Handicapped experience

[NKG6002]

My friend is unable to walk and requires a scooter for mobility. I would appreciate any experiences people have had cruising with disabilities requiring a scooter. She would dearly love to take a cruise next year. Thanks in advance for any help :)

[PINEVIEW01]

There is a whole baord just for this .

 

It's under Special Interest Cruising and here is the link.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190

 

Hope this helps.

[NKG6002]

THANKS !!! I never did "look around" other sections of this board :o

[Yazoo cruiser]

We just got off the Fantasy Monday and noticed several people using wheel chairs and 3 or 4 with the motorized scooters. Looked like they were all having fun,no problems getting around. Getting off the ship we did notice a couple of wheelchair using cruisers being pushed by Carnival employees.

[LuckyBird]

If I were you I would check out the disabled cruising section but until you do maybe I can help. I have only cruised carnival so far so all of my experience is in regards to them. Is your friend totally dependent on the scooter or can they walk some? This will make a difference in many parts of the cruise. Some cruise lines will not allow scooters only manual chairs to tender, Others will allow the scooters if there are traveling companions to help load it onto the tender. This has been my experience while using my small travel scooter. I am not dependent on the scooter and only use it for distance. Each time I have went to tender from the ship, we have been stopped by crew members further back in the line that tell us they do not think that I will be able to tender with the scooter, this is our sign to stop and take apart the scooter ( I have a great pit crew as I travel with family members) We then carry the scooter onto the tender. We have never been denied boarding on a tender but if the scooter is not able to break down, or your friend can not walk at all then this is a possibility. Also, if traveling with a scooter I would highly recommend a HC room. Some small scooters can fit into a regular room but there is no room to manuver the scooter in the room, there is also a lip into the bathroom, that might cause problems. If you are booking a HC room, you will need to book as early as possible, there are very few and they fill up fast. I believe that the cruise line will not allow your friend to book a HC room by themselves, they require that Handicapped guests travel with an able bodied companion. I hope this helps you and your friend. I have found cruising to be a wonderful type of vacation.

[DEL67]

Again, I would check the Special Interest board, but I took many cruises on most of the major cruiselines with my disabled husband so I can provide some input.

 

Crusiing is great vacation for most disabled. Except for old ships, most ships are pretty accessible and have handicapped cabins today - bigger cabins with wider doors, no step for the bathroom, bars in the bathroom, roll under sinks, and roll in showers, etc. Carnivals HC cabins are not as large as most other cruise lines, but they are adequate and we found their staff to be very helpful..

 

Ports are more difficult, but can be managed. We found that using taxis or private vendors allowed us to tailor shore trips to my husband's needs.

 

Some ports are more accessible than others. For example, Cozumel has added curb cuts and many of the stores have ramps (some very make-shift), but there crowds and/or construction can block the sidewalks. US ports are generally more accessible than foreign ones, although we found Hawaii not to be as wheelchair friendly.

 

Generally it is best to avoid tender ports unless the ship has a tender lift. Otherwise she will need to transfer to a manual chair and be carried in the chair down/up to/from the tender. And getting in/out of the tender can also be difficult even if there is a lift.

 

The important thing is to plan ahead: reserve a handicap cabin, notify the cruiseline of any special needs your friend has and research the ports to know what she can do. The Special Needs board is a great source. We also checked our table assignment after we boarded to make sure the table was accessible.

[DarthGrady]

My friend is unable to walk and requires a scooter for mobility. I would appreciate any experiences people have had cruising with disabilities requiring a scooter. She would dearly love to take a cruise next year. Thanks in advance for any help :)

 

Just did a cruise last year with my Grandfather who requires a scooter. Heres a link to my review. Hope it is useful!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=29119

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I don't know what ship you are considering or where you are visiting so I'll tell you of my experience with Carnival Spirit 2 weeks ago in the Mexican Riviera. I was traveling with 2 friends using electric scooters. They had a handicapped room and it was fabulous. Very wide entrance door into the cabin. When they slid their card in the keylock, the door automatically opened for them and they wheeled in. Bathroom and balcony doors had no lip so they rode right in. The bathroom was huge with lots of room to maneuver around. The balcony was extra long and extended too so they had plenty of room out there. They had cabin 6281 I think right next to the elevators. They were able to wheel all over the ship and never had any problems on the ship.

 

Excursions was where they ran into the some hiccups. I went my own way as DH & I had excursions planned already so I wasn't with them when they had to deal with tenders and bus tours so I can't comment too much on the subject. They had 2 able-bodied friends with them that helped them wherever they went.

[firefly333]

Excursions was where they ran into the some hiccups. I went my own way as DH & I had excursions planned already so I wasn't with them when they had to deal with tenders and bus tours so I can't comment too much on the subject. They had 2 able-bodied friends with them that helped them wherever they went.

 

Our friends too. They requested a wide wheelchair to use to take their mom off the ship into the port as the motor on the scooter wouldnt go that far, but the ship didnt have a wide wheelchair which they assumed they would get since they requested it ahead of time in cozumel.