Scooters and Wheelchairs

[Maeves Nana]

My husband has difficulty walking any distance or standing for more than a couple of 

minutes.  I am looking into renting a scooter or wheelchair for him for our July cruise but I wonder where 

you put them after you arrive at the MDR, ,buffet, casino, theater or pool.  Is there a storage or parking 

area they are put into or are they just in the way?  Does anyone have experience with exactly how that works?  It seems 

they may cause too many problems in getting around.  He can walk if we go no more than 1/2 a block at 

a time.

[FireEMT978]

10 hours ago, Maeves Nana said:

My husband has difficulty walking any distance or standing for more than a couple of 

minutes.  I am looking into renting a scooter or wheelchair for him for our July cruise but I wonder where 

you put them after you arrive at the MDR, ,buffet, casino, theater or pool.  Is there a storage or parking 

area they are put into or are they just in the way?  Does anyone have experience with exactly how that works?  It seems 

they may cause too many problems in getting around.  He can walk if we go no more than 1/2 a block at 

a time.

When we were on Seaside in October, people just parked them in the middle of the aisle. Didn't matter if it was the buffet, casino, or the common areas such as the pools. I didn't see any "Parking or Storage".

 

[Homosassa]

We cruised with another couple and the husband used a scooter.

 

First, you may need to book a handicapped accessible cabin to have room for the scooter. Please check with MSC  on the need for such a cabin.

 

In the dining room and the buffet, the scooter would be taken by the staff and placed in an out of the way location until needed to leave.

 

The theater (Divina) had places in the rear of the theater for passengers on scooters to park and stay on the scooter for the show.  Otherwise, the scooters were in the rear of the theater. 

 

We had no experience with the casino or pool as we didn't use either.

[SirWolf]

In the theater on Seaview seats in the first row are HC marked/reserved. Scooters are parked on the very left or very right side of the stage. No designated scooter parking but plenty of space next to stage.

[Homosassa]

Why don't you try asking on the Disabled Cruise Travel forum?  While it is not MSC specific, you may have posters on that forum that have traveled on MSC.  They were also very helpful on things to do ashore when we traveled with our friend with a scooter.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

[Maeves Nana]

Thank you all for your information and advice.  No better place for obtaining information based on experience.

 

[Nessa55]

On 12/18/2018 at 10:12 AM, Maeves Nana said:

Thank you all for your information and advice.  No better place for obtaining information based on experience.

 

You are correct and as I was reading your question, my answers (I use a rollaider when traveling) were pretty much answered by other posters. When I go into the dining room, I am able to walk so I park it wherever the dining room staff tell me to park it. Like your spouse, my issue is not being able to stand or walk for long periods of time so I always travel with my rollaider which you might want to look into as opposed to renting a scooter or wheelchair. I don't have to book a handicapped cabin as it does not take up much space and can fold if need be although I have never had to fold mine out of the way. In the theater as stated, there are areas for handicapped users, I don't do the pool but when walking thru, you can plant it out of the way so you need not worry about this being an issue in any of the venues.

[mexico8]

I have a Travelscoot mobility scooter and have taken it on an  MSC cruise (Poesia) and other cruise lines.   Never have a problem with parking it somewhere.   The dining room staff will take it and park it for you or you can just park it in an out-of-the-way spot.   There is always someplace to leave it.    You can ride it through the casino and the pool areas as well.    Most doors are automatic.   I would much rather have a scooter than a rollator.   Guess it depends on each person.   

 

If you do decide to rent a scooter make sure it will fit into your cabin.    Better to have an accessible cabin so you have room for a scooter.  Do read the posts in the Disability section - lots of good info there.

[Maeves Nana]

Great advice.  Thank you all.