Wheelchair...Scooter?

[nkbrkr6]

As a C5-6 quad I'm confined to a wheelchair. In these posts people seem to be refering to a scooter as a wheelchair. They are different!!! Also, what constitutes the need for a disabled room? I have seen everything from a broken toe, replaced knee, newly diagnosed diabetics and many other minor inconveniences.

[leoandhugh]

if you are confined to a wheelchair, you definitely qualify for an accessible cabin. It will have a larger bathroom with no lip going in, a roll-in shower with fold down seat, plenty of grab bars, and a raised wash basin so that your wheel chair will fit under. the cabin will have plenty of room to turn either a wheelchair or scooter inside and the door in to the cabin is wider than regular cabins to permit easier access.

Most cruisers who use a scooter(battery operated) also take a fold up wheelchair for going ashore and for shore excursions. Many foreign ports and islands do not work with a scooter because of lack of cored curbs and ramps. and it is not always possible to get a scooter ashore depending on the slope of the gangway or whether it has steps or is ramped. Most people posting here use the terms wheelchair and scooter almost interchangeably because of using both. scooters, for people confined, are much easier to use on the ships because of all the carpeted areas:)

[FastFreddie]

nkbrkr6,

 

Sadly, I think that this is purly dependent upon the Cruise lines. I didn't have a HC room because I didn't think I needed it. The only advantage for my situation would be a wider door for my scooter. As it was the scooter fit through a 22 inch door. I think to get a HC room you'd really hasve to be lucky or book it a year or so in advance but that's just a guess on my part!

 

FF

[Splinter]

People on these forums largely DO understand the difference between a power wheelchair and a scooter. A scooter (for most) is a convenience and something that supplements walking for those who are weak or have poor endurance. Even then, an accessible cabin is needed as standard cabins are too small for a scooter, have a doorway too small to let a scooter inside (and you can't store them in the hallway anymore), and also lack the step up that is required for a bathroom in non-accessible cabins.

 

My mother uses a power wheelchair because she is tetraplegic due to MS (totally paralyzed except for some use of one hand). We need an accessible cabin, and also needed one when she could still ambulate short distances with a walker due to her MS. She used a manual wheelchair with help and for any distances, and could not get into a bathroom with a step. Now we have to have a roll-in shower (and of course bathroom), take a lift, our own shower commode chair and both a power and manual wheelchair.

 

Regardless, we don't consider my mother to be "confined" to a wheelchair. Her wheelchair gives her mobility and allows her to be independent in where she goes on the ship (and at home). Without it, she would be "confined" to bed.

[Reggae Mon]

I'm a para Power Wheelchair user & I needed an HC Cabin. The doors are not wide enough in regular cabins to get any kind of PWC or scooter through, nor is the bathroom door. An HC cabin is large enough to navigate in a PWC. On RCI the staff was very helpful! Happy Cruising:)

[Queenie2]

i'm not really sure what the question is, but I think most peopel on these boards know the difference betweena wheelcahir and a scooter. And FWIW, I know scooter users who cannot walk at all, so it really is an individual thing. For the purpose of cruising we usually nmention power wheelcahirs and scooters in one breath and manual wheelchairs in another because of the tender issue and because manual wheelchair can access ppaces that their power counterparts (scooers and chairs can't).

 

As for getting an accessible cabin, I don't think there are any hard and fast lines drawn, and a temporary disability (broken leg etc.) is treated the same as a permanent one. The look at access issues and how much of a problem accessing the room and using the bathroom would be for the passenger. i just got off the Westerdam and interviewed some passengers and looked at accessible cabins and one lady was recouperating from a badly broken ankle. And although she could walk (she used a walker and sat down a lot), she was real shakey and she could not have managed the step up into the bathroom of a standard cabin. She also appreciated the fold down shower seat. So in her case, I think it was a safety issue in regards to the bathroom. She said she also needed the toilet grab bars.

 

I think that if you feel you need the accessible room (and I mean physically need it, not just want the extra room) then you should feel free to book it. I think each individual person is the best judge of their abilities and it's kind of hard to pigeohole folks. Heck I know some paras that can get around better than the lady with the broken ankle. Each case is different and should be evaluated individually.

 

Candy

[LHC]

DS in HC from car accident. He used a Ranger Wheelchair (which goes faster than me 6 mph). That said he has recently after a lot of hard work and a great orthodist be able to walk again utilizing a specialty splint, made just for him. We are working on getting muscles back into the right side of his body (he is a right sided hemiplegic).

Now we use a quad cane, gait belt, splint and walk short distances. For our upcoming trip we will be taking a light weight Quickie LXI wheelchair (thanks to information from Splinter) with us too.

 

I do know that handicaps come from many disorders. Sometimes you can see a disability with the human eye (as with Greg, someone blind, an amputee) and sometimes you cannot see it (fibromyalgia, MS in control). Our job is not to judge others but to be of service to help all enjoy the way through life.

 

As far as rooms you do have to research well and push for what you need. We recently had to change our accessible room for a larger one when my daughter wanted to join us in December. I had reviewed the Volendam layout well enough to know they did have rooms for triples HC accessible. Our TA called and someone at HAL said NO. When the TA called me back, I gave her the rooms that could accommodate all 3 of us and asked her to find out if any of these were available (and I did ask if anyone with out HC had been given any of these rooms). The TA called back with a room change laughing that I knew more about the ship than HAL did. Just a mother who is a nurse who wants what is best for her son. This cruise is 9+ months away but it is over the Holidays so I was worried that the HC rooms would be gone. My research on these boards and by studying the brochures (pouring over them) really helps.

 

My biggest fear is not the cruise or the room, but the airports and traveling with all his "stuff". Losing anyones transportation or pieces of it is devastating. This board has helped alleviate those fears.

 

Linda (LHC)