Cruise info required from Southampton (or UK) for disabled passanger

loobs40

Cruise critic has a specialist forum for disabled travellers. You should check that out first

Several option on Port days. Disembarking is free


1) stay on the ship. At popular ports where lots of people disembark it means you have the ship to yourself, more importantly, the sunbeds , pools and hot tubs!


2) disembark off your own steam and wander around the port and surroundings, hire a taxi to take you around and about. Research is the key here and google is your friend!


3) Pay a lot of money and go on a cruise line excursion. The main advantage (and only?) is that the ship will wait for you if the coach is late back for whatever reason e.g. Traffic delays. Coaches are always full.


4) Pay less money and arrange an excursion with a local company. You would normally need to do this before you started the cruise. In this case Trip Advisor is your friend. Check out the tours section. Main disadvantage, if you are late,the ship has sailed. Tough. However it is very much in the interests of the local tour company not to allow this to happen as it would destroy their reputation. I have not heard of this happening but there's a risk. I have also seen a Pilot Boat returning a couple of passengers back tothe ship after it has sailed. On my next cruise I am arranging with some others via the cruise critic roll call a private tour with a local tour company.There will be a max of 12 people on the tour which suits me

loobs40

swinster wrote: »

I don't like the idea of tipping carte blanche, however, I still often tip - not very money saving I know, but if you have every worked in the public service industry you are thankful - especially if you see the same people time and again (thanks be that I don't work in this sector anymore!). If I have to pay upfront, I will certainly take P2TKL's advice and get my money back from the Purser, if only to tip whom I want, when I want. It would add another £105 pp based on the prices outline above for a 14 night cruise.

The debate on tipping is endless and deserves a forum all on its own.
I don't agree with the tipping regime on the US cruise lines, however the fact is the crew are paid a pittance and rely on tips. The tips are also shared between staff youmay not ever see e.g. kitchen staff
So I swallow hard and pay them.

Knackered_girl

Hi I've just returned from a weeks cruise on liberty of the seas round the med but we flew to Barcelona. There was four of us (2 cabins) one wheelchair accessible. I would firstly suggest that instead of looking on the website that you contact Royal Caribbean direct (go onto saynoto0870 website to find the cheap telephone number for them) they will be able to tell you what cabins are available and which deck they are on and try and make sure they are near each other. I have to say that the staff on the ship were extremely helpful and nothing was too much trouble to help us with our disabled daughter. With regards to extra costs if you go into the windjammer restaurant or one of the main dining restaurants you will not pay extra for food. Drinks are extra ie wine (you can purchase a wine package), soft drinks (you can buy a beverage package which includes coke, sprite etc. beer etc is extra also. When I booked I asked if there was a free credit on our cabins so they included $100 per cabin. If their is a johnny rockets onboard you pay a cover charge $4.95 each but then you can order what food you wish (ie burgers, fries tuna melts etc) but we only went in once (drinks are payable) we didn't prepay our gratuities but paid only to our stateroom attendants, waiter, assistant waiter and head waiter but as I said these people made our holiday as nothing was too much trouble. This was the second R C cruise but the first with my disabled daughter I have been on and thoroughly enjoy them as it caters for all tastes. You will need to decide which excursions you wish to go on and whether they are wheelchair accessible but as my daughter loves being in a pool all day we didn't have this problem. Hope you get sorted out.

Obviously_the_best

My parents went on independance of the seas and came back saying never again, and they normally like cruises, they said too big and too many kids.

luci

Before you go booking a cruise, I would suggest getting quotes for travel insurance for your MIL. You may struggle to find a competitive quote if your MIL's stroke was quite recent and it will probably mean calling up several companies before you get something affordable.

swinster

luci wrote: »

Before you go booking a cruise, I would suggest getting quotes for travel insurance for your MIL. You may struggle to find a competitive quote if your MIL's stroke was quite recent and it will probably mean calling up several companies before you get something affordable.

This is a very good point. I haven't even thought about this,

getmore4less

Once you get the insurance sorted.

Cabins.

If wheel chair access is needed and a wetroom bathroom then you will have to have an adapted cabin(also usualy much larger) .

if mobile to do short walks and can do steps then a regular cabin may be ok.
(you need to think about it.

definately go for 2 cabins, you can get connecting cabins or anothe option may be opposite(inside and an Ocean view or balcony), there are larger options on some ships but these need more research and sometime they are suites so budget may be an issue.

Cabin location.

Near an elevator is essential for getting about with a chair.

midships is probably best but something like independance of the seas you need to choose one end of the promenade. Study a few ships deck plans to get a feel for hte virtical layouts, they are all nearly the same. decide what is imortant to be near in the horizontal plane, we like the elevators that open onto the restaurant, buffet and pool area.

Ship, some are very big but for example independance has most things within easy reach of either end of the promenade so feels a bit shorter than it is.

With your chosen dates kids will be less of an issue.

Given your location Southmpton makes most sense, Dover nd harwich are a good deal further.


Extras,

tips/gratutities budget $10-$12 per person per day.
Food optional
Drink alcohol optional,, we take a wine box or two for the cabin(and buy plenty)

excursions : expensive but convenient, diy at most port is easy

As well as the independance I would look at Celebrity Eclipse and constellation and grand princess(another big ship)

The Constellation has an indoor thalasotheripy pool not sure ifthat would be suitable but we love the ship and the relaxing atmospher that area provided.

Whats the budget, that will give are clue as to how realistic this plan is.

Mands

swinster wrote: »

WRT what is included and what isn't, the only cruise lines that I can see so far that is truly ALL inclusive is Regent, which although looks wonderful, is a little out of out price range.

There are other all inclusive lines but the pricing is similar. Seabourn, Sea Dream, Silversea all have similar business models. Azamara is considered a premium line, with gratuities and wine with meals bundled into the price, so whilst in initially looks more expensive than Royal Caribbean it may not be quite so much when you compare like with like.

swinster wrote: »

Loobs40 - thanks for your advice. I would love us to disembark are some of the port on ofer - most of which I haven't visited (examples are Barcelona, Venice, Rome, Pisa, Corfu ..... different ports for different cruse itineraries), however, we are very aware that we are there is this instance to support my mother in law so will have to go with what is accessable. Do these port stop off's count as "excursions" - i.e. are they again extra?

The suggestion to look at the specialist disabled forum is helpful, some of the ports that you mention would be challenging for someone is a wheelchair.

Rome is actually the port of Civitaveccia, Pisa and Florence are served by Livorno. Both of the ports are 45 minutes or more by train from the cities. On the other hand the place the ships dock in Venice is very close to everything you would want to see, but Venice is terrible for anyone with mobility problems.

Mands

loobs40

Haven't checked to see if these deals are as good as they claim to be

LONDON--16 AUGUST, 2012--Iglu Cruise has just released further discounts on a selection of no-fly sailings with P&O Cruises. Prices are now up to £1800 lower than those of competitors.
These are the deals on offer, all researched and test booked by our team of deal experts:
Mini cruise to Belgium w/free Outside Cabin upgrade, was £343 ... now £229
7-night cruise to Dublin & Cork in Outside Cabin, was £749 ... now £449
Spain, France & Italy 14-night cruise, was £1099 ... now £699
Western Med 14-night inc Rome & Barcelona, was £1149 ... now £799
30-night Red Sea, Greece & Turkey inc Suez Canal, was £3386 ... now £1499
Canada & New England inc New York & Boston, 24 nights, was £3169 ... now £1849
All cruises depart from Southampton on various dates between September and November this year. We expect the best deals to sell out quickly.
To book, call Iglu Cruise on 020 8544 7125 and quote Travelzoo. For more information, click on the link below

swinster

Cheers Loobs40, getmore4less and Mands.

Deals look quite good - considering what we are looking for I think that up to £1000 pp is going to be expected. Not sure if I could strech to much more.