So here's a thing...
We idly pondered booking a cruise on Queen Mary. 7 nights up to the Norwegian fjords to marvel at Slartibartfast's work. More than we are comfortable spending, really, but having done that voyage several times when I worked aboard, I know that T would enjoy it too. And it was their idea anyway.
So we look at the booking. You have to tick a box to say that you require an accessible room if you use a wheelchair - even if you're an ambulatory user.
The reason for this is down to SOLAS - Safety of Lives at Sea; International regulations that state that if a guest has mobility requirements, an evacuation chair must be made available to them. Even if the guest states they can walk up stairs in an emergency if necessary, they're not allowed to opt out.
The number of evacuation chairs is tied to the number of accessible rooms. So on a ship the size of QM2, that's 31 rooms. Out of 1316. So on any one voyage, a maximum of 62 wheel chair users are permitted to travel. (assuming two people to a room)
So far, so inaccessible. But so be it in a world where accessibility is an afterthought.
HOWEVER
The ONLY way to book one of these accessible rooms is by paying extra for the 'Cunard Fare', which gives the ability to choose which room you have.
So in essence, if you use a wheelchair - for whatever reason - your trip with Cunard* will cost you more than someone who doesn't use a chair. You literally have to pay more to travel with Cunard if you use a wheelchair.
This is, to be clear, discrimination.
For a seven night voyage this is an extra £300. Looking at the list of benefits, there is literally nothing else in the list we need, but because they've tied the accessible rooms to having to be able to choose your own room, they've put the cost of travel behind a £300 paywall.
There's no reason for this that I can see. If you tick the box to say you need an accessible room, then the system should automatically only be able to put you in such a room if one is available. You cannot meaningfully choose your room if there are only 6 available at your price point.
As I said: discrimination.
So we're not going to visit Norway after all.
#Accessibility #Disability
_
*I suspect it's the same across all of Carnival's lines, not just Cunard, but I haven't looked.
