Do cruise lines provide wheelchairs?

[65Mommy]

My partner needs one sometimes and I am not sure if we have to pack on the airines and bring on the ship.

[FOPMan]

No, if you regularly need a wheelchair you are responsible for either bringing one or renting one from the cruise line’s partner, which you generally need to do well in advance of your sail date. Depending upon your cruise line and departure port, it is likely that one of both special needs at sea or Scootaround have agreements with your cruise line.

 

The ship may have a wheelchair for emergency use, but not ones to provide for regular use by a particular passenger.

[kokopelli-az]

What cruise line are you going to be on?

 

Most cruise lines have wheelchair assistance (their wheelchair) for embarkation and disembarkation.  There are personnel who push the wheelchairs for you.  Such as, for embarkation you can get pushed, using the ship's wheelchair, from close to the entry to the terminal, through check-in and security, and to wherever you want to be dropped off on the ship (like your room if it's ready or the buffet, etc).   These same wheelchair pushers will push someone who has their own wheelchair, too.  Once they drop you off inside the ship, they will take the wheelchair (if it belongs to the ship) with them.  

 

If you rent a wheelchair from Scootaround or Special Needs at Sea, it will either be waiting for you outside the terminal or inside your stateroom (depending on where the ship departs from).  

[ozscotart]

We had a situation where we had to rent one onboard in an emergency, we were just lucky they had one available. If you know you’re going to need it, best taking your own. 

[65Mommy]

On 10/29/2022 at 2:24 PM, FOPMan said:

No, if you regularly need a wheelchair you are responsible for either bringing one or renting one from the cruise line’s partner, which you generally need to do well in advance of your sail date. Depending upon your cruise line and departure port, it is likely that one of both special needs at sea or Scootaround have agreements with your cruise line.

 

The ship may have a wheelchair for emergency use, but not ones to provide for regular use by a particular passenger.

Thanks for the guidance.This is our first time having to deal with this challenge.

[FOPMan]

A foldable wheelchair will fit, folded, in most, if not all, cabins,  however may need to be folded to get in and out the doorway. Power wheelchairs and scooters thar do not fold may not be able to get in the door or around furniture in a typical stateroom. You would need to book an accessible stateroom. These are few and far between and are not likely available at the last minute.

 

Accessibility on most ships is pretty good. Ports can vary significantly in how accessible they are. Many excursions use  large passenger busses that have several steps to climb up and do not generally have wheelchair lifts, although most will allow you to store a wheelchair underneath the passenger seating in a storage compartment.