Help - Tender rules for Princess

Does anyone know what the policy are for Princess cruises with regards to tendering into a port? Also, what they do at ports where only stairs are on option? I am Confined to a wheelchair, a quad in a manual wheelchair.

With their newer ships, it is very rare that you have to deal with steps for either tendering or in port. They generally have a ramp (although it is not wide) or at most one step. They will pick you up in a light weight manual chair and lift you into the tender if you cannot stand or walk. Be sure you are able to instruct them where to lift (and more importantly, where NOT to lift) on your chair. We also take along a gait belt as a safety strap as my mother's balance is poor and I fear they might tip her out of her chair when lifting.

If there are steps on the port end, they will also help lift you up to level ground.

Keep in mind, that like all cruise lines, if it is rough, they may not allow you to tender. It is best to have on-board back-up plans for the day should this occur.

I have some pictures of the place you sit in the tender on the newer Princess ships if you are interested.

I'm on the Royal Princess doing the Amazon cruise B2B and they say they have a new policy that started February, that no wheelchairs, scooters etc. are allowed on the tenders no matter what. On the stairs they would transfer me to a poor Princess wheelchair and use the stair walkers then transfer me back again to my own chair. It seems at every port i'm they are giving me a hassel and making up policy as they go.

I am interested in the pictures please send them to briny101@netzero.net

thanks

The Royal is an old ship, so that may be an exception. If this is the case for all of Princess, they just lost us as customers. My mother cannot be transferred in and out of a clunker chair. Her manual chair is custom fit, as is her cushion. It also weighs less than the ship's wheelchair. We would fight this.

(KLD)

Splinter and OP - the "old" Royal Princess was transferred to P&O and now sails as "Artemis" The new Royal Princess is one of the original R Renaissance ships - think Tahitian Princess, Pacific Princess and the 2 Celebrity Azamara ships. They carry about 700 passengers and have only a few accessible cabins(mainly inside). I have read on this thread or on Celebrity thread that pax in wheelchairs have had problems with the narrow hallways, but were thrilled with the public rooms and the food service and quality.

We, who travel with both manual wheelchair and scooter would never consider an Amazon cruise on any ship because, with the exception of Manaus, the ports are tender ports and the shore facilities can hardly be deemed accessible by any standard. You, Splinter, are much more familiar than we are in your hospital capacity, but I would think a quad in a manual wheelchair would encounter all kinds of difficulties in going ashore under those conditions. But that is just my own opinion.:)

Being on the Royal the hallways are fine, not too narrow at all. We had little problems in town. Were not expecting accessable tours or the cities to be up to USA standards, we were happy to get off the ship and stroll around town. Our problems came about with what we were told is now Princess policy. This is our 8th cruise with Princess and have never had any other problems.

I would like to know where you got the information from Princess. If it was from a phone representative (called "clueless Susan" at our home) I would ask for written backup as to this policy. I like cruising with Princess but always feel like the phone representatives tell me anything to just get me off the phone. Princess really needs a special needs desk.

We came off the Golden Princess on a Mexican Riviera cruise just before Christmas. Indeed, Princess has a new policy that does not allow scooters or chairs in tenders. Period. My wife uses a scooter, but we weren't getting off at any ports because we've done this trip several times and just wanted to relax and enjoy the ship.

HAL has certain ships that have accessible tenders. You might want to check them out.

Hi...I just got off the Diamond Princess yesterday 15 day RT from LA to Hawaii...I am an amputee and can climb stairs and walk but use a scooter to get around the big ships, and my w/c for shore excursions.

Princess will not allow any scooters on the tenders...We tendered in 2 ports.

They insist its a crew safety precaution...with the size of the people using the scooters that I saw, I could understand this rule. Plus the short trips on the tenders were often in choppy water. I was allowed to sit in my chair on the tender.

In the ports were you did not have to tender scooters were taken off the ship, or the Princess stair climber chair was used and the guest was transfered back to thier own chair. I walked down the stairs and they took my scooter or wheelchair off for me.

Princess did have tour busses with lifts for people in scooter's in non-tender ports (advance reservations and notification was required.

Note about the Diamond Princess...a beautiful ship that was designed by someone that has no idea about accessibility. Accessible bathroom stalls aften had the sink accross the room from the towel dispenser and trash bin (on the wall) and the angles of the room were not easy to navigate in a scooter. Also no wall button to push to open the door or close it. Outside doors to the decks were ramped but also no automatic openers except near the pools. And the pools were all accessed with stairs, which made them inaccessible.

In spite of these obsticals...it was a great cruise, wonderful staff, good food and nice passengers...I was fortunate to have an accessible cabin and it was more than adequate.

Oops I forgot to mention that we tendered in Maui and Kona and I was able to walk on board the tender with help and they put my w/c on after me, I sat in it while we were tendering. No problem...they would not take a scooter even if it came apart....too dangerous they said. We were lucky the sea was fairly calm.

Just wondering if anyone else thinks that this new rule might be in violation on the ADA? Since they offer a service to AB there should be a comprible service to disabled, right?

Rough seas is one thing and understandable but if the seas are calm...

Well, pugdog, as you probably know, although the Supreme Court has ruled that the ADA applies to cruise ships with any USA ports, the Access Board has still failed to produce the regulations required (after spending 3 years taking testimony on several drafts), so there are no standards to enforce, so for now, they can get away with this.

Some cruise lines do a fine job (Crystal, HAL) others are very poor.

As our population ages, this is a huge market! The cruise lines that have plenty of nice h/c cabins and easy access for all will benefit with more business.

When the word gets around that a cruise line is very good and caring, it will get more business. It makes sense!

I am an advocate for the disabled (being an amputee myself) and a commssioner in my town on the Commission on Disabilites. However, I think most cruise ships do a fair to good job at making accomodations. I do disagree with the poster that thinks not taking scooters on tenders is a violation. I have to say on my last cruise I never saw so many excessivly large cruisers that used scooters (this many not be PC but the truth as I saw it)...it would have been impossible as well as unsafe for the crew to lift them onto the tenders. I feel that everyone has the right to enjoy their vacation as long as it does not put others in harms way. I also know that obesity can be a medical condition.

I have been refused access to the tenders in rough sea's even though I can walk with my prosthesis because the staff felt it was unsafe. I respected their opinion and did not feel put upon.

I do wish however, that the cruise lines would have more accessible cabin (so I don't have to book 9mo to 1yr before...no last minute vacations for me) and I wish that all a/c cabin doors opened with cruisecard like on RCCL, and that all doors to decks opened automatically, and at least one pool was accessible without those lifts that never seem to work. I am sure I could make this a really long list if I tried.

I didn't want to be the one to say it, but many scooter users are large people. They may have ruined knees and hips, but large they are.

When our family member was seeking a cruise, she didn't want an H/C cabin as she felt that she and her husband could manage perfectly well. They did. Frankly I had my doubts. I was wrong.

She was afraid to tender and chose not to do so. Her own choice.

However, she had a problem with scooters blocking the hallways. Not safe!

OK so here is our problem with this. My wife uses a custom wheelchair, using their wheelchair might be a problem.

Our Panama canal trip is next Jan. So should we play a wait and see on this or rebook with RCCL?

Pugdog, how many of your ports are tender ports? It looks as though docked ports are not a problem but the tender ones are. It usually says on the cruise personalizer if a port is tendered.

Pugdog...we are booked on a Panama cruise on Princess in Feb. 2009, on our last cruise there were several people that used custom w/c..princess transferred them to the stair-climber w/c and back to their chairs at the bottom of the stair/ramp...however they could not go onto the tenders. Only one of our ports is a tender port...so I will just take my chances with that one.

The Panama cruise is wonderful and very interesting (did it about 10 years ago) that is why we are doing it again. Check out the itenery before you cancel.

So does this mean now that if you are in a manual wheelchair you can no longer go to Princess Cay?

Only one port is tendered and it's not a big deal if we don't get off there, It's only Mexico after all.

On the stair climber is their chair permanently fixed to it or can a standard sized wheelchair use it so the person does not have to get out of their chair?

Her manual chair is just a standard chair but has custom seating on it.

We are already planning on using her powerchair on board but were going to use her manual chair in docked ports.

To clear up a few things: First off, Princess does have a special needs desk - it is called Fleet Medical (unlike most lines they use actual nurses, as opposed to Customer Service Reps, to deal with medical issues).

Second, the policy on tenders is about SCOOTERS, not wheelchairs. It is the size, weight and general unwieldyness of scooters they consider a safety issue. They not only allow wheelchairs on tenders, if you are a scooter user, you can use one of their wheelchairs for the tender.

I seriously doubt there is a ADA issue here, as they are willing to make a reasonable accomodation.

Also, I can not speak specifically to the Diamond Princess, but the other Grand Class ships I have been on, which have steps to the pools, also have two pools equipped with lifts.

For what it's worth.

Splinter, You said that you have pics of the tender and wheelchairs, can I see them? Also does anyone have any pics of the stairclimber?

Thanks

Pugdog...a wheelchair can't get off at Princess cays anymore. the chair on the stairclimber is not permanently attached but they will not use your chair eventhough it is a standard size and would fit on the climber. On our Feb 08 cruise the chair Princess uses was an old base model everest jennings.

Daveco, Princess does not have a Special Needs desk in the sense of having anyone trained to talk about the cruise experience, accessible features of the ships, suitability of specific excursions, etc. Yes they do have Fleet Medical and are good to describe the "Medical" services you can expect.

We visited Princess Cays on Emerald Princess on 14 Jan 08. Son in a manual chair ,small elevator down to tender dock. Pretty much a roll on to the tender. Same thing on shore. Only problem is cabanas are on side of beach that is not accessible due to a multistep bridge over a waterway. To get there you have to visit the medical center to get a ride on a ATV. You have to be lifted into the ATV seat. Poor planning. They have a beach wheelchair available at the medical center. Snorkeling was great.

Tour desk played dumb about the beach wheelchair. Written complaint about not having cabanas for rent (you need one for the sun) on the accessible side of Princess Cays. Their map of Princess Cays is misleading.