[blparent] Travel agent discussion continued

[Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC Inc)]

Agreed. 
Husband and I have talked of taking a cruise. I've done some reading and
some cruise lines would based on my research essentially dump me on my
husband who just happens to be sighted. Given what we'd be spending,
neither of us want to be treated as if he is my caretaker, , and I
wouldn'twant that sort of treatment based on principle. Other
cruiselines seem to be more accomidating but again, I'd like to know a
bit more. 
Finally, I don't much care where Cheryill has been. I do care that she
has up-to-date accurate information, same as I would for anybody else.
It's likea house, if I had two people offering to build mea house, and
one of those was blind, I'd be like "Yes, but are you building to proper
code, with current materials, and are you building to the plans I've got
on file with the county"? 
I guess I'm just saying that blindness int his case means squat, at
least for me. I care about the quality of information provided. 

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Karla Hudson
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 2:15 PM
To: blparent at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blparent] Travel agent discussion continued

Hi Group, 

I do not think we need to get combative over this discussion.  I do know
that when I went to Mexico with my husband we used a regular agent for
that
purpose.  We had a great time.  However, traveling with kids can be an
entirely different situation.  Therefore, putting my vacation to chance
is
not as exciting to me.  I would want to have a clear picture about the
experience.  Do the staff have experience with persons with
disabilities?
Do they have routine trainings at Disney regarding assisting a person
with a
disability at their theme park.  I am in no way expecting hand holding
from
anyone.  However, if I were to put down a load of money on a possible
one
time vacation I would want to be certain the experience is going to be
positive for my family blind or not.  As with any product I read the
reviews
before I purchase and try to decide how the product will work given my
situation.  

I am a preplanner by nature and want to make certain all aspects are put
in
place.  Just a side note as well.  About 17 years ago my husband, myself
and
my sister who happens to be blind decided to go see the Queen Mary
outside
of Long beach.  We did not plan ahead and just went on a whim.  Keep in
mind
that the Queen Mary at that time was owned by Disney.  We paid the
admission
and did ask the front desk ticket person if the Queen Mary had a Braille
map
or any recorded device we might take with us on our tour.  The staff did
not
have such an accommodation.  Well, being the adventurous types we
decided to
try touring the ship on our own.  We got very little out of the
experience
as much of the ship was roped off in areas where they only wanted people
to
look with their eyes and not touch.  When we attempted to ask staff
questions we found English as a second language barriers along with
staff
that indicated that if we could not manage by ourselves than we should
not
be on the ship.  After a very disappointing experience we spoke with the
supervisor of this Disney facility.  He did apologize for the staffs
disinterest in making the experience more fun and gave us our money
back.  

So after that wild time I have made a commitment to myself to be more
certain about my plans especially with Disney involved.  

Cheryl were you able to independently travel and get reliable assistance
from the staff at Disney? Do you have contact with a person who
understands
the parks accommodations.  Is there accessible signage at the facility?
For
example, brailed signs around the park.  

Again, I hope you do not feel as though we are attacking you we just
need to
understand the extras you might bring us over any agent. 

Thanks for your help.  

Karla          


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