ACCESSIBILITÉ
L’esprit VACAYA est celui de la chaleur, de l’inclusivité et de l’accessibilité pour l’ensemble de la communauté LGBT+ et nos alliés. Chez VACAYA, les personnes de toutes tailles et de toutes capacités sont non seulement les bienvenues mais célébrées. Nous travaillons en étroite collaboration avec nos compagnies de croisières et nos partenaires de villégiature pour créer un environnement confortable pour tous les voyageurs, y compris les personnes handicapées et celles qui peuvent nécessiter des considérations supplémentaires. Des circonstances uniques nécessitent parfois une planification supplémentaire et nous sommes heureux de vous fournir des informations de nos partenaires de croisière et de villégiature pour vous aider à minimiser les défis et à maximiser votre plaisir.
Bien que nous fassions de notre mieux pour sélectionner des centres de villégiature et des croisiéristes déjà accessibles, nous reconnaissons que tous les itinéraires ou expériences ne peuvent pas être également accessibles à tous, en particulier certaines de nos croisières Expedition les plus aventureuses. Pour savoir si vos besoins peuvent être satisfaits lors d’un voyage particulier, veuillez contacter l’équipe V à info@myvacaya.com avant d’acheter un voyage. Si nécessaire, un membre de l’équipe V peut même vous mettre directement en contact avec nos partenaires de villégiature et de croisière pour répondre à vos besoins ou préoccupations. Veuillez comprendre que les besoins non satisfaits avant les vacances auront une plus grande probabilité de ne pas être satisfaits.
L’ENGAGEMENT DE VACAYA ENVERS VOUS
Accessibility for Guests with Wheelchair Access Needs:
At VACAYA, we understand that accessibility is essential for guests who use wheelchairs. We have designated an accessibility specialist who is responsible for ensuring that our cruise and resort trips are as fully accessible to guests with mobility challenges as possible. Our accessibility specialist can also connect you with cruise line or resort specialists with more intimate knowledge of exact destination accommodations to ensure our guests have an enjoyable experience. This includes, but is not limited to providing ramps, elevators, accessible seating, and handicap accessible rooms. While we do our best to ensure on-site accommodations are accessible, off-ship and off-site excursions may require additional transportation and logistical planning from our tour partners that could come at an additional expense to the guest. We’re happy to connect you with the partners who can arrange those plans. If you’re looking for special accommodations, please contact our guest services team at info@myVACAYA at least 60 days in advance of the vacation to give us an opportunity to try to meet your accommodation needs.
Accessibility for Guests on Excursions:
At VACAYA, we recognize guests with mobility challenges may face additional difficulties when it comes to travel. Our goal is to offer a variety of travel experiences that can meet a range of abilities. While not all tour offerings provided by our cruise and resort partners will be inclusive for guests with mobility issues, our tour partners strive to offer accessible options and they will be able to advise which experiences will work best. Rather than traverse up a mountain on an intense hike, taking a guided tour by taxi or van could be a great way to experience a new destination. Please note this option will likely come at an extra cost to the guest and will need to be negotiated between the guest and the tour operator or transfer company.
On our small-ship Luxe expedition cruises, our cruise partners strive to provide leisure guided walks with naturalists as an alternative to hikes with steep elevation. On our expedition cruises, guests wishing to participate fully must be able to get in and out of Zodiac boats with an assist from a crew member in order to access more remote locations. Please understand that Zodiac boat rides can encounter rough swells that can make the ride a bit bumpy. Anyone not wanting that experience should likely select a vacation without the expedition component.
No two trips or destinations are the same. If you have any specific concerns or needs, please let us know when booking your vacation so that we can connect you with tour providers to make sure you have an enjoyable experience.
Accessibility for Guests who are Blind or Low Vision:
For guests who are blind or have low vision, we can connect you with our cruise or resort partner’s resources to make your experience better, including but not limited to materials written in braille and/or large print. Our cruise and resort partners tour guides may be trained to give verbal descriptions of the tour locations and may have support staff available to help with navigation. If you are blind or have low vision, please let us know when booking your vacation so we can connect you with available resources to meet your needs.
Accessibility for Guests with Dietary Restrictions or Food Allergies:
We pay special attention to what our cruise line and resort partners offer to aid guests with food allergies and dietary restrictions, because we understand that can often be a source of stress when traveling. We will do our best to accommodate any food allergies or dietary restrictions you may have when booking our vacations, but we’re limited to what our cruise and resort partners can provide. Please let us know when booking your vacation so we can give an accurate count to our partners so they understand the volume of any one type of accommodation they’ll need to make to ensure you can enjoy your meals worry-free.
As a charter company, we do have the ability to ask our cruise partners to adjust food offerings. As an example, that’s what we’ve done in regard to plant-based offerings for our vegans on our cruises and at our resorts. We now ask all our cruise and resort partners to provide at least one nutritionally balanced vegan entrée at each meal so our vegan guests are not forced to piece a meal together via disparate elements of other meals. While we never want our vegan guests to feel as if they’re having a lesser experience, our cruise and resort partners are still in the early learning phase on how to deliver clear and consistent experiences in this area. We ask guests to be patient but clear about your needs in advance so we can do our best to advocate on your behalf.
Accessibility for Guests who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing:
We also want our guests who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing to have amazing experiences. These needs are as individual as you are. If you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, please let us know when booking your vacation so that we can connect you to resources to meet your needs. When you communicate your needs to us at least 120 days in advance of your vacation, we will provide information on what we or our cruise line or resort partner is planning regarding ASL interpreters and any auxiliary aids.
US-Based Operations (for cruises that leave from a port in the United States of America, are on ships that are flagged to the US, or for Resorts/Tours that are on US soil): VACAYA will work with our cruise and resort partners to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure equal access and accommodations for all. VACAYA and our partners share the cost of these services to provide them at no charge to the guest. Cruise lines employ interpreters who typically move from ship to ship depending on the needs of sailing guests. The cruise line determines and pays for the level of service offered. On our charters, VACAYA provides accommodations for the interpreter or interpreters. Guests should direct all questions regarding service levels once onboard to the cruise line or resort.
International Operations (for Big Ship cruises that leave from a non-US port or do not touch a US port).
VACAYA works with our cruise and resort partners to comply with local accessibility regulations and guidelines, which differ from and are typically less stringent than ADA requirements in the United States. Full transparency: in almost 100% of these cases, VACAYA receives no financial support for Deaf or HoH accommodations from our cruise partners with originating ports outside of the U.S. VACAYA will make our best effort to arrange for an interpreter, but without a partner to help shoulder the high costs and complexity of sourcing interpreters outside the U.S., VACAYA requires Deaf or HoH guests who need interpretation to split the costs. Please send an email to info@myVACAYA.com at least 45 days prior to booking stating your needs for a specific vacation. If services can be successfully sourced, the following will apply:
Fee: The fee for this service will be entirely dependent on the number of Deaf/HoH guests who ultimately book the trip, but VACAYA will pick up 50% of the costs. Through our sourcing and pricing, we will provide you with the estimate of the remaining balance to cover the cost of interpreter transportation, accommodations, and services. If you decide to book, the additional fee you will ultimately pay could range anywhere from as much as 50% of the total cost (if you’re the only Deaf/HoH guest who’s booked) to a much lower number if multiple Deaf/HoH guests end up splitting the costs equally. That final fee will be determined at the 90-day mark before the trip once we have a full accounting of all Deaf/HoH guests onboard (90 days before the trip is when the window for additional Deaf/HoH guest booking closes). Once the fee has been determined and is communicated to each guest, it will become due immediately and is nonrefundable even if the Deaf/HoH guest cancels the trip in the final three months.
Service Definition:
• Shared sign language interpreting services. There may be as few as one ASL interpreter provided for multiple guests and that resource will be shared.
• ASL interpreters only.
• Interpretation at one Mainstage Show and one auxiliary event per day, as scheduled by VACAYA. Changes or additions to this schedule will be posted daily at Guest Services.
• Guests can make a request for interpretation at one specific event/venue/time per day (at least 48 hours in advance). Although interpreters will do their best to fulfil that request, there is no guarantee an interpreter will be available for any event/venue/time outside of the pre-scheduled shows/events.
• VACAYA will consider all guest feedback onboard, but the services offered are as stated above, and all decisions regarding ASL interpretation are at the discretion of VACAYA and are final.
• VACAYA will not tolerate abusive or entitled behavior toward interpreters or VACAYA team members.
• We will not be able to accommodate requests for ASL interpretation services received inside 90 days prior to a cruise.
Please send an email to info@myvacaya.com prior to booking to understand the process specific to each event.
International Operations (for Small-Ship cruises that leave from a non-US port and do not touch a US Port, or for Resorts/Tours that are outside the US): VACAYA works with our cruise and resort partners to comply with local accessibility regulations and guidelines, which differ from and are typically less stringent than ADA requirements in the United States. Full transparency: in almost 100% of these cases, VACAYA receives no financial support for Deaf or HoH accommodations from our cruise or resort partners outside the US. Without a partner to help shoulder the high costs and complexity of sourcing interpreters outside the US, there is a strong possibility that no services will be available. We do however encourage and welcome Deaf or HoH guests to bring their own interpreter in the form of a traveling companion either in their stateroom or in an additional accommodation, at the guest’s expense. Please send an email to info@myvacaya.com at least 90 days prior to booking to understand what you might expect on a specific vacation.
Helpful Tips:
• Before you travel, visit travel.state.gov/destination and enter a country or area to find information for travelers with disabilities in the Special Laws & Circumstances Section.
• For flying, we recommend calling the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) toll free helpline for travelers with disabilities and medical conditions: +1.855.787.2227, or check TSA’s website, TSA Cares. They can answer questions about screening policies, procedures, and security checkpoints.
COMMENT VOUS POUVEZ VOUS AIDER ET CEUX QUI VOUS SERVENT
Lorsque vous réservez l’un de nos voyages, vous faites partie de la famille VACAYA. Nous nous efforçons de vous garantir la meilleure expérience possible, mais nous ne pouvons pas le faire sans vous. Voici quelques responsabilités à garder à l’esprit :
● Communiquez vos besoins : il est important de nous faire part de vos besoins spécifiques à l’avance afin que nous ayons la possibilité de vous mettre en contact avec les ressources appropriées auprès de nos partenaires de croisière et de villégiature. Pour la plupart de nos vacances, nous proposons un formulaire de besoins particuliers pour documenter vos besoins particuliers. Dans de rares cas (comme notre croisière dans les Caraïbes avec Celebrity), les clients feront leur demande directement auprès de la compagnie de croisière via un lien depuis notre page Préparez-vous. Nous demandons à nos clients de prendre un soin particulier à remplir le formulaire de besoins spéciaux avant les vacances. Communiquer vos besoins seulement une fois les vacances déjà commencées rend ces demandes plus difficiles à satisfaire. Nous demandons patience et grâce si ces moments se présentent.
● Faites vos recherches : Familiarisez-vous avec l’itinéraire de la visite et tout problème d’accessibilité potentiel. Préparez-vous au succès en apportant tout ce qui peut rendre votre expérience plus fluide. Il est bon d’être conscient de tout problème d’accessibilité potentiel qui pourrait survenir pendant vos vacances, afin de pouvoir planifier en conséquence.
● Soyez prêt à être autonome : même si les prestataires de circuits/excursions feront de leur mieux pour accueillir les clients handicapés, il est important d’être prêt à être autonome et d’apporter toutes les informations nécessaires que vous avez recherchées, l’équipement ou les aides nécessaires. peut avoir besoin.
● Soyez ouvert aux limitations : bien que nous fassions de notre mieux pour répondre à tous les besoins d’accessibilité, pour les passagers handicapés ou à mobilité réduite, il est important d’être ouvert à la possibilité que tous les hébergements de voyage ne soient pas parfaitement adaptés à leurs besoins. Malgré les efforts déployés par les fournisseurs de voyages pour être inclusifs et accommodants, il peut encore y avoir des limites ou des défis qui surviennent en raison de facteurs tels que l’infrastructure, les réglementations en matière d’accessibilité ou les coutumes locales. Il est important que les clients aient des attentes réalistes et soient prêts à s’adapter et à trouver des solutions alternatives si nécessaire. Cela peut signifier être flexible avec les options d’hébergement, les arrangements de transport ou les modifications d’itinéraire. En maintenant un état d’esprit ouvert et une communication proactive avec les fournisseurs de voyages, les invités ayant un handicap ou des problèmes de mobilité peuvent toujours vivre des expériences de voyage agréables et épanouissantes.
Chez VACAYA, notre objectif est de garantir à chaque client les meilleures vacances de sa vie. Nous apprécions que vous collaboriez avec nous pour nous assurer que cela vous inclut !