[blindlaw] ADA and Air Travel

Fri Dec 4 00:08:36 UTC 2009

Interesting observations about Carnival.  When I went on the cruise that was
organized by the NFB of Colorado in March, we had all of the Braille
materials in our cabins. Our waiter was very nice about reading the menus
each evening, even though he didn't speak English that well. I will
definitely ask for the menus on CD next time. Also, I wasn't aware there was
any way to get the daily newsletter, so I'll be sure to ask about that the
next time I go. And I do intend to cruise again. When I was booking tours,
the guy at the desk casually informed me that he would let the tour
providers know that I was blind. This raised a red flag with me and I asked
him why. He said it was to make sure that the providers could accommodate
and that there would be no access issues. I explained that blind people have
very few "access issues" and that he was giving the providers an opportunity
to discriminate. I probed him a little on whether he thought there were
certain things a blind guest couldn't do. He informed me that he had seen
blind guests participate in all kinds of activities, I think he specifically
mentioned cliff diving, and was not trying to discriminate. I let it go.
None of the providers I did tours with gave me or any of the other NFB folks
any problems, and I did not hear from other NFB friends about any problems.
Of course, the tours I went on were not particularly strenuous; I am a wimp.
I had some concerns about the dolphin encounter, but that went fine. In
fact, the trainer even made a point of letting me and a friend touch the
dolphin's teeth while he held her mouth open (they normally discourage folks
from touching the mouth.) He didn't let us touch the nose or blowhole, which
are off limits. I plan to try swimming with dolphins next time; the dolphin
encounter is when you are on a shallow platform and the dolphin swims up to
you. All of the Carnival folks were extremely friendly and I think they were
trying to do the right thing. I came away with a mostly favorable impression
of the company, although it still concerns me that they "flag" disabled
guests even if they really are doing it only to make sure that the guest has
a good experience. I am sure that some contractors do discriminate, and
while Carnival is of course protecting itself, I wonder if they have a legal
point. Other countries do not necessarily have the disability laws that we
do in the USA, and once you are on shore at a foreign port of call I am not
sure U.S. law would "reach" businesses there. It reaches foreign cruise
lines only because their ships have ports of call in the U.S., if I
understand the law correctly. Carnival could make a point of not contracting
with vendors who discriminate, however, and that would make a difference. 

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of AZNOR99 at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 8:56 AM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] ADA and Air Travel

A couple of my blind friends and I are avid cruisers - we try to go at least
once a year, and Carnival is our cruiseline of choice.  In 2007, they
refused to allow us to sign up for a scuba diving excursion because of our
blindness - they said we'd be dangerous to other scuba divers.  This was
absurd for all the obvious reasons and because we're all strong swimmers
and most of us are accomplished scuba divers.  Carnival said that since
they contract with local venders to provide the excursions, and since those
venders aren't in the United States, then the ADA does not apply.  We tried
to educate the cruise line, and I think they got it.  But the scuba diving
contract holder did not and would not let us participate no matter what we
said.  
I wish we'd have fought harder.

That same year, we had a lot of trouble getting the onboard materials in
Braille or electronic formatting.  We followed up with Corporate, and by
the time we arrived for our 2008 cruise, everything had been sorted out to
our liking in terms of materials.  They now will send you a CD with menus,
guide books, and all the other material that's in the state room, and
they'll either Braille out the daily newsletter or put it on a flash drive
for  you.

In terms of excursions, we just always find an outside vender ourselves now.
We can discuss blindness beforehand if we want, and we end up not feeling
beholden to the cruiseline for our fun off-ship.  And we save a lot  of
money in the process.

My point is that I'm not sure if the cruiselines are all totally accessible 
 now, but I think Carnival is doing a much better job then it used to do.   
Also, I have no idea if the contracting venders in the ports are
discriminating  against blind people - I bet they still are.

Ronza

In a message dated 12/3/2009 2:36:49 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
ckrugman at sbcglobal.net writes:

That's  good to know as I think that Carnival was one of the cruise lines
that had  issues regarding blind travelers several years ago.
Chuck
----- Original  Message -----
From: "Olusegun -- Victory Associates LTD, Inc."  <ukekearuaro at valtdnet.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List"  <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 2:40  PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] ADA and Air Travel

> Chuck, I sell  cruises amongst other things I do; mostly on Carnival;
they 
> have been  extremely good with all my passengers whether disabled or not.
>
>  I have three groups going out in July and August of 2010, narrowly
missed  
> a chance to get a group out to Alaska.
>
>  Sincerely,
> Olusegun
> Denver, Colorado
>
>  _______________________________________________
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al.net  

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