Mom broke her leg 34 days from cruise.(no trip insurance). Questions...

[reallyitsmema]

First off, best wishes to your Mom.  I hope she heals quickly.  We have cancelled a cruise due to my husband breaking his ankle but have sailed with him in a full leg brace due to surgery for a ruptured quadricept.  He was only six weeks post surgery but was cleared to cruise but wasn't cleared to fly.  Luckily, we were driving to port.  Getting in and out of the bathroom is the biggest issue.  That small step up and crutches in a tight space was tricky.  We requested a shower stool for bathing and that helped a lot.  He did not want a raised toilet seat but I know those are available.  We also had the cabin steward bring a large bucket of ice twice a day so he could ice his leg as he swelled more in the warm weather and more activity.  We brought an old fashioned ice bag with the screw top that worked great.  Those don't sweat like ziploc bags do.  We never got off the ship but was a nice and relaxing cruise.

 

Just wanted to share a few things you might want to consider if she is still able to sail.  I know you are supposed to give 30 days notice to the special needs department but I am sure they will be able to deal with a late request once she sees how she is able to get around and makes her decision.  Best wishes. 🙂 

[ILOVEHI50]

6 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

You can move names around and keep your dad on the listing and he just ends up a no show, but I'm a little confused what you mean by "find 1 friend that can be added in place of the person that moved into your parents room."    You can't just have a random person show up at check-in who isn't on the reservation. 

Correct, but they could add another person in place of the mother ahead of the cruise.  Before the deadline.

 

[Sizzlechest]

Did you pay with a credit card? It's a longshot since so many credit cards are scaling back their benefits these days, but check if your credit card has any built-in trip insurance. I use Chase Sapphire specifically for travel because it includes Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance.

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

First off, best wishes to your Mom.  I hope she heals quickly.  We have cancelled a cruise due to my husband breaking his ankle but have sailed with him in a full leg brace due to surgery for a ruptured quadricept.  He was only six weeks post surgery but was cleared to cruise but wasn't cleared to fly.  Luckily, we were driving to port.  Getting in and out of the bathroom is the biggest issue.  That small step up and crutches in a tight space was tricky.  We requested a shower stool for bathing and that helped a lot.  He did not want a raised toilet seat but I know those are available.  We also had the cabin steward bring a large bucket of ice twice a day so he could ice his leg as he swelled more in the warm weather and more activity.  We brought an old fashioned ice bag with the screw top that worked great.  Those don't sweat like ziploc bags do.  We never got off the ship but was a nice and relaxing cruise.

 

Just wanted to share a few things you might want to consider if she is still able to sail.  I know you are supposed to give 30 days notice to the special needs department but I am sure they will be able to deal with a late request once she sees how she is able to get around and makes her decision.  Best wishes. 🙂 

 

Thanks, they already were planning to drive to the port, so that helps.  Fingers crossed.

 

Dan

[The Fun Researcher]

17 hours ago, Biker19 said:

You can wait for the name change shuffle till a couple of days out.

 

47 minutes ago, ILOVEHI50 said:

Correct, but they could add another person in place of the mother ahead of the cruise.  Before the deadline.

 

 

Hopefully it doesn't come to that but do you know the cutoff for that?  (how many days before the cruise)  Is it two days? 

 

I expect we'll have it well sorted before then, but curious.

Dan

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Hopefully it doesn't come to that but do you know the cutoff for that?  (how many days before the cruise)  Is it two days? 

Name changes can be made up 24 hours out, though I wouldn't wait till then.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Biker19

[brillohead]

6 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Currently the situation is like this:

• Connecting Inside Cabin 1:  Myself and son 12  (we split my wife and I between the two rooms on the booking to allow for 4 bottles of wine brought onboard, however in reality my wife and I would share the two person cabin and the kids would all be in the other)
• Connecting Inside Cabin 2:  Wife, Daughter 18, Daughter 15, Niece 18
• Balcony Cabin 3:  Mom and Dad

Hopefully in a couple days you'll get the word that it's okay for Mom to go with a wheelchair or scooter, and none of this will matter.  

However, if you do get confirmation that she will not be allowed to go, you can do the following on paper:

 

• Connecting Inside Cabin 1:  TFR and son 12  
• Connecting Inside Cabin 2:  Daughter 18, Daughter 15, Niece 18
• Balcony Cabin 3:  Mom (who will no-show) and Wife

And then you can do the following in reality:
 

• Connecting Inside Cabin 1:  Son 12, Daughter 15
• Connecting Inside Cabin 2:  Daughter 18, Niece 18 
• Balcony Cabin 3:  TFR and Wife
   

This would allow you to cancel the "fourth person" in Connecting Inside Cabin 2 (the rules are different for cancellation of the third and fourth person in a room) and get that money back.  

This would also give your wife double points for that cruise.  (If you have more points than your wife, switch it around so that whoever has the most points now gets the double points, since you share your point status anyway.)

 

 

[BSocial]

6 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 .... My mom is more than happy to go on the cruise in a wheelchair, if the doctors permit.

 

Dan

sending prayers to your Mom for good healing.   Sounds like she has a great attitude.  
 

I laughed when you mentioned that while in the ER, her thoughts and questions  were about the cruise.   She surely deserves to go, LOL. 

[ARandomTraveler]

On 2/17/2020 at 5:23 PM, Merion_Mom said:

 

As Lee said, one of the original names on the cabin's invoice must remain.

 

Did you by any chance book through a travel agent?  There may be a sneaky solution.

Can they change one of the names now, and then next week swap the other parent out because now the first swapped person looks original?

 

Example: your cousin swaps out for mom. Now, cousin looks like an original passenger, so next week aunt swaps out for dad. 

[The Fun Researcher]

18 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Name changes can be made up 24 hours out, though I wouldn't wait till then.

 

Thx.

 

13 hours ago, BSocial said:

sending prayers to your Mom for good healing.   Sounds like she has a great attitude.  
 

I laughed when you mentioned that while in the ER, her thoughts and questions  were about the cruise.   She surely deserves to go, LOL. 

 

Prayers are always welcomed and appreciated.  Thank you.  She had a rod and screws placed in the femur yesterday and is doing great.  I can't believe it but they had her up and walking (with a walker) within a few hours of surgery, and there will only be more of that to come by the sounds of it.  No cast it seems.  She's a little 5 foot, 112 lb dynamo and I think it really helps that she keeps herself healthy and active.

 

At this point she's determined to make the cruise.  She has the days counting down as her goal to be ready.  🙂  Of course that will ultimately be determined by the doctors, but at this point I'm amazed how far medicine has come.  I would never have imagined she would be walking and putting full weight on it already.

 

Dan

[The Fun Researcher]

14 hours ago, brillohead said:

Hopefully in a couple days you'll get the word that it's okay for Mom to go with a wheelchair or scooter, and none of this will matter.  

However, if you do get confirmation that she will not be allowed to go, you can do the following on paper:

 

• Connecting Inside Cabin 1:  TFR and son 12  
• Connecting Inside Cabin 2:  Daughter 18, Daughter 15, Niece 18
• Balcony Cabin 3:  Mom (who will no-show) and Wife

And then you can do the following in reality:
 

• Connecting Inside Cabin 1:  Son 12, Daughter 15
• Connecting Inside Cabin 2:  Daughter 18, Niece 18 
• Balcony Cabin 3:  TFR and Wife
   

This would allow you to cancel the "fourth person" in Connecting Inside Cabin 2 (the rules are different for cancellation of the third and fourth person in a room) and get that money back.  

This would also give your wife double points for that cruise.  (If you have more points than your wife, switch it around so that whoever has the most points now gets the double points, since you share your point status anyway.)

 

 

 

Thats really interesting about the rules for a third and fourth person.  Thanks for that info.  In your scenario, I’m “TFR” correct?

 

My wife and I are equal points (53 before this cruise) so the double points would be awfully nice in our pursuit to diamond.   This is a 7 night cruise, and we have a 9 nighter in July.  Doubling up points on this cruise would get use really close to diamond by the end of this year.

 

We would gladly give that up for my parents to cruise with us, and so far things are going well.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Dan

[brillohead]

5 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Thats really interesting about the rules for a third and fourth person.  Thanks for that info.  In your scenario, I’m “TFR” correct?

Yep, The Fun Researcher is TFR.

Great news about your mom!!!!  May I recommend getting her a "rollator" type walker for your trip?  That way she'll always have a place to sit down and rest, and you can even push her in it as a wheelchair if she's super tired at one point.  
 

And if she's just not up to using a walker full-time yet by the time of the trip, a regular rental scooter WILL fit in her stateroom and will provide her with a ton of independence and preserve her energy. 

• Bring a little wedge doorstop to hold the room door open, and you can drive it in and out.  
• Putting the coffee table on the balcony will provide more room to park the scooter in the living room area.
• Taking the armrests off will make it even easier to maneuver through the doorway.

 

Happy cruising and family memory-making!

[shopaholic6]

I hope it all works out for your mum and you all get to go on your planned cruise 😊 keep us updated 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[The Fun Researcher]

35 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Great news about your mom!!!!  May I recommend getting her a "rollator" type walker for your trip? 

Happy cruising and family memory-making!

 

That's a great tip regarding the rollator walker.  I just "youtube'd" them and you're right they would work great on a ship.  I'm guessing she may not be able to spend all day walking around with one of them by the time of the cruise, so a wheelchair may be useful as well.  Does Royal provide them (by request or for a fee), or do we need to bring one with?

Dan

[Btank]

6 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

At this point she's determined to make the cruise.  She has the days counting down as her goal to be ready.  🙂

You go, Mom!  Show those doctors who's the boss. 🤘

 

     --bruce T.

 

[LeeW]

On 2/19/2020 at 7:18 AM, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 

 

At this point she's determined to make the cruise.  She has the days counting down as her goal to be ready.  🙂  Of course that will ultimately be determined by the doctors, but at this point I'm amazed how far medicine has come.  I would never have imagined she would be walking and putting full weight on it already.

 

Dan

 

Good for her!  Now all you need to do is book a scooter for her since she won't want to use just a walker around the ship.

[brillohead]

On 2/19/2020 at 3:52 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

 

That's a great tip regarding the rollator walker.  I just "youtube'd" them and you're right they would work great on a ship.  I'm guessing she may not be able to spend all day walking around with one of them by the time of the cruise, so a wheelchair may be useful as well.  Does Royal provide them (by request or for a fee), or do we need to bring one with?

Dan

Royal doesn't provide them, but you can rent them.  Check out Special Needs at Sea or Scootaround websites.  

Also research the difference between wheelchairs, transport chairs, and mobility scooters and talk with your mom to see which she would prefer.  They each have their pluses and minuses.

A transport chair is the lightest weight and easiest to fold-and-go (can pop it in a cab in port), but requires someone to push it (it has four smaller wheels).  You can purchase one for yourself for under $100 if you think she'd get use out of one before/after the cruise, too.

 

A wheelchair is something that she can move around herself because it has the two bigger wheels with a hand-rail she can push to self-propel if needed, but without getting a specialty chair it's not something she's going to want to use to take herself too far without someone to push her.  It can also fold to go into a taxi in port, but it weighs more and takes up more room because of the much larger wheels.

A regular mobility scooter WILL fit in a non-accessible stateroom (even easier if you remove the armrests, which tend to catch on things, and take a wedge doorstop to hold the door open without having a person in the way to hold the door) and will offer the most independence for your mom to move freely about the ship.  It also costs the most, and is not easily portable enough to take in a cab in port -- however, it CAN go into port to ride around for in-town shopping and sight-seeing. 

 

You can also take a lightweight walker and bungee-cord it to the back of the scooter, so she can leave the scooter at the door of a shop or restaurant (take the key with you!) and then use the walker to maneuver inside the tighter space.  She can trial-run one of those shopping scooters at Walmart to get an idea if it's something she'd like to use, keeping in mind that the rental scooters are smaller and more maneuverable.  

I hope that helps -- if I can answer any questions, please let me know, I'd love to help her enjoy her cruise to the fullest!
 

 

 

[The Fun Researcher]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

Royal doesn't provide them, but you can rent them.  Check out Special Needs at Sea or Scootaround websites.  

Also research the difference between wheelchairs, transport chairs, and mobility scooters and talk with your mom to see which she would prefer.  They each have their pluses and minuses.

A transport chair is the lightest weight and easiest to fold-and-go (can pop it in a cab in port), but requires someone to push it (it has four smaller wheels).  You can purchase one for yourself for under $100 if you think she'd get use out of one before/after the cruise, too.

 

A wheelchair is something that she can move around herself because it has the two bigger wheels with a hand-rail she can push to self-propel if needed, but without getting a specialty chair it's not something she's going to want to use to take herself too far without someone to push her.  It can also fold to go into a taxi in port, but it weighs more and takes up more room because of the much larger wheels.

A regular mobility scooter WILL fit in a non-accessible stateroom (even easier if you remove the armrests, which tend to catch on things, and take a wedge doorstop to hold the door open without having a person in the way to hold the door) and will offer the most independence for your mom to move freely about the ship.  It also costs the most, and is not easily portable enough to take in a cab in port -- however, it CAN go into port to ride around for in-town shopping and sight-seeing. 

 

You can also take a lightweight walker and bungee-cord it to the back of the scooter, so she can leave the scooter at the door of a shop or restaurant (take the key with you!) and then use the walker to maneuver inside the tighter space.  She can trial-run one of those shopping scooters at Walmart to get an idea if it's something she'd like to use, keeping in mind that the rental scooters are smaller and more maneuverable.  

I hope that helps -- if I can answer any questions, please let me know, I'd love to help her enjoy her cruise to the fullest!

 

Super nice of you to type all that up, and for your kind words!  You're awesome!

 

It's amazing, but it's only two days after surgery (rod and screws in the femur)  and she's home with a walker.  She has to take it easy and rest/ice her leg, but she's able to get around on her own with the walker already when needed.  Things are looking good.  However she will definitely need something for the cruise, and your suggestions of the rollator or the transport chair both look like perfect options for her.  My dad is easily able to wheel her around if needed with that transport chair, and that rollator looks super cool as a walker with that handy seat.  For the price, we may just purchase one of each of those option.  I think we'll wait until closer to the cruise to decide what to purchase.

 

Thank again for your thoughtfulness and kindness.  Happy cruising.

Dan

[brillohead]

9 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Super nice of you to type all that up, and for your kind words!  You're awesome!

Happy to help!  

She'd probably do well to go ahead and get a rollator now for home use -- they're handy with that seat built in, you can sit by the stove and stir a pot while resting the leg, brush your teeth in the bathroom, etc.

And yes, transport chairs are cheap enough to just buy your own -- or you can usually find them really super-duper cheap on Craigslist, too, with people just trying to get rid of them once they're no longer needed.  Just make sure whatever you get can support her leg in whatever position her surgeon recommends -- some have adjustable footrests that can come forward to straighten the leg, and others are bent-knee only (although it sounds like she doesn't have limitations like that, thank goodness), and some don't come with any footrests at all.  

BTW, a "beanbag travel pillow" can help with comfort when sitting/lying.  They mold to the shape of the leg, and you can move the little beads inside around as needed to provide support in a particular area.