Wheelchair rental -- Eastern Med cruise

[charleysmom]

We're booked on the Legend of the Seas Aug 4 departure and will be traveling with my mom who will be 87. She's generally in excellent health but has had some fairly severe knee problems that make walking very difficult and painful. We are looking at renting a wheelchair and don't think she'll be able to do many of the excursions without one. However, we're having a tough time finding a rental company over there. We did find one based in Italy (accessible italy), but it was over 400 euro (most of which was the deliver charge) which seems pretty steep. I've e-mailed several of the usual suspects including CareVacations, Special Needs at Sea and Cruise Ship Assist with no luck. Either they don't serve the port -- or they don't respond. Any suggestions???

 

Special Needs at Sea seems to serve the port, but I've e-mailed them several times for pricing info and they don't get back to me which makes me nervous. Does anyone have any experience with them?

 

Thanks.

 

Ann

[kitty9]

What port are you looking to have the chair delivered? The reason I'm asking is CareVacations has delivered wheelchairs to some pretty out of the way places for me.

 

Another way is for your to rent a chair locally, take it with you on the plane, and then return it when you get home.

[charleysmom]

We're leaving from Rome. I think CareVacations said they didn't service that port. We've been thinking about the option of renting here, but I'm worried about damages to the chair in transit.

 

Thanks.

[Moeve]

You might consider even buying a cheaper/used one which makes it easier for you getting around airports too.

[charleysmom]

Finally heard back from Special Needs at Sea and they can provide a rental. It's $295 for the two weeks, delivered to the cabin. The chair is a "standard" chair, about 40 pounds without quick release wheels. The rep says it collapses to about 10" outside wheel to outside wheel.

 

So now some additional questions -- will this be horribly heavy to push (Mom's only about 135 pounds) and how easy will it be to haul onto a tour bus, and will they have somewhere to stash it? Mom can get on and off the bus on her own so it can be folded on the bus and she doesn't need a lift. Also, how easy will it be to get in and out of a minivan if we do private tours? (We're a largish group so we wouldn't be doing taxi or sedan tours).

 

We are seriously looking at the purchase alternative -- some of the online dealers have decent sounding lightweight chairs with quick release wheels for about $300 -- but I think we'd want to make a careful decision and probably have it fitted. If that eliminates online purchasing, the price seems to go up a lot. Though I wonder if any part of it would be covered by insurance...

 

Thanks for any insights!

 

Ann

[kjunea]

My personal opinion is if you can get the chair at close to the rental price, then buy a lightweight chair. You will have it for the airports, etc. You can check it at the gate and it will be at the gate of your arrival. And you will always have it, for short trips around home, etc.

 

When I first had my accident, we rented (with insurance), thinking I wouldn't need one later. After my third surgery on my legs, insurance bought me a chair! It was cheaper for them than renting! I've replaced it once (I've had 10 surgeries so far in 13 years) and it was the best thing I've done. I usually can get around with the cane only, but am glad that the chair is available for vacations, etc. if I need it.