Wheelchair to the Baltic on HAL

[Giapetto]

OK, here we go with our first ever post: we are Neil and Sarah, recently retired and cruise virgins. We're booked for 12 days Baltic Adventure on 12 August, and our major issue is that Sarah is confined to a wheelchair, thanks to the good offices of MS and Parkinson's combined. There are two things on which we'd appreciate some help:

 

1) the availablity and quality of tours on this voyage which can accommodate a passenger sitting in a wheelchair (I know HAL offer them in SPB and Copenhagen, have you seen their prices?). I contacted TJ Tours in SPB yesterday, their reply was encouraging (they say they can do a tour for those with restricted mobility) but I guess they are not the only players. Any help / advice from you people with some experience will be much appreciated. We would be pleased to join an existing group, especially for SPB, though that may be logistically impossible. It would just be nice to understand what our options are.

 

2) Is there anyone else on this cruise with similar access problems? It would be good to talk, if you're out there. Any info on accessibility on the vessel or ashore will be gold dust to us.

 

We'll be looking out for replies, and thank you!

[xxoocruiser]

OK, here we go with our first ever post: we are Neil and Sarah, recently retired and cruise virgins. We're booked for 12 days Baltic Adventure on 12 August, and our major issue is that Sarah is confined to a wheelchair, thanks to the good offices of MS and Parkinson's combined. There are two things on which we'd appreciate some help:

 

1) the availablity and quality of tours on this voyage which can accommodate a passenger sitting in a wheelchair (I know HAL offer them in SPB and Copenhagen, have you seen their prices?). I contacted TJ Tours in SPB yesterday, their reply was encouraging (they say they can do a tour for those with restricted mobility) but I guess they are not the only players. Any help / advice from you people with some experience will be much appreciated. We would be pleased to join an existing group, especially for SPB, though that may be logistically impossible. It would just be nice to understand what our options are.

 

2) Is there anyone else on this cruise with similar access problems? It would be good to talk, if you're out there. Any info on accessibility on the vessel or ashore will be gold dust to us.

 

We'll be looking out for replies, and thank you!

 

You might also consider posting on the Forum for your specific ports of call. Not everyone with disabilities always post on this forum. Just a thought.

 

I've taken a Baltic cruise but at that time I was still able to do the regular tours so I have no accessible tour info.

[GRBlizz]

My DH uses a wheelchair due to MS, and we had a fabulous time on our Baltic cruise in 2008. We used Denrus in SPB for a private tour - but we had a family group of 6, and it was less expensive (and far nicer) than the ship's excusions for a group that size. I also talked with a company called Liberty Tours, which offered a tour with lift-vans, but my DH is able to get in an out of a car, so we didn't need that level of service.

 

If you let us know the other ports on your cruise, I can tell you what we learned if we went there.

 

Have fun. It's a special part of the world.

[Giapetto]

Thank you Donna and xxoocruiser for your replies.

 

Xxoo, I have in fact posted something similar on the rollcall for this voyage hoping to find some similarly placed companions, but of course other people need to know which ports. They are Copenhagen, Warnemunde, Tallinn, SPB, Helsinki, and Nynashamn for Stockholm.

 

I can't see us wanting to go ashore at them all, especially not if we have to pay HAL's $3,500 for a single day's accessible vehicle hire in Copenhagen! You can get a small plane for a lot less than that. So we'll choose on the basis of 'must see' and access.

 

PS Donna: it's MS for us too. Oh, and Parkinson's as well. She never does things by half, my beloved...... And thanks for the Liberty Tours tip. I'll google them pronto.