stmrocket

I'm so glad to hear that the interpreters were compatible with you. It always makes me nervous getting terps sight unseen as there have been some I wasn't too fond of. When I called RC today, they told me that they use Care Vacation (agency) but when I looked them up on the website, it only shows that they provide equipment. I didn't see anything about interpreters so that was a bit odd.

That is who they use (along with other cruise lines). They don't advertise interpreting services but they do indeed serve as an agency for interpreting and CART.

I agree - it can be hit and miss getting terps sight unseen but it seems they do a good job screening their terps.

Stmrocket, were you able to pre-select your interpreters for the cruise? If so, how did you manage to do that? If not, were the interpreters compatible with you?

They use an agency so I did not have the ability to pre-select specific Interpreters. The Interpreters they provided were very compatible with me. Additionally, they worked on ships frequently (and often together) so they already knew the ropes about interpreting in that environment.

Thanks for adding your good input based on your work experience in a challenging field. Here's a link (includes another link I added about Celebrity Cruises), with some recent conversations on the forum about CART on board ships.

 

I attended a national Hearing Loss Association of America conference once and loved having CART. Fantastic service.

 

I have a friend who is active in advocating for Hard-of-Hearing people and knowledgeable about tech issues who has mentioned advances where people are actually offering remote CART services via computers. I think it has a way to go, but good that this service is progressing.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2290649&highlight=cart

I clicked on the link to read more and realized that's a thread I started... Royal Caribbean will provide CART as will Celebrity but Carnival will not. The writer did a great job. Some locations like Studio B make it difficult to sit with the writer but it worked great in the theater.

Any questions, just ask. I have experience with both CART and ASL Interpreters on Royal Caribbean.

Remote CART is possible but in my mind it is a stopgap measure and live, in-person CART is much preferred. On a ship, remote would not work.

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It's our first time on a T.A. so I'll let you know how it went! We also requested interpreters for it as well. ;)

Sounds awesome! I'd love to hear how it goes.

Oooh, thanks for the tip regarding excursions - I'll be sure to let them know when meeting them for the first time.

 

Are you by any chance going on the Harmony TA? We are :D

You're welcome! I'm sure that the excursions are subject to availability but hopefully it will work out for you!

I WISH I was going on the Harmony TA! We have always wanted to go on one. Starting next year, I'll have more vacation time and then it may very well become a reality!

Oh awesome!! Besides the shows, what else can the interpreters do? Can they go to the meet and mingle? Slot pull (our roll call organized this)

 

Too bad you're not going on the 9/25 as it would be cool to meet you! ;)

I'm not sure if they would be able to interpret those events. Officially, RCL says this: "...interpreting services are provided for main production shows, port and shopping presentations and other major activities...". I did not attend those events on my last cruise but it would not hurt to ask. I would imagine that they would be willing to do so. I know that when I asked to have the parade interpreted, they were happy to do so.

I know that they will try to go on excursions booked through RCL if you tell them when first meeting them so they can get tickets.

Too bad we aren't on the same sailing. It would have been great to meet you as well!

Josh, when you went to go watch shows, did they reserve two seats in the front row so that your girlfriend would be able to see the interpreters clearly or did you still have to go half an hour early to save your seats?

 

My hubby and I have requested an ASL interpreter for the RC's Liberty of the Sea for September 25th and this is our first time doing it without others.

 

Did you give the interpreter a schedule ahead of time so that he/she knew where you guys wanted to be/see?

 

Thanks for answering my questions!

I'm not Josh but I had interpreters on my May sailing of Liberty of the Seas (And will again for my 9/4 sailing). The interpreters reserved seats for the two of us in the second row of the theater (there are two seats that don't have the first row in front of them) and the interpreters sat in this space. Every night, I would tell them what events I would need them for the next day. On the first day, they will be at your muster station so I stay after muster to set up the first evening. Also, no matter how much RCL tells you to go to the Guest Services desk when you board to find this out, they will likely know nothing there so from now on, I just plan to wait until muster...

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

The arcades are not free but there is usually some free play time on the first night. It will be in the Compass.

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It was absolutely wonderful!! You will LOVE it!

STMROCKET - Would love to "hear" how CART worked out for you. I'll be going on Allure in Oct. and am sending out an email to my travel agent to request CART for my sailing.

 

Did you need to provide any medical proof that you require it?

CART worked great for my sailing. I met the captions the first night and would go over the show schedule for the next day each night.

It was amazing to actually be able to understand the shows for the first time in many cruises!!

They don't require any proof, only a request.

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Ok - Thanks so much for the clarification. After I posted here this afternoon, I wrote to Carnival's special needs desk again and asked about CART. I am waiting for their response, but I am not keeping my hopes up.

 

I have another Carnival cruise booked for May. Perhaps if I beg really nicely something can change between now and then.

 

All my best to you and yours.

Just curious if you ever got a response from Carnival? I had a friend ask me if they would provide CART as well.

My cruise isn't until the end of May but I will certainly post a detailed "review" of how CART worked for me on the cruise. I ALWAYS try to get to know my writers and interpreters so I'll find out how it all works!

Shari

Sorry for the late reply - It's been BUSY the last couple weeks! CART will be great for the cruise! I agree that it is helpful to know what worked on other ships even though it may not be the same! Since Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are the same company, I imagine it will be a similar setup.

I'll probably just casually mention that I am requesting a Certified CART Provider when I make the request. I agree that I don't want anything too radical as it is just wonderful to have such a service available! If I have to fill in a few blanks it is still a HUGE improvement over previous cruises...

I had wondered how the line handled compensating the writer. Not too bad of requirements for a free week-long cruise!

Thanks again and I will keep you posted on how it all works out!

Taters, I am going on the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas so not Carnival. I was talking to a friend about being able to request CART on RCL and she said that Carnival wouldn't provide it for her - only an interpreter. Not sure if you will have different luck so it might be worth asking!

I hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise!

Thank you for the update! CART on a cruise sounds GREAT!! I will definitely be requesting it for my Liberty cruise in May.

I was wondering how they handled scheduling shows and actually displaying the words so your post helped a LOT! It sounds like they are willing to provide captioning for pretty much anything which is great! I have been on many previous trips and I can't wait to finally be able to understand the entertainment and keep up!

I was hoping to use CART for several events in smaller venues - hopefully it will work OK since it is just two of us on this trip.

I, too am spoiled by very good writers here too! I can't imagine not getting cues regarding the performance and audience! And I agree, missing parts of the speech really do leave you feeling "paused". I want everything to be typed - not for the writer to decide what is important! One of the writers I use here even types what I speak in a meeting...

How are you planning to ask for someone better qualified? I might just have to borrow your language!

I really look forward to having CART on my next cruise! It will be so nice to finally enjoy what everybody else does without struggling to keep up!

I will definitely post back with a report after the trip!

Shari

I'm curious how it went using CART on your last cruise? I have a cruise coming up in June and I would LOVE to have CART to use for shows, etc.

I have seen quite a bit of information on these forums regarding ASL interpreters but nothing regarding CART (Real-Time Captioning) services. Unfortunately, I am not fluent in ASL (although I am working on that) and saw that Royal Caribbean a CART captionist for an upcoming cruise. Does anybody have any experience with this?