Wheelchair for 94 year old

[briody]

I am going on a river cruise with my 94 year old mother in law. She can do some walking but now I am getting a little nervous. If she chooses when you go on the tour can she stay on the bus when we do the walking part and does anyone know anything about renting a wheelchair. We are doing the Legendary Danube and I think the only time she may have a problem with the walking is in Prague - seems to be more walking there.

 

Thanks:confused:

[alexandra cruiser]

they do allow passengers to remain onboard,,,but have been on a few where 1 bus dropped us off,,and another picked us up...also,,hope her wheelchair is small,lightweight,,,hard to manage getting up gangplank with large ,heavy one due to width...she ll be unable to get to top deck,,in most boats,,,only stairs...elevator stops before top deck, on ones we have been on ..8 so far...all different lines...

Hope it works for you both,,but DO check carefully,,may be more than you can manage??;)

[euro cruiser]

You'd probably do just as well to purchase a travel chair. We did this for my mother several years ago and we've been all over with it, on land trips as well as cruises. We'll be taking it on an AMA river cruise the week after next.

 

I paid less than $200 for the chair through an on-line wheelchair site. Ours is a "push" travel chair, which means that it does not have the large wheels that allow the person to propel themselves. The benefit of this is that the chair weighs a lot less than a traditional wheelchair and takes up less space when folded up.

 

We wheel her right to the plane and gate check the chair, just like you would a child's stroller.

 

You can see an example here: http://www.1800wheelchair.com/asp/view-product.asp?product_id=1907 This one is similar to the one I bought for my mother and it's less than $150.

[briody]

Can you tell me where you got the wheelchair? I am going on AMA also early June. Did you get it when you landed in Europe or did you get it in the USA and taking it with you.

 

Thanks

[briody]

I didn't see the link - thanks. I will definitely look into this.

[LHT28]

Another thing to consider

I have read that sometimes the river boats raft up together at the dock & you have to traverse over a couple a boats to get to shore

Can she do this if need be?

 

Or maybe she will just enjoy the ship that day

 

Lyn

[Riviera bound]

Can you tell me where you got the wheelchair? I am going on AMA also early June. Did you get it when you landed in Europe or did you get it in the USA and taking it with you.

 

Thanks

 

Briody,

 

Excuse me for jumping in here but this may help. I do Parish Nursing for our church and we maintain a medical closet to loan out equipment to those in need. We purchased what is called a transport chair from Walgreens last year for 99 dollars (sale price but they run ads frequently). You can also order them online and have it delivered to your home. One of our members took her mother on a cruise, took it with them and it was perfect she said.

[gnome12]

There were some spots where we needed to get up to the sundeck in order to leave the ship (Uniworld River Countess). This would require at least a chairlift to the sundeck level, which we did not have (but Uniworld's River Queen did). It will be very important to check with the cruise line, because you don't want to miss an interesting tour because you can't get off the ship.

 

One thing to note is that almost all tours are mostly walking tours. The cruise director will make suggestions for spots where it is hard to get around (sometimes people took a taxi to meet the group somewhere) but you will miss certain things.

[briody]

Thanks everyone - to be on the safe side I am going to get the wheelchair. My mother-in-law can walk but I think after 2 hours of walking she may be tired and for the afternoons if she does not want to stay on the boat she can do the towns with us. My concern was mostly for the afternoons in Prague, Vienna and Budapest.

 

Thanks again

[euro cruiser]

It really has worked out well for our whole family. My mother walks and drives, but doesn't have a lot of stamina. The chair allows us to go all day without leaving her behind, or having her feel that she's holding us back.