tenders on Westerdam

[Ians Grandma]

Has anyone who is in a chair full time sailed on the Westerdam? I was told that people in chairs can be loaded on the regular tenders. My son cannot get out of his chair. Thank you.

[Ians Grandma]

Sorry, I posted twice and I don't see how to delete this. Help?

[kitty9]

My friend who's in a wheelchair full time could not go onto the tenders because he's full time and cannot walk at all. Another friend could go because she can walk the steps onto the tender, and the crew folded and stored the wheelchair for the ride. Because of liability issues, they will not carry on a person sitting in a wheelchair or scooter. If the seas are even a tiny bit bumpy, it could be a disaster.

[Splinter]

I have not been on that HAL ship, but is that one that is equipped with a tender lift (like the Ryndam or Statendam)? If so, then you can go on the tender lift onto one of the tenders that is equipped to accommodate this (not every tender). They will schedule you for a time...it is difficult to get them to let you do this early in the day, which is a problem for us. The lift works well, but will only accommodate manual wheelchairs of not more than 18" width. We always take a manual chair for shore use anyway, leaving the power wheelchair on the ship. HAL is one of the few cruise lines that will accommodate a wheelchair user on tenders now days.

[IRL_Joanie]

Has anyone who is in a chair full time sailed on the Westerdam? I was told that people in chairs can be loaded on the regular tenders. My son cannot get out of his chair. Thank you.

All of the Holland America Line Vista ships, Noordam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Zuiderdam have special Lifts for those of us in Electric Wheelchairs and Scooters for tender usage/Boarding off of and back onto the ships:) There is a special elevator to get to the lift which you can arrange through HAL.

 

I've used the ones on Oosterdam and Westerdam both and will be using the one on Zuiderdam in September and Noordam in March:)

 

Non HC passengers will go down the stairs.

 

Below is a photo from the Oosterdam of the Wheelchair/Scooter special tender access onto a tender:

(Click on the photo to see each photo full sized) The open Doorway where the young man is standing is right next to the special elevator (which btw only holds one wheelchair or scooter at a time. I do not know if a non HC person woud fit with one or not, I truly do not remember)

 

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Joanie

[xxoocruiser]

Has anyone who is in a chair full time sailed on the Westerdam? I was told that people in chairs can be loaded on the regular tenders. My son cannot get out of his chair. Thank you.

 

Holland America was the first cruise line ( maybe even the only) to have lifts on the tenders. View this video . http://www.hollandamerica.com/virtual-tours-videos/Main.action?cat=dining&type=video&id=8 Tendering starts around the 7Minute mark in case you don't want to watch the entire video.

[IRL_Joanie]

Holland America was the first cruise line ( maybe even the only) to have lifts on the tenders. View this video . http://www.hollandamerica.com/virtual-tours-videos/Main.action?cat=dining&type=video&id=8 Tendering starts around the 7Minute mark in case you don't want to watch the entire video.

That Is A GREAT VIDEO!!! Thank You so much for that!! It definitely shows so much better than still photos exactly what I wanted to explain!!

 

Joanie

[PennyAgain]

Absolutely fantastic video! Answered many questions. xxoocruiser, Thank you for posting it.

 

My needs at this time are limited to needing a shower rather than a bath tub. I'll telephone that dept.

[Ians Grandma]

Thank you to everyone for posting. The lift in the video looks great! We always choose Holland America because they really do a great job improving accessibilty. The Westerdam looks like it will make it a lot easier to get off of the ship compared to the older vessels, such as the Rotterdam or Statendam.