Trying to understand booking a handicap accessible room

[Karlzmom]

I have been tasked with booking the trip for my parents who will require an HA room for my dad. I am trying to determine how I do that. Are HA rooms only available in certain categories? How do I ensure that they end up in one? If needed, I will be book the Wonder to Alaska and my parents want a verandah. TIA for any help with this one.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

There are a few handicap rooms with verandahs on the Wonder. They are category 6A if I'm not mistaken. You will have to call DCL and specifically request the HA room. The CMs will be able to tell you the HA cabins available.

 

[Karlzmom]

Thank you!

 

[lelalittlelegs]

I have booked both internal and verandah HA rooms on the Magic online and without having to speak to anyone on the phone. At the first stage of booking online you click to state you need a HA room. It'll then give you the choice available - which deck, which category (which shows sq ft) and the varying prices. The booking is then confirmed and that's your cabin number. Of course if you're worried about the process, you can always do it on the phone.

 

[lanejudy]

It can be done either online or by phone. If booking online, there is a little checkbox right below where you enter the number of adults and number/ages of children that reads " I have a mobility or other disability and need an accessible room" -- click that and you'll only be offered HA rooms. If you are trying to coordinate room location with another reservation, it may be easier by phone unless you have a deck plan open as well plus another window for the other reservation.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Karlzmom]

Thanks for the great advice. Ill definitely do the booking online if possible...

 

[elephant98]

I was doing a search on accessible staterooms and came across this thread from a month ago. My experience in booking an accessible stateroom is slightly off topic from the OP's question. But, I thought I would throw in my own two cents as I stumbled across some interesting information that I think will be helpful to others who find this thread in the future.

In my case, I wanted to book an accessible stateroom for my parents on the Dream as well as a connecting, non-accessible stateroom. As it turned out, the accessible stateroom was indeed available to book online. But, the connecting, non-accessible stateroom was NOT available for booking online. It kept showing up as unavailable. This proved true for every connecting, non-accessible stateroom that adjoined an accessible stateroom on the ship. (The accessible room was available for booking, but the connecting, non-accessible stateroom was not). Unfortunately, my self-professed "Disney specialist" travel agent was unable to provide any insight other than someone had already booked the non-accessible stateroom. I want to stress that the connecting, non-accessible booking was NOT available for booking online, even though I was trying to book it at the same time as I booked the accessible cabin as part of a multiple cabin booking.

Given that the cruise we were interested in booking was over a year out, I suspected that something was up. So, I called the cruise line directly and learned that the connecting non-accessible staterooms are specially set aside for booking by people traveling in an accessible cabins and they are NOT available for booking online. (The cabins are released for booking by the general public online somewhere around the time for final payment is due, if I recall correctly). Someone - myself or the travel agent - has to call in and book the cabin either after booking an accessible cabin, or book both cabins at the same time. An interesting caveat. One would think that you could book a connecting non-accessible stateroom online at the same time that you are booking the accessible stateroom online. But, that was not the case in my experience. Out of curiosity, I tried making an online dummy booking for a future cruise in late 2016 and encountered the same problem -- accessible cabin could be booked online, but the non-accessible connecting stateroom could not. I hope this info. helps someone else out.