May 10
26
A friend of mine and I both went to visit the Alcatraz island. I had heard much about it, and finally had a chance to visit it. We used Alcatraz Cruises to be able to reach the island.
The island was quite interesting, I was surprised to hear Al Capone, AKA “Scarface”, was imprisoned at the island in the past. I also learned that Native Americans had initially occupied the island in an effort to make a reservation out of it. While they failed in that task, the act itself prompted the government to hand over several reservations to them. The island certainly had a rich history!
One thing I found quite disappointing about the island was their lack of accommodations for the deaf.
After visiting the island, Alcatraz Cruises emailed me a multiple choice survey. I completed the survey. At the end of the survey, it asked me if I had anything else I’d like to share. I thought I’d take the time to address the lack of accommodations for the deaf.
This is what I wrote:
“I and my friend went to the island. We both are deaf. I have very little hearing left- it allows me to be able to tell if there’s loud sounds, but my hearing is not good enough to be able to pick out words. My friend is completely deaf. A deaf friend of ours who had already attended the island warned us that the island was not deaf friendly, with the exception of a film, and he recommended that when we get to the cell house, to request a refund for the audio tapes ($8 refund).
We got on the boat. We sat down. We saw a video on the TV talking about Alcatraz. No caption. So we were left out.
I heard the captain (at least I think it was him) talking to the guests via announcement speakers. We had no idea what he was saying. So we were left out again.
We got to the island, and walked over to the tour group. There was this elderly lady standing on top of something, she was outfitted in a ranger suit, so I figured she was one of the staff. She was talking to the group via a microphone. We had no idea what she was saying, so we were left out.
We went in the store. Told the cashier we were deaf, and were in need of a guide. The cashier said something verbally, which we did not understand. I repeated our request in writing. He instead of writing his response back, spoke verbally again and said something about going to the cell house. I assumed he meant to go there and get a refund. So we left.
We walked to the theater, and saw it was captioned. Finally, something we could engage with! We watched the short film, then left to see the rest of the island. Eventually after checking out the island, we checked out the cell house. There were several staff there giving instructions to visitors, but it was spoken instructions. We had no idea where to go to next. They seemed to be giving out audio tapes. That was useless for me and my friend. So we just went to request a refund as our friend had recommended. The staff offered an English book that had everything on the audio tapes transcripted, we both declined because this meant we’d have to read and not be able to take in the view, and reading was time consuming when we had other plans for after the island. The staff were quite cooperative in giving us a refund for the audio tapes– we got a $8 refund each. We then explored the cell house, then we left the island.
The staff were quite friendly, even though communication was nearly impossible.
Our friend who warned us that the island wasn’t deaf-friendly (no sign language, no interpreters, no captioning on cruise video, no staff to tell us what the announcer on the boat was saying, no guide on the island to direct us either by written or signed instruction, etc) was most certainly right– the island and cruise is definitely not accommodating to the deaf.
…
While the island itself was quite fascinating, and it was quite fun to explore the island, I decided I would be not recommending visiting the island to anyone. If anyone asks us about the island, I will warn them about the lack of accommodations, and I will strongly advise them to get a refund at the cell house if they choose to go to the island anyway.
But I’d like to say that while there were no accommodations, the staff were extremely friendly, understanding, cooperative, and courteous.
I sincerely hope after reading this, Alcatraz Cruises will put in the effort to be able to effectively accommodate the deaf, even if it requires advance notice so you can make arrangements. Once you have put into place a structure that will accommodate the deaf, please do let me know so we both can revisit the island, and re-assess whether we should recommend visiting the island to others.
You may contact me via email.
Thank you for taking the time to read my feedback. It most certainly is appreciated. “
Just thought I’d share what I wrote, and my experiences with you. As always, feedback is appreciated.
