Accessibility Champion: Ron Pettit, Director, Disability Inclusion & ADA Compliance

With Ron leading the way, Royal Caribbean Group is named as one of the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion.”

Note: This interview is part of an ongoing series featuring interviews with 24 Champions of Accessibility for 2024 selected and celebrated by TravelAbility.

Q: When did you begin focusing on accessibility and what was the impetus for wanting to make cruising more accessible?

I began focusing on accessibility in 1997 when I took the role of Senior Specialist, Customer Service Policies & Policies at Northwest Airlines.  As part of my role, I developed, coordinated and implemented policies, procedures and training aimed at improved air travel experience for over 3.3 million Northwest customers with disabilities and compliance with the Air Carrier Access Act. Among my accomplishments, I introduced a Customer Advisory Board composed of several individuals representing different disabilities to solicit advice on how we could better serve this growing disability market. 

This was in addition to my “day job,” and the more I worked with the disability community, the more I acknowledged my own disability (being hard of hearing) as one of my diverse identities. I wanted to do more.  I love to travel and the idea of making travel accessible is incredibly rewarding.

Finally, the opportunity opened up to become a full-time Access Manager leading a team of six individuals and managing Royal Caribbean’s accessibility program. I’ve been there ever since, catching the wave to disability inclusion on the high seas!

Q2. What are your main responsibilities and tasks in your organization?

I am responsible for the Disability Inclusion and Accessibility program at Royal Caribbean Group and its family of cruise lines with a focus on our three global cruise brands – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea. 

I have almost 50 people on my team who are dedicated to the disability market. Most of my team is in our Accessibility Contact Center, helping our guests and travel agent partners plan accessible cruise vacations and accessible shore excursions.

I have a small disability inclusion team who collaborate with our brands to develop and execute disability inclusion strategies and standards in the workplace and marketplace, including the areas of digital accessibility and supplier diversity.

Our goal is to be a global leader in providing innovative and accessible cruise vacations, making a lifetime of vacations possible.

Q3. Aside from budget, what are the most difficult obstacles or barriers that you face regarding the advancement of accessibility? 

Some of the most difficult obstacles or barriers are around education and awareness. There are always opportunities to do more in this area.  

Q4. What initiatives have you undertaken to improve accessibility, and which are you most proud of?

I am most proud of our Autism Friendly initiative which we introduced at Royal Caribbean International in 2014 and Celebrity Cruises in 2015. This initiative aims to reach the target market of 1.5 million individuals on the autism spectrum and their families in the U.S. and Canada, as well as 75 million globally. We introduced the first ever Autism Friendly movies and Social Story by a cruise line. As a result we received several awards for our Autism Friendly initiatives.

I am also proud of the fact that we introduced not only one, but three advisory boards at a cruise line – Disability, Autism, and Accessible Travel Advisors – including the disability community and travel advisors on how we can further improve and innovate the accessible cruise vacation experience.

Q5. Who do you follow? Name an organization/company/individual you look to for ideas or inspiration.

There are too many to list them all – but some names pop to the top of my mind – Eric Lipp, Cory Lee, Debra Kerper, Kristy Durso, Amy Garner, Jordana Izzo and everyone on our Accessibility Team and our Disability, Autism and Accessible Travel Agent Advisory Boards. New accessible travel agents Deneen Cooper and Cynthia Perez are recent connections that also come to mind.

I am proud that Royal Caribbean Group was named, once again, as one of the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion,” and for the eighth year in a row by Disability:IN® and American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) after scoring a top score of 100% on the Disability Equality Index® (DEI®).

Ron Petit

Q6. What are your plans around accessibility in 2024? 

 We’ve had many accessibility accomplishments in 2024.

• I am proud that Royal Caribbean Group was named, once again, as one of the “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion,” and for the eighth year in a row by Disability:IN® and American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) after scoring a top score of 100% on the Disability Equality Index® (DEI®).  This is the fifth year we have scored 100%.  Among hospitality and travel companies, we are the only cruise company on the DEI.
• Icon of the Seas, launched January 2024 which has four accessible suites:
  • A two-story Accessible Icon Loft Suite, our first Star Class suite with Genie Service.
  • An Accessible Surfside Family Suite offering a separate kids’ room
  • Two Accessible Sky Junior Suites.
• Icon of the Seas also introduced a new category of accessible balcony staterooms – 11 Accessible Infinite Balcony Staterooms that provide level access from the stateroom to the balcony.
• Expansion of our Accessibility Team with 15 agents in our Contact Center to help with increasing calls and emails from our guests with disabilities and travel advisors.
• Utopia of the Seas, launched in July 2024, has four accessible suites, continuing the increase of accessible suites from Wonder of the Seas in 2022.  Earlier Oasis class ships only had three accessible suites.
• Continued to work with Accessible Travel Solutions to expand our line-up of accessible shore excursions around the world including the Caribbean and Europe.