Disabled Man Kicked off Cruise Gets a Refund

By Jerry Wolffe
For the Oakland Press

Published: Friday, May 06, 2011

A disabled man will have his money refunded after being removed, he claimed unfairly, from a nude cruise in Guadelupe, Mexico.

His lawyer said Royal Caribbean agreed to grant a full refund. The company hadpreviously defended its decision to remove the passenger.

Royal Caribbean International has agreed to meet with a disabled wheelchair passenger who was left on Guadeloupe, and discuss accessibility of its ships and treatment of seniors and the disabled.

Jim Keskeny, 66, formerly of Bloomfield Township, was disembarked from a nude cruise, Bare Necessities, on a Celebrity Cruise ship Feb. 18 after four days at sea.

He was told by officials on the ship that he was a safety hazard to himself and staff because he uses a wheelchair.

Keskeny, who has traveled the world on behalf of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, was forced to find his way home from Guadeloupe at a cost of some $1,500. His return trip included a stopover in Haiti, which concerned him because he had not had vaccinations for cholera, malaria or meningitis.

His attorney, Richard Bernstein of Farmington Hills, said Royal Caribbean has agreed to return the $3,902 fee for the cruise and additional costs of getting home, for a total of $5,636.26.

But more importantly, Keskeny, Bernstein — who is blind — and Gary Talbot, an expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act Architectural Guidelines from Foxboro, Mass., will meet with Royal Caribbean officials in Miami to make sure the company’s ships are in compliance with the ADA guidelines, and that the cruise line knows proper etiquette in dealing with people with disabilities.

Talbot said he wants to do an ADA audit of the ship Keskeny was on to see if it is accessible, as required.

“I’m hoping that the company looks at this and says, ‘Man, we dropped the ball and we need to figure out why it happened and put measures in place so it doesn’t happen again.”

Keskeny found it ironic that Royal Caribbean, which prides itself on service and has built a multimillion-dollar business on trying to fulfill every wish of its travelers, treated him in such a “horrific” manner.

“I was in a state of shock when three members of the Celebrity Cruise came and told me I was going to be disembarked and had to find my way back home to Michigan,” Keskeny said.

Assistant General Counsel Tony Faso of Royal Caribbean is expected to notify Bernstein’s team of when it will meet and discuss its overall accessibility to passengers with disabilities.

A telephone call to Faso was not returned.

“All we really wanted was to make Jim whole,” Bernstein said, referring to the money Keskeny paid for the cruise and cost of getting home.

Royal Caribbean, in two letters to Keskeny and his lawyer, painted Keskeny as an invalid incapable of taking care of daily activities such as bathing, dressing, toileting and getting in and out of bed.

Such a stereotypical characterization of Keskeny, who has completed many marathons using a wheelchair — including two in Paris — raised $100,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and spent his life as a successful businessman, was particularly egregious.

“I am cautiously optimistic and am looking forward to sitting down with them face to face and seeing and feeling how sincere they really will be,” Keskeny said, regarding the cruiseline’s intentions of making its ships in compliance with the ADA and to treat people with disabilities with “dignity and respect.”

Bernstein, who has made breakthroughs in gaining civil rights for people with disabilities in football stadiums, transportation systems, the airline industry and in educational rights, said he too was optimistic about meeting with officials at a date to be determined by the Miami-based company.

Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, any vessel that docks or leaves a U.S. port must be in compliance with the accessibility guidelines of the ADA — landmark civil rights legislation signed into law by President George Bush on July 26, 1990.

If such treatment of a person with a disability as that experienced by Keskeny is allowed to go unchallenged, it can reverse some of the progress made in efforts to gain equal opportunity and rights for the 50 million disabled Americans since the law was passed 21 years ago.

It also resurrects victimizing stereotypes that people with disabilities are unable to do the things others can do, nor should they try.

“We had to go through all this fighting with Royal Caribbean to have future passengers with disabilities to be treated with respect and treated appropriately,” Bernstein said.

“We are trying to make a difference for disabled people and seniors so such an incident never happens again.”

Keskeny said he never was interested in receiving money damages for the unbelievably harsh treatment he experienced at the hands of Royal Caribbean.

“I want to make sure anyone with a disability can board a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruise ship and have an enjoyable vacation,” he said.

Bernstein said he wants the cruise industry to showcase itself as a viable option for seniors and those with disabilities as a vacation or business possibility.

“This was just one of those things that were on my ‘bucket list,’” Keskeny said of the trip.

“I was so disappointed. I was looking forward to just sitting on the private deck outside of my stateroom and watching the sunset and it was impossible to even get my manual wheelchair over the 6-inch lip of the doorwall to get out there,” said Keskeny.

“This never was about getting money from Royal Caribbean. It was about experiencing a dream come true — not being dumped in a foreign country.”