Queenie2

It should be noted that this is technically a proposed rule. By that I mean that it is still open to comment, and when it is still open for comment, the final rule can and usually does change. I expect there will be a number of comments from the cruise lines and their reps, saying that this is too "costly" for them. IT will be interesting to see what the final rule looks like. I do know that the Passenger Vessel Committee (who is still trying to sort out the ADAAG) has leaned towards the cruise lines, and granted them many concessions (at least in the proposed rules). Anyway, if this turns out to be a hot-button issue, the DOT may well delay the implementation and open it all to more discussion, just like they did with the ADAAG fro Passenger Vessels (and God knows when we will ever see those final rules).

It's a very SLOW process.

On the plus side, it looks like the DOJwill take advantage of the publicity stemmeing from the 20th annivesary of the ADA, and actually release their updated ADAAG later this month. Time will tell.

But I do think we are moving in a positive direction.

Candy

Wow Sunshine, baking your own treats sounds great. Unfortunately I'm not exactly known for my culinary skills (that's an understatement) so I don't think it's a good option for me.

Roz, I will try them. Good for the dog and tasty too -- that's a great combo. Thanks!

Candy

OK I have a question for all you dog people!

I love animals but don't know much about dogs. I'm going to be visiting a friend later this year and want to take her and her service dog a present. She is not a problem -- I've got that covered.

Her service dog -- trooper-- is the problem. He's a lab and getting on in years. I think he is 10 now and may soon be retired. No major health problems, but just those age related aches and pains.

I want to get him some treats, but I don't want to get anything that is bad for him. Do any of you guys have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Candy

I have seen some helper monkeys and interviewed some folks who travel with them, Roz. In some airports the TSA folks are even trained about the monkeys and how to ask their owner to take off the monkey's diaper. The people that have the monkeys swear by them. I wouldn't object to one sitting next to me on a plane, but I couldn't really see having one in my own home. Of course if a friend had one, they would be welcome in my home, but I'm just not seeing it as something I'd go out and get on my own.

Interestingly enough, the new ACAA (and yes I read all 311 pages of it) further defines service animals and emotional support animals, and actually *excludes* rodents and reptiles including (snakes, other reptiles, rodents and spiders). Boy, I'm glad they clarified that -- I was really getting tired of those service spiders on planes:)

Your tax dollars at work:)

Also interestingly enough "accommodations for service animals" was the subject that attracted the most comments/letters when the proposed rules came out for comment -- 1100 out of 1229.

OK, back to work..

Candy

Another reason some people take their dogs with them and claim service animal status is the cost. I was talking with this one lady in the Denver airport the other day and she was complaining about how much it costs for her to take her dog with her on flights. She flat out told me that next time she is going to say that it is a service animal so he can travel for free. She obviously had no idea of who she was talking to, but the attitude does exist out there.

That said, I know several folks who have service animals but they lack an ID card/vest or other identification. To be honest, they aren't questioned much because they are very well behaved. And as someone pointed out, it is against the law to demand certification.

As long as an animal performs a function to help a disabled person I'm OK with that. I do draw the line at the emotional support pig that I covered some 8 years ago, but porky was pretty big and he took a pretty big dump on the jetway. Not something most well trained service animals would do. He wasn't even well trained for a pig.

Candy

Judy:

Send me an e-mail at: candy@emergingHorizons.com

I have a question for you.

Thanks!

Candy

Just wanted to add, that I blogged about you today:)

[url=" http://barrierfreetravels.com/serendipity/archives/211-Renters-Beware!.html[/url]

Candy

That's absolutely horrible. And totally unacceptable in my book. I find it particullarly disturbing because the company should understand why certain specifics are important (such as width) especially since they do such a huge chunk of their business in the travel market.

OK, it's not like you are renting a car and you get there and they give you an upgrade because they don't have the model you rented in stock. In most cases you can probably use both models; granted you may have a preferance for one model but you can probably use the one they delivered. Not so in your case. You needed a specific scooter for a specific reason and the one they delivered would not fill the bill. And let's not forget, you are paying a premium price for them to find you the scooter you need.

Grrrrrr!! I'be be ticked too. I hope your CC company denies the charge. Rest assured I will spread the sord about this one. Potential customers need to be aware of this lack of customer service.

Candy

 

Yesterday at the Captain's welcome reception, an elderly handicapped passenger lost control of her scooter and ran into 3 other passengers. We now have one broken foot and many scrapes and bruises. Who pays for this? The cruise line. Who pays us? You do.

I'm wondering why the cruise line paid f?. If indeed it was the scooter-users fault she should be liable for all med bills. I have to day that I don't know any scooter or wheelchair-user who would not accept personal responsibility for injury casued by their errors or actions.

Candy

Well, Jim Gallup, I will answer a few of your questions.

First off when you take a group shore excursion (or any type of trip) you will have to wait for the slowest person -- be it a wheelcahir-user, a mom with her baby or that one person who just has to spend an extra 10 minutes at every stop. That's the price you pay for group excursions and no, I don't ink folks are entitled to their money back if they have to wait for wheelers. If you want an excursion that will run on your time frame and you don't want to wait for anybody else, the book a private one.

As for the cruise lines and the adaptations we all (well most all of us) want, well the costs will most likely be spread out through all passengers. I have no problem with this -- it's what all businesses do. Hotels are required to put in accessible rooms, shuttles are required to provide accessible transport -- these costs are borne by all people.

Look at the demographics of our population -- we do need more accessible cabins and as baby boomers age we will need even more.

On the plus side -- more and more folks are writing and stating that they want more accessible cabins. MAybe the Access Board will listen.

Candy

I don't know, the public restrooms on the Norwegian Spirit had push button automatic doors. Nice and wide. They were a bit slow to open and close, but they really worked great. I did notice though that they needed maintenance pretty often. Maybe people couldn't wait for them to open and close and tried to force them? Anyway, they were a pleasure to use.

sologrip was talking about cabin access (to the front door) , not restroom access (which most land facilities also have -- and you have the option to use it or not).

There are a few cruise ships which have auto doors on a few of their accessible rooms. I think it was kind of an experiment that didn’t work out (JMO -- they didn't build any more of them for some reason, and don't even advertise that they have them). It's great that they have this, but again it's not even required in land-based facilities (which the new guidelines will be based on). Point is, wide doors are required in all entry doors to guest rooms in land-based facilities. The PVAAC decided *not* to include this in the cruise ship guidelines (on newly built ships), so only the accessible rooms will have wide doorways.

Bad move IMHO.

Candy

No, the truely brilliant solution would be not just the wider doorways but auto-opening pushbutton-activated doors so it would be possible for someone to drive a scooter through the door without getting pinched in it.

They would never go for that. It's not even required on land (whereas the wide doors are).

Candy

The solution would be to have all cabin doorway clearances 36-inches. That is what I suggested, for the same reason you mentioned, to the Access Board during the first round of feedback/comments. After all, that is what we do in hotels, and that is what the new cruise regs are based on. But thanks to the input of the cruise lines, the access board would have none of that. Granted, I was one of maybe two folks that even suggested it to the Access Board, so that lack of support could be the reason for ditching the idea.

But the point is, if you have an idea or a problem, write to the Access Board (as opposed to just posting it here). That is how you can make a real difference.

Candy

Just a FYI, the deadline has been extended by 60 days.

http://barrierfreetravels.com/serendipity/archives/185-Access-Board-Extends-Deadline.html

Candy

Actually I've found some really top-notch barrier-free lodging accommodations in Germany -- in some cases better than the US:)

To be honest the term "ADA compliant" is really meaningless to travelers (who knows the code after all? -- what you want is something *you* can access) so I urge my readers to ask a lot of questions when somebody says "ADA compliant. Because how our code is written, you can have 2 properties located right next door to one another both listed as "ADA complaint" yet both having different access features. Some have roll-in showers and some don't -- in fact there are many "ADA complaint properties" that don't have roll-ins.

As for the cruise lines -- we don't have the rules made up for them yet (except for Us flagged ships, which are few and far between). Still in the works, so pretty much anything goes. But for the most part, ships that call on the US have reacted to the market and they do provide a high level of access.

So having an "access code" isn't all that it's cracked up to be:)

Candy

I think when they say "wheelchair-accessible" (especially in the Europe river market) you have to ask about the access specifics about the room. In most cases it means that the doorway is larger and there are grab bars in the bathroom.

For example, The Viking Burgundy is not a good choice for full-time wheelchair users. There is elevator access from the middle deck to the upper deck, but the ship does not have any accessible staterooms. All staterooms have 25-inch wide doorways and raised bathroom thresholds (steps).

Deilman is the only line that actually has a cabin with a roll-in shower. And as you pointed out, you really don't need elevator access to the other rooms because all of the public spaces and the accessible room are on the same deck.

So you really have to ask a lot of specific questions, not just if they have a "wheelchair-accessible" cabin.

Candy

Peter Deilman cruises is about the only line that has an accessible stateroom with a roll-in shower (on the MV Dresden). Many river cruise ships don't even have elevator access. You could probaby do the Dresden, but don't expect the same type of access you find on the big crusie ships. The space is tighter. Also you will find many obstacles ashore on the Danube cruise. You will probably have more problems ashore than aon the ship. Anyway, it's really the only line that offers any kind of real access.

Candy

And if you are interested in reading the comments submitted, here's a link to that site:

http://www.access-board.gov/pvaac/comments-rev/

Candy

The scoping requirements are still up in the air, so if you've ever wanted to cruise but been told there were no accessible cabins available. I urge you to comment. I blogged about it at:

http://barrierfreetravels.com/serendipity/archives/169-Revised-Passenger-Vessel-Draft-Guidelines-Released.html

Candy

Oh, you are looking for pictures. The site in question only has deck plans showing where the accessible cabins are. I do know of a TA site that has some photos but since it's a TA site I can't post it here -- it will be removed and then the mod will get mad at me. What RCI ship?

Candy

Treven:

I think the moderator removed the link because it was a TA. But I also have to say that it's a database backed program/service that a lot of travel agencies use. So maybe you could just surf a bit and find an agency (any agency) that allows you to search for cruises by date, location and ship. once you get to the ship you can pull up the deck plans with the accessible rooms noted -- except for carnival which does not note them on deck plans. Alternatively, some cruise lines post their deck plans on-line. Or maybe somebody who has the link will e-mail it to you:)

Candy

Candy, just wanted to know the location of the cabin before we book. Just saves alot of hassle and back and forth with the TA.

Yes, I know Judy. that's the problem with the system used by the cruise industry. In a way the "safeguards" (and I use that term loosely) that are in place to presumably prevent ABs from booking accessible cabins, sometimes make it harder for qualified individuals (disabled people) to obtain access info and make bookings. In other words, they have to jump through more hoops, like the back-and-forth with the TA to get info.

And no, I don't have an answer, but I can tell you that it's a problem that is not unique to the cruise industry. Ticketmaster is going through similar problems right now; and in fact they just entered into an ADA settlement agreement last year because of their policies and procedures regarding folks who need accessible seating at concert venues. The problem was people who need accessible seats (sometimes considered more desirable because of their location, and availibility at sold-out events) can't buy these with one click as can AB concert gores can, so it was found that their policies were not ADA compliant.

There really are no easy answers.

Candy

I also have to say that many travel agents sites show the accessible cabins (deck plans) ,of course except for carnival which does not make it public. It's a program that TAs can subscribe to, and although every website looks a little different they have the same backend database with the deck plans.

I also have to say that no matter what rules you put in place, some people just get off on finding ways around them (from ticketmaster concert tickets to cruises). I think we also have to concentrate on making it fairly easy for dis pasengers to book the accessible cabins they need. I don't think it's fair to make them jump through too many hoops.

Of course I agree it's horrible for ABs to lie just to get what they think is an upgrade, but I think they are going to try and do that no matter what policies are in place. Some people are just skanky.

Candy

Shopmobility doesn't serve London proper, but does have a lot of outlets throughout the rural areas of the UK (where it's hard to find a rental).

In London, you'll have to go to regular med supply rental place for a scooter (most often called mobility buggies in the UK, "scooters" are motor scooter, so watch your language when you make an inquiry). Here is one place that does rental and they deliver. I'm not sure of their rates. Most also require a deposit (CC usually suffices).

All Handling (Movability) Ltd

Mobility House

492 Kingston Road

Raynes Park

London

SW20 8DX

Tel: 0208 542 2217

Fax: 0208 395 4410

Email: info@movability.com

Candy

To be honest, I wouldn't release my medical records to any doctor that wasn't actually treating me. I think it's appropriate to ask for a fitness to travel letter, and of course the type and the dimensions of equipment that you will be bringing aboard. Beyond that, I feel they are stepping over the line.

And yes, people do get taken off the ship for emergencies -- but as somebody else pointed out -- it's not always the folks in the accessible cabins.

Candy