ksobgynrn

Sorry you had such a bad experience on Disney. Recently cruised on Allure with my sister, who uses a scooter. We always book an accessible cabin and the ship itself is very accessible. The muster was very easy - when we showed up, they sent us to the "accessible" staging area. All public restrooms have automatic doors, even for the accessible stall. In the Windjammer, there were accessible tables. One time someone who did not need the accessible table sat down right before we came in. One of the crew went over to them and asked them to move so we could sit down. There was always crew members offering to carry my sister's tray as she browsed the buffets. Always got beverages for us, etc. We even had a pool assistant get us lounge chairs close to the beach pool, which was easy for her to get in and out of.

 

We've had amazing service on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

 

Unfortunately ADA doesn't mean anything to the cruise industry. Some seem to be better than others. The new ships seem to be better than the older ships.

 

Hopefully you'll have a better experience on your next cruise.

I too, have only cruised on Celebrity & Royal...This thread just makes me determined to stay off Disney!

I plan to cruise on Princess in 2017...hope I find them as disabled friendly as the Royal cruise lines. :eek:

Emily, I also am disabled with a bad back....when you are ready to cruise consider the following.

Renting a scooter...I rented a scooter for our Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver in 2013 for $175 for the week. It was waiting in my accessible cabin for me. It made a great deal of difference when we had to cross the length of the ship for various reasons. By evening I still felt good enough to enjoy the evening festivities.

Beware the Vancouver port...As stated above, most cruise lines offer wheelchair assist for embarkation/disembarkation. However, in Vancouver they process everyone on all the different ships leaving port that day through the same customs area. Though I had requested assistance in advance, we still would have waited 45 minutes or more for a wheelchair. The line was unbelievable, so I found a chair near the end and just sat and waited for my group to weave through the line and then boarded with just my cane as assistance.

Be aware that not all "accessible" excursions live up to their name....we took an "accessible" excursion booked through the cruise line in Curacao that was only accessible in that the bus had a spot to load my wheelchair. Once we arrived to our destination, a botanical garden of sorts, the paths were NOT accessible at all.

Consider a cane or walker with a seat....this way you can walk and sit as needed. Or if you must stand in a line you can do so while seated.

Safety drill...do NOT stand in the crush! There are always seats available for those who cannot stand.

If you decide to use a scooter...book on ships that have the large promenade type open decks. This way you always have a rather open area to cross the ship. Nothing worse than trying to get past throngs of people in a convoluted deck design that makes you either go past the narrow shops area or maneuver the casino on your scooter to get from the dining room to the theater.

Finally....have a blast! Cruising is actually one of my favorite vacations as a disabled traveler! Yes, there are always some rude comments or looks from a few the able-bodied...but most fellow cruisers are kind and gracious. ;)

~Marla

Thank you so much for posting your beautiful pics! We are going to St Thomas in Feb and I was debating where to go to snorkel.....a prefer beaches cuz I can spend hours in the water. You made my decision easy! Looks awesome!!:)

Ditto on the no kids thing! That frees up TONS of money for things like cruises. People at my husband's work like to tease him about cruising, and he always points out that if we had kids, or they didn't, things would go very different. My family is always excited about us cruising. In fact, we have gotten them addicted! They don't cruise as often as we do, but that is because my father travels so much for work. Other family members, well, I know they know we cruise, because they can read my posts on these boards, but we don't talk to them about it because we know the reaction we would get, but hey! We don't really care, we are cruising!

The no kids comment made me laugh! We have 2 adult kids that I wouldn't trade for anything, but......we would probably be millionaires by now if we had been childless:p And to make matters worse we drag them along on cruises whenever possible so they can cost us even more :D

after reading a lot of these, i think id rather be a newbie! it almost sounds like the 'old salts' dont get the rush of excitement that a newbie gets :( and they spend a wee bit too much time eyerolling at what the think is silly 'virgin' behavior! pls dont flame me though, just mho :)

 

since its been 4 yrs since my last, i think ill be a good mix of both, not making mistakes (thinking the sail away drink are free :eek:) but also having the rediculous giddyness (word??) and excitement that the virgins get!! :D

Couldn't agree more! Though far from an "Old Salt", I do several of the newbie no-no's.

Retractable ID holder.....Sorry, just love the convenience.

Take tons of pics!.....Including all the food!.....My non-cruising friends are always curious.

Buy the sail away drink......makes me feel like this is just the 1st step of cruise time indulgence.

Go to at least one art auction.....just for the free champagne!

Turn the wrong way off the elevator at least once daily!

Go to as many ship board events I can drag my DH to!

I'm sure I missed a few :D

But the point is.....when I lose that excitement.....it is time to quit cruising ;)

I tell people that I work for my vacation habit! It is all about priorities, mine happens to be my cruises!

 

I also find that for those who have not experienced the joy of a cruise, just do not get it! Some people ask why take a cruise when you can go to an all inclusive. My reply: Boring, why stay at one location when you can travel and see more of the world with out haveing to pack and unpack every night.

I'm with you there! I work to cruise. I rarely buy clothing, my house is old and out of date, and my fridge is more than 20 years old. And I buy my cars used. I figure when I am on my death bed, none of that will matter. I'll (hopefully) have my memories of great times with family in exotic locations, holding stingrays, climbing waterfalls, snorkeling with nurse sharks and swimming with dolphins. Can't beat that! Most the people who make negative comments have spent there money on other things that I am simply not interested in.