NOT a Disability Accessible Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 8

Review summary

There were several concerns throughout the cruise from 3/24/23 to 3/27. On 3/24 our party arrived at the Ft. Lauderdale port to check in. There was no visible signage or educated staff to direct handicap individuals to the appropriate parking or check in area. We have (2) handicap individuals (Sylvester and Annette), who cannot work long distances. There are handicap parking permits on both vehicles that were driven to the check in area. Our party asked the team handling the bags, the police officer onsite as well as the check in greeting representative for parking instructions. All informed our party that we would need to park in the parking lot over 2000 feet away and walk back to the check in area. I drove the car of Sylvester and Annette to this parking lot as they were unable to make this walk. When I returned, I went to the check in area and requested a courtesy manual wheelchair & escort assistance as reported on the Royal Caribbean website. I was told by the check in representative that he could get a wheelchair for my mom (Annette) but she would have to walk to check-in first. This walk was approx. 1000 feet. I informed the guest representative that this is very hard for my mom and requested the wheelchair be brought to her instead as she is on the sidewalk currently. The check in representative said he could not do this. My sister and I helped my mom walk to the check in area and we received the manual chair & an escort to push the wheelchair. On 3/25, my mom used the electric motor scooter she rented from Royal Caribbean. During the off-boarding on the gateway to Nassau, my mother's scooter got stuck on the off-ramp, at the top of the ramp. The ramp coming off of the ship was not ADA compliant or scooter accessible in regards to elevation standards, causing the scooter to become stuck. The staff ar royal Caribbean told my mom to get off the scooter (while in the non level position) and walk down the steep ramp instead. My mom held on to the rails, almost falling forward as she went down the ramp. Once she was down, the gateway staff lifted the scooter over the non level area and my mom returned to her scooter. Once off the the ship, we realized the walk over the bridge to Nassau was more than my disabled step dad could handle. Additionally, we were also unsure if my mom's scooter would go this far. There was no signage stating thier was handicap accessible transport to the island. My party and I asked the gateway staff about a tram and they all reported "trams are only for customers who are taking an excursions". I asked them "what about a handicap tram that can carry a scooter? They had these yesterday at CoCo Cay". The gateway representative said "we don't have those at this port". We asked 3 more gateway port representatives. They all expressed the same thing. The final gateway agent advised us to go to guest services for help. My sister and I went to guest services. Once there, we spoke to Toni. We informed Toni that we needed a wheelchair for my father to be pushed across the bridge or a handicap accessible tram (like at coco cay) so they both can be transported along with my mom's scooter. Toni Expressed there was nothing they can do and apologized for the inconvenience. My sister then informed Toni that this was not an acceptable response and an ADA issue. Toni then expressed that he would look into it and went to his computer. While at his computer, Toni's supervisor Jackie came over to help. Jackie repeated the same thing as Toni initially, stating "I'm sorry for the inconvenience but there are no trams that can accommodatea scooter at the Nassau port. Also, we currently do not have a wheelchair for Dad due to high demand". I then informed Jackie that I am a Healthcare Executive Director and an ADA compliance officer. I informed Jackie and Toni that there must be policies and procedures in place to address this issue immediately. Jackie then reported "there are regular trams that can take your dad over. You mom will have to drive her scooter". My sister and i told Jackie that, per the gateway staff, these trams are only for guests who have booked excursions. Jackie stated this is not true. Jackie then walked with my sister and I down to the gateway to speak to the staff. Mid-way there, Jackie turned around and Toni escorted us down instead. Upon arrival to the gateway, Toni spoke briefly with the gateway staff. We waited an additional 10 minutes before a handicap accessible tram arrived that fit my mom's scooter. The tram driver assisted my mom and step dad on the tram, and I drove the scooter onto the tram ramp. Once the scooter was at the top of the ramp, it became stuck. I had to physically lift the scooter to get it onto the tram. This was not ADA accessible either. This entire transaction took approx. 2 hours, reducing our time at Nassau. After visiting Nassau, we returned to the bridge to get back on the tram. These was signage here stating there were trams for the disabled (see attached). This signage, as stated previously, was not at the ships gateway area. On 3/26 my sister contacted the guest services desk and requested (2) wheelchair escorts for my parents to get off the ship. She was informed at this time that my parents should remain in their rooms when off-boarding begins and representatives would be there to escort my parents off the ship. At 8:45am 3/27, housekeeping informed my parents that they must leave the room and wait go to deck 5 to check out, and they could not remain in the room. The purpose of the escort services were to prevent this excessive walking from occurring. My parents then had to walk from their room to deck 5. Both struggled to complete this task. Once at deck 5, they were then told to continue walking down the ramp off the ship. This walk literally causes my father to have heart palpitations, being visibly out of breathe and stopping frequently asking for help. My mother also was in severe pain walking down the ramps and required full assistance from my sister to make it. Once off the ship, we noticed (1) wheelchair with an attendant at the port. I informed her that both of my parents needed a wheelchair and had requested one earlier. The attendant witnessed both of my parents in distress. She then called and (2) wheelchairs arrived within 20 minutes to assist my parents through the check out area. After obtaining our bags and waking outside with the (2) wheelchair escorts from Royal Caribbean, my parents were taken to the handicap parking lot area. Prior to coming to this area, I informed the wheelchair attendants that we were not parked in this area and were in the parking lot on the other side, over 2000 feet away. The wheelchair attendant informed us that they do not take guests to the parking lot in that side, only to the handicap parking area. The wheelchair attendant informed my parents that they would just "leave them" in the parking lot. The baggage attendant from royal Caribbean was infuriated by this response and informed both wheelchair attendants that this was unacceptable and they should not treat customers this way. The baggage attendant reported that they go take guests to the other parking lot area and have done so all day. The baggage attendant demanded that they take my parents as close as possible to this area. After much confrontation, the royal Caribbean wheelchair attendants complied and escorted my parents near the other parking lot area (approx.1000 feet away). My sister and I were forced to leave our parents to retrieve their vehicle as they were unable to walk this distance after the unfortunate incidents of this trip. After I walked to the parking lot, I met other royal Caribbean wheelchair attendants assisting guests in this parking lot area (see attached photo of royal Caribbean wheelchair in the designated parking area). The fact that there were wheelchairs be royal Caribbean guest attendants in this parking lot assisting guests goes against everything the wheelchair attendants that my parents had were expressing. Unfortunately, this cruise was an ultimate fail. Even as of today, royal Caribbean has denied any concerns with ADA on this trip including and not limited to: ramp elevation concerns for scooters and wheelchairs, inadequate communication and assistance to support guests with disabilities, inadequate signage for guests with disabilities, and inadequate support on board to address concerns for guests with disabilities. These cruises are not currently ADA accessible. I fear go anyone with a disability cruising Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas in the future. It may result in injury or death if these individuals with disabilities are alone. I pray someone changes something very soon.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

Nassau, Bahamas

Disembarkation

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