Scooter use on NCL Dawn

[teeoc79]

Hi All:

 

Lomg time reader, first time poster! :D My DW had bad knees and needs to use her scooter on board the ship. First time sailing on an NCL ship and we are concerned about use of a three wheel scooter on board the ship. Has anyone had any issues with taking your scooter on board the ship? How are bottom ledges of doorways, especially in public areas? How many electrical outlets in a mini suite cabin?

[Ask4Jay]

I cannot provide any specific questions. However, we cruise with a wheelchair-bound friend. So I have become aware of some of the concerns. I have seen a good number of scooters in the MDR and buffet. There are no thresholds in any of the public spaces. Our friend cruises in a HC cabin, electric door opener and no threshold. HC cabins are close to the elevators because wheelchairs and the hallway carpeting don't get along too well. I guess that may not be a problem for a scooter. There are also crew members who are ready to help with boarding and disembarkation, also at the restaurant entrance.

 

 

via iPod touch and Tapatalk.

[Pokeraddict]

Go back to main page and scroll down for Special Interest Cruising board and the first topic is Disabled Cruise Travel you may find your info there.

[bakerintn]

The cabin doorways are 26" wide with the door open....check the scooter width. Also, there won't be much room to store a scooter in a regular (non handicap) cabin, so you will be tripping over it. You can't store a scooter in the narrow hallway.

 

Have you tried to get a handicap cabin??

 

You will find that all the doors that lead outside will have thresholds...however, each has a small tapered ramp on both sides of the threshold.

[oLEEander]

Please do yourself a favor and book a handicap room. My mother who uses a scooter refused to do so saying she'd be fine in a regular stateroom. The scooter did fit through the door but not much further, so it blocked access to the bathroom. I still can't figure out how she managed to climb over and around that scooter all week long to open the door or use the loo. She did finally agree that perhaps saving the handicap cabin for some one who needs it more, wasn't such a good idea.

[teeoc79]

I cannot provide any specific questions. However, we cruise with a wheelchair-bound friend. So I have become aware of some of the concerns. I have seen a good number of scooters in the MDR and buffet. There are no thresholds in any of the public spaces. Our friend cruises in a HC cabin, electric door opener and no threshold. HC cabins are close to the elevators because wheelchairs and the hallway carpeting don't get along too well. I guess that may not be a problem for a scooter. There are also crew members who are ready to help with boarding and disembarkation, also at the restaurant entrance.

 

 

via iPod touch and Tapatalk.

Thanks Juergen! Scooters and carpets are an issue RE: Battery drain, but a scooter does have an easier time of it! We are not staying in a HC Cabin, a mini suite will be our cabin. Thanks for mentioning the restaurant spaces, given the prohibition of scooters in the hallways of the stateroom, I was worried about parking in the public spaces.

[teeoc79]

Go back to main page and scroll down for Special Interest Cruising board and the first topic is Disabled Cruise Travel you may find your info there.

Thanks for the heads up! I did not have enough time to do that when I first posted my question, will be looking at that special interest board today, will also post an inquiry over there if needed :-)

[dirienzo]

The HC mini suites on the Dawn are great....maybe you should try to get one. They are twice as big, have 2 sliders to a huge balcony( a ramp goes up to one of them for balcony access). We had 11116.

[teeoc79]

The cabin doorways are 26" wide with the door open....check the scooter width. Also, there won't be much room to store a scooter in a regular (non handicap) cabin, so you will be tripping over it. You can't store a scooter in the narrow hallway.

 

Have you tried to get a handicap cabin??

 

You will find that all the doors that lead outside will have thresholds...however, each has a small tapered ramp on both sides of the threshold.

Awesome, thanks! I am so glad that the doors are wider than the scooter and that there are small ramps going up and down to the doors leading to the outside decks, that is what we found on the Disney ships! Breathing a little easier now. Do you know how high the beds are in the mini suites? I know that some parts of the scooter cannot go under the bed, but there is a portion of the scooter that is fairly flat and detaches from the rear wheels, we are hoping we can stow it there!

[teeoc79]

Thanks for the input Dirienzo. I will check out the floorplans! Certain features of HC Cabins don't work well for our situation and there are cruisers out there who need an HC Cabin so much more than we do, we don't feel right about taking a cabin that they may need:)

[teeoc79]

Hi Leanne! You anticipated the response I just wrote to dirienzo's post! Sorry for your mother's clogged hallway! Depending on our hotel rooms, we have the same problems sometimes with the vanity area and the kitchenttes. Does anyone remember if NCL was one of the cruise lines mentioned in a CruiseCritic article some time back on the ten best cruise lines for accessable travel?

[dirienzo]

Teeoc-

We actually didn't need the HC cabin, but since we booked last minute, we were asked if we wanted it with the stipulation that we would give it up if it were needed. We loved the extra space and especially the balcony which was about 20 ft long I think. I don't know how high the bed was, but our suitcases did slide easily underneath.

[bakerintn]

The main entrance to the aft main dinning room is not handicap friendly. There is an elevator there that will take you down one floor to the main floor of the restaurant. That is the only way you can get there.

 

With a small scooter, she should be able to just sit in the scooter for a meal.

 

Your mini suite will have the same narrow hallway leading into your cabin as an inside or balcony...parking the scooter there can be a hazard, but that is up to you.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Charbie]

Hi All:

 

Lomg time reader, first time poster! :D My DW had bad knees and needs to use her scooter on board the ship. First time sailing on an NCL ship and we are concerned about use of a three wheel scooter on board the ship. Has anyone had any issues with taking your scooter on board the ship? How are bottom ledges of doorways, especially in public areas? How many electrical outlets in a mini suite cabin?

 

Hello, BRING AN EXTENSION CORD FOR EXTRA OUTLETS! We were in the SC Family Suite (with my parents, my daughter and grandson & Me - 5 of us) last year for DAWN Bermuda cruise, my Dad kept his rented 3-wheel scooter in the master bedroom. It was awkward, took up lots of room, and needed it's own plug -- but for the most part he got around ship and on and off pretty easily. Getting on and off Ferry was a breeze too. He didn't use the bus, so I am not sure how that would have been. Plus he's not use to using a scooter. The only other time we got one was when we went to Disneyworld.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Karen

[wahine56]

Hi All:

 

Lomg time reader, first time poster! :D My DW had bad knees and needs to use her scooter on board the ship. First time sailing on an NCL ship and we are concerned about use of a three wheel scooter on board the ship. Has anyone had any issues with taking your scooter on board the ship? How are bottom ledges of doorways, especially in public areas? How many electrical outlets in a mini suite cabin?

 

I took mine on the Epic and had no issues at all, next cruise is on the Dawn in Nov and its going. I have the same problem, its my knees, can't walk long distances. I took the last cabin, so I'll see if there's any room for it outside or we'll take it apart if we have to. Have a great trip, I also had no problem with the carpets or the battery draining, except for Atlantic City between the carpets and the wind on the boardwalk, but it still lasted the day.:p

 

Pat