Caribbean Cruise

[paramoto]

Ok. I am finally back home from a trip to Miami that included my first ever Cruise. I´ll try to be brief and post details I feel are relevant to those that may want to go on one.

Enchantment of the Seas, Royal Caribbean
July 2006
4 nights with stops in Key West and Cozumel

First, I thought that the ship had no real accessibility issues other than the fact that pushing on carpet can take a toll on your shoulders given the size of today´s ships. My wife and kids helped push from time to time.

First time cruiser, so if my terminology is not correct now you know why.

Boarding: We arrived around 1:30 p.m. and the boarding process felt very easy and fluid and it must have taken no more than a half hour or so to board the ship and get our "sea-pass cards", with which we could purchase drinks, gifts, etc.

Ship: The vessel was really accessible. I had access to pretty much all of the ship. Did not try to swim in the pools and did not find out if lifts were available. Everywhere there was a bathroom there was either an adequate handicapped stall with automatic push button doors or a handicapped bathroom next to the AB one. I was happy to discover that I could go to the bathroom with as much accessibility as anyone else.

Cabin: The cabin was large when compared to other cabins. The main door was 32 inches wide, as per their specs. It was adequate. The cabin was pretty accessible as was the bathroom, with the exception that they had this aluminum strip on the floor over an inch high that made chair placement and transfers harder than they needed to be. Other than that it was fine.

Ports of Call: Both ports were docked ports. The ramps were short and a little steep, but manageable with help. Key West was very accessible with few exceptions. Cozumel had unaccessible places but many were accessible. I am perfectly able to transfer to a car so I was basically looking for a regular cab, but was offered a lift van at the same price, so we decided to take that, as it accomodated our party of seven including my wheelchair. The only problem is that the van did not have a raised roof and I had to put my chest on my legs to go in, and could not sit straight up while in the van, but it was no big deal. It was readily available at the dock and I understand the taxi company has several of them.

Theater: The theater was in the fifth and sixth decks. The fifth deck in the back had designated wheelchair areas. Everytime we went there was available space. Not the best seats, but good enough.

Disembarkment: We decided to get up early and go first. At 8 oclock we were at the disembarkment door. By 8:30 they let us out and we were on our way. The ramp was again a little steep but manageable with help.

Overall it was a great experience I hope to repeat in the near future. Staff was, in general, very helpful.

Hope it helps and answers some of the questions previously posted.

[lune14]

Hi Paramoto,

Perfect timing to read your post. I'm venturing into a little business idea with a friend and I've been planning a cruise. Years ago I researched an eastern Caribbean cruise and Royal was the LEAST accessible at the time. In fact I was told by the agent they offered "NO" access for w/c users. Maybe I was misinformed. In any case glad to hear you had a good experience and I look forward to my trip! Thanks for taking the time to post the info.

[paramoto]

I cant see how anyone would rate the Enchantment as a no access cruise. Can´t vouch for other ships, but this one was as accessible as I could wish. RC´s special needs (or whatever) department was not very quick in answering my mails, but the vacation itself was excellent. Hope yours is too.

[SCI-Nurse]

lune14, welcome to our forums. RCCL has been a leader in access for many years, so I suspect you were dealing with one of the common "totally clueless" travel agents when it comes to accessibility. Cruising is great for wheelchair users. Check out the disabled cruisers forum at www.cruisecritic.com

Paramoto, please post a review over there too if you would.

(KLD)

[paramoto]

KLD, as always thanks for your comments. I have not yet registered to cruisiecritic. Will try to do it soon. Nonetheless if it is possible for you, I don't have a problem at all if you can post it there.

[Chris Chappell]

paramoto - glad you had a good time.

I've been on several cruises and agree with your general assessment. All that I've been on with Holland America sound similar.

Sounds like someone else is sold on the "cruising" concept. Welcome aboard..:mega:

[paramoto]

Sounds like someone else is sold on the "cruising" concept. Welcome aboard..:mega:

I sure am. My whole family had an awesome time and it is a very friendly vacation concept for wheelchairs. I did not have an experience with tendering, but I understand that this process is also getting wheelchair friendly. I am very glad that I went and hope to do it again and again.

The picture posted is of my wife and kids in Key West. The Enchantment is behind them.

[felieh]

I've been on two cruises to the Carribean post-SCI, both on the Princess Cruise Lines GRAND ship. It is a fabulously-accessible ship with a huge bathroom and cabin. Every freakin' thing was accessible and when you wanted to get off go island hopping, the guys were just so awesome and relaxed in lifting your chair up (manual, of course) when needed. Some stops were completely accessible for you to get off of but those that weren't, no problem. The carpeting is also a challenge on this ship but I'm not sure if there is a whole lot that can be done about it. I'm planning my next cruise as we speak for next February and am exploring some of the newer ships. The GRAND is now five or six years old and believe it or not, in ship years, it's an old dog.

I recommend cruises to every SCI I ever talk to.

[lune14]

Thanks for the great info in all your replies everyone! I've been dying to get my sea legs and I've always thought cruising would be the best SCI vacation as everything is "right there". No curbs, no cabs, no cobblestones (unless of course you chose ports of call). Even so I am SO looking forward to it and have enough friends interested that my fare is going to be NILL. :D Something my travel agent worked out since I am organizing the whole trip and getting so many to join the party.

Seriously where can you go (and how far!) for a week and get all your air fare, hotel and food packaged up so nicely and at such a good price if not on a cruise? Now I just need to get past the fact my biggest fear of dying is in water!! LOL :eek1:

I went on a date with a guy who was a commercial fisherman by trade and naturally our first date was.... in a little boat in a bay off the Oregon coast. He and his brother lifted me from dock to boat in my chair and I managed to stay out all day and even landed a 26lb chinook all by myself. Took me 10 mins to bring it in but damn was I proud! You'd think I wouldn't have an issue with water after that but... oh well

[felieh]

BTW, just stay away from this particular ship til further notice. Recall that this was the one that almost tipped over a week ago.:D

[lune14]

LOL thanks felieh, I'll keep that in mind!!! ;-)

[SCI-Nurse]

I think you are talking about the wrong ship. It was the Crown Princess that just recently had the serious tilting (called heeling on a ship) incident recently:

http://www.cruise-ship-report.com/News/072506.htm

There was an incident on Explorer of the Seas (RCCL, not the Enchantment) last August.

You can check out incidents at sea on cruise sites at this site:

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

(KLD)

[paramoto]

KLD, I just went through the events list on the cruisejunkie site. I was on the voyage where allegedly a passenger went overboard on the Enchantment of the Seas on July 15th. Frankly I think some of those comments are some sort of vendetta against the cruise line. It is hard to conceive someone going overboard, the vessel stopping (which takes a while), dropping a boat to search for the passenger and no one on board finding out, and no news after the fact. The vessel is huge, but at the same time thousands of passengers congregate in the same area (dining, buffet, pool, theater, etc.), and for such alarming news not to spread around seems unlikely. Surely not all of the events reported are false or stretches, but some of them seem to be.

[adamstone]

I think about going on a cruise all the time. Do their bathrooms in the cabins have roll in showers or atleast can a shower chair fit in them?

[paramoto]

Yes, they have roll in showers. You have to go over a one square inch strip on the floor. Not that difficult. The cabins and bathrooms are maybe twice as large as regular cabins. I have a nuprodx bath chair that I transfered to. Go, you´ll have a great time.

[adamstone]

I have to have a stiff back on my showerchair and what that means my showerchair doesn't fold. What should I do toget my showerchair on board? Can I just roll it on?
Thanks for the information.

[paramoto]

I am pretty sure you can check it in as luggage. Maybe someone else has had the experience. My bath chair packs really small so I took it in with me.

[SCI-Nurse]

Ours folds up too and fits in its own case. We have the one they sell at Rolli-Moden.com (cheap on eBay!!) called the Chameleon. Similar to the Nuprodx, a little cheaper, not as nice though, but it works great for my mom.

If you are driving to the ship you can just have someone push it for you. They treat the luggage pretty rough, so unless you pack it up with bubble wrap I would not check it at the ship pier. If you must take it on the plane, gate check it just like your wheelchair. No extra charge since it is considered medical equipment.

Bathrooms vary by the ship, but most have a roll-in shower. Some have no lip, others may have a small lip. Most have a mini-ramp into the bathroom, but most are level. Most cruise lines (other than Princess) have a "Special Needs" department where you can get more specific answers to stuff like this before booking. We got the one at HAL to send us digital pictures of the bathroom from the cabin we were considering (from the ship, in a distant port) in just 2 days.

Check out the discussion board at CruiseCritic.com. Lots of great information there.

(KLD)

[Sue Pendleton]

paramoto - glad you had a good time.

I've been on several cruises and agree with your general assessment. All that I've been on with Holland America sound similar.

Sounds like someone else is sold on the "cruising" concept. Welcome aboard..:mega:

Sold? We're absolutely addicted! Just wish more ships would port out of Baltimore. We've been on 3 Transatlantics, 2 to Bermuda (NOT the most accessible island in the world), 1 Carribean, 1 Canadian and heading off to the eastern Mediterranean in October for a round trip out of Rome all the way to the Black Sea and an overnight in Istanbul. Talk about can't wait!

It's no help on the toilet Adam but before I got my Nuprodux we would swipe a deck chair for showers because I needed some side stability and most flip downs only have a grab bar.