Has anyone taken a cruise with Make A Wish?

[daughtersrus]

We just got news that DD has been approved for a wish!

We've taken her to Disney World twice and she really loved it. We're thinking that she may enjoy a cruise but since she uses a wheelchair, we're wondering how handicap accessible cruises are. For example, do they have bath tubs or showers with hand-held sprayers? Are the beds able to accommodate a side rail so that she won't fall out? Will her wheelchair fit through the doors?


What type of activities do they offer on and off of the ship? It would be next to impossible to push her chair in the sand at a beach and she would have difficulty sitting in the sand without some type of adapted chair (maybe her bath chair?).

Can anyone give me an idea what a typical day would be like?

Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

[lbgraves]

I hope that your family enjoys the cruise very much!

A search for "make-a-wish" in the forum brought up these threads. I hope that they help you.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread....ht=make-a-wish
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....ht=make-a-wish
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....ht=make-a-wish

[tjbaggott]

My DD was granted a wish from The Children's Wish Foundation 3 years ago. DD chose a Disney Land And Sea Vacation. Although she used a wheel chair in WDW, more for stamina issues, she did not use one on the ship, so I can't help you with the access related questions other than to say, from deck to deck access is great via the elevators which will fit wheel chairs. There are special staterooms for people with disabilities, but I don't know what they have in them other than a wider doorway, that would be of benefit for your daughter. CM's will set up your daughters bed with a bedrail no problem. I hope someone else can answer the wheel chair related questions for you, but I'm certain ALL can be done as I know there are others who travelled by wheel chair.
Do not miss mail from the Wish Contact Person on board. There is a special meeting for Wish families, with a Special guest apperarance. One of my kids who went back to the stateroom early, got that note but didn't know it was important and instead of leaving it in the Fish Hook for us, they took it into the cabin and misplaced it! We missed that very special meeting! The Wish co-ordinator will leave a special welcome for your daughter in the stateroom for when you all arrive, and more magical stuff happens via the other CM's on board. A cruise would be an AWESOME WISH!
Lot's of kids activities on board, I'm certain your daughter will not Lack for entertainment! How wonderful she is being granted a wish!
All the best to you and your family!

[disney1990]

I don't have specific information about Make a Wish and Disney cruises, but I know that Make a Wish and their personnel are awesome.

Our granddaughter and her family did a Make a Wish trip earlier this year to Australia. Make a Wish took care of every detail. It was so nice that my daughter's family didn't have to worry about a single thing.

[1DisneyQueen]

Originally Posted by daughtersrus

We just got news that DD has been approved for a wish!

We've taken her to Disney World twice and she really loved it. We're thinking that she may enjoy a cruise but since she uses a wheelchair, we're wondering how handicap accessible cruises are. For example, do they have bath tubs or showers with hand-held sprayers? Are the beds able to accommodate a side rail so that she won't fall out? Will her wheelchair fit through the doors?


What type of activities do they offer on and off of the ship? It would be next to impossible to push her chair in the sand at a beach and she would have difficulty sitting in the sand without some type of adapted chair (maybe her bath chair?).

Can anyone give me an idea what a typical day would be like?

Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

What a wonderful organization and best wishes.

As for the hadicap rooms. We to traveled with a wheel chair. The room has no tub, it is a roll in shower with a drop down bench she could transfer to and a hand held shower. The bathroom and shower all all in one room and very large as is the cabin itsself. There is no problen getting the wheelchair in or around the cabin.

All the shore excursions have picture and let you know if it is handicap accessable. As for the beach. Castaway has large tire wheel chairs (they think of it all) so that she would go on the beach.

I hope this helps. I will check and see if I have a photo I can put up for you.

[LindaBabe]

Post on this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread....39777&page=198

Several of the wish trippers have taken cruises successfully. The links to all the wish trip threads are on the first page of the thread. Good Luck!

[kcashner]

It sounds like your real question is whether others have had a child in a wheelchair.....perhaps you should check the Dis-abilities board section and consider changing the title of your post.

I just took an adult friend in a chair--we had no issues in the accessible cabin except that she couldn't open the balcony doors. The bathroom had a roll in shower, fold down shower chair, and hand held sprayer. There was a drain the full length of the exterior edge of the shower and a similar one just inside the bathroom door. No problems with water on the floor at all.

They have sand wheelchairs available. Frankly, I didn't have the strength to push it very far...but that was with an adult in it. There are plenty of bed rails, and all the beds will handle them.

Be sure you get the medical form in ASAP so that the crew can meet your needs. Obviously you'll be requesting an accessible cabin and accessible seating in the dining room. The Club/Lab personnel will do everything they can to meet your needs, but cannot provide one on one care for your child.

A typical day will look like whatever you want it to! You will decide your schedule. We found a sit down breakfast and lunch preferable to the buffet. You'll wheel in. If she wishes to transfer, the serving staff will store the chair at the entrance; if she wishes to stay in the chair, that's great. You decide what's next--on deck activities? Club/Lab? A movie? You look at the Navigator (schedule) and decide what you want to do.

In the evenings, there will be dinner and a show. There is wheelchair seating in the back. If she can transfer, she can sit in the front...go to the entrance and the CM will seat you. After dinner there are family activities or kid activities.

I'd suggest that you meet the kid counselors in the terminal or shortly after boarding to discuss your specific situation with them. That way, they can be prepared for whatever help is needed. You can also go to the kid programming with her if you choose to.

[oklamomof4boys]

What state are you in? Be aware that different Make a Wish Chapters have different guidelines. My son really wanted to do a Disney Cruise for his wish but all our chapter ( Oklahoma) would do was a 3 night cruise. And they wouldn't let us extend the trip ( go to WDW) on our own dime. They really pushed the WDW trip ( that is the most common wish). The typical WDW wish ( and this was the same with just about everybody that I "talked" to on the wish disboards thread) is 3 day parkhopper, 2 days US/IOA and 1 day Sea World. You stay at Give Kids the World- a resort just for wish families. My son decided on the WDW trip. Give Kids the World is absolutely the most incredible place. That being said, many chapters do Disney Cruises- many of them 4 night and some 7 night. WDW was a perfect trip for us, and I'm glad he chose that over the cruise ( we had cruised before and it was incredible and we are cruising again), but I really wish we had been forewarned that our chapter really didn't like to do cruises- I would have prepared him a little better.

Whatever your daughter's trip is- it will be incredible. Do join the disboards wish thread- it is full of wonderful info!

[daughtersrus]

Thank you all for the replies. We are in IL (suburb of Chicago). We haven't met with the anyone yet in person. The representative from the Chicago office called last week to let me know that they got the papers back from the doctors and that our DD should start to think about what her wish will be.

DD is non-verbal and delayed both physically and cognitively so we're trying to think what she might like and then use her assistive tech device to choose.

I'm going to spend some time this week looking through the threads on the Disboards.

Thanks again for the advice and the links!

[UK-Simon]

Although I have never taken a cruise personally with Make-A-Wish, I am a Wish Grantor for MAW, and recently had a wish family go on the Wonder.

The previous poster mentioned adding a stay at WDW at their own expense. She is absolutely right, that most chapters have their own rules on things. My family did 4 days on the Wonder and 3 days at WDW (off property). They wanted to extend the WDW portion, but in our chapter (BC, Canada) they cannot extend past 7 days, as our travel insurance in fully donated by the Pacific Blue Cross, and they cannot negotiate on the insurance at all.

Our chapter do allow some 7 day cruises, but it all depends on the time of the year you wish to travel, and how many in the party. For instance for a family of 5 travelling they will need either a cat 4 or 2 staterooms, thus costing the foundation double the cost to approve the wish. This makes a 7 night cruise almost impossible if MAW are able to grant every wish that comes their way.

I think a Disney Cruise would make an awesome wish, but then again Give Kids The World Village is a truly amazing place too. If you have any questions about anything MAW related please feel free to ask, and also ask your wish interviewer to find out exactly what your chapter can and can't do in the way of cruises. If they do not know for sure have them check with the office and get back to you.

Take care, and enjoy the planning of the wish!