mattR Posted July 11 #1 Share Posted July 11 Leave for a cruise on Saturday and Mom is in the hospital with knee pain. Are there wheelchairs available to use onboard the Royal if needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay S Posted July 11 #2 Share Posted July 11 No. They use the wheelchairs only for embarking and disembarking. The FAQ specifically states a person needs to supply his or her own wheelchair for use on board. You might want to rent one. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattR Posted July 11 Author #3 Share Posted July 11 Thanks So she could use one for embarking then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cr8tiv1 Posted July 11 #4 Share Posted July 11 (edited) Yes, but the wait for assistance might be long. How will she get around the ship? Edited July 11 by cr8tiv1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseidaho Posted July 11 #5 Share Posted July 11 On two previous cruises on the Enchanted Princess, I have rented a wheelchair from the medical center for the entire cruise. As I recall, the cost was about $125 for 7 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrak Posted July 11 #6 Share Posted July 11 If you end up renting a wheelchair to use onboard be sure to submit the proper forms. There was a recent case where a person didn't submit the forms and was denied boarding. I don't think the case I'm talking about was a Princess cruise but it would be really unfortunate to find that a necessary form wasn't submitted. Mobility Form 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dog Posted July 11 #7 Share Posted July 11 (edited) Rent one to be delivered to your cabin & picked up after. uSA. Scoot around is a company. you cannot count on one from Princess and may be a long wait for assistance Edited July 11 by dog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandancer Posted July 11 #8 Share Posted July 11 12 hours ago, mattR said: Leave for a cruise on Saturday and Mom is in the hospital with knee pain. Are there wheelchairs available to use onboard the Royal if needed? We have been told that the wheelchairs onboard are for emergency use only and my DH will have to take his own wheelchair to use getting on and off at ports of call. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zena,W.P. Posted July 11 #9 Share Posted July 11 Walmart and the like carry transport wheels chairs for under $150. They need to be pushed by someone. Lightweight. They also sell regular wheelchairs for under $250. If you purchase one, you have the convenience of having that available from home-home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cr8tiv1 Posted July 11 #10 Share Posted July 11 Medicare will generally not pay for a wheelchair. Can you borrow one from someone for this cruise? It may be worth the investment if she will need to use one while on board the ship. Maybe even a rollator would be a good investment. They come with a seat and will provide here with some stability. (Not covered either). But there is a small learning curve. Best to practice at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyVeteran Posted July 11 #11 Share Posted July 11 Princess provides wheelchair assistance for embarkation and disembarkation only. They also will provide a wheelchair if you are injured on the cruise. Otherwise, it is your responsibility to provide one. I have rented one from Special Needs at Sea for DW for our upcoming cruise. They will deliver the wheelchair to the cabin on embarkation, and we will leave it in the cabin when we disembark. I don't know how far in advance you would need to reserve one. We are not taking a wheelchair with us because I don't want the hassle of flying with one. I've heard too many stories of wheelchairs being damaged by airlines. We would certainly take our own wheelchair if we were driving to the port. The airline will provide a wheelchair for use in the airports. We have booked Princess transfers from airport to ship and from ship to airport because of DW's mobility issues. The airport wheelchair will get her to the Princess transfer bus. A Princess wheelchair will take her from the transfer bus through embarkation to our cabin, where the rented wheelchair will be waiting. It will work the same way in reverse on disembarkation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay S Posted July 11 #12 Share Posted July 11 Something to note: non-handicapped rooms have narrow doors, only 24" wide. The wheelchair needs to be folding or otherwise collapsible. You will not be allowed to store it outside the cabin. Rollators tend to be narrower than wheelchairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyVeteran Posted July 11 #13 Share Posted July 11 24 minutes ago, Kay S said: Something to note: non-handicapped rooms have narrow doors, only 24" wide. The wheelchair needs to be folding or otherwise collapsible. You will not be allowed to store it outside the cabin. Rollators tend to be narrower than wheelchairs. In addition, the person using the wheelchair would need to be able to walk the short distance from the cabin through the door into the hallway - either with the assistance of someone else or using the collapsed wheelchair as a walker. I have one future cruise booked with a non-handicapped room and a wheelchair for DW, but she can walk short distances with a cane and I can take the wheelchair in and out of the cabin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandancer Posted July 11 #14 Share Posted July 11 3 hours ago, Zena,W.P. said: Walmart and the like carry transport wheels chairs for under $150. They need to be pushed by someone. Lightweight. They also sell regular wheelchairs for under $250. If you purchase one, you have the convenience of having that available from home-home. Here in the UK wheelchairs for onboard use are rented from Mobility at Sea. We bought a lightweight folding wheelchair for less than the cost of the rental for 2 weeks. That same wheelchair is quite well travelled now having been on 3 cruises with another 2 coming up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamieLogical Posted July 11 #15 Share Posted July 11 15 hours ago, Thrak said: If you end up renting a wheelchair to use onboard be sure to submit the proper forms. There was a recent case where a person didn't submit the forms and was denied boarding. I don't think the case I'm talking about was a Princess cruise but it would be really unfortunate to find that a necessary form wasn't submitted. Mobility Form THIS IS CRITICAL! You will be turned away and unable to board if you bring your own wheelchair and do not fill out this form! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay S Posted July 11 #16 Share Posted July 11 41 minutes ago, JamieLogical said: THIS IS CRITICAL! You will be turned away and unable to board if you bring your own wheelchair and do not fill out this form! Well, maybe. I know there was a publicized case where that happened, but it wasn't Princess. I've taken my wheelchair on many a cruise without filling out this form. However, it can't hurt to follow the Princess procedure. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay S Posted July 11 #17 Share Posted July 11 I looked it up. It was a P&O cruise out of Southampton in the UK. Apparently P&O has a published policy stating boarding will be denied without the form. Princess has no such stated policy, but they do encourage people to fill out their form so they know how many wheelchairs will be on the ship (for planning purposes.) Carnival says wheelchair users should make themselves known at the ship terminal before boarding (not in advance.) As usual, one media-hyped story morphed into "OMG panic wheelchair paperwork done or overboard you go, miscreant. " 😝 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRLD Posted July 12 #18 Share Posted July 12 3 hours ago, Kay S said: Well, maybe. I know there was a publicized case where that happened, but it wasn't Princess. I've taken my wheelchair on many a cruise without filling out this form. However, it can't hurt to follow the Princess procedure. 🙂 This is a major issue on the UK focused lines (P&O and Cunard). They have been denying people from boarding if they have not submitted proper paper work. They have also canceled some bookings due to lack of evac chairs, if all in a given zone are already committed. Seems to be related to emergency evacuation capacity. Have not heard of it impacting any of the NA focused cruise lines (HAL, Princess, Celebrity, etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyVeteran Posted July 12 #19 Share Posted July 12 Princess provides Mobility Equipment Guidance in Pre-Cruise FAQ in the section on Health & Accessibility. This FAQ does state: "If you are bringing other mobility equipment onboard or if you have booked Princess transfers, pre or post hotel stays, Cruisetours or shore excursions you must complete our Mobility Questionnaire (PDF) and return it to us at least 60 days prior to sailing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay S Posted July 12 #20 Share Posted July 12 4 hours ago, NavyVeteran said: Princess provides Mobility Equipment Guidance in Pre-Cruise FAQ in the section on Health & Accessibility. This FAQ does state: "If you are bringing other mobility equipment onboard or if you have booked Princess transfers, pre or post hotel stays, Cruisetours or shore excursions you must complete our Mobility Questionnaire (PDF) and return it to us at least 60 days prior to sailing." Better safe than sorry, I guess. But the FAQ does not say boarding will be denied if the form isn't returned at least 60 days prior to boarding. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cr8tiv1 Posted July 12 #21 Share Posted July 12 If it says "must"....I wouldn't take the chance. Fill out the form and be done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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