Surprised and dissappointed at the lack of appropriate and effective communication for the Deaf on this cruise.

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 37

Review summary

I traveled with a group of 23 people. 7 of these people were Deaf. Each Deaf person filled out a Special Needs form that stated they were Deaf and would require a interpreter while on the cruise. This was done more than a year and a half ago. I followed up on the request multiple times as the Deaf had questions about embarkation and the safety drill among other things. I would speak with the travel agent and the travel agent then followed up with Carnival. We were given a form letter that stated the responsibility of the interpreter which we fully understood and accepted. We were aware that the expected interpreters would have to be shared. The 7 Deaf included 4 women and 3 men of various ages and only 2 were a couple. We had discussed prior to the sail date that we would probably have to split up and some people go to one activity and others to another. We were shocked and dismayed to arrive on the ship to find there was only one interpreter available for all 7 of the Deaf for the entire week. Unfortunately things just continued to go downhill from there. We had a very difficult time contacting the interpreter throughout the week. When we were able to get in contact and request interpretation for a event, The interpreter was either late or didn't bother to show up at all. On one occasion when the interpreter didn't show up for a requested activity, security was called on one of the gentlemen after he tapped a woman on the shoulder to ask her to move a little to the side because she had stepped in front of him and he couldn't hear what was happening and now couldn't even see the stage. Needless to say we were very disappointed in the inability of Carnival to furnish the Deaf with the appropriate services required by law to ensure effective communication. Not only were they not able to fully enjoy a cruise that they paid for and looked forward too, I was not able to either. I spent most of my time either at guest services, trying to track down the interpreter, talking to the person in charge, on the phone with the travel agent, trying to interpret for some of the activities, and trying my best to bridge the gap in between. Carnival dropped the ball in this case.

Embarkation

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Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Baltimore, Maryland

King's Wharf, Bermuda

Disembarkation

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