Looking for wheelchair friendly, less crowded cruiseline

[dcsam]

Hello fellow cruisers.  Curious what luxury cruiseline/ship is a good fit for someone using a wheelchair.  We loved Viking Oceans and felt it was one of the most accessible ships we’ve cruised on.  However, I think they, and other guests, would rather not have wheelchair users onboard.  We recently cruised with Oceania aboard the Regatta, and realize it’s time we give up that class of ship - very challenging for wheelchair users. 

  Looking at Seabourn, Crystal (Serenity), Regent or Oceania’s new Vista.  

Automatic, public ada bathroom doors. Low thresholds, wider hallways, automatic doors into the pool deck area.  These things are important.  

Perhaps newer ships would be best. Yet, we don’t want to cruise the mass-market, mega-sized ships.  

Ideas?  Suggestions?

Thank you!

[JSR]

Look at Silversea Nova and the upcoming Ray. SSea is very accommodating to wheelchairs though the older ships don’t have the automatic doors to the outside. The Nova seems like it does. Won’t be on it until January but take a look online for yourselves. 

[suramom]

Princess is very accommodating and easy to use a scooter on.  Only problem is getting a handicapped cabin, which is fantastic.  However, it appears you want a much more luxurious type of ship, although Club Class on Princess might be similar.

 

[cruisinsince75]

Bringing this back up.  We recently did a cruise on the Seabourn Ovation.  Both my wife and I are recently disabled and we require the use of mobility scooters.  They have a good selection of accessible suites.  We particularly like suite 550.  We found it very spacious at over 500 sf and there are no steps to get into the bathroom or accessible shower, and has a ramp out to the veranda. 

 

We found Seabourn a bit more relaxed than Silversea and on par with Regent.   

 

We also have booked two larger ships.  We are going on the Regal Princess in an accessible mini-suite which measures 455 sf.  Also, we are going on the HAL Nieuw Statendam in an accessible veranda suite that measures just under 400 sf.  The thing I like about this ship, it just went through refurbishment where ADA additions were completed to the 2027 specifications.  All accessible staterooms and public facilities have automatic door openings.  

 

I hope this may be of help so someone.

[landlocked12]

We are on the Nieuw Amsterdamin cabin 5001, an accessible Signature Suite. They completely remodeled it during the drydock last month so the pictures on HALfacts are no longer accurate. My mom has a scooter and we can turn it around in this cabin, something we could not do in cabin 6108 on the Oosterdam, which was listed as a fully accessible but did not have much more if and more room than a standard. These  pictures are of 5001 on the Nieuw Amsterdam.
 

 

Edited January 2 by landlocked12
Clarification

[Victoria2]

We find Queens Grill on Elizabeth and Victoria very accommodating for wheelchair users, both in respects of the staff and the cabins.

[Cruz4Sun]

 We have cruised twice on the Caribbean Princess in the accessible window suite.  Very spacious room.  The staff and fellow passengers were great.  During the day we easily navigated the ship.  In the evening the piazza was crowded so we found entertainment options in quieter locations like the Wheelhouse Bar or Movies Under the Stars.