Hanidcapped-recent knee injury-no hc cabins available

[Lizzybell]

Hi-my sis is sailing this Sat on the Diamond to Alaska. She just injured her knee and will be a wheelchair for her cruise. We called Princess customer srv today-no handicapped cabins available, we were told ship is sold out for 8/27. Does anyone know if there is a seperate dept we could contact about the possibility of switching to a handicapped cabin, maybe they put 1 or 2 aside for this reason or wait list? Getting a dr note would be no problem. she does have full insurance but doesnt want to cancel out...any suggestions.Dont know if it makes a difference, she is a platnium member. Thanks much, Liz

[vmom]

When we tried to book a handicapped cabin for our last cruise we were told that if anyone who is handicapped shows up at the dock needing it, we would be bumped. We are not handicapped, but were interested in that cabin because it was just short way from the rest of the family's cabin. We decided not to book it and went with a regular cabin further away instead.

[MrsBoo]

We were unknowingly booked into a handicapped cabin. At least they should be willing to check & see if they indeed are going to be occupied by handicapped persons.

[vmom]

When we tried to book a handicapped cabin for our last cruise we were told that if anyone who is handicapped shows up at the dock needing it, we would be bumped. We are not handicapped, but were interested in that cabin because it was just short way from the rest of the family's cabin. We decided not to book it and went with a regular cabin further away instead.

 

Just a clarification; bumped to another cabin, not bumped from the cruise

[Splinter]

Welcome to the world of the 3rd class passenger. Because they allow TABs to book these cabins, many people with disabilities are not able to cruise due to accessible being "sold out" months or years ahead. Princess does not hold cabins for those with disabilities, and only if you really press them will they look to see if they have sold them to TABs. Even then there is no guarantee you will get one, as they if the TAB does not want to give up their cabin (even though they inveribly get upgraded to a nicer cabin than you will get for no price increase). Princess does not force the issue. Don't assume you will get an accessible cabin by just showing up at the dock either....they may actually be sold out to people with real disabilities.

 

Princess is one of the few cruise lines without a Special Services department, so there is no other department to call for someone there to help you.

 

If your family member can get around on crutches, then they may need to do this in a regular cabin and just use the wheelchair for distance. Be sure to bring a folding wheelchair that you can fold to get into the room. You cannot leave it in the hallway, and you cannot use the Princess wheelchairs for your private use. You could cancel if you bought the right trip insurance.

[montgomeryfamily]

It is very, very unusual for Princess to have a handicapped/wheelchair accessible available/empty for anyone who happens to show up at the dock with a disability. These staterooms are placed on the public inventory, often when the ship first opens for reservations months or even a year or more in advance. Then whatever remains is often filled by guarantees or upgrades--and those assignments often made before final payment is due.

 

Splinter is right, because Princess allows TABs--the Able Bodied--to book accessible staterooms, very often someone who is disabled is unable to cruise on that sailing--especially frustrating when often these bookings are made months in advance of the sailing.

 

Vmom, while there is a chance of able bodied passengers being bumped from an accessible stateroom, it rarely happens because the stateroom is not flagged as being occupied by an able bodied person and the stateroom is taken off of the inventory so that it shows the room as being booked and not being available.

 

Mrs. Boo, you would think it would be easy and reasonable for Princess to check with the passengers who have booked the accessible stateroom to see if the passengers claim to be disabled, but this very rarely happens.

 

Because Princess has no special services department like RCI and Celebrity, you or your TA will have to press Princess very hard to try to get them to check to see if a stateroom is being occupied by an able bodied passenger and then to get them to bump the passengers, notwithstanding their stated policy that this is what they will do. Hopefully you may get a sympathetic customer service representative and supervisor who will do this--many will not. Even if you show up at the dock and request the accessible stateroom, unless you get a Princess representative that is willing to go the extra mile for you, they'll just tell you everything is booked, without even checking.

 

In addition to what Splinter suggested, I also suggest that you request a shower chair and hope that it will fit in the shower--hopefully the type of cabin you have will be large enough to accomodate a shower chair.

 

I also suggest that you go to your roll call for your sailing and see if anyone there has been assigned a handicapped stateroom that would trade with your sister. Depending on the category of stateroom your sister has, this could be an option.

 

This issue of nonavailability of accessible staterooms has been discussed at length on the disabled forum, if you would like to read more about it.

 

Good luck.

[kryos]

Splinter is right, because Princess allows TABs--the Able Bodied--to book accessible staterooms, very often someone who is disabled is unable to cruise on that sailing--especially frustrating when often these bookings are made months in advance of the sailing.

Personally, I think this sucks ... bigtime. If able bodied passengers are gonna book handicapped cabins (presumably these cabins are larger?), fine. But, the understanding should be that if a documented handicapped passenger needs that cabin, the able bodied passenger will be moved to other accommodations.

 

This whole policy smacks of an ADA violation to me. Why should this temporarily disabled passenger have to worry about getting around on crutches on a moving ship? Personally, if I were her, I wouldn't chance it. That ship lurches, she could fall and wind up more severely injured than she already is.

 

If I were that passenger, I would raise holy hell with Princess and if they refused to accommodate me, then I would cancel. And, if I was forced to cancel, I would then find myself a good ADA attorney to make some major waves for the cruiseline. In this case, a little media publicity would go a long way.

 

There's no excuse for this sort of attitude. Sure, I would expect Princess to require some form of documentation to verify disability. But once that documentation is received, that passenger should be accommodated in a handicapped accessible cabin ... unless, of course, all of those cabins are already assigned to other legimately disabled people.

 

I can understand the cruiseline wanting to ensure that all cabins are booked ... and thus allowing non-disabled people to book handicapped cabins. But those bookings should only be accepted on the understanding that the cabin goes to a disabled person if they need it, and the non-disabled passenger is moved. That's only fair.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[phillipahain]

We were allocated a handicapped cabin on our last Princess cruise

we did not request it and did not need it ..........saw another wheelchair passenger struggling with an ordinary cabin a few doors away ......we offered to switch so they did not have to struggle but were rudely told to forget it

 

Princess most defnitely have a very bad attitude to ensuring handicapped passengers get handicapped rooms but then i have heard the same complaint about Celebrity

[Splinter]

Requiring a physician's letter will not make a difference. There are already so many people who falsify this same information to fraudulently get a handicapped parking sticker, what makes you think they would not do the same for these cabins? It is the same mentality.

 

Celebrity does have a very good Special Services Department, as does HAL and RCL. Princess has had a blind spot about these issues for many years. It will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court decision on the ADA plays out once the standards are approved (they are in draft form now). Only 40 individuals offered comments on the proposed standards from the entire USA. The standards do NOT address or require bumping of TAB (temporarily able bodied) passengers in favor PWD though, so this is unlikely to be an ADA issue. It is an issue of sensitivity though, little of which is provided by Princess in our experience.

[camperhawk]

I must be very naive, I just can't imagine booking a handicap cabin or parking in a handicap spot even, unless I was. You have all enligtened me of things to come I'm sure. Thanks.

[montgomeryfamily]

While I agree with Splinter that requiring documentation such as a physician's letter wouldn't prevent able bodied persons from being able to book accessible staterooms, as some people do lie, I do think that there is more that Princess could do to preserve these accessible staterooms for disabled passengers.

 

Princess should hold accessible cabins until 30 days or so before sailing. This would enable disabled to be able to book the staterooms at least until that time before the cabins are released to the public inventory. If after that time able bodied passengers are booked into those staterooms, it should be with the understanding they could be bumped. In addition, if an able bodied passenger is booked into the cabin, Princess should have a method of flagging that, so if a situation as the OP has arises, there would be a ready method of identifying these staterooms.

 

Currently Princess does not hold these staterooms for booking by disabled, instead releasing some to the public inventory and also assigning guarantees and upgrades an a, sometimes months before final payment date. When that occurs, the stateroom is pulled from the inventory and there is no special flagging to indicate that it is booked by able bodied persons.

 

There are a number of people, including one of the posters here, who indicate that they did not request a handicapped cabin, yet Princess assigned them one on a guarantee or an "upgrade". Sometimes people don't know until they walk into the cabin that it is an accessible stateroom because no one, including Princess, has advised them of this. I believe that most of these people would self- declare honestly that they are not disabled if they were asked to fill out some type of form or declaration.

 

Philipahain, I do thank you for offering to move when you saw the person in a wheelchair using the standard cabin. I don't know why you received the response you did--maybe they were just having a bad day, but it is appreciated and I would urge you to continue to be generous in this manner and not let one negative response stop you from making a similar offer in the future. :)

 

There are some TAs that would never book an able bodied passenger in an accessible stateroom. But there are others who do this without even telling their client that is what they are doing or advising their client that they are going to be able to get them this "big" room and that if anyone who is disabled needs it, they will be moved. That is a false rationalization because it is a rare instance when anyone is moved because Princess doesn't track or flag these bookings.

 

Then there are some people who deliberately book such staterooms because they know they can and they do so for their own personal comfort. They say that it is the cruise line's responsiblity to keep these rooms for disabled and if the cruise line allows the booking, then they will book the room. I have read a number of posts like that on the Cruise Critic board. There is one currently on the disabled forum regarding the NCL Jewel (which started out on the NCL forum but was moved by the hosts to the disabled forum).

 

Ironically, Princess has a good screening mechanism they could use--the Cruise Personalizer, which asks questions about special needs. Yet apparently Princess won't even use this.

 

At least with Cruise Critic and the roll call forum, there is a way that the OP might be able to find someone ablebodied on this cruise who has an accessible stateroom booked and might be wiling to trade cabins.

[tomcarson]

There is no chance of getting a cabin unless someone in that cabin cancels the cruise. Once someone is in it, Princess doesn't check to see who is in it. This is why it is so important for people who are not disabled to not book these cabins. People who need these cabins are told that none are available and they can not sail. They will not bump people at the pier to a different room, if you go thinking that, you will be out of luck.

[Casey12]

There is probably an able-bodied person who booked the cabin in order to get a larger room. Lizzy --your sister probably won't be able to sail because of it. Very selfish people out there.

[phillipahain]

The handicapped room we had on the Diamond princess was indeed large BUT it could not be sensibly arranged as a queen bed .........it only worked as twin configuration

 

Totally badly designed huge floor area you could hold a party in with stacks of drawer and desk space yet the bed area was cramped and difficult in the extreme

 

If i was put in one again i would demand a change

As for "bad day " no .........its was the Pursers desk being totally and utterly hopeless the entire cruise

[calikak]

I once had a TA offer to sell me, a non-disabled person, an accessible cabin. The TA knew I was not disabled but said "it's a better cabin because it's bigger." I told her I wanted a regular cabin instead. We have not booked through that TA since then. If TAs are selling accessible cabins to people who don't need them, and Princess doesn't do anything to fix the problem, I can see them getting sued, especially given the Supreme Court case last term. I would imagine their legal department is working right now on ways to fix their cabin allocation system.

[cjh]

Welcome to the world of the disabled! I have to book at least 8 months in advance to get a wheelchair accessible cabins.

[cruznliz]

I agree that Princess needs a better system to book these cabins, but in Princess' defense, the OP is talking about a cruise 4 days from now. :eek: Do you all expect Princess to leave the cabins unoccupied until everyone is checked in? What if someone checks in at noon to a handicapped cabin that they legitimately booked and then the OP shows up with crutches at 4:00. Does the Purser go to each handicapped cabin and demand a full health history to see who is most deserving? :rolleyes: Just wondering. ;)

[Lizzybell]

Thank you all for your responses. Yes, it is only 4 days out-but accidents happen at the most inconvenient times. I feel really bad for handicapped passengers w/the way Princess doesnt screen those cabins. Its not the passengers fault if Princess assigns them as posters said, sometimes those passengers didnt know they had a handicapped cabin until they boarded ship. If Princess puts in handicapped cabins, you would think they would keep them open for handicapped passengers

who needed them, at least for a reasonable amt of time before the cruise(and no, i am not talking about my sis situation) When we called Princess, they said there is nothing they can do. After reading your feedback we will try calling again and speak w/a supervisor, maybe try "pushing the envelope".

 

Again, I am sorry that Princess handles their handicapped cabins in this manner, for those of you who are handicapped, it isnt fair to you. Liz

[Pam in CA]

I agree that Princess needs a better system to book these cabins, but in Princess' defense, the OP is talking about a cruise 4 days from now. :eek: Do you all expect Princess to leave the cabins unoccupied until everyone is checked in? What if someone checks in at noon to a handicapped cabin that they legitimately booked and then the OP shows up with crutches at 4:00.

I agree with Liz... Princess does need a better system to book the handicapped cabins but I also think it's unrealistic to expect the cruiseline to hold handicapped cabins "just in case" someone gets injured shortly before their cruise.

 

My daughter was severely injured in May with two broken bones in her leg at the ankle and other severe damage. We learned at about the same time that my Dad was dying and wouldn't last more than a very few weeks so a couple of weeks after her injury, my daughter an I flew to FL to say "Good-bye." It was my introduction to the world of the handicapped. The airline (Delta Song) was very mixed. Flying down, we were able to get bulkhead seats so that she could put her leg up but flying back, we were told that the bulkhead seats were reserved for the 'handicapped' and elderly and she had to stick with her assigned seating. Since it was last-minute, we didn't have great seats. It turned out that all six bulkhead seats, which were right in front of us, were given to very active, healthy 20 - 30 year olds. NONE were given to anyone elderly or handicapped although there were several onboard. When we went to get off the plane, they didn't have a wheelchair available for my daughter -- a woman pushed ahead of my daughter (who was in great pain and hardly able to move), walking off quickly and with no problems, grabbed the one waiting and said it was for her. We had to wait 20 minutes for them to get another one and an attendant. Even with all that, my daughter said she'd do it again since my Dad passed away a week later and she was thankful she could see him.

 

Anyway, ships do fill up quickly these days and on some cruises, you have to book a year in advance to get any cabin much less a handicapped one. I do think that Princess should reconsider and re-evaluate their policy. In the meantime, "stuff" happens which is why you have cruise insurance.

[Knuklehead]

I agree that Princess needs a better system to book these cabins, but in Princess' defense, the OP is talking about a cruise 4 days from now. :eek: Do you all expect Princess to leave the cabins unoccupied until everyone is checked in? What if someone checks in at noon to a handicapped cabin that they legitimately booked and then the OP shows up with crutches at 4:00. Does the Purser go to each handicapped cabin and demand a full health history to see who is most deserving? :rolleyes: Just wondering. ;)

Thanks for taking that side of it . I wanted to comment but thought of the possible flaming and declined . I have booked this type of cabin in the past ( inside ) .It must be really tough if you want a balcony with wheel chair access . I thought I was told by the TA that I could get bumped if there would be a disabled person needing it . I didn't want to keep somebody from going on their cruise . But I don't see how Princess can sit on say , 4 of these , when this could be $10,000 in revenue at risk . It is an unfortunate situation for somebody to plan a cruise and have this happen to them , but it's never something you expect . I think I would just collect the insurance . At least she has that .

[Gramps25]

Unless I am mistaken, if these ships are not American registered, I doubt they are bound by the US ADA requirements. There are many reasons why almost all cruise ships are not US Flagged and most of them have to do with dodging American liability and tax laws.

 

On the flip-side, ADA only requires availability of access to venues but does not guarantee access. They could impose a policy similar to sports venues: Handicapped access rooms are to be the last ones sold unless a passenger provides proper documentation. But once all other cabins are full, these cabins can be sold to anyone. The old "you snooze, you lose" philosophy. That would protect the cabins for as long as possible, but not keep them from going empty on full sailings.

[critterchick]

Gramps, the Supreme Court recently ruled that even foreign-flagged vessels are subject to ADA if they're sailing in & out of US ports.

 

I personally think that the cruiselines should hold the handicap cabins until the other cabins are sold. If they don't sell them by the cruise date, then let anybody who wants to "upgrade" into those cabins in the same manner they upgrade to a suite.

[critterchick]

Gramps, the Supreme Court recently ruled that foreign-flagged vessels are subject to ADA if they are using US ports.

IMHO, the cruiselines should only sell the handicap-accessible cabins to those who provide documentation (fraudulent or otherwise) until all other cabins in that particular class are sold out. If the ship isn't sold out, hold those cabins until embarkation, and let able-bodied passengers "upgrade" at the pier. It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than not paying any attention at all.

My FIL resisted the idea of an accessible cabin, so we just didn't tell him when we booked it. He and my MIL LOVED it, especially having a seat in the shower. They both have some balance issues, and it really helped to be able to sit down. I think it made their cruise a lot more enjoyable.

[Gramps25]

I was unaware of the Supreme Court's ruling. Unfortunately, I think the cruise lines are probably within the letter of the law or they would not be selling the cabins as they do (to anybody that seems to want them).

[M&M CRUZERS]

We're sailing on the Diamond on Saturday (8/27) in a HC stateroom on Caribe. We booked in early June and were totally shocked when we were told that the C300 HC cabin was available.:D Normally we book 1 - 1-1/2 years out just to get the HC stateroom.

 

Good luck to the OP, I hope her sis gets some help at the dock. But I really don't think so:(