Accessibility

Cruising for the physically challenged offers one of the most hassle-free vacations possible, with a wide choice of ships and itineraries, a clean environment, and almost all of the details taken care of before you go. In the past 15 years, cruise ships have become significantly more accessible for people with most types of disabilities. Many new ships also have text telephones, listening device kits for the hearing-impaired (including show lounges and theaters aboard some ships). Special dietary needs can also be accommodated by most cruise lines, and many cruise ships have cabins with refrigerators (useful for those with diabetes who need to keep supplies of insulin cool). Special cruises are organized for dialysis patients and for those who need oxygen regularly. However, some insurance companies may prohibit smaller ships from accepting passengers with severe disabilities).

The advantages of a cruise for the physically challenged are many, apart from the obvious ones of no packing and unpacking:

• Good place for relaxation and self-renewal.
• Pure air at sea (no smog, pollen or pollution).
• Spacious public rooms.
• Excellent medical facilities close by.
• Specialized dietary requirements can be met.
• The staff will generally be very helpful.
• Varied entertainment, including gambling (but no wheelchair-accessible gaming tables or slot machines)
• Security (no crime on board)
• Different ports of call.

Cabins designed for the mobility-limited typically have doors that are about 30 inches (76 cm) wide. “Standard” bathroom doors are normally only about 22 inches (56 cm) wide, whereas those designed for wheelchairs are about 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) wide. Ask your travel agent to confirm the width of cabin and bathroom doors. Allow for the fact that your knuckles on either side of a wheelchair can add to the width of your wheelchair. Beds in cabins for the physically challenged aboard most ships are not equipped with a “panic” button, adjacent to a bedside light switch (Carnival Destiny, Carnival Triumph and Carnival Victory are examples of ships that have them).

Bathroom doors are a particular problem, and the door itself, whether it opens outward into the cabin or inward into the bathroom, hinders maneuverability. Four cabins for the physically challenged in QE2, however, have electrically operated sliding doors into the bathroom, a completely level entrance into cabin and bathroom, and remote-controlled lights, curtains, and doors, as well as a door intercom and alarm.

Some cruise lines will, if given advance notice, remove a bathroom door and hang a fabric curtain in its place. Many lines will provide ramps for the bathroom doorway, where a sill or “lip” is encountered.

 Once you’ve decided on your ship and cruise, the next step is to select your accommodation. Choose a cruise line that permits you to choose a specific cabin, rather than one that merely allows you to select a price category, then assigns you a cabin just before your departure date or, worse, at embarkation.

What Cabins Should Include:

• No “lip” or threshold at the cabin door, which should be a minimum of 35 inches wide (89 cm).
• Bedside “panic” button linked to the navigation bridge (which is staffed 24 hours a day).
• Enough space to maneuver a wheelchair between entrance, bed, closet, and bathroom.
• Closet with “pull down” clothes rail.
• Telephone mounted at wheelchair height.
• Mirrors that can be used when seated in a wheelchair (full-length).
• Safe or lockable drawer that is reachable at wheelchair height.
• Convenient electrical outlet for battery charger (for electronic wheelchair users).

 What Bathrooms Should Include:

• Outward opening door.
• No “lip” at bathroom door or into shower stall.
• Shower stall (with detachable showerhead located at head height when seated in a wheelchair).
• Shower chair that folds up when not in use.
• Grab rails for shower and toilet.
• Toilet with electric automatic seat pad cleaner.
• Washbasin low enough for wheelchair to be close.
• Emergency red (panic) button or pull-cord in or adjacent to shower (for falls).

The following tips will help you choose wisely:

• If the ship does not have any specially equipped cabins, book the best outside cabin in your price range or choose another ship. However, be careful as you may find that even cruise brochures that state that a ship has “wheelchair accessible” cabins fail to say whether the wheelchair will fit through the bathroom door, or whether there is a “lip” at the door. Check whether the wheelchair can fit into the shower area. Get your travel agent to check, and recheck the details. Do not take “I think so” as an answer. Get specific measurements.
• Choose a cabin close to an elevator. Not all elevators go to all decks, so check the deck plan carefully. Smaller and older vessels may not even have elevators, making access to even the dining room difficult.
• Avoid, at all costs, a cabin down a little alleyway shared by several other cabins, even if the price is attractive. Entering a cabin in a wheelchair from a narrow alleyway is likely to be difficult.
• Cabins located amidships are less affected by vessel motion, so choose something in the middle of the ship if you are concerned about rough seas, no matter how infrequently they might occur.
• The larger (and therefore more expensive) the cabin, the more room you will have to maneuver in. This is particularly important in the bathroom.
• If your budget allows, pick a cabin with a bath rather than just a shower, because there will be considerably more room, especially if you can’t stand comfortably
• Meals in some ships may be served in your cabin, on special request. This is a decided advantage should you wish to avoid dressing for every meal. But few ships have enough space in the cabin for dining tables.
• If you want to join other passengers in the dining room and your ship offers two fixed-time seatings for meals, choose the second. Then you can linger over your dinner, secure in the knowledge that the waiter will not try to rush you.
• Space at dining room tables is limited in many ships. When making table reservations, tell the restaurant manager that you would like a table that leaves plenty of room for your wheelchair, so that it leaves plenty of room for waiters - and other passengers - to get past.
• Find a travel agent who knows your needs and understands your requirements, but follow up on all aspects of the booking yourself so that there will be no last-minute slip-ups.
• Make sure that the cabin you booked is so stated on the final passenger ticket contract. Also make sure that the contract specifically states that if, for any reason, the cabin is not available, that you will get a full refund and transportation back home as well as a refund on any hotel bills incurred.
• Take your own wheelchair with you, as ships carry only a limited number of wheelchairs; these are provided for emergency hospital use only. An alternative is to rent an electric wheelchair, which can be delivered to the ship on your sailing date.
• If you live near the port of embarkation, arrange to visit the ship yourself to check its suitability for your accessibility requirements (most cruise lines will be helpful in this regard).
• Hanging rails in the closets on most ships are positioned too high for someone in a wheelchair to reach (even the latest ships seem to repeat this basic error). Many cruise ships, however, have cabins specially fitted out to suit the mobility-limited. They are typically fitted with roll-in closets and have a pull-down facility to bring your clothes down to any height you want.
• Elevators are a constant source of difficulty for wheelchair passengers. Often the control buttons, especially those for upper decks, are far too high to reach.
• Doors on upper decks that open onto a Promenade or Lido Deck are very strong, are difficult to handle, and have high sills. Unless you can get out of your wheelchair, these doors can be a source of annoyance, even if help is at hand, as they open inward or outward (they should ideally be electrically operated sliding doors).
• Advise your airline of any special needs well ahead of time so that arrangements can be made to accommodate you without last-minute problems.
• Advise the cruise line repeatedly of the need for proper transfer facilities, in particular buses or vans with wheelchair ramps or hydraulic lifts.

Tendering Ashore
 
Cruise lines should (but don’t always) provide an anchor emblem in brochures for those ports of call where a ship will be at anchor instead of alongside. If the ship is at anchor, be prepared for an interesting but safe experience. The crew will lower you and your wheelchair into a waiting tender (ship-to-shore launch) and then, after a short boat-ride, lift you out again onto a rigged gangway or integral platform. If the sea is calm, this maneuver proceeds uneventfully; if the sea is choppy, it could vary from exciting to harrowing.

This type of embarkation is rare except in a busy port with several ships all sailing the same day. Holland America Line is one of the few companies to make shore tenders accessible to wheelchair passengers, with a special boarding ramp and scissor lift so that wheelchair passengers can see out of the shore tender’s windows.

Wheelchairs

Wheelchair passengers with limited mobility should use a collapsible wheelchair (which could be rented from specialist providers at your port of embarkation if you don’t want to bring your own). By limited mobility, I mean a person able to get out of the wheelchair and step over a sill or walk with a cane, crutches, or other walking device.

 Remember to ask questions before you make a booking.

Examples:

• Does the cruise line’s travel insurance (with a cancellation/trip interruption) cover you for any injuries while you are aboard ship?
• Are any public rooms or public decks aboard the ship inaccessible to wheelchairs (for instance, it is sometimes difficult to obtain access to the outdoor swimming pool deck)?
• Will you be guaranteed a good viewing place in the main showroom from where you can see the shows if seated in a wheelchair?
• Will special transportation be provided to transfer you from airport to ship?
• If you need a collapsible wheelchair, can this be provided by the cruise line?
• Do passengers have to sign a medical release?
• Do passengers need a doctor’s note to qualify for a cabin for the physically challenged?
• Will crew be on hand to help, or must the passengers rely on their own traveling companions for help?
• Are the ship’s tenders accessible to wheelchairs?
• How do you get from your cabin to the lifeboats (which may be up or down several decks) in an emergency if the elevators are out of action?

Waivers

Passengers who do not require wheelchairs but are challenged in other ways, such as those who have impaired sight, hearing, or speech present their own particular requirements. Many of these can be avoided if the person is accompanied by an able-bodied companion experienced in attending to their special needs. In any event, some cruise lines require physically challenged passengers to sign a waiver.

Hearing Impaired

Those affected should be aware of problems aboard ship: hearing the announcements on the public address system; use of the telephone; and poor acoustics in key areas (for example, boarding shore tenders).

Take a spare battery for your hearing aid. More new ships have cabins specially fitted with colored signs to help those who are hearing impaired. Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony, and Celebrity Cruises’ Century, Galaxy, and Mercury have movie theaters that are fitted with special headsets for the hearing impaired.

Finally, when going ashore, particularly on organized excursions, be aware that most destinations, particularly in Europe and Southeast Asia, are simply not equipped to handle the hearing impaired.

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