Special Needs at Sea is proud to have been selected by Holland America as a preferred provider to provide services for thousands of travelers on limited mobility vacations each year!
Cruises can be excellent wheelchair accessible vacation trips, but choosing the right line and ship is key. Holland America Line is one such line that provides safe, easy, and accessible accommodations for all persons with disabilities, to the extent that it is feasible.
Almost ten years ago, Holland America Line installed the industry’s first system for the safe, comfortable transfer between ship, tender and pier for guests using wheelchairs. The Holland America special needs accessible system is now on 13 of 14 ships. Continuing its commitment to being a leader in providing accessible solutions for guests, each new ship and each time a ship is refurbished, it is carefully designed with accessibility in mind.
All of the Holland America special needs ships have accessible cabins but the ships of the Signature Class (Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam) and Vista Class (Zuiderdam, Westerdam, Noordam and Oosterdam) have the most with 30 and 28 cabins per ship respectively whereby enabling travelers to take their pick of staterooms in every category type. These staterooms have roll-in showers with a hand-held shower head and vertical bar to adjust the fixed shower head and heavy-duty handrails. Staterooms with verandahs have ramp access to/from the verandah. Guests can also request additional in-room equipment, such as elevated toilet seats.
Holland America special needs ships also accommodate persons with hearing impairments and visual impairments. The ships have TTY/TDD equipment, visual alert alarms and amplified telephones for staterooms as well as an assistive listening system in the show lounge. The Explorations Café has a great on-board innovation, Window-Eyes, a software application that will read text on the Internet to guests who are visually impaired. Additionally, all common areas are accessible.
Holland America Line does not provide wheelchairs or scooters for their guests on wheelchair accessible vacation trips. For wheelchair rentals, scooter rentals or other special needs equipment rentals, contact Special Needs Group at (800) 513-4515. To learn more about each of the ship’s accessibility, call Holland America’s Access and Compliance Department at 800 547-8493.