Alaska from a wheelchair

[rdanderson]

Alaska in a wheelchair. We were on the Infinity starting on June 11, 2006. We flew to Seattle the day before and stayed downtown. We took the train from Seattle to Vancouver. Upon the advice of this board, we booked Business Class. The ride was great. After being on a cramped plane the entire day before, it was nice to have the room to stretch. The staff was great with my mother and the wheelchair. We saw plenty of eagles on the ride up. There was no help after we got off the train in Vancouver with the wheelchair. There were no luggage carts and trying to get all the luggage and the wheelchair through customs was interesting but we made it. The ride was still worth it.

 

The ship was great and from the moment we arrived at the terminal, we were escorted through all security and customs lines by a member of the staff. All the way to our cabin. The ship was great and easy to get around with the wheelchair. Celebrity was very accommodating on the tendering however, I do have one very strong recommendation. If you are in a wheelchair, make sure you check the low tide times before planning you excursions. When the tides are low the ramp to get from where the tender docks to the upper dock is VERY steep. Getting from ship to tender and tender to lower dock was not a problem There always seem to be a few big strong guys around to help. However, getting up the ramp sometimes took three people to get the wheelchair to the top. Some of our pictures at the top with the mascot turned out quite interesting with the look on my mothers face.

 

Our first port was Ketchikan. We had booked the Hummer tour and an afternoon harbor cruise. My mother has limited mobility and we thought the Hummer would be the hardest excursion for her. It turned out to be the easiest. Our driver was Sean and the company did everything they could to make it as easy for my mother as possible. The tour and especially the driver were great. He dropped us off at Creek Street and recommended a great lunch spot for us before our afternoon tour. The harbor tour was the only excursion we booked through the cruise line. The boat was easy enough to get on and off of and the tour was typical. The crew was very entertaining..

 

The next stop was Juneau. We booked Capt Larry for a whale watching tour in the morning. We were on Scotty’s boat instead of Capt Larry but they assured us that it was wheelchair accessible. If you are in a wheelchair do not book this tour unless you can get on Capt Larry’s boat. What a fiasco. Long story short, they complained and embarrassed my mother almost to the point of tears from the time we arrived until we were on board the boat. They were not prepared for the wheelchair even though I had booked long in advance and pointed out several times that we had a wheelchair. The tour was great, we did see lots of whales but they did not have to handle the situation the way they did. I would not recommend this company to anyone with a disability. We rented a limo for the second have of out day. Tony was great and we really enjoyed the rest of our day. Mendenhall Glacier had easy access and an elevator to get to the visitor center.

 

In Sitka, we booked a Wildlife tour again in the morning. We used Alaska Wildlife Tours and Charters with Rich Forst. Again we took great care in making sure that we had a boat that was wheelchair accessible. Once again, the boat was the fartherest thing from wheelchair accessible. He said the boat held six but there was only room for four. Again, long story short, I would not recommend the company to anyone. The captain was only concerned with getting us there and back as quick as possible and we barely saw any wildlife. He had no concern for his passengers at all. We used Shon’s Tours for our afternoon tour and he was great. He took us all around Sitka, was very knowledgeable and we had a great time. The raptor center was interesting and fully accessible.

 

I know this has been long winded but I hope other people with wheelchairs will appreciate the input. I know we could have used it while planning. We took great care to make sure that everything we booked was accessible but some people’s definition of accessable is different from others. We did not use ship excursions because they were not accessible. We did research every excursion, private and ship before booking. We did not avoid the ship excursions due to money; it was more due to accessibility.

 

If you have any questions, please ask. My mother did say that this was the best vacation she has ever taken.

 

Becky

[123alaskago]

I Am Taking My Mother And A Wheelchair For When She Tires And I Appreciate Your Info. Thanks

[cruisergrandma]

Thanks for the post and all the wheelchair info. It was very helpful! How were you able to board a tender with the wheelchair? We will be on the Oosterdam in September and have wondered if we will even be able to get off the ship on tender since one in our party is wheelchair bound. I hate for her (and all the rest of us) to miss Sitka.

[rdanderson]

My mother can walk some just not much. They were very helpful with the tendering. We tendered in Ketchican and Sitka. By the time we got to Sitka she could barely walk. They picked up her wheelchair and carried it down the stairs and onto the tender boat. They then did the same at the other end. I have read on Celebrity's web sight that they are in the process of installing chair lifts on all the ships. Check Holland's web sight or call your TA and ask how they handle the tendering. I am sure they will be very helpful.

 

Becky