Wheelchair assistance at embarkation

[Desert Cruizers]

I hope Vancouver is equally efficient as yours in SF and we meet Reps outside.

 

Gay

[whirledpeas]

thanks for this thread. we are traveling Princess out of Port Everglades in 2 weeks. is there a place on my booking that i can indicate that i need a wheelchair for the cruise terminal? i don't need one to get on the ship. it's the long line and standing that i can't do. i see that otherwise, i just ask a Princess rep? btw, we are elite.

[moki'smommy]

Our experience has varied based on the cruise line and the port. Princess makes it very clear that their wheelchairs are for embarkation and disembarkation only and that if you need one on the ship, you must bring your own. There are lots of kinds of wheelchairs depending on your needs. If it is a "full time need" situation, most third party payers will cover the cost of a custom chair typically once every five years. If it is a sporadic, can't walk long distances situation, I'd recommend checking with second hand stores. They can typically be purchased for $25 or less; some places even give chairs to people who need them. The airline will fly the chair at no cost.

 

Ports....everything from meeting person at curb with chair (drop off, notify porter who will call for a chair which the person will be able to stay in until boarding the ship) to none being available for use in the terminal; pushers with chairs appeared at the HA waiting area for boarding assistance, whether you had your own chair or were using theirs. I LOVE the reports of "going to the front of the lines." This has never happened to us (35 cruises and counting). We are typically pulled from the regular screening line and taken to a different area, but not till we are near the screener. In fact, we have had to request a place where our mobility impaired family member could sit, specifying that we did not need to cut the line, but that she could not stand with her braces and walker until we neared the front. (Galveston, Princess) After screening, we go to check in and then to an HA assist waiting area. Sometime after boarding has started, the "pushers" show up and take us to her room. I take the walker and she rides in the wheelchair.

 

Disembarkation has ranged from totally smooth to a nightmare. There is a wheelchair assist disembarkation waiting area on Princess, but they don't always have enough chairs or pushers. We had to wait for an hour past our disembarkation time on one cruise because we were consistently told it would be "just a minute." You never know who steep the walkways will be or how long! Sometimes she has been taken thru Customs and to the transportation area; other times she has been required to exit the chair as soon as the ramps part was completed.

 

No way the HA assist is as seamless or consistent as it is at most airports, although we have learned to avoid certain airports! My suggestion--if she needs a chair for anything beyond going from the HA assist area to her cabin on the ship, bring your own. You can have a strong guy push the chair while boarding (the ramps can be steep). But that will give you a chair from the time you get out of the hotel shuttle or your vehicle till she is back home. You can rent a chair for a trip, but it will cost more than the purchase of a second hand one.