Accessible Travel

I have been using wheelchair help in airports for three years. Dragging a bag and standing in line has become too much for me.

I became handicapped (I am a limited walker) in 1967, at the age of 41. Rather than spending the next 39 or 40 years in a nursing home, wallowing in self-pity and bemoaning my fate, I have — with my indefatigable wife — traveled to China, done Elderhostels with homestays in Mexico and France, spent eight months roaming around Europe at will and taken innumerable cruises.

Cruises are superb. You don’t have to pack and unpack as you move from hotel to hotel to hotel; the hotel does the moving while you remain conveniently located in the same quarters all the time.

I realized last year that I am becoming limited in what I can physically do, so I took a Mediterranean cruise primarily to places I had already been, just to see if cruising was easier. I carry a cane chair ($30-$34 from www.sportseat.com) and avoid all stairs and exertion. For any mobility-impaired travelers, I thought I would share what I learned.

As a person who loves to travel but has had severe disability issues from time to time, I am eager to learn of others’ experiences of traveling with physical limitations, so I thought I would share my own.

The issue of accommodating handicapped or disabled persons on tours or cruises was raised in two readers’ letters (March ’06, pg. 35 & July ’05, pg. 27). The issue goes beyond handicapped or disabled persons to anyone who cannot meet the physical requirements of a trip. As I see it, there are various aspects to addressing the problem.

• Tour operators need to specify the physical requirements of a trip as clearly and realistically as possible. (Are there elevators? How much walking is involved? What kind of surface?)

I took an 8-day trip to Hong Kong and Beijing, China, Nov. 8-16, ’04, booking my trip through Asian Affair Holidays (800/742-3133 or www.asianaffairholidays.com), an arm of Singapore Airlines. I am a 76-year-old female with a shoulder replacement (not great), osteoarthritis (knees and left hip) and spinal stenosis that requires me to use a walker (four wheels) and to need a handicapped-equipped bathroom (i.e., handheld shower plus rails on the sides of the toilet).

I read with great interest Wesley Wilson’s letter regarding his handicapped wife’s negative experience with Vantage Deluxe World Travel on their September ’04 river cruise in Europe (July ’05, pg. 27). Although Mrs. Wilson often stayed on board rather than take shore excursions that required considerable walking, the cruise company nevertheless asked her to leave the ship.

In reply to my complaint about not having a wheelchair waiting when I got off the plane, printed in the August ’05 issue, page 14, Continental Airlines sent me a 2-page letter that said essentially that the treatment I received was not according to procedure and next time I should ask to speak to a CRO (Complaint Resolution Official).

KIT STEWART
Sequim, WA

I took a Continental Airlines flight from Seattle to Cancun and return, Feb. 27-March 8, ’05. I know ITN does not normally include anything on North America, but Houston is an international gateway plus I was assured by the ticket clerk that the same policy holds true everywhere: that is, even if you have made a reservation for a wheelchair, it will not arrive if you have not filled out and submitted the proper paperwork.

My wife and I were passengers on a River Explorer cruise, beginning in Bucharest on Sept. 1, ’04, and scheduled to end in Amsterdam on Sept. 25, with Vantage Deluxe World Travel. Halfway through the trip, when the ship arrived in Vienna late on Sept. 13, we were told to leave the ship early the next day. When I asked why, the Vantage tour guide and the captain only said that my wife was slow and they were afraid she would fall.