Question for Ruth C or others on the use of mobility scooters

Due to increased molbility issues involving my legs, I will probably need to use a mobility scooter in order to continue cruising. I am unfamiliar with this and could use some advice. Do people bring their own or is it better to rent a scooter in port cities. I'm sure everyone has different needs, but I could sure use some tips. Thanks.

Due to increased molbility issues involving my legs, I will probably need to use a mobility scooter in order to continue cruising. I am unfamiliar with this and could use some advice. Do people bring their own or is it better to rent a scooter in port cities. I'm sure everyone has different needs, but I could sure use some tips. Thanks.

I know Ruth will chime in here, with good advice, but you can also go to the Disabled Cruising forum for a lot of really good information. Some folks bring their own scooter, especially if needed a lot getting to/from the cruise. Generally, rentals are through CareVacations.com or SpecialNeedsatSea.com, which are two preferred providers, and with them the scooter is waiting in your cabin, and you leave it there at the end of the cruise.

I know Ruth will chime in here, with good advice, but you can also go to the Disabled Cruising forum for a lot of really good information. Some folks bring their own scooter, especially if needed a lot getting to/from the cruise. Generally, rentals are through CareVacations.com or SpecialNeedsatSea.com, which are two preferred providers, and with them the scooter is waiting in your cabin, and you leave it there at the end of the cruise.

In Ft. Lauderdale "Special needs at sea" has a table with equipment set up as soon as you pull up to the cruise terminal. At the end of your cruise you return your rental at the table. It was very quick and easy on our last cruise two weeks ago.

I rent a scooter for use on board, and consider it a God-send. I doubt that I could continue cruising without it. Holland America uses the two companies that Chengkp listed. The scooter is waiting in the cabin when I arrive, and is picked up there by the company when I leave. Very easy.

One-way rentals are an extra charge, but can be done.

I had trouble learning how to charge it correctly the first time I used one. The Front Desk went above and beyond to try to fix it, getting assistance from the rental company (this was over an Easter weekend), and getting it back to me on Monday morning.

You don't necessarily need an accessible cabin, but you do need one with a fairly open entranceway, rather than the longer hallway type of cabin. You also need a cabin large enough to park it, yet still have room to get around inside. A wonderful steward taught me how to back it in, which makes it much easier when coming out again.

You have to be careful exiting the cabin, as you can't see around the corner before the front end is out far enough to hit someone. Listen carefully for people coming, honk the horn a few times, then pray. Some people hear the horn and keep right on walking.

Ask the cabin steward to leave a doorstop for you, unless you have someone always with you to hold the door.

Calling for, then getting on an elevator can be tricky, unless you are with someone to call for the elevator while you get the scooter in position. Sometimes you have to wait a couple of go-rounds before you get one with room. When backing off the elevator, use the horn, and be very careful as people tend to just walk behind you, and you don't have rearview mirrors to see them coming.

Remember, you are a driver, and pedestrians will walk right in front of you as if you're not there. Got to be on the lookout at all times.

When taking shore excursions I ask to have a steward accompany me to the bus if the walk is any distance, then drive the scooter back to the ship. Security keeps it near the gangway, where I pick it up on the way back. I will be eternally grateful to the Hotel Manager who suggested that.

Be careful about some rises where fire doors close, and such. The clearance on the bottom of the scooter is very low. It's easy to get hung up on one.

Hope some of this has helped you. Having the scooter has kept the world open to me, I wish the same for you.

Turning the question around a bit, what can those of us who do not need scooters do to help those who do?

(Besides the obvious of holding doors. And not tailgating).

Do people bring their own or is it better to rent a scooter in port cities. I'm sure everyone has different needs, but I could sure use some tips. Thanks.

I had rented a scooter from CareVacations on a cruise last year from Barcelona to Barcelona.

Unlike RuthC, who seems to be able to use the bus for touring, I had to rely on private tours - usually sedans. The scooters can be somewhat dismantled - seat and battery can be removed and steering column can be folded..

But the scooter does weigh aound 40 pounds stripped and so your driver and whoever accompanies you will have heavy lifting. Needless to add, the private car has to be a sedan or if you are in a van with people, they will have to be tolerant as it takes about 5-minutes to assemble!

The scooter was a god-send in touring the museums in Florence, Alhambra, Palermo etc. Little bumpy on cobblestones!

The three-wheelers have a good turning radius. In the HAL ships, unless you have a handicap accessible cabin or one with a wide door opening, you won't be able to use the scooter. Charging is just a matter of an electric cord (supplied) from the electric source to the socket on the scooter.

CareVacations delivered it straight to our cabin (before we even got there) and took it out after we had disembarked. You could have rented for longer if you wish and they would remove it from your hotel.

I only hope I can find one from Yokohama to Hong Kong! (I doubt it, but for Carribean/European/Alaska;Canadian trips, it should not be a problem

Incidentally you can traverse pretty much everywhere on shipboard. In the MDR or Lido, have a cane to assist you after you parked you scooter.

On the Veendam last May, DH found it easier to back into the elevator. The elevator doors were reflective and were directly across from another one. I held the door and the opposite elevator worked, most of the time, as a rear view mirror. We often waited out the crowds, went to another bank of elevators or went up first in order to go down to our floor when things were crowded.

In the HAL ships, unless you have a handicap accessible cabin or one with a wide door opening, you won't be able to use the scooter.

I've never used an accessible cabin yet. I've rented a scooter on the Oosterdam, Volendam, Amsterdam, and Nieuw Amsterdam. Door openings were the normal size, since the rooms were the large insides. True, there isn't a lot of clearance backing through the doorway (I'd say about 1/2" to an inch on each side), but there is room.

Turning the question around a bit, what can those of us who do not need scooters do to help those who do?

What a kind question! Thank you for thinking to ask that. :)

First, I would say see us. People have a tendency to look at us, then walk across our path as if we aren't there at all. I get so sick of being invisible.

Look as you walk! So many people are oblivious to what is going on around them as they walk. Also, gaze down as you walk. Since we are sitting as we move, we are lower than eye level. One woman walked right in front of me, without looking one bit in either direction as she crossed the "street"; stared straight ahead. Didn't miss hitting her by much.

When passing in front of a scooter, consider the front of the machine as the front of the person when allowing for clearance room. The scooter and my body have become one unit.

Second, at elevators, if there's going to be room for the scooter, allow us to board first, then fill in around us. Let us exit first, too, so we are less likely to hit you on the way out! Or, if you are going to exit first, don't just stop and chat in front of the elevator! Move away.

When we're in line in the Lido, please don't just reach over us to grab something. Or step in front of us, then say "Oh, I didn't see you". :rolleyes:

If there's a table near a "parking space", let us have it if there's another one you can use. Or share.

Not an all-inclusive list, but some things to think about.

Ruth, thank you for sharing this information.

The two above-mentioned scooter suppliers also have backup lockers in Ship Housekeeping to replace defective units and parts. Joanie's rented oxygen concentrator failed right after leaving San Diego and it was replaced from the backup locker within 10 minutes.

Wonderful advice and suggestions from Ruth C. I appreciate the suggestions and will certainly pay attention. Thanks!:)

I can't imagine putting a scooter in a cabin unless it's a suite! The woman next to us parked hers outside the door. She apologized for it blocking but it really didn't. We had no trouble navigating around it even when we had rough seas and everything had to come off the shelves! Of course, this was the hall off the aft cabins so maybe it's wider.

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Thanks to everyone who has responded. We have been on a number of cruises, however, this is all new to me. I would be traveling with my husband who would help out. We normally book balcony type cabins with close access to elevators.

Several other questions.

Does anyone have the scooter delivered to your hotel? Does this complicate things or make it easier?

Are the scooters in good shape and do they fit people easily?

Being new at this, am I asking the right questions?

Thanks

I can't imagine putting a scooter in a cabin unless it's a suite! The woman next to us parked hers outside the door. She apologized for it blocking but it really didn't.

I went to a couple of cocktail parties in a Neptune Suite on the Oosterdam; there is no way my scooter would have fit in that room, even without the other people. There was no floor space for it. Possibly there would have been room in a Neptune Suite on an S- or R-class ship. The Pinnacle Suites I've been in would have room to store a scooter, but only of you could get them down the hallway into the main part of the cabin. It would be tight.

It's against HAL rules to store a scooter (or wheelchair) in the passageway. It's one thing for others to walk around it under normal circumstances, but in an emergency they would be a hazard.

Also, even under normal circumstances, anyone else using a wheelchair or scooter wouldn't be able to get by. They're just a bit too wide to allow two to pass.

Does anyone have the scooter delivered to your hotel? Does this complicate things or make it easier?

Are the scooters in good shape and do they fit people easily?

You can have the rental scooter delivered to the hotel. This makes it nice getting to restaurants, around the hotel itself, and getting out to sightsee. It can be tough transporting it to the ship, unless you have a transfer that can handle it. These scooters are very heavy, and don't break down easily (if at all). I sure don't want to be taking one apart and reassembling it, since I really don't know how it goes together.

The scooters are in decent shape, in my experience. When renting one, the company asks about the users weight, so provides a scooter that is suitable. Heavier people, who need a larger scooter, will need an accessible cabin for the larger door.

The more questions (and answers) you get, the more it will make you think of new questions. That's all right.

I saw a lady on Star Princess with a small electric wheelchair. Just got a glimpse, but it looked like it may fold up. Just saw it the one time when the seas were so rough.

We had a woman in our knitting group that actually had her scooter taken while at dinner. Fortunately, she learned someone else took it thinking it was his. So, it all worked out. She knit a huge bow to put on her scooter so people wouldn't mistake it for theirs.

I've cruised with my own travelscoot.com . It only weighs about 25 pounds and has served me well. Check out the site. Mine doesn't have back up capability; I have to use my feet to back up, but the newer ones have front and back capability.

Thanks for asking the question Pinnaclegirl.

Does anyone know if a Neptune Suite Door would be wide enough?

Thanks,

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Does anyone know if a Neptune Suite Door would be wide enough?

For a scooter?

The doorway itself is probably wide enough, but not by much. Those doorways look to be about the same width as my inside cabin, and the scooter fits through that.

The problem is space once you pass through the doorway. If there is a hallway heading down to the main part of the room, then it can be tough to manage that narrow space for any distance.

And then, once in, where do you store the scooter? On Vista and Signature ships, there isn't any place to put it that isn't in the way---unless some furniture is removed. Turning it around to leave is going to be a real challenge, and I wouldn't want to try to back it in a Neptune Suite.

Based on my memory of S- and R-class ships, there may be more room to store a scooter.

Ruth, it sounds like only certain cabin types work with the scooters. Is this the case? And if so, would our cruise consultant know the cabin types and locations that work on a given ship?

Thanks

If you don't have an accessible cabin, then you need a cabin that has room to store the scooter inside---while still allowing you room to move around---and to get into the main area of the cabin.

I have never tried to get a scooter down that hallway where closets are lined up, opposite the entrance to the bathroom; I don't want to try, either. It's possible there's room, but it's tight.

Most non-accessible cabins that I've been in, either my own or just visiting, do not look like they could accommodate a scooter. There are a few that will; I stay in them. When I open my cabin door, there's closets on one side, but just the short side of the couch on the other. That's easy to pass, then I'm in open area.

Whether or not a PCC, or any travel agent, would know about these cabins is a question I can't answer. I would expect a PCC would have access to people who could find out the answer.

Hey, how 'bout what can a scooter rider onboard do to make things better? How about not racing like a maniac down the ship's corridors at break neck speed! I've seen it; more than once, to the point this individual had to be formally warned to slow her reckless speed down

Due to increased molbility issues involving my legs, I will probably need to use a mobility scooter in order to continue cruising. I am unfamiliar with this and could use some advice. Do people bring their own or is it better to rent a scooter in port cities. I'm sure everyone has different needs, but I could sure use some tips. Thanks.

There are a number of things to consider re rent v buy.

How long is the cruise?

Do you cruise often?

Do you need a scooter at home?

A scooter can be purchased for less than $600. We have 2 Shoprider Hero 3 wheelers. They have a very small turning radus. Take a look on the internet for specs & costs. Last I looked, Vitality Medical & Walgreens were low priced.

ENJOY!!

There are a number of things to consider re rent v buy.

How long is the cruise?

Do you cruise often?

Do you need a scooter at home?

 

A scooter can be purchased for less than $600. We have 2 Shoprider Hero 3 wheelers. They have a very small turning radus. Take a look on the internet for specs & costs. Last I looked, Vitality Medical & Walgreens were low priced.

 

ENJOY!!

What about transporting the scooter from home to the port of embarkation? Do airlines charge?