Surely you have been onboard a cruise and seen many wheel
chairs, scooters, folks with oxygen and more.
Not all these folks bring their own “special needs” with them. There is a company, called “Special Needs
Group”, who will deliver these items, to the ship for you, a loved one, or your
customer.
And … “Special Needs Group” can make these special needs
deliver for your other vacations. Hotel/resort
stay, theme parks, conventions, and more.
• The
accessible travel/special needs market spends 13.6 billion dollars a year on
vacations.
• Travelers
with special needs take 32 million vacations a year.
• Over
24 million Americans with disabilities would travel more frequently if their
special needs were better met.
I personally was so “thankful” to be introduced to these
folks, while at my Cruises Inc annual convention at sea, this past
November. Though I had heard of them, I
often forgot their specific name, and didn’t actually learn till my convention,
that the Special Needs Group had become one of Cruises Inc’s “preferred vendors”.
This introduction “and the tote bag that the Special
Needs Group had given each of us at our annual convention”, came in very handy,
for my next cruise, just 5 days later, with my mother. Though my mother already had a scooter (we had
decided to purchase, a year ago, instead of renting from Special Needs Group), I
would soon learn, that the transportation company to the ship, had fully
damaged my mother’s scooter.
Earlier, the transportation company had grabbed the wrong handle, when opting to pick up mom’s scooter, instead of using the bus’ metal ramp. It released the scooters back wheels. Once the wheels were off, the bus driver quickly tried to put the wheels back on, by jamming the scooter down onto the back wheels. Though mom and I saw them doing this, I couldn’t stop them fast enough from doing. And later learned, the bus driver had bent the rod.
Upon arriving at the port, as soon as the transportation
company took the scooter off the bus (I helped), the driver quickly drove
off. Because the scooter was still in
just “manual roll mode”, we didn’t yet know of it’s damage. What we soon learned, when the porters at the
port, looked at the scooter, was that the “rod” that motorizes the scooter, had
been bent.
Sadly, we had already arrived extremely late to our ship
(est 1:30-2pm). And now with a broken
scooter and no “motor-mobility” for my mother, I didn’t know what I was going
to do.
I remember this tote bag I had been given. On top of that, I had brought it with me,
because I had decided, that I was going to use it as my pocket book, while
onboard this cruise (the tote bag was so light, and my bag for my last cruise,
was so heavy). SEE, ALL THINGS HAPPEN
FOR A REASON !
The tote bag was in my carry-on. I quickly opened my bag and pulled out this
tote, which not only had the name of the company, but it’s phone number. WOW ! I
MEAN WOW !
While I was getting Special Needs Group on the phone, the
porters at the ship, was trying to fix mom’s scooter. It was a “heavy metal rod” and it wasn’t
budging.
Special Needs Group said, for $285, the could rent us a
scooter for the week and would work fast, to get the scooter to the ship,
before it sailed at 4pm. I was thrilled
and mom was thrilled. And the porters of
the ship said they didn’t have the tools to bend back the rod, so go for the
new scooter. I gave them mom’s credit
card.
5 minutes later, a porter had ran off and found a heavy
duty tool and was able to bend the rod back.
Promised me the scooter would work fine for now. So I called Special Needs Group back and
cancelled the rented scooter. I can’t
thank Special Needs Group enough, nor the porters of the ship, for helping in
this crisis ! Yes, we were onboard by,
est 3pm !
FYI ... I walked around my cruise proudly with my Special Needs Group tote bag on my arm (even on dress-up nights), with the intention of letting folks know who they are ! Cruisers did notice my bag and ask me about this company. And I saw several scooters with the Special Needs logo (several of their rentals were onboard "our cruise").
Again ... Thank you Special Needs Group for being their ... And ready to quickly jump on my needs !
• They are the leading global provider of wheelchair, scooter, oxygen and other special needs equipment rentals.
• Recommended
by the world's major cruise lines for superior service and value. We are the ONLY company referred by ALL of
the major cruise lines.
• Special
Needs Group also services guests visiting hotels, resorts, theme parks and
convention centers.
Cruise
Accessibility
Special
Needs Group has done the research so you can have all the available information
on the accessibility features of each ship for each cruise line. If you
want to know what areas are accessible for you while on a wheelchair or a
mobility scooter on Norwegian, Holland America, Princess, Royal Caribbean, or
any of the other major cruise lines, Special Needs Group has the info for you.Go here: http://www.specialneedsatsea.com/cruise-accessibility/
Available equipment to rent, for onboard.
Go Here: http://www.specialneedsatsea.com/reserve-equipment/
Equipment you may want to purchase in addition, for your
cruise.
Go here: https://store.specialneedsgroup.com/
Special Needs Group has a blog.
Go here: http://www.specialneedsatsea.com/blog/
And you can sign up for a Free Monthly e-Newsletter.
Go here: http://www.specialneedsatsea.com/news/special-needs-group-consumer-newsletter/
You no longer have rent nor buy nor carry heavy equipment “to” your next cruise/vacation, in taking care of those special needs … Whether it’s for you, a loved one, or even a client. Call “Special Needs Group”before your next vacation ... And help make this vacation/meeting more convenient/pleasurable for everyone !
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