The Dis“Ability” to Cruise?

By Doug Smith

Do you have a disability? Would you like to go on a cruise holiday but you think cruise ships are totally inaccessible?

The author himself a full-time wheelchair user, uses his vast knowledge and experience of the cruise industry to give you all the relevant information you will need to decide whether or not a cruise holiday is right for you, whether you have a disability or not.

He takes you on a journey from initially booking the cruise through arriving at the cruise terminal and boarding your cruise ship to what happens on board as well.

He finally goes through the final disembarkation process so that you should have no issues when you finally get back home.

Now, as Doug himself would say,
Go on! Get out there! Enjoy the world!
After all, it is your world!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jan 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504936873

Doug Smith

I was born to Scottish parents (my mother, Sheila, and my father, Bill) in Newfoundland, Canada, where my (now-late) father was a pilot. I have one older brother, Bill, who is married to my sister-in-law, Doreen, and together they have two lovely daughters, my beautiful nieces Sara and Leanne. I was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. When I was born, my consultant told my parents that I would only live a very short time. How short? Between three and six months. Hah! I fooled ’em! After almost five decades, guess what? Yep, I am still here! And I am not going anywhere. Unless it is on a cruise ship, of course! However, I am truly grateful to my mother and father for bringing me back to Scotland and to the medical staff (surgeons, anesthetists, doctors, and nurses) at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. It is with thanks to their expertise and care that almost five decades later I am still here today. Back in 2006, I was in a bad place. I had no job, no money, and no prospects. I decided to go back to college, not just to better myself but also to better my self-esteem, my qualifications, and my prospects of getting a job. I studied for an HNC (Higher National Certificate) in travel and tourism at Aberdeen College in the northeast of Scotland. After completing my HNC in 2007, I was very fortunate that I had the opportunity to work in the cruise industry. I worked for a major cruise company as a reservations cruise consultant. This sounds posh and exciting. It definitely is not posh, but it can be very exciting. It involved selling cruise holidays for some fantastic cruise lines to travel agents and the general public alike. I also conducted cruise ship tours for groups of able-bodied guests, as well as those with disabilities, showing them around some of the magnificent ships when they were in port.

Book preview

© 2015 Doug Smith. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/28/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3685-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3686-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-3687-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015901463

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1   Do People With Disabilities Really Go Cruising?

Chapter 2   Common Reasons (Excuses) Why People With (or without) Disabilities Do Not Take Cruise Holidays

Chapter 3   The Many Differences Between A Package Holiday And A Cruise (There Are Loads!)

Chapter 4   Cruising From Southampton, And The Global Cruise Industry

Chapter 5   Questions You Must Ask Yourself Before You Book Your Cruise Holiday If You Have A Disability

Chapter 6   Booking Your Cruise And Arriving At The Terminal - What Happens Inside?

Chapter 7   Cruising for the First Time

Chapter 8   What Special Equipment Can I Take, And What Will I Get Aboard Ship?

Chapter 9   The Public Areas of the Ship And The Staff

Chapter 10 The Compulsory Stuff

Chapter 11 Can I Get Off The Ship In The Ports Of Call?

Chapter 12 The Final Days Before Returning Home: (Let Us Not Dwell On This One Too Much!)

Chapter 13 Accessible Ports in Europe and the Caribbean

Foreword

The word disability is both negative and positive. The dis being the negative part, and the ability the positive.

In this book, I want to concentrate on the positive – The abilities to do specific things, in particular, cruising.

Do you have, or know someone who has a disability? If so, this book should help you and them to decide whether cruising is a feasible alternative to your typical land-based package holiday. I certainly think it is. In fact, I know it is.

Happy Reading and Happy Cruising!

Acknowledgements

I have many people that I would like to thank. First and foremost, I am grateful to my mother, my late father, my family, and my friends for giving me the support and encouragement to move six hundred miles from my home in Peterhead in the north-east of Scotland to Southampton on the south coast of England to begin my wonderful adventure within the fantastic cruise industry.

Second, I would like to thank Helen and Duncan Bendermacher for their kindness, hospitality, and generosity in giving me somewhere to stay for what was slightly more than the three months that I had initially requested (and intended) to stay with them. It ended up just over three years. Oops!

I would like to thank the staff of Carnival UK in Southampton for giving me the fantastic opportunity to work with such wonderful people in such a fantastic organisation, with what I consider the world’s greatest cruise lines and the most beautiful cruise ships afloat today.

I would especially like to say thank you to the training academy staff, including Suzy, Carol, Jenny, and Scotty for taking me through those first few weeks and for giving me all the stress and those sleepless nights when I wondered if I would ever get through my initial five weeks of training. Thankfully, I did.

Next, a huge thank-you goes to Lucy and Ant, who were my two wonderful team leaders during my time with them.

And finally, I would like to give a mega thank you to Laura and Kelz, who helped me greatly with my last few days in training and my first few weeks and months in the job itself. I have to admit that when I started the job for real after my initial training, I was very overwhelmed by the size of the department. There were in excess of 150 people, all sitting at their desks and busily chatting away to people on the phone. It was noisy to say the least, but I soon got used to it, and it was a fantastic place to work! It was a pleasure, honour, and privilege to work with you, and I miss you all.

Thank You to you all!

Chapter 1

Do People With Disabilities

Really Go Cruising?

If So, What Makes It Accessible?

The simple answer to this question is this "Yes, of course we do!"

Put it like this. If I can do it (and I have, more than once!), so can you!

Now, in further response to the above question, let me ask three questions of my own. I’ll tell you what: I will even give you my full, honest answers to them as well. How is that for service? I cannot say any fairer than that, can I?

Question One: Why Can’t We Go Cruising?

Who says we cannot go cruising? I say we can! Why do I say we can? There are two reasons.

First, getting on and off a cruise ship is much easier than boarding an aircraft. Is it? It sure is! Let me explain.

At an airport, if you have difficulty standing or walking, you will be taken to the aircraft in one of those Ambulift vehicles. Once inside this vehicle, the staff will assist you in transferring onto what is nothing other than a cold hard plastic seat with castors and a seatbelt.

Once you are sitting on this cold plastic seat, you will be taken on board the aircraft, and depending on whether you are boarded at the front door or rear door, you will be taken up the aisle of the aircraft to your seat, forwards or backwards.

A little friendly word of warning here. The mobility assistants who are taking you on board the aircraft will remind you to tuck in your elbows as you are assisted along the aisle to your seat. However, there is one thing they do not remind you about, especially if you are boarding from the front of the aircraft, backwards up the aisle … and that is to tuck in your pockets. On a couple of occasions, I have had the pockets ripped