Travel Summary:

Who was traveling:     18 year old Dan, 25 year old sister, parents in their 50's

Where did you go?     Arrived in Anchorage, visited Seward, Juneau, Ketchikan and then departed from Vancouver Canada

When did you go?     June, 2008

Different needs:         Daniel uses forearm crutches on a limited basis and a manual wheelchair

Travel company (if applicable):       Royal Caribbean Cruiseline

Travel Resources used:

            Cruise Critic Forum

            Royal Caribbean.com and phone and e-mail support

My story:

This story is actually told by Dan’s older sister and mother, the creators of this website.  Daniel is 18, just about to go to college and like most teenage boys, is not into details and planning, that was left up to us.  Daniel has walked with forearm crutches most of his life, but recently long distances and long lengths of time have started to take their toll on him and he uses a wheelchair in these cases.

We booked our cruise about a year early through a deal on Southwest Airline’s website, but when it came time to choose cabins it was revealed that we needed to call the cruiseline directly rather than do this online to ensure that we got a handicapped accessible cabin (I think this is to stop people who don’t need them from booking the bigger handicapped cabins).  This was well worth the time and IF you use a wheelchair it is a MUST on a cruise ship. 

We traveled via air to Anchorage and were lucky enough to have a hotel (Courtyard Anchorage Airport) that had a shuttle with a large luggage compartment big enough for the wheelchair and all of our bags and us (but that is it.)  We then took the Alaska Railroad to Seward where are shipped was docked.  We arrived very early at the train depot and picket up tickets we had reserved online, and at the same time informed the desk clerk that we had a passenger with a wheelchair.  We then dropped our luggage off with the attendants who took it all the way to our ship and into our cabin (something that the Alaska Railway and Royal Caribbean have worked out.)  About 30 minutes before the train was to leave a very nice young lady introduced herself as our special aid, it was her job to help us onto the train.  She took the whole family out ahead of everyone else (which earned us a few dirty looks) and helped Dan board the train by loading him and his chair onto a special lift.  We had a great train ride and enjoyed the views. Dan was able to maneuver up the stairs to the dome car but it could not have been done in a wheelchair, and he could not travel to any of the other cars in the wheelchair.  We then disembarked and repeated the lift procedure down with the wheelchair and after we pulled out our coats (it was MUCH colder in Seward!) we simply walked/rolled the maybe ½ mile to the ship.

At the ship check-in there was a special check in desk for people with special needs and we were directed there and only had to wait in a short line to fill out all the paperwork and be issued our SeaPasses.  We were then introduced to another young man who was assigned to help our family on-board.  He helped Daniel through the security check point and then did all the hard work of pushing him up the steep gangplank.  We then found our cabins.  Our parents had a standard cabin on the third deck and the wheelchair did not even fit through the door, of course he could have gotten out and folded the chair, but there is little storage in the average room.  In our accessible cabin we had a great big door that open like magic (automatically) whenever the card was swiped.  It was much larger and easier to maneuver.  Daniel also liked the handrails in the bathroom and the special large shower with seat.  We found the ship very easy to navigate by wheelchair for the most part.  At mealtimes our waiters were great about taking the wheelchair away and returning it when we were done, and the cafeteria staff was always helpful and easy to navigate.  Our only challenges came in the evenings or mornings when the cleaning staff left their carts in the halls, and these halls are JUST a little bigger than the average wheelchair so there were times we just could not get through and would have to go around.  We simply learned to go up to one of the higher decks, with no rooms, go across the ship there and then take the elevator back down. 

Our cruise had three stops before it arrived in Vancouver.  We stopped in Juneau where we tried the Glacier and Gardens tour and although the gardens were very disappointing we found everything handicapped accessible.  Now we did contact Royal Caribbean ahead of time to make sure that the tours we chose would be compatible with his chair and that was very important to helping us choose which tours to go on, because not all of them were accessible.  The city was very accessible for the wheelchair, as was the public library where we stopped to check e-mail (they even had a reserved computer station for the handicapped which was nice because it was the only one free!).  The gangplanks were very steep and slippery but Royal Caribbean staff was always great about stopping traffic and helping us on and off the ship and then through security again.

Our second stop was in Skagway.  We only spent a little time in town and though the walk is a little long depending on where your ship is in line on the dock, the town was accessible.  We spent most of our time on the Whitepass train to the Yukon and Bennett Lake.  Dan took his crutches again but we were told that this train is accessible to chairs and folks on the discussion board above praise it as being so.  The train ride was really worth it and we saw some beautiful scenery.  When we stopped at Bennett Lake everything was once again very accessible as was our stop at Carcross.  We then boarded a bus to return to the city, as this was your average motor bus they would have had to store his chair below and he would have had to be able to climb the 3 steps into the bus (which he can do). We were given the option of being dropped off in town or back at the ship.

It was then on to our last stop in Alaska, Ketchikan.  Daniel also used his crutches to go on a seaplane tour in Ketchican and although Dad enjoyed it, Dan didn’t think it was worth the inflated expense.  Mom and Susan went to the Rainforest and wildlife sanctuary by bus and found that though the bus might pose a challenge with the wheelchair, and the terrain was a little rough and bumpy, it was completely accessible.  The ship then sailed on to Icy Straight point, where we did not get off, and down to Vancouver.  To read about that story, see this page.