We just got off a
Royal Caribbean Cruise and honestly they were incredible with DH in his
ECV. When checking in, they directed us to essentially the concierge line and allowed us to check in early since we got there early. Some the ramps when boarding were steep and they offered assistance with those if needed.
The wheelchair seats at all of the shows were honestly the best seats on the house and you had a choice of front of the theater or the back of Orchestra (or whatever they call it on the ship) and they had spaces in the Mean one if you prefer, this is for the main theater. The space for the ice skating show were in the back, but we're honestly prime spots. There were wheelchair lifts down the stairs, so there may have been other options, not sure. This is an area that differs from Disney, they seem to place the wheelchair seats where it is convenient by design instead of where good viewing is, some of the wheelchair spaces on Royal Caribbean were definitely not in spots where the design made it convenient.
Their miniature golf course (which is small as it is on a cruise ship) is also fully accessible, although to reach it requires a lift, but this was on a 20 year old ship, the Navigator of the Seas, so the fact that everything was accessible is incredible. Even areas that normally require stairs to reach, like the Hellipad at the front of the ship had options for wheelchairs to be able tonget to. Although the Helipad itself did require a few stairs with no lift, but had plenty of benches to sit on. And ok sure if there were an emergency they wouldnt allow guests to be there.
On par with Disney was the wait staff in the dining, they of course would park the ECV and bring it back. They would assist at the buffet, the bartenders would carry drinks, even if you were taking them to another venue, although DH has two cup holders, so he didn't need that. And we had the non alcoholic drink package, which includes their tips and there isn't really a way to tip extra aside from cash, but they still offered when we got mocktails, smoothies or other drinks from the bars and had such situations.
The only time We had to wait for the elevators was once after boarding while they did a test and they asked everyone not to use them, then once when there was a security issue and occasionally of we tried to use them right at dinner time we had to use the go up to go down, otherwise the quantity of elevators was more than sufficient for the size ship and they had signs that would tell you what the next stop is so you didn't accidentally get off on the wrong floor if it stopped before you got to where you were going. It is a small touch, but very helpful.
When disembarking, they had a dedicated line and customs window (with about 5 customs agents) just for those with mobility issues so they didn't have to maneuver through the queue. With a ship with about double the number of people of what Disney's Wonder holds, we were through customs in less than 5 minutes and that was only because we chatted with him about Doctor Who.
As for things to do, there is no shortage on their ship and this was one of the smaller ships, if you go with their Quantum or Oasis class ships there is even more to do. I would imagine that there would be some challenges there with getting mobility devices from start to finish of slides and such, but some have bumper cars, carousels, etc. Quantum class have what they call theme parks at sea, Oasis class have Boardwalks and parks.
We had an accessible cabin, which was giant, with a huge balcony that the ECV could get out onto, the closet had a pull down bar that you could hang clothes on. A nice roll in shower, the only issue there was the drains didn't keep up all the time, so there would be water all over the floor. But never reached into the room.
We can't have things prepared with alcohol and their menus actually noted what contained alcohol in most venues, again this is different than Disney. But with Disney you can order the night before and they will adjust the item, so there is a trade off there. But this made lunches much easier on Royal Caribbean than on Disney.
We weren't interested in any excursions, but we did book another cruise and they have an entire department dedicated to helping with accessible excursions and assisting with dietary restrictions on excursions. Disney tends to say which of the standard options are accessible, but doesn't go beyond that usually and as we have learned the hard way will absolutely not work with their providers for dietary needs.
All of this came as a big surprise to us to see how well thought out their accommodations were. So, is Disney always the best? While they rank up there, the answer is no, there are other options out there that may be just as good or even better than Disney.
