experiences with various cruise lines/Alaska/ complicated medical disabilities

[dieselmama]

Good Morning! I am new here, and looking for information as we are planning an Alaskan Cruise, hopefully in 2017. Let me give you a little information and hopefully we can get some advice, experience from others who might be able to best advise us on this journey.

 

First, we HAVE cruised before, DCL in 2007/2008 when our disabled now young adult son was a LOT younger. They were fantastic with him, but of course he has now aged out of the clubs, so DCL is not necessarily the best place for us anymore.

 

He is on the autistic spectrum, high functioning but emotional age level varies depending on circumstances. He is also medically complicated, on bipap and oxygen at night, dependent on tube feeds and at times IV nutrition so the need for dependable refrigeration is essential. He also uses a mobility scooter at times so he doesnt over do since he has really crappy lungs. He can walk sometimes depending on how he is doing (sea level is better than our home elevation.. yeah!) but we DO need to have the scooter available in case he tires out, likely post excursion and to conserve energy while on board.

 

We will need at least 5 outlets to plug in his various devices for charging purposes and of course at night for breathing. (and it would be nice to be able to also charge the ipad/ipod and our phones and camera batteries!) When we normally travel to hotels we take a large battery back up/surge protector with us for his nighttime purposes, I am assuming based on some of my research that won't be possible on ship any longer?

 

Which cruise lines have you found to be the safest for disability travel? You always hear/read about horror stories from certain cruise lines, and we want to be sure we are being as careful as possible to avoid issues.

 

This is a dream trip, he LOVES wildlife, predators in particular, and is an avid photographer. It is a combination of our 35th anniversary along with his 21st birthday (he had a 10% chance to be born alive) so we want to make it special. We are considering doing a one way cruise-tour and then taking another cruise back down, making a nice long trip out of it and giving us plenty of opportunity for excursions (so many to choose from!), so we COULD potentially do 2 different cruise lines so we have different options if there are different ones that are safe.

 

Any of your thoughts or suggestions are most welcome!

 

Thanks in advance, Heidi (aka dieselmama)

[Kamloops50]

If you have any ideas about cruise line you'll want to try.

The best is call their special services dept to discuss the issues. You'll at least need a handicapped cabin. There aren't many on the ships and go fairly fast .

[Silver Sweethearts]

If you haven't done so already, google "Best Ships For Cruisers With Disabilities". It may give you some possible choices to research.

[xxoocruiser]

Some thing's to consider

 

• When it comes to Alaska Cruise doing a B2B is not always permissible. Reason being it has something with the "Jones Act".
  
• In theory the newer the ship the better the disability features. With that said for me I find Holland America not all that great for people w/disabilities or at least it doesn't work well for me. I personally prefer RCCL now that I'm disabled. However RCCL is not licensed to go to Glacier Bay which IMHO is one of the most memorable parts of an Alaska cruise.
  
• Accessible cabins for Alaska booked very fast and there are few HC cabins that can accommodate 3 people. Therefore you really need to book a cabin when the itineraries open and than you can monitor cost up until final payment for any price reductions.
  

Edited December 31, 2015 by xxoocruiser

[Kamloops50]

Some thing's to consider

 

• When it comes to Alaska Cruise doing a B2B is not always permissible. Reason being it has something with the "Jones Act".
  
• In theory the newer the ship the better the disability features. With that said for me I find Holland America not all that great for people w/disabilities or at least it doesn't work well for me. I personally prefer RCCL now that I'm disabled. However RCCL is not licensed to go to Glacier Bay which IMHO is one of the most memorable parts of an Alaska cruise.
  
• Accessible cabins for Alaska booked very fast and there are few HC cabins that can accommodate 3 people. Therefore you really need to book a cabin when the itineraries open and than you can monitor cost up until final payment for any price reductions.
  

 

A B2B from Vancouver to Alaska or reverse is very permissible. You can start in Alaska or Vancouver . B2B from Seattle or San Francisco isn't permissible. We have done B2B many times from Vancouver . Cheaper for than flying one way . If you do a B2B from Vancouver on Princess you'll see Glacier Bay both ways with College Fiord northbound or Hubbard Glacier southbound.

Celebrity from Seattle actually goes all the up Tracy Arom on cruises from Seattle.

[dieselmama]

I have been checking out some of the different lines and RCCL looks like the better one, though we would love to be able to see Glacier Bay. Thinking maybe we could do one line for the cruise tour portion, and a different line for the opposite direction perhaps?

 

I noticed that Princess doesnt have any unobstructed oceanview 3 person HA rooms, just interior and veranda. RCCL on the other hand seems to have a greater variety to choose from...

 

Any thoughts on which of the 2 do a better job with the land portion? While we would PREFER to have ocean view both directions, we could do interior one direction given that this is such an extended trip...

 

Any other lines you recommend for the Glacier Bay portion of the trip, OR for the land portion? Trying to come up with the best mix!

 

Thank you!

 

Heidi

Edited January 1, 2016 by dieselmama

[Kamloops50]

Princess and Holland America is usually considered the best operators in Alaska . RCI group is getting better with their own trains and buses in Alaska.

That said they all sort of use the same facilities in Alaska.

As for a cruise I would recommend using Princess . They do both Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay on this itensnary.

Keep in mind that you'll be cruising to or from Vancouver is doing an Alaskan land tours.

[xxoocruiser]

Have a friend that is confined to a wheelchair. Because of that she did extensive research and determined that Princess met her needs best for on board accessibility and land accessibility rather than HAL. She had the trip of her life and was not disappointed.

 

As stated before Princess and HAL do the best overall for Alaska cruise and land trips.

[kitty9]

A cruise line will provide a medical refrigerator, as the regular refrigerators will not keep things cold. Your big problem will be with the electrical outlets. I've not found any ship, old or new, that has more than two US type outlets. Bringing a power strip will not work because the things you need to plug in will draw far too much power from the ship's very "cranky" electrical system.

 

Call the special needs department of the cruise line you choose. They will be the best guide. Oh, and I agree with xxoo in that Holland America was by far the worst cruise line I've ever been on in terms of being disabled friendly---and we were on their newest ship.

[searoses]

I read on cc that there is often a plug behind the bed that is european....we did find it on princess regal so all of our gadgets and bipap were plugged in bedside....I used a small,muti-use plug unit that was NOT a surge protector....the only thing plugged at the desk was the scooter....most convenient......I hope your family has a wonderful trip and don't miss the glaciers!....I would spring for a balcony cabin one of those weeks....the sun doesn't set til late at night and the view is 24/7....

[chengkp75]

Power strips that are not surge protectors are acceptable to every line that I'm aware of. Some will want to supply their own, from an inspection/liability standpoint, but that can then be arranged through special needs.

 

If you give the current draws for his equipment, as listed on the label or the power brick, I could give you a better idea of whether you can plug everything in. If any of the equipment is marked "100-240 vac input" (and your ipad and phone will be in this category), then you can use the 220v european outlets, with an adapter, which are on a separate circuit from the 110v outlets.

 

If memory serves me right, the HC cabins are on circuits with fewer cabins, or alone, to handle the expected heavier load.

Edited January 2, 2016 by chengkp75