival personnel brought me a chair, while hubby went to get my wheelchair. I tried walking a few feet throughout the cruise and experienced the same balance issues.

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About two we went to our cabin! Luggage did not arrive till 4ish.

I booked E68 which is the very first cabin on the Empress Deck. It is a handicap room and I was surprised at the size of it!

This is the chair I have http://www.invacare.com/cgi-bin/imhqprd/inv_catalog/prod_cat_detail.jsp?prodID=M51P and had plenty of room to maneuver. Bathroom has a sit for showering, lots and lots of handrails.

Complaint - These rooms should have more outlets. Only had one (we did not bring a power stripe) and that one outlet was always in use when charging up my chair!

We met our room steward almost immediately, He ensured we had a sharps container and made sure we were ok. He was AMAZING, we lacked nothing, always had ice, clean towels, neat bed. Yup it was good all good. We gave him an additional tip at the end of our cruise!

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OK thats it for tonight, have tonnes to say and lots of pictures and praise (Everybody Loves Rays In Cozumel WAS amazing with me!) but Im tired..so more tomorrow INCLUDING a picture of the Captain and what He really does while on these cruises!!!!!

great review so far and love your pictures! Its stuff like this that makes me ready for my cruise! Thank you! :D

We returned Thursday from our inspiration cruise and I wanted to do an indepth review. I am disabled and in a wheelchair, age 46, Husband is 50 and this was our first adventure!!

 

The FEW reviews I read by disabled people scared the poop out of me, hence the review.

********************************************************

 

PRE- CRUISE

 

This was probably the MOST disappointing part of our cruise. Since we have to bring the chair, I was unable to book ANY rooms with a shuttle service. The shuttle is not equipped to bring the chair. We then decided to splurge a little and stay at the embassy suites downtown tampa.

 

But it is located blocks away fro9m channelside, we thought ok we can take the trolley, guess what..no access. Hence no wheelchair.

 

Ok we can walk, again, at least a few blocks before channelside, I was not wasting any of my precious energy on a hot walk.

 

Next thought was ok we can drive, well every time they bring the vehicle they want a tip and every time they park the vehicle they want a tip and then loading and unloading the chair. This can be a royal pain.

 

So we stayed at the motel, but they had nothing to do. The gift shop was smaller then our closet, and Trolley (The restaurant) was more like a bar. Not our scene really.

 

So we stayed there went to bed and got up bright and early and headed to channelside to park!

 

For future reference if the hotel offers free shuttle service to/from airport and to other locations within a designated distance from the hotel and the shuttle is not equiped with a wheelchair lift, than under ADA Law the hotel is required to arrange free of charge accessible transportation that can accomodate the wheelchair. Even if this means hiring an accessible transportation service if an accessible taxi is not obtainable. Next time speak to the manager and do not take no for an awswer.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. We have a handicap permit as I travel with a mentally/physically disabled sister. My car is not modified will they charge us for parking? I read on one port site that it is free for Floridians who have the sunshine sticker but what about us from out of state?

We have done several cruises with my sister the 3 times we drove to the port we parked in handicap but had to pay. Is this something new or for only Floridians?

Keep up the great work!

YAY... Looking forward to this! A good friend of mine is a paraplegic, the funniest, most intelligent person on earth, and I have been trying to get her & hubby on a cruise with us. I've traveled with her alot, but just can't get her on the ship yet.

 

BTW... we stayed at the same Embassy Suites & loved it, but I understand exactly what you're saying.

 

And.... I just noticed that you two are the same age. Debbie, is that you?? Did you cruise without me? LOL....

Hi!! and your friend will have a blast!!! Will add more later this afternoon!

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. We have a handicap permit as I travel with a mentally/physically disabled sister. My car is not modified will they charge us for parking? I read on one port site that it is free for Floridians who have the sunshine sticker but what about us from out of state?

 

We have done several cruises with my sister the 3 times we drove to the port we parked in handicap but had to pay. Is this something new or for only Floridians?

Hi! I spoke directly to the tampa port authority ( I can give you the email and number if you want) and was told that it had to be modified. Let me dig up the email address and number and you can call them and ask..:)

Yes, the vehicle has to be modified in some way for handicapped in order to park free in Tampa. However, I have heard that if you park in Miami at the port it is free with a handicapped permit, no modification needed.

Great review so far! Looking forward to more!

Great review so far. Can't wait to read the rest of it. I love the way you write. Makes me feel like I was there too.

I use a rolling walker for my disability and have a disabled license plate on my van, but the van is not modified. So we have to pay for parking at the pier in Tampa. Haven't been to Miami's pier yet, but I heard you don't have to pay there. This isn't only for Florida residents.

Although I can walk very short distances, I was also unable to get up to the mini golf area and that was frustrating. But I was on a cruise, so all was good. :D

How did you enjoy the food? Was hot food hot, cold food cold? Had a problem with that the past few cruises.

A few random thoughts before I go on..

Internet - We bought the 60 min plan at .40 cents per minute. Was fine. Enough to get our emails and i did one post per day on facebook. We still had time left after the cruise (about 10 mins). I would not use it to upload photos but it worked great for emails!

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Chair Hogs - I did not swim in the pool or do the hot tubs but since there is always a post on here about chair hogs, I paid attention. And every time we went to the pool or serenity or the paris lounge or candlelight, I noticed no one saving chairs. I was surprised because on the boards it sounds like thats all they did was hog chairs....BUT

Disabled sitting in the Paris Lounge and other lounges. Carnival uses the aisles during shows, the performers will dance up and down the aisle ect. Their disabled sitting is cutting a row of seats short so that you can plant your wheelchair at the end of the row and not be in the aisle. USUALLY your spouse would sit beside you in a seat..however

Please people if you are NOT disabled do not sit in the disabled spot. We have like FOUR seats for wheelchairs you have HUNDREDS. We would get to the show early only to see abled bodied sitting at wheelchair spots. For the SHOUT performance we actually had a carnival personal move AB so that I could stay out of the aisles and sit beside my husband.

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Elevators - One of the elevators in the Atrium was broken however it had no effect on us. Overall the elevators were fast and efficient and when people saw my wheelchair they were quick to let me into the elevator! I now understand why some rental companies WILL NOT rent a wheelchair to people, but instead rent them a scooter. Its crowded. thank goodness I can handle and maneuver my chair, for the only toes I ran over, belonged to my husband! And I thought after all these years, that He would know to watch, I was busy watching other peoples toes!

But seriously, if you rent a chair only for cruises and do not use them on a regular basis, then you may struggle with control, turning, and manipulating in small places. Be careful.

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FOOD -- OMG there is so much I gained TWO POUNDS! We ate on the Lido deck when we embarked, it was ok, like a fast food burger joint. Burgers, fries chicken nuggets, hot dogs ect. Food was hot and hubby loved it. Im not a fried food kind of person. Mac and cheese was ok (both in the buffet line and in the MDR) I think I make better mac and cheese so nothing to write home about. We did not try the WOK but others did and they said it was amazing.

The scrambled eggs were disgusting LOL, accept for in the MDR. Bagels yummy! Croissants! Yummy.

The Brassiere -- Honestly we really did not eat at the buffets alot, we looked but usually ended up at the deli station, their sandwiches are AMAZING! Hubby Loved the pizza and the salad station was always fresh! Fresh fruit, melons, bananas, apples, good all good.

Sushi - 5 till 8 and it was really good.

Chocolate buffet (last day) was GOOD but we only had one dipped pastry each. I so wanted more but so did NOT want all the carbs and sugar.

Tea Time! We love it and I was treated like a queen. They made sure my chair would fit and they waited on us hand and foot. The pastry was AMAZING (best dessert on the ship in my opinion) and they had these strawberries with a cream. The Cream OMG it was so good. I wish I had the recipe, I could have eaten the strawberries and cream the entire cruise!

MDR - We had the best waiters, and we did give them an additional tip. first night the chair was in the way, every night afterwards, the chair was gone. I just wheeled right on up to the table. We enjoyed dinner in the Carnival Dining room and again getting in is a tight squeeze make sure you know how to operate that chair or you could hurt someone.

The food was always hot (or cold) salads seemed fresh, and the chocolate melting cake was..ok. We tried alot, escargot, gator, (both very good) mac and cheese (just ok I make better!) flat iron steak hubby said was good, chicken, shrimp, lobster, all of it was good no real complaints other then some food we just didn't like. (which is not really a complaint for there are alot of foods we just don't like)

Hubby said --- PIZZA tell them the 24 hour pizza is GOOD! ( seemed he was always eating a piece! which is probably why he gained FIVE pounds!!)

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Last thought and then more pictures.

The jewelery store had a watch sale on the last day, regular 99.00 for 20.00 IT WAS A ZOO and I got caught in the middle of it. Its held in front of the Paris Lounge, and hubby had gone somewhere, leaving me alone.

I thought I was going to panic, all these people pushing and shoving, someone literally tripped and fell onto me. I was about ready to cry when...

This nice lady, mid forties saw me and must have seen the panic in my eyes, came over to my side and pushed people out of the way so I could get through AND because I wanted a watch, she went BACK in the mob (really it was a MOB lol) and brought me back one of each of the watches they had for sale. I wish I got her name and I hope she is reading this, for all I could do was say..thank you

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Ok let me get some pictures together and then I will post more!

Hi Starla, it was so nice to meet both you and your hubby. I agree with you about all of the food. I have not yet stepped on the scale but what ever it may say; it was all worth it. I'm loving your review, it's like reliving the cruise again.

:) Your roll call friends, Cari & Rick

Thanks for the review!

I'm enjoying seeing it from a different perspective!

This is wonderful--thank you.

We are sailing on Inspiration in Feb. here in the west.

I do have a modified van, and placard, although I don't look like I need it. I was disappointed when we sailed Splendor because I couldn't get up to the adults only pool area--but oh well. :)

Thanks for all the ship info. I am sort of a 'foodie'.

Pat

For future reference if the hotel offers free shuttle service to/from airport and to other locations within a designated distance from the hotel and the shuttle is not equiped with a wheelchair lift, than under ADA Law the hotel is required to arrange free of charge accessible transportation that can accomodate the wheelchair. Even if this means hiring an accessible transportation service if an accessible taxi is not obtainable. Next time speak to the manager and do not take no for an answer.

Thanks for posting this. Hopefully more people in future are a little more vocal in making sure the hotels do not just the decent thing but the legal thing. ;)

Diid you get a HC cabin? We have cabin E70 booked for Jan. I use a traveling wheelchair as a walker to steady myself on cruises (I use a leg brace, so I have ballance problems too).

Maybe when Splendor goes for Dry Dock for all the 2.0 upgrades, they will build an elevator or ramp for adults only pool area (don't you hate discrimination?)

Thank you for your review- it gives me something to look forward to in 79 days! Now to get these 10 lbs off in time!

Diid you get a HC cabin? We have cabin E70 booked for Jan. I use a traveling wheelchair as a walker to steady myself on cruises (I use a leg brace, so I have ballance problems too).

 

Maybe when Splendor goes for Dry Dock for all the 2.0 upgrades, they will build an elevator or ramp for adults only pool area (don't you hate discrimination?)

 

Thank you for your review- it gives me something to look forward to in 79 days! Now to get these 10 lbs off in time!

Hi we sure did have a HC cabin my chair would not fit into a regular one. We booked E68 was plenty big enough. (I think your room is right next door!) If you have balance issues then be careful I was REALLY surprised how the sway of the boat thru me off balance.

Also these rooms are on the empress deck close to the atrium and bar and can get busy at time. The music plays there till about 11 but we didn't find the noise unbearable. If you are a light sleeper you might want to grab some over the counter sleep med to help.

West coast isn't nearly as choppy as East, I just cruised on Paradise & no problems (unless Inspiration is different.)

When we exchange ships & coasts, you should try out Paradise!

This is wonderful--thank you.

 

We are sailing on Inspiration in Feb. here in the west.

 

I do have a modified van, and placard, although I don't look like I need it. I was disappointed when we sailed Splendor because I couldn't get up to the adults only pool area--but oh well. :)

 

Thanks for all the ship info. I am sort of a 'foodie'.

 

Pat

Hi Pat

I hope you booked a HC room then it really does make things easier for us mobility impaired people!

I *thought* I would be a foodie and I was surprised that I had little interest in eating alot or taking pictures of all the food! And I should have for some of the presentation was amazing!

The food really was good, no major complaints at all..:) Also grins we had the famous cream bruelle , we special requested it and they delivered it on our last meal to the four at our table OMG it was GOOD.

And we also had the Anniversary cake - chocolate and it also was delicious!

Unless they change the menu, creme brulee isn't served on West Coast 3 & 4-day cruises (we have to wait until May for our 7-day Splendor) :(

Loving your review. Can't wait to see more pictures. The Inspiration was one of our favorite ships.