Didn't get handicap cabin I paid for

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 20

Review summary

Since no representative of MSC Cruises can be bothered to speak with me ... This is a photo of the physical toll a 4-day sailing on the Davina takes when customer service refuses to accommodate handicapped passengers and instead insults and shames and derides them. I had booked a handicap cabin, on the very back of the boat. I did the research and based on the pictures; it was large enough that there was enough room for all my assistance stuff. I checked cabin dimensions, I scoured the internet for photos, I choose cabin 8271 because it had more square footage than the other wheelchair accessible cabins, both in the cabin and the deck. It also, according to the photos I found, had more space in the bathroom so I could bring safety rails for the commode area. Because my email was deluged with "upgrade your cabin" offers, I called MSC almost daily to make sure the cabin had not been changed. The day before we sailed, I checked and was assured no changes had been made to our reservation. I was looking forward to the cruise. So, May 22, 2022. Get to Port Canaveral @ 11am, the assigned boarding time. Passports, ID, vaccination cards, negative Covid 19 test results in hand. Had all the required paperwork. Check in, no problems, board the ship, I'm greeted and told "oh, we have given you a cabin upgrade! NO! I don't want an upgrade! I want the cabin I booked and paid for! I want cabin 8271! "Oh, well, the new cabin is 12153. It is a wheelchair accessible cabin on a higher deck. It is the same category as the cabin you booked. Look at cabin 12153 and if it is not acceptable, we will correct it. Went to cabin 12153. Yes, my wheelchair did fit through the door. And that is where the similarities ended. The cabin was 2/3 of the square footage of the cabin I had booked. The balcony was 1/3 of the size of the balcony I had booked. I could get the wheelchair to the door and close to the deck via a small ramp but that was it. I had no room to turn, no room (because of the ramp) to actually go on the balcony. All I could do was look out from the door to the balcony. Why did I pay for a balcony cabin if I was restricted from going on the balcony? I could roll into the bathroom, but unlike the bathroom in the cabin I had booked (based on customer photos from a review site) would not be able to use the commode. There was no space in my "upgraded" cabin for the push bar that help facilitate transferring. And you know those wide SLIPPERY all mounted bars they claim meet the ADA laws? I can't get any kind of leverage with those, and the height is all wrong. I can't use them to lift myself. And the bed was very high, I wouldn't be able to even transfer to the bed. The cabin was not satisfactory so I phoned reception/customer service to tell them. But the customer service person (her name was Anna) was like "oh no, it's a wheelchair accessible cabin, it has a wheelchair accessible deck, it is on a higher deck, closer to midship, you should be very pleased! We've given you a wonderful upgrade!" No, you haven't. This cabin is going to be nothing but a hardship for me with my disability. Wheelchair accessible is not the same as handicapped accessible. I filled out MSC cruises required disability paperwork. The cruise line has documentation of what I required. "I'm sorry it's not acceptable ma'am, let me speak with my supervisor, I will call you right back. ... 5 minutes, "I'm sorry ma'am, there is nothing available" Anna, why were we INVOLUNTARILY upgraded? Why did I not get cabin 8271, the cabin I had booked and paid for? "ma'am, I will check with my supervisor and call you right back" ... 8 minutes, "ma'am, the cabin you are in, 12153, is all we have available." Anna, it is unacceptable, it is too small, all my movement is restricted. "Ma'am, I do not see the issue. You should be grateful that we upgraded you to a wheelchair accessible cabin, I don't see the problem." I admit I did not react well to that statement. I was stunned that this person was trying to make me feel guilty for being disabled. So I asked her, "Why should I be grateful that the cabin I have been upgraded to is INFERIOR to the cabin I booked and paid for? Why was I switched from cabin 8271? "ma'am, we don't have a cabin # 8271 on this ship" This was the moment the rudeness and her apparent disdain became apparent to me. I said, ok Anna, I will come down to reception, in my wheelchair, in front of other guests, and show you my confirmation paperwork listing cabin 8271 and we will discuss this. My husband intervenes. "I'll go". And he goes. About 15 minutes later he comes back. did you talk to that rude person Anna? "No. She started to come over but her supervisor stopped her and told her to leave and he would handle it, so I talked to him." ... AND? "and, there is nothing he can do. Since there are only 960 passengers on the ship, they have closed some decks for "covid cleaning", we will have to deal with it. So this picture is what 4 days of dealing with" an extremely (but definitely following the ADA laws) UN handicap accessible cabin does to me physically. And this is just an area I could take a photo of, I'm not flexible enough to photograph my back. Since MSC representatives can not, apparently, be bothered to speak with me (not on the phone, not by email, not in any way) I am just going to post this review (and photo) non every review site I can access. Was the cruise fun. Sure, it was a cruise. Bar staff was great, housekeeping staff was great. Food was ok, drinks were ok, private island was ok. MSC customer service, at least the on-board staff, is terrible and discriminatory.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Port Canaveral, Florida

Nassau, Bahamas

Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, Bahamas

Disembarkation

Other reviews of this sailing