The author and her husband sampled Royal Caribbean’s accessibility features on a fun cruise to the Maritimes in Canada.
By Jean Campbell
Accessibility begins curbside for passengers with special needs sailing out of Royal Caribbean’s terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey.
Help is immediately available to unload luggage. Once in the terminal, two dedicated check-in representatives are available to assist people with disabilities. After clearing security, escorts lead the way to shuttle buses that make the short ride from the terminal to the ship. Members of the ship’s staff are dockside to meet the buses and help with boarding. An earlier boarding time insures easy access to accessible staterooms before the rest of the passengers board.
Once on board, there is a feeling of comfort and luxury. The décor is warm and bright and staff members are friendly and helpful without being obvious. Fourteen decks are accessible by elevator.
Accessible to All
In May 2008, “Vacations to Go” newsletter featured an interview with Ron Pettit, access manager for Royal Caribbean Cruises, LTD. Pettit spoke of the multimillion dollar access project now underway to upgrade and add new features to their luxury liners.
“It is Royal Caribbean’s commitment to making cruises accessible to every passenger, whatever his or her disability,” Pettit said. “Ships built several years ago have upgrades and added features come built into new ships, such as automatic door openers for accessible staterooms.”
Since I was taking Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Sea, to Canada in August, I wrote Pettit and requested an interview. I spoke of my personal interest in travel accommodations for people with disabilities, sharing that my husband has a physical disability. Mr. Pettit arranged meetings with members of the ship’s staff while on board, and shared information on fleet accommodations.
Candice Along, a member of the guest services staff on Explorer of the Seas, provided a tour of the accessible staterooms. She shared, “There are 26 accessible staterooms including two suites, eight staterooms with balconies, six with an ocean view, and ten inside staterooms. The suites and a few of the inside staterooms can accommodate four people. The balcony and ocean view and most inside staterooms have a two-person capacity. Stateroom space ranges from 256 square feet in inside cabins to 276 square feet in the junior suites, compared with standard staterooms ranging from 173 to 188 square feet.”
Explorer of the Seas’ Staterooms are attractive and easily maneuvered. Stateroom and bathroom door widths are 32 to 34 inches, with no doorsills into the stateroom and the bathroom thresholds ramped. The bathrooms have lowered vanities, grab bars, roll-in showers, fold-down shower stools, raised toilet seats, and hand-held showerheads. Other amenities include refrigerators, lowered closet bars and lowered safes.
Amenities
The roomy main dining rooms, each with a view of the ocean on all sides, are directly above one another, in the rear of the ship on floors three, four, and five. The tables are easy to access with walkers, scooters, manual or powered chairs.
The menu has something for everyone, including fish, meat, and vegetarian, low calorie, and low fat dishes at every meal. Executive Chef Michel Bellefeuille said, “We can meet the dietary needs of most passengers, providing, diabetic, low sodium, and gluten-free entrees and desserts. We can also provide puréed meals.”
Casual dining is available on deck 11 in the Windjammer Café, which offers a spectacular view of the ocean. Passengers with mobility aids can easily get around the food buffets in the center of the restaurant. Wait staff approach passengers using mobility aids and offer to go with them and carry their selections from the buffet to the seating area. Once at the seating area, wait staff take orders for beverages and bring them to the table.
A 24-hour café on the fifth floor promenade offers complimentary sandwiches, beverages, and desserts. Coffee, tea, juice, milk, and water are complimentary in all dining areas. Sodas and alcoholic drinks are charged to a SeaPass issued when boarding the ship. The SeaPass works as an onboard charge card for those items bought on board that are not part of the cruise package.
Activities on ship include lectures, game shows, movies, bingo, music events, art auctions, jewelry sales, and pool parties. A gaming casino has accessible slot machines and a lowered blackjack table. The main theater, offers live entertainment each evening, providing accessible seating in a forward area as well as the back of the theater. The onboard ice rink offers an ice show performed by world champion skaters.
The computer center has state-of-the-art equipment and offers a reasonable user package fee. The library, while compact, is accessible.
Upper decks are perfect for enjoying the weather and the view. A pool and a whirlpool with a lift and staff members are poolside who can operate the lift.
A medical facility is on board. However, there is a modest fee for these services. If you have cruise insurance, there is no charge.
Sites to See
The Promenade, found on the fifth deck, is a main attraction for passengers. It resembles a street in New Orleans or France with shops, pubs, and a café.
While the entire ship is accessible to passengers with physical disabilities, some ports of call are more accessible than others. Shore excursions personnel are the “go to” staff with questions about sightseeing on shore.
Explorer’s Canadian cruise stops in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Passengers with mobility impairments need to speak with a shore excursion staff person to customize their sightseeing at these ports as many of the excursion buses and taxis are not accessible. As needed, staff hires accessible vehicles to transport passengers using mobility aids.
Sydney is hilly and hard to negotiate in a manual wheelchair or walker. There is little to see in the town within walking distance of the ship. A pre-arranged excursion is a better choice than going out on one’s own. Prince Edward Island’s port area is fully accessible and attractive, with even terrain and a park and shopping village with restaurants and shops that feature local crafts.
The old city of Quebec is a short bus ride from where the ship docks.
Motorized chairs and scooters make the journey easy as the streets are level. For someone using a manual chair or someone helping someone in a manual chair or using a walker, it is difficult. The old city is beautiful with its shops and restaurants. Motorized chairs and scooters do well on the inclines and cobblestone streets. People using manual chairs or walkers are better-off seeing the old city from an accessible bus or renting a motorized scooter before beginning the cruise to use onshore excursions.
Halifax is an accessible port with a beautiful harbor that has level walkways, shops, and excursion boats. Since the City is hilly, it is best seen from an accessible bus or car.
According to Pettit, “The best cruises for people with limited mobility are the Alaska cruises, Eastern Caribbean, Hawaii, New England, and Canada as they have excellent accessibility in ports.”
Jean Campbell is a freelance writer who lives in Manhattan.
Other Kinds of Accessibility
Royal Caribbean is accessible for passengers who are blind or have low vision. They provide daily menus in Braille or large print. Braille elevator buttons and audio call signals are in each elevator on the newer ships, as are Braille deck numbers, staircase handrails, and staterooms.
Passengers who are hard-of-hearing or deaf receive Portable Room Kits that include a visual/tactile system that provides alerts for door knocking, smoke detection, and alarm clocks. The kit also comes with an under pillow or mattress vibrator alert. There is an assistive listening system in the main theater, closed caption televisions in the staterooms, and amplified telephones in staterooms and public areas. Sign language interpreters are available with advanced notice.
For passengers traveling with a child with disabilities, there is grouping by ability, rather than age in the children’s camp, Adventure Ocean. The Freedom Class ships have a water park where plastic wheelchairs, provided on ship, enable the children to navigate this play area.
Royal Caribbean’s accommodations live up to their promise; they give people with disabilities the opportunity to travel in a fully accessible floating resort.
