[Blindtlk] OT Cruise Focus Group

Sun Jan 24 20:03:24 UTC 2016

I have never been on a cruise but I thank you for all your hard work Cheryl. I know you work on other tours as well which I may be interested in when I have some money to spend. :-) 

Ericka Short
"Friends are like flowers in the garden of life"

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 24, 2016, at 10:50 AM, Cheryl Echevarria via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Oops sorry, you may get this more than once, because I had sent this from my
> business email and not my registered email with nfbnet.org
> 
> 
> 
> I had accidentally deleted this email when it was first posted. Sometimes
> this happens.
> 
> 
> 
> I wanted to reply to this email that Albert Rizzi has posted about the
> cruise focus group. This is a great idea, Albert!
> 
> 
> 
> We also need your help meaning clients.
> 
> 
> 
> As you may or may not know, not only am I the President of the NFB's Travel
> & Tourism Division, but I own my own travel agency. I ask this all the time
> when my clients return from their trips: How was your trip? Did it meet your
> expectations? Did you have any access issues? Some may say, it was great, I
> was able to play my bingo cards (no offense really) no I don't say that to
> my clients, but they think if  they can play bingo that is a great cruise.
> Many will be honest and tell me no, there was no one to answer our questions
> on the ships, no one understood what I meant when I wanted someone to show
> me how to prepare for the muster drills (lifeboat drills); or  I couldn't
> get anyone to read to me the activities on the ship because they were too
> busy, or I couldn't go on any excursions because they wouldn't take a blind
> person (this part has to do with work with someone who can book you with
> activities of the ship, who can help you then the cruise lines). Some don't
> say anything, and wait until I read it on Facebook that it was a terrible
> trip. Then I call them, and ask them, why didn't they let me know. The
> answer is always, well you cannot fix it, I said, yes we can if we know
> about it. 
> 
> 
> 
> I do a lot of advocating as well, with the cruise lines, with the help of
> people like Andrew Stuarts - President and COO and Cathy Vazquez - Access
> Manager of Norwegian Cruise Lines; Vicki Freed - Senior Vice President,
> Sales, Trade Support and Service
> 
> Royal Caribbean International; and more recently Ken Muscat - Executive Vice
> President at MSC Cruises USA Inc.; these cruise lines have come to the table
> with myself and other travel professionals who are disabled and service the
> disabled community. If you do not see any other names here out of the other
> 100s of cruise lines, many do not want to come to the table and talk about
> it.
> 
> 
> 
> Recently, I had a face-to-face conversation with Ms. Cathy Vazquez and Mr.
> Andrew Garnett (who attended the Travel & Tourism Division meeting back in
> 2014) on the Inaugural Sailing of Norwegian's Newest Ship "Escape" out of
> Miami, back in early November 2015. That information will be published in
> the Braille Monitor, February Edition, Monitor Miniatures area.
> 
> 
> 
> We had discussion on braille, on them bringing back the braille printers on
> all of the ships, I had showed them that their app  that is available to the
> customers were not fully accessible to the blind, I showed them the issues
> with signage and that their wall monitors for events and dining were not
> accessible on the ship, and that I also showed them the KNFB Reader, since I
> do use this as well. 
> 
> 
> 
> Also with the help of CLIA - Cruise Lines International Association,
> description of  this organization is below, which I have been a member of
> since 2009 and earn my Accredited Cruise Counsellor certification back in
> 2011. CLIA is working with us (meaning travel professionals on a forum for
> these issues. This is the organization not only for the travel professionals
> but they are their for the consumers, but the louder noise does come from
> us, because we service you every day.
> 
> 
> 
> Why do I mention this, is because, not only am I disabled, but I am also a
> traveler, and I have to know this information for you my customers. 
> 
> 
> 
> We also need more and more travel professionals who are blind, the other
> disabled communities are not always on the up and up for all access, they
> mostly worry about wheelchair accessibility in this industry as well. If you
> were at last year's National Convention, I was part of the Jobs Seeker
> Seminar that Dick Davis and others arranged, to let you all know that this
> industry whether you are a travel professional or a Maintenance Professional
> is a Trillion Dollar industry.
> 
> 
> 
> I am getting too long winded now, but I am working hard, and there are
> others working hard out there to change these situations. You may not see
> it, right now, but at least with the cruise lines above that I mentioned
> they are getting better. 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheryl Echevarria - National Federation of the Blind - Member since 2006
> 
> President, NFB Travel & Tourism Division
> 
> Vice President, NFB of NY - Greater Long Island Chapter
> 
> 631-236-5138
> 
> cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Friends and Colleagues,
> 
> 
> 
> Have you ever taken a cruise before? Did you ever want to share your
> personal stories about your experiences with the right people? Would you
> like to be part of a focus group with the leading cruise line in the world
> to discuss all the wonderful things that made your experiences memorable, as
> well as offer experiential suggestions on how to improve things going
> forward?
> 
> If you are interested in offering constructive insights into the needs of
> the blind and visually impaired community, then please reach out to My Blind
> Spot at albert at MyBlindSpot.org<mailto:albert at MyBlindSpot.org> with
> your contact information, and include the number of cruises you have taken.
> It does not matter what cruise line you prefer, what matters is you're
> firsthand experience traveling on cruises that will make the difference in
> the selection criteria for this group. This initial group will most likely
> be comprised of no more than 10 to 15 qualified travelers. All interested
> participants should express their interests in participating no later than
> Friday, January
> 
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