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November 2013

Newsletter

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite time of year as I truly believe it focuses our thoughts on family & friends. We can always find many things to be thankful for despite any problems we may have faced throughout the year.

I am so grateful for all of you who have been an integral part of my ongoing success and growing business. It is an honor to assist you with your vacation dreams and to help make them a positive experience. I am extremely thankful for the many friendships that have evolved from working with so many of you.

ROYAL PRINCESS

A Personal Review

I recently had the opportunity to sail aboard Princess Cruise Lines newest ship, Royal Princess and royal she is! She is a magnificent ship, resplendent in her beauty and sophistication. At 141,000 tons, she carries up to 3600 passengers and 1346 crew. Royal Princess has 342 inside cabins with the rest being balconies including standard, deluxe, mini-suites and suites. Interesting fact is that there are no ocean view cabins!

The ship boasts 36 wheelchair accessible cabins including 29 balcony and 7 inside. Want to cruise in the lap of luxury? Try the accessible Penthouse Suite with room for three! It is truly spectacular.

One of the highlights of Royal Princess was the very peaceful adults only pool on Deck 17. Aft of that is the Sanctuary with private cabanas and plush lounges (fee for this experience). The main pool deck has clusters of comfortable seating so you are not relegated to just chaise lounges. Princess uses portable pool lifts so they can be moved and used at the pool of your choice. The aft bar on the main pool deck was one of my favorite areas so wake up early and score some seating in this area. All public areas had good access including public bathrooms with automatic sliding doors. I thought this was a great improvement over the usual design. Showrooms had wheelchair seating and not just in the back! There were seats removed close and up front if you prefer that. Another great improvement!

The food was excellent as was the service. I was using a scooter full time and found the staff to be very accommodating and helpful. They were right there to help in the Horizon Buffet and Bistro and came back often to see if I needed anything. I do recommend that clients using wheelchairs and scooters choose Personal Choice Dining for dinner so they can avoid the congestion around the elevators during standard dining times.

I found two negatives during my experience which were lack of storage in the accessible cabin bathrooms (easily remedied) and found that accessible balconies were too small to truly navigate them in a chair or scooter. This held true even for the Penthouse Suite which I found unfortunate. The balconies are long but not deep enough. To view a picture of my scooter on the balcony click on...

Princess Access Information which will provide you with great information for planning your next accessible cruise.

Don't Forget to Rent a Scooter!

Special Needs Group is your solution!

Do you use a scooter in the grocery store or when you visit an amusement park? Have difficulty walking distances? Do you know we can arrange to have a scooter delivered directly to your cabin on your next cruise? The above describes me and I don't know what I would do without the ability to rent a scooter on all my cruises. It allows me to have my independence and get all around the ship at my convenience. How many times do you forget something in the cabin? With a scooter it's no problem going back and getting it. Want more good news? You can take the scooter off the ship at the ports of call. Be sure you have chosen an itinerary that is conducive to scooter access.

In addition to scooter rentals, Special Needs Group can also provide you with wheelchairs, oxygen, hospital beds, hoyer lifts, rollators and more! I am always happy to arrange medical equipment rentals for you.

Easy Access Travel welcomes your questions and looks forward to helping you plan your next trip.

Sincerely,

Debra Kerper

Easy Access Travel

Cruise Planners/American Express Franchise Owner

debra@easyaccesstravel.com

In This Issue

Royal Princess

Scooters & More!

San Jose Abilities Expo

Group Travel

San Jose, CA

Abilities Exp0

Nov. 22, 23, 24, 2013

San Jose Convention Center

Be sure to visit us in Booth 115 and attend our workshop on Traveling the World: Tips for Travelers with Disabilities & Seniors. Date and Time to be announced in October Newsletter.

You may even be lucky and win one of our prizes!

Admission and workshops are free!

For complete details and directions, please visit: www.abilitiesexpo.com

We look forward to meeting you!

GROUP TRAVEL

(we do individual & group)

Amputee Coalition Cruisers head North to Alaska!

Jun 27 - July 4

2014, RT Seattle

RCCL's Rhapsody of The Seas

One Ocean View Accessible Cabin just became available. Standard cabins still available. Reserve your stateroom now!

Info &Rates...

2nd Spina Bifida Cruise!

Balcony Accessible and and Inside Accessible Cabin just became Available!

70 People are already signed up! We are taking

reservations for the second Spina Bifida Young Adult Cruise, Mar. 23, 2014 on RCCL's Freedom of The Seas, round-trip Port Canaveral. Also, if you can take a standard cabin, please call and reserve your space now as we have plenty of those available.

We look forward to welcoming you on board!

Info & Rates....

Accessible Seas 2015 on board Oasis of The Seas, Jan. 17, 2015

More information by clicking here...

Many cabins are already spoken for so don't delay. Deposit of $500/per cabin is fully refundable until October 15, 2014.

Don't miss the boat...cruise with these incredible groups!

We are also offering two small group land trips. A trip to Ireland May 13, 2014 and an adventure trip to Ecuador in October, 2014. For complete details on all of these trips and cruises go to www.easyaccesstravel.com
and click on Group Travel.

Easy Access Travel is available to speak to your organization or support group. Please contact us for more information.