First Experience With A Boot And Knee Scooter

[helen haywood]

Looking for some advice on how to navigate my first cruise with a boot due to a stress fracture.  We’re sailing in Celebrity Equinox and have several times before....back when I was walking unencumbered.  The cruise is three weeks away and I’ll probably still have the boot on.  I realized I was going to need some help walking the length of the ship with my very very slow pace...so I got a foldable knee scooter.

 

Starting with the terminal, I guess I take the elevator instead of the escalator.  I’m going to fill out the Celebrity form requesting wheelchair assistance to board only because I was afraid the gangway might be too steep for my knee scooter.  Or am I incorrect?

 

I plan to get to the Muster Drill early so I can use the elevators.  If my muster station is in the theater with steps can I request staying at the back?  Am I supposed to notify someone about this?  I read somewhere that the ship needs to know that you wouldn’t be able to get to your muster station in the event of an emergency...

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.  This cruise is to relax and we don’t plan to get off the ship...until they throw us off at the end.

[Algebralovr]

Contact Special Needs ASAP, but I would not expect any issues.  

The knee scooter will be fairly easy to navigate with.  They will loan you a wheelchair if you decide you need it.  
For the safety briefing, go a bit early, and someone will direct you to accessible seating that you can do without doing steps.

 

At boarding, if you desire a wheelchair assist, someone in your party will need to carry or push your knee scooter along with you.  
When you disembark at ports, they may want to help you off with a wheelchair as well for safety reasons.  There will always be someone behind you and in front of you in a wheelchair, possibly with the knee scooter as well.

 

In the event of an emergency, the ship would assign four crew members to carry you in a wheelchair to evacuate.  I asked last year when I was in my own.  

[helen haywood]

Thanks for your help!  I plan to contact Celebrity tomorrow.  I guess I mainly wasn’t sure if at Terminal 25 at Port Everglades I would be able to get up the gangway with my scooter...or if I’d need a wheelchair.

[Algebralovr]

I would ask for a wheelchair assist up the gangway.  That gangway is long, and steep is spots.  A WC assist up, then let you Scooter from there.

 

The cluster point is going to be the elevator, particularly when you disembark.  When that comes, I’d ask for the WC assist off (they always gather at disembarkation in the Bistro on 5).  As soon as you get to the elevator, I’d switch to the knee scooter, since there is always an issue with enough port side pushers at disembarkation.  
 

If you are able to splurge on Luggage Valet, that will be a huge help that day.

[helen haywood]

Thanks for your help!  We’re driving so Luggage Valet isn’t an option.  I was hoping we could find a porter in the luggage terminal at the end.  Worst case scenario our carryon bag converts to a backpack, my husband can put it on and push both our wheeled suitcases outside to the Park ‘No Go shuttle.

[Splinter]

I would have your husband drop you off at the pier and find a porter to assist you, then take the car to park. You can either board right away, or wait for him in the terminal, but this way you have the time to get the assistance you need set up.

[helen haywood]

Thanks for all the help.  Since starting this thread I tried out a knee scooter and it didn’t work for me, alas.  I have rented a mobility scooter through Special Needs At Sea.  I can walk with my boot...just don’t want to be walking on it all day throughout the whole cruise.  I’ll see how I feel at embarkation...and then the scooter is supposed to be waiting in the cabin...  Again, thanks for all the help...it’s sure a learning experience!

[Algebralovr]

I get it.

I used a knee scooter off and on for months a couple of years ago.  They are kind of tippy.  Better than regular crutches, but not great.  

Last year, I spent a number of months in a wheelchair, including while on Silhouette.  By the time we were on the cruise, I had been given permission to start putting weight on it, and I was wearing a boot.  It makes you walk funny and throws out your back.  Plus, I had been off it for 8 weeks while recovering from surgery on it, so it wasn't like I was ready to just start walking again.  

I think you'll be glad of the scooter.  Please do ask for the wheelchair assist when you arrive at port.  No sense in making yourself hurt at embarkation.  You need to give it time to heal.  

If you have any rough days, remember there is a fully accessible shower in the spa, in case you don't have an accessible room.

 

Also, please work with your stateroom attendant on where to park the scooter if you can't fit it into the room.  Last year, they guy next door, also not in an accesible room, had a scooter and it did not fit into the room.  It caused all kinds of issues for me getting through the hall to MY room in the wheelchair the first few days.

[helen haywood]

This is what worries me the most.  Both Celebrity’s Access Department and Special Needs At Sea tell me the standard scooter will fit in the cabin.  I do not have an accessible cabin and none are available at this late date.  The door opening is only one inch larger than the scooter, however, which makes me wonder  how it will fit when the cabin door is open into the cabin...  I’ll take pictures and report back for anyone else in my shoes.

[Algebralovr]

It will just really depend on the room.  If you are in a balcony on the slant that opens out, you'll probably be able to get it in no issue.  Anywhere else?  Hard to say.  I know, for example, that you'd be able to get it in to Rm 1120, but 1124/1126 might be tough.

 

I explained in your other thread.