Mobility assistance

[rfkeith10]

I am a seasoned cruiser but have been on a river cruise.  I am looking at American Cruise line for my first US river trip.  I have issues with my mobility and use a collapsible portable scooter onboard cruise ships.  I wonder if someone has had any experience with a scooter onboard an ACL ship.  Thanks so much.

[rfkeith10]

Just now, rfkeith10 said:

I am a seasoned cruiser but have been on a river cruise.  I am looking at American Cruise line for my first US river trip.  I have issues with my mobility and use a collapsible portable scooter onboard cruise ships.  I wonder if someone has had any experience with a scooter onboard an ACL ship.  Thanks so much.

First sentence should read..but have never been on a river cruise.

[bhopal21]

I think you will be fine as there have always been mobility challenged people on each of my ACL cruises.  The crew is always ready to assist those needing help boarding and disembarking.

 

Mike😊

[twototravel]

Since the ships have elevators, you shouldn't have any problem onboard getting around on a scooter. Getting on and off may be a challenge...the older ships have you embark and disembark at ports using a small, plank board going from the ship to the shore, sometimes at steep angles. On our two cruises, people with mobility issues were assisted by crew getting on and off the ship where their chair or scooter was waiting for them.

[rfkeith10]

17 hours ago, bhopal21 said:

I think you will be fine as there have always been mobility challenged people on each of my ACL cruises.  The crew is always ready to assist those needing help boarding and disembarking.

 

Mike😊

Thanks for the response.  I appreciate your thoughts...

[rfkeith10]

7 hours ago, twototravel said:

Since the ships have elevators, you shouldn't have any problem onboard getting around on a scooter. Getting on and off may be a challenge...the older ships have you embark and disembark at ports using a small, plank board going from the ship to the shore, sometimes at steep angles. On our two cruises, people with mobility issues were assisted by crew getting on and off the ship where their chair or scooter was waiting for them.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  I've been watching a limited number of youtube videos associated with ACL and frankly I am having second thoughts.  I think taking any of the excursions offered might be to challenging for me.  On the larger cruise ships there are plenty of things to do without booking any shore activities.  Not so much on the river cruises.  Thank you for your thoughts...

[twototravel]

@rfkeith10 Check out the cruises using one of their new ships. They may work better for your situation.

[Woofbite]

Just got off a Columbia River trip and I have never seen so many passengers needing assistance, (including me).  There were always crew members at the gangway with spare chairs pushing people up to buses for every excursion.  Places visited varied in their accommodations but there were usually a few exhibits, movies or seats to sit and watch the passing scene.  As a last resort you could always enjoy the drive and stay on the bus.

[rfkeith10]

Thank you for the info.  I appreciate you taking the time to respond.  One of my main concerns was shore excursions.  I’d thought about the option of staying on the bus during stops.  Did you see folks actually staying on the bus?  

[Ski Mom]

Hello! I was wondering if you went on the ACL River Cruise you were inquiring about. I too have mobility issues and I am having trouble finding information about the accessibility on these ships and trips. I’ve only had experience with Princess cruises and they are outstanding when it comes to accommodations for people with disabilities or mobility issues both on and off the boat. I’ve always wanted to try a smaller cruise ship but I am nervous about if they would be appropriate for me. I was wondering if you could give me any feedback on how your experience was. Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated! I was considering either a Cape Cod color cruise or the Snake River cruise. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

[chengkp75]

As ACL ships are US flag, they are required to be more accessible than the foreign flag ships are.

[Izena]

I have been on 2 ACL cruise. The first was the pride on  Columbia river. That was in 2019  - I was extremely impressed on the crews assistance with any mobility issue.  Even saw them carrying someone in their wheelchair.   That was a major reason I choose to cruise again — at that time I was 100 lbs overweight and couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs.  
 

Fast forward 3 years when finally able to cruise again because of Covid delays.  Took a 10 day cruise out of Boston.  It was a nightmare for mobility issues.  It was severely under staffed.  The excursions were all buses ride and NO ACL Staff accompanied us - we were on own getting on and of  buses.   Even just getting off the ship to explore the port- sometimes there was no one at the exit - no one kept log of people getting on or off ship.