Disabled - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

Moke · 12-04-2005, 11:14 PM

Hi My wife and I are British, hoping to start Cruising in the very near future, Our problem is this:

We ar both in our late fifties, I am fit but my wife has an ongoing but not life threatening medical problem. namely that she has what is known as a Hickman line through her chest wall to an artery through she feeds (TPN) 3 nights a week over a 12 hour period. She maintains her line herself and is totally self-contained where her dugs and injections are concerned.

To all outside observers she is a totally normal person except when it comes to eating, she does eat but in very small amounts as she has no small bowel. she is able to carry out most things that people do and is looking forward to cruising either the Med or the Caribbean.

My questions are as follows....

Are there others with a medical problem who cruise, if so what are the pitfalls and how can they be overcome,.

Are the cruise lines sympathetic with Disabled passengers.

What advice if any could you give with regard to all of the above

We thank you for reading this topic and look forward to your advice

Moke

PagodaSwan · 12-05-2005, 03:49 AM

Welcome to our happy family Moke

We have a section 'Cruise Lines' which has profiles of all ships with full details of their facilities for disabled passengers, including cabin numbers and dimensions and so forth, so when you are choosing which line/ship etc, you can see what is available to you

The main lines special needs facilities are on these links...

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...-programs.html

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...-programs.html

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...acilities.html

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...-programs.html

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...assengers.html

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...-programs.html

http://www.cruiselineforums.com/foru...-programs.html

Feel free to ask as many questions as you wish to, we are a friendly bunch of people here

I hope you enjoy your time with us and also hope you find the information you desire and go on that cruise too

sue miller · 12-05-2005, 09:02 AM

Thanks Ally for copying this thread to the cruise question section also!! This is an important question for otherer disabled cruisers as well!!

sue miller · 12-05-2005, 09:44 AM

A letter from your doctor stating her disability, what is required, that she is self sufficient, and meds/prescriptions, technique involved, would be helpful. It can be given at checkin at the pier!!

PagodaSwan · 12-05-2005, 09:57 AM

I think the main thing is once you have decided on the cruise line, ship and itinerary get as much info about your wife's condition and what it entails with, as Sue suggested, medical info/letter from your doctor and get into contact with the cruise line as soon as possible. If you give them everything upfront they are going to be more understanding of your circumstances and they in turn will be more than willing to accommodate you in any way they can and make your holiday as relaxing and enjoyable as possible.

One other tip I would suggest is that if you require a cabin set aside for disabled passengers rather than the standard cabins, get in there early and be insistant. They tend to go quickly and not always to passengers who really require the facilities within them. The cabins are larger and therefore are quite sought after for that reason.

On the links posted earlier the facilities are available and on each cruise line listed there are also individual ships, deckplans, photos of cabins etc. This will all help, along with everyone's advice here, to give you an insight into what to expect.

Rex · 12-05-2005, 10:53 AM

Do the lines have a "disablity" director person in charge of making sure those with a disability have everything they need?

PagodaSwan · 12-05-2005, 11:00 AM

I just checked NCL site and they do have such a person...

http://www.ncl.com/accessibility/

I think you will find that most, if not all, cruise lines have to have a co-ordinator by law to assist in the needs of disabled passengers aboard their vessels and to assist with travel requirements too.

sue miller · 12-05-2005, 11:06 AM

Princess has this on their site!! I am sure if you call you will get the information!!

http://www.princess.com/news/article...a545&submit=pk

PagodaSwan · 12-05-2005, 11:13 AM

Here are the details and contact email addresses for the lines in respect to co-ordinators for those requiring special assistance...

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/allabo...f1jr?cS=NAVBAR

http://www.hollandamerica.com/guests...pic=disability

I know one thing, the cruiselines, apart from NCL & RCI do not make it easy to find anything out about reaching/speaking to co-ordinators etc for passengers with health or disability issues. I am hunting the info down but its not as easy as the activities and dining etc is to find.

sue miller · 12-05-2005, 11:21 AM

This is from Disney. Both Disney and Princess, I had to go into search or go to faq's. http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/dc...FAQLandingPage