Cruising Along!
4
4
Date of visit: January 2015
I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Good
Although being a smaller ship and one of the older in the fleet, the access for wheelchairs was as good as can be. On the outside decks, when the sun loungers are out, there is not much space to get by. Being a ship, obviously the doors leading to the outside are quite heavy and depending on wind conditions at sea they are sometimes quite difficult to open. Inside it was very accessible. Staff in all areas were extremely helpful. Although not well publicised, there is an "accessibility issues" person onboard who can help with special assistance etc.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
As said previously, on board, the access is good. On the particular cruise I was on, there seemed very few excursions, if any, catering for the needs of wheelchair users. However, if you want to explore yourself, In most ports there are taxis sitting dockside waiting to pick up passengers, some were decent size for getting the wheelchair in the boot of the car if you are able to transfer into the passenger seat of the cab.
Parking & Transport
0We caught the boat in Tenerife flying from Edinburgh and before going I requested accessible transfers as the coach from airport to ship was not accessible. I would advise people to do this as there are seemingly only 2 accessible taxis on the island. Thomson paid for one of the journeys and you have to pay the other. You should take this into consideration as it was €175 one way for a 45 min journey to Santa Cruz.
Accessible Toilets
Good
Onboard the accessible toilets were a decent size and there were plenty.
Staff
Excellent
Excellent!! Not much more to add other than every single member of staff couldn't do enough to help!!
Additional Information
There were issues about taking my powered chair due to weight issues getting on and off ship so ended up having just my manual chair which really made me lose a lot off independence. After speaking with the "accessibility" person onboard about this, she presumed the onshore office staff were concerned about evacuation if needed. Stating it quicker and easier to transfer a manual chair in case of emergency. This I can understand but this was never explained to me. She also said I could have brought my powered chair as the ship would have a limited amount of manual chairs for this purpose.
