Rental wheelchair for RCI Barcelona cruise?

[ZellaLamb]

Does anyone know if you can get a rental wheelchair delivered to the ship in Barcelona? I am already traveling with a scooter but most of the advise here on the board says that we really should use a travel wheelchair for any excursions. We really can't travel with a wheelchair and a scooter!

[leoandhugh]

We do not understand why you cannot travel with both a scooter and a fold-up manual wheelchair; we do it for every cruise and have travelled with both to London, Barcelona, Istanbul and Rome. The scooter gets checked as baggage and the wheelchair is gatechecked for making and flight changes or for getting to and from the door of the plane. The wheelchair is used for all trips off the ship because in most ports - particularly European or Asian - a scooter is not practical off the ship. Few sloped curbs, many cobblestone or brick streets and very few accessible vehicles that can handle a scooter. But almost every bus used for shore excursions and most taxis can take a fold up wheelchair. The scooter is used exclusively onboard to provide independence for the user, not having to rely on other to push the wheelchair ( a sometimes difficult task on ships with heavy carpeting:)

[ZellaLamb]

LeoandHugh, thanks for your reply. I understand that you have no trouble traveling with both a scooter and a wheelchair but I couldn't possibly burden my husband with all of that, plus the luggage for both of us. Another factor is that we don't actually own a wheelchair and were hoping not to have to buy one. When most people refer to scooters, I think that they are referring to the large ones that don't come apart. My scooter is actually quite small and comes apart into several pieces that fit well in the trunk of any compact car that we've rented. The reason I like this particular scooter is because it has quite a lot of power and is high enough off the ground that I am able to jump small curbs. I can also get off and on fairly easily while my husband takes it up a curb. I'm hoping that it will work ok in the Med. ports.

[Splinter]

Would never dream of going to the Med, or most other ports outside the USA with a power wheelchair or a scooter. We always take both a power chair and a manual wheelchair. The curbs are not low, and there are often 2-3 steps into shops, and not room for a scooter anyway (inside the shops). Small ones can be difficult to use and even unsafe on cobblestones. It is pretty easy to find people willing to help lift someone in a manual chair up 2-3 flights of stairs when needed, but not in a power chair or scooter.

 

If you can walk and climb stairs on your own, and don't mind doing that, plus lugging the scooter around, I guess you can do that. It would never work for us. We check our big bags and use porters to help in the airports and at the pier, and pile the carry-ons on the manual chair, which my father (who is 86 years old) pushes, my mother drives her power chair, and I push the lift. When we go ashore, we leave the power chair on the ship where it is safe and take the manual chair, which I push (since my mother is tetraplegic and cannot walk, stand or push a manual chair). We would never use a "travel chair" either....it is a regular light weight Quickie II manual wheelchair with large rear wheels and good qualify casters as well as quick release wheels which are critical for getting it in and out of small European cabs (often they have no trunk available as it is often taken up with an auxillary gas tank).

[kitty9]

We had a scooter and manual wheelchair delivered to our ship that left out of Harwich England. Call CareVacations 877-478-7827 to rent whatever you want. I've spoken to them many times and they will get scooters and wheelchairs to ports in England, Denmark, Russia, Italy and Spain. I don't see why they won't service Barcelona

[leoandhugh]

ZellaLamb, Our scooter is also lightweight and breaks into 3 pieces which I can stow in the trunk of our car. That said, having been to most ports in Europe - Mediterranean and Baltic - we have yet to find one with the exception of Barcelona where the scooter would have worked ashore. Most curbs are much higher than here and mostly not sloped; and many times from a sidewalk there are still a couple of steps up to enter a store or restaurant.

I suggest that you go to a site called Accessible Barcelona which has a lot of info on accessibility of public transport, hotels, restaurants and they may know something about renting a wheelchair. Assuming the cruise begins and ends in Barcelona. If it does not you may have further problem.:)

[ZellaLamb]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I did go to accessiblebarcelona and it seems that they do rent the wheelchairs. Perhaps my biggest obstacle will be my objection to being pushed. I truly hate being at the mercy of the pusher and not being able to look at what I want to look at without having to ask first. ;)

 

As wonderful as my husband is, (and he is truly wonderful) it would not be beyond him to use his "powers" to keep me from shopping!

 

The cruise is both departing and arriving in Barcelona and we will be spending 5 days there afterwards so at least we can use the scooter there. We spent a week last year in the Costa del Sol and had no problems with the scooter there. Other places that we have taken it have been Hawaii, Alaska, Ireland, most of the carribean islands, Puerto Vallarta (that one wasn't easy, but doable) Cosumel, Chichen Itzsa (spelling)....Belize...and a few more.

 

Zella