QE2 wheelchair accessibility

[Splinter]

We are very experienced cruisers, but have never done a Cunard cruise before. There are 3 of us...my mother cannot walk or stand and uses a power wheelchair. Does anyone here have any experience with the fully wheelchair accessible cabins (photos would be a big plus) on this ship (I understand there are only 4)? Accessibility of other amenities? We are looking at a late spring 2006 Scandanavian cruise. Any info would be appreciated.

 

I have already posted this on the Disabled Cruisers forum here as well.

[jbailey]

Unfortunately, this is not a very accessible ship. In 2002, I traveled with my then 85 year old mother on QE2, who did not use a walker or wheelchair at that time, although her frailty made falls a serious concern. (She uses a walker now so I am very aware of handicapper's problems.)

 

As mobile as she was then, even getting off the elevators was a hazard because most of them open directly onto stairwells. This meant that if you got off the middle two elevators on E stairwell, for example, you were found yourself immediately in front of and about 3 feet from the down stairs, with no rails to block you if the ship lurched and you lost your balance. In addition, a couple of tucked-away elevators require you to climb a step or two to reach them!

 

If you took the outer elevators, you at least got off facing the up stairs, so if you fell, it would not have been so serious. I had to hold onto my mother both waiting for and exiting elevators to prevent her from falling down stairs.

 

In addition, there are stairs and steps all over where you least expect them, such as exits to decks. There are stairs that go up into the restaurant and then down once inside of the Caronia restaurant, although I was later told there is a shortcut you can request through an office that will take you in there if you are in a wheelchair or cannot do stairs.

 

There are also added-on ramps in public areas that do not completely cover both edges. I saw one elderly lady fall because she stepped too far to one side.

 

While I love this ship, I would not recommend it to anyone handicapped. Perhaps someone who has actually gone on her with a wheelchair will disagree.

[2moose]

We are very experienced cruisers, but have never done a Cunard cruise before. There are 3 of us...my mother cannot walk or stand and uses a power wheelchair. Does anyone here have any experience with the fully wheelchair accessible cabins (photos would be a big plus) on this ship (I understand there are only 4)? Accessibility of other amenities? We are looking at a late spring 2006 Scandanavian cruise. Any info would be appreciated.

 

I have already posted this on the Disabled Cruisers forum here as well.

may i suggest that the qm2 would readily fit your mothers need more so then the qe2. bon voyage

[carlmm]

Just a second hand observation:

There were always a number of people in wheelchairs on board when I was there. Some of them pointed out how much they liked to sail the QE2.

 

Hopefully somebody with first-hand experience will respond, too.

[Splinter]

Thanks. We want to do a Scandanavian cruise next spring, and the QE2 goes where we want to go, not the QM. We may need to consider another cruise line. Once the new ADA cruise ship standards go into effect, it will be interesting to see how Cunard responds to them as their only alternative will be to stop having any USA ports.