Question about accessible balcony cabins

[Sandy R]

My husband requires an accessible cabin. On the Ruby, there are accessible mini's and we book those. On the Star, there aren't any accessible mini's so I booked D 733, which has the accessible bathroom. Now I'm worried that the cabin itself will be too small. There are accessible balcony cabins on the Star... C302, 301, 304. If the beds are made into twins, will there be a decent amount of room for him to get in and out of the bed. Thanks for any help.

[Essiesmom]

Those minis on Star will have plenty of room. They were built as accessible, but they forgot to put the wider door on them. The accessible balcony cabins will have plenty of space. Go to http://www.cruisedeckplans.com. Choose Princess, then Star Princess. On the left side are the cabin categories. scroll down to Balcony and click on Handicap cabins. It will list the cabins and show pictures if any are available. Click on the pictures to enlarge. Membership is necessary to see most pictures, but he makes the accessible cabin pictures available free. EM

[mamaboss]

I travel with my 91 year old mom with bad knees. We always booked regular balconies or mini's. It is very tight for her collapsible wheelchair. We stayed in an accessible balcony cabin for the first time this year because she uses the wheelchair more now. If you have a handicap bathroom that's a big help. If your husband uses a wheelchair he may have to get out of it to enter the cabin. You will have to decide what he can safely do.

[JF - retired RRT]

My husband requires an accessible cabin. On the Ruby, there are accessible mini's and we book those. On the Star, there aren't any accessible mini's so I booked D 733, which has the accessible bathroom. Now I'm worried that the cabin itself will be too small. There are accessible balcony cabins on the Star... C302, 301, 304. If the beds are made into twins, will there be a decent amount of room for him to get in and out of the bed. Thanks for any help.

We've been in one of those cabins. They're wonderful!!

Plenty of room as long as you don't turn the beds into a queen.

The balcony is ginormous.

The bathroom is major roomy.

The only issue would be entering/exiting the cabin if he uses a scooter or wheelchair. That could be tricky. You have to turn from the main corridor to a short corridor that has 2 cabins on the opposite side of the hall. Then make a quick turn into the cabin.

I'm pretty sure that's the reason these cabins don't qualify for handicap.

I have pix in Photobucket and had previously posted them, but couldn't get it to work properly today. If you drop me an email, I'd be happy to send them to you.

g n j ferren at hot mail dot com

Edited June 28, 2017 by JF - retired RRT

[JF - retired RRT]

Those minis on Star will have plenty of room. They were built as accessible, but they forgot to put the wider door on them. The accessible balcony cabins will have plenty of space. Go to www.cruisedeckplans.com. Choose Princess, then Star Princess. On the left side are the cabin categories. scroll down to Balcony and click on Handicap cabins. It will list the cabins and show pictures if any are available. Click on the pictures to enlarge. Membership is necessary to see most pictures, but he makes the accessible cabin pictures available free. EM

No, they have the wider door. I think it's the turns you have to make to get to the door.

[catwoman6226]

We were in C304 on the Star in February. The beauty of these cabins is that one can scoot right from the elevator lobby into the cabin. We had two mobility scooters and still had plenty of room to move around. The beds were in the twin formation and I had at least 4 feet free on either side of the bed. The bathroom was roomy as well. We never had any issues with noise from the proximity of the elevators (15 night cruise to Hawaii). I wouldn't hesitate to book this cabin/location again. We've also had a similar experience in B304 on the Emerald.

[VibeGuy]

Somewhere there is a document that details all of the particulars about all of the accessible cabins on all of the ships.

 

Of course, I can't find it to save my life.

 

My DH needs the grab bars on his right, and the details get to that level.

 

As for access to the bed - no challenge at all from the balcony side of the bed. From the bathroom side it could be a bit tight depending on how he prefers to transfer.

[Coral]

Sandy - I have pics of this cabin but can't find them.

 

I did find some on the internet for you and this is how I remember the cabins in twin beds. It is odd when it is in queen. I think it will be fine for your situation. When I have seen this cabin - it has always had a chair and not a couch. The only issue I have seen with this cabin is the water in the bathroom. It can run out of the room - you need to put towels down to stop the water.

 

[Sandy R]

Thanks to all of you... cruisecritic members are great! We're rather new to this since we've always booked mini-suites. After speaking to a Princess agent, who was a big help, we decided on a balcony cabin, C302, which seems to address his needs at this time. If any of you have sailed in these 4 cabins, I'd appreciate hearing your experience.

[VibeGuy]

So the only quirk would be the same as the minis, where once you open the slider and the ramp comes down, you can't close the door until someone lifts the ramp back up manually.

[cb at sea]

Accessible cabins have more space than non-accessible....they are configured for wheelchair turning and such. No worries!

[san diego sue]

The balcony cabin you selected a much better choice. it is so much wider. The Mini suite cabin you were thinking of is so narrow when you enter and beds can only be twins in order to access rest of cabin and balcony. I have seen both , Friends had the cabin you chose , and you will love it.Being close to the elevator a big plus.

Will be much easier for you if you dine in the mid ship dining venues on deck 5 and 6 than the aft dining room on 6.

That one will be much harder for you to access.

Sorry to hear your hubby now requires handicapped. have a wonderful cruise. hopefully someday we get to cruise with you again.

Gloria and Lew:):)