Accessibility on Viking Pride

[gardengrammy]

We are thinking about going on the Tulips and Windmills cruise in 2010. My husband has MS and uses an electric scooter for distances and a walker for shorter distances. Does anyone know if the Pride has an elevator? What about the tours? Some have told us the old towns have cobbled streets and will be hard to navigate with an scooter.:confused:

[jacksonnh]

I believe Pride has no elevator. The restaurant and observation decks are accessed via stairs from all decks as opposed to some of Vikings other ships where you can access straight from one deck w/o stairs. European cities and towns do have alot of uneven sidewalks and streets that are made from brick and stones. Sometimes the ship is docked next to another ship which can make for alot of stairs to handle unless this is not a problem. Many of the tours start on a bus and then are walking guided in many areas. Would he need a scooter on the ship and for the walking tours? On the two tours that we've taken with Viking, we had a choice of taking the regular tour or a much slower tour for anyone who had trouble walking. Give Viking a call, tell them what you want to do and see what they recommend. Hope it all works out.

[gardengrammy]

Thank you for the information. Yes stairs would be a problem. I hadn't heard about choices of slower paced tours. That would be helpful.

[jacksonnh]

The slower paced tours were offered by Viking last year on the Elbe cruise and the Rhine this year. There were a number of people who took them.

[pacmom]

If you are willing to look at other lines, you should be able to find one with elevator service. All the ones we have been on with Uniworld and Vantage had elevators. Ours on the Viking Sun did not. We had a lady break her foot part way thru our trip. She was basically confined to deck 3 til she got her walking cast( 3 days before end of trip). Her husband brought her meals. She did get to the lounge on same level as her cabin. We had people using walkers on our trip--managed to do all tours except Marberg Castle. Our guides paced the tours very well. We had 2 slower moving tours offered-one went the other didn't have enough passengers sign up. Please research the various lines. It is a beautiful time to travel.

Pat

[susiesan]

Do any of the river boats even allow scooters to be brought on? They are so small and narrow, especially the halls. You certainly couldn't fit it in a cabin on a river boat. I can't imagine where you would park the scooter. No one could get by in the hall. It would be a safety hazard.

[pacmom]

If your husband can use the walker on board the boat, he should be okay. Am sure they could find a space near reception for the scooter. With no elevator or chair lift will he be able to do stairs? If not then look for a line with elevators. Good luck fitting your need. Pat