Guidance Questions and Answers Concerning 49 CFR Part 39, ADA Rules Concerning Passenger Vessels

39.53

QUESTION: WHAT INFORMATION ARE PVOs RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING TO PASSENGERS WITH DISABILITIES CONCERNING ACCESSIBILITY MATTERS?

ANSWER: 

*Before scheduling a trip or booking a cruise, passengers with disabilities should be able to know what barriers they may encounter. The accessibility of vessels and off-vessel activities are likely to be important factors in passengers’ decisions about whether to take a particular trip.

*PVOs are expected to know conditions on board their own vessels. For example, if a person with a disability asks about the dimensions or features of a cabin, whether there is accessible vertical access between the deck where his or her cabin would be located and a restaurant or theater, how assistance in boarding will be provided, or what portions or facilities of the vessel may not be accessible to a wheelchair user, the PVO should be able to provide this information readily.

*If a PVO itself provides a shore excursion or activity, it is expected to know and provide information about accessibility related to that excursion or activity.

*If, as more commonly is the case, the PVO advertises and/or sells a shore excursion or activity provided by a third party, the PVO is expected to know and make available, upon request, basic information about accessibility related to that excursion or activity. For example, if there is an excursion involving a tour bus, the PVO is expected to be able to inform a passenger using a wheelchair whether the bus is accessible (e.g., is equipped with a lift and a securement area).

*However, a PVO may well not know whether destinations on a shore excursion are accessible (e.g., whether a foreign tourist attraction or restaurant at which a tour bus is stopping makes adequate accommodations for passengers with disabilities). While it is not expected that PVOs have all this information readily available, PVOs should make their best efforts to inquire on behalf of passengers who ask about such accommodations.

*PVOs should inform passengers with disabilities, especially those with mobility impairments, about ports of call on a trip where ship-to-shore transfers are made via tenders (i.e., smaller boats that shuttle passengers between ship and shore). This is because a transfer between the vessel and the tender is likely to be problematic for wheelchair users and other persons with significant mobility impairments.

*Generally, PVOs should be a better position than individuals with disabilities to obtain information about such matters as the accessibility of ports and the applicability of quarantine regulations to service animals. While PVOs can recommend resources to passengers to learn information about these matters, this does not discharge PVOs’ duties to passengers with disabilities. Saying to a passenger “Go look it up yourself on the internet” is not an adequate response to a passenger’s accessibility question.

*For example, suppose a passenger asks about quarantine regulations at a foreign port. When the PVO knows this information (e.g., for a frequently-visited or major port at which the vessel will call), the PVO should provide the information to the passenger at the time of the passenger’s request. The PVO may not know up-to-date quarantine regulations at every port, but can make a good faith attempt to learn requested information in response to the passenger’s request, in addition to suggesting information sources that the passenger could attempt to access. In any event, the PVO would not be responsible for the application of quarantine requirements at a foreign port that limited the passenger’s ability to bring his or her service animal ashore.