Should RCCL have more accessible cabins?

[thefog]

Seems  like we have to book 18 months in advance to get a accessible balcony cabin anymore.

[mets123]

Cruises from Bayonne were released last month for April 25 - Feb 26. I booked accessible balconies for 6 different dates. Less than a month later, there are no more available on three of them. I fully agree with you. Unfortunately, there are people who book them for the size, and don't really need them. Don't flame me on this comment, I can't tell you how many times I see two normal walking people walking out of a handicap room.

[ATC cruiser]

12 hours ago, mets123 said:

Cruises from Bayonne were released last month for April 25 - Feb 26. I booked accessible balconies for 6 different dates. Less than a month later, there are no more available on three of them. I fully agree with you. Unfortunately, there are people who book them for the size, and don't really need them. Don't flame me on this comment, I can't tell you how many times I see two normal walking people walking out of a handicap room.

They need the extra room for their service dog🤣

 

[STEVE-O]

16 hours ago, thefog said:

Seems  like we have to book 18 months in advance to get a accessible balcony cabin anymore.

Yup! Book early or risk not getting one. Also risk change fees if something happens during the long gap between booking and sailing

Also can't participate in Guaranty or Royal-Up.....

[Charles4515]

16 hours ago, mets123 said:

Cruises from Bayonne were released last month for April 25 - Feb 26. I booked accessible balconies for 6 different dates. Less than a month later, there are no more available on three of them. I fully agree with you. Unfortunately, there are people who book them for the size, and don't really need them. Don't flame me on this comment, I can't tell you how many times I see two normal walking people walking out of a handicap room.

You can't tell from looking at someone whether they are handicapped, Many handicapped people can walk. Also I have never booked a handicapped cabin but twice from Bayonne I was in a handicapped cabin. Once on a guarantee and once I was surprise upgraded. 

[mil76]

At some point Royal will release unsold accessible rooms to the general public.  Most of our cruising is casino comps so we are booking just a few weeks/months out.  The comps are usually interiors, so my wife (the gambler) will call to see about paying to upgrade to a balcony.  Sometimes they will offer her accessible staterooms that haven't sold.  We try to stay away from them when offered since people would see us in that stateroom and assume we did something wrong (see previous posts).

[loman]

I booked a cruise close to the sail date once. 

The RC rep taking the reservation offered a handicap cabin to me and told me that someone who would actually need that type of cabin typically books well in advance and are not last minute planners.

[cruisingjandb]

We have a very hard time finding a handicap room, even on some cruises a year out. Because of both our health conditions. We hate to book more than 6 months out. They need to have more on the ships as a lot of the market is aging.

[neverbeenhere]

The "handicap" rooms rock!!! If I could get one every time, we wouldn't need to book suites. I'll leave it to the market forces to guide Royal as to how many rooms of various types they need on their ships.

[buffy4454]

We just upgraded two cruises for this summer to junior suites because my husband will need a scooter and handicapped rooms aren't available.  

[Rubyfisch]

On 3/6/2024 at 8:24 PM, mets123 said:

Cruises from Bayonne were released last month for April 25 - Feb 26. I booked accessible balconies for 6 different dates. Less than a month later, there are no more available on three of them. I fully agree with you. Unfortunately, there are people who book them for the size, and don't really need them. Don't flame me on this comment, I can't tell you how many times I see two normal walking people walking out of a handicap room.

Do remember that many accessible rooms also sleep more than two. On the first cruise I took my parents on, I booked an accessible cabin because my mother is a wheelchair user. Sometimes, like if we were going to the pool, just my father and I would leave the cabin. So yes, we were two able-bodied people walking out of an accessible cabin. But the room wasn't for us - it was for my mother who just happened to be staying in the cabin for whatever reason.

 

I'm not saying people don't abuse the system - I'm sure they do. But things aren't always what they seem.

[toxicfairy]

I thought if you weren't in need of an accessible cabin you either couldn't book it OR they would bump you to another cabin if they had a request for it. 

[BND]

7 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

Do remember that many accessible rooms also sleep more than two. On the first cruise I took my parents on, I booked an accessible cabin because my mother is a wheelchair user. Sometimes, like if we were going to the pool, just my father and I would leave the cabin. So yes, we were two able-bodied people walking out of an accessible cabin. But the room wasn't for us - it was for my mother who just happened to be staying in the cabin for whatever reason.

 

I'm not saying people don't abuse the system - I'm sure they do. But things aren't always what they seem.

There are plenty of people who report booking them even though they don't really need them.  As for the poster you quoted, out of Baltimore, the ship is a small one (Vision currently) and it has much fewer accessible cabins.  We always book a JS and have to book early to get one on that class.

[Mum2Mercury]

We booked an Inside Guarantee for a cruise last fall and were assigned to a handicapped room, so they must have a surplus sometimes.  

[Engineroom Snipe]

A small aside.

 

These rooms might be getting more needed if Royal follows the new trend of a competitor cruise line.

 

The competitor is now measuring the size of mobility scooters upon embarkation. If they cannot be moved and stored in the assigned cabin, the guest are being offered a full refund for all of their cruise purchases and being denied boarding while they are at the cruise terminal.

 

The line is sending emails specifically about this policy enforcement to passengers.

 

Not sure if the travel and hotel expenses are covered.

 

One reason is the safety issue of having passageways blocked during normal usage and emergency usage.

 

This has been discussed on CC on other threads to include passengers placing dishes and other items for pick-up by crew.

 

Another thing to plan for as we cruise.

[Another_Critic]

They should build a parking garage (with valet service) on board for scooters.  🙂

[crewsweeper]

We have to submit a form stating DW's handicap before every cruise. Granted some folks try to get these not being handicapped, but for the most part I haven't seen an over abundance of scooters outside regular cabins.Nor a ton of scooters or walkers on deck.

I beleive Carnival has just started limiting the size of scooters allowed on board as some of these can be the size of small SUVs.

[Ozark_Kid]

For me using a TA has worked.  Last year I had 5 cruises booked with refundable deposits when I lost my mobility. My TA later found an accessible room for each cruise.   The only room that was not found right away was Icon because it was a guaranteed OVB.  After we were assigned a room he was able to get it changed to accessible. There were 3 available. 

Last month I was looking at cruising on Harmony in May.  When I searched accessible for 2 people it was showing none available.   When I searched 3 people several were available. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

Overall, I have not noticed scooters outside of cabins on Royal.

 

Just a heads-up for those that need them.

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Last month I was looking at cruising on Harmony in May.  When I searched accessible for 2 people it was showing none available.   When I searched 3 people several were available. 

The newer ships, and the larger ships have more accessible cabins. They were built that way. There is only so much they can and will do with older ships. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

19 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

They should build a parking garage (with valet service) on board for scooters.  🙂

Yes, we can enhance the "KEY" package to "KEY+".

 

Leave your scooter behind as we provide pick-up and drop-off with Royal approved scooters.

 

Tired at the end of a long day? Just tap the 'park' button outside your stateroom and we will have it charged and ready for the next day. Just use the "I am ready button" in the morning and it will appear within five minutes.

 

There is a 50% 'gratuity' added because you expect superior service and that is what you will get.

[Ozark_Kid]

19 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

The newer ships, and the larger ships have more accessible cabins. They were built that way. There is only so much they can and will do with older ships. 

I didn't notice the OP or others mention ship size.  Larger ships do have more accessible but also all cabins.

So I just looked up Brilliance for May 6 2024.  It has 3 accessible interior rooms available. 

[orville99]

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

They should build a parking garage (with valet service) on board for scooters.  🙂

 

41 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Overall, I have not noticed scooters outside of cabins on Royal.

 

Just a heads-up for those that need them.

We have been on several RCL cruises over the past year where the room steward who had responsibility for the cabin of a passenger with a scooter would "pick up" the scooter every evening, move it out of the passageway, plug it in overnight, and return it to the cabin the next morning. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

 

We have been on several RCL cruises over the past year where the room steward who had responsibility for the cabin of a passenger with a scooter would "pick up" the scooter every evening, move it out of the passageway, plug it in overnight, and return it to the cabin the next morning. 

Darn, someone stole my idea before I could get it out of my head.

 

There go my commissions!

 

😡🤣

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

 

We have been on several RCL cruises over the past year where the room steward who had responsibility for the cabin of a passenger with a scooter would "pick up" the scooter every evening, move it out of the passageway, plug it in overnight, and return it to the cabin the next morning. 

I have seen scooters parked in those white spaces on the deck plans that people sometimes ask about on Cruise Critic. The stewards put them there. I hardly ever see them in the hallway on Royal. I would guess the ones we see are waiting to be moved.