I was stunned by the result.

My response says it all:

Dear Shore Excursions Dept

There must be some mistake:

CV67 standard 5 hour tour $78.00 per person, CV67 for a disabled guest 4 hour tour $1300.00

MR25 standard 4 hour tour $56.00 per person, MR25 for a disabled guest $1200.00

Even if you divide the cost between four people the cost is prohibitive.

I really don't think this is the way to make your disabled guests feel welcome and valued on an Azamara cruise. I will be copying this e-mail and challenging the Shore Ex desk on board!

You have probably guessed that I will not take you up on this offer, in fact after this cruise you probably will not see me on an Azamara cruise again.

Regards Clive Bassant

A buzz word in the U.K. regarding disability is ‘inclusion’, not segregation. Is it possible Azamara could accommodate you within the existing shore tour programme and charge the same fee as non-disabled guests?

Assuming that Azamara have not done all they can to accommodate your needs, your letter is very restrained.

I would have included words like ‘discrimination’ and ‘alienation’. I would have also made it clear that I expected a better ‘deal’ on the shore tours and for the matter to be resolved before I reached the on board shore-ex desk. Otherwise, I would be highlighting there negative attitude to disababled guests to the media and on-line.

That should focus their customer services department.

[ 04-27-2008: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

I believe that with the attention in North America paid to those with physical challanges this is not something the cruise line has chosen to do as a money grab. They are simply passing along the charges that the suppliers of the Shore Excursions are advising. I can assure you this is not a "one of" request - many others in wheelchairs have had the same requests - and the same responses from the lines.

My suggestion would be to work with your TA and arrange private tours that include the sites you want to see. The charges will probably be lower than what the cruise line offers and you might enjoy it more.

The way I look at it with shore excursions are AN OPTION the lines offer. They could have come back and advised NO we cannot accommodate you on our shore excusrions - which would have REALLY stunk of discrimnation or they have come back and said "yes - we can take you - but the cost is $$$".

So an option has been offered. Now the choice is do I take what they offered or look at another alternative? I would look at the latter.

Hope you can find an alternative and that you have a great cruise!

[ 04-27-2008: Message edited by: Jekyll ]

The fact that even if expensive, it is still an option, I would suggest that if there is nobody to share the trip with, $1300 shared between two people for effectively what would be an hour and a half in Rome discounts this as a realistic option.
In terms of how much the line makes on this endeavor I don’t know, but as already suggested I have looked at private tours and they do come out considerably cheaper, e.g a Rome tour through Rccl 8 Hours with Driver only $1,200.00, 8 Hours with Driver & Guide $1,800.00, The average through a privately organized excursion company is between $700 and $800 for 8 hours with driver/guide. A much better deal, and one we will take, but if something goes wrong you do not get the protection that you would get from the line.

I would agree that what ever the reason for it, this is discriminatory behavior by the cruise line, in that they are treating their disabled quests less favorably than those who are non-disabled. Because they are a foreign company offering a service outside the UK they will not be bound by Part 111 of the Disability Discrimination Act. So there is not a lot I can do re the legal perspective (In the real world my occupation is Senior Service Manager for a Citizen Advice Bureau).
But in the end I think Malcolm hit the nail on the head when he stated that this is an issue of inclusion, the line should provide a service for disabled guests within the existing shore excursion pro gramme. This a problem with all lines, not just Azamara (Rccl)

So it looks like more days on top with a gin and tonic watching everyone else being herded onto their coaches for another rushed tour visiting somewhere for not long enough and not seeing very much.

Frankly in this day and age, if a line cannot offer equality in all respects to its guests then they should not be offering anything at all to anyone. While I know nothing of your circumstances this is discrimination of the most appalling type, very often those who are disabled are also financially restrained due to their disability - if Azamara cannot accommodate you on a regular tour bus then they should pay the extra costs involved because they should have ensured that ALL of their regular tours are accessible in the first place - it is not rocket science to stipulate that ALL tour buses are able to meet the needs of all of their guests.

Given that Azamara is part of RCI do we assume that this is the policy of the entire company - if so they deserve a huge amount of bad press and frankly they need to get their house in order quickly. I would write to Richard Fain directly, suggest he look at this website and read the comments hereon and suggest he deals with issue across his company - copy the letter to disabled organisations in the US, EU and UK, ensure you tell them that you expect a written answer within 14 days.

Alternatively book Princess, they are the industry leaders by a long chalk. While obviously some of their tours are not suitable for those with disabilites (cave diving and the like) they ensure that most regular tours are and that there is no extra charges. They also have tours designed specifically for disabled guests (blind, etc) that sell at the same rates as all the others.

I do not believe for one second that RCI could not have thought about this before hand, Rome is one of Europe's largest and most famous Capitals - we are not talking about some hick town in Outer Mongolia, Rome has hundreds of coaches etc accessible by disabled guests and RCI should have booked them. And yes I bet that RCI are making a jolly good commission off your booking - a lot more than they would have if you had been able to book the regular tour (as they mark up by a %) therefore not only are they discriminatiiong against disabled guests they are also profiteering off you as well.

This webpage outlines what National Express offers in the UK. I note that they don't absolutely promise to carry wheel-chair-bound passengers. In fact you might describe their commitment as "we'll do our best". Also I wonder just how many wheel-chair passengers a standard coach could accommodate.

None of which is any consolation to the OP, of course.

[ 04-28-2008: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]