Disabled passengers' views wanted on ferry and cruise service
People with
disabilities aren’t always getting the help they need on board ferries and
cruise ships – and they may not always realise they’re
entitled to it.
Now the Maritime
& Coastguard Agency is carrying out a survey to find out just what people’s
experiences have been, so they can work with owners and operators to
improve the service.
An initial pilot
survey showed that only half of disabled people using ferries felt they were
getting the assistance they needed, while on cruise ships they felt they were
better looked after, with 70 per cent saying they were happy with how they’d
been treated.
Unsurprisingly, it’s
those with disabilities that can’t be seen quite so well that feel worse off.
Now a second bigger
survey is being carried out to try and get a wider picture and people with
disabilities are being urged to take that survey.
Danny
Light, passenger rights enforcement officer for the MCA said it showed there
was more work to be done.
He
said: ‘It was clear from our initial pilot survey that actually
people don’t necessarily know their rights or in some cases what
assistance is available. We
will be working with the industry to see how we can best help raise awareness.
‘But
we really need people to come forward and tell us about their experiences as
that will help add to the evidence.
‘We want everyone to be able to enjoy their experience on board a cruise ship or be able to easily use a ferry, regardless of whether they have a disability or not.’
‘We want everyone to be able to enjoy their experience on board a cruise ship or be able to easily use a ferry, regardless of whether they have a disability or not.’
The survey is
available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/mca-disabled-passenger-satisfaction-survey-2019