Alaska Cruise.

 

There are so many aspects of a cruise and I only went for five days So I am going to give it to you according to my perspective. If you want to ask questions, feel free. I will do my best to answer them.  Keep in mind that I am probably going to miss some things. Cruising is not for everyone but it serves me pretty good. Some love it, some hate it, but as a disabled person it’s a nice way to explore so these are just my opinions of this experience.

The ship we went on was the MS Koningdam. It is considered Pinnacle class - what that means to me is very little.I can't say if the ship was filled to capcity but it holds 2,650 guests. To me that is big enough. In my limited cruising experince, it was a medium sized ship. No crazy things like go carts and waterslides, this ship I think is more adult oriented, there are things for Children but this is very much and adult cruise. You can dress up and you can dress down, The formal dining room was fancy and that was the one place you had to have presentable clothes. Although there were people in suits and dresses there were many in office attire, but generally pretty relaxed. The decor on the ship was contemporary and fairly modern, there were a standard amount of plugs and there were also USB plugs in several spots. Yes there was a safe, yes there was stocked mini bar (not free) and yes it had a bible. It had everything you would want. If you did not have something I am sure they can bring you most things. WIFI sucks unless you want to buy the wifi package. There were some areas of roaming but aside from taking pictures, I tried to keep my eyes off my phone, which for me is not easy. I can't do stairs but that's an option if you get sick of waiting on elevators. Hallways to the room are narrow, so occasioanly you had to change your path. I don't think that was a big issue having to wait I think sometimes it comes with the territory.

 Embarkation day. By far the worst time until you’re on the ship, the Vancouver terminal was crazy. People everywhere, multiple cruises at the same time. It was Organized chaos, for lack of a better word. We started at the Canada Place Pavilion Docks. Now, having said that; being in a wheelchair made thing go a lot faster, we got streamlined a lot of the time and even though I could only take one companion with me in security it went a lot easier than others. It was like a bunch of people that did not know where they were going or what they were doing.  Although easier than some airports.We were on the boat and our luggage was at our room, right when we arrived, so that was actually good. We met our cabin steward, Rudi and the other guys name is too hard to recall or say so lets just call him "B". They were very kind and accommodating. Embarkation took about an hourish? It was a lot worse for others I heard though. After that madness, we grabbed lunch at the Lido bar or the buffet. It too was busy and that was my first experience with people not seeing me or cutting in front of me, that is something you get used too though, yes, it is annoying but it was not something I was going to let ruin the experience for me. Most of the food looks really good and it looks like it's way bigger portions until you get it. We sat at a regular table but we found out later there are a few designated spots that are accessible, so finding a seat was not usually an issue in the buffet for most of the trip. After we ate, we explored. The inside the outside the bars on the ship. There was no shortage of places, there were many floors, I am guessing over twelve? At that point we set sail, late, but we set sail. From there we went to our room and got ready to do to the dining room. First we got sent downstairs and then we got sent upstairs and then we found our seat.  The service was great and the food was also very good, not the best I have ever had but very good.  Speaking of food, there's not much I can say. To me it was food. I can take it or leave it I found it was was decent for the most part. I just don't have really acute taste buds, so food to me is good or bad. Likely not the best ever, but, there is definitely no shortage of variety and if you did't see something on the menu that you wanted the waiter told us on day one to always ask. The dining was good but other foodies might have more to say about that. There was a lot of entertainment and things to do. We went to a live show called Humanity. It was a dance show that was synced to a light show, it was mostly contemporary dance, that was different. We were not allowed to take pictures so here is a you tube clip: https://youtu.be/nJuB3szQX0g  We saw a comedy show from a comedian named Warren B. Hall. I found that funny and pretty good, we went back for his other show, it was a couple days later.

The accessible suite is not cheap,but very roomy. Most cabins on cruise ships are small, but this one I requested. With the guidance of Karen Bracey with Expedia Cruises. Getting around the cabin was no issue,  Everything was accessible The washroom was really good, you can tell a lot of of handicap people have used it, I didn't take my chair in their but there is room to get a  wheelchair in to it, There are lots of grab bars and the shower had a bench seat. It exceeded my needs. There is not much they have not thought about in that area. I don't have any pictures but everything I need was there and even some surprises.

 I used my electric wheelchair for this trip, I can stand and walk a bit but I just used my wheelchair like a walker/rollator and that was fine. If I don't need to sit in my wheelchair, I transfer to a normal seat. Help was never far away either. If my friends were not around to help, the staff was very helpful. I really do not need much help with that stuff, yet. There are things that I do need help with and although I hate asking, I will.

Moving around the ship solo was usally pretty easy, the elevators are a bit frustrating, but that is a frustrating for anyone, not just me. Sometimes though you are settled and relaxed and staff is in your space a bit too much. That's a good thing and a bad thing. Yes, that's not usually fun but sometime you just need to be left alone, until you don't. All places on the ship were very accomodating. Getting in and out of these places was not a problem. Chairs and tables could often be moved and they were strong and heavy enough that I could transfer into a regular seat easily.  Washrooms are not to far away although once I learned where a place was on the cruise I revisited it, knowing what to expect. There was only one time a place was not very clean and once you mention it to a cruise member it is cleaned immediately. Most places have hand towels and a vey high shelf, that to me seemed weird in an "accesible" washroom as most people woud never be able to reach the top. But I did see plenty of towels on the reachable areas of that shelf and it was never an issue. Probably  planned.

One of the funnier parts of the trip was in when we docked in Kechican Alaska. At some point I realized my joystick control was very loose and I went to feel underneath it where it attaches and found one of the screws was missing. Not a deal breaker, I have spares. Just not with me on the cruise. (Note for next time, bring some spare screws.). We ate and started to head back to the ship and Dean somehow found the screw. I wasn't even looking for it, but he found it in a place we crossed the steet. How he found it was nothing but sheer luck, or his hawkeyes. We went to the local firehall to see if we could borrow a screwdriver, but we were not succesful, I have a cool tool with me with most of the tools I need to tighten things and fix things.  Back on the ship Steve had the screw back on it in a flash, minor problem averted.

What else? I got bulled over one day by a lady.  That was fun. 😠. Funny now but I was not impressed at the time. Is it wrong to think she got the wost of it? Thats another story and I am not giving phone zombies that much attention, in this blog.

The casino, was ok. I am probably a little more critical in that area than most.  As far as casino's on ships go, this one was decent. I like table games. They had everthing though, Tons of slot machines, several blackjack tables, 3 card casino poker, Texas Shootout (known as UTH here), and 1 craps tables The rules were more or less American although some of the dealers did some very questionable things that would never fly in an trues casino.  It's a cruise though. I didn't take any pictures in there. I realize now I should have. The only real picture I have available was the entrance. 

There are so many things I could and should have photos of so next time? They cancelled the one excursion we booked, and although that was disappointing, I'll have to do again. There's not many excursions for folks like me. I kinda of expected that. The ones that are available are worth it.  I might even do it again, it wouldn't be the same stops next time.  There were no issues with the Cruise line we chose. I arranged everything with an agent, and would definitely do that. I know people like to arrange their own "thing" but this was just stress I didn't want. Karen with Expedia Cruises was fantastic and I highly recommend going that route. She was fast and worked times I never expected responses. I'm not a salesman but here's the website https://www.expediacruises.ca

If you got questions about the trip be sure to drop it in the comments.

Cheers everyone!

Darrin