Those of us who have never had to cope with a physical disability can sometimes lose sight of how difficult it can be just to get through life…an oversight that usually lasts only until we see someone struggling. If you've been on a cruise, just stop and think about how you would do everything from a wheelchair.
Getting on the ship, there are ramps. Even before ramps, there could be steps to negotiate if you happen to be in a port without wheelchair accessibility (few that they may be). Even with ramps, there are bumps that the rest of us merely step over. Then there are narrow hallways to negotiate, not to mention narrow doorways, both to the stateroom and the bathroom.
As it happens, we have had both relatives and close friends who have faced these challenges on cruise ships. One of them just returned from back-to-back, one-week Caribbean cruises, and here's what he said: "The scooter I rented from Care Vacations was a godsend." This is not a commercial.
In Europe these days, they're making a big deal of improving accessibility on cruises for disabled people, news that seems to be directed at European cruise lines. Our experience — both from observing and from friends — is that much of what they're promising to do in Europe has already been implemented by cruise lines on this side of the Atlantic.
Nobody keeps score of these things, and nobody should. What matters is that improvements are being made by the cruise industry to benefit disabled people, and every improvement is to be celebrated.
By all of us.
Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas
7 nights
March 8, 2014
Colon, Panama (return): Cartagena, Bonaire, Aruba, Curacao
Inside: $459
Cost per day: $65
www.royalcaribbean.com