An Aussie disability advocate has revealed a nightmare experience onboard a luxury cruise ship due to a lack of accessibility inside the rooms.
Shane Hryhorec had been looking forward to his eight-day European voyage onboard the MSC Grandiosa ship from Marseille in southern France.
The Adelaide man, who uses a wheelchair, says he was told by cruise company staff during the booking process prior to his trip to fill out a separate document detailing his needs.
So the experienced traveller, who had never been on a cruise, was shocked when he discovered onboard his August cruise that the wrong room had been reserved.
He uploaded TikTok videos to reveal the room’s small space and lack of accessibility to essential facilities such a private bathroom.
‘Oh my god, this is not what I booked,’ Mr Hryhorec exclaimed in one video as he was led into the room by a staff member.
The clip showed a large step fitted on the doorstep of the bathroom, which would make it difficult for Mr Hryhorec to access.
A second step fitted in front of the combined shower/bathtub added to the inaccessibility.
Disability advocate Shane Hryhorec (pictured) was left shocked when he discovered that MSC had reserved the wrong room for him on the cruise ship
‘It’s a disaster. This is absolutely not fine,’ he said.
Another video shows Mr Hryhorec trying to explain the situation to guest services staff, who said they would try to find him a room with facilities suited to his needs.
One suggested he instead use the public toilets on the ship whenever he needed to use the bathroom.
Mr Hryhorec was ‘frustrated and upset’ when he realised that the odds of getting a more suitable room were slim.
He even considered abandoning his dream cruise trip.
‘I might … just get off the boat at Barcelona [in Spain’s north-east], just cancel the cruise and maybe just find a way back to Marseille,’ he said.
Mr Hryhorec was eventually given a better room, which didn’t include the features he originally paid extra for.
He was also not offered a refund and was told he wouldn’t be eligible to be reimbursed if he abandoned the voyage due to company policy.
Mr Hryhorec remains ‘traumatised’ by the ordeal and has vowed to never cruise with MSC again.
‘I always dreamed of going on a cruise… but it was just baffling and made me angry,’ he told Yahoo News.
‘They pretty much put all the blame back on me even though I showed them all my efforts.’
He also claims he didn’t receive an apology from staff.
‘When you take a step back, there’s two things with accessibility. There’s the hardware, like the ramps and the entrance and the physical things. And then there’s the software, which is the human aspect, the empathy,’ he said.
Mr Hryhorec was disappointed about the onboard experience and even considered abandoning his dream cruise trip (pictured the MSC Grandiosa)
But the nightmare ordeal hasn’t put off him cruise holidays and says his first voyage won’t be his last.
‘I would like to believe that this is an isolated incident,” he said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Hryhorec and MSC Cruises for further comment.
Mr Hryhorec was inundated with support from TikTok viewers who were left shocked by his experience.
‘That is really disappointing, if they can’t provide you with an accessible room you should get a refund,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘I am so angry at this. Not accessible [equals] not acceptable.
Others said they couldn’t comprehend why the rooms included steps that make it difficult for people with disabilities to access.
‘How is an accessible room with a step even considered an accessible room?’ one person asked.
One of the ships operated by MSC Cruises, known as the MSC Grandiosa, has a total of 2,421 rooms on board.
Only 60 rooms are accessible for passengers with mobility difficulties.
Around 5.5million Aussies live with a disability according to the latest figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
More than 180,000 Australians use a wheelchair.
