[Travelandtourism] OT Cruise Focus Group

Sun Jan 24 16:50:32 UTC 2016

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