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Renting a scooter for a cruise


Jenn1974
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Will a rental scooter from a company such as special needs at sea fit through a regular state room door? I plan to sail on the Carnival Triumph and my mother has issues with walking long distances due to vascular issues. On trips we normally rent her a scooter. She doesn't need any of the other accessible features just to be able to park the scooter in the cabin while she is in there. Or do I need to book an accessible room?

I am looking at this scooter in particular..

https://familyrentals.com/lightweight-electric-scooter-collapsible-mobility-scooter-go-go-elite-traveler-3-wheel

 

If need be we could probably take it apart to get it in and out of the room. It looks pretty simple to do.

Edited by Jenn1974
update to add link to scooter
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Please refer to my answer on the Carnival forum.

 

SpecialNeedsatSea rents by the weight of the individual. Their regular scooter (up to 249 pounds) is listed at 21" wide. It will fit through the door of a regular stateroom; however, you may need to remove the arms. They do occasionally provide different brands, so you will want to verify with them when you reserve your scooter.

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Will a rental scooter from a company such as special needs at sea fit through a regular state room door? I plan to sail on the Carnival Triumph and my mother has issues with walking long distances due to vascular issues. On trips we normally rent her a scooter. She doesn't need any of the other accessible features just to be able to park the scooter in the cabin while she is in there. Or do I need to book an accessible room?

I am looking at this scooter in particular..

https://familyrentals.com/lightweight-electric-scooter-collapsible-mobility-scooter-go-go-elite-traveler-3-wheel

 

If need be we could probably take it apart to get it in and out of the room. It looks pretty simple to do.

 

Family Rental which is the company sited in the link you attached is not an approved rental vendor of Carnival Cruise Lines. Therefore you need to know that Family Rental cannot deliver directly to your cabin or pickup directly from your cabin and as a result you will have to make seperate arrangements to pick up and return the scooter at another location which can complicate matters . The Pride GoGo Elite Traveler in the link you attached will just bfit through a standard cabin door and you might have to adjust the arms rest as mentioned in Port #2. The bigger issue for your mother will be the fact that the scooter will take up a lot of floor space in a standard cabin and if she uses a walker in the cabin it will be difficult to move about the cabin with the scooter taking up so much space. WIth that said I have made it work in a standard cabin numerous times.

 

Carnival's approved rental venders are www.Scooteraround.com and www.SpecialNeedsatSea.com . Both companies standard rental scooters are either the 3 Wheel Pride GoGo Elite Traveler or the 3 Wheel Pride GoGo Sport depending on the inventory at the specific port of embarkation. Though it was stated in Post # 2 of this thread that SpecialNeedsea standard scooter will have a weight capacity of 249 lbs the website has not been updated in quote a while. SpecialNeedsatSea no longer uses the Pride GoGO Ultra that has a weight capacity of only 249 lbs, rather it now uses either the Pride GoGo Elite Traveler that has a weight capacity of 275 lbs or the Pride GoGo Sport that has a weight capacity of 300 lbs. So unless your mother needs a Bariatric Scooter either one of the scooters previously mentioned will do and will fit through a standard cabin door.

 

It appears that this may be the first time your mother will be using a scooter on a cruise ship. Therefore the following information will be helpful:

 

Embarkation** Day If using a non-approved ventor this information does not apply. The rental scooter will be deliverto the cabin on embarkation day and must be left in the cabin on disembarkationday. If you use the ship's wheelchair assistance on embarkation day note thatyou will be dropped off in a public area . If not taken directly to your cabinand dropped off in a public area than once cabins are available to passengerssomeone from your party will have to go to the cabin to get the scooter ifyou're unable to make the walk. The scooter rental contract states that thescooter will not be delivered until 2:00 PM . It's also important to note thatrental equipment delivered to the ship is not given priority loading by thecruise line as ships supplies take precedent. Therefore the scooter might notappear in the cabin until closer to the sailing time though it was deliver tothe port by 2:00 PM.

 

Disembarkation Day** Day If using a non-approved ventor this information does not apply. The rental scooter must be left in the cabin ondisembarkation day. The cruise line will not provide wheelchairassistance/pickup from the cabin. The night before a location for wheelchairassistance for disembarkation will be published in the daily cruise newsletter.You can ride the scooter to that location but than someone from your group mustthan take the scooter back to cabin for pickup from the rental company.

 

** If renting from SpecialNeedsatSea FYI depending on the port SpecialNeedsatSea doesn't always deliver directly to the cabin or pickup from the cabin as there are some ports that SpecialNeedsatSea will have a kiosk outside somewhere close to the port terminal entrance to pick up and retunr the scooter . If your embarkation port is one that has a Kiosk you will be advised and your mother will be able to ride it onto the ship and off of the ship and can bypass wheelchair assistance on embarkation and disembarkation.

If you have not booked an accessible cabin than depending on the type ofscooter required due to weight capacity it may not fit through the stateroomdoor. All scooters and wheelchairs MUST be stored in the stateroom. Dueto the safety and escape way requirements established by SOLAS (Safety of Lifeat Seas) regulations, it cannot be stored in the hallways, stairways, or anyother public area. Ignoring these regulations can and does impede thesafety of others whether disabled or abled bodied moving about the hallways notto mention impedes the safety of all on board the ship in the event of anactual emergency. Even if the cabin attendant tells you it's Ok it's NOT !I for one will contact the ships security to have the scooter removed if one isobserved left in the hallway.

 

Scooters or anypersonal items for that matter CANNOT be stored on balcony.

After you obtained the scooter you should go to the dining room to check thelocation of your assigned table if traditional dining has been chosen. Reasonyou need to check that there is a good path to drive the scooter to the table.Once at the table you can transfer to a chair and the wait staff will than parkthe scooter in area that will not hinder others in the dining room. If there'san issue than go to the Matre'D and request a change in table location.

 

Scooter keys are not unique as car keys. Scooter keys are universal and ascooter can easily be mistaken. Therefore I suggest you bring an extra luggagetag for the scooter to identify your rental scooter.

 

The most common scooters rented by SpecialNeedsatSeas and Scootaround (formerly CareVacations) are the Pride Go Go Elite Traveler or the Pride Go GoSport which both have a very low under clearance of 1.5". Therefore it'snot unusual that the scooter will get hung up on the gangway joints. Under nocircumstance should you allow the ship's personnel to force push the scooterover the joints which is the crews first reactive response. The scooter needsto be placed in freewheel mode and then rolled over the joints. To place infreewheel mode there is a yellow lever on the rear wheels directly under theseat. When the lever is in the LockedIcon Mode the scooter is able to be driven. If in the Un-Locked Icon mode the scooter will be in Freewheel mode. Ifyou aren't able to walk down/up the gangway than a person from the ship's crewmust guide the scooter up/down the ramp while another pushes the scooterup/down the ramp while. If you're able to walk up/down the ramp it'srecommended that you do so while the scooter is than freewheeled pulled up/downthe ramp. If the scooter isn't placed in freewheel and the crew force pushesthe scooter over the gangway joints the scooter can be permanently damaged andsince it's a rental you will be responsible for the repair costs or possiblythe complete replacement cost.

Reset Button:The Pride GoGo Elite Traveler and Pride GoGO cannothandle steep inclines. When the incline is too much for the scooter to handlethe motor is designed to shut down the scooter automatically. Should this occur there is a reset button onthe battery casing below the seat. There’s a rubber bubble cover it. Turn the scooter off. Press the bubble thus pushing the reset buttonback in to place and then restart the scooter. If after doing this a couple oftimes and the scooter does not reset than that an indication that the motor hasbeen damaged by forcing it to exceed its limitations. Note : Some people willtell you the bubble lights up but it doesn’t as it does not contain a light.

 

If there are any tendered ports you will only be permitted onto the tender ifthe tender has roll-on capabilities. Also note regardless of whether it's adocked or tendered port Captain has the discretion to not allow wheelchairs andscooters from exiting the ship as safety of the passengers is always the utmostconcern.

The scooter does notstop a dime. It has a rolling stop… the slower the speed prior to stopping theshorter the roll… the faster the speed the longer the roll. Therefore you needto always be aware of this so as not to run into other passengers and orobjects.

You may encounter thresholds going to and coming from anoutside deck that the scooter can get hung up on which makes it difficult toclear. You at times will have to scout out other routes that have a betterleveled doorway threshold.

Elevators will also be an issue with scooters as able-bodiedpassengers will jump in front of you toget into the elevator first no matter that you were there first. It's not justkids. I have found that adults are often worse than the lids on-board. At peaktimes you're best to take the elevator that's further from your destination asit will be less congested.

Get on the first elevator that has open space for thescooter regardless if it's going the opposite direction of what you want. Whatgoes up must come down and vice versa.

Arrive at the muster drill early to avoid all the crowdsgetting onto elevators.

It's recommended that you remain at the muster drilllocation for at least 15 minutes if not more after it's ended to avoid thecongestion at the elevator. It will be impossible to get onto an elevator untilthe crowds have cleared.

 

Expect that there will be obstacles such as room servicecarts as well as inconsiderate passengers that have intentionally left theirwheelchairs, scooters , other mobility equipment as well as baby strollers inthe hallway of where you cabin is located. For any mobility equipment left in the hallway which blocks you passage don't think twice about calling the ships security to have it removed immediately. As far as the room service cart there's usually a cabin steward nearby so just yell out for assistance and itwill be repositioned so you can pass.

 

If you don't intend to go on excursions than suggest youwait to get off the ship until the masses have gone. Reason being that securityand gangway personnel generally have to shut down the process to make certainyou get off safely with scooter. Other passengers waiting in line get restlessparticularly if they're on a time restriction to meet up with an excursion.

Edited by xxoocruiser
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Please refer to my answer on the Carnival forum.

 

SpecialNeedsatSea rents by the weight of the individual. Their regular scooter (up to 249 pounds) is listed at 21" wide. It will fit through the door of a regular stateroom; however, you may need to remove the arms. They do occasionally provide different brands, so you will want to verify with them when you reserve your scooter.

 

The moderator transfered the Carnival Thread to the Disabled Cruise Forum https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=55165467&posted=1#post55165467

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  • 5 months later...

Two cruises on the Carnival Pride both with scooters rented from Special Needs at Sea. There are basically three sizes of scooters. Regular, heavy duty, and bariatric. We rented the heavy duty one both times. If you read the literature it says wheel base 22" which would indicate it would not fit. However, it DOES fit in a regular cabin. We had French Door Interior which is the same size as a balcony cabin. We also had 4 people in the cabin! It was a tight squeeze, but we made it work because we're on a CRUISE! My husband would back it into the room while someone held the door for him, that way he could just drive out. It does take a little getting used to to line up the wheels as they do rub the door frame when you drive it in.

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