handicapped boarding

[RetiredRich]

We are going on the Eurodam Nov 16 from San Diego.  And here I sit with a fractured ankle waiting for the swelling to go down so I can get a cast put on.  I have seen on other cruises people in wheel chairs get to go before the crowd.  I know I will still have a cast on then.  So is there any special thing I must do or some one to call?  I looked around on the HAL site and didn't spot anything.  Thanks for any info

[Crew News]

You should contact HAL Ship Services and complete the required form.  A wheel chair will be available when you enter the cruise terminal and you will be pushed all the way to your stateroom.  You will also have a wheel chair with pusher when you disembark the ship.

 

Sounds like you should rent a scooter through Special Needs at Sea (Call toll free 1.800.513.4515) for your time on board.  It will be in your stateroom when you board the ship and you will leave it there when you disembark.

 

Handicapped and their families are boarded right after the passengers in the Pinnacle Suite.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Crew News

[3rdGenCunarder]

I don't know how San Diego works, but in Port Everglades, a wheelchair and someone to push it will be at the door to the terminal. You get right through check-in quickly, and then you are taken to a seat in the waiting area, so that the chair and pusher are free to collect someone else. Once it's time for boarding, HAL staff come out with HAL chairs and take you to your cabin. 

 

Boarding in Seattle was odd. There were two gangway doors in the terminal, but the two  gangways merged into one halfway to the ship. Port staff called wheelchairs first, and as soon as the last one entered the gangway, they called 4-5 stars and Neptune Suites. So we all went through the other door--and then had to wait until all the wheelchairs passed. Fortunately, nobody tried to shove ahead of a wheelchair, but it would have been safer if we had been held in the terminal rather than on the gangway. Whoever decided to call Mariners and Neptunes didn't check to see if the wheelchair passengers had all boarded. 

[1ANGELCAT]

Ship services 800 5411576. You may need to be connected to Access and Compliance Dept to obtain the form. They can also assist with other needed items for the cabin such as a stool for the shower. 

Hope you feel better soon.

[DAllenTCY]

Your disability will get you assistance, but no longer priority boarding.

 

You do not need to call Ship Services, but it is a good idea to do so.  

 

Typically in San Diego on a 7 night voyage, we will have 30-40 wheelchair requests for both embarkation and disembarkation. 

The longer the voyage, the more (exponentially!).

 

Hopefully, not all come at the same time.

 

 

David

[COTINGEY]

We boarded the New Amsterdam in San Diego in March.  My daughter uses a power wheelchair full time.   We were instructed to board with our boarding group, which was #4.  No priority boarding and no HAL assistance ever offered.  Ship services and access and compliance were both notified of our travel in advance.

[TiogaCruiser]

Could that have been because it was a power chair?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Our TA contacts HAL and arranges for me to have a wheelchair for embarkation and disembarkation.  

 

I am always among the first people on the ship.

[sevenseasnomad]

As others have said, call Special Needs Department.  The main number for HAL can connect you to this department if you have problems getting through on the department's dedicated line.

 

My husband used a wheelchair the last four voyages we took before he died.  On some of those cruises, he was boarded first with other disabled passengers.  On others, we boarded after 4-5*s and suite passengers.  Only once, however, did a HAL steward take us to our cabin.  On the other cruises, we were deposited by the elevators on Deck 2 or 3, whichever deck passengers embarked. 

 

Of course, my husband could walk to the cabin, but it took us a l-o-n-g time to get there.  On our last cruise, when he was undergoing chemo, we filed his doctor's letter with HAL regarding his extreme mobility limitations, and the steward did wheel him to the cabin, where the 7-day rental wheelchair was waiting for us.  

 

When requesting assistance from HAL to either embark or disembark, make certain they know and confirm in writing your needs, such as taking you all the way to the cabin.  

 

So sorry you find yourself in this predicament.  I hope you get the assistance you need and that your cruise turns out to be one of your most memorable and pleasant in spite of this setback. 

Edited October 5, 2019 by sevenseasnomad

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Could that have been because it was a power chair?

 

That was my first thought. There isn't a lot that the port services can do in the way of extra help for someone already in a power chair. 

[COTINGEY]

I was pointing out that there was no pre-boarding for her, or any others, that were waiting in their manual chairs.  Family members were assisting during embarkation.  We never saw any assistance staff.

[RetiredRich]

Great info from all of you and thanks.  I think I will do a wait and see for a while.  I know I will still be in a cast by then but I should be able to walk around good.  Then there's that steep walk up the entrance to the ship !!!!

[DAllenTCY]

Depending on the ship and the port,......many times, ground staff cannot wheel chairs to the guest's rooms from the pier.  

 

Ship staff cannot pass beyond the gangway offloading.

 

 

So do not expect a simple transfer all of the time.

 

 

David