Can a rent a wheelchair?

[rjan67]

Hello! We are planning a family cruise and my 80 yr old mother will be coming. She is not wheelchair bound, but as there may be a lot of walking on the ship for her, I wondered if they had any accessible to use or would I have to bring/rent one.? Any insight on this is greatly appreciated.

[Arlened236]

Depending on the cruise line you may be able to reserve one from them (but they will be old and heavy) A folding regular wheelchair (NOT a transport chair which has small wheels, and is very difficult to push on carpet and over small threshholds) would be best. Plus it can be folded and kept in a non-accessible cabin easier.

I rent equipment from CareVacations.com (also called Cruise Ship Assist) they rent wheelchairs, electric scooter, etc at every US port. It will be in your cabin when you arrive and you leave it there after the cruise...they will ask her height and weight so they can provide the correct size.

They company is located in Canada and there toll free numer is 1-877-478-7827. I have rented from them for many years.

Your mother will appreciate the chair not only on the ship but on shore excursions. You will love the family cruise...we did it 2 years ago and are still talking about it.

[uppitycats]

Hello! We are planning a family cruise and my 80 yr old mother will be coming. She is not wheelchair bound, but as there may be a lot of walking on the ship for her, I wondered if they had any accessible to use or would I have to bring/rent one.? Any insight on this is greatly appreciated.

 

Generally the cruise line would let your mother use the chair for boarding or getting off the ship, but not while on the ship. On my last cruise, someone needed a wheelchair for distances, and they had to ask to be taken to their destination on the ship, then left there...and then they'd have to look for a crew member (or send one of us to find one) to fetch the chair and take them to their next destination on the ship. Not very convenient!

 

Indeed, rent a manual chair (you can call the special services department of the cruise line you're going on to find out who they use for such equipment), or you might want to look for a manual chair in your local newspaper -- you can get them pretty cheaply -- and then your mother would have it to use at home for shopping and such, too.

[Arwenmark]

By all means rent one from a third party site. Which third party site depends on the cruise line they each have only certain companies that they will allow to bring equipment onto their ships, call the special needs department of your cruiseline and see who they use, be sure the chair you rent is foldable.

[rjan67]

Thank you for all the advice!