Jersey Cruisers

On 9/10/2019 at 8:51 PM, raindropsalways said:

Unfortunately, my memory is not as good as it once was and due to computer problems, I dumped all my old trips. Regardless, I do remember a few things. I did check your itinerary and noticed that you will be sailing in and out of Rome.

I would suggest that you spend a few days or at least a couple days in Rome before the cruise. Their ho ho bus has space for one mobility device. You could basically see all of Rome in two or three days. From Rome it is an easy train ride to Civitavecchia (departure port). It was just a short distance from the train station to the shuttle buses to ship. If I recall correctly, Royal Caribbean docks close enough that one can scoot to the ship. With four of you, a private transfer might be less expensive. For two of us, the train was the most economical.

 

Ruth and I traveled to most of the places before “accessible vehicles” were in, thus we based our plans on anything that could transport our scooters. In Ephesus I found a source that would transport our scooters so we visited a local museum and mountain village. I had visited the Ephesus Archaeological Museum when I was still playing able bodied and it really was not something for mobility scooters. However I do believe that it is very possible modifications may have been made making it accessible. Definitely worth checking out.

 

Athens if fairly accessible. Ruth and I took a taxi into town and the metro back to the port. We both had been to the Acropolis, thus did not venture up there. I do not know if the elevator is working or not. They built the elevator the year they hosted the Special Olympics. Accessing the metro was a running leap due to the gap. However we were informed that there was a ramp in the first car. People are wonderful everywhere, others on the metro helped us getting in and out.

 

Naples is fairly accessible. Depending on what you want to see in town, you should be able to either scoot to and from or use public transportation. I've never had and desire to see Pompei, thus no idea of what would be involved.

 

I think Messina is the port we got rained on; more like a continuous cloud burst that would not stop. We were using the local ho ho bus and gave up and went back to the ship... two mighty wet gals regardless of the fact we both had excellent rain gear.

 

On an overall basis, we found transportation that could transport our scooters. At the time of our visits, “accessible” vehicles really did not exist. However, from what I have seen in more recent times, any company with an accessible vehicle is rather pricey. We both used the small travel scooters, thus they would fit in car trunks or in a van without too much effort. Yes, we gave driver a couple extra dollars for handling our scooters and still do. My experience has been that most tour companies with the “accessible” vehicles charge an out-rages price. If you can get in and out of a vehicle on your own, I'd suggest just asking if source can transport your scooter. Also, most shuttle buses now offer limited space for mobility devices or at least a few in their fleet that can.

 

If you are flying out the same day you disembark, there was not any train service directly from Civitavecchia to the Rome airport. We had a very late departure, thus took the train to a small community south of Rome with many sights. Visited all the sights and took the evening train to the airport.

 

If you decide to book any trains in Italy, please use Trenitalia. https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. If you are already there, just purchase them at the station. Do not use Rail Europe or any of the American companies. There mark-up beyond real.

 

Have a wonderful cruise,

Betty

 

Sorry it is taking me so long to reply to your post. Thank you so much we're taking the time to share all that valuable information with me. I am certain it will be very helpful for our trip. 
Bob

On 9/9/2019 at 9:27 PM, Essiesmom said:

Santorini is a tender port, and you will not be able to go ashore there.  Mykonos might be a tender port although there is one 0000000docking position.  Two ships there during the day, you would be competing   with NCL dawn for the dock.  EM

Sorry it's taking me so long to reply to your response. It is not great news but I appreciate the heads-up. I'm hoping there's a way with help I can at least get on to the tender, and separately bring a wheelchair. However, it appears that I will be staying on the ship at those venues which is not such a bad thing if I can visit the ports in much of the other locations 

Bob

My wife and I along with my daughter and son and well will be doing an Italy and Greek Isles cruise on May 17th 2020. I'm totally dependent on a mobility scooter. We have traveled in Europe before but I was healthy then and it wasn't a problem. Most of the excursions I looked at with 

Royal Caribbean are either sold out or very expensive. I have been looking at sagetraveling.com and they have some great sounding tours. But the fewer people that go on it the more expensive it is. I posted this message on the roll call page and I figured I'd posted here in the unlikely possibility that someone reading this is disabled and going on that cruise. Although you don't have to be disabled to go on it. I also would like any tips at all regarding travel in the following areas: Rome, Sicily, Athens, any of the Greek Islands, Ephesus, and Naples. I believe some of the ports use tenders. Does anyone know if the tenders can accomodate a mobility scooter? I will probably have a rented wheelchair also but I don't know if tenders are easier with a wheelchair. I would greatly appreciate any and all tips regarding the above. 

Thanks, 
Bob

I think everyone who has experienced a problem and has had an FCC issued has said that fees and taxes are never in the equation - it's always based on the cruise fare alone. The part about not being refunded just sounds wrong - I would call back and talk to a supervisor - everyone gets their port fees back when you miss a port.

Trust me - I've spoken to a supervisor, and they are not backing down. As I said in my post, I was initially satisfied with the compensation they seemed to be offering. Along with the minor perks they gave (free internet pkg, free online movies, and a total refund of the $140 parking fee at Cape Liberty) it seemed reasonable. In fact I found myself defending the Captain from folks that wanted to "string him up." But this port fee, tax, etc stuff has gotten me really riled up. It's not even the financial aspect of it. It's the gall of reducing our refunds and vouchers because we never got to the ports we had paid them to sail us to. Several years back, I was on a RCCL cruise that had to skip a Grand Cayman docking due to storm damage at the port. We got a refund based on that. I guess in the case of Anthem, the bean-counters just decided it wasn't worth the cost to them

I just posted the following to Facebook:

<<<My husband and I were on the infamous Feb 6, cruise on Anthem of the Seas. We had also paid for a booking for our daughter and boyfriend. We've been on seven of their cruises and have another one booked for August. Even though this cruise was a disappointing and somewhat scary cruise, we felt that the crew did a great job, and that RCCL's compensation was fair. However, that opinion changed yesterday when I received the 50% off voucher for a future cruise. The numbers didn't add up, so I called RCCL guest relations. To my utter surprise, they were NOT including "tax, fees, and port expenses." Those charges were $281.28, so my voucher was reduced by about $140.00. To make matters worse, my reimbursement for the cruise is also being reduced by those $281.28 in charges, so the voucher and the reimbursement is reduced by a total of about $420.00. The gentleman I spoke to in Guest Relations told me Port Fees, etc were not being reimbursed because "...we did not stop in those ports." Talk about your circular logic. THAT'S WHY WE ARE GETTING COMPENSATED - BECAUSE WE HAD TO TURN AROUND AND THUS MISSED THOSE PORTS!. I have given RCCL the benefit of the doubt in all aspects of this cruise. However, even they seem to be hinting at a tad of negligence on their part: In the email that contained thee voucher, they apologized stating that,

"Ultimately, it is our responsibility to evaluate and avoid these types of weather occurrences, and what happened during your sailing has showed that we need to do better." Come on Royal Caribbean, don't nickel and dime us on this. It goes beyond how much we are getting back. It's about how you treat your customers.>>>

I just got the following response: "We're sorry for your disappointment. We understand, and appreciate your honest feedback."

I'm so very glad to see that they're not using empty, useless platitudes in their responses.

I was also on Anthem for the 1/15-1/26 sailing. We tried room service for breakfast and lunch. The menu for both is very different than on other ships. The up charge is for almost anything warm.

 

Breakfast offers pancakes and eggs for an up charge. Basically cold cereal, oatmeal, pastries and a fruit bowl without charge. The fruit bowl is VERY different than the fruit plate available on other ships. Think more fruit cocktail with bits of watermelon than something fresh cut. We ordered breakfast, including the fruit bowl, about 5 times.

 

Non breakfast offers a burger and a pepperoni pizza for a charge ($4.95). We didn't try either. Without charge, a vegetable wrap, Italian wrap, fries, Mac and cheese, and a cheese pizza are available. Cookies, cheesecake and tea/water are also available. There's definitely no cheese plate, which I was unhappy to discover.

 

We tried American Icon for breakfast one morning. It was basically the MDR breakfast menu, but bagels and lox were also offered. We were seated in Silk (they open overflow seating there for breakfast and lunch) and found the service quite slow.

----------------------------------------------

The following website seems to contradict part of what you experienced with room service:

http://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/709-royal-caribbean-menu-room-service#Royal_Caribbean_Vitality_menu

The upper part of the page deals with room service. Lots of other useful info also. Hopefully, this website is accurate - we sail on Feb 6.

Can anybody tell me if there are any cruise destinations that you don't have to be tendered to any of the ports . . . or minimal tendered ports? Thanks!

As I mentioned in another thread I started in this Forum, Bar Harbor uses a tender, but on my just completed RCCL Liberty of the Seas Cruise, they used large Whale Watching boats to tender us - no problem for scooters and wheelchairs.

Thanks so much for this info. We're sailing on Liberty on Sept. 24. This will be my first time using a rental scooter on the ship so I don't know how powerful it will be. I will also have a wheelchair with me. Here's hoping that the compact scooter will work on the hill.

 

If you have any helpful hints to share about the ship or ports your input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

As has been pointed out here, there is a very steep hill to the shops, etc. at the Bar Harbor port. I have a 3 wheel Pride Go Go Elite Traveler that I brought on the cruise. It handled the hill, but just be careful. One more point: Liberty was a fine ship, but (unless it was my imagination) there were a lot of metal thresholds that seemed higher than on the Quantum (the only other ship I've scootered on.) So slow down when you approach them.

By the way, if you're planning on any excursions, I would definitely contact RCCL's shorexAccess team. They were extremely helpful in letting me know which excursions I could take my scooter on. Here's a link:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/accessibleseas/home.do

Have a great Cruise!

I'm sailing on RCCL's Liberty of The Seas next week, through New England and Canada. I was advised by RCCL that we will be using a tender in Bar Harbor. I assumed that meant I couldn't use my scooter to disembark. However, I've seen several posts on CC that refer to some tenders that are scooter-accessibile. Does anyone know what the case is in Bar Harbor?

-------------------------------------

I am the OP. Just got back from this cruise (which we liked a lot.) As it turns out, they are now using large Whale Watching boats for tenders, so I, and many other disabled guests, were able to disembark quite easily. Thanks to all for contributing to my post.

I will be on the Viking Star Mediterranean Getaway Cruise in Feb 2016. Unfortunately, as I have discovered, Viking does not allow scooters on their ships. As a result, the next best thing is a manual wheelchair. My question is this: The ship sails from Rome to Barcelona. I'm familiar with those ports. Can anyone tell me about getting around in general in Naples; Messina, Sicily; Trapani, Sicily; Cagliari, Sardinia; Palma De Mallorca, Spain; and Valencia, Spain. Thanks for any info.

We were not able to tender to Bar Harbor because they used the ship's tenders and those were not accessible via a scooter. The only tenders we've been able to use are in Grand Cayman, where they use local tenders and they're roll on.

Good to know for my next Western Caribbean Cruise! :D Glad I'm bringing a wheelchair also.

RE: Bar Harbor - RCCL uses it own life boats as tenders which do not have roll-on capabilities. All 3 times I have been to Bar Harbor RCCL prohibited anyone with a mobility scooter to board the tender.

 

If you have a TravelScoot Mobility scooter ( http://travelscoot.com/ )that which collapses much like an umbrella or Luggie ( http://www.luggie-scooters.com/ ) which folds up like a rolling suit case and you're able to walk up/down a few steps you might be allowed to board the tender but that's also not a certainty.

My scooter breaks down into 4 or 5 pieces very easily, but unfortunately is not foldable. I will have a collapsible wheelchair in addition to scooter, for just this type of situation. I'm pretty resigned now to the fact that I'll have to use it in Bar Harbor. Thanks for the info.

If you do get the scooter on and off the tender, the path from the dock to the street level is incredibly steep. That was the biggest obstacle to me.

I'm also going to have a collapsible wheelchair for the cruise. When you say "incredibly steep" hopefully not too steep for my wife to push me to the top. We are taking the Arcadia Natl Park and Cadillac Mountain shore excursion. I'm hoping that maybe we'll be picked up at a spot where we don't have to negotiate the hill - probably not though. We shall see. Thanks for the info.

I'm sailing on RCCL's Liberty of The Seas next week, through New England and Canada. I was advised by RCCL that we will be using a tender in Bar Harbor. I assumed that meant I couldn't use my scooter to disembark. However, I've seen several posts on CC that refer to some tenders that are scooter-accessibile. Does anyone know what the case is in Bar Harbor?

I am taking my 80 year old mother on a her first cruise on October 4th on Brilliance. There is one tour (hop on hop off) that works for us. I really want to be able for her to see the sights in Canada but have no clue where to look. I have looked for private tours in both cities. The few i have found said she has to be able to walk on and off the tour bus. She is a single amputee and can stand but can't ascend or descend stairs. If anyone has any suggestions for private tour companies in these cities, I would really really appreciate it. I'm just getting a bit anxious as I thought there would be more accessible tours thru RCCL and there aren't!

 

Thanks!

Cindy:)

I am sailing on RCCL Liberty of The Seas, on Aug 27, through New England and then Halifax and St. John. I use a mobility scooter. RCCL's Special Needs Dept found me specific excursions that I can go on. Although you can only deal with them by email, they were extremely helpful. There is a phone number you can initially call, but the specifics are by email. Here is a link to the web page that includes the phone number and email address. Also a link to the Special Needs Form you should complete. Good Luck!

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/accessibleseas/home.do

I went through this same questioning this year. In the past few cruises I used a Tzora scooter which folded up so it didn't take up much room in the cabin and I didn't need to use it on board. I requested a shower stool so I could sit down. Because I could manage in a regular cabin I did not feel comfortable requesting a HC cabin.

 

This year we had our cabin booked when I realized that I needed to switch to a full size scooter and would need to use it on board as well. I contacted my TA to change to a HC cabin. It was a difficult decision but I knew that if I wanted to continue cruising it is the cabin which I will need to book. You know your restrictions and if you need a HC cabin to enjoy your cruise, you need to book one and not feel guilty about it.

I traveled in Jan. on RCCL Quantum. We had a non-HC balcony cabin. I had my Pride Go Go Elite Traveller Scooter and storing it in the room was no problem at all. (Of course, that scooter is pretty small, and others can be quite large.) I don't think there was anything special about the cabin's configuration or size. I guess it depends on one's tolerance for a minor obstruction. I will be going one step further in a couple weeks: We're sailing on RCCL Liberty of The Seas, in a non-HC balcony cabin. However, this time I'm renting a collapsible wheelchair (necessary for certain excursions) and taking my scooter as well. Hopefully, wife and I won't be bumping into each other! :eek: Actually, it shouldn't be a problem - we'll be out and about most of the time.

for Rome and Naples we used Rome-car-tours with owner Rudy

It was 500 euros for an 8 seater mini van which we were able to fill with fellow tourers to offset costs-it seems with a smaller vessel this may be more difficult for you

 

In Rome the van was able to negotiate the narrow alleys to get really close to sites and so little walking.As it is a private tour its up to you to negotiate how much time you want to spend on shopping and food

 

Naples we had a trip up the Amalfi coast visiting Positano and Sorrento-again could get into the heart unlike large tour buses and some spectacular scenery.

However we also visited Pompeii and that I suspect would not be suitable for you and would be too long for you to sit in a van while your wife explored the site

 

I'm afraid the other ports I have no knowledge of

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Actually, we did the Amalfi Coast (fantastically beautiful) and Pompei during a cruise about 6 years ago. Four of us had a driver and it was great. I guess I should have stated that I'm more interested in the other ports I mentioned. From what I'm seeing, it seems a lot more expensive now unless you get 6 or 8 people. Nobody has responded to the Roll Call I began a few weeks ago (:() so its a little difficult to get a group going.

Thanks again

I totally agree with Hank and as I wrote my previous post I was going to suggest that just maybe you could cancel your cruise with Viking since they do not have any type of policy for the disabled pax. Other cruiselines do and I would suggest that if you can cel you find a line that cann easily be of help to you. And, Hank is also correct that that is a bad time for a Rome to BCN cruise..early spring or sprinf and/or fall would be a much better time re weather. If you are not locked into this cruise or it was to save money you can always check out other lines and see what their price point is and I bet you would get good pricing as well as have the help you may need on board as well. The answer is always no if you do not ask.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=47108551&postcount=5

My comment might sound a bit harsh, but I am trying to be a realist. Viking has made it clear that they do not go out of their way to accommodate those with major mobility disabilities. And you have also booked a February cruise which is arguably not very good weather to be visiting Europe. So our advice is Cancel the Cruise! There are other options that will provide more accommodation for you! While we think it is commendable that folks with disabilities learn how to overcome obstacles and have a great time traveling, there are just sometimes when one should carefully consider whether the trip fits their disabilities.

 

If you are in a situation where you cannot reasonably change your plans then you will need to consider either private excursions or doing some things on your own. While doing it on your own might sound crazy, there are ports where you might do better to simply hire a taxi (or book a private car/driver) and do your own thing. Perhaps we sound a bit harsh, but having seen folks sitting on tour buses (while the others are off doing the tour) we are just trying to be realistic.

 

And I will toss out another thought. Are you aware that even Rome has been known to have snow in February (it last happened in 2012)! It is not a common thing, but it does happen.

 

Hank

Hlitner & Cberge,

Thanks for your candor. I do have Travel Insurance, and since my condition worsened since booking, I could easily cancel the cruise...which I very well may end up doing. However, I have previously been on two European River Cruises (one with Viking) and though I had physical problems (albeit less than now) I was able to greatly enjoy the cruises, so I'm quite aware of the challenges of European travel.

As far as Feb weather, I spent 2 1/2 years in Europe so I'm kind of familiar with the climate. And although I'm disabled, i'm fairly "hale and hardy" for one with my condition. We travel quite a bit. The scooter is a relatively new addition (about 9 months) and it is a very welcome one. In Jan. we cruised on RCCL's new Quantum, and although the cruise sucked, the scooter came in very handy. (As an aside, as far as I've been able to determine, Viking is the only ocean cruising line that prohibits scooters and motorized wheelchairs.)

So, notwithstanding your valuable advice, I think I'll wait for the actual answer to my question from other CC members, and do some of my own research before I cancel the cruise, OR decide to "rough it.":rolleyes:

Thanks again!

In Feb 2016, my wife and I will be going on Viking Star's Mediterranean Getaway from Rome to Barcelona. I am unable to walk more than 50 yards or so without getting winded and having extreme back pain. I didn't realize when I booked this cruise that Viking Ocean Cruises do not allow portable scooters, and I don't want my wife to have to push me in a wheelchair on extended walks. The Viking tours that are listed as "easy" are easy for normal, healthy seniors. However, for me, they might as well be mountain climbing.

I would be interested to know of any reliable, reasonable tours that are 90% driving, with some stops for food, photos, shopping, etc. I don't even mind staying in a vehicle for a while to allow my wife some strolling around.

The ports (other than Rome & Barcelona) are: Naples, Sicily (Trapani,) Tunis (La Goulette,) Sardinia (Cagliari,) Palma De Mallorca, Spain, and Valencia, Spain,

I'm sure I can find info on this at various websites, but I have found CC members to be a really great source. I hope I wouldn't violating CC rules if I post this same message in Disabled Travelers forum and Viking Oceans forum.

I'm on the Star feeling wonderful on the Homelands trip. I'm struck in reading some of these threads how it's rather embarrassing to see how entitled so many people seem to be. There are a lot of rather well fed passengers who have an array of every type, amount of food and drink and STILL find things to complain about.

The world is in a bit of a mess. We're destroying our planet. The lovely staff who work on these ships must marvel at the wealthy folk who can do these trips.

All I'm saying is I'm incredibly grateful and fortunate to have such a wonderful trip.

Some of the thread titles are just downright offensive.... Whiny, entitled spoiled children. We can and should do better.

Just sayin'. End of speech from one very thankful passenger.

---------------------------

Just to add a different 2 cents to this, there's nothing more annoying to me than someone that feels THEY are entitled to characterize another person's complaint/opinion as showing a sense of entitlement. Surely, you have something in your life, be it cable, insurance, etc, that you've complained about. How would you feel about someone else who is quite happy with one of those services, smugly telling you that "We're destroying our planet..." (whatever in the world that has to do with it,) and that you are "whiny" and "spoiled" because you complained about the service the other person thought was wonderful.

Here's a novel idea: How about each person give their personal opinion about the ship/cruise/excursion, etc, (minus the editorializing about whininess) and have readers decide from the posts how to evaluate the opinions.

ADA Law , the ruling effective 1/1/2012 regarding Spector vs. Norwegian Cruise lines and any other USA law do NOT apply to cruises embarking and debarking in Europe ? So don't understand why you are continuing to pursue this matter being that you're taking a Mediterranean Cruise that embarks and debarks from a European Port ?

In the original post that began this thread, I stated that I was questioning Viking using U.S. ports, which according to the link I provided in that post, they will be doing. I think some of the subsequent posts to me didn't read that and caused some come confusion. It wasn't about non-U.S. ports.

I had earlier discussed the issue in another thread in this forum, that we were booked for a Feb 2016, Rome to Barcelona cruise on the Viking Star, and that I was disappointed about the scooter issue. After input from others here, AND a few conversations with Viking, I was resigned to the fact that the scooter was prohibited. (As an aside, a Viking rep DID tell that I could bring the scooter aboard, keep it in my cabin, but not use it ON the ship. The logistics of that don't make a lot of sense. At any rate, I'm not bringing it)

Regarding foreign-flagged ships in U.S. ports, that poor horse has beaten to death. However, I just wanted to clarify here the purpose of my starting this thread

Suggest you go back and read Post 16 & 19 from Chengkp75 as both are correct along with the information I previously posted. Though could be wrong I believe that Chengkp75 was and or still is a Compliance Officer on Foreign Flagged Ships who has first hand experience with this matter.

 

Fully understand that it's important to you as a person with a Motor Neuron Diesease/ALS but you're not the only one who requires the use of a mobility scooter. After all this is the Disabled Cruise Travel Forum. I too have a mobility disability due to having MS and require the use of mobility scooter but fully understand that all ships are NOT equal and that ADA does NOT apply in total to foreign flagged ships even when embarking from a USA port. Your continued insistence to not accept that Viking's policy does NOT violate any USA laws especially ADA could actually be view as showing a sense of entitlement.

 

Bottom line this subject has run it course . Therefore you have one of three choices.

• You can book the trip and bring your mobility scooter despite that you've been told by Viking its not allow to only be denied boarding.
  
• Hire an attorney and spend numerous years as well as lots of money challenging this is USA courts.
  
• Or accept the fact that Viking has done nothing to violate ADA law or any other USA laws in its decision to prohibit mobility scooters.
  

I won't subject this Forum to anything more about this from me, except to say a couple things:

I wasn't trying to insist that Viking, or any foreign-flagged ship, change their policies to accommodate me. I just thought that delving into the issue a little deeper (even if my interpretation was incorrect) would be of some value. Even Chengkp75 mentioned that this was a very gray area of the law. From the responses here, I was wrong in that assumption.

I have been, and will continue, to research this a little more, but I promise I will not post it in this forum. However, if you see a guy tooling around a Viking Ship on a portable scooter (highly unlikely, I admit) you'll know Viking liberalized their policy :)

Lastly, I will be on the Viking Star next February for the Med. Getaway, and though scooterless, I plan to have ball! :D

Rather than using a sledge hammer to slap a fly, why not call Viking's customer service and discuss the situation with them directly. A friendly call will provide you with an opportunity to discuss all of your details directly to someone who may be able to make something happen for you.

 

The Customer Service number is 1-866-984-5464.

I've spoken to them a few times about it. There is no question about the European Cruise - no scooters allowed. According to the person I spoke to, they weren't sure about upcoming North American Cruises...which, by the way was the issue posed by my original post

Sorry for the typo:

"It seems to me that allowing battery-powered scooters would constitute " permanent and substantial physical modification in the ships design."

It should read "would NOT"