Accessible Tours

[MarcyLondon]

I’ve seen a tour I’d like to do but it’s advertised as an accessible tour. Thankfully we don’t need it but would you recommend or not? It’s the only available tour for the area

[Redtravel]

Take it.  Just understand that some people on the tour may need extra time to board or walk slower than you. Because my spouse has mobility challenges,I take accessible or slow tours.  Often the group is smaller. Since the pace is slower, you may get time to enjoy a venue.  I have found that regular tours are often crowded and fast moving. You pass a lot of places, but you don’t have time to stop and enjoy.  When I was younger, I used to run and see lots of places. I am way past that now.  Now I appreciate seeing fewer places and having time to enjoy it more. 

[AMHuntFerry]

The accessible tours are very new (as in they just started being available on a limited number of 2024 cruises as far as I can tell), so I don't think there has been much experience with them yet. I am very happy they have been added since some people have had no viable shorex options in the past.

[Redtravel]

24 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

The accessible tours are very new (as in they just started being available on a limited number of 2024 cruises as far as I can tell), so I don't think there has been much experience with them yet. I am very happy they have been added since some people have had no viable shorex options in the past.

We have been cruising on Oceania for many years.  There have always been some tours that are suitable for guests with mobility challenges.  Just put the walker or wheelchair into the luggage hold, sit down, and enjoy the tour. Today we did a Valencia tour that suitable for the mobility challenged.  It was mostly on the bus with one stop.  

[AMHuntFerry]

39 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

We have been cruising on Oceania for many years.  There have always been some tours that are suitable for guests with mobility challenges.  Just put the walker or wheelchair into the luggage hold, sit down, and enjoy the tour. Today we did a Valencia tour that suitable for the mobility challenged.  It was mostly on the bus with one stop.  

The accessible tours are new and have a little wheelchair icon. They are specifically for those with scooters and the like. They are more accessible than the ones that have existed in the past.

[Vallesan]

10 hours ago, Redtravel said:

We have been cruising on Oceania for many years.  There have always been some tours that are suitable for guests with mobility challenges.  Just put the walker or wheelchair into the luggage hold, sit down, and enjoy the tour. Today we did a Valencia tour that suitable for the mobility challenged.  It was mostly on the bus with one stop.  

Assuming you can access a coach! Not everyone can.

[Vallesan]

21 hours ago, MarcyLondon said:

I’ve seen a tour I’d like to do but it’s advertised as an accessible tour. Thankfully we don’t need it but would you recommend or not? It’s the only available tour for the area

Actually there are very few truly ‘accessible’ tours available for those who can’t access a coach and it was great to see they have been introduced even if they are at ‘silly money’ prices.  In my opinion, and this is only my opinion, if you are able bodied then book a private tour and leave the ‘wheelchair’ friendly tours for those who have no other options. 
Sorry!

[Redtravel]

Private tours are always a good option.  We travel often. In many places, we hire a tour locally for just the 2 of us.  If you plan ahead, you have more choices of excursions.  With simply more including excursions, there are definitely more people taking ship tours.  Yesterday we were in Valencia. Our tour was on a bus with a kneeling step.  Most of the tour was on the bus.  There were people using wheelchairs, walkers, etc.  there were able bodied people too.  

[urlaub]

2 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Actually there are very few truly ‘accessible’ tours available for those who can’t access a coach and it was great to see they have been introduced even if they are at ‘silly money’ prices.  In my opinion, and this is only my opinion, if you are able bodied then book a private tour and leave the ‘wheelchair’ friendly tours for those who have no other options. 
Sorry!

You are so right. There are also mostly not handicapped people in accessible cabins. For my husband who is paraplegic they are not available. So we have problems to find a cruise for us. If those people also book accessible tours it will be the same.

[iowananny]

6 hours ago, urlaub said:

You are so right. There are also mostly not handicapped people in accessible cabins. For my husband who is paraplegic they are not available. So we have problems to find a cruise for us. If those people also book accessible tours it will be the same.

Believe me it is those who do not need the accessible cabins are taking them away from those who need them.  We booked a cruise on board and were told the only cabin left for a French balcony was in an accessible cabin.  I told the person who sold us the cruise who booked the cruise that if someone else needed it we would be willing to move.  I didn't want to pay more but if someone had cancelled, I would have no problem changing to another cabin.  We never heard anything and spent our cruise in an accessible cabin. We were really given no choice.  I don't think O wants to go to the trouble to move people around.  We booked a year ahead of time and I'm sure during that time someone in a French balcony probably cancelled.

 

People are booking the accessible tours because that is all that is available and they have SM money that they want to use.

 

The only advice I can give to you is to book very early and then book your excursions right away.  I really don't think people are trying to take something away from you they are just using what is available. 

[Vallesan]

6 hours ago, urlaub said:

You are so right. There are also mostly not handicapped people in accessible cabins. For my husband who is paraplegic they are not available. So we have problems to find a cruise for us. If those people also book accessible tours it will be the same.

I think that the reality is that the majority of able bodied people have no idea what the reality of have mobility issues means, and hopefully they will never experience this first hand.

 

I really don’t think people are being ‘selfish’ if they book a wheelchair accessible cabin or tour,  I just don’t think they understand that there are really no ‘alternatives’ for those who need ‘accessibility’.

[Vallesan]

14 minutes ago, iowananny said:

 

 I really don't think people are trying to take something away from you they are just using what is available. 

I agree. However, I really do think cruise lines are at fault and they should not offer accessible cabins ‘willy nilly. It would be so much fairer if the accessible cabins, of which there are so few,  were left free until at least final payment before offering them on general sale.

[urlaub]

37 minutes ago, iowananny said:

Believe me it is those who do not need the accessible cabins are taking them away from those who need them.  We booked a cruise on board and were told the only cabin left for a French balcony was in an accessible cabin.  I told the person who sold us the cruise who booked the cruise that if someone else needed it we would be willing to move.  I didn't want to pay more but if someone had cancelled, I would have no problem changing to another cabin.  We never heard anything and spent our cruise in an accessible cabin. We were really given no choice.  I don't think O wants to go to the trouble to move people around.  We booked a year ahead of time and I'm sure during that time someone in a French balcony probably cancelled.

 

People are booking the accessible tours because that is all that is available and they have SM money that they want to use.

 

The only advice I can give to you is to book very early and then book your excursions right away.  I really don't think people are trying to take something away from you they are just using what is available. 

You can be sure that we book very early and I told them that on our more than 40 cruises we saw very few people who need the accessible cabins. Cruise lines say that onboard they will move people out of the accessible room if it is necessary. But you can believe that we will never book a regular cabin in the hope that there would be a possibility of changing.

[urlaub]

28 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

I think that the reality is that the majority of able bodied people have no idea what the reality of have mobility issues means, and hopefully they will never experience this first hand.

 

I really don’t think people are being ‘selfish’ if they book a wheelchair accessible cabin or tour,  I just don’t think they understand that there are really no ‘alternatives’ for those who need ‘accessibility’.

I can tell you that there are TAs who offer this because the cabins are bigger and so are the bathrooms. They want to do a great job for their clients and do not think about the people who need it.

Also for example in Europe you will find a lot of non handicapped parking on a wheelchair parking lt. So much to "not selfish"

[Vallesan]

3 minutes ago, urlaub said:

I can tell you that there are TAs who offer this because the cabins are bigger and so are the bathrooms. They want to do a great job for their clients and do not think about the people who need it.

Also for example in Europe you will find a lot of non handicapped parking on a wheelchair parking lt. So much to "not selfish"

I certainly agree with you about the parking which is the same here in the UK . Frustrating to say the least!

[iowananny]

That is sad that travel agents are offering this because the cabins are larger.  To be honest I would have preferred a regular French balcony for the extra storage space in the bathroom.  There were no cabinets and shelves and while we made do it certainly didn't make the cabin special to me.  And I didn't really like a shower that could hold six people.  We felt we were taking a step down to get the cabin but for you it would have been great.  I guess the extra room didn't mean that much to us.  I would never take an accessible cabin to prevent someone who needed it from taking a cruise, but we were never given a choice.

[Vallesan]

23 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Private tours are always a good option.  We travel often. In many places, we hire a tour locally for just the 2 of us.  If you plan ahead, you have more choices of excursions.  With simply more including excursions, there are definitely more people taking ship tours.  Yesterday we were in Valencia. Our tour was on a bus with a kneeling step.  Most of the tour was on the bus.  There were people using wheelchairs, walkers, etc.  there were able bodied people too.  

Hi. What is a kneeling step? I’ve never seen or heard of this before.

[ORV]

6 hours ago, Vallesan said:

Hi. What is a kneeling step? I’ve never seen or heard of this before.

It's where the bus has air shocks that allow it to lower the front closer to the ground while you are getting on and off. I'm sure you've seen them. Unless I'm mistaken. 

[Vallesan]

2 hours ago, ORV said:

It's where the bus has air shocks that allow it to lower the front closer to the ground while you are getting on and off. I'm sure you've seen them. Unless I'm mistaken. 

Thank you! Yes I have travelled on those but they seem to be mainly in Spain. The other problem is the number and height of steps once you are on the bus! It’s all very hit and miss. The buses in the Caribbean are the worst for steep steps!

[Redtravel]

Simply more has its faults.  More people are booking tours to use their excursion credit money.  Tour groups are big. If you decide that you want to take more tours or switch tours, you may find that they are sold out.  Having taken 3 tours on my present cruise, they vary widely on apparent ability.  Descriptions don’t match the actual tour.  It is crazy how much they don’t match descriptions. The guest services destination people are clueless.  One tour, was mainly on a bus for almost 5 hours with no rest stop. No restroom on the bus. Next tour, skipped some of the photo stop venues.  Guide said that it wasn’t on his version of the tour. Yesterday we took a supposed moderate excursion that was very difficult for most guests.  Tour guide walked quickly. Many people couldn’t keep up.  The bus was parked far away from the venue.  It’s no wonder that many people were late returning to the bus.  
simply more has created too many people taking an excursion. Simply more wines are terrible. Would prefer “cruise only” return.   

[clo]

On 5/23/2024 at 1:17 PM, Redtravel said:

Simply more wines are terrible.

Now that's the first I've read of that. It's a quite long list. "Terrible"???

[alcpa1]

We were recently on Sirena. The cruise was booked prior to Simply More. We were traveling with two who needed accessible tours. On our 10 day sailing the only accessible tour was NCL's private island. This was a tender port and one in our party could not access the tender because of sea conditions.

Needless to say our friends were not thrilled.

Hopefully O will offer more options in the future. Until then they will not sail on O with Simply More. They are price conscious cruisers who rely on others to plan the length and breath of every cruise experience.

[Syd58]

On 5/20/2024 at 10:25 AM, Vallesan said:

I agree. However, I really do think cruise lines are at fault and they should not offer accessible cabins ‘willy nilly. It would be so much fairer if the accessible cabins, of which there are so few,  were left free until at least final payment before offering them on general sale.

 

13 hours ago, alcpa1 said:

We were recently on Sirena. The cruise was booked prior to Simply More. We were traveling with two who needed accessible tours. On our 10 day sailing the only accessible tour was NCL's private island. This was a tender port and one in our party could not access the tender because of sea conditions.

Needless to say our friends were not thrilled.

Hopefully O will offer more options in the future. Until then they will not sail on O with Simply More. They are price conscious cruisers who rely on others to plan the length and breath of every cruise experience.

Strongly disagree that accessible cabins should not be available until final payment. Then you would be penalizing those with handicaps. The way you resolve this is to require documentation, like Seabourn does. 

Edited May 25 by Syd58

[Syd58]

On 5/23/2024 at 4:17 PM, Redtravel said:

Simply more has its faults.  More people are booking tours to use their excursion credit money.  Tour groups are big. If you decide that you want to take more tours or switch tours, you may find that they are sold out.  Having taken 3 tours on my present cruise, they vary widely on apparent ability.  Descriptions don’t match the actual tour.  It is crazy how much they don’t match descriptions. The guest services destination people are clueless.  One tour, was mainly on a bus for almost 5 hours with no rest stop. No restroom on the bus. Next tour, skipped some of the photo stop venues.  Guide said that it wasn’t on his version of the tour. Yesterday we took a supposed moderate excursion that was very difficult for most guests.  Tour guide walked quickly. Many people couldn’t keep up.  The bus was parked far away from the venue.  It’s no wonder that many people were late returning to the bus.  
simply more has created too many people taking an excursion. Simply more wines are terrible. Would prefer “cruise only” return.   

SM is in line with Silverseas and Regent that include shore excursions in the price.

[Vallesan]

58 minutes ago, Syd58 said:

 

Strongly disagree that accessible cabins should not be available until final payment. Then you would be penalizing those with handicaps. The way you resolve this is to require documentation, like Seabourn does. 

I obviously didn’t make myself clear. What I was saying was that accessible cabins should be kept for those ‘needing’ them until after final payment. That way those who actually need them will have availability whereas at the moment as soon as a category is full ie. French balcony, the accessible cabins in that category ar on general sale.