The Best Made Plans As A Disabled Woman Still Go Wrong

It’s been about a month since I blogged and I must say, I miss not blogging 🙁 Somehow I feel I never have enough time. Last month was 7 years marked since I became #paralyzed due to surgery gone wrong, leaving me to live life in a #wheelchair. As a result, there is very little I can do so it seems odd that I’m “busy.” What on earth is keeping me to busy LOL!

I will admit, I spent several weeks on the phone and internet researching and planning a cruise to Alaska for Kurt and I. This was a MAJOR undertaking for me. First, I have not flown since before #paralysis. I have not even attempted to book a flight since

After so many family/friends told us that a cruise would be the perfect type of vacation for us as the ships are very wheelchair friendly! Never having been on a cruise, we decided, let’s do it, and what better cruise than to Alaska for our first! After deciding on the #Norwegian cruise to Alaska I began my research and planning journey.

Booking Our Flights ✈️ 

With much anxiety I phoned #AlaskaAirlines. I must confess, booking our flights with #AA was the easiest part of our trip. After explaining to the AA agent that I was not only paralyzed but I am a paralyzed #littleperson. It was then I learned I could stay in my chair all the way to the plane, YES, this makes getting on the plane a lot simpler than I anticipated. I then explained that because I am a little person and I can stay in my chair all the way to the plane, my husband can just pick me up and put me in the seat if we could be seated in the very first row. To my surprise, those seats are known as the “bulk head.” Now, because I am “disabled” I could be seated there for free but to have my husband sit with me there would be an additional cost of $100 as those seats are considered “premium seats for individuals wanting a little more leg room…okay we’ll take 2 seats in the “bulk head.” That was it, we were booked! THANK YOU to AA for making the first leg of our Alaskan journey so easy!

Securing Our Stateroom

We obviously requested a wheelchair accessible room and one with a balcony. I highly recommend a balcony for any cruise. The only “special request” I had was a shower “chair.” I SPECIFICALLY stated chair, not a stool, not a bench but a chair. When we arrived to our stateroom, we
discovered NO SHOWER! Immediately my stress level went up and we only just boarded the ship. Thankfully the shower chair arrived to our stateroom after just one (1) phone call.

Excursion Experiences

Prior to our cruise I again spent several conversations on the phone with the #NCL agent discussing what excursions were wheelchair accessible, After a day at sea we were excited for our first excursion, only to be disappointed. After debarking the ship we arrived to our bus and was told that they “were not informed they needed an #ADA accessible bus.” My heart stopped and again my stress level went up…hello #PTSD. We were moved to an excursion that was accessible however it was not feasible nor enjoyable for me. We were placed on a whale watching excursion, which on it’s own sounds good, but it wasn’t. On a smaller boat with both an inaccessible upper deck for viewing and a lower enclosed level surrounded by glass for viewing. The problem was, when a what was spotted, everyone stood as they lined the side of the boat where the whale was spotted. As they all stood, taking their pictures oohing and aahing, I was not able to see. This is why we specifically did not chose this excursion.

Our second excursion sadly went the same way. This time my husband decided he would just carry me up on to the bus so we could enjoy the excursion we chose, BEST OF SKAGWAY & WHITE PASS RAILWAY. While this worked, my husband should not have had to carry me up/down steps of bus if NCL had done their job! Again, my stress level and PTSD we now on high alert! We did enjoy the excursion despite me now feeling depressed, feeling like I’m the problem/reason we can no longer just come/go travel freely ever again.

Making Our Disappointment Known

After returning to our ship after our second excursion we went to the “guest services” desk again, and this time after speaking very loudly, we learned that the excursions are managed by a totally separate company from #NCL! What… so even after spending several hours on the phone reviewing excursions with the NCL agent apparently NONE of the specific needs/requirements we discussed were ever shared with the appropriate parties.

Not only were our accessible requirements not shared but specific details that my husband is salt intolerant. When booking our cruise we completed a “special requirements” form and indicated my husband’s salt intolerance yet NOT ONE restaurant on board was aware of this.

Overall, we are glad we went, we loved Alaska and learned a lot, including we enjoy traveling on our own, our way much more. When we returned, we once again began our search for a custom Class B wheelchair accessible RV.

As always, I wish you a journey filled with exploring new people, places and things – take time to learn from and enjoy each new adventure along your way!

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