Disabled or have mobility issues? Please read

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 19

Review summary

This was a lovely cruise which was ruined on the last day by the insensitivity of the MSC staff toward my wife’s physical disabilities. First, the good points. The best thing about the Seascape, in my opinion, was the crew. Without exception, they were friendly, polite and helpful. This even appeared to be true outside the Yacht Club, where they were dealing with a situation that was challenging at best. The food was also very good. The YC Restaurant tried very hard and succeeded about 90% of the time. On disembarkation, everything fell apart. A crew member pushed my wife in a wheelchair into the terminal, which was thronged with hundreds of people. The staff repeatedly insisted that she walk, which she is not able to do. They wanted her to exit the terminal on her own and cross a heavily trafficked roadway to get to the automobile pickup point, which would have resulted in a fall, injury, or worse. After screaming at them three or four times, they finally seemed to understand, but it was a lengthy and stressful process. MSC would probably say that the terminal wasn’t theirs, which was true, and that they were at the mercy of the people working there. However, the MSC staff in the terminal were the worst of all. They showed no respect or consideration toward her. (As a side note, the line misplaced one of our bags. I have no idea if they lost it or whether another passenger picked it up by accident, but I haven’t heard from them. If it’s lost, I can only imagine the red tape involved to receive compensation). MSC advertises stress-free embarkation and disembarkation as one of the primary benefits of the Yacht Club, and this is why we booked it. If they can’t provide it, they shouldn’t advertise it. Had I known what was going to happen, I would have booked a more responsible cruise line. If you have any kind of mobility issue or physical disability, be forewarned that these people are not looking out for you. MSC is a European line, and perhaps they’re not aware that we have laws to protect the rights of disabled people---or maybe they don’t care. Either way, it’s a disgraceful situation.

Embarkation

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Service and Staff

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Disembarkation

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