bigger passenger

[MissRabbit]

Just come back from The Independence Of The Seas cruise round the Canaries and want to reassure POS that this is a brilliant cruise suitable for them and also suitable for disabled.

 

We had a scooter in our party and had two rooms, neither was a handicapped cabin but I will get to that. For POS and I am one you will be thrilled to know that I only had ONE problem on the ship and that was in the bathroom. I had a balcony cabin so the bathroom was larger than the inside cabin, I know because I looked and was able to see that the bathroom was a tight squeeze but do-able, if you can't afford the upgrade. My problem was with the teeny tiny toilet and the wall being too close in the balcony cabin, so next time I cruise will be in a handicapped cabin.

 

Now everything else I did NOT have a problem with, my scooter I made sure fitted through the cabin door before I brought it 23 inches and it also went into the inside cabin doorway too and there WAS room for ONE scooter in an inside and room for TWO scooters if need be in the balcony cabin. So if you're ok to use the bathroom in a normal cabin then you won't need a handicapped cabin. We had a shower stool we requested and that was good. I had no problem fitting into the shower and I am a large lady.

 

This ship is huge and as I understand it is going to be sailing from America during the winter months, so all you American/Canadians will be able to have the joys of this ship coming your way. The corridors are suitable to have scooters two abreast easily. You can access all areas easily the lifts are ample, the Theatre has plenty of space for scooters at the back (same goes for wheelchairs) and they have armless seats at the back, the Ice show was the same, no problems there and the dining rooms mostly had armless chairs that I could see and the buffet dining room also had plenty of armless chairs. You cannot go wrong on this ship.

 

And for those who like swimming you can access the adult only pool via steps and handrails rather than the other pools that have ladders. But having said that, if you want the laddered pools they also have a hoist if you need it.

 

Believe me, you have to really try this ship out, it's fantastic for people of size. If I can do it then I know you all can. :D

 

A cheeky note here: I get my clothes from a UK site called Sixteen47, they ship to US and I get my beachwear from Love Your Peaches. I never have a problem finding swimwear here and get it made longer where I need it. Hope this helps you beautiful souls out there :D

'

Thank you for the info. It is great to hear about the Independence OTS. I had written off RCCL entirely because i had been unable to find more than a handful of armless chairs in my research. while a MDR might be ok, the rest of the venues aren't and vice versa. It is encouraging to know that at the venues, there are small sections of armless chairs to be had. Did you find those chairs were always taken though? I guess if you go early to events, you won't have a problem scoring one of them. So the pool, the iceskating, the theatre, the MDR and the buffet are all accessible. What about other areas?

 

I'll have to look closer at bathroom photos as having the toilet too close to the wall would be a major issue for me. This really is great to hear back first hand knowledge like this as it reassures foolks like us that there IS another option out there! Thank you!

 

btw, i use Lovemypeaches for my shorts. She does an excellent job and makes them a little longer for me. I almost got a swimsuit from her as well, but it cuts down too far in the back for my personal taste and doesn't look like there is enough support. It'd be nice to hear from someone who has actually gotten one.

Edited November 7, 2011 by MissRabbit

[Ians Grandma]

Gairy Fodmother,that was a great review. We don't have size issues, just a wheelchair, but I was wondering if you noticed if those in chairs could get off on the tenders. We were just on the Westerdam and it was the first ship that we've been on where they had a good system for taking people in scooters off of the ship while at anchor.

[Gairy Fodmother]

'

Thank you for the info. It is great to hear about the Independence OTS. I had written off RCCL entirely because i had been unable to find more than a handful of armless chairs in my research. while a MDR might be ok, the rest of the venues aren't and vice versa. It is encouraging to know that at the venues, there are small sections of armless chairs to be had. Did you find those chairs were always taken though? I guess if you go early to events, you won't have a problem scoring one of them. So the pool, the iceskating, the theatre, the MDR and the buffet are all accessible. What about other areas?

 

I'll have to look closer at bathroom photos as having the toilet too close to the wall would be a major issue for me. This really is great to hear back first hand knowledge like this as it reassures foolks like us that there IS another option out there! Thank you!

 

btw, i use Lovemypeaches for my shorts. She does an excellent job and makes them a little longer for me. I almost got a swimsuit from her as well, but it cuts down too far in the back for my personal taste and doesn't look like there is enough support. It'd be nice to hear from someone who has actually gotten one.

 

The swim suit top has great support, it has an inner elastic support inside, not those horrible padded cups that are weird shapes lol. I can honestly say it was a joy to be actually supported in a swimsuit properly, it made a nice change for once and stopped anything sliding south :D. I see she does a swimsuit top that has sleeves, but not long sleeves, that may be suitable for you? I didn't find the top I ordered too short down the back, it was perfect and I don't like those that are too far down the back. I was very happy with mine. You'll need to order the swimsuit top that you can choose the mix and match colours for. I also bought the swim shorts to go with it but next time I will have them made a bit shorter.

 

I honestly had no problem accessing other areas like bars, it is a huge ship and everywhere was wide and plenty of room and space. Like I said the toilet was the ONLY problem :( I had a shower stool in the shower and all was good. I did need help after toiletting though. I'm pretty sure it will be too difficult for you, it was a really really tight squeeze.

 

The theatre had the whole back row of armless chairs available, in fact I never encountered a chair there that I couldn't fit in to, none of them had arms to be honest, not where I ate anyway and that was the Windjammer and the MDR :D

Edited November 7, 2011 by Gairy Fodmother

[Gairy Fodmother]

Gairy Fodmother,that was a great review. We don't have size issues, just a wheelchair, but I was wondering if you noticed if those in chairs could get off on the tenders. We were just on the Westerdam and it was the first ship that we've been on where they had a good system for taking people in scooters off of the ship while at anchor.

 

I'm so sorry I can't help with this, all our ports were ramps and not tendered :(

[MissRabbit]

The swim suit top has great support, it has an inner elastic support inside, not those horrible padded cups that are weird shapes lol. I see she does a swimsuit top that has sleeves, but not long sleeves, that may be suitable for you? I didn't find it too short down the back, it was perfect and I don't like those that are too far down the back. I was very happy with mine. I also bought the swim shorts to go with it but next time I will have them made a bit shorter.

 

I honestly had no problem accessing other areas like bars, it is a huge ship and everywhere was wide and plenty of room and space. Like I said the toilet was the ONLY problem :( I had a shower stool in the shower and all was good. I did need help after toiletting though.

 

i get the Track shorts.. then i had her make me the same pattern (track shorts) but in swimsuit material so i could wear them over my swimsuit at the pool. I'm not worried about the sleeves..the part about the too low back is i don't want my "side boobies" to show. lolol. that sounds bad, but you know what i mean. I really do love some of her fabric though so maybe i should bite the bullet and get one. Since i swim 3x a week, i go through swimsuits like crazy. I get mine from the local penningtons as well as bigonbatik and MIB online.

 

I think i'm going to do a bit more digging on the ship you were on, now. Thanks for the review :)

[Gairy Fodmother]

You're welcome Miss Rabbit :)

[WannaCruiseSoon]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate this thread

 

As a larger passenger its good to know what others find on various ships.

 

Miss Rabbit - I have only been on NCL, Carnival and RCCL but dont let the fear of chairs with arms keep you from the ships. On every cruise line I have been on if there was a chair with arms, all I had to ask was for a chair without arms and they have always been very helpful about it.

 

Now the movie theater style seating is a whole different story...

[Gairy Fodmother]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate this thread

 

As a larger passenger its good to know what others find on various ships.

 

Miss Rabbit - I have only been on NCL, Carnival and RCCL but dont let the fear of chairs with arms keep you from the ships. On every cruise line I have been on if there was a chair with arms, all I had to ask was for a chair without arms and they have always been very helpful about it.

 

Now the movie theater style seating is a whole different story...

 

Not on the Independence of the seas it isn't ;) the whole back row is loose chairs with no arms so they can me moved out of the way for wheelchairs and scooters. In fact when I think about it I never encountered an armed chair in the Windjammer or the MDR, not saying they don't have them just I never saw them? It just didn't *ping* on my radar as a stress factor which as you know you have to sort these things out in advance. I just breezed in and breezed out!

[MissRabbit]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate this thread

 

As a larger passenger its good to know what others find on various ships.

 

Miss Rabbit - I have only been on NCL, Carnival and RCCL but dont let the fear of chairs with arms keep you from the ships. On every cruise line I have been on if there was a chair with arms, all I had to ask was for a chair without arms and they have always been very helpful about it.

 

Now the movie theater style seating is a whole different story...

 

Thank you. Our last cruise on NCL was a nightmare when it came to the mvoie style seating in the theatre. I laugh at it now, but it was aweful then. It took several nights and three attempts at seating before they got a chair that would work for me. The first time, it was one of those flimsy foldable chairs that if you look at it crosseyed, it collapses lolol. I looked at it and started giggling. Really? Did any of them actually think that would work? lol

 

The second time, they actually hefted and ENTIRE SOFA from an upstairs lounge for hubby and I. Totally mortified. My butt is big but not big enough to warrant a friggen 5 person sofa! lol. Finally they got nice sturdy armless chairs and i was super happy to be able to finally attend the evening shows.

 

I'm glad you like this thread. It has been a wonderful source of information and support.

Edited November 12, 2011 by MissRabbit

[sweetlissa]

Thank you. Our last cruise on NCL was a nightmare when it came to the mvoie style seating in the theatre. I laugh at it now, but it was aweful then. It took several nights and three attempts at seating before they got a chair that would work for me. The first time, it was one of those flimsy foldable chairs that if you look at it crosseyed, it collapses lolol. I looked at it and started giggling. Really? Did any of them actually think that would work? lol

 

The second time, they actually hefted and ENTIRE SOFA from an upstairs lounge for hubby and I. Totally mortified. My butt is big but not big enough to warrant a friggen 5 person sofa! lol. Finally they got nice sturdy armless chairs and i was super happy to be able to finally attend the evening shows.

 

I'm glad you like this thread. It has been a wonderful source of information and support.

 

omgosh can't believe they thought either of the first two options were acceptable, smh, glad you got to see the shows finally :-)

[Leslie K]

[quote name='xxoocruiser']In addition to then shower and toilet as other posters has mentioned , the dining chairs with arms may be a concern. Also the plastic molded deck furniture may also be an issue.

If the flight is full and the airlines requires you to have purchased to seats and you didn't, than you could be bumped from the flight.[/quote]

There are armless chairs in the dining rooms- just ask! and I mean all dining rooms! Usually once you ask in the MDR you will find it waiting for you when you arrive for dinner.

[xxoocruiser]

Just returned for the Allure of the Seas. Every table has combination of chairs with arms and without.

Also flew Southwest and had no problem having purchased only one seat. Did not impose on the others in the my row.

[LoveByLyrics]

It nice to see they have a thread on this. This is something Im very mindful of. I find it very stressful because many time places dont consider larger passengers. For my flight I book Jetblue just because they had the most room per seat. I told my travel partner that it may be a little tight but he didnt seem to care.

Right now I just dont know what excursions I can/cannot do.

[MissRabbit]

[quote name='LoveByLyrics']It nice to see they have a thread on this. This is something Im very mindful of. I find it very stressful because many time places dont consider larger passengers. For my flight I book Jetblue just because they had the most room per seat. I told my travel partner that it may be a little tight but he didnt seem to care.

Right now I just dont know what excursions I can/cannot do.[/quote]

Are you planning a cruise right now? What ports will you be visiting?

[LoveByLyrics]

Decemeber 11, Carnival Glory out of Miami.

[jobell]

[quote name='LoveByLyrics']Decemeber 11, Carnival Glory out of Miami.[/quote]

We'll be sailing the Glory Jan 15.

What kinds of things do you enjoy doing? I, myself am 400+ but have no mobility issues other than knees get tired after a good long while.

Do you have mobility issues that would prevent you from doing a lot of walking? Are you interested in water activities?

Thank you to the OP for starting this thread. :)

[MissRabbit]

[quote name='LoveByLyrics']Decemeber 11, Carnival Glory out of Miami.[/quote]

so Cozumel, Belize, Roatan and Grand Cayman?

have you been to any of these ports before? Are you looking for something beach/water, shopping or more island/historical tours? Like Jobell asked, what things are your personal concerns when it comes to mobility or activity?

I've been to all 4 of these places, although Cozumel and Grand Cayman were a long time ago. We'll try to help you here with things once we have a better idea of what you're preferring when ti comes to excursions.

[LoveByLyrics]

I just don't know what excursions are a go and which aren't. I did have a knee surgery 2.5 months ago. Maybe a week ago I had more concerns. Recovery from meniscus surgery has been tough with feeling ok and then suffering setbacks. But it seems like I turned the corner this week. Usually Im very active. Im almost at the point where I can enjoy walking again.

[Ocean Spirit]

For NCL and sitting for the shows. I HATE those seats. They have these cup holder things on both sides of the chair. The seat is ok but getting in and out is bad.
On our last cruise with NCL (I like NCL just not the seats LOL)
I knew to get out of the seat, I'd needed to grab the seat infront of me to pull myself up. So I waited for the old lady infront of me to leave. I didn't want to grab the back of her seat and pull her back.
I sat there and sat there till almost all had left... but not this lady.
Well I finally went to get up without grabbing her chair and I couldn't get up! Those darn cup holders were blocking my way. So I grab the seat infront of me anyway (panic set in) and still couldn't do it. Finally I managed to turn a bit sideways and angle my way out.

For big folks... beware the NCL Spirit it was made for the Asian market and almost all seats are small. Plus cabin bathrooms have a separate "toitlet" area divided by a door. We had to go sideways into it. My husband located all the Handicap bathrooms on board real fast! Edited November 21, 2011 by Merg55

[njaloha]

So glad to find this thread. I've been knocking around CC Forums looking for information about the challenges of travelling with a big guy (6' 375lb with two really bad knees) and I stumbled on it when I searched the website for information on muster drills. We're going on Celebrity Silhouette in February 2012. I was concerned about a few things:
[LIST=1]
[*]Muster (Life boat drill) - How do you handle them when there's potentially a lot of standing around. Do the life jackets really fit?
[*]Bringing His own fold up chair on board for the beach and pool and balcony
[*]The shower in the cabin bathroom - will it be big enough
[*]chairs in Blu

[/LIST]

I'm both encouraged and concerned after reading some of the posts. I didn't even consider that he could bring his own chair with us until I read this thread. I'm also wondering if I should call Celebrity and see if we can book a Handicapped Cabin or is it too late? Don't you need a handicapped sticker for that or something?

We've gotten around the whole shore excursion weight limit on St. Lucia by considering a trip by taxi to Rendezvous Resort for a day pass. The other excursions that I'm looking at are strictly beach excursions booked through the ship that don't have weight restrictions listed.

I hope we'll be ok. The furniture in the cabin sure doesn't look very comfortable for me let alone my husband.

[MissRabbit]

what kind of stateroom are you in on the Celebrity Sillhouette? You might want to google for floor plans for it. Unless the toilet is in its own cubicle, you should be fine in a regular cabin. But look at the floorplans for your particular cabin category.

Showers are never big enough no matter what lol. As for the rest of the furniture in the cabin, there's always the bed and the sofa if the chairs have arms on them.

I would definately contact Celebrity's special needs dep't with some of your questions and concerns. They are there to help. They'd know things like whether they have armless chairs in Blu, as it's a specialty restaurant.

[LesaL]

I was on the inaugural cruise of the Carnival Magic out of Galveston. It was a good cruise, not great but good. There were minor irritations, but nothing related to my size per se.

I was traveling with a friend. We had an inside room on deck 2. It was small with only a vanity stool for seating beside the beds, but it is a sturdy stool. Plenty of closet space and drawers, but ... irritation 1: in one of the closets the hanging rod is front to back. Not easy for hanging items as well as locating what you want. Who designed that?

I was concerned about the sheer size of the ship. I have never been on a ship that big. We had over 4200 passengers on my sailing. I was actually pleasantly surprised. My cabin was midship, and I think that helped. Most of the decks allowed you to go from front to back, or foreward to aft, without having to go up and down because of some sort of barrier. I think that helped. I also picked a room that was close to the midship elevator. Irritation 2: upon boarding the midship elevators are unavailable for passenger usage because the crew use them for distributing luggage. This is also true of the last night before debarkation. So you have to go to the much further forward or aft elevators, or use the stairs to change decks.

Crowded public areas were a problem at times. Especially the buffet areas. I wanted to try the Mondolian Grill but the lines there discouraged me each time I checked. I am not much of a buffet person, I prefer to go to the dining room when that is an option. My cabin mate preferred the buffet outside of dinner so we either compromised or ate in different venues. Irritation 3: there were no crew in the buffet area to assist with your plate and obtaining a drink. It seems that the number of crew members have been reduced from my experience on previous Carnival sailings (this was my 10th cruise overall and 5th on Carnival). There are no trays for the buffet lines. They use oversized plates. I use a cane. I had to handle my silverware packet and the plate using one hand. For a drink I had to make a separate trip after depositing the food at the table. Irritation 4: to use the drink dispenser you must use two hands. I had to let go of my cane to use one hand to hold the cup and the other to push the button to dispense ice and the drink.

There were really confortable seating areas around the ship. There are sofa type seating on the pool deck. And even in a wading pool space around the pool there is seating under a palapa that was very comfy. Loved sitting there with my feet in the water. One deck up from the main pool there are wicker chairs that are very roomy. Very desirable also, so you had to get there early. Also on the very back of the ship on deck eleven are some wicker chairs and sofas. Great place to watch leaving port or the sunset. Again, very popular because they are comfortable.

One last irritation. My fellow passengers included of some of the roughest that I have ever encountered. Not all of them by any means. But enough that it made an impression. I am talking about extremely loud and use of profanity.

Not all cruises are created equal, and I did have a good time, just not as good as the others I have taken.

I will be glad to answer any specific questions.

[sweetlissa]

[quote name='LesaL']I was on the inaugural cruise of the Carnival Magic out of Galveston. It was a good cruise, not great but good. There were minor irritations, but nothing related to my size per se.

I was traveling with a friend. We had an inside room on deck 2. It was small with only a vanity stool for seating beside the beds, but it is a sturdy stool. Plenty of closet space and drawers, but ... irritation 1: in one of the closets the hanging rod is front to back. Not easy for hanging items as well as locating what you want. Who designed that?

I was concerned about the sheer size of the ship. I have never been on a ship that big. We had over 4200 passengers on my sailing. I was actually pleasantly surprised. My cabin was midship, and I think that helped. Most of the decks allowed you to go from front to back, or foreward to aft, without having to go up and down because of some sort of barrier. I think that helped. I also picked a room that was close to the midship elevator. Irritation 2: upon boarding the midship elevators are unavailable for passenger usage because the crew use them for distributing luggage. This is also true of the last night before debarkation. So you have to go to the much further forward or aft elevators, or use the stairs to change decks.

Crowded public areas were a problem at times. Especially the buffet areas. I wanted to try the Mondolian Grill but the lines there discouraged me each time I checked. I am not much of a buffet person, I prefer to go to the dining room when that is an option. My cabin mate preferred the buffet outside of dinner so we either compromised or ate in different venues. Irritation 3: there were no crew in the buffet area to assist with your plate and obtaining a drink. It seems that the number of crew members have been reduced from my experience on previous Carnival sailings (this was my 10th cruise overall and 5th on Carnival). There are no trays for the buffet lines. They use oversized plates. I use a cane. I had to handle my silverware packet and the plate using one hand. For a drink I had to make a separate trip after depositing the food at the table. Irritation 4: to use the drink dispenser you must use two hands. I had to let go of my cane to use one hand to hold the cup and the other to push the button to dispense ice and the drink.

There were really confortable seating areas around the ship. There are sofa type seating on the pool deck. And even in a wading pool space around the pool there is seating under a palapa that was very comfy. Loved sitting there with my feet in the water. One deck up from the main pool there are wicker chairs that are very roomy. Very desirable also, so you had to get there early. Also on the very back of the ship on deck eleven are some wicker chairs and sofas. Great place to watch leaving port or the sunset. Again, very popular because they are comfortable.

One last irritation. My fellow passengers included of some of the roughest that I have ever encountered. Not all of them by any means. But enough that it made an impression. I am talking about extremely loud and use of profanity.

Not all cruises are created equal, and I did have a good time, just not as good as the others I have taken.

I will be glad to answer any specific questions.[/quote]

Thanks so much for the mini review, loved it, loved the honesty of it!!!!

[MissRabbit]

great review Lesa. We're going on the Magic for the blogger's cruise in March (so is Lissa, yay!) so the info in your review was great.

Question..how sturdy did the wicker furniture seem to be? I see wicker furniture and i think no way will it be strong enough so hopefully it was built well.

We're right near the fwd elevators so we're good to go for embarking and debarking. I never realized they would have closed off the midship elevators. good to know.

[LesaL]

Miss Rabbit,

The wicker furniture is not at all flimsy. The wicker covers some sort of metal base that gives it plenty of strength. I actually have similar on my porch and was delighted to find them on the ship. Very comfy.