Edge/Apex for disabled people?

[sammygeorge]

We're planning a Christmas 2020 cruise for our entire family and am wondering if the Edge/Apex work well for people using scooters/walkers/wheelchairs.  It seems to me I read early reviews of Edge that pointed out places on the ship that were unaccessible/difficult to get to for people on wheels.  

 

Thanks for your help!! 

[Bo1953]

Also, as far as I have been made to understand, the major issue with some scooters and the like tends to be their size vs the size of some elevators/lifts.

 

I have read where those with the 'smaller' wheels had very few issues to none, yet those with the larger ones found it difficult to navigate.

 

My take away from the discussions happens to be that many of the scooters which work well on land will not work well on ships.

 

bon voyage

[cruisestitch]

I would agree with that and I also found a few areas that were only accessible by steps. For instance there was an area overlooking Eden where they were holding the knitting classes. It was Up 4 to 5 steps, so inaccessible by wheelchair or scooter.  There was another area by the main bar of the atrium. A little hard to describe but it was also inaccessible.

[driftychick]

Hubby and I are both Scooter Users and found the Edge to be one of the best ships for us in using the scooters.  Hubby uses the bigger Scooter and he was unable to get it into the elevator to go down to the dinner area of Eden, however he was able to use his walker in that area.  So not totally unaccusable. 

 

we enjoyed the ship so much that we have booked again for next November and will also be looking into APEX to see if anything has changed.

[Caribbean Chris]

It was kind of a mixed bag. 

 

I travel with a service dog, so the rare doors that open automatically are very welcome, as they are for people who use chairs, walkers, and other devices for mobility. I go to the dog relief area numerous times daily via a section of the outdoor promenade deck area (typically forward on deck 5). Some of the exits on this ship had automatic doors - but in some cases these paired sets of doors weren’t fully automatic - you still had to press manual push bars to open one set. (photo)  It seemed odd.

 

The access to the two levels of Deck 15 for Rooftop Grill and Sunset Bar was kind of convoluted, as was the twice-daily trek required through the purposeless dark forest to reach our dining  room, Blu, and Eden bar if we wanted a drink before dinner.

 

I think three sets of elevators and better space allocation would have made this ship design work better. We sailed the new HAL ship, Nieuw Amsterdam, soon after Edge and found it much more comfortable in numerous ways - the HAL ship is somewhat smaller and carries fewer passengers, but had three sets of elevators and seemed to have much more seating everywhere, inside & out.

[sammygeorge]

Thank you everyone!  Your responses have been helpful.  

[HS2BS]

We were on this years transatlantic east bound(15 days) and in an accessible infinity veranda. I had posted earlier that when in a wheelchair some of the thresholds(floor saddles) between areas were very hard to get over. In the theater there is no accessible seating reserved(as there is on other ships) except in front/side of the stage, but was still hard to get there. In the food court, tables lacked large enough signage to indicate handicap seating, therefore no seating or there were handicapped tables out by the ice cream(inconvenient location).

The cabin had a few hiccups that were minor - like the toiletries in the shower were placed to high, switch to veranda was again to high.

I suggested to the administrative staff that the need a wheelchair bound person to regularly check the ship and make corrective recommendations; they said they had done that. All-all it was a great cruise( we just got off the Summit and most of those problems don’t exist except the thresholds are still problematic in a wheelchair.

 

Hal

[UFMOM]

I was on Edge a few months after having my ankle broken in three places. I was using a rollator/walker then and what I remember most were the steps up into the Martini Bar in the atrium area so I could not get to the bar area although I think there was a back way around the the back of the bar that I found later, but it was narrow and inconvenient. Also I could not use the stairs in Eden and had to use the elevator, but that was fine also. It was a slog to get to the Sunset Bar and difficult to maneuver around there. The Sunset Bar and the new Martini Bar are my least favorite areas on Edge and my favorites on S class. Edge has some things I really really love, and some not so much but with S class I love everything.

 

Mary Ann