In the United States and its territories public accomodations for individuals with disabilities are mandated by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)(for more information about the ADA click here. Other countries have varying levels of accessibility, none to the extent our ADA regulations provide.
The ship itself has a great deal of accessibilty top to bottom on the public decks but the cabins are small. Generally the standard cabin has about a 22 inch wide doorway and a sometimes small threshold to step over to enter the room. There is a lip going into the bathroom, one going into the shower and if applicable, there is a lip to step over going out onto the balcony. If an indivdual has highly limited or no mobility and uses mobility devices such as a wheelchair there are accessible cabins which muct be requested and are available on a first come, first served basis. These accessible cabins will have turning space and an accessible path through the cabin and an accessible bathroom with grab bars and shower seats. Some ships also have modified cabins for individuals without such restrictive mobilty with grab bars and shower seats in the bathroom. If an individual utilizes a scooter for mobility and books the standard cabin, the scooter must fit through the doorway; no more than 21 inches in width and the scooter must be stored and charged in the cabin.
The itinerary is one important subject for consideration. Are any of the port of calls only accessed using a tender? There are ports that are too small for the large cruise vessels to visit so much smaller power boats are used to shuttle passengers to and from the pier. It is challenging for individuals who don't use mobility devices to transfer into a pitching tender that is bouncing up against the side of the ship. Passengers must be able to transfer into the tender using steps and their mobilty devices must be collapsible. The ship's officer in charge of the tenders will make a decision based on safety circumstances whether a guest using a collapsible wheelchair or similar mobility device can be safely transfered into the tender. Power wheelchairs and scooters are not allowed on most tenders however, Royal Caribbean and Holland America do have an accessible tender.
Once the ship arrives to the pier at a port of call, individuals using mobility devices are able to disembark the ship to the pier but, foreign countries all differ with the level of accessibility in their cities. There may be many obstacles along the path of travel to the shops, restaurtants and sightseeing venues. The most noticeable barriers will be a lack of curb-cuts and the width of the sidewalk (if they have sidewalks). Not all of the shops will be accessible due to steps at the entrance or the width of the entrance and there may be a crude curb-cut at the end of one sidewalk but not a matching curb-cut to get onto the adjacent sidewalk. Nearly all of the public toilets are not accessiible to individuals with disbilities. As you can see there can be such a wide variance in the levels of accomodations even within one city. The newer hotel and retail developments have the greatest levels of accessibility.
Excursions are the other cruise vacation element that lacks wheelchair accessibility. Slowly, year by year tour operators are increasing the availability of accessible shore excursions. Currently though, the cruise line will have some information regarding which, if any, of their excursions are wheelchair accessible. The best bet for shore excursions would be directly through a private company. A google search for handicap shore excursions (yes many countries still use the term handicap) and for wheelchair accessible shore excursions will yield a handful of companies that will assist with the booking of accessible excursions. Some of these companies are:
- Disability Travel
- Accessible Europe
- Disabled Accessible Travel (Mediterranean)
- Disaboom (Pacific Mexico)
Once you have your itinerary surf the internet and check out the traveler information site for the country/port that you will be visiting. Some sites provide brief accessiiblity information and possibly some direct contact information. Know before you go, but most definitely just go. Cruise vacations are one if not the best vacation possible.
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