coach_anne

Are any of the cabanas accessible?

Thanks for your post! I have never tried agave syrup (though I have had things that have it in it). I used to have Sweet 'n' Low for my coffee habit but then consciously took that out of my diet, and have my coffee black now. However, that is really, really hard when you are used to sweetness in your coffee -- maybe agave syrup would have been the ticket! I tried to transition to Stevia, and just couldn't do it!

I also had a hard time transitioning to stevia, until I tried Trader Joe's stevia packets. Half a packet sweetens my coffee or tea just fine.

Salt is NOT fine for you if are at risk for Congestive Heart Failure or have ever had it. I have - am fine now - but am on a low sodium, low liquid diet, prolly for life.

This would interest me very much as well. I am also going next month.

Me, too, although we won't be there until Feb. 2018.

We were there mid -January of this year, but it happened to be a national holiday in Barbados, and everything was closed.

Just back from 2-week X Summit cruise which included overnight in QC.

Great city for folks to love to and are fully able to walk and climb.

Not so great for others. Severe hills, bumpy if not cobblestone roads, congested sidewalks if any, all make moving around QC very difficult for those in wheelchairs, riding a scooter, or even walking with a cane or other mobility aid.

The funicular itself is accessible (ramp around back at the bottom; elevator at the top, but solo operator may not see you in the camera to send it to you - my able-bodied DH had to run down the stairs to get the elevator sent up to me.) Apparently, funicular is also free to those in wheelchairs/scooters. There is a nice flat boardwalk area at the top with lovely views, street performers, benches, gazebos. But getting to or from the bottom of the funicular was a hellacious journey for me, which i believe contributed to the breaking of my scooter later in the cruise.

If this is what Europe is like, I never want to go there.

I have stayed in aqua class accessible cabins on the Eclipse and Silhouette. they are very nice and the extra room works great with a scooter.

It seems accessible Aquaclass cabins need to be booked on the very day that a new sailing becomes available; otherwise they sell out. Hopefully, those reserving them really need them.

Remembering now that we did have one on Solstice several years ago. It -- and Blu -- were wonderful. Now I want more of the same!

I became interested in this product when given a link to the website by a friend. Did you buy this directly from the website without seeing it or trying it out first? Did that experience turn out ok for you? Would you recommend this product? We are hesitant to spend $2500 for a product we can't test drive first.

 

Any helpful information is much appreciated. TYIA :)

Karen

Karen, if you've not yet made a purchase decision by late January, you're welcome to test drive my TS when we cruise together on Harmony. :) Note - I will not have the backrest with me, and I will probably still have the older model. It has no reverse gear, a belt-driven motor, a few other differences.

OTOH, if you have a TS by then, we can have late-night races down the promenade, :eek::D

After our last Princess cruise, we will never again consider Princess, nor will we recommend Princess for anyone with a mobility challenge.

Long story short, we were met with nothing but contempt around several issues, including broken lift to the adults-only retreat (which has no bathroom on the same level) and several shore excursion screw-ups: "forgetting" to order the accessible bus, even though we booked far in advance; and cancelling another excursion without bothering to tell us.

In general Princess seems to not really want to be bothered to meet the needs of mobility-challenged passengers.

Wondering if ANY Celebrity ship has accessible Aquaclass cabins?

We love the perk of eating at Blu, but with decreasing mobility I now require several features of accessible cabins, including shower seat, toilet handrails, and room for my scooter.

If the answer is yes, would love to hear from folks who have used them - ship & cabin #, and any info pro or con you'd like to share.

TIA

I became interested in this product when given a link to the website by a friend. Did you buy this directly from the website without seeing it or trying it out first? Did that experience turn out ok for you? Would you recommend this product? We are hesitant to spend $2500 for a product we can't test drive first.

 

Any helpful information is much appreciated. TYIA :)

Karen

Try to find a TravelScoot owner somewhere near you. We are generally a friendly and helpful bunch, and most are more than willing to let you test drive their TS. There are also on-line and Facebook groups for TravelScooters, where prospective owners are welcome.

Say I get to the airport two hours early. I request an extra seat and am assigned said seat. 35 min before the flight, a couple who got stuck in customs while disembarking from their cruise finally makes it to the airport. They have not checked in online as they were on a cruise. They are last to check in.

There is wifi available on every cruise. They could have checked in.

Also, on SWA you can pay a few bucks when you buy your tix, and automatically be checked in 24 hrs. before flight time.

Not on Southwest, but another airline, an agent came onto the plane and escorted me and my bf off the plane. They put us on another flight hours later in the last row by the lavatories. Not fun.

How awful. Please name that airline so we bigger pax, and people who care for us, can make the choice never to fly with them.

It's not inconsideration or lack of planning. Not everyone has the means to pre-pay for a second seat. If you have that financial privilege and that is your choice, that's fine.

However, the idea to just show up comes directly from SouthWest's Customer of Size policy. If SWA didn't prefer to bump folks (and pay them well to do so, far beyond the cost of their ticket), they could make it possible to reserve a COS second seat without having to pay for it.

I suspect they prefer it the way it is, so they can assure that people claiming to be COS actually are.

Ducklite wrote:

If the flight is oversold, the COS will be denied boarding if they can't get a volunteer.

I have never heard of this happening, and don't know if it's true.

So not only do you get a free "extra" seat but someone else gets bumped from their flight? Am I understanding this correctly?

You receive appropriate seating, and someone else who volunteers to fly later is well compensated for doing so.

If that bothers you, you still have the option of pre-purchasing your second seat. It will be refunded, and that way they don't have to bump anyone in order to provide seating to safely accommodate bodies of all sizes.

When flying on Southwest, it is NOT necessary to pre-purchase a second seat. Show up (early!) at check-in, and invoke the Customer of Size policy. Assuming you truly are someone who cannot fit between the armrests (their definition of a COS), you will be issued a second boarding pass for the extra seat at no charge. Even if the plane is oversold.

We'll be driving down from western NY; other family coming from Staten Island. Thanksgiving cruise this year. Recommendations for stay-and-cruise hotels welcome.

Thanks!

WARNING!

 

There appear to be several spam messages to this thread. (How pathetic.):mad:

 

Do not click on unexplained links. :eek:

Glad to see the spam messages have been removed.

We now return you to your regular programming... on with the terrific photo tour, Mike!

WARNING!

There appear to be several spam messages to this thread. (How pathetic.):mad:

Do not click on unexplained links. :eek:

OP -

 

Thanks for the pictures and reading. This has been terrific. We sail Indy on 2/27 and this just got us REALLY excited!!!

DanScrim, if you're sailing Indy on Saturday 2/28 of this year, we have a very active and fun roll call running -- come on over and join us!

I too, have only cruised on Celebrity & Royal...This thread just makes me determined to stay off Disney!

 

I plan to cruise on Princess in 2017...hope I find them as disabled friendly as the Royal cruise lines. :eek:

If you can change those 2017 plans, you might want to consider doing so.

Our last cruise was on Princess, and we found them horribly UN-friendly to mobility challenged passengers. From malfunctioning lifts to lying and incompetent shorex personnel to a we-couldn't-care-less attitude from customer "service", we could not wait to get off that ship. We will never ever sail Princess again. Their brochures go directly into our recycle bin.

We're sticking with Royal and Celebrity.

Thanks so much for this review. Words welcome! Great pix so far.

Thanks too for drink menu. Our favorite cruise drink - long island iced tea - in on there, along with a few others I'll try. Can't wait!

Here's a hint - shortcut, or for those with mobility problems as those outside stairs from deck 4 to 5 are steep...

 

• From inside the ship at the Promenade deck 5 head into Pharaoh's Palace (the lounge forward deck 5).
  
• Standing facing the stage turn right.
  
• As you walk the DJ booth is on your right and you'll see two swinging doors (they kinda look like "crew only" doors but they're not.
  
• Go through and there'll be another heavier door right in front of you about 10 feet.
  
• This will take you outside to deck five and maybe 30-40 steps to the helipad.
  

 

This access is true for all Voyager & Freedom class ships :D

I ride a scooter for anything more than a few steps. Thank you Hoopster95 for posting this -- now I will be able to join my CC friends for our sailaway on the bow of IndyOS next year!

My first cruise with my TravelScoot (TS) was on Ruby Princess, and we did not get an accessible cabin; we were in a regular minisuite. That was a mistake, as the TS does not fit thru the cabin door. You have to either take it apart (which we did once each night when going into our cabin for the night), or leave it out in the hall, which is neither safe for other pax, nor legal.

I don't recall having any problem with the toilet, but showering in a tub is challenging for me, both stepping over the tub wall, and not being able to sit while showering. I also prefer to have bars by the toilet. So, every cruise since then, we have booked an accessible cabin, where I am much more comfortable, and TS easily fits thru the door.

Even tho' you've chosen a regular cabin, be sure to connect with Princess' Accessibility department (don't recall official department name right now.) They can advise you on armless chairs, mattress toppers, etc., and also on excursions that will accommodate your TS.

One more suggestion. Join the Roll Call thread for your cruise, and ask fellow cruisers if anyone is interested in doing a cabin crawl. Or maybe just ask if anyone is in an accessible cabin, so maybe you can get a look at it. You may change your mind for your next cruise ;).

Hope this helps. Enjoy you first cruise! Maybe you, OH, and TS will become frequent floaters, too.

TravelScoot.

Please explain the controls.

How do you go forward? Throttle on the right handlebar. FYI, there is no reverse gear.

How do you stop? Release throttle, use hand brakes (like a bicycle), put feet down.

How do you make a sharp U-turn like the guy in the elevator? Practice. Easier turning right than left.

Are both rear wheels power wheels? If yes can you put power to just one of them? Only left rear wheel is powered.

.

Hope this helps. :)

FYI higgib, there are plenty of bigger passengers who use the TravelScoot. ;)

Hi Ms rabbit,

I am a male 6'2" 420 Lbs have been on 2 transatlantic and 3 carribbean cruises. We now have a cruise from san juan in april and a TA in Aug from England to boston.

I have rented from carevacations and never had a problem, but now it seems no one has a bariatric scooter. I have tried special needs at seas and scootaround to no avail. Do you have any suggestions? getting a little desperate as My grandkids will be on this cruise and I would like to be there too!

Thanks,

Bill

Bill, check out my earlier posts in this thread, #383 & 385, about the TravelScoot. Sorry so brief but our cruise leave Sunday and I'm not packed yet.

Here's to each of our next Bon Voyage!