Provision for hearing-impaired

[canny_cruiser]

I've not visited this forum before. I have no mobility difficulties but have a severe hearing-impairment (100% loss in one ear and 80% loss in the other).

 

I went on my first NCL cruise last year and was very impressed with their provisions. They provided a vibrating alarm, a flashing door alert and a visual alarm for emergency announcements. There was no alternative to voice-phone which is useless for me as I rely on lip-reading.

 

My last cruise was on P&O. They had no provision for vibrating alarm, for flashing door alert or for visual alerts for emergency announcements. They did however provide a textphone which allowed me to use the telephone for room service, ship information, etc.

 

I wonder what is the experience of other hearing-impaired cruisers?

[Caribbean Chris]

Glad to hear about NCL - must try them someday. Thank you for posting. I have a similar loss to yours and rely heavily on lip reading and captioning, as well as a Hearing Dog trained by Dogs for the Deaf. We currently travel on Holland America Line and Celebrity.

 

Of the two, Holland America has been most responsive overall and has come a long way in the past ten years. On our recent cruise in April on the Zuiderdam, there was a plug-in device provided in our stateroom similar to what you described on NCL. (However, my dog performs the same and other functions, alerting me to door knocks and other noises, waking me up if I am asleep when there is a knock or emergency alarm, serving as my routine alarm clock, etc.)

 

I also noticed that the sound system in the theaters was far superior to past cruises - I could actually hear a lecture in the main theater and a film about the Panama Canal in the smaller movie theater, which was very unusual for my level of loss. It seemed to me that they now have a hearing loop system in the theaters that works with the telecoil in hearing aids. I have also read good reports about the sound system in their new ship, Koningsdam.

 

They were also extremely helpful with my dog's needs and documentation. So we have booked another, longer cruise with them as well for later this summer.