Has anyone travelled on Regal Princess in a Wheelchair?

[scooterrach]

Hi All,

 

I was just wondering if anyone had been on the Regal Princess in a wheelchair, preferably an Electric/Power Wheelchair?

 

I am traveling on her in two weeks, she is now based in Australia with P&O and will be renamed Pacific Dawn this week.

 

I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy and use an Electric Wheelchair at all times, and was just wondering the mobility of a Wheelchair around the ship and perhaps in the Cabins. I'm staying in D109.

 

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[leoandhugh]

Regal Princess is one of the older Princess ships - Carnival and Princess seem to be dumping all their older ships either on you Anzacs or in Europe. As such, you should be aware that unless you have a proper handicapped accessible cabin (not a modified one, with lip into the bathroom and narrow door entrance) that the cabin will probably not provide much turning radius inside. The built from scratch accessible cabins on board have rollin showers with fold down seats and lots of grab bars - sorry, but know nothing about the cabin you have booked and it may be too late to change if it isnt going to work for you.

[KL&KR]

Hi -- we were on Regal 3 times I think, and loved the ship. Don't know what they've done by way of remodeling, but the rooms we had (D101, 102 and 104, I think) were enormous, with very nice bathrooms, and all these funny little shallow drawers (which we actually found very useful). Some of the doors onto Lido deck were a little difficult--no power assist, and one had a big hump to navigate, but hopefully they will have fixed that.

 

Also, we found that we could get better seating in the theater if we went up front along the deack to the performers' entrance (that's not what it was called, but we thought that was what it was used for). Again, stiff, un-power-assisted doors, especially in a wind, but we loved getting up front (otherwise you're relegated to the balcony, in back, ugh).

 

Hope it's as wonderful for you as it was for us. I really miss the Regal.

 

Kristen & Kathy

[scooterrach]

Thank you Kristen and Kathy, you have reasurred me! I'm off in two weeks and was starting to get a bit worried.

 

Rach

[Cruisin' Crazy]

You have the very best of the wheelchair cabins on the Regal. Although an inside cabin, it is the biggest wheelchair one on the ship, with lots of storage and lots of swing room inside.

 

You will be able to ride your wheelchair right into the shower to transfer to the wall mounted seat. (Do remove the chair before the shower, though, LOL) The floor drain system does not always work perfectly, especially in heavy waves and a rolling ship. If it floods at all the first time you use it, get your steward to order a full cleanout of the trough, which should fix it. There is a slight ramp at the bathroom door, but my wife's scooter had no problem with it. However, it is made of plain smooth stainless steel with no surface machining and approaching at an angle is dicey as the front wheel may slip sideways. Just remember to go straight onto it and you will be okay. There is plenty of room in front of the bathroom door to do that. The sink is straight ahead of the door, but you should be able to rotate okay to get beside the toilet for transfer. With the scooter, she just drove in and backed out, as I had to assist her to transfer anyway.

 

If you have any problem with getting into bed on the left hand side (as seen from the foot of the bed) there is ample room to have the steward turn the bed 90 degrees so the right hand side is accessible. We did that for my wife.

 

If you would like pictures of the cabin, email me at <kenmarvv@allstream.net>

and I'll send you digital images.

 

The Regal is a nice ship and we found it quite scooter friendly on our nine cruises on her, except perhaps for getting out on the Promenade deck. Those ramps are quite steep. There are electric doors into the Horizon Court buffet from the pool deck and also at the back to get out on the back deck to eat, although there are not many tables out there. The suggestion of going in the front doors of the theatre is okay, but the doors are very heavy and unassisted in any way. ALso very windy if the ship is sailing; then the doors are quite a problem. Of course, you first have to get over those steep ramps to get out on the Promenade deck in the first place to get up to the front doors of the theatre. My wife always just stayed in the balcony area reserved for wheelchairs, and I would either sit with her if the space was not needed or go down further to a seat. That entrance is on Dolphin deck, the same deck as your cabin, so it is quite handy actually.

 

Good luck on your cruise. Hope it all works out well for you.

 

Ken.

[rascalrider]

I am sorry to see the Regal Princess leave the fleet. I did the Amazon on her and loved it. I had cabin D106 and it was a very convenient arrangement with lots of space to maneuver in the cabin and bathroom. And I loved all the drawers and shelves.

I was not aware of how to get to the front of the theater, but I was perfectly happy in the back.

I believe there was one dance floor that you might not be able to access due to one or two steps down, but plenty of space to sit and watch or listen to the music.

I am sure you will do fine and probably love the ship as much as a lot of us do.