Id rather be diving

We did this same cruise tour in 2016 and our family member is a full time wheelchair user with a manual wheelchair. All of the transportation provided by Princess for the cruise tour was wheelchair accessible.

 

The train was wheelchair accessible. We were on a separate car from the rest of our tour (actually a Holland America Gold Star car), but had great seats and the wheelchair came onboard with us and in our case, went to the seat. Our family member elected to transfer to a seat, but the seats provided had lots of room in front to be able to use a transfer board.

 

Princess provided a bus for our highway travels which was wheelchair accessible with a lift. Our group had fewer participants than some of the other groups, so there was plenty of room for the wheelchair, which our family member stayed in during the bus ride. Since your family member can walk, it may be possible for your family member to transfer to a seat once the scooter gets onboard.

 

One of the shuttles at the Princess lodge at Denali was wheelchair accessible with a lift. There was also a wheelchair accessible shuttle at Kenai. I don't believe there was a wheelchair accessible shuttle at McKinley. We stayed in the cabin closest to the main building, so not necessary.

 

Very few shore excursions were wheelchair accessible at McKinley and Kenai. The only thing we did was take a lift equipped bus into Seward and visit the Sea Life Museum and eat lunch.

 

At Denali, most of the NPS tours were wheelchair accessible. The NPS bus did have a wheelchair lift for the Tundra tour and also we took a Princess bus with a lift to the NPS to see the sled dogs--transferred to a lift equipped NPS bus at the NPS center. Each time we had to specifically request the lift equipped bus. One time we ran into a glitch with the Princess bus to NPS returning to Denali, but another lodge driver was nice enough to take us back (after waiting over an hour for the Princess bus to show up)

 

At Fairbanks, the riverboat and gold dredge were wheelchair accessible. We didn't try to do anything else through Princess there.

 

We coordinated months ahead of time with Special Needs for a wheelchair accessible room with a roll in shower and also for the bus transportation. I checked back several times to ensure everything set up and no changes. The lodge room assignments are not made until May when the lodges open, so I followed up to make certain wheelchair accessible room with roll in shower asisgned (good thing I did because Princess special needs didn't put the roll in shower requirement--some regular rooms are set aside for disabled who can walk but require first floor, but no roll in shower)

 

So you should be able to book this tour with no issues, but you do need to coordinate closely with special needs. Also, realize that this trip requires patience on your part waiting for the lift equipped buses/shuttles which are not already pre-arranged by Princess. It will take you longer for the routine buses and shuttles to go somewhere as only there are only one or two lift equipped vehicles running.

Kathy, when you referenced following up on room assignments, did you follow up directly with the lodges or with the special needs sept?

Kathy, THANK YOU so much for the information about the handicap accessibility on the connessiour tour. I have been in touch a little with the special needs dept but will be folllowing up for sure. Your post puts my mind at ease more. We have traveled all over the world with his scooter. I just do a lot of research ahead of time.

I am always disappointed at how few HC tours cruise ships have. I wish they would have some semi- HC wherein the bus provided a lift and people could go on regular tours. If they could get into buildings great, if not they could choose to wait outside. Most of the HC excursions are just driving around in a van all day.

Thanks again for your response!!

Kari

Hi Kari

 

We had a lady on our tour that was in a wheelchair and it didn't appear to be issue. Our bus had a lift for her.

 

 

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Thank you!!!

What about in Denali with the school bus type vehicles? Did one have a lift?

Hi Kari,

The short answer is no, we did not see any wheelchairs or scooters on the land portion. We did see a few onboard the cruise portion.

 

None of the coach buses we were on had anything like a wheelchair/scooter lift. I would think that if you had a collapsible wheelchair and could make it up the bus stairs, that would work. Our tour buses only had our group of 26 onboard each time, so there'd be plenty of room for a collapsible wheelchair.

 

In addition, there are no wheelchair lifts on any of the small shuttles on the lodge properties, but again, with a collapsible wheelchair and being able to walk up the steps into the shuttle, that would work.

 

Also, The Tundra Wilderness Tour (included in the Connoisseur Tour) is run by the National Park, and they use school buses only inside Denali. The bus was full, so even a collapsible wheelchair on this tour might be an issue for you. Even the large shuttle buses used in the Denali National Park (at the Denali Princess Lodge) were all school-bus type, and they were always packed.

 

Hope that helps,

Kathy

Thanks so much. I’m going to need to call Princess and do some research with them. I’ve read that the trains have handicap cars but need to check other things. If I’m paying that amount of money for the connessiour tour I expect my husband to be able to participate in everything. He rides a small scooter that does fold. He can do one or two stairs with the help of myself and my siste, but not the five or six to get on big coach buses.

Kari

Thank you so much for this review. We are doing this connessiour tour mpnext August for my 50th birthday.

My question is did you see any mobility impaired guests? Ones using a wheelchair or scooter? I assume the buses are handicap accessible but I know a lot of the big buses that are used for tours are not. However with this being in the US I expect everything to be very ADA compliant.

Thanks, Kari

Have a look at the Frio wallets, they are activated with cold water so don’t need access to use etc. Keeps medication cold enough for up to a week

The Frio ones are great! My husband takes an injectable shot once a week that must be kept cold. We used to travel with a small six pack cooler and an ice pack. The problem came when TSA did not want to let the ice pack through because it was too dense to see through on the X-ray machine. They eventually let it go but it was a hassle and stressed us both out, so we started looking elsewhere. Found the Frio in Magellan’s catalog but likely you can get it on Ama.

exactly - 100 bucks or so, and will get him to 26...thru college if that is his career path ( our son 'studied' in Europe for a month ) and thru the first few years after that..:cool:

I think passports for under 18 are valid for 5 years not 10.

Can't guarantee the newest builds, but generally no NCL cabins other than suites have tubs at all.

We were just on the Getaway. My nephew’s deluxe family oceanview had a tub/shower combo. Deep tub, his 4’10” wife had a hard time getting in and out of it.

When you make final payment they charge your credit card for all that is due. Cruise fare + ez air. It shows as I payment on your credit card.

This is correct. I just paid off our Baltic tripincluding EZ Air and it was one total Princess charge on my credit card.

We just got off two weeks on the Getaway. We are Princess fans, but we’re going with family groups and felt we wanted more for the kids. We were not impressed with the dining room food or service at all. First, the breakfast and lunch menus are the same every day. We are used to menus changing in the dining room. Service was extremely slow every time we ate in there. We ate in La Cucina - would go again; Tepanakki - fun would go again if I had a package wouldn’t pay outright; Moderno -wouldn’t go back. Food was ok but took too long between gauchos coming out, then you’d only get a slice of meat and if you asked for more they cut the next one smaller; and Cagney’s. This was the best. In two weeks I only ordered dessert twice and I love dessert. If you are used to Norman Love’s creations you’ll be disappointed. We really disliked that room service was a charge. The drink waiters were all nice but because pretty much everybody had drink packages, the waiters were slow or not around.

In the end the kids didn’t do enough of the ropes course, climbing walls, etc that our next family cruise will be back in Princess.....where we belong!!

We will be back on Princess after taking a couple of cruises on other lines. Here are my questions for those that have been relatively recent on Princess.

1. Are formal nights gone? Is it all cruise casual or chic now? We are on 14 days to the Baltic in Sept.

2. If purchasing casino credits ahead of time, do you still get a voucher in your room that you exchange at the cashier for cash or is it on your room account?

3. If you buy too much OBC ahead of time, do you get the cash back at the end?

Thanks,

Kari

Thanks!! Depending on itinerary would probably be my deciding factor. Little sun on a chillier route would have me choose a regular balcony.

I made reservations for 14 by emailing. They sent back a confirmation but it says we will be seated at 2 grills.

I’m interested in this as my honey has RA and ALS so I’m always interested in learning new tips and tricks for traveling.

I book early because we need a handicap accessible room. With so few on each ship, we have to book early. Although we were able to take advantage of a big sale 35 days prior to a departure date. There was a HC balcony available, then got offered an upgrade for $200 a piece to a HC mini suite. That was awesome!! But many times when I check a close in sale, there are not HC rooms available.

For a standard or aft-facing balcony, the bed can be either by the closet or by the balcony. Also, the aft-facing balconies (they vary in size) are several times larger than the standard side balconies....

 

Do any of the aft balconies have sun other than a direct link ne from behind?

I don't believe they are. :(

 

Now that you ask that, I'm not sure if any on Getaway are. That's a good question!

I will be checking it out in a month. This being a newer ship I would certainly hope so.

Vibe is a private outdoor area accessible by special key card that is an adults only setting with two hot tubs under canopies with blanketed loungers, large umbrellas for shade, large sunbeds, covered cabanas, a nice outdoor shower, restrooms, and Vibe has its own dedicated bar in the area with TV's. (At least that is the set up on Getaway and Breakaway.)

 

There is a $99 pp cost, the cabanas a good bit more. The Vibe passes are first come and are not easy to get since you really need to board in a very early group. The passes are in high demand and sell out quickly. You can get them from guest relations as soon as you board, or if you are in Haven, from the Haven Concierge.

 

The service is very good, there are fruit skewers passed and there are personal carafes of iced water infused with citrus. There is an attendant that passes ice cold towels and mists you on the hot sunny days.

 

The number of passes offered for the venue is 60 people.

 

The Hot Tubs are open at 7am and the bar is open at 9am until about 6:30.

Thanks. Are the hot tubs handicap accessible by chance?

1st it has nothing at all to do with being on a scooter or anything else. That is a red herring issue at best. How does it lead to additional crowding? Easy. There are but so many spaces on each elevator as it goes up and down. Lets say you are on deck 10 and want to go to deck 6 but you ride 10 up 10 18 and then back down to 6. It is quite possible and in fact probable that you are you are keeping someone who is on 11 (or above) from riding up lo 18 like they want to. Riding up to go down is in and of itself an "all about me" thing. It has nothing to do with having to take the elevator or not. I am ADA and can walk MAYBE one flight down but zero up, When someone rides up to go down they are basically telling everyone on the decks above them waiting to go up "screw you, I am more important than you are". So think before you tell someone else to shut up.

We can just agree to disagree as I don’t think it’s telling anyone I’m more important than you. There are far more times that we will wait for a second, third, or fourth elevator to come so he can get on. We can be waiting in front of the elevator and as the door opens people rush from behind past his scooter onto the elevator. Then when all these people rush past him, there is no longer room for his scooter. Actually the worst age group for it was the older group on our most recent Celebrity cruise. The younger generation on the Carnival Vista was much more accommodating. I apologize for saying shut up...I get fired up and my mama bear comes out when it comes to my husband and how he gets treated on his scooter. Again my apologies.

New NCL cruiser here,,,,can you tell me what Vibe is?

Thanks, Kari

I want to know how the riding up to ride down is an issue? My husband travels on a scooter and many times we just get on when an elevator arrives because those “only me in the world people” will not wait a minute for him to board the elevator orsquueze over a tiny bit to make room for his scooter. Yes, you are reading scooter so he CAN’T take the stairs. He would much prefer to have the ability to take the stairs than have to travel on a scooter. So, shut up about people riding up to ride down!

My favorite cruise including all the ports was 17 days from Venice to FLL! But my favorite one stop on a cruise was Abu Dhabi....sailed from Rome to Abu Dhabi and ended in Abu Dhabi for the Grand Prix race. The people in the UAE are the best!

Specialty Restaurants with dining hours for Adults only on a rotating basis so those wanting a quiet romantic dinner can do so! For Example: 1st night of cruise it could be Cagneys after 7 pm is for adult diners only, 2nd night it could be Ocean Blue after 7 pm. (before I'm accused of disliking children.....I have raised 24 foster children and 4 of my own, worked in a middle school and I adore children and I think its terrific that parents are doing cruises and creating memories with their children.) But, you can't ask children to be adults and sit quietly for an extended period and it would be terrific to have a romantic atmosphere for other cruisers who are without children.

I think this a great idea. The OP isn't saying every day for every restaurant, but it would be nice to have adult only dining on a rotating basis. I like dining with my grand kids but there are times that I'd like to dine with just my husband.

I’m at 5 weeks and don’t have that option either. I know in other lines I’ve had to still produce the card at the port. I’ll keep checking to see if the option appears.

I sent an email to groups to get reservations at speciality restaurants for 14 people. Got all the times we wanted.