Traveling by myself is 99% just fine. I have a device I use to help myself get out of bed and it’s still a work in progress but does the job the majority of the time. On occasion, however, it doesn’t get me into the right position and I need to get help.
When I’m at a hotel, I’ll call the front desk. Usually I bring a phone cord extension with me so I can put the hotel phone on my bed and call the front desk directly. I also have my cell phone just in case the front desk doesn’t pick up and I need to call the hotel chain’s main number (I did have to do this once when an IHG hotel in NYC literally answered the phone only after thirty rings and then just put the phone on the desk and ignored it.)
Onboard, however, the phone system was ethernet-based so I didn’t have an extra long ethernet cable with me to be able to put the phone on the bed. There were, however, two of those emergency/assistance strings above the bed that I placed within reach.
The only other time I’ve experienced what happens when you pull this string is when I was in Amsterdam with my cousin and she pulled the string in the bathroom thinking it was how you flush the toilet! Staff came up to the room within a minute and it was actually sort of reassuring even though we didn’t need them! So I wasn’t too scared that pulling the string in my stateroom would put the entire ship in lockdown mode.
So when I woke up one morning and had to get help to sit up from the bed, I reluctantly pulled the string. The phone rang almost immediately and I was like, “Uh, ok, how the fuck is this gonna work if I can’t get to the phone to call for help in the first place and now I’m supposed to answer the phone?”
It rang about ten times and then I sat there thinking that the next logical step would be for them to send someone to my room to check on me.
A few minutes passed and that’s exactly what happened. I had to communicate through the door that they needed to use their key to come in and once that was complete, I got the help I needed.
The funny thing is that it happened again on the last day and the steward for my room came to my door but didn’t open it. He thought I was saying “No, don’t come in” but I was trying to tell him “I can’t get to the door, so come in!” It was kind of funny when he said, “OK Mr. Dan, I’ll see you later!” and left without coming in at all.
I just pulled it again and a few minutes later he came back and I decided not to answer him so he would just come in, and that’s what happened.
In any case, if you are ever afraid to pull the cord when you need help, DON’T BE. It won’t set off alarms and you’ll get the help you need, so don’t struggle! Just be patient and someone will show up.
You Should Go Anyway 
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