first time scooter user on Noordam

[eigig]

Hi

First let me thank all those who have posted here on this board. I have gotten such wonderful information.

 

My husband (who has MS) and I have been on three cruises so far and, to date, he has refused to use wheelchair assistance for embarking or disembarking. However, on our last cruise a woman directing passengers at the NYC pier insisted (I wish I could go back and thank her) that he use a wheelchair. It made life so much easier to get on and off that he has agreed to use a scooter onboard the Noordam this winter.

 

Anyway, my questions are these:

1. Can a scooter (he weighs 170 lbs) fit through a NON HC cabin door? We would like an SA cabin (suite) for the extra room because we do spend much time in the cabin.

2. Can you park the scooter in the ante room of the dining room and/or theater and walk in?

3. Which scooter would you recommend? I am toying with the idea of purchasing one instead of renting. I like to cover all my bases--we get enough surprises :)

 

Thanks for any information you can give me.

Eileen

[juliab]

I have a Pride Go Go which is 19" wide and fits thru regular doors . I weigh 160 lbs. If it is stowed outside of the room you can bring the battery inside to re-charge it. They are reasonally priced -search the internet.

[leoandhugh]

my partner also uses a pride go go and we have sailed on both the westerdam and oosterdam which are sisters to the noordam. on the westerdam we had a balcony accessible cabin with an extra wide door and ramp on to the balcony and of course, the roll-in shower with all kind of grab bars. the scooter was a tight fit between the wall and the end of the beds and we left a few marks. on oosterdam we moved up to an accessible so called suite - there are 2 of them on rotterdam deck - SB7088 and 7087 - much more room if you can get one, the big advantage to us was the accessible bathroom. I think the regular suites have lips going in to the bathroom and out on to the balcony.

in the dining room, we always try to get a small table close to the entrance to avoid going through a lot of other tables, but, yes, you can or they will park your scooter near the entrance. my partner stays on the scooter at the table most of the time - that's why we always get a small table so nobody gets squeezed making room for the scooter.

the theater has some seats, but very few, where you can transfer in to the seat from the scooter - other than those he will need to walk down steps to access the other rows of seats.

if you get a scooter, also get a cord with several outlets - as i recall there was only one where we could plug in to charge the battery:)

[leoandhugh]

back again - i just noticed that the previous poster mentioned leaving the scooter outside and bringing the battery inside to charge. on both HAL ships and others we have been on recently, they have rigidly enforced their rule against not parking in the hallway; it becomes a hazard for anyone with a manual wheelchair to get by and a liability issue for the cruise company for not enforcing their own rule. unfortunately it has become an issue because some people with scooters in non accessible cabins have found either they could not get the scooter through the door in to the cabin, or if they could,there wasn't room to park it. so they have left them in the hallway overnight -that's rapidly become a no-no.

[Valentine's Mom]

Leaving the skooter outside the room also is a hazard for the blind. Just something to think about.

[eigig]

thanks for the quick and thorough info! I understand about not leaving a scooter in the hallway. I was concerned that it would not fit in a non HC suite (SA). :o

 

Leoandhugh- the sb 7087 and 7088 looks really good to me. What about the crooked balcony? Also, is the room size much smaller due to the larger bathroom? I really need the cabin space more than the larger shower but if the cabin size was the same (it looks in the pictures like the cabin gets cut off a bit towards the entrance) it would be perfect. I also don't want to tie up a HC room if we don't need all the features. I am guessing a scooter can fit in an SA then (non HC) and that there is sufficient room to charge the battery?

 

Please excuse me here I really don't know much about scooters but am learning fast.

Thanks

[leoandhugh]

if you can get the HC suite, take it. there is more than adequate space - sofa, coffee table, 2 arm chairs and still the big bathroom. the big advantage to the HC is that, in the event of any rough weather, he can get in and out of the bathroom on the scooter and have grab bars to hold on to. the shower has a fold down seat with closeby grab bars. in a regular suite nonHC he would have to walk in and out of the bathroom because of the lip. I am not sure in the regular suite whether the shower and tub are one, or the shower is separate, but in any case it would not be roll-in

the balcony being on an angle is no problem, actually you get a view along the whole length of the ship forward.

another advantage to getting the HC suite if you can is that you will be thoroughly familiar with its advantages in the future as the ms progresses, and you will be able to evaluate your ability to go under more adverse conditions. I also feel that if you were to buy a scooter for him now, even though he may protest he doesn't really need it, that it will open other doors for you in the future. all airlines take scooters these days - some will door check, others put them in with baggage. but we have been back and forth to europe 4 times with his. in october, we are flying to istanbul, doing a 2week mediterranean back to back with a transatlantic from barcelona to miami and it is the scooter that has given him the independence to do this and go anywhere he wants to on the ship without anyone to accompany him..

one further suggestion - get in touch with HALs special needs people in seattle which you may need to do anyhow to be able to book an HCcabin. they can be very helpful. hugh:)

[Splinter]

Also, if you have tender ports, HAL will not allow a scooter or power wheelchair on their tender lift. They will take manual wheelchairs of no wider than 18" seat sized. If he can walk on/off the tender (usually stairs) then they may take the scooter separately, but you need to discuss this with the Special Needs dept. We always take a manual chair in addition to the power chair due to this, and also because many places ashore are not accessible unless you can bump up or down a step or two (or three) which you cannot do with a scooter.

 

Many HAL cabins have a tub rather than a stall shower. Be sure you know what you are getting if this will pose problems for him. This includes some of their so-called "accessible" cabins.

 

If you get a scooter, be sure it has a lock, and use it anytime you leave it unattended. Read some of the recent messages on this forum about people who have taken unsupervised scooters for "joy rides".

[eigig]

hugh

Thanks so much for the advice. Accepting disability has been a process for both of us (even 20 years after diagnois). My husband has been using a cane for the past 8 years-though he needed one much sooner than that and could really use a scooter/walker now. Tough to give in though, for him---and I try to understand that. I appreciate your advice about independence and agree that the independence afforded by using the scooter will (once he agrees to use it) far outweigh the downside. I think that a cruise --where so many are using scooters due to the amount of walking involved--would be a perfect way to introduce this. He fought the wheelchair boarding and, after one experience boarding as HC, now he feels that is the best way to go.

 

I will try to get the HC cabin SB as you suggested --the idea of seeing what is available to us as time goes on is a good one. Also, enjoy your travels --it is wonderful to hear that you are off to such far flung places. I wish you the best.

 

Splinter--

I think I am going to have a hard enough time getting him to agree to a scooter :) ! Maybe next year he will venture off the ship with me. Hey, after reading Hugh's message, I am going to go get myself a Europe brochure. For now I'll take it one step at a time (no pun intended).

Thanks

Eileen