Accesable Room on DCL?

[Mike Bartenhagen]

We are getting ready to book an October cruise on DCL. My son is 7 and walks but not well, not with purpose, and not for long distances. We use his chair for safety and to get him around when we are out and about. At home and school he does not use it. We just got a new chair for him, it is the Safari Tilt;

http://convaid.com/productdetail.php?RID=10

Our old chair was much smaller, more like a heavy umbrella stroller and didn't take up much extra room.

On the cruise he would need the chair for meals and we would most likely use it in the evening for shows, etc as he does not sit well in a regular chair but sits very well in his chair.

We have been on two previous cruises but he was much younger and stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. Does an accesable room offer more floor space so that we could get his chair in and out of the room? Would you suggest we request one or will we be just as well off with a regular room? At a hotel or WDW resort we never request an accesable room as there is always enough room to get his chair around, he is still small enough to use a regular tub, etc.

Mike

 

[mechurchlady]

Later today Kathy will be by and she works for DCL and has a service dog. Her handle is DCLfun if I remember right. She will be able to answer all of your questions.

I did find some reports on this site.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/roomreport.cfm?Room=7636

 

[waltfan1957]

We are getting ready to book an October cruise on DCL. My son is 7 and walks but not well, not with purpose, and not for long distances. We use his chair for safety and to get him around when we are out and about. At home and school he does not use it. We just got a new chair for him, it is the Safari Tilt;

http://convaid.com/productdetail.php?RID=10

Our old chair was much smaller, more like a heavy umbrella stroller and didn't take up much extra room.

On the cruise he would need the chair for meals and we would most likely use it in the evening for shows, etc as he does not sit well in a regular chair but sits very well in his chair.

We have been on two previous cruises but he was much younger and stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. Does an accesable room offer more floor space so that we could get his chair in and out of the room? Would you suggest we request one or will we be just as well off with a regular room? At a hotel or WDW resort we never request an accesable room as there is always enough room to get his chair around, he is still small enough to use a regular tub, etc.

Mike

my wife has a large power chair and he accessable rooms are fantastic there is plenty of room

 

[D L and K's Mom]

We went a few years back and we didnt get a HA room. DS only uses his Convaid Cruiser for dinner and for going on excursions. It was terrible. We didnt have room to store it. The night he fell asleep at dinner we could not get it into the room because it would not fit through the door. I would go for the HA room!! If you need it at anytime to get into or out of the room you need the bigger wider doorway.

 

[Tiiiigergirl]

I second getting the accessible room. We are a family with multiple disabilities. My son has Tourette's Syndrome, HF Autism and ADHD. I have Lupus, Crohn's Disease, Autoimmune Thyroid disease and now possibly CREST syndrome. Some days are good and other days are bad. But on a rocking and rolling ship just to get to the bathroom can be a trip. And while there are grab bars of a kind in the others, there is not room for another person to help you in the bathroom if you need it. A ship is a foreign environment in more ways than just one, lol and I err on the side of caution. I never know 8-14 months in advance how I'm going to be feeling. Heck, I don't even know next week how I'm going to be feeling. I could be having a great week and just need my cane. Or I could be completely wheelchair for a day. I just never know.

Also, there is the great parking issue. You can't park a wheelchair in the hallway and you do want to enjoy the time you spend in your cabin. You paid for the cabin and heaven knows they are small enough without trying to cram a wheelchair in a space that is not made for one.

I understand the guilt feeling associated with the "but they look so normal, why are they trying to get special privileges." Get over the guilt. I told my husband that I would offer to trade anyone who said something like that bodies for one day but then I would lie and run away and hide because they wouldn't want to keep my body. I am in pain 24/7! Most of it is our imagination and the rest is from people trying to be caring and looking out for well us and our families. They just don't know that they are.

Really you are on a ship with a bunch of strangers. Except that you have the unique opportunity to meet up with people before you go. Make friends with people on the DIS and then you can explain it to your friends on your cruise before you go if it makes you feel better. Not that you have to because it really isn't any of their business but I understand that need. I do. But most people will be having too much of a good time themselves to be thinking about you and your family.

And! only those few people around you know that you are in a particular cabin. Plus they do occasionally get assigned out to non-disabled if there are not disabled folks sailing on your dates.

I just re-read your post and I think mostly you were asking about the actual space on the ship so I think I covered that. However, I still think I'll leave my info covering the other about feelings about hidden disabilities in case somebody else feels like I do. There now I feel better.

Hmmmm, posting on pain medication could be hazardous to your health. Just kidding!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I had an accessible room and it was larger than standard.

If you go to the DCL site and look for the ship map you will see rooms especially toward the back or front with a disabled symbol in them; these are the accessible rooms. You can see their size in relation to standard rooms of the same category. (Be sure to use the zoom feature so you can see the rooms and symbols.)

 

[D L and K's Mom]

The hardest thing we found using the wheelchair on the ship was the elevators. We had to wait and wait for them. There were quite a few people using them and we found (please dont bite my head off for this one) MOST people were not helpful. They would not move in to make room and the elevators were small so DH and DS had trouble getting in one that already had people. We found it much easier to carry the chair up the stairs and have DS walk very slowly up the stairs or we carried him. I know you asked about the rooms but I just wanted to add this info.
You will also be glad to have the HS room if you have a balcony so you can wheel him out onto it ...through the room. Have fun. We loved the cruise!!!

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Hi,
I'm not usually on this board but found this thread. We just got off the Magic at the end of January and used a HCA stateroom. It was a Category 6 - room 6154. This room was perfect for someone with a wheelchair or ECV.

It was large enough to accomodate the chair with room to manipulate it. He was able to back the ECV into the corner by the verandah doors and plug it in without an extension cord (brought one just in case). There is a small storage room for the chair should you need to get it out of the way for more space. The bathroom has a roll-in shower as well as a bathtub with a shower attachment. Of course the roll-in has the chair attached to the wall as well. We did have a problem with the shower drain on the roll-in but called maintenance and someone was there in 10 minutes to fix it. Didn't have a problem the rest of the cruise.

Only drawbacks are this:
1) bathtub is small but I think they are in all the other staterooms anyway. DH couldn't use it anyway as the step up was very high for him.
2) Very little counterspace in the bathroom but not horrible considering you're only on the boat for a week.
3) Only sleeps 3 (but we are a family of 3 so that didn't matter to us).
4) Engine noise when backing into ports or slowing down. The stateroom is at the back of the boat so when the boat is turning, slowing down using the engines, etc. you will hear it. It was not enough to upset us but I wanted to let you know.

Positives:
1) Decent size room with accessible doors - very important for wheelchairs and ECVS and they will not fit through regular stateroom doors.
2) Bathroom is HCA

We have another cruise booked for November (they are addictive) and couldn't get this stateroom. I can post a review when we get back in December. Its a category 5 on deck 7 next time.

Please feel free to PM with any questions.

Oh and we didn't have a problem with the elevators. Yes, there were times we would have to wait for 3 elevators to pass before we could get on but for the most part people were really kind. Maybe we just had a good group on our boat. DH also knew that this might be an issue so we always allowed for a lot of extra time when going anywhere.

 

[Belle1997]

Here are pics from room 6147 on DCL. It was just my hubby and me but this is how big a #11 stateroom is the balcony ones are much much bigger.

 

[dclfun]

Be sure to request an accessible stateroom early. Unfortunately some people who don't need the extra space ( which is to allow for the turning radius of a w/c or ECV) and who are NOT disabled reserve these rooms because they are larger. I try to downplay the large size of the rooms for that reason and just let people know that there will be space to navigate with a w/c and a roll in shower.---Kathy

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Be sure to request an accessible stateroom early. Unfortunately some people who don't need the extra space ( which is to allow for the turning radius of a w/c or ECV) and who are NOT disabled reserve these rooms because they are larger. I try to downplay the large size of the rooms for that reason and just let people know that there will be space to navigate with a w/c and a roll in shower.---Kathy

But don't they need to file paperwork with the cruise line? I know we had to file our medical form. Maybe I'm just naive but I really hope that only truly needy people request them.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Eeyore'sthebest; that's true, however one doesn't have to hand in the papers until 2 weeks before sailing. If people are booking these rooms for the (what they think) 'perks' the 'need' or 'deserve', this would mean DCL wouldn't notice until 14 days before sailing. By which it probably means others with a disability asking about that stateroom having been turned away already.

DCL is doing better on this than some other cruiselines, but I can totally understand Kathy's way of thinking about it.

Mike, if you use the search engine on here on DCL and specific cabin numbers for the accessible staterooms, you'll find pics of at least the cat 11, cat 6 and cat 5 staterooms. If you google for this info, you'll also run into a website that has some great pics and of course allears.net has pics of a cat 11. accessible stateroom.

Doing that helped me decide which cat. stateroom friend and I want for our upcoming cruise (both using chairs) and which specific stateroom number.

 

[dclfun]

Well, I hate to say it but I can guarantee you there are people out there who regularly book these rooms w/o any disability. Disney cannot require proof of a disability ( they can ask for a medical form but not require one) and cannot refuse to book a disabled room for someone who requests one. Since there are so few of these staterooms I've had a few sailings I wanted to go on where I could not book as all the accessible rooms were taken. You can easily read threads on cruisecritic also from all the cruiselines with people bragging that they asked for an accessible room after they saw photos of how large they were. I always talk about how much I detest "entitlement mentality" but some people feel they are entitled to something they don't need...just because they can get it.---Kathy

 

[mechurchlady]

Hugs for you Kathy and I also hate when people abuse the disabled services. Maybe you could have Pudge go on one of her photo campaigns, lol. Pudge could stake out the rooms and take photos of so called disabled guests out jitterbugging and jogging laps around the ship.

 

[dclfun]

Just as an FYI, those staterooms will be assigned to *someone* if they aren't requested in advance by a disabled guest who needs one, so they can be occupied by an able-bodied guest who did not request the accommodations. Once I'm onboard I don't worry about why those rooms are occupied by someone not in a w/c for that reason alone. Also some people may need only the roll in shower due to a disability that will not require them to use a w/c. It's usually the people who DO need the room ( like the OP) who hesitate to reserve one- go figure.---Kathy

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

That's just crazy. Sorry but I really like to think the best of people but I'm obviously way off base here. Fortunately on our last cruise all the staterooms around us were used by people who obviously needed them.

In fact, when I tried to book it through DVC (using points) I got a lot of resistance from the woman. She kept telling me that we really didn't need it. I finally had her call DCL and find out the size of the stateroom doors of both rooms. My DH was measuring the width of his ECV. Sure enough, the regular stateroom doors are only 24 inches and the ECV is much wider! She begrudgingly booked the HCA stateroom for us. I think I'll go back and amend my post.

Thanks for the advice Kathy. And your dog is beautiful!

 

[dclfun]

I'm sorry the DVC agent gave you a hard time. I always recommend an accessible stateroom for someone using an ecv, w/c or with mobility problems that prevent them from safely using a regular stateroom. It is a shame that people are willing to lie and take away something from a guest who needs those accommodations but from where I sit and work I've heard it all, and am aware of way too much...sigh.---Kathy