Century Accessible Cabins - Step up into bathroom?

[kyriecat]

My mom is interested in taking a Hawaii cruise next year and requires an accessible cabin. She is a full-time wheelchair user and is unable to walk or climb steps. She usually sails on Royal Caribbean and tried Princess, but didn't care for the experience. I thought she might like Celebrity.

 

Since the Hawaii r/t cruises have several sea days, my mom would like to have a balcony cabin. The only accessible balconies listed for Century are Sky Suites 1200 & 1201. I read a recent review of Century from someone who claimed to have stayed in an accessible cabin, but I am wondering if her information is accurate since she wouldn't give the cabin number even though I asked twice and the information she gave conflicts with the Celebrity website. She claims to have stayed in a concierge class accessible cabin (there aren't any shown on the deck plans) and that it had a step up into the bathroom and shower. I am wondering if she was really in a regular cabin and her TA had booked her incorrectly.

 

Can anyone who is familiar with SS 1200 or 1201 let me know whether these cabins are really accessible? Are there steps into the bathroom, shower, or balcony? According to the Celebrity rep, there are ramps (not steps) to get into the bathroom and balcony and a roll-in shower. This is a similar setup to other accessible cabins we have had on past cruises. I know cruiseline reps are often incorrect with the information they provide. That isn't meant to be a dig at Celebrity reps since I've had incorrect information given to me from several cruiselines (Princess, HAL, RC, & X so far).

 

I know the new itineraries should be coming out for Hawaii next month and I'd like to know whether Century is suitable. Accessible cabins can be hard to get, especially if there are only 2 balconies so we'd like to book as soon as possible. If Century isn't suitable, my mom will probably look at HAL or RC.

 

I'm also posting this question on the Disabled Cruise Travel forum so I apologize to those who read it twice.

[Algebralovr]

Hi Kyriecat,

I can't answer you question directly as I've never been on that ship, however I would go with what the deck plans say.

 

The poster who blasted the Century for the trip to HI in February 2013 has a number of other inconsistencies. As you stated, they claim to have been in a CC accessible cabin, and complained that it wasn't accessible, yet the deck plans don't show any CC accessible cabins. Personally, I believe that either their TA goofed or they decided to try a regular cabin and were mad it was not more w/c friendly.

 

If the deck plans show accessible cabins, and they are not truly accessible, I think we would have all heard about it before now.

 

That said, I recommend you book the first day you are allowed once the sailing is announced since there is a known shortage of accessible cabins on Century.

[kyriecat]

My mom's first choice is Royal Caribbean, particularly on a Radiance class ship. However, RC didn't offer any roundtrip Hawaii cruises for this season. They stop by Hawaii as part of a repositioning cruise for a couple ships going from Alaska to Australia, but my mom would rather do the roundtrip from CA. I'm not sure if RC will offer a R/T for fall 2014. They have had them in the past.

 

I think Celebrity would be a good second choice for her, but the Century review sent up some red flags for me. There are similarities between X and RC so my mom would be somewhat familiar with the experience. Since my mom is a platinum C&A member, she would get a few Captain's Club perks on X. If I can't get a definitive answer on accessible cabins before the fall 2014 itineraries come out, we'll probably book a Century cruise, assuming RC doesn't have an offering and Celebrity doesn't use a different ship next year. I'll continue to look for reviews of the accessible Sky Suites on Century. Worst case, she has plenty of time to cancel the cruise if the ship sounds unsuitable.

[montgomeryfamily]

Kyriecat, we have stayed in Suite 1201 on the Century and I cannot recommend this stateroom to anyone who is confined or mostly confined to a wheelchair. Frankly, the ship has numerous accessibility problems too, but the stateroom itself is an issue.

 

I don't know anything about the review(er) you referenced, but as you noted, there are no wheelchair accessible balcony staterooms on the Century other than the two Sky Suites 1200 and 1201. We also wanted a balcony stateroom which is why we booked the Sky Suite on the Century for our cruise and paid the substantial price difference between that category and the oceanview category, which is the next lowest wheelchair accessible stateroom. However, even though this suite is claimed to be wheelchair accessible, there was NO RAMP TO THE BALCONY.

 

So the balcony could not be used by my brother, who also uses a wheelchair full time like your mother. I was only able to get a ramp in place the day before our disembarkation by substantial efforts on my part and the entire experience was quite frustrating. I first asked the cabin steward, who said that he didn't know if a ramp could be placed there. I elevated to the butler, who said something similar. I then elevated to housekeeping supervisor, who finally came the next morning at our request and looked, acknowledged that the step to the balcony made it unusable for a wheelchair, and said that he didn't know if a ramp could be arranged, but he would check with engineering. Later he came back and said NO. I then went to Guest Relations. By this time, I wanted to talk with the Hotel Mgr, but the Guest Relations rep said the Hotel Mgr would not see anyone except by appt., but refused to make us an appt. I was not even permitted to see the Guest Relations Mgr, so I left a message for him to call me, following up in the morning and late afternoon as well as before we turned in for the night with Guest Relations requesting the Hotel Mgr or at least Guest Relations Mgr to call for two days.

 

In addition, by the second day, it was clear that our air conditioning was not working so I asked our room steward to contact maintenance. By afternoon there was no change and so I asked our butler for assistance. By that evening, the room was even hotter and I called the front desk for assistance. No one ever showed up and the next morning I saw a maintenance person in the hallway working on the plumbing. I asked him for help and he said although he was a plumber, he would call engineering for someone to help. Maintenance was there shortly thereafter and adjusted the air conditioning and it worked fine throughout the remainder of the cruise.

 

This brought us into the third day of the cruise with still no ramp to the balcony. I went to Guest Relations again, with the same lack of response and then emailed our Travel Agent, who contacted Miami. Finally after that the Asst. Guest Relations Mgr, contacted me about the problem. She said the Hotel Mgr and Guest Relations Mgr were busy with other problems and so she was sent to talk with me. (Not only were we in a suite, but we are also Elite with Celebrity--in our own right based upon the number of Celebrity cruises we have taken, so I was surprised by their treatment of any guest this way, but especially that of suite and Elite guests).

 

She didn't seem to understand the problem, so I asked her to come to the suite so she could see and understand why the balcony was not usable without a ramp for someone in a wheelchair. After that, she acknowledged that it was not usable without a ramp, but said she had to get with engineering for the ramp. I expressed surprise that a ramp was not there because it has always been on the balcony of every other cruise ship we have been on, both older and newer ships. Later she got back in touch with me and said a ramp was a safety issue and the ship didn't want to put one there. I told her that we had paid quite a premium for a balcony (since there were no accessible balcony staterooms except at the Sky Suite level) and we expected an accessible balcony. When it was clear she couldn't/wouldn't help, I wanted to speak with the Guest Relations Mgr or the Hotel Mgr, but she said that she would be the only one available, again citing the others as being busy. (I also sent a note to the Hotel Mgr and left messages, but never received a response.). And yes, I was polite throughout this entire situation to everyone, with my Southern manners providing me the necessary restraint notwithstanding the frustration. However, it was not until I was able to mention this issue to the Captain at the Captain's Club party near the end of the cruise that the next day a ramp appeared.

 

There was another accessible Sky Suite and we actually met that couple (husband and wife, with wife wheelchair bound) at the muster drill and became friends. This was their first Celebrity cruise. Their ceiling caved in on the first night due to a plumbing leak and we offered them our bathroom use while their room was being repaired. There was also no ramp to the balcony and they requested a ramp too, but after being told no from their butler, didn't push it--the husband told me that he carried his wife out on the balcony and back in again. They also had similar frustration with the guest services response, or rather lack of it and had such a negative experience with their cruise that they told me they would never sail Celebrity again.

 

I have checked with a couple of cruisers who have posted reviews, including someone who sailed about a year after us, and there was no ramp to the balcony--it had been removed. So it is likely there is no ramp to the balcony and it is a step of about 3 inches on the inside of the room and 6 or more inches on the outside to come back in.

 

There is a kind of ramp to the bathroom--I say this because first, there is still a lip, but I was able to push the wheelchair over it--my brother could not push himself over it and it was an effort for me to do so. Also, the ramp was built somewhat narrowly--you had to be careful to come into it straight on or the wheelchair would fall off the edge--because the area is covered with carpet, this was not obvious until you did it. There was not a step to the shower, but there was a lip to keep water from flowing into the bathroom, but we didn't have trouble with this.

 

There were other accessibility problems with the ship. The hallways are narrow and the outside doors are heavy and the thresholds hard to cross. The room door doesn't have an automatic opener and the room steward and butler both refused us a door stop. I finally had to get one from the housekeeping supervisor. The public bathrooms are not really accessible--you have to be able to walk to enter the stall with the toilet because there is not enough room to transfer to a wheelchair. There was supposed to be a pool/hot tub lift according to the Celebrity website, but it was not functioning and others who have cruised since then have said there is no pool/hot tub lift.

 

There were some other accessibility issues, but I think this is enough information for you, especially if your mother wants a balcony. I am glad to answer any other questions for you. My email is kacruiser@sbcglobal.net.

 

Although both I and my brother contacted Celebrity several times after the cruise, we never received any response in regard to the lack of a ramp to the balcony. A Crown and Anchor rep contacted me due to the claim I filed from the laundry burning a pair of white slacks and I also talked to him about the nonfunctioning pool lift and the lack of balcony ramp. He promised to call me back about these, but never did. He also promised a dinner for 2 for our upcoming Solstice cruise in response to my claim for the burnt slacks, but never sent the confirmation email and never applied it to the reservation. My brother never received any response at all from Celebrity and my subsequent contacts to Celebrity(email and letter) also never received a response.

 

As I said before, we are Elite with Celebrity due to the number of cruises taken with Celebrity and have cruised on several of the Celebrity ships, but we have never had a negative experience on Celebrity such as this, in regard to both wheelchair accessibility as well as service. I cannot recommend the Celebrity Century to any full time wheelchair user