What You Should Know About Our Service ...

Travel ... what a great experience from every day life! Enjoy other countries and learn about other peoples' traditions and culture.

Careful planning and set-up of your trip is fundamental for a successful journey. We, at Kerstin's Travel plan and prepare each trip according to your needs and desires, whether you travel with a group, as an individual, or with a corporation.

We are happy to assist you with any special requests. For our vision- and hearing-impaired as well as our wheelchair bound clients we provide useful information including which cruise lines or hotels are wheelchair accessible, where TTY telephones are provided, or where menus in Braille are offered.

We look forward to booking your next trip and delivering our personal and distinct service. Kerstin's Travel is a member of:

Travel Insurance

Which insurance is right for your trip?
We recommend strongly that you purchase travel insurance with your trip. Be prepared in the event of an accident, illness, or loss of luggage when traveling. Protect yourself in case of trip cancellation. We also offer coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.

Holland America Line denied our clients sign language interpreter service

June 2010
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 language interpreters are provided on cruises. Certain cruise lines comply with the ADA and provide interpreters, others don't.
Holland America Line is one of the cruise lines who frequently denied interpreter service for deaf individuals in the past. When two clients of mine from California asked me last year to book a cruise with Holland America, I informed them about the problems that I had with this particular cruise line in the past. However, the clients wished to go on a Canada & New England cruise with Holland America since they liked the itinerary and the sailing date. I contacted Holland America and requested interpreter service for my clients since the first two ports in the itinerary are ports in the US. The ADA applies to those two ports. Holland America notified me that they would not provide interpreters but agreed to provide a cabin for the interpreters for free and to waive the gratuities. However, shore excursions, pre-cruise packages, post-cruise packages and other services would not be covered by Holland America. They are the responsibility of the guest or interpreter.
Frustrated about Holland America's continued denial of interpreter service and shifting expenses to the deaf passenger, I contacted the Department of Justice. My clients and I placed a complaint with the Department of Justice. As a result of a lot of time and effort, it took more than one year, Holland America decided to provide the interpreter service. My clients completed their sailing recently and enjoyed the interpreter service very much.
I would like to encourage the deaf community to fight for their rights even though it might be a long road towards the goal. When you book a cruise, your travel agent should help you and be an advocate for you and your rights. It is unfair that only some cruise lines comply with the ADA and others avoid their responsibility. If you don't get help from the cruise line, you and your travel agent should contact the Department of Justice if the ADA is applicable to the sailing and place a complaint. It is free of charge. But be aware of the fact that it takes a long time before your case will be solved. Start early! Don't give up!

Interpreter Policy Change at Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises

April 2009
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 the onboard entertainment.Although the ADA does not apply to regions like Europe, Asia, Australia, or South America, the two cruise lines went above and beyond for many years and provided interpreters for all destinations that their ships were sailing to. No other cruise line provided this service to so many destinations so consistently for individuals and groups as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises did. They deserve a lot of praise for doing so.
Recently, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises decided to discontinue interpreter service for cruises that do not start or end or do not have at least one port of call in the U.S. or Canada in the itinerary. That means that there will be no interpreter service for cruises at destinations like Europe, Asia, Australia, or South America in the future unless the cruise starts or ends in the U.S. or Canada like transatlantic sailings. Frustrated about this decision, I talked to Royal Caribbean�s President & CEO, Adam Goldstein, and went to Royal Caribbean�s office for a meeting to discuss the issue. I was told that the companies have to pay several thousand dollars for each interpreter who will work on a cruise overseas (air, hotel, incidentals, transportation, tips, compensation, interpreter agency fee etc.). The cruise lines feel that they provided a service way above and beyond and did not receive enough recognition for doing so. Therefore, they decided to provide the service only in a scale that is requested by the ADA including Canada and transatlantic sailings if the sailing starts or terminates in the U.S. After my meeting at Royal Caribbean�s office with no positive outcome regarding the interpreter policy, I sent letters to Adam Goldstein and Dan Hanrahan, President & CEO of Celebrity Cruises. I asked them to reverse their decision and continue to provide interpreters for all their cruises if requested. However, I am only one voice. Since the deaf community is a lot more powerful with several million people in the U.S., I would like to ask you, the deaf travelers, to send a letter to the cruise lines� CEOs, Adam Goldstein and Dan Hanrahan, to express your dissatisfaction about the policy change. Write a personal letter to the addresses listed below and let them know how important it is for you to have interpreters on all cruises, not only at the destinations that are covered by the ADA. If you do not feel comfortable writing a letter, you can use the two sample letters shown below. Feel free, to change the letters if desired. I hope that you will join and help to make the life for the deaf traveler easier. If you have a professional travel agent, ask the agent to contact the CEOs and ask for a policy change. Your travel agent should be an advocate for you.

Sign Language Interpreter Service for Cruises

As a travel agent with Hibiscus Travel, I attended CLIA�s (Cruise Lines International Association)cruise 3sixty in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida last week. Events like cruise 3sixt are always a great chance for travel agents to talk to the cruise lines� CEOs. Since I specialize in cruises for the deaf traveler, I am well aware of the sign language interpreter problem. The ADA (Americans with Disability Act), a law that is effective in U.S. territories including U.S. waters, requires that hearing impaired clients have an equal opportunity to enjoy the goods, services, accommodations, and amenities offered by places of public accommodation like a cruise ship. Furthermore, effective means of communications like sign language interpreters are necessary to ensure an effective communication with deaf clients. Activities on board of the ships, shows, or shore excursions can not be communicated by written materials or exchanging notes since it is not considered an effective communication for this type of entertainment. Certain cruise lines do a wonderful job providing sign language interpreter services on their cruises, if requested, whether the ship is sailing in U.S. waters or abroad. They provide the service for groups and single traveling passengers alike. It is a good example that providing sign language interpreter service does not cause an undue financial or administrative burden for a cruise line.

Deaf clients need sign language interpreter service to equally enjoy a cruise. It is hard to understand why a service that is required by law in U.S. territories including U.S. waters is not being provided. Also, to my knowledge, no other minority would be denied a service that is guaranteed by law within the U.S. when those passengers go on a cruise sailing abroad. Why is it then that the deaf clients are denied interpreter service on cruises abroad?
I felt obligated to address this problem with some of the cruise line CEOs present at cruise 3sixty. I asked them to establish a policy in their company that guarantees sign language interpreter service for deaf clients traveling as individuals or in groups, to U.S. destinations or abroad, if requested by a travel agent or the individual client. I talked to Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corp. (member cruise lines are cruise lines like Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Cruises, Holland America and Cunard Line) and to Colin Veitch, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines. Both gentlemen ask me to submit my request for sign language interpreter service in writing via e-mail. Mr. Arison explained that he will forward my request to all member cruise lines of the Carnival Corp. My request via e-mail went out to Mr. Arison and Mr. Veitch on October 4, 2005.
Kerstin Fox

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