Trouble Booking Wheelchair Assisted Room

[Hebe]

This is a general question to see if anyone is having trouble booking a wheelchair assisted room. It almost appears to me if you do not book a wheelchair assisted room during the first few weeks that a cruise posts, you will not get a handicap room.

 

Case in point -- we are going on a cruise in May 2005 and have been on the waitlist for a handicap room since July 2004. Since nothing has freed up and the cruise is now sold out -- I think our chances of getting a wheelchair assisted room are almost zero.

 

It now appears that some of the cruiselines are getting very lax in who they give the rooms. For example, on our last cruise, I knew the 3 couples who had the balcony wheelchair assisted rooms. One was given it directly by the cruiseline so they would not have to move during their back to back. Another said that it became available 60 days prior to sailing (which is interesting since they were part of my rollcall and listed this room number for over a year). The final one told me his wife had 40/20 vision which is considered vision impaired, so he could get a handicap room based on that. In all cases, these people were not at all restricted in walking, standing, or balance.

 

I guess my point is that unless we really try to make a point to the cruiselines that the wheelchair assisted cabins should be firsts given to people who need the extra room in bathrooms, shower seats, wider doors etc....., that we continue to be limited to what ships and rooms we will have to cruise. I know I continue to put this on my comment cards every cruise.

 

Am I the only one that is finding getting a room harder?

[cjh]

Haven't had any problems getting 2 handicap cabins at the same time on the same deck with Princess. My only complaint is that most handicap cabins only hold 2 and because I have 2 kids in wheelchairs I have to get 2 cabins.

[Hebe]

Well maybe the difference is we are traveling on some of the newer ships which now offer wheelchair assisted rooms with balconies. In fact, on Celebrity, these are some of the largest decks on the ship (only larger are the penthouse).

[jennan76]

Hebe - If you're still waitlisted and have been since 04, I would suggest verifying that you are actually waitlisted and done so correctly. Cruiselines do give hc staterooms to people who dont need them but not before someone who does. But if you dont tell the lines that you need one (or it hasn't been done correctly) then you may end up feeling left out. I can tell you that with any new ship (1998 or later) that there seem to be plenty of hc rooms to accommodate all that need them. I would say it would be rare if you actually cant get one when you need it unless you book super close to sailing.

 

If I were you, I would call and make sure your waitlist has been properly recorded.

[Queenie2]

It depends on the cruise line. I get this question a *lot*.

 

Some cruise lines require more documentation than others. It's a catch 22 type of situation. I mean if you ask for too much documentation it's bordering on a civil rights violation, but if you don't ask for enough, then people lie about their disability. Yes, I've have had reports of both passengers and unscrupulous travel agents doing this. As far as the TA's go, sometimes the cruise lines will look the other way if the TA is a real high producer for them.

 

Yes, I've talked to TAs who actually try to snag the accessible rooms for their AB clients as a perk (some have been successful, but all have lied). Some have even produced false documentation.

 

And, more and more PWDs are cruising (and just vacationing in general) today; however not every wheelchair-user needs an accessible room. For example, I know many folks who use a wc for distance and they take a folding wc (they can fold it up to get it in the door of their non-accessible cabin) and they can get around in the room just fine (walk) without a wc. So they don't book (or need) an accessible room.

 

So, it really depends not only on the disability, but on the passenger's access needs. In other words, the special needs department should ask you what features you need in a room, not just what your disability is. Those are two totally different questions.

 

Also, some (specialized) travel agents take blocks of accessible rooms for their group cruises. If they don't sell them they have to release them back to the cruise line, in which case they then become available to passengers.

 

In any case I would contact special needs and detail your specific access needs once again. I guess I also have to ask you, will you be able to cruise if you do not get an accessible room? You don't have to answer that here, but I think you need to consider booking another date if they are unable to book an accessible room for you on this date.

 

Candy

[cjh]

Hebe, FYI I only do balcony cabins and the ships I am on are the big Grand class on Princess.

 

Neither of my kids is able to stand or walk and their wheelchair are rigid sports type chairs so without a wheelchair cabin they can't get in the room.

[Splinter]

This is a common problem. You did not mention which cruise line or ship you were trying to book. Some of the older and smaller ships offer very few accessible cabins. Even with the newer and larger ships with more accessible cabins, these cabins often book up very early. If you can be flexible about destinations and times, you can generally find something else, and yes occasionally cabins do open up (even on sold-out cruises) because people get ill, die, etc. and cancel at the last minute. I would encourage your TA to keep in regular communication with the Special Services department of the cruise line and to be sure that they really have booked these cabins with eligible cruisers. Some ship WILL "bump" a non-disabled person to another cabin, but of course if the entire ship is sold out this may not be an option unless they have other cancellations.

 

We recently tried to get a Celebrity trip RT to Hawaii from LA for 2005 but they were also sold out. We went instead this last November on Princess. Being flexible about the cruise line can also make a difference. It is the nature of travel with a disability...this also happens with accessible hotel rooms ashore....

[muskrat897]

I booked 1 of 6 balcony accessible cabins on Brilliance of the Seas. I book 1 year in advance. It appears the early disabled cruiser catches the worm.:)

[Arlened236]

"I booked 1 of 6 balcony accessible cabins on Brilliance of the Seas. I book 1 year in advance. It appears the early disabled cruiser catches the worm."

 

This seems to be the truth...we tried to book a RT from LA to Hawaii in August 2004 for Jan or Feb... I am an above the knee amputee and need a w/c room...all the rooms were booked for Jan and we got the last w/c room for Feb. You must plan ahead for these rooms and as someone on the board said " you must be flexible" Dont give up and give the cruise line all the information it needs to book fairly.

[Benita]

We had booked a non-handicapped cabin on the Jewel of the Seas for Thanksgiving. I fell and had ankle surgery in September and was confined to a wheelchair with no weight bearing until mid December. We still wanted to go, but did ot relish the thought of hopping around a cabin and slipping in the shower, so I tried to switch to a handicapped cabin. I called every two weeks or so and was told they were all taken. I saw a posting on cruise critic, that somebody was offered a handicapped cabin and did not want to pay for the higher catagory cabin. I called Royal Caribbean again (this was two days before the cruise) and sure enough, they were able to switch me. I'm sure it helped that we had a catagory D balcony cabin and they put us in an E3. This way, they had a nice, expensive balcony cabin to resell and they made a Diamond member of their Crown and Anchor Society happy.

The cabin was great - I could do wheelies in the bathroom. It would have been impossible to manipulate down the corridors in the wheelchair - the carts from the room stewarts are too wide to pass in a wheelchair.

I was a little disturbed when I met two other couples in the concierge lounge, who were upgraded to the handicapped junior suites. Neither was handicapped. Royal Caribbean was using them as perks for frequent cruisers. I am delighted I was able to get a handicapped cabin, but if it wasn't for a cancellation, I would have been out of luck. I wish Royal Caribbean would find a different way of rewarding frequent cruisers and leave the handicapped access rooms to those who need them.

[Oceanwench]

Benita,

 

Could they have been upgraded at the last moment, when those accessible cabins had not been sold? Just a thought.

 

I often read on other threads about people who get the handicapped-accessible rooms ... gets me quite miffed! Sometimes it's the TA who does it for them. Other times, they see the rooms are bigger and request them.

 

We've been on 3 cruises in the last year [HAL twice & RCCL] and never had a problem getting a handicapped-accessible room.

[Benita]

Oceanwench, I think Royal Caribbean uses these handicapped suites as perks for the Diamond Plus members. I requested one of these cabins when I broke my ankle - not as an upgrade - I said I would pay the difference, but the representative at the special needs desk told me they were booked each time I called. I think the only reason they let me switch was that I was a Diamond member with 15 plus cruises with RCCL. My advice to anyone is to book well in advance to reserve the handicapped cabin. In a situation like mine, where an injury caused the need for the cabin long after the booking, my advice is to keep calling and making a "pest" of yourself. I think they were tired of hearing from me.

[Hebe]

Hello

Thanks for all the comments.

 

First - Yes I talked to the cruiseline directly this week and we confirmed we are waitlisted and yes they confirmed again every handicap room is sold out.

 

The ship is RCL - Jewel of the Sea. A new ship with lots of rooms. I wonder if those diamond people have already been upgraded to the Jr Suites. We are currently in an Aft D1 which should be an easy sell. We tried to get the E class handicaps because we do like a balcony. Since this is a Transatlantic, switching sailing dates is not an option. Because we are sailing with friends, we will not cancel. What it will mean is that I will need to be with my husband every minute he is in the room to get him in and out and to spot him as he moves within the room. If the chair does not fit - he may have to move via the floor. Also means that I need something for him to sit on when he showers and we will have to use the overhead shower instead of a hand held. Just becomes more of a hassle to enjoy the cruise.

 

What I am forced to do is book the first week that the cruise is posted which is how we got rooms on our Fall Cruise and our 2006 SA.

 

I just wanted to see if others were having the same problem.

 

I too get miffed about the people who do not need the extra room. On my last cruise they even seem to flant it as a prize -- you should see how wide our room and deck is. We had a party and we got 18 people in the bathroom.

 

Thanks again for your comments

[Benita]

We were on Jewel of the Seas. We were able to get an E balcony handicapped cabin and it was wonderful. If you can not switch to a handicapped cabin, see if you can get one by the elevators. There are only elevators in the center and towards the front of the ship. If you have to wheel to the elevators from the aft section, you will not make it. The linen carts are out most of the day and evening and you can not pass with a manual wheelchair. The few times I tried, I had to get out of the chair and hop, while my husband folded the chair and pushed it in front of the linen cart, then open it again for me. The carts were every thirty feet or so. When we tried to move the carts, the doors swung open, or the towels would fall off. If you wind up staying in that cabin, go to customer service, or possibly one of the ships officers and insist that the linen carts be kept out of the hallway.

[Splinter]

Good luck with that. Most ships have these carts, and we either have to push them out of the way for my mother, or go look for a cabin steward to move them. She cannot stand or walk at all, and cannot push a cart herself, which means we have to be with her. We try to get cabins by the elevator, but this is not possible on all ships. Even when we did recently on the Island Princess, the last night the completely blocked the hallway with the luggage (at 8PM for some reason) instead of the usual "bags out by 1AM" we ar used to.

 

You might want to check out HAL...they are the only cruise line I know of that does not use carts at all. Their stewards use a small basket to contain their supplies, and bring the linens to each room separately so they don't need a cart. It makes us able to have a cabin that does not have to be right by the elevator.

[DEL67]

In the past, we booked regular cabins twice when handicap cabins were not available, but can not do so anymore because my husband can no longer walk even 2 or 3 steps with a walker.

 

Since we travel with both his power and manual chairs, he had the manual chair to use in the cabin. To give him room to move around, I would have the cabin steward move the beds perpendicular to one another. Then, when returning to the cabin, I would place his manual chair just inside the cabin door so he only had to stand up and turn to transfer into it.

 

Yes, the bathroom was a bit of a problem, but my husband is quite tall so he would grab onto the sink to pull himself into the bathroom and, with my help, pivot onto the toilet or shower chair. He could reach the sink from the toilet to wash up. Both times the cruise line provided a shower chair, but I was prepared to bring a folding one if they could not do so. And, on one ship, all cabins had hand-held showers.

 

The primary difficulty was the power chair. On one ship, it blocked the hallway when we left it outside the cabin so I would disassemble it and bring it inside. After a couple of days, the cabin steward suggested that I leave it by a nearby elevator. After that I only brought it into the cabin to charge it. For security I would disconnect the batteries before leaving the chair near the elevator. No one touched it - perhaps because it was a Celebrity ship with an older group of passengers.

 

Splinter - I agree about the carts. Even when they are pushed against the wall, there is barely enough room to pass. And, of course, there are often bags of dirty linen and/or vacuum cleaners that have to be moved too. That's one of the reasons why I find it ironic that on many ships the handicap cabins are in the front of the ship at the end of a long corridor. I understand that ship designers do so so that they do not have to deviate from the cookie cutter cabins along the slength of the ship, but to me it defies logic why cruise lines put their least stable passengers in the cabins with the most motion.