When you are assigned wheelchair accessible rooms

[mercede70]

I was assigned (16 days prior to sailing) a WC acc. room by Princess. Should I ask them to re-assign me? There are no rooms left in the category (FF) available.

[Coracii]

I wouldn't worry about it, this close to sail-away they're pretty comfortable that they're not going to need that room for anyone in a wheelchair. I've had it happen before and when I've called them they never even considered moving me. Most people that need the accessible rooms book quite a bit in advance so they can guarantee having it. Enjoy the little bit of extra space on your cruise.

[montgomeryfamily]

Mercede70, thank you for thinking about the needs of disabled/wheelchair users who need this type of room.

 

However, regardless of whether someone did call and need it, Princess has already made up their minds that no one will need it and assigned it out, so they may not be willing to move you regardless.

 

The room will have a roll in shower with no or minimal lip, so if there is movement when the shower is running, water will pour out all over the floor. So you probably want to get extra towels in case to put around the outside lip area. The bathroom will have no storage space under the sink--only the small shelves that are above the sink. There will also be one chair missing (one chair that the regular FF rooms have) because this is another way that sufficient room is provided for the wheelchair to turn around.

 

If you would prefer not to have this room, you can call and try to get reassigned. Even if there are no FF rooms left, Princess could always upgrade you--people get one or two category upgrades all of the time and sometimes even jump from one type of room to another (obstructed view oceanview like you have to oceanview). It is a shame that you weren't given an upgrade anyway instead of Princess assigning the room even closer to sailing (I know this happens because when I have sailed without our disabled family member, I have booked guarantees and twice have not had the room assigned until I reached the pier).

 

Princess won't flag the room for anyone in a wheelchair/disabled who need it and also won't hold it for anyone who needs a wheelchair accessible room. They will either put it back in the inventory or reassign it to someone else who has a guarantee.

 

You could also post on the roll call and indicate your willingness to move in case that someone there actually needs a wheelchair accessible room. Otherwise, there is no way to save the room for anyone who really needs it.

 

Enjoy your cruise. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

If the ship is full stay with the cabin you have.

You are under no obligation to change. :)

[montgomeryfamily]

Yes, Mercede70, while you have no obligation to think of anyone other than yourself, those of us who ourselves need or have family members/traveling companions who need wheelchair accessible rooms, do appreciate you thinking of others who need such a room and questioning your assignment by Princess to a wheelchair accessible room when you don't need such a room. In addition, there are disadvantages to having wheelchair accessible rooms, such as the ones I mentioned, so some people actually prefer not to have such a room, even if available to be booked/assigned to anyone.

 

BTW, I checked your sailing on the Princess website and there are oceanviews and balconies (plus higher categories) still available, so again, I think it is a shame that Princess didn't choose to upgrade you as they have so many others who book guarantees (not just said from personal knowledge, but as evidenced by many of those who post on these boards.) However, sometimes Princess does give an upgrade after an initial room assignment, so I hope that you might be lucky enough to get a fantastic upgrade! :) Have a great cruise!

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes you mean well, but its not the passengers responsibility to research changing rooms. Thats ridiculous.

[2ferfun]

Yes you mean well, but its not the passengers responsibility to research changing rooms. Thats ridiculous.

 

I completely agree and I don't think there are any disadvantages to being in one of these rooms. DW and I were assigned one of these rooms on the Crown last summer and after we called and made sure that they knew we didn't need it and that we were willing to move if anyone else did, we enjoyed the extra room. The room is half-again as big as a standard cabin and the bathrooms are great! We did not experience any "water sloshing all over the place" or any such nonsense. The showers in a standard cabin are notoriously tiny but quite large in these rooms. I would just enjoy the extra space and consider yourself lucky that you get to enjoy the room but don't actually need it!

[Treven]

I always book my accessible cabin at least a year in advance, so I can get one; plus it gives me a lot of time to finish paying off the cruise. :)

No matter the line or the ship, I've never had a problem with water all over the place. I've found the drain in the shower to be quite adequate to handle all the water.

[ONT-CA]

Yes you mean well, but its not the passengers responsibility to research changing rooms. Thats ridiculous.

 

We have to agree here. We just returned from a b2b Island Princess cruise where the original cabin was not available for the return. When we searched the location of the second cabin and found it to be a handicapped room we were torn between occupying a stateroom intended for others and our desire to be on Caribe deck. We accepted the designation with some trepidation but realized it is not for the passenger to rationalize this particular appointed accommodation, that is for the host cruise line. We are satisfied that no one who may have needed this space was denied it.

 

As it turned out, we were extremly pleased with the stateroom in that it not only gave us more room, more storage, more washroom space with a four by four foot shower, it gave us a balcony 50% larger than the standard Caribe balcony. We understand that to order such accommodation one must meet certain criteria but when not needed for it's intended purpose such staterooms make for great space especially for entertaining.

[flamomo]

montgomeryfamily................ it's really unfair of you to play the "disabilbity" card and try to shame the OP because they were ASSIGNED to a H/C cabin without a need for it. It's Princess' doing, not the OPs, and they were already questioning whether they should accept the assignment. It may well be that no one has indicated a need for a H/C cabin on the OP's sailing, therefore it was just sitting in the inventory of available cabins.

 

I understand that you have someone disabled in your family, but you are being unkind to lay that guilt trip on the poster.

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree, throwing a guilt trip on a passenger over this is crazy. :(

[tinatark]

You shouldn't ask for a reassignment.

 

We have been assigned to hc rooms for our April cruise (booked about 4 weeks in advance) - would accept an upgrade or a cabin change, but wouldn't request one.

[mercede70]

Thanks for the input. I know this is a touchy subject with many, but it is good to hear from all points of view before making a decision. I love this blog.

 

Thanks to all who responded.:)

[montgomeryfamily]

"Mercede70, thank you for thinking about the needs of disabled/wheelchair users who need this type of room.

 

However, regardless of whether someone did call and need it, Princess has already made up their minds that no one will need it and assigned it out, so they may not be willing to move you regardless.

 

The room will have a roll in shower with no or minimal lip, so if there is movement when the shower is running, water will pour out all over the floor. So you probably want to get extra towels in case to put around the outside lip area. The bathroom will have no storage space under the sink--only the small shelves that are above the sink. There will also be one chair missing (one chair that the regular FF rooms have) because this is another way that sufficient room is provided for the wheelchair to turn around.

 

If you would prefer not to have this room, you can call and try to get reassigned. Even if there are no FF rooms left, Princess could always upgrade you--people get one or two category upgrades all of the time and sometimes even jump from one type of room to another (obstructed view oceanview like you have to oceanview). It is a shame that you weren't given an upgrade anyway instead of Princess assigning the room even closer to sailing (I know this happens because when I have sailed without our disabled family member, I have booked guarantees and twice have not had the room assigned until I reached the pier).

 

Princess won't flag the room for anyone in a wheelchair/disabled who need it and also won't hold it for anyone who needs a wheelchair accessible room. They will either put it back in the inventory or reassign it to someone else who has a guarantee.

 

You could also post on the roll call and indicate your willingness to move in case that someone there actually needs a wheelchair accessible room. Otherwise, there is no way to save the room for anyone who really needs it.

 

Enjoy your cruise."

 

 

 

 

First, I was NOT trying to shame Mercedes70 into requesting a change of room. Mercedes70 was questioning his assignment to a wheelchair accessible room by Princess. I was actually thanking him for caring enough about the needs of disabled passengers to consider this issue. I recognized that his was an assignment, thus I advised him that it likely wouldn't do any good to call Princess and ask for a reassignment on that basis because Princess wouldn't hold the room for a disabled person. I included my prior post as a quote above and highlighted those statements I had made.

 

It is still my position that if Mercedes70 was reassigned to another room, Princess would not hold his original assigned wheelchair accessible room for a disabled person, as Princess does not hold wheelchair accessible rooms nor do they flag a wheelchair accessible room showing that an able bodied person is in the room rather than a disabled passenger--when the room is taken out of the inventory by being booked/assigned, that is it. So it does no one any good to call Princess and express willingness to move "if someone else needs the room".

 

I also suggested that the only way that the room could be saved for a disabled passenger would be for him to post on the roll call so that if the situation comes up within the limited community who posts on this boards, he could possibly make a switch. Since Mercedes70 was concerned about the room not going to a disabled passenger, this was the only suggestion I could think of where perhaps that might happen.

 

The reason I posted about the negatives of a wheelchair accessible room is that so many people focus on the "extra" space and don't realize the disadvantages of this type of room. We are Elite on Princess, Elite on Celebrity, and Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean, so we have been cruising for many years and have been on many cruises in wheelchair accessible rooms. (And also have cruised on several other cruise lines in wheelchair accessible rooms) I have also cruised myself in "regular" rooms, so I have been able to first-hand observe the differences. We HAVE had shower water flowing into the rest of the bathroom many, many times, as well as have other disabled passengers who book these cabins. You can do a search on these boards to find many references to this occurring. So you are lucky if you have used a roll in shower on a moving cruise ship and not experienced this. This is why I suggested that he ask for extra towels--I actually was trying to be helpful to pass along this tip.

 

ONT-CA, not having been in a wheelchair accessible stateroom on the Island, I don't know what type of extra storage you had unless it was floor space. I have never seen a wheeelchair accessible bathroom that had storage underneath the sink because the wheelchair has to roll under it. We have always had one chair missing and sometimes also a table missing or a smaller table being placed in the room instead. The closet is also configured with a pull down clothes bar and/or lowered bars so there is also less storage there too. I would certainly be interested in knowing what "more storage" that you had on the Island (as well as the stateroom category), compared to a regular stateroom.

 

As far as my second post, that was written to Mercedes70 after taking into consideration the response by Colo Cruiser, in his post which was directly above my post and quoted below in full.

 

If the ship is full stay with the cabin you have.
You are under no obligation to change.  :)

 

Col Cruiser said that Mercedes70 was under no obligation to change. Col Cruiser is the one who is telling Mercedes70 that he has no obligation to consider anyone else.

 

Unfortunately, this is true, and I actually agreed with this in my post-- There is no obligation to think of the needs of others. Which is why I told Mercedes70 that while there is no obligation, the disabled/disabled families appreciate people such as him who actually do consider the needs of disabled passengers and question when they have received such an assignment.

 

How this expression of appreciation to Mercedes70 has been turned into a "guilt trip" is beyond me. As I said in my first post--regardless of whether or not Mercedes70 is reassigned, Princess is not going to hold the room for a disabled person since they have already assigned it once.

 

As was clearly stated in my first post after listing the possible negatives of such as room, Mercedes70 could call and ask for reassignment if he would prefer not to have the room. And then I went on to say that the room would not be held for disabled but instead would be reassigned or put back in the general inventory. Clearly I indicated that even if Mercedes70 asked for reassignment that the room would not be held for disabled passengers. I fail to see how this lays a "guilt trip" on Mercedes70 when I am telling him that reassignment won't result in the room going to a disabled person.

 

To make it absolutely clear, I and my family appreciate fellow CC'ers and passengers, who, while under no obligation to think of anyone else, do consider their fellow CC'ers and cruise passengers who are disabled.

 

If any reader think that this lays out a "guilt trip", then IMHO, that is a "trip" you are taking on your own.

 

As for me listing that there are oceanviews and balconies available, it was Col Cruiser himself that posted

 If the ship is full, stay with cabin you have

. Clearly, Col Cruiser, the ship is not full, so then what are you saying to Mercedes70--that he should move since the ship is not full?

 

I wanted to negate the inference that Col Cruiser made that the cabin assignment was made because the ship was full. I also wanted to point out that with all of the oceanviews and balconies available, Princess could have given him an upgrade instead of assigning him the wheelchair accessible stateroom. They certainly give lots of people upgrades and I do think that it is poor form on the part of Princess to assign him this room instead of giving him an upgrade. I sincerely did/do wish that he would be fortunate enough to get an upgrade as I felt that his sincere and caring attitude was deserving of such.

 

Many may not realize this, but the only obstructed oceanview wheelchair accessible cabins are Cat FF--the same as the OP. In addition, there are NO oceanview wheelchair accessible cabins on a Grand Class ship. So options for disabled are quite limited. This is why I think it is a shame that Princess would not hold these for booking until assigning the last group of guarantees eligible to be able to get this category (same category or higher such as inside or lower category obstructed view) rather than assigning them while other cabins, including upgraded categories, are available to be given.

[ONT-CA]

"

 

ONT-CA, not having been in a wheelchair accessible stateroom on the Island, I don't know what type of extra storage you had unless it was floor space. I have never seen a wheelchair accessible bathroom that had storage underneath the sink because the wheelchair has to roll under it. We have always had one chair missing and sometimes also a table missing or a smaller table being placed in the room instead. The closet is also configured with a pull down clothes bar and/or lowered bars so there is also less storage there too. I would certainly be interested in knowing what "more storage" that you had on the Island (as well as the stateroom category), compared to a regular stateroom.

 

Firstly, there are seven regular sized drawers in the room, three on the desk and four between the beds. In addition there are four double sized drawers that make up the credenza or, the equivalent of 15 of the drawers found in a regular balcony cabin. The double closets are armoire style and found in the centre of the room with closing doors. The interior space is equivalent to that of a regular cabin open closet with identical number of hangers. (We had just transferred from a regular balcony cabin) In addition there is a single closet with door that contains the safe, life jackets with an additional five shelves which we used in part to store bathroom items for, as you say, there is negative shelf storage there. The room contained a desk chair and a barrel chair plus a glass- topped table. The balcony had five chairs, two recliners, three regular and a regular table.

[donna5]

I can understand Princess holding the HC cabins until final payment for a disabled person, but after final payment and especially 16 days out, If someone needed the cabin, it was apparently available and could have been booked already.

[mercede70]

I did call Princess this morning and asked if they knew whether or not there was any person that needed the WC accessible room since I had been booked there and didn't have a wheel chair. They told me that they had a FF wait-list, but they didn't know if anyone on that list was HC. They then told me that I COULDN'T move since there were no other cabins available in FF for them to move me to. If I wanted to move to make the room available for another, I would have had to take a downgrade on cabin selection. Needless to say, I kept the cabin. Sounds like a pretty crappy system if you ask me.

 

I am fully aware they need to FILL their cabins, but if there is a wait list, how can you not tell me whether or not it is a person requesting a HC room?

 

Mmmmmppphhhhhhfffff.......

 

:confused:

[tinatark]

"

 

ONT-CA, not having been in a wheelchair accessible stateroom on the Island, I don't know what type of extra storage you had unless it was floor space. I have never seen a wheelchair accessible bathroom that had storage underneath the sink because the wheelchair has to roll under it. We have always had one chair missing and sometimes also a table missing or a smaller table being placed in the room instead. The closet is also configured with a pull down clothes bar and/or lowered bars so there is also less storage there too. I would certainly be interested in knowing what "more storage" that you had on the Island (as well as the stateroom category), compared to a regular stateroom.

 

Firstly, there are seven regular sized drawers in the room, three on the desk and four between the beds. In addition there are four double sized drawers that make up the credenza or, the equivalent of 15 of the drawers found in a regular balcony cabin. The double closets are armoire style and found in the centre of the room with closing doors. The interior space is equivalent to that of a regular cabin open closet with identical number of hangers. (We had just transferred from a regular balcony cabin) In addition there is a single closet with door that contains the safe, life jackets with an additional five shelves which we used in part to store bathroom items for, as you say, there is negative shelf storage there. The room contained a desk chair and a barrel chair plus a glass- topped table. The balcony had five chairs, two recliners, three regular and a regular table.

 

Not that you counted or anything... LOL

 

I did call Princess this morning and asked if they knew whether or not there was any person that needed the WC accessible room since I had been booked there and didn't have a wheel chair. They told me that they had a FF wait-list, but they didn't know if anyone on that list was HC. They then told me that I COULDN'T move since there were no other cabins available in FF for them to move me to. If I wanted to move to make the room available for another, I would have had to take a downgrade on cabin selection. Needless to say, I kept the cabin. Sounds like a pretty crappy system if you ask me.

 

I am fully aware they need to FILL their cabins, but if there is a wait list, how can you not tell me whether or not it is a person requesting a HC room?

 

Mmmmmppphhhhhhfffff.......

 

:confused:

 

Because the booking would be noted "special needs" - and you booking wouldn't be noted with any accessibility necessities - I think if a hc person wanted to book a cabin, Princess could look at the bookings in HC cabins and determine if the person "needed it" or not.

[katisdale]

I need to sail in an accessible cabin. IMHO with only 16 days left until the sail date it is fine that the room be placed in the general inventory. I do think in rough seas that the water in the shower sloshes everywhere however that is a small problem when you can't do the step up into the bathroom in a standard room which would prevent me from using any of the "facilities". While I do think Princess could improve their handling of some access issues (like shore excursions for one) the assignment of accessible rooms with only 16 days until sailing is not one of them.

[Umbarger]

If you want to make sure a handicapped person doesn't need your cabin go to the pursers desk upon boarding. Tell them you are in a handicapped cabin that you are not in need of and would be willing to move if someone needs it. You might get upgraded you never know. Sometimes disabled people dont realize their wheelchairs, scooter, walkers etc don't fit thru regular cabin doors just handicapped cabin doors.

 

I heard a person did this and they were upgraded to a balcony cabin. Sometimes good deeds don't go unrewarded.

 

If you want to do this or not is up to you. Have a great cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

I doubt onboard, Princess would even consider swapping cabins mid cruise.

[Umbarger]

I doubt onboard, Princess would even consider swapping cabins mid cruise.

 

I didn't say mid cruise. I said upon boarding.

 

It's been done before many times. Happened on my crown cruise in October but the able bodied in the room refused to move. Also happened on my Jewel cruise. There were people in the cabin next to mine and they said people swapped with them so they could get a handicapped cabin. I think it also depends on the purser and if they want to go thru the extra work of doing it.

[Colo Cruiser]

. I think it also depends on the purser and if they want to go thru the extra work of doing it.

 

I agree, thats why they put out the sign that the ship is sailing full even though its not. Discouraging requests.

 

Curious other then people you know that have been moved, how do you find this out?

[donna5]

I agree, thats why they put out the sign that the ship is sailing full even though its not. Discouraging requests.

 

Curious other then people you know that have been moved, how do you find this out?

 

Because someone posted here recently that they let the pursers office know they had an HC and did not need it and would be willing to trade and then did get an upgrade.

[Colo Cruiser]

Because someone posted here recently that they let the pursers office know they had an HC and did not need it and would be willing to trade and then did get an upgrade.

 

I realize people let them know but how many actually get moved?