Pacific Sun Disabled passsengers

[Drelix]

My dad is on the Pacific Sun with a disabled passenger in a wheel chair now they where told they could not bored the tenders with the wheel chair even though it was a non electric one has anyone else had any similar problems?

 

As he has been on the pacific dawn and was fine?

[aussie57]

Yes we were told that wheelchairs could not go on the tenders & that a lot of islands aren't accessible anyway once you do get to land. There are health & safety regulations that prevent them from tendering wheelchair bound pax. Allan understands this & has always happily been occupied on the ship at tender ports.

[The_Big_M]

There's a bit of discussion here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1175273

 

However, the passenger said they didn't use the wheelchair with the tenders.

[musicorn]

Being in a wheelchair is a huge continuum. I think that if you can weight bear and get onto the tender with minimal assistance they will take you if the Port is accessible as well. However, if you are bound to a wheelchair and need to use some sort of transfer method to board the tender it would create a safety risk.

 

We have never had any problems except for Lifou as the Port is not accessible.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thank you for posting this topic Drelix.

It is something I had never really thought about as I have seen wheelchair passengers being tendered ashore and just assumed that is always the case. However thinking about it more, in some of the more difficult ports, say where there are many steps, uneven surfaces ,broken paths , etc, I have not seen wheelchairs taken ashore.

[Sandielle]

Last February, at Akaroa jetty, we saw a man in a wheelchair getting back onto a tender. In this case, the gentleman was able to weightbear, so the crew men helped him get out of the chair and into the tender. He did need a lot of help as he was unsteady on his feet. I didn't see what happened when we arrived back at the ship as they got everyone else off the tender first.

 

So, as said above, I think it depends on circumstances - the degree of infirmity and the state of the jetty/landing place, etc. It would be best to get advice from the cruise line first, so you know exactly what is achievable. :)