Scotter use on cruise ship

[b7440]

I will be taking My first cruise where I need to use a scotter. My question is, when going on a shore excursion, I can walk with the help of my walker, but it's a long walk and sometimes a lot of standing getting to the shore excursion meeting spot. Can I take the scotter down to the ecurity check point and leave it at the gangplank, then use my walker to get on the tour bus.

[HamburgAvonLady]

Depends on the ship and cruise line you are taking --- have your TA call and ask the "special needs desk" what the policies are. Depends on the ship, ports, tenders and weather conditions --- all factor into this.

[cjm66]

I will be taking My first cruise where I need to use a scotter. My question is, when going on a shore excursion, I can walk with the help of my walker, but it's a long walk and sometimes a lot of standing getting to the shore excursion meeting spot. Can I take the scotter down to the ecurity check point and leave it at the gangplank, then use my walker to get on the tour bus.

 

It will vary according to cruise line, ship and port. The accessability section is a starting point.

 

We handle this by researching and then booking excursions we like the sound of ahead of time - being careful, if it is a ship's tour and the line is one that requires up front credit card payment for on line bookings, to check that we will be able to cancel without penalty on board. We then consult with the on board shore excursion staff in terms of your question, the details of the excursion and also the distance from the gangway to the collection point for the excursion. Our scooter folds up and will fit into the luggage bay of a modern large coach so sometimes we have lucked out and been able to scoot all the way to the bus and store it in the side baggage area. On one cruise the shore excursions desk emailed ahead to check if the bus was a modern one with storage. One was - we were expected and conducted to that bus. Rarely have we been able to get detailed and port specific answers from shore based staff except in very general terms about tendering, gangway assistance etc.

[nieciez]

Like said, this is not set in stone for any line, ship or port. I have been able to leave mine on the ship with security but put out of their way and we have also left it in the port terminal in a out of the way location OKed by port personnel. We "locked" it with a bike lock to a pole in the terminal. Left unlocked onboard the ship so that security could move it if they needed to. And if you get the Tzora if the tour is using a large tour bus you can fold it up and put it in the luggage area...or even on large mini-busses if they have storage in the back...we've done that in the past too. And other times the tour operator had an office on shore and they kept my scooter in their office.

[kitty9]

I've seen this done on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. But you must arrange to have it done at the guest services desk. You drive your scooter to the gathering spot, and then a crew member will ride the scooter back to the ship. The big problem will be when you return to the ship after your tour. Someone will have to walk back to the ship to get the scooter and bring it to you.

 

But as others have said, rules vary from port to port and it might not be allowed everywhere.

[JoyFrances]

We were on Celebrity's Equinox a few years ago and a fellow passenger with breathing issues used a very large scooter. The Concierge Desk arranged for him to park his scooter at the end of the piers (in all ports) at the Tourist Information Office. He took the key and then boarded the bus. When he came back from the tour, he just got back on his scooter and drove back to the ship. We were in the Caribbean at the time.