Assistance at Caribbean ports

[HeresTweety]

My husband has difficulties walking and requires the use a cane (left foot/ankle and right knee issues). We have an accessible cabin and will be going on appropriate excursions (very little walking). We will be cruising to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel and I am wondering if there will be wheelchair assistance at the ports. Do I need to contact our cruise line (RC) to schedule a wheelchair for him at each port or will we do this once we are onboard? This is our first time traveling with disabilities. It is all new to us.

[Splinter]

Most cruise lines will NOT provide you with a wheelchair to use for ports or even around the ship. You need to bring your own. They will provide wheelchair assistance for embarkation and disembarkation, but otherwise their wheelchairs are for "emergency" use only. A few cruise lines do rent chairs, or refer you to companies like CareVacations to rent, but it will be cheaper, and easier to take your own lightweight folding wheelchair with you. That way you can use it in the airports, on the ship, and on excursions and port trips without needing to worry about how you are going to get assistance.

[xxoocruiser]

My husband has difficulties walking and requires the use a cane (left foot/ankle and right knee issues). We have an accessible cabin and will be going on appropriate excursions (very little walking). We will be cruising to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel and I am wondering if there will be wheelchair assistance at the ports. Do I need to contact our cruise line (RC) to schedule a wheelchair for him at each port or will we do this once we are onboard? This is our first time traveling with disabilities. It is all new to us.

 

By (RC) you mean Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines than you MUST provide your own wheelchair for during the cruise and getting off at each port. RCCL's website states the following :

 

We provide complimentary wheelchair assistance for embarkation and disembarkation only.

If you would like to have a wheelchair or scooter during the cruise, you are welcome to bring your own or rent one from of the companies below who will deliver it your stateroom on the ship:

 

CareVacations

Phone: 877-478-7827

Fax: 800-648-1116

E-mail:

res@carevacations.com

 

Special Needs at Sea

Phone: 800-513-4515

Fax: 800-513-4516

E-mail:

info@specialneedsgroup.com

 

I can also tell you that the RCCL crew stationed at the gangway will assist you in getting the wheelchair down/up the gangway if you have your own but RCCL will not provide a wheelchair for that purpose in each port.

 

However if by (RC) you mean Regent Cruises than you need to check with the cruise directly as there appears to be little to no information posted on its website pertaining to special assistance with mobility issues. However as Splinter has always advised generally wheelchair assistance is only offer for embarkation and disembarkation .

Edited January 17, 2014 by xxoocruiser

[HeresTweety]

Thank you for all of the information. We are traveling with Royal Caribbean and I am concerned about how far my DH will have to walk from the ship to the tour bus. He has a wheelchair. May have to bring it. DH can walk short distances. Hoping for some sort of transportation at the pier....wheelchair, rickshaw (sp), etc. I have only been to Cozumel (the port Carnival uses) and I'm unsure of how far he will need to walk. Will allow time for rest breaks as needed. Again, thank you.

[vickila]

I would rent a scooter for him. Best $250 he will ever spend. If non accessible type room, smaller scooters will fit through doorway. Rental agencies know information.a littlebtightnin room, but manageable.

 

Not only walking distance, but wait time getting back on, going through security, etc. also ditances to transportation tours generally a long push. Try the scooter tental. It is in your room on entry and you leave it there when getting off. Wonderful. Gives one independence. Vicki

[xxoocruiser]

Thank you for all of the information. We are traveling with Royal Caribbean and I am concerned about how far my DH will have to walk from the ship to the tour bus. He has a wheelchair. May have to bring it. DH can walk short distances. Hoping for some sort of transportation at the pier....wheelchair, rickshaw (sp), etc. I have only been to Cozumel (the port Carnival uses) and I'm unsure of how far he will need to walk. Will allow time for rest breaks as needed. Again, thank you.

 

It's not a matter that you "May have to bring it" rather it's that you must bring the wheelchair since your husband can only walk short distances.

 

Cozumel - There is definitely no assistance at the pier. The pier where RCCL docks is an extremely long walk to the actual shop area and to the excursion buses. You will definitely have to take a wheelchair .

 

Belize & Roatan - have not been there but again it needs to be stressed that RCCL does not offer wheelchair assistance at the port. Also Belize is a tendered port so your husband will be required to walk up/down steps in order to board the tender.

 

Though the suggestion was made to rent a mobility scooter you need to be advised that you must check with shore excursion if the transportation being used will accommodate a scooter. Generally the buses do not have lifts and even if the bus has a cargo area a scooter still may not be allowed by the excursion company due to insurance reasons. Also RCCL does not allow mobility scooters onto tenders unless the tender has roll-on capabilities. So having a collapsible wheelchair is actually the better option.

[Knolmom]

Care Vacations will be happy to rent to a lightweight collapsible wheelchair very inexpensively for your trip. You do not need to have an accessable cabin to have one of these. In addition, sometimes, you can use this chair to wheel your DH to the gangway if the bus is going to be right there, and you can leave it on the ship in the area of the gangway to have when you return. I have done this. Also, if your DH is inside the port area, sometimes the ship will send a wheelchair and staff member out to wheel him back to the ship, but don't count on it. I use a rollator, and, at times, have been too winded to walk the last hundred yards. My DH went to the gangway and the staff came with a wheelchair and got me. They always have one on hand for injured passengers returning to the ship, as long as you don't do it every day. Forgot to add, these instances were on Celebrity cruises.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I also rent a walker/rollator for cruises -- it is a great help getting around the ship as well as on land.

It folds up nicely and more buses are willing to accept them than scooters.

Also it has a seat so that I can take breaks and rest when I need to.

I have been renting them through Care Vacations.