Wheelchair in a "regular" Balcony room

[CanadaJulie]

Due to an injury, my brother will be in a wheelchair for our trip next week. Everything is sold out so no chance of moving to a wheelchair accessible room this late in the game.

 

Does a standard wheelchair fit through the door of a balcony cabin ? Or will he need to transfer to crutches and fold the chair to get it inside ?

 

Any help is appreciated !

[kcwingwalker]

I cannot speak for all of NCL's fleet, but we had no problems on the Spirit.

 

Have a great cruise:)

[Jenjer]

A wheel chair will not fit thru a standard door or into the bathroom.

 

He will have to use crutches in his room.

 

I broke the arch of my foot and was non weight bearing for one of our cruises. since it was 6 months of no walking I used a knee scooter. On ship I had a wheelchair delivered by one of the approved company's and it was waiting in my room when we arrived. I left it there when we left.

 

My scooter could barely be used in the room. Basically I hopped a lot :-)

 

In the room my DH would fold the chair up and put it between the bed and the balcony and I would use it around the ship. I hated it so not as much as I should.

 

Cruise ships have a unbelievable amount of surface changes, tile to carpet to stone to brick back to carpet every single one of these was painful on my scooter as it jarred my foot and I was 2 months into my injury when we cruised.

 

I still had a good time and would cruise injured again...hope not to have to. But when my friends asked why we didn't cancel I told them cruising was the only vacation I could go on. I only went off ship on the private island as they had beach wheelchairs to use but sitting back on a lounge chair reading a book while my family went out was still great. One day I got a massage they have great spa deals on port days.

[CanadaJulie]

Oops - forgot to mention this is on the Breakaway ! (regular balcony, 10th floor)

[Demonyte]

From NCL's Accessible Cruising page:

 

"Should you choose a stateroom that has not been designated as accessible, you will need to bring a collapsible wheelchair, or if you have a motorized wheelchair or scooter, the width must not exceed 26 inches to enter the stateroom door. All scooters and wheelchairs MUST be stored in the stateroom. Due to the safety and escape way requirements established by SOLAS regulations, they cannot be stored in the hallways, stairways, or any other public area."

 

I haven't been on Spirit that was mentioned earlier in this thread but on all the ships I've been on the doors have been pretty much standard sized and on our last cruise on Jade, NCL (Special Needs At Sea) provided collapsible wheelchair (std width) didn't fit through the door without being collapsed.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Demonyte

[jpcello]

The wheelchair probably won't fit through the main door of the cabin and definitely not into the bathroom. You may want to ask for a shower chair so he can sit down (assuming it would fit in the shower of a regular bathroom). You can also check out the disability forum.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190

[Budget Queen]

NO, a wheelchair will not fit through a nonhandicapped room door. You do have to fold it up to bring it through. The bathroom is also a step up. The bathroom we had on the Breakaway was larger that the "standards" on NCL"s other ships.

[Charlie4]

also note, the Breakaway has the most narrow halls I have ever seen. I use a walker. It was fun passing people in the hall with my walker also. I know you should not, but I saw many scooters stored in corners of hallways in the nighttime. I had to fold it up to get in the room.

[rbrugler]

You might consider phoning Special Needs at Sea or Care Vacations. I do not know how much he weighs, but if he is not too large, a travelscoot or other folding model, might work. A scooter would make his cruise more enjoyable, and they deliver and pick up from your stateroom. Both companies are great.

[RuthlessBoss]

Due to an injury, my brother will be in a wheelchair for our trip next week. Everything is sold out so no chance of moving to a wheelchair accessible room this late in the game.

 

Does a standard wheelchair fit through the door of a balcony cabin ? Or will he need to transfer to crutches and fold the chair to get it inside ?

 

Any help is appreciated !

 

Have you thought about one of those knee scooters?

[rbrugler]

You might consider phoning Special Needs at Sea or Care Vacations. I do not know how much he weighs, but if he is not too large, a travelscoot or other folding model, might work. A scooter would make his cruise more enjoyable, and they deliver and pick up from your stateroom. Both companies are great.

[neverthought]

Hubby uses a mobility scooter from SAS, and it fit through the door of a regular balcony. Took a little precision backing in and charged right by the door during the night. We also had a shower stool in the shower, again, a bit tight but it worked. Good Luck and hope you enjoy the cruise!:)

Neverthought

Edited August 14, 2015 by neverthought

[CanadaJulie]

Thanks to everyone for the great info.

 

I looked at those knee scooters and they looked less comfy than just a simple chair. Plus your injured leg in kinda hanging out the back - seemed like a recipe for it getting stumbled into by people who aren't looking.

 

We did get him a shower seat so he won't have to stand on one leg in a soapy shower on a ship in motion. That doesn't sound too safe !

 

He has rented a wheelchair already from the hospital, just a basic folding one. I guess he'll have to transfer to his crutches when he gets to the room. We are a group of 11 with 4 cabins in a row so we can help out with folding the chair and holding doors open and anything else.

 

Again - thanks for the info !

[mking8288]

We're on the BA - deck 10 Fwd with a regular balcony, here's a picture looking down the hallway (which is fine when service carts aren't out there - wide enough for wheelchair to get thru)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2015%20NCL%20BA/IMG20150322_1345%20%28768x1024%29.jpg

 

View of the stateroom door opening & micro-hallway, pretty narrow - so, please recheck the width of his rented wheelchair. You might want to make sure it's a "transport wheelchair" as we called them, it's lighter & slimmer, easy to fold & store - downside, less padding & not as comfortable to sit for extended period of time ... which he won't be doing or shouldn't, just make it easier to get around as it can be tiring for the person "pushing" the chair. If it's a regular wheelchair - see if you can exchange/trade for a transport one.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64025118/2015%20NCL%20BA/IMG20150322_1351%20%28768x1024%29.jpg

 

Noticed that our balcony stateroom has the sofa / big "opening" toward the balcony, which might not be as useful - the layout of these staterooms alternate, easy enough with 4 adjacent cabins to switch around - whichever is easier for him. The sofa closer to the closet/bathroom will likely give the feeling more living space (and, many seemed to like it that way) - YMMV.

[RuthlessBoss]

Thanks to everyone for the great info.

 

I looked at those knee scooters and they looked less comfy than just a simple chair. Plus your injured leg in kinda hanging out the back - seemed like a recipe for it getting stumbled into by people who aren't looking.

 

We did get him a shower seat so he won't have to stand on one leg in a soapy shower on a ship in motion. That doesn't sound too safe !

 

He has rented a wheelchair already from the hospital, just a basic folding one. I guess he'll have to transfer to his crutches when he gets to the room. We are a group of 11 with 4 cabins in a row so we can help out with folding the chair and holding doors open and anything else.

 

Again - thanks for the info !

 

You are lucky you couldn't get a HC cabin, you would be separated from your group and wouldn't gain as much convenience as you think you would have.

[don't-use-real-name]

Due to an injury, my brother will be in a wheelchair for our trip next week. Everything is sold out so no chance of moving to a wheelchair accessible room this late in the game.

Does a standard wheelchair fit through the door of a balcony cabin ? Or will he need to transfer to crutches and fold the chair to get it inside ?

Any help is appreciated !

 

Don't be resigned to NOT getting a wheelchair accessible/handicap cabin !

Press on at Check-In and see if something develops.

In the mean time keep checking with NCL for any recent cancellations.

 

AND of course make contingency plans in the event nothing develops.

 

That Knee Scooter thing may be the answer - check it out !

[Jenjer]

A knee scooter is a 1000 times easier than crutches but they only work for injury's below the knee. Since you put all your weight on your knee. It looks like fun but trust me it sucks. People loved taking mine for a spin and after 10 minutes they would bring it back. :-)

 

For me it gave me the freedom to be a mom and go to work to get around my house, on my own. I even ran my kids swim team on it. After 6 months I was very good at using it.

 

A member if the cruise staff said they had never had a guest with one so they where very curious and I was stared at all week long from staff and guests. Drove my kids crazy. But I like talking to people. I would rather someone talked to me than just stared. This was 3 years ago and they are more common now.

[DebJ14]

I bought my Mom one of those aluminum travel wheelchairs for a cruise. It was a last minute thing and there were no accessible cabins left. It fit through the door of the cabin, as long as there was someone else to hold the door open. I backed her in by tilting the chair to get over the threshold. Whenever our steward saw us coming back to the cabin he always rushed to help. Within the cabin she used her walker to get around. They provided a seat for the shower and an elevated toilet seat to make things easier.

[Charlie4]

I just now remember "reading ?" about a couple who got a handicap room by way of GTY cabin. On the first day of the cruise they were asked to switch to a regular cabin because of need of the cabin. ..... that might work out for you too ? Ask the front desk if any able people are in HC rooms and ask if they would switch ?

[RuthlessBoss]

I just now remember "reading ?" about a couple who got a handicap room by way of GTY cabin. On the first day of the cruise they were asked to switch to a regular cabin because of need of the cabin. ..... that might work out for you too ? Ask the front desk if any able people are in HC rooms and ask if they would switch ?[/quote

 

I was under the assumption that someone assigned a HC cabin could be moved if needed. I've also read that the person can refuse to give up that assigned cabin.

 

The OP might not want to actually get a HC cabin this way due to it possibly being quite a distance away from the other 3 booked cabins. To choose one might have been a better option in this case, but with the injury so new, this was not possible.

[CanadaJulie]

The plan is to make do with the regular cabin. We are 4 cabins in a row for our group of 11 and I'm *hoping* they allow us to open the balcony dividers while we are in port for 3 days (rumour has it they don't allow this at sea but maybe in port). It would be more difficult for us to help out if we separate the family. He said he'd just use crutches while in the room - they are so small it's not like there is tons of walking to do in the room anyways !

 

The knee crutch idea is growing on me and I did look into it for him. I suggested he find a place locally where he can try it out and see if he thinks that would be easier for him then decide on a chair vs knee scooter.

[Demonyte]

I'm *hoping* they allow us to open the balcony dividers while we are in port for 3 days (rumour has it they don't allow this at sea but maybe in port).

 

 

It is a simple (apparently nowadays fleetwide) policy that balcony dividers are not allowed to be opened except for maintenance reasons - it does not matter where the ship is.

[mking8288]

I just now remember "reading ?" about a couple who got a handicap room by way of GTY cabin. On the first day of the cruise they were asked to switch to a regular cabin because of need of the cabin. ..... that might work out for you too ? Ask the front desk if any able people are in HC rooms and ask if they would switch ?

 

Urrrrh, that might've been us on the giving/trading side - 4 years ago on Jewel NY-FL-GSC-Bahamas run. Full details, click under my Signature link (earlier.) First, alert Special Needs if not already & ask again at the pier while checking-in if there is a note in the reservation/system about it. Once onboard, go to Reception & ask to speak to supervisor and/or head of Guest Services about the possibility - they need to review the list & see if any HC cabin were GTY assigned and can "bump" or do an exchange, if the occupants do not mind exchanging - ours didn't happen till day 2.

 

We traded our last minute NCL-assigned GTY obstructed oceanview stateroom on deck 8 to the couple that needed the HC room, they're on deck 9 midship (regular) balcony & needed it badly (for whatever reasons, didn't ask).

 

If OP have 4 rooms - maybe, 2 of them are connecting ones with the door in between - that will work out better than trying to open or walk thru the smallest of the small balcony to "assist", especially at sea.

[rbrugler]

Believe me when I say that there is simply no way that a knee scooter would be better than an electric travel scooter. They are easily stored in the room. He will be able to go anywhere he wants. And even if you tender into a port, it can travel with him. And oh, I laughed that the idea of the knee scooter is growing on you. Whose leg is it that is effected? Hmmmm.

[CanadaJulie]

And oh, I laughed that the idea of the knee scooter is growing on you. Whose leg is it that is effected? Hmmmm.

 

LOL ! You're right - his leg ! ;)

 

I gave him the link to this thread so he can read all the great suggestions.