Individuals with mobility difficulties

[Knickearth]

My wife has trouble with walking more than 1 to 2 blocks.  She wants to get a scooter for the cruise, but to use it in ports and not so much on the ship.  Can you share your experience with motorized scooters in port.  Can you take them on excursions?

 

thanks for any info

[arizonaperson]

Does your wife have a scooter already, you will buy one,rent one? Do you have an accessible cabin? If not -cabin doors are certain sizes to fit scooter through the stateroom. Does scooter break down smaller?
As far as keeping the scooter just for ports,  it is suppose to be stored in cabin when not in use. If the excursion is through Princess check on accessible tours to store scooter in bus/ van. Are there any tender ports?

On cruise critic there is forum below that may have more answers for you. Also Princess.com has a FAQ’s section on accessibility. Here’s an example of accessible tour with Princess.

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/

 

Edited September 16 by arizonaperson

[BabySarge]

DH has mobility issues somewhat similar to your spouse's and uses a mobility scooter that we have taken on tours, used in ports, and on the ship(s).  One of the things you want to keep in mind is that the rest of the world is generally not ADA-compliant.  For example, in the US almost all sidewalks and crosswalks have a ramp and no curb while most foreign countries do not.  It isn't impossible to get out and about or to go on tours but having a lightweight and foldable scooter makes it a lot easier.  We have also found that people around the world have been incredibly helpful when they see us struggling even a tiny bit in navigating any type of obstacle with his scooter.  Even going so far as to pick it up and carry it for us.  

The scooter DH can be found at the below link.  There are many kinds though, but we have been happy with this one and have taken it to Italy, Spain, France, Canada, Dubai, Oman, Jordan, Israel, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, etc.  Because it folds up and only weighs 40 lbs we have not had an issue taking it on tenders and if the shore excursion is a bus with under bus storage it fits there with no problem also.  It fits in balcony cabins on Princess and HAL ships with no issue especially when in it's folded state.  We have flown with it and had no problems.

We had one minor issue with one of the small stability wheels (DH caused the issue by being pigheaded) but the wheel was replaceable (it unscrews) and I just contacted the company and paid for a new wheel to be shipped to me.  Had fantastic customer service from them.

Hope this helps.

Amazon.com: iLiving V8 Foldable Electric Mobility Scooter : Health & Household

[Shippy]

Probably depend on the ports. We were just in Alaska. Sidewalks are pretty narrow in every port.

[skynight]

FYI. Standard, non HCP, cabin doors are 22 inches wide. Your scooter have to be able to fit through. Scooters have to be stored in side the cabin.