Question on "travel wheelchair"

[DDawson]

I'm taking my 82 yr old mother on a 7 day cruise. Mom can walk, but the distances on the ship and shore excursions will do her in. Obviously a wheelchair will help her enjoy the trip much more. A scooter is out of the question because I just don't think she could manage it without causing serious injury to the ship or another passanger!

 

In talking with the rep at Care Vacations we decided on the lightweight "companion" chair that only weights 20 lbs. This does have 4 small wheels. I felt this would be the easiest chair to get in and out of a taxi. Also thought it would be easiest to deal with as far as space and weight.

 

While reading posts on this board I noticed some negative comments from others about this type of chair. Mention was made about it being difficult to push on the carpet. Mom weighs 95 lbs. I'm 44 years old and suffer from no disabilities. I lift weights 3 times a week but am not a "body builder". I'm trying to say that I'm physically able to pick her up and carry her if I needed too.

 

Am I making a mistake with this light weight chair? I'm not concerned with getting something that will give her independance. Just wondering if this will really be a problem for me pushing the chair. I don't want to waste the $95.00 on something that only causes us problems.

 

Thanks for any help or advise you can give me.

[Queenie2]

Personally I don't like the "travel chairs". I hear what you are saying about the fact that you are in good shape, but it's just that they are difficult to push and I prefer to take the easy way out. They are also really cheaply made as compared to a lightweight manual wheelchair (which you can also rent). I've had so many compalints about them -- I would never recommend them to anyone.

 

Candy

[Shebbieal]

The small-wheeled chairs have a major drawback, the user can't manually move themselves with their arms. For instance, getting closer to the potty.

 

Sherry

[DEL67]

A travel chair would work; however, in addition to being easier to push, regular wheelchairs are also easier to get up/down curbs when there is no curb cut and they absorb bumps better when going over uneven surfaces.

 

Getting the chair into a taxi should not be an issue. My husband's manual chair is taller than most due to his height, but it fits all, but the smallest trunks.

 

One hint: locking the wheels before yyou lift it makes it easier to handle.

[Sarahsmom85]

We rented a travel chair I guess thats what they called it in Vegas. It had 4 small wheels? It did not work well for us. Your mom may be different than my DH but his feet kept falling off the peddles. I put his roho on the seat and the back was hitting him at the shoulder blades. It was a waste of money.

[DDawson]

Thanks for your feedback. I guess it was the fact that it was so light weight that first attracted me. Guess I call back and request a regular wheelchair.

 

Thanks again

[Splinter]

Many cabs have very small trunks. Try to get a lightweight standard chair that has "quick release" wheels. This allows you to easily pop off the wheels to get into a small trunk and pop them back on after unfolding the chair. Also, we learned the hard way in Turkey to always look at the trunk BEFORE transferring into the cab. Some trunks are full of other things...in Turkey they commonly install an auxillary gas tank there and have no room for much else.

[lesharona]

We are going on a cruise in April. My Mom is the same as yours, she

can walk but the long distances are going to be too much for her.

We are taking a chair like the one you described with the 4 small wheels,

we will also take her walker with us. Her walker is the kind with the

seat that pulls down, and we usually take it to the mall with us. It works

great. But I feel we may need the chair for the longer distances.

If she was confined to a wheelchair I would opt for the type she could

manuever on her own. But I think this one will serve our purpose.

[Wennfred]

Whats wrong with the Scooter, does she use a Scooter today? if so then bring the Scooter, we had 1 lady with a scooter on the Spirit, and then we had a team of Scooters on the 10 day Paradise trip. if she is confortable with the Scooter that would be the best choice.

[JackWP]

My wife is still recovering from a broken hip received on a shore excursion. We have been on a Viking River Cruise and a RCCL cruise since her accident. The only problem that she has now is long distances, like airports, check in lines, and wakling tours. We purchased a NOVA 330 transport wheelchair online. This chair weighs about 20 pounds, has 12 inch rear wheels and hand brakes for the pusher. We can highly recommed this type of chair as it worked very well for us on our tours. The larger rear wheels really help the ride and ease of pushing. The hand brakes are very helpful, especially for airport sloped walkways.