Travel Agency Is Catering To The Blind

Joan and Paul Patche wanted to take their children on a cruise, but weren't sure if the kids would like it. "My daughter felt so comfortable, she went to the teen center by herself," Joan said of her daughter, Robin. "She doesn't want to be with us all the time. She wants to be independent."

That sounds like any mother and her 17-year-old. But giving their daughter her independence is especially important for the Patche family. Both Mom and Dad are blind, and so are two of their three kids, including Robin.

"I've been totally blind from birth," Joan explained. "My husband and the kids have a condition called aniridia. They can see things, but they have to be pretty close. They could see you as a person but wouldn't be able to recognize your features.

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The Patche family was able to enjoy its trip to Mexico thanks to Damar Travel and Cruise of St. Louis, the official travel agency for the American Council of the Blind. In the last four years, the agency has put together more than a dozen escorted cruises for the visually impaired, taking as many as 120 people at a time, and 40 guide dogs, to the Caribbean, Alaska and Europe, where their entourage got special permission to tour the Vatican.

Marsha Schuman, the agency's owner, said she had been a registered occupational therapist, with a master's degree in rehabilitation, before getting into the travel business. "I know what it's like to work with many challenges," she said. "By helping the blind travel safely, I found I could put my two loves together."

ESCORTS OFFER HELP

Damar, which also offers tours for sighted clients, likes to have one escort for every 12 visually impaired travelers. Schuman and director of leisure Dave Kronk serve as escorts on many of the cruises, and both say the physical impairments don't slow down their special clients.

"They've gone kayaking in Alaska, did a helicopter tour where they landed on the glacier and did the dogsled run," Kronk said. "In the Caribbean, we went through the Panama Canal and they touched the canal itself. In Belize, we went to the howler monkey preserve and they got a chance to feed the little one. We've swam with the dolphins in Cozumel, and with the sting rays in Grand Cayman."

Added Schuman: "At a federal park in Alaska, they had a young bear playing with a ball behind a fence. We had 65 people, from 27 states, and 22 service animals within three feet of the bear. There were Poodles, golden Labs, a shepherd, all lined up. Not one dog growled; neither did the bear.

"We've actually had couples that met on our cruises and got married. We've had four weddings. When they have formal nights on a cruise, some of the people dress up their dogs, too."

Obviously, the group requires extra groundwork. Kronk fills out all the pre-cruise paper work, including custom forms and veterinary papers for the dogs. Damar has a computerized embosser that prints menus, daily activity newsletters and ship layout information into large print or Braille.

Onboard, recorded information runs on a designated channel in the staterooms. "When they fly in, we make sure there's somebody there to say, "Hi, welcome, we're here with Damar," Schuman said. "Then we have staff at their hotel to get them to their rooms. They have no way of orienting without a friendly voice guiding them."

RELIEF AREA' FOR DOGS

Schuman said some cruise lines - she mentioned Carnival and Norwegian - are eager to accommodate her groups. And, yes, the cruise lines also accommodate the animals. "Where do they go to the bathroom?" she said. "That's the first question I get every time." Most of the travelers request balconies, not only because they enjoy the feel and smell of the ocean, but also to hold a box filled with doggie litter. The cruise lines also arrange to have a special "relief area" on deck for dog-walking.

A visually impaired cruiser pays about $75 to $100 extra for a ticket. Other than that, they are treated like most others, which is the way people like

the Patches of California like it.

"The ship was awesome," Joan said. "We had deck plans in Braille, so I could tell my husband, 'I'll meet you here.' We went on a shopping tour in Ensenada. The people from Damar would tell you what's there. They also help with the crew. Like the waiters, if they put something in front of you, they know to tell us what they're doing.

"We sat together in the dining room. You meet a lot of people that way, and they don't care if you bump into them, literally. Most blind people are fun-loving, they like to party. One night, I was dancing with a waiter. He was laughing. He said we brightened up his day."