Automatic Cabin Doors

We took our 1st cruise in Sept on Jewel of the Seas (Radiance Class). Have been seriously considering Explorer of the Seas (Voyager Class) next year. It was brought to my attention today that the handicapped cabins on Voyager Class ships, as well as those on Celebrity's ships, do not have the automatic door opener button inside the cabin, nor do the doors open automatically when you insert your key card from the outside. Guess I would have thought this a standard feature for handicapped cabin. Does anyone have any info on how easily handling the door of the cabin for someone in a wheelchair is if the doors are not automatic? It would seem to me that I would always need to be there to help my husband with the door. We truly thought we had found a vacation that allowed his independence but now realize may not be so easy. Flying is not an option with his disability so we are truly limited in our options.:mad: :confused:

I take my disabled mom on cruises quite often. Been on handicapped cabins on NCL, Princess and Carnival. None of them had automatic doors. That would have been wonderful. Mom had a terrible time fighting with the door to get into the cabin. Most often I held it open for her, but that was also hard as she would have to roll over my toes. Ouch!

Linda

No, automatic doors on "accessible" cruise ship cabins are not standard at all, just like they are not standard in accessible hotel rooms.

I'm not sure how to answer your questions re: difficulity of opening the door of the accessible cabin. I can say that they are not heavy. In fact they are pretty light. And they have a lever handles. I will say they are a lot easier than some hotel room doors, which are quite heavy.

Candy

No Automatic doors. The door, however, will stay open long enough if opened all of the way( the door will pause an number of seconds before starting to close) . On my last cruise I very ralely had to open the door as my cabin steward always seemed to be in the area and opened the door for me. The door itself seems to be a bit ib the heavy side but not really that hard to handle.

Thanks for the feedback. I am actually more concerned with getting out of the cabin. His particular situation would make it next to impossible to reach the door handle, thus meaning I would need to be there whenever he wants to leave the room. Guess will need to rethink whether it is something we want to do.

We have had HC cabins both with, and without, automatic doors openers.

It is more difficult, but my husband can open regular doors. The automatic door openers are good as long as they work which, in our experience, is only about 70% of the time. When they don't work, they are far worse than regular doors as you have to force them open which my husband is not able to do

Thanks for the feedback. I am actually more concerned with getting out of the cabin. His particular situation would make it next to impossible to reach the door handle, thus meaning I would need to be there whenever he wants to leave the room. Guess will need to rethink whether it is something we want to do.

Not knowing the exact situation, it's hard to comment, but maybe some type of reacher or grabber could do the trick for him? I know lots of people who improvise to get a task done with some unique home-made devices. Maybe talk to an OT and see what they recommend?

Candy

It was brought to my attention today that the handicapped cabins on Voyager Class ships, as well as those on Celebrity's ships, do not have the automatic door opener button inside the cabin, nor do the doors open automatically when you insert your key card from the outside. Guess I would have thought this a standard feature for handicapped cabin. Does anyone have any info on how easily handling the door of the cabin for someone in a wheelchair is if the doors are not automatic? :mad: :confused:

Your stateroom attendant will happily remove the hydraulic arm that attaches to the stateroom door at the top, thereby turning the automatically-closing door into a regular door. Of course, if the door is weight-activated this won't work and the weights cannot be removed. This trick works at all hotels, too, except for those doors located on an inside corridor in an area where the fire codes prohibit all but automatically- shutting doors...I've been known to request room after room just to locate one that can be turned into a regular door if there are no pushbutton ones available. I feel your pain...Scooters, strokes, and heavy doors are a terrible combination! The last resort is a Service dog trained to remove a small rubber door stop from under the door after you have gone out the door.

Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas has automatic door openers and is the only ship that I have been on that does. I bought a rubber door stopper and drilled a hole in it and attached a long cord to it so it could be hung on the door handle while it held the door open. A second knot along the double cord length allowed me to pull it out from under the door when I was part way through and rehang it on the inside of the door without it touching the floor. This only works if you can unlatch the door yourself.

Can your husband operate a walkie talkie? If he spends more time in the cabin than you, perhaps he could call you when he is ready to leave the room and you could then return and assist him in getting out. Just a thought.

We have been on many cruises, and have never seen an automatic opening cabin door. Nearly always we have access to a rubber door stopper if needed (ask the steward). My mother cannot open any kind of door by herself due to her MS (power chair user). We just plan our days so that I am with her when we need to go into or out of the cabin, and if I leave her there alone (to take a nap in her reclining power chair, for example), I always just arrange a time to be back. I often swim when she is napping.

Once outside the cabin, we can go our separate ways. She rarely has a problem finding someone to push elevator buttons for her or assist with the heavier outside doors, and inside there are rarely any doors in public areas. We always return to the cabin to use the bathroom.

We would never dream of letting a little logistical problem like this keep us from cruising. My parents have been on over 35 cruises, most since my mother got MS.

Wondering why you cannot fly?

Thank you all for the info. One of the issues we deal with is a fusion of my husband's right knee leaving it permanently unable to bend, thus it is extended straight out from the chair. This makes getting close enough to the door a major issue. I am trying to think through the doorstop idea, but am unsure he would be able to get it in place to keep the door open.

To answer the question about flying, it is almost impossible to get a seat on an airplane that accomodates his condition and our last experience flying was so horrendous and we were treated so poorly that neither of us cares to attempt it again. At that time he was more able to ambulate and we did not need to transport a power chair which he needs now. I havew heard way too many horror stories about damaged chairs to choose to add that potential stress to the mix.

Being able to cruise was a huge boost to his independence. Needing to rely on another person to even leave the cabin would be a psychological blow once again. Will take some time to think more about it.....was hoping to do this as a surprise for Christmas gift but now realize will need to discuss it before making any decisions.

Thanks, again for all the feedback.

Patti:

I understand how you feel about it being a blow to you and all, but I wouldn't give up on cruising. I'm of the opinion that there is a work-around for just about everything, but it may not be the same work-around for every one. If you can't find a physical work around, then why not consider a human one?

By that I mean to make arrangements with the cabins steward to assist your husband at specific times. Of course this is an extra service and I do think you should tip him (people have different opinions about tips, so that is a personal matter) but I think it could be worked out.

After all, most cruise ship employees want passengers to have a good time. I remember working on one cruise (I had several columns and a book deadline) on my laptop in my cabin for several nights. My room steward was concerned that I missed dinner and I told him that I just didn't have the time, etc. Thirty minues later he showed up with a tray for me and told me that I could take a few minutes off to eat:) He did the sanme thing every night I worked.

Anyway, think about human assistance.

Candy

redsoxfan56,

I suggest that you contact RCCL and ask if any of their other ships besides the Brilliance have automatic cabin doors and if those particular ships have r/t cruises from a port convenient for you to get to. I was on the Brilliance of the Seas in Oct 2002 and there were automatic openers on handicap cabin entrance doors, cabin bathroom doors and handicap public restroom doors. It is possible that other ships of RCCL which were built in 2002 or later may also have the same doors. My cabin was also large enough to comfortably accommodate two Rascal scooters. We had a double bed, small sofa, upholstered chair and coffee table which we pushed around for maximum floor open space. Closet also had a pull down upper clothes rod ... was too stiff for us to use, but has probably loosened up with use.

Radiance Class Ships, that would include the Brilliance you were on, as well as the Jewel we were on are the ones that have those great features. They sure are great features!

Usually your cabin steward is just a telephone call away. Suggest when you first meet your cabin steward that you explain the need for his assistance (and possibly giving him an advance tip). Or you could tip him extra each day for that assistance in opening/closing the door. I'm sure he/she would be happy to be of assistance.

Also, on HAL ships there are often curtains that can be closed around an open door. That way - he would have privacy but the door could remain open. However, it sounds as if closing it could be a problem. Perhaps a "grabber" would be helpful to reach the lever to pull the door closed? One of the folding ones is always useful for anyone with a disability.

Patti:

I see you are from Cape Cod. Have you considered cruising our of Boston or even NY, NJ or Philadelphia so you do not have to fly?

Also, RCCL is not the only cruise line that has automatic doors on HC cabns. For example, the last two Carnival ships we were on had them (the Glory anhd the Elation). I believe we also had automatic doors on the NCL Spirit and the HAL Zuiderdam, but am not sure.

Also, although they are always happy to help, you can not always rely on your cabin steward. On RCCL and some other lines they are off duty during the afternoon.

The NCL Spirit does not have automatic doors. We commented on how nice it would have been.

I can assure you that Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas does have automatic doors. I have first-hand knowledge that accessible Room 1028 does have the automatic door. We put the key card into the slot and the door FLEW open! In fact, we realized that if anyone was behind the door, inside the room, they would quickly look like a Roadrunner cartoon, plastered flat against the inside wall! So, we quickly got into the habit of knocking on the door and waiting a few seconds before putting the key into the slot.

When you are exiting from the room, there is a button to push on the inside cabin wall. The door stayed open about 30 seconds, giving us plenty of time to get in/out of the room, before the door closed on its own.

My family and I just sailed on the Carnival Fantasy on New Year's Day. This was our third time in the same handicapped cabin and we were pleasantly surprised to find a brand new automatic door on our cabin! It worked great and made it a whole lot easier for me to get in and out on my own on my electric Jazzy. I wonder if they are adding these to other Carnival ships, does anyone know? The Fantasy also has automatic doors on the public restrooms.:)

My family and I just sailed on the Carnival Fantasy on New Year's Day. This was our third time in the same handicapped cabin and we were pleasantly surprised to find a brand new automatic door on our cabin! It worked great and made it a whole lot easier for me to get in and out on my own on my electric Jazzy. I wonder if they are adding these to other Carnival ships, does anyone know? The Fantasy also has automatic doors on the public restrooms.:)

Hm, wonder if this retrofitting has anything to do with the Supreme court ruling regarding cruise ship compliance with ADA regulations. While ships don't have to make substantial changes to older ships, they are suppose to make reasonable ones.

The automatic doors are great when they work. They use a different card reader than standard doors. The reader failed to read our card keys several times. We also found out from our cabin steward that, his assistant accidentally pushed a switch on the opener itself that deactivated the reader. Even the head housekeeper could not get in with her key card. We finally had to get a maintenance person to open and re-activate the reader.

Hm, wonder if this retrofitting has anything to do with the Supreme court ruling regarding cruise ship compliance with ADA regulations. While ships don't have to make substantial changes to older ships, they are suppose to make reasonable ones.

I doubt it. Even though the high court ruled that these ships do have to be accessible, there are still no architectural guidelines (ADAAG) for them. The prelim guideliens released were pretty much adapted from the ones we use for tansient lodging (hotels) and they do not include automatic cabin doors. I don't expect they will be required as the "cruise ship" regs are not as "strict" as the hotel regs. (and automatic doors are not required on accessible rooms in hotels).

Candy

Radiance Class Ships, that would include the Brilliance you were on, as well as the Jewel we were on are the ones that have those great features. They sure are great features!

The Magic and Wonder, Disney ships also have HA staterooms with automatic doors...not all, but many...

AuntPam:

I do not know about other Carnival ships, but last summer the Elation had automatic doors on our HC cabin door which it did not have when we sailed on it about 5 years ago..