Princess cruise to Cabo, limited wheelchair accessibility?

[Morphumax]

Going on a cruise with princess soon and 2 members of our party are in wheelchairs. One can walk minimally the other cannot walk at all. I haven't been able to find a very direct answer with princess, but does anyone know if it's possible for wheelchairs to get on any of the tenders thta go from the ship to the port and vice versa? I saw one comment somewhere that said something about a lifeboat tender, but that's all I've seen. Really hoping to find out for sure either way so we can plan ahead instead of being disappointed day of. Thank you

[FOPMan]

It depends on the tenders being used and the sea/weather conditions. If the ship is using its lifeboats as tenders, they are not generally wheels friendly. Some of the larger port-based tenders are.

 

Waves and weather also make a difference. Transferring in rough conditions can be tough and the crew and captain do not particularly want to put passengers or staff in harm's way. And they do consider the weather not only when going ashore but what a return may look like. 

[kokopelli-az]

I just read a recent post that Princess was using their own ship tenders in Cabo.  And another one that said when they were in Cabo Princess used the ship's tenders plus tenders from Cabo.  You might not know exactly what they will be using until you get there.   However, no matter what they use passengers must be able to walk a few steps on their own to get in and out of the tender unless the tender has roll-on access.   Plan B is staying on the ship, which has its perks - most people are off the ship so it's much more relaxing.   

 

You might be able to check with Guest Services to see if they have any knowledge of what kind of tenders will be used in Cabo.   If you can't find out, you could go to the gangway (without the wheelchair people) and look to see what they are using or ask one of the crew if your wheelchair passengers can board the tender.   

 

If you're lucky, they will be using a tender with roll-on access.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC1byje0brE    

 

And have you seen this:    https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise    (scroll to Accessible Cruising and then to Accessibility Ashore.  

 

[Morphumax]

13 hours ago, kokopelli-az said:

I just read a recent post that Princess was using their own ship tenders in Cabo.  And another one that said when they were in Cabo Princess used the ship's tenders plus tenders from Cabo.  You might not know exactly what they will be using until you get there.   However, no matter what they use passengers must be able to walk a few steps on their own to get in and out of the tender unless the tender has roll-on access.   Plan B is staying on the ship, which has its perks - most people are off the ship so it's much more relaxing.   

 

You might be able to check with Guest Services to see if they have any knowledge of what kind of tenders will be used in Cabo.   If you can't find out, you could go to the gangway (without the wheelchair people) and look to see what they are using or ask one of the crew if your wheelchair passengers can board the tender.   

 

If you're lucky, they will be using a tender with roll-on access.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC1byje0brE    

 

And have you seen this:    https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise    (scroll to Accessible Cruising and then to Accessibility Ashore.  

 

Thank you for this info, had not seen a lot of it. So it kind of seems like we just won't know for sure until we board the ship, and potentially won't even know until we try to get on the tender. That's a bummer

 

You mentioned cruise vs Cabo tenders, what's the difference? Are some Cabo tenders potentially more wheelchair friendly?

[1025cruise]

While there are exceptions to this rule, generally speaking if you are a full time wheel chair user, you won't be able to tender.

[kokopelli-az]

8 hours ago, Morphumax said:

You mentioned cruise vs Cabo tenders, what's the difference? Are some Cabo tenders potentially more wheelchair friendly?

Sometimes the cruise line will use their own tenders (lifeboats) and sometimes they contract with companies at the port stop to use privately-owned tenders.  You're probably not going to know what they will use until you're on the ship and possibly not know until you get to Cabo.  And yes some (but not all) private tenders can be more wheelchair friendly.  

[FOPMan]

Generally, the ship's tenders (lifeboats) are. not especially wheels-friendly. Some port-based tenders MAY be wheels-friendly. In some cases, these may be operated by the cruise line (the tenders at Half Moon Cay in The Bahamas, for example, are run by Holland America Line).

 

Even if the tender is accessible, the weather and waves may influence the captain's decision regarding permitting wheels to go ashore.