Re: The Elation from a Wheelchair Perspective

[Splinter]

Am I the only one who cannot open Del's thread below?

 

Anyway, have not been on this ship, but this does not bode well for wheelchair users (from the Access-able Travel website):

 

The Elation has 20 accessible staterooms, ten inside and ten outside, all on the Empress Deck. The numbers for the outside are; E64, E65, E66, E67, E68, E69, E70, E71, E72 and E73. The numbers for the inside staterooms are; E52, E53, E56, E57, E80, E81, E116, E119, E120 and E123. The average size of the staterooms are 185 square feet - not including the bathroom. The doors are 30" wide with no sill and a clear opening of 27”. The bathroom doors are 31" wide with no sill. The bathrooms have roll-in showers, hand held showers, seats available upon request and grab bars. The toilets are 16" high with grab bars and the sinks are 32" high.

 

The following public areas are not accessible: the Funnel Deck; the Observation area; the children's pool and Laundromats. There are no public accessible restrooms.

 

Carnival has alert kits for guests with hearing impairments which can be fitted to any cabin. These kits include visual notification of the door knocker and smoke alarm and there is a vibrating alarm and phone amplifier. Please notify in advance if this equipment is needed. Service dogs are permitted with the required documentation but may not be allowed to disembark at all ports.

 

Accessible cabins should be booked directly through the Access Desk 800-438-6744 x70025 to ensure that your specific needs are met.

 

USER'S COMMENTS

3/6/03 I booked a cruise on the Elation in December of '02 for the Mexican Riviera tour. Carnival's Guest Access Services suggested that that standard handicapped stateroom would be unsuitable to maneuver my manual wheelchair and that I would be happier in one of the few special cabins. Apparently, the ship when it went into service had no provision for handicapped passengers an a few cabins were added that had bathrooms large enough for a wheelchair. All are on the Riviera deck (lowest) and all are inside cabins. Despite Carnivals statements that public restrooms are accessible, in fact, none are. Most have thresholds and all have narrow doors. The worst aspect of this cruise was that no attempt was made to provide for disembarkation of disabled passengers, so plan to stay aboard at all ports of call, especially if boarding a tender is required. A letter to Celebrity upon my return drew a feeble apology and no acknowledgement of the ship's deficiencies in serving disabled guests. AVOID IT! Mark Mazzetti Email: mazz01@attbi.com

[mg93901]

No, you're not the only one, splinter. I'd really like to know what Del thought of the Elation. She's given me some good tips before and I'm sailing on that ship in just a few weeks. I'll send her a PM.

[DEL67]

You may not be able to open it because the board seemed to be having difficulty when I submitted my review. Luckily it took so long to save that I copied it into Word in case it abended. Here it is:

______________________________________________________________

 

We sailed on the Elation last week. We had been on it several years ago when it was new (1998) so we were aware that it was an "older" ship when we booked and would not have the HC facilities of newer ships. However, we felt for several reasons that it was the right choice and would make do.

 

Embarkation was easy. A good size elevator took us to the floor where there were two check-in lines for the disabled. The gangway was well ramped.

 

We were in an aft, outside cabin E259. Carnival's special needs desk had suggested that we move from the HC cabin we had booked to E259 because the bathroom was bigger and it had a built-in shower seat. E259 (or any of the other 20 Elation HC cabins) are not as large as many HC cabins on other ships, but it was workable. It was equipped with an automatic door and had enough space for the wheelchair to turn around when the beds were placed parallel to the window. Note: Placing the beds perpendicular to one another would have provided more space.

 

The bathroom was also a bit small, but larger then the other one we had when the ship was new. It had a roll-in shower with a built-in shower seat and a roll-under sink. My only issues with the bathroom were that the shower had only a center drain so water ran all over the bathroonm and there was no storage in the sink area.

 

The rest of the ship is quite accessible, but did not offer amenities such as pool or tender lifts. It also did not have a lowered blackjack table which annoyed my husband.

 

The staff were outstanding. Theywere one of the friendliest and most helpful crews we have encountered on any ship. We had not been in our cabin more than 15 minutes when we received a call asking if my husband's oxygen concentrator had arrived safely. The officer in charge of our boat drill station carefully explained to us that in the case of an emergency they would come to us and take us directly to the life boat. The Lido deck cafe staff were so eager to get him whatever he wanted that I had no qualms about leaving him on the days he did not want to get ashore. When I had to call for assistance because he fell, there were 4 crew members there in a matter of minutes and they refused to take a tip for lifting my 6'2" husband back into his chair.

 

Our fellow guests were equally helpful. For the first time, we did not have an elevator issue the entire week. They stood aside to give him enough room to enter even without my asking, they held the elevator doors for him, asked if there was enough space for them and even several times offered to get out to make space for him.

 

My husband choose not to go ashore in Progreso or Belize because of the heat, but he did go ashore at Cozumel. We rarely go on ship excursions, but I booked the Mexican Cuisine class through Carnival because you can not book it privately. At first we were told it was not accessible. When I questioned it because I understood that the Playa Mia where it is held is accessible, I found out that issue was the cooktops. That was okay because my husband planned to watch, not cook. The bus was not accessible so we went in a taxi expecting to pay for it, but Playa Mia insisted on giving us transfers. They also had staff waiting for us to assist him out of the cab and to the main covered area even though it was fully ramped. It turned out to be a good choice, The class was fun and the food good. My daughter and I also enjoyed the beach for a little while while my husband stayed under the tent near a fan.

 

All in all, I would recomend the Elation as long as you understand that the HC facilites are acceptable, but not up to the standards of the newer ships.

[mg93901]

Thanks for re-posting. I'm so glad to hear the ship's crew is helpful and sensitive to the needs of their passengers. Since this will be my first cruise, I won't have anything to compare the Elation with accessibility-wise.

 

I'd forgotten about the cooking class. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did you book it in advance? How many "students" were there? Was it crowded?

 

I'm so glad your cruise was a success. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[DEL67]

mg93901

 

The cooking class can only be booked through the cruise line. Since I had questions, I waited until we were aboard the Elation to book it.

 

No, it is not crowded. They only accept 28 (?) students, 4 per cooktop. The available spots are split between the ships in port. For example, there were only 3 ships in Cozumel the day we were there. The Elation got 8 spots. I believe RCCL got 12 spots and the remainder went to the Holiday.

[robseat]

I checked shore excursions for our cruise (Carnival Glory, 11/05) and did not see it. Too bad -- it looks just like something we would enjoy and be able to do. I'll check when we get on board, just in case. Was the location near to dock? We would not be able to take a bus, but could probably track down a wheelchair taxi if too far to "walk." We are having trouble coming up with anything interesting to do all day. We were in Cozumel a couple of years ago, and had a brief taxi tour of the town and some shopping, but didn't really do any sightseeing to speak of. Husband is unable to walk or stand at all.

[DEL67]

Robseat

 

The cooking course is at the Playa Mia beach club which is about 15 minutes from the Punta Lagosta pier where we were docked. We are able to use a regular taxi because my husband still can transfer to a regular taxi and we take a manual chair in addition to his power chair. However, the head of the Elation's shore excursion offered to get a taxi with a lift if we needed it so they must have at least one in Cozumel.

 

Since the space is very limited, I do not know if the cooking class is offered on all ships. Its official name is Mexican Cuisine Cooking & Tasting.

 

Another option is Chankanaab Park. Again, you need to take a taxi there, but much of the park except the beach is accessible. I was able to get my husband's manual (backwards) over the sand to the open air cafe where for the price of a beer he could watch us snorkel. We did not go to all areas of the park, but he was also able to see their small ruins area (reproductions I believe) and the sea lion show and watch my nephews swim with the sea lions.

[montgomeryfamily]

For those who can transfer, there is also a beach wheelchair for use by disabled passengers at Chankanaab Park. It is located near the dolphin area.

[mg93901]

Well, Elation's cancelled till at least February 2006.

[PiperMcB]

Well, Elation's cancelled till at least February 2006.

 

Elation will still be sailing--just taking over Ecstacy's route--a good exchange. I loved the Elation--didn't like the Ecstacy!

[Queenie2]

Elation will still be sailing--just taking over Ecstacy's route--a good exchange. I loved the Elation--didn't like the Ecstacy!

 

That's true, however the passengers *originally* booked on the Elation will be displaced because all guests originally scheduled to sail on the Ecstasy during the affected six-month period will be automatically moved to the Elation. The Ecstasy and Elation are sister ships with identical layouts. Guests will be assigned to the same cabins on Elation that they had booked on the Ecstasy.

 

I'm not sure why they did that. It just made things more confusing. I don't know why they just didn't cancel the Ecstasy cruises instead of rebooking Ecstasy passengers on the Elation and then canceling the original Elation passengers. Perhaps the Elation had fewer bookings which would mean fewer people displaced??

 

http://emerginghorizons.com/blog/2005/09/carnival-cancels-cruises-to-aid.html

 

 

Candy