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NCL Jade Accessible Cabin -- my experience


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I'm still new to posting, though I've been lurking for some time. I hope this post is appropriate for this forum.

 

I took my first-ever cruise last month on the Norwegian Jade. I am mobility-challenged and a large person, so I wanted to share my thoughts on both the ship and my cabin, hoping it might help others.

 

I can walk a little, but have trouble standing for extended periods or walking distances. I talked to NCL's special needs department ahead of time, knowing I'd need wheelchair assistance to get on the ship. I got to the port (Miami), which was a madhouse. The guy who was "coordinating" was way over his head. He kept getting people mixed up and I had to point out multiple times that he skipped my name on the list. The young man who pushed me onto the ship was pleasant and helpful.

 

I decided to rent a scooter. Because Special Needs at Sea is the only authorized provider for NCL, I used them. I had to order a bariatric scooter due to my size. The cruise was six days long and the cost for the scooter, including insurance was $426. It was waiting in my cabin when the announcement that cabins were available was made.

 

I was in 9148, an accessible balcony cabin. It was huge. There was no lip between the hallway and room or between the room and the bathroom. The floor was raised slightly beneath the carpet at the bathroom entrance, but it was a smooth ramp. There was a wooden ramp between the room and the balcony.

 

The cabin was large enough for me to turn the huge scooter around by executing a three-point turn. I didn't need the scooter in the bathroom, but it would have fit. Unlike the pictures I've seen of other NCL cabins, the bathroom was quite spacious. There was a roll-in shower with a flip-down shower seat.

 

Getting in and out of the cabin could be tricky. I quickly learned that it was easier to come from one direction, not the other. I asked the cabin steward for a door stop, which made things so much easier. However, if the steward saw me, even at a difference, he'd shout out, "hold on Miss Cruiser" and come running to open the door.

 

I have pictures of the cabin and bathroom, if anyone is interested.

 

A side note: the cabin right next to mine, #9150, is also an accessible cabin, but has the dumbest ever situation -- there is a huge pole in the middle of the room. The family staying in that cabin struggled, as one person was a full-time wheelchair user who had no use of his legs and only use of one arm and another had recently had a stroke, so she was using a rollator walker. If I had met them on the first day, I would have offered to switch with them.

 

I'm going on another cruise on the Jade next year. I will be in 9648, which supposedly is the same as 9148. My cabin steward verified for me that the pole is in 9150 and 9650.

 

The Jade is a nice ship: not too big, not too small. The elevators were reasonably speedy. Probably the most annoying thing is that deck 6 is very segmented. Grand Pacific MDR is only accessible from the aft elevators. Nothing else on deck 6 is accessible from the aft elevators.

 

The midship corridors on deck 9 were extremely narrow to navigate with a scooter. The aft and forward areas were a bit bigger, though still tight.

 

We stopped at three ports. The first, Roatan, I couldn't exit the ship as it was a tender port. The second, Harvest Caye, was easy to exit and enter the ship, because it was a dock. The one attendant was nervous about me piloting the scooter back up the gangplank, so he asked if I could walk and he'd drive the scooter, which was fine. Since there were no other ships docked, Harvest Caye was a nice and quiet place to scoot around for a few hours. The final port, Costa Maya, was also an easy off/easy on port, but there was a huge RCI ship docked at the same time and there were a huge number of kids running around, screaming, ramming into my scooter and skidding to a stop right in front of me. Between that and the very pushy salespeople, I only lasted about 25 minutes in port.

 

Special Needs at Sea told me to leave the scooter in my cabin at the end of the cruise. The customer service desk people on the ship said I didn't need to do that, since it was a challenge to walk the distance from my cabin to the staging point for wheelchair debarkation assistance (Bliss Lounge on deck 7 forward). They said SNAS would pick up scooters from there too. When I got to Bliss, there were at least 15 other scooter users who left their scooters there. I had to wait a long time (more than an hour) for debarkation, since I needed the larger wheelchair. The young man who pushed me off the ship didn't seem thrilled by the task, but did engage a luggage porter when we got to the luggage area, so I was able to get through customs quickly and out to the transportation area. I had booked a seat on the shuttle bus provided by NCL, but there were hundreds in line and I just couldn't stand that long, so I took a taxi to the airport instead. It was worth the $27.

 

I hope this information is helpful. I'm happy to answer any questions about my experience.:)

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Enjoyed your review !

 

Would be nice if you posted the pictures mentioned as others may find it helpful.

 

I never book the cruise line's transport .Always take taxies even if it cost more. Cruise $1,000, Extras for enjoyment $300.00, Personal comfort PRICELESS !

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Thank you for the review. My Mom and sister will be traveling with me on the Jewel in July. They both have mobility issues and we will be renting 1 wheelchair. I was worried about the size of the room but your review has helped answer some of my questions. I am very interested in pictures of the room if you can post them please. Thank you again.

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  • 1 year later...

Thanks for your review.

I will be traveling 02/2021 on Jade and found your review very helpful.  Thanks to it, I was able to change the room from 9650 to 9148 (didn’t like the idea of a pole in the middle of the room 😖).

I’m also interested in the pictures if you can post them please.

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I'm glad you were able to get 9148. I sailed in 9648 this year and it seemed to be laid out a little differently. I much preferred 9148. In the first picture, I was sitting in the lounge chair, the balcony was to my left and the bathroom was to my right. My scooter was between the restroom and me. The second picture is the balcony sitting in the same chair. The third one is obviously the bathroom. The final is of the closet, drawers, and safe.

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 years later...
On 9/25/2022 at 6:27 PM, Cruzin Kahuna said:

So I know it has been a while but do you happen to know how wide the wheelchairs are that they used for embarkation and disembarkation?

Most of the embarkation/disembarkation wheelchairs are pretty narrow. They do have at least one larger chair, but I had to wait quite a while because they assisted people in the order they signed up and I had to wait until it was available. For example, let's say I was #10 in line. The larger wheelchair was used for person #4 and #9, even if they didn't need the extra space, so I had to wait until it came back again, after #14. That's one reason why I actually purchased a Fold and Go wheelchair after my third cruise. Now I don't need assistance at embarkation or disembarkation.

 

 

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