Best River Cruise and company for scooter user

I have difficulty walking and am interested in a river cruise which I have never done before. Any advice on which ships have elevators and which river would be best for starters? Thank you.

It's not just the ship that matters on a River cruise. It's the river and ports themselves. They can make the entire boat accessible, and you still might not be able to go ashore. From what I understand, there are often a lot of steps to get up the riverbank to the town level. And ships often tie up rafted: the first ship is next to the dock, and one or more tie up to it, and guests have to pass over/through the other ships to get ashore. I suggest you also ask this on the River Cruises forum here.

Here is a recent thread, and I'm sure there are others:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2503678

EM

Unfortunately, I believe the answer is none of the above. Most of the river cruise lines do not allow scooters (to the best of my knowledge).

Regrettably a river cruise may not be the best option for you. Check out this recent thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2503678

I have difficulty walking and am interested in a river cruise which I have never done before. Any advice on which ships have elevators and which river would be best for starters? Thank you.

Are you asking about river cruises in the United States or other parts of the world? The American Queen Steamboat Company is based in the US and its boats are ADA compliant. They have accessible suites and staterooms. Their Hop On Hop Off buses (free at every stop) can stow any walking device you might have and they will take it off for you any time you want to "hop off" (or you don't even have to "hop off", you can just ride along in the bus until it returns to the boat). At their stops with ramps or a hill to get to the top, they have golf carts to take those passengers who need it. We have been on the American Queen itself twice and I highly recommend it. My husband has walking disabilities (he uses a rollator) and he would do another cruise with them in a heartbeat.

https://www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com/

I'm a full time scooter user and my cousin just returned from a river cruise on AMA Waterways on the Danube. She sent photos of all the port stops and from those I was able to ascertain that there's no way I could take a river cruise there. Once, their boat was the third in line and at the next stop, they were the fourth. You had to climb up a couple steps, get onto a ramp, cross over the other boats and then finally to the shore. But once on shore, there were either steps or rocky paths up to street level. No way for either a scooter or wheelchair.

A friend of mine did a river cruise on Viking and they also said that there's no way for someone with a wheelchair or scooter could do a river cruise. Not only that, but you're at the mercy of the river. On their cruise, the river was too low for the boats, so their "cruise" became a not so nice bus trip. And, many European towns/cities do not have buses that accommodate scooters, so that will be an additional problem.