Jump to content

Help with Feature Article on Best Ships For Disabled Cruisers


Brittany C
 Share

Recommended Posts

my husband is paraplegic and so a fulltime wheelchair user. we had 17 cruises and celebrity and rccl were both very good for us. he likes more the millenium class ( infinity and constellation) than the solstice class because for him the bathroom is more comfortable. by far the worst experiences were on maasdam from hal. the cabin was ugly and it was a must to seperate the beds. so both beds were at the wall and a wheelchair goes between.also tendering was refused from hal because of the steps. as i asked about the wheelchair lift the crew said they wouldn't have. their website says something different.

our favorite ships in the moment are oceanias riviera and marina. they have nice accessible bathrooms, large cabins and a speciial lift down to the tenderboazs. also the taff is always helpful with any assistance you need.

brittany, i hope this helps you a bit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Celebrity Solstice class...DH is paraplegic, he found everything accessible except the upper most deck at the forward part of the ship which can only be accessed by stairs. He felt the fold down shower seat could have been longer. He always had to have one hand on the grab bars because the narrow seat forced him to lean forward. This was his first cruise and he is now much more comfortable with what to expect. We have booked another cruise on the same ship, in the same cabin next year....just a different itinerary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brittany,

 

I am THRILLED that you are including hearing loss accessibility in your article! I hope that you will tell us when the article is published because this would be a huge help in determining our next cruise. Having to sit back and feel lost during the (verbal) shows, as well as the informational talks doesn't leave a cruiser with a hearing loss with a great feeling on a ship.

 

We have a large group of people with hearing disabilities in our city (actually, there are 250 chapters all around the U.S.) and we would really love to take a cruise as a group. The fact that ships are not accessible for us keeps us from planning a cruise. I can't wait to read the article!

 

You may already know it, but there are 55 million Americans with some degree of hearing loss. Information for them about accessibility on cruises would be so valuable! THANK YOU for including that in your article :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

1 - a new, appropriately titled thread would have been a better idea than hijacking a thread from 2013

 

2 - the main sales/customer service number is the best way to get to the accessible desks, for some reason there has been a trend to not give out direct numbers any more. One even requires email!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We have a YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/c/cruisingwithwheels ) and we have traveled all the cruise lines. We find that NCL is the most over all accessible among them all and Carnival is the worst. This is just our opinion. If you want you can watch some of our videos. Maybe they will help you with your research.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I posted this four years ago, but I still work here and I'm still interested in the topic of accessible cruising! I welcome any posts and information, especially about personal experiences. I loved seeing it pop into my inbox. Please continue to post in the spirit of sharing cruise experiences, tips and advice. We need more exposure to traveling with disabilities -- all pettiness aside.

 

Cheers,

 

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please note that accessibility issues have, if anything, become more in focus and more openly discussed over the years. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and plans to contribute more to this thread and to this forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I posted this four years ago, but I still work here and I'm still interested in the topic of accessible cruising! I welcome any posts and information, especially about personal experiences. I loved seeing it pop into my inbox. Please continue to post in the spirit of sharing cruise experiences, tips and advice. We need more exposure to traveling with disabilities -- all pettiness aside.

 

Cheers,

 

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

 

Thank you for validating the fact that replying to an old post is not a bad thing. I often look at older posts to see what I may have missed. We tend to get very busy and sometimes are away from the boards for months and months at a time. We love sharing our knowledge and cruise experiences and also find that to often the disabled cruiser gets over looked. We will continue to post regardless of the occasional badd apple that decides to pick a fight, troll posts and tries to divert from the real cause here, which is helping fellow cruisers. Have a great day Brittany!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

We recently spent 22 days aboard Viking Sun. Best handicap accessible ship we've been on thus far. Lots of large, automatic-door bathrooms scattered throughout the ship. Easy access to walking deck. Elevators to every level. However, they would not allow us to bring a scooter. We have a lightweight Travelscoot. We brought a transfer chair instead. Upon boarding the ship, we saw at least 2 small scooters. not quite sure why they told us no. I think they may have changed their policy. We're about to book a cruise aboard the Crystal Symphony. I hope we find it scooter friendly. Even if it isn't, my husband can get in and out of the scooter and I can easily lift it when needed. So I think we should be fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can just check my most recent in the Crystal Forum on the problems with their wheelchair accessible cabins for a non-walker using a manual wheelchair. The overall service was great and the food superb but the excursions department either has no idea what tendering is or are told to just say everything is accessible.

 

We had a wonderful experience on the Azamara Journey the first year they launched. I wrote an hour long, all positive review after that repositioning cruise. It was the first ship we had been on that had automatic room door openers and I could turn all the lights in the room on and off from the bed. Then in 2016 we did a Sydney to Auckland Azamara Quest cruise where almost everything was still very nice although we missed the full wheel of parmagano-reggiano and a prosciutto ham that was used daily in the buffet area. I did have a problem with the gangway because unlike the Journey the Quest only opens or had one hatch. In many ports that makes for a very steep slope and trying to have 4 staff trying to actually lift me down that very narrow, tiny stepped gangway in my chair was scary! We talked to the hotel manager at the time and he had been on the Journey where we were allowed to use the lower crew entrance when needed. Yes, it is a short wait for a female security member but we never considered it a problem and the crew area is curtained off. We did enjoy enough of the Quest to cross our fingers and hope the Journey still has 2 hatches to be booked for a few weeks in May of 2019.

 

Celebrity has been our go to for a long time but since the European specialty restaurants were removed from the M-Class ships and, as Kitty9 mentioned, the placement of the S Class Sky Suites we are shopping around. We really loved the M-Class ships' aft Concierge Class cabin especially for cruises where a lot of time involves scenery from the ship. The S Class Concierge Class has the smallest shower area I have ever seen on a ship! Actually both Concierge and Sky Suite Accessible cabins on the SCI Classes do not have roll under sinks for anyone who still has knees that need to get under the counter to wash faces or brush teeth without making a mess.

 

Is there a way you could convince the lines to allow you to get pictures of accessible cabins or at least the bathrooms? Because of the pull down seats in the showers that are made to fit a 6 year old's butt many of us now bring along travel shower/commode chairs. So now many are having problems with newer toilets that connect directly to the wall, often with the grab bar behind them that causes balance issues. These are either becoming too wide or are not long enough as far as the bowl goes.

 

I would love to hear more about Viking Ocean as they may only have 2 accessible cabins but at least they are balconies. I refuse to be stuck down near the medical centers without even a window or to share our balcony with other cabins which is what it appears Oceania has.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Last year we were on Britannia to Norway. We couldn't get a disability cabin so we hired a folding electric chair (DW hates to be pushed) and it was ready for use in our cabin when we boarded. We asked for assistance with boarding at Southampton and a nice young man whisked us through the formalities and all the way to our cabin.

 

Once we had sorted out which lift to use we had no real problems, although we had to be patient at busy times. The MDR staff were really helpful and after some initial confusion, we were well looked after.

 

At most ports, we were cheerfully helped down gangplanks to the dock, but at Flaam we were booked on the train and clearly, the power chair was a problem. We were able to borrow a push-wheelchair and I pushed DW the short distance to the station. She can manage a few stairs, so the chair was stowed out of the way and we enjoyed the trip.

 

This was our first wheelchair cruise and I would say that Britannia did a pretty good job. This year we are on Silhouette in a disability cabin (so DW can take her own chair) for two weeks with three days at St Petersburg, so if what I have seen here is correct, we have a treat in store.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is a bit hard to pick, I’ve found them all to be great.

 

But last cruise was on Celebrity Solstice and was surprised when a delightful young crew member insisted on helping me in the buffet.

 

I use a power chair but it can be difficult to reach some things and to juggle your plate etc while also controlling the chair.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for resurrecting this thread, I have found the information therein very helpful.

 

We had an accessible cabin on Oriana earlier this year and that worked well for us. The biggest problem was the automatic door - on several occasions it kept opening on its own and needed the sensors to be cleaned. It was very unsettling to know that the door might decide to open at an inopportune moment - when we were asleep or out of the cabin, for instance!

 

We have an accessible cabin on Silhouette in September and I am looking forward to seeing how Celebrity do things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have an accessible cabin on Silhouette in September and I am looking forward to seeing how Celebrity do things.

 

We will be on Silhouette in cabin 1022 in July - I will post my thoughts after that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you for resurrecting this thread, I have found the information therein very helpful.

 

We had an accessible cabin on Oriana earlier this year and that worked well for us. The biggest problem was the automatic door - on several occasions it kept opening on its own and needed the sensors to be cleaned. It was very unsettling to know that the door might decide to open at an inopportune moment - when we were asleep or out of the cabin, for instance!

 

We have an accessible cabin on Silhouette in September and I am looking forward to seeing how Celebrity do things.

We will be on Silhouette in cabin 1022 in July - I will post my thoughts after that.
I asked on NCL Breakaway in Feb 2018. I'm not sure why NCL isn't part of this forum. I used a rental scooter and had a handicapped inside cabin. Everything was very accessible except at each port of call, I had trouble re-boarding. The bottom part of the ramp was too high to get the scooter over and the ship's staff had to push it up. Other than that, endurance on the so was quite accessible.

 

Bill T

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I know I'm real early but for 2020 I'm organizing a group with 20 wheelchairs users. What ship or destination would you recommend? I want the group to have the best experience of there life. So need lift to swimming pool/spa, spaces to see the shows, accessible balcony cabins. You name it. The best of the best. But at a reasonable price. Hope it's doable.

I did it in 2012 with a group of 10 wheelchairs. So now my group has doubled. I guess they had fun. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...