{"id":10939,"date":"2010-06-23T04:35:10","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T09:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=10939"},"modified":"2010-06-23T05:10:02","modified_gmt":"2010-06-23T10:10:02","slug":"letter-from-hibiscus-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/06\/23\/letter-from-hibiscus-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Hibiscus Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Cruise Travelers,<\/p>\n

You might remember that our agency, Hibiscus Travel \/ Kerstin’s Travel Inc.
\nis working hard to provide the best service for our clients. That includes
\nour continued communication with the cruise lines to make sure that sign
\nlanguage interpreters are provided on cruises. Certain cruise lines comply
\nwith the ADA and provide interpreters, others don’t.<\/p>\n

Holland America Line is one of the cruise lines who frequently denied
\ninterpreter service for deaf individuals in the past. When two clients of
\nmine from California asked me last year to book a cruise with Holland
\nAmerica, I informed them about the problems that I had with this particular
\ncruise line in the past. However, the clients wished to go on a Canada & New
\nEngland cruise with Holland America since they liked the itinerary and the
\nsailing date. I contacted Holland America and requested interpreter service
\nfor my clients since the first two ports in the itinerary are ports in the
\nUS. The ADA applies to those two ports. Holland America notified me that
\nthey would not provide interpreters but agreed to provide a cabin for the
\ninterpreters for free and to waive the gratuities. However, shore
\nexcursions, pre-cruise packages, post-cruise packages and other services
\nwould not be covered by Holland America. They are the responsibility of the
\nguest or interpreter.<\/p>\n

Frustrated about Holland America’s continued denial of interpreter service
\nand shifting expenses to the deaf passenger, I contacted the Department of
\nJustice. My clients and I placed a complaint with the Department of Justice.
\nAs a result of a lot of time and effort, it took more than one year, Holland
\nAmerica decided to provide the interpreter service. My clients completed
\ntheir sailing recently and enjoyed the interpreter service very much.<\/p>\n

I would like to encourage the deaf community to fight for their rights even
\nthough it might be a long road towards the goal. When you book a cruise,
\nyour travel agent should help you and be an advocate for you and your
\nrights. It is unfair that only some cruise lines comply with the ADA and
\nothers avoid their responsibility. If you don’t get help from the cruise
\nline, you and your travel agent should contact the Department of Justice if
\nthe ADA is applicable to the sailing and place a complaint. It is free of
\ncharge. But be aware of the fact that it takes a long time before your case
\nwill be solved. Start early! Don’t give up!<\/p>\n

Kerstin Fox
\n http:\/\/www.kerstinstravel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Cruise Travelers, You might remember that our agency, Hibiscus Travel \/ Kerstin’s Travel Inc. is working hard to provide the best service for our clients. That includes our continued communication with the cruise lines to make sure that sign…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[114,35,761,24,564,3911,5294,40,5295,845,5296,5293],"class_list":["post-10939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-ada","tag-community","tag-cruise","tag-deaf","tag-department-of-justice","tag-hibiscus-travel","tag-holland-america","tag-interpreter","tag-itinerary","tag-travel","tag-travel-agent","tag-traveler"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-2Qr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6356,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/04\/30\/royal-caribbean-and-celebrity-cruises-discontinue-interpreter-service-need-your-support\/","url_meta":{"origin":10939,"position":0},"title":"Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises Discontinue Interpreter Service – Need Your Support!","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises Discontinue Interpreter Service - Need Your Support! Dear Cruise Travelers, Many of you have enjoyed the marvelous interpreter service that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises provided in the past. Thus, you were able to discover remote destinations, learn about the history and culture, and enjoy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8847,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/12\/30\/press-release-interpreter-policy-for-cruises\/","url_meta":{"origin":10939,"position":1},"title":"Press Release – Interpreter Policy for Cruises","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear cruise travelers, A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to inspect the Oasis of the Seas. The ship is the world\u2019s largest cruise ship and sails for Royal Caribbean. The ship is awesome with a lot of breathtaking amenities. The Oasis sails the Western and Eastern Caribbean on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6042,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/04\/04\/holy-land-cruise-for-the-deaf-traveler\/","url_meta":{"origin":10939,"position":2},"title":"Holy Land Cruise for the Deaf Traveler","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"*Holy Land** Cruise* *10 nights* *October 30 \u2013 November 9, 2009* *Royal Caribbean, Vision of the Seas* *with sign language interpreter service* *Prices are now reduced up to $1,050.00 less than first advertised.* *Don't miss this great opportunity! Book your cruise now!* *Turkey** \u2013 Greece \u2013 Israel \u2013 Egypt **\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5462,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/02\/14\/deaf-river-cruise-500-off-july-2009\/","url_meta":{"origin":10939,"position":3},"title":"Deaf River Cruise $500 off July 2009","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"February 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"*Danube** River** Cruise $500 off* * * *7-night cruise plus 3 nights optional in Prague with Carlsbad* *July 17-27, 2009* *Amadeus Waterways: MS Amalyra* *with sign language interpreter service* *Optional:* July 17 Arrival in Prague, Transfer to the hotel * *July 18 Prague City Tour July 19 Optional tours available\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5318,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/01\/31\/free-air-with-our-river-cruise-april-2009\/","url_meta":{"origin":10939,"position":4},"title":"Free Air with our River Cruise April 2009","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"*Free air With our Tulip Time River Cruise* *with sing language interpreter service* (Free air from New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, or Washington DC. Air tax and fuel surcharges are not included in the free air offer. Other airports are available\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3595,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2008\/06\/27\/deaf-tulip-time-river-cruise\/","url_meta":{"origin":10939,"position":5},"title":"Deaf Tulip Time River Cruise","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"June 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"If you were not on our wonderful 2008 river cruise, don\u2019t miss this great opportunity in 2009. And if you were, join us again. Tulip Time River Cruise with sing language interpreter service 7-night cruise with a 3-night pre-cruise package April 1-11, 2009 AMA Waterways: MS Amalegro Optional Pre-Cruise Package:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10939"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10945,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10939\/revisions\/10945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}