Jump to content

Does any cruise line stand out for disabled travel?


illiniwahoo
 Share

Recommended Posts

My father had a stroke two years ago, and is left using a walker and a wheelchair. He can walk 100 yards or so with the walker. He can transfer into or out of a regular car, but cannot step up into a large van or bus.

 

My husband and I would like to take my parents, as well as our toddler twins on a cruise next year. We will start easy with a Caribbean cruise. Of the mainstream lines, is any cruise line better for disabled travel? They will have a handicapped room and we will rent him a scooter so that no one is stuck pushing him all the time. I'm thinking most of the mainstream lines would be similar, but one might have better handicapped rooms or better accessible excursions. Any thoughts?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think your main problem will not be your father but your kids. RCI has large HC cabins (handicapped cabins) but these are sold very quickly. RCI provide good excursions but you will need to request a brochure from shorexAccess@rccl.com. I normally do this roughly 2-3 months before I sail, with my disabled wheelchair confined son. From what I have read on Cruise Critics you have to be very careful which ship you sail on with toddlers. As some ships have better facilitates for toddlers.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm honestly not too worried about the kids. I am waiting until they are over three, so they will be potty trained and can use the pools. They will be able to use the kids club for a little bit if they like it (but I'm not hung up on if they do to the kids club or not). I actually think toddlers are easier to entertain then older kids who want minigolf, water slides, etc. At three they will be too young for most of that, and not know yet what they are missing!

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would avoid Carnival, not because they don't take good care for HC guests, but you can never be sure of their HC cabins. They don't have as many as some lines, and they do two types, 'ambulatory accessible' and fully accessible. As far as the cabin for you, on many lines, cabins for four have the 3/4 guests sleeping in bunks that come down from the ceiling - not generally appropriate for toddlers. Or a sleeper couch with a mattress topper and an upper bunk. You might take these things into consideration when choosing your cruise line. EM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Electronic convenience vehicle, or something similar. Scooter or power chair. EM

Thank you. I figured E= electric and ECV was some type of scooter. I was just having trouble working out what C & V meant :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've been on Carnival, Royal Caribbean & Disney with our wheelchair bound adult daughter. Disney is by far the best in my opinion.
Disney is also lots more expensive. I'm willing to pay if it's worth it, but for double the cost, I'm expecting a lot. What made it so much better?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disney is also lots more expensive. I'm willing to pay if it's worth it, but for double the cost, I'm expecting a lot. What made it so much better?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

I would recommend you do not book Disney. Book RCI or NCL, as they are cheaper. Once you discover if cruising is suitable for your dad then consider booking Disney for your next cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The accessible cabins on Princess are huge! The bathrooms are equally spacious with a roll in shower and fold down shower seat.

 

One word of warning about Princess and scooters/wheelchairs - if your itinerary includes a tender port, they may not be able to accommodate the scooter on the tender.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've cruised NCL, Princess, Celebrity and RCI - all in handicapped balcony cabins. We're just off Adventure of the Seas and I took some pictures of cabin 7300 (pardon the mess). Plenty of floor space, no barriers for either the bathroom or balcony. Location was good to the elevators. I feel the newer RCI ships (we've done Oasis and Allure) are great for accessibility. On Adventure all of the public bathrooms had automatic doors but they only worked about 50% of the time.

IMG_0492.jpg.6f09bc079f6e30ff0c40ee842dbfc94e.jpg

IMG_0493.jpg.1f18597415ba27b1d6e9e8ee5d4b4ce2.jpg

IMG_0494.jpg.d6ed31fecf4c4fb78713351f4757973a.jpg

IMG_0495.jpg.f16a470e56dd7226d65602bca1ef53ea.jpg

IMG_0496.jpg.a65e20caa338ae4bf17f6114caf411f7.jpg

IMG_0497.jpg.7711b3846d75cba366504a6eb5c4263d.jpg

IMG_0498.jpg.b73a1b959d641e0b106299daf99c11ac.jpg

IMG_0499.jpg.9fd4b167ea201faf9fdb1bfe071c6a86.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've cruised NCL, Princess, Celebrity and RCI - all in handicapped balcony cabins. We're just off Adventure of the Seas and I took some pictures of cabin 7300 (pardon the mess). Plenty of floor space, no barriers for either the bathroom or balcony. Location was good to the elevators. I feel the newer RCI ships (we've done Oasis and Allure) are great for accessibility. On Adventure all of the public bathrooms had automatic doors but they only worked about 50% of the time.

 

Wow! Those HC balcony rooms are certainly big. Thanks for sharing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Royal’s Radiance class and Celebrity’s S class have automatic doors in their accessible cabins. This makes it so much easier to get in and out of the cabins since the doors are pretty heavy. Otherwise we have been on Royal, Celebrity, Norwegian and Disney in accessible cabins. We haven’t had any issues getting around the ships.

 

Kate

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think your main problem will not be your father but your kids. RCI has large HC cabins (handicapped cabins) but these are sold very quickly. RCI provide good excursions but you will need to request a brochure from shorexAccess@rccl.com. I normally do this roughly 2-3 months before I sail, with my disabled wheelchair confined son. From what I have read on Cruise Critics you have to be very careful which ship you sail on with toddlers. As some ships have better facilitates for toddlers.:)
I agree about the availability of HC cabins. There aren't very many and they go fast. We have to book at least 12 months out to get a HC balcony. Just our experience with RC and Princess.

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm usually a Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruiser but we did a cruise on HAL in May to Alaska. Holland is known for having the oldest passenger average age. I needed to use a mobility scooter and wheelchair on this cruise and could not believe how accommodating HAL was. We had a regular balcony (my health went down dramatically between booking and cruise). HAL assisted me with my scooter every day (helping store it us), staff helping move it when necessary for dining, helping get it on and off board, etc. Their excursions publications and shore excursion staff have explicit detail on tours that are able to accommodate chairs/scooters. We were truly impressed with them.

HAL also has a kids program but our 12 year old did not participate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've found Holland America to be very accommodating with my scooter.They help take it up and down the ramp when the angle is too steep. So far, I've not taken a handicapped room. We will be on Royal Caribbean this fall and the rooms are so small, I really don't know what will happen with my scooter, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. They are know for having very few HC cabins and very small other cabins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have done HC cabins on Emerald Princess (mini suite HUGE), Celebrity Silhouette-very nice - good size; Celebrity Constellation really small and balcony access was limited, NCL Getaway in an oceanview and a balcony. Room wise I’d go with Princess, NCL oceanview, then S class Celebrity. Service wise Princess all the way. Norwegian was the worst for service and the the Celebrity Constellation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...