Wheelchair provided

[Hapinowagain]

I need a wheelchair to just get off and off the ship because of knee problems. Does Princess provide the wheelchair just for that? I did mark this on the cruise personalizer. Would I just ask someone when I get to the pier?

[DesrtDrmr]

Hi,

Yes, Princess will provide a wheelchair and a pusher to get you on and off the ship. You can have your travel agent tell them that you'll need one. You just tell one of the Princess people at the dock that you do need one, and they will get one for you.

Are you using the airport chair to get to and from your plane? You can tell the airlines you'll need one there, too.

Also, the ships are very large, and it is a long walk to anywhere from somewhere else. Had you considered renting a chair or a scooter for use on the ship? A folding chair could also be used at ports if you have someone to push you. CareVacations and Scootaround both rent them, and leave them in your cabin, and pick them up from your cabin after you've left. Very convenient. You can check them both out at their websites, just by adding a dot com to their names.

Have a great cruise!

[shamrockace]

My husband has limited mobility. He can walk short distances, but not far. We have our own wheelchair, but dread taking it on the plane, etc, when we cruise to Alaska in August 2007. We are booked on Sapphire Princess in a handicap accessible room. Our travel agent said that we may be able to use a chair provided by the cruise line. Is this possible or should we just take our own? How difficult is it to fly with a wheelchair when he transfers easily?

[Buckeyeair]

We took my wheelchair on our last cruise and flight and it was no problem at all...actually rather nice because they wheeled me right up to the planes door then took my chair and stowed it, then brought it back to the door at our final stop. We will be taking the wheel chair as well as my scooter on our next cruise so my DW won't need to push me around everywhere !!

Have Fun;

glenn (buckeyeair)

[Splinter]

Shamrockarse, your TA is wrong. Most cruise lines now only allow you to use their wheelchairs (which are big, heavy, and often poor condition heavy chairs) on board or for embarkation and disembarkation. Most no longer allow you to take them ashore, and they rarely allow you exclusive use around the ship without a fee.

 

If you have your own wheelchair, take it. It is so easy to fly with a manual wheelchair!!! You take it to the gate, and get a gate check from the agent there. They will board you first. Take the wheelchair to the plane door. If he can walk a few feet, you can just have him walk on the plane. If not, he can transfer to the aisle chair easily and get a ride to his seat. The wheelchair will be taken manually to the airplane hold. No extra charge or anything. You then let the cabin steward know about 30 minutes before you land that you will need a private wheelchair brought up from the hold on landing. Be sure the chair is well marked and cannot be mistaken for an airline chair. Go out and snag it as soon as you land, and then wait for him to be ready to de-plane (he will be last). If you will also need assistance with transfer or pushing the chair, be sure to arrange that both with the gate agent and with the cabin steward as above.

 

He will be much happier with his own chair both on the ship and in port, and have it to use in the airport as well.

[shamrockace]

Thank you so much. Advise on this board is priceless. I know what you mean by many of the furnished wheelchairs are often in poor condition. We've used them at various amusement parks and it's always a hassle pushing a wheelchair that is damaged.

 

I do have some concerns with excursions. We are only 44 so we still like adventure and DH can do anything but walk long distance. We are scheduled to cruise Alaska in Aug 2007. We are interested in doing the Misty Fjords Seaplane Exploration in Ketchikan, a whale watching cruise in Juneau, and the white pass railway in Skagway. We also will be in Denali for 2 days. Does anyone see a problem with the wheelchair, etc....

[Shebbieal]

I am in a chair, and had no problems with excursions, but most were booked independently. We used Orca Enterprises in Juneau for whhale watching. Transportation and excursion accessible. In Ketchikan we booked Island Wings, Not accssible BUT we did it , I can transfer and they lifted me into the floatplane. Hopefully you aren't very big, I would ask if there is a weight problem. It would have been impossible for me to climb in with it in the water..White pass RR in Skagway is accessible, we just booked thru the ship.

 

I use a power chair primarily, but I rented a manuel chair thru Care Vacations. I take the manual off the boat

 

We did the 13 day cruisetour, EVERYTHING I wanted to do I did, go with a positive attitude and do your homework.

 

Sherry

[LuLaLuvlee]

I had an issue with Princess and tenders during Thanksgiving week. We use a transport wheelchair while on board ship because my husband is not good for distance. My DH can manage a few straightforward steps but not stairs. The transport chairs are nice without the bulk of the large side wheels, aren't too awful to push, and collapse quite nicely to tuck into the cabin.

 

Princess' method of moving can be very jarring so if your husband's injury is to his back you might want to look at docked ports instead of tendered ones.

 

My DH was bump bump bump shoved up a steep incline to get him onto the upper level of a tender because when we approached the tender for return to the ship no one bothered to ask if he could go upstairs when he oh-so-slowly walked onto a lower gangway. We had no way of knowing that the lower section didn't come level with the entry to the ship because when we left from the ship we just went straight out.