Wheelchair

[baillie]

Please can anyone tell me if Celebrity are able to lend or hire wheelchair on cruise 

[1025cruise]

You need to borrow from an approved vendor.

[emmas gran]

You may have to contact the Special needs Dept, you should have a form sent with your booking (We get one every time although not needed)

 

specialistservicesuk@celebritycruises.com

[jono mono]

Took my own wheelchair last Sept, my wife found it hard to push on the carpet's, they did lend us one at no cost. Not sure if this is policy!.

[ChuckL]

4 hours ago, baillie said:

Please can anyone tell me if Celebrity are able to lend or hire wheelchair on cruise 

Celebrity has very few to loan, except for embarkation or debarkation. I’m renting a power wheelchair from Scootaround, but they have all types of equipment for rent for the mobility challenged. 

 

www.scootaround.com

 

Edited April 11, 2022 by ChuckL

[mom says]

As Chuck mentioned, Celebrity wheelchairs are for embarkation/disembarkation  assistance or for emergencies. You will need to rent from a 3rd party (Scootaround and Special Needs at Sea are the 2 most frequently recommended). Your chair will be waiting in your cabin when you embark, and they will pick it up from there when you leave.

[baillie]

Thank you all for your help and useful comments. Stress fracture of leg last week and due to sail on April 18th. Hopefully will manage to get around ship on crutches but will look into wheelchair rental

Thanks again

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, baillie said:

Thank you all for your help and useful comments. Stress fracture of leg last week and due to sail on April 18th. Hopefully will manage to get around ship on crutches but will look into wheelchair rental

Thanks again

Just a word of warning I was in a wheelchair following surgery and my husband found the chair hard to push on carpeted areas (I am quite small too). It really put pressure on his back. If we cruised needing a mobility aid again I would definitely go for a scooter rather than a chair. 

[kearney]

1 hour ago, baillie said:

Thank you all for your help and useful comments. Stress fracture of leg last week and due to sail on April 18th. Hopefully will manage to get around ship on crutches but will look into wheelchair rental

Thanks again

You definitely should sign up for wheelchair assistance to get on and off the ship. Contact special needs department at Celebrity. When you arrive look for a port worker with a chair.. they can be hard to find so you might ask a porter..these folks all know one another..so they can help. They will take you through checkin and to the gangway.. there a member of the crew will push you onto the ship. You don't want to deal with that. We generally tip both people. The day you leave they have wheelchair assistance at Sushi on 5.. I believe suite passengers might meet in another location.

 

We did periodically borrow a wheelchair, but we did not keep it. DH rents a scooter..but when going ashore we sometimes keep the scooter in the cabin and borrow a wheel chair to get out to the excursion vans.. 

 

If you have a cabin with the bed by the window/veranda you can get a scooter into a regular cabin..it is a bit tight, but it can be done... but if the bed is by the bath..you have little room to maneuver.  The rental agencies rent all kids of equipment ..including regular wheelchairs, scooters, they might even have walkers.. so I would check out scootaround and special needs groups and get a quote. But I will warn you if you cancel you lose at least some of your money..the closer to cruising the more.

[kearney]

16 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Just a word of warning I was in a wheelchair following surgery and my husband found the chair hard to push on carpeted areas (I am quite small too). It really put pressure on his back. If we cruised needing a mobility aid again I would definitely go for a scooter rather than a chair. 

On our Edge inaugural sailing our scooter failed to charge and we had to borrow a regular wheelchair for several days... I nearly dumped DH onto the ground several times... a hint.. where going from tile to carpet or carpet to tile... take the transition on an angle... DH is a big guy so I got quite the workout that cruise.

[kokopelli-az]

You will need to rent a wheelchair or bring your own.    There are a couple of companies spoken of often on Cruise Critic that rent wheelchairs (specialneedsatsea.com and scootaround).   They rent worldwide but you may have to contact them and speak to someone if you are renting for a cruise outside the United States.   

 

The only wheelchairs Celebrity has to loan are for embarking and debarking, not for during the cruise. 

And as mentioned, be sure to request and use Celebrity's wheelchair assistance for embarking and debarking.

 

You need to contact Celebrity's Access Department as they will need to know you will be using a wheelchair.  

 

You also might want to hop over to the Disabled Cruise board where this matter has been discussed numerous times:   https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

Edited April 11, 2022 by kokopelli-az

[baillie]

Thank you all again but I am now managing to get around on crutches. I have filled out and submitted form for assistance getting on and off ship. 

[chemmo]

4 minutes ago, baillie said:

Thank you all again but I am now managing to get around on crutches. I have filled out and submitted form for assistance getting on and off ship. 

So pleased you are becoming more mobile, sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

[lindi]

On 4/11/2022 at 7:52 AM, baillie said:

Please can anyone tell me if Celebrity are able to lend or hire wheelchair on cruise 

Yes, they will lend one and there is no need to hire one.We just went through this a week ago on Edge and they were fantastic.  They will have one for you at the pier by the steeveadors and show you to your room. Then they leave a wheelchair in your room for the duration of the cruise to use.   You or your travel agent must call the Celebrity Acessibility dept. prior to your cruise so they have the info and request. Hope this helps🌷
 

[lindi]

On 4/11/2022 at 4:13 PM, kokopelli-az said:

You will need to rent a wheelchair or bring your own.    There are a couple of companies spoken of often on Cruise Critic that rent wheelchairs (specialneedsatsea.com and scootaround).   They rent worldwide but you may have to contact them and speak to someone if you are renting for a cruise outside the United States.   

 

The only wheelchairs Celebrity has to loan are for embarking and debarking, not for during the cruise. 

And as mentioned, be sure to request and use Celebrity's wheelchair assistance for embarking and debarking.

 

You need to contact Celebrity's Access Department as they will need to know you will be using a wheelchair.  

 

You also might want to hop over to the Disabled Cruise board where this matter has been discussed numerous times:   https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

Yes, they do provide wheelchairs for the cruise .. I was provided one for the embarkation, duration and disembarkation on the Edge March 27th sailing  by their Accessibility Dept. We had just previously rented with Scootaround and the Access dept said to cancel that, and they would definitely provide the wheelchair,, and they did. Also, if you do decide to rent from Scootaround there is a nominal insurance which is available for cancelllation and damage. We cancelled and got our money back promptly on our cc.

[kokopelli-az]

32 minutes ago, lindi said:

Yes, they do provide wheelchairs for the cruise .. I was provided one for the embarkation, duration and disembarkation on the Edge March 27th sailing  by their Accessibility Dept.

That is interesting.   Celebrity used to loan wheelchairs to use while on your cruise.   We actually used wheelchairs provided by Celebrity when they were offering them to borrow.  This was a few years ago and then they changed that policy and their wheelchairs were only available for embarking and disembarking.  But it depended on who you talked to....  And sometimes the wheelchair was not in our room as promised.

 

It is good that you were able to borrow one during your cruise.   

 

I am wondering if this is just on certain ships?     

 

We have a couple of Celebrity cruises booked this year so out of curiosity, I think I will ask if they will provide a wheelchair to use during the cruise.  

 

It would be nice if they would have a consistent policy on this.

[chemmo]

It could be owing to reduced numbers on board that they are presently able to do this. 

[Mimiya11]

10 hours ago, kokopelli-az said:

That is interesting.   Celebrity used to loan wheelchairs to use while on your cruise.   We actually used wheelchairs provided by Celebrity when they were offering them to borrow.  This was a few years ago and then they changed that policy and their wheelchairs were only available for embarking and disembarking.  But it depended on who you talked to....  And sometimes the wheelchair was not in our room as promised.

 

It is good that you were able to borrow one during your cruise.   

 

I am wondering if this is just on certain ships?     

 

We have a couple of Celebrity cruises booked this year so out of curiosity, I think I will ask if they will provide a wheelchair to use during the cruise.  

 

It would be nice if they would have a consistent policy on this.

As a FYI, we were on the Reflection last month.   My sister in law contacted Celebrity in advance and had the use of a wheelchair not only for embarkation and disembarkation but also was able to take the Celebrity wheelchair to wander ports and if necessary during the week.   

[lindi]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:38 PM, kokopelli-az said:

That is interesting.   Celebrity used to loan wheelchairs to use while on your cruise.   We actually used wheelchairs provided by Celebrity when they were offering them to borrow.  This was a few years ago and then they changed that policy and their wheelchairs were only available for embarking and disembarking.  But it depended on who you talked to....  And sometimes the wheelchair was not in our room as promised.

 

It is good that you were able to borrow one during your cruise.   

 

I am wondering if this is just on certain ships?     

 

We have a couple of Celebrity cruises booked this year so out of curiosity, I think I will ask if they will provide a wheelchair to use during the cruise.  

 

It would be nice if they would have a consistent policy on this.

Only 1400 passengers  on our cruise so that could be the reason why they  allowed it. 

[Guppy99]

On 4/11/2022 at 7:52 AM, baillie said:

Please can anyone tell me if Celebrity are able to lend or hire wheelchair on cruise 

They will wheel someone from check-in to onboard. They will not rent a chair to you for use during the cruise. Also, the only ones they keep on board are very old heavy things from many years ago. If you need a wheelchair for the duration of the cruise, call Scootaround.com. They rent wheelchairs, scooters and walkers. They drop them in your cabin, and pick them up after the cruise. Could not be easier, and the cost is surprisingly little. 

 

If anyone had a different experience it is an anomaly and should not be counted on.

[emmas gran]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:21 PM, baillie said:

Thank you all again but I am now managing to get around on crutches. I have filled out and submitted form for assistance getting on and off ship. 

The OP has posted this since her original post.

[Guppy99]

8 hours ago, emmas gran said:

The OP has posted this since her original post.

well someone else may be interested in the same subject....so very nice of you to point out though

[baillie]

On Millennium at present and no problem borrowing wheelchair and able to take on excursion. Hopefully this helpful for others who may need short term assistance. Thank you for all replies. 

[the penguins]

13 hours ago, baillie said:

On Millennium at present and no problem borrowing wheelchair and able to take on excursion. Hopefully this helpful for others who may need short term assistance. Thank you for all replies. 

Please, please don't rely on this. In an emergency yes. Celebrity are very clear that they only have a few chairs and no guarantees. The only way to be certain is to bring your own. There are always chairs to help with original boarding and disembarkation , book in advance, but even then it can involve a long wait. At some ports it is very, very difficult to disembark using a chair of any sort. I will post a pic later of boarding in Buenos Aires as an example. It took 3 Celebrity staff to get 1 chair up to the ship.

[the penguins]

There was no other way on to the ship. We stayed overnight. Assistance provided until midnight, tours returned from the Tango show between midnight and 1.0am.