Scooter on Baltic Shore Excursions?

[New Geezer]

Planning a Baltic Cruise in May. I get about with a walker at home but use a Planet Mobility Easy Light foldable scooter for distance/outdoors. I carry the walker on back of scooter and transfer to walker in restaurants, theaters, museums, etc.

 

We want to take shore excursions at various ports (Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersbrg, etc.). But have heard all sorts of scary stories about how tour operators do not accomodate scooters (even if can be folded and stored in baggage compartment) and how European cities do not have the accessible curb-cuts that NYC and other major U.S. cities have.

 

Cruise companies aren't very helpful; basically say "book the tour and then we'll find out". That's not satisfactory.

 

(1) Has anyone done shore excursions in Baltic countries using scooter? How did it work out? Should I plan on using the walker instead (do-able, but slows me down terribly).

(2) Is one cruise line better than another for this (have not booked anything yet, altho partial to Princess).

(3) Am I safer booking only "level One" or "E-Z" tours or can I attempt 'moderate" tours.

(4) Are private tours better than ship-sponsored, and if so what about price differential.

 

Eager for answers.

 

Thanks.

[leoandhugh]

we have done Baltic cruises and we travel with both a folding wheelchair and a Pride Go-Go scooter.

we did not attempt to take the scooter ashore at any port for several reasons, the main one being the almost total absence of cored curbs, and also many of the older towns like Talinn, Estonia and even Helsinki and Oslo to some extent have some cobblestone streets in the older parts of town. we did, however, manage with the folding wheelchair which we could get on the tour busses and up over most curbs in the city. St Petersburg where most cruises make a 2day overnight stop would be next to impossible with a scooter. even most of the churches and museums like the Hermitage are in no way accessible steps, no ramps, long walks, no elevators from one floor to another.

you may find, as we did, there are some shore excursions which are mainly by bus and make a few photo stops. if you have difficulty walking as you describe, I would think you would have a very tiring experience. if you attempt something more strenuous than excursions such as these. we also found some cities where we were able to hire a taxi for a few hours to drive us around the top tourist attractions. but they are very expensive, particularly considering the almost worthless value of the dollar vs the euro, and you have to pay in cash - euros.

it has also been our experience that the shore excursions that are marked in the booklet as moderate or walking distances on rough or cobblestone streets are exactly what they describe.

we have learned over years of cruising with a wheelchair and scooter in Europe to not expect anything like the accessibility we accept as normal here in the US. but we have never let that deter us, we do what we can where we can and are grateful for what we can manage.:)

[New Geezer]

Thanks for detailed reply. I guess it's true; we Americans often don't realize the advantages we have here over other countries.

 

Since you've done the Baltic, is there one line you prefer over any other, esp. for passengers with disability. We're sort of partial to Princess because the cruise is aboard Star, a sister to Golden, on which we did a New England cruise last year -- great ship.

 

But open to any ideas.

 

Again, thanks. :)

[leoandhugh]

we did the Baltic cruise first on the Jewel of the Seas royal caribbean and then on the Golden Princess. we have found that overall the Radiance Class of Royal Caribbean - Radiance, Brilliance, Jewel and Serenade to be more accessible than the Golden Princess - cabins a little better equipped with automatic door openers to both the cabin and the bathroom and just general accessibility of getting around the ship. we are on the Brilliance next month from Istanbul to Barcelona and Barcelona to Miami 30 days and we have a handicapped Junior suite which is 320 sq ft and 86sq ft balcony. the differences between rccl and princess are not significant enough to override your preference for princess in my opinion:)

[New Geezer]

Thanks again for detailed and thorough reply. Will now go to check the review on the RCCL ships. Have been on Princess 2x (Sun in Alaska several years back and, as mentioned, a 7-day New England hop on Golden last year). Princess is 'nice' but I'm eager to see what other lines offer.

 

Enjoy your trip.

 

:)

[daju22]

New Geezer,

Just returned from the Aug. 26th Baltic and Transatlantic on Celebrity Constellation.

We took our scooter and wheelchair. My husband can get on and off the bus and can get off of the scooter while I pick the scooter up over any curbs. Here's how things worked out.

 

Handicapped cabin on ship was fine.

 

Dover-used scooter on the waterfront and one street back into town precruise. Stayed at Premier on the waterfront. Good handicapped room for us as he can step up.

 

Gdynia-shuttle to Gdansk. Lines for $10 per person shuttle were long. Could have taken scooter under shuttle. Just went for a walk with the scooter toward Gdnia. Was windy and cold. Came back to ship. Vendors were on pier selling amber and souveniers.

 

Stockholm-docked near town. Beautiful view of Stockholm from ship(port side). Took shuttle(all shuttles for cities were $10 per person round trip). Scooter under shuttle. Cobblestones were tough on scooter, so stuck to streets and park that avoided them.

 

Helsinki-shuttle into town. Scooter under. Just walked around. Went to department store. Cobblestones in places.

 

St. Petersburg- day one-ship's excursion to Hermitage-took scooter. People from our group helped carry scooter up steps when entering. Small elevator platform for steps when leaving. Elevator to second floor inside. Had to find our own way to elevator. Our guide wasn't knowledgeable about elevators. But we did it. Had help from another French family with a disabled person.

Day two-took ship's panoramic tour. Wheelchair today. Easier to navigate into and out of Russian immigration at pier. Great tour.

 

Tallinn-walked with scooter to Tallinn. Close to ship. Alot of people walked. Tallinn is lots of cobblestones. Went to the gate and then walked back to ship. Long walk for me. Good on scooter.

 

Rostock- Took shuttle. Good town for scooter. Too bad it was windy and chilly. Enjoyed the day though.

 

Copenhagen- Walked from ship with scooter. Saw mermaid. Walked further then rain. Turned back to ship.

 

Oslo-walked with shuttle into town. Nice walk and day.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Judy

[DEL67]

When went to the Baltic a few years ago my husband used his powerchair aboard ship and manual in ports. As others have stated, most of the ports were difficult because of cobblestones; however, except in Tallin, I was able to get over them by pulling the wheelchair backwards so the large wheels went over the cobblestones first. We visited:

 

Stockholm

- The Vasa museum - good accessibility

- The palace in the old part of the city. From the palace, we walked to the

newer part of the city and wandered around the shopping area

 

Tallin:

 

- We hired a taxi for a city tour. Note: the "cobblestones" in Tallin are

really good sized rocks so they are very difficult, if not impossible, for

wheelchairs

 

St Petersburg

- My husband could still get on a bus with help so we took a city tour

The Peter and Paul Fortress was accessible using rudimentary ramps

- The Hermitage - my husband struggled up the entrance steps with my

daughter's amd my help. Another passenger brought his chair up. Once

inside the guards showed us to a tiny elevator. There were also steps at

the exit. When I asked the guards to help bump his chair down them,

one of them when out to the street and found two passerbys who took

him down in his chair.

- Peterhof -We were told that the first floor was accessible. It was, but

there was nothing to see there. However, there is a road down to the

gardens so were were able to visit them.

 

Helsinki

 

- We walked into town because we were told that the street cars were accessible. They might have been, but we were not allowed on because they said that there was not enough room. We walked around and visited a museum.

 

Visby

 

Its a tender port so my husband choose not to go ashore. He probably could have seen a little of the town; but most of it is up a steep hill which would have been very difficult.

[New Geezer]

Judy and Dale:

Thanks for the city-by-city hints. We ARE learning quite a lot from all of the great people like yourselves who provided such good answers. Most grateful.

:)

s

[amstelveenscooter]

We took the 12 day Baltic cruise on Jewel last June, and had a wonderful time -- except for Oslo. Since my wife doesn't walk at all, but uses her Rio 3 scooter full-time, we had to find wheelchair accessible transportation everywhere.

 

We walked from the boat to downtown Stockholm (Gamla Stan); the hills are manageable, and you can get early seating in front to watch the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. There are 2 accessible seats on one of the ferry tours of the harbour, but the accessibility of the ramp is a bit scary; discount accordingly!

 

Although the City Tour bus in Oslo claims to be accessible, there's only 1 of 6 buses that can take a chair -- and it doesn't keep to its schedule. We rode it to the museums, but it missed its schedule and we ended up having to run 3 KM to find a ferry and to catch our ship (made it by 5 minutes).

 

There's a FABULOUS tour guide service in St. Petersburg called Liberty Travel that specializes in disabled tours. If you can't find them listed in an old thread here, drop us a note at gpstoloff@casema.nl. They are half the price of the ship's tours, have wheelchair lift equipped vans, know all the ramps, and -- most importantly -- know where the wheelchair restrooms are !!

 

In Helsinki, the Metro tourist tram is fully wheelchair accessible, and is the cheapest way to see the city. Also, two of the four harbour ferries are accessible, but again mind the access ramps they use. There's several accessible restrooms near the harbour market (at the opposite end of the park, and in the old market building).

 

In Tallinn, the city pays a restaurant on the main square to operate the accessible restroom. The Old Town cobblestones are a bit rough, but you can come "up" from the Flower Market on smooth pavements into the main square.

 

Have fun!