Rent or Bring Your Own Mobility Scooter ?

[franperry4]

I rented a Pride Go-Go Elite before I bought mine, it was good that I got to take a 1 week test ride before spending the 1k on it.

 

My friend and I are cruising on Holland America departing Buenos Aires, Argentina and ending in Santiago, Chile. The scooter rental company told her that because we depart from one country and end the cruise in another country, they will not rent the scooter to her.

 

Has anyone encountered this problem and how did you solve it (other than buying your own and bringing it)?

[sherilyn70]

My friend and I are cruising on Holland America departing Buenos Aires, Argentina and ending in Santiago, Chile. The scooter rental company told her that because we depart from one country and end the cruise in another country, they will not rent the scooter to her.

 

Has anyone encountered this problem and how did you solve it (other than buying your own and bringing it)?

Rent local and take it with you. We did this in January for my father in law. 1 week rental work my own pickup was right around $100. We had him take it through the airport (just like I did with my own) and it worked out well for him.

[Rwethereyet2]

I vote bring your own.

 

Brittany C

 

I’m in the same boat LOL. April will be the first time I’ll need to bring a scooter on a cruise or any trip. I do have a go go Elite 4 wheeler. I have thought of bringing mine. But after much thought I decided to research a travel scooter. I had the Travelscoot in mind. But my DW with her infinite wisdom felt it looked just not comfortable and the foot pegs concerned her. She showed me one called the Luggie. It folds up to the size of a large suit case. I looked at it and just kept telling my DW no I didn’t like it. But I looked at it some more. Did a lot of research and the more I read the more I like it. I ordered it. It was shipped last Monday and arrived Friday. I’ve had a few days to play with it and I hate to say it but she was right, AGAIN. God I hate what she is right, and she is aways right. After 33 years I haven’t learned to just give in right away and say yes dear. Because I know she will ultimately be right.

 

So I vote take your own. You may need one at home in the future and you’ll have one.

 

Kevin

__________________

 

Saw an older post of yours that you are a Luggie scooter user. I purchased my Luggie several months ago and i am very pleased with it. I have a west coast cruise on the Crown princess in October and this will be my first experience on board. Any words of advice? Do you ride your scooter when embarking? I would love to ride mine to board, but i'm very concerned about the steep gangway. All information would be greatly appreciated.

[RuthC]

My friend and I are cruising on Holland America departing Buenos Aires, Argentina and ending in Santiago, Chile. The scooter rental company told her that because we depart from one country and end the cruise in another country, they will not rent the scooter to her.

 

Has anyone encountered this problem and how did you solve it (other than buying your own and bringing it)?

Which company did you contact? I would try the other company that services HAL, if I were you.

 

I have done one-way rentals a couple of times, from Sydney, Australia to Seattle, Washington, and from Hong Kong to Vancouver---both on Holland America. I used Special Needs At Sea both times, and didn't have a problem renting. My only concern was would they have availability in my boarding ports. (Of course, there is an additional fee for one-way.)

 

Was that the problem in your case? Your ports are exotic, so don't have the demand that some other ports (like for the Caribbean) have.

[Jersey Cruisers]

Will soon be sailing on the Star Princess and will be requiring a mobility scooter for the first time. I was wondering if you prefer to rent or bring your own mobility scooter. I have found a reasonably priced one on the web, which would basically pay for itself after renting one on 2 cruises.

 

Also, the one I'm considering purchasing (a 3-wheel) is 22" at it's widest point, basically between the two rear tires. We're not in an accessible cabin, so was concerned about door clearance. Could not locate anything on Princess' website, so called Princess and was told the standard door clearance for a mini-suite is 24", so it should fit through, right ? :confused:

 

Best rental quote I found was from "Special Needs at Sea" and the scooter will be waiting for me in my stateroom when I embark. Any thoughts or suggestions.

 

Thanks to all who reply.

----------------------------------------

I just came across this thread, and I wanted to add a word of caution: It may sound obvious, but make sure the cruise line ALLOWS portable mobility scooters onboard. I recently found out that Viking Ocean Cruises does not allow them onbboard. And I'm referring to their new Ocean cruises, not their river cruises (which I already knew weren't allowed.) I'm booked for the Viking Star Feb 14, 2016, cruise and I'm very disappointed that I can only bring a collapsible wheelchair. I don't know of any other ocean cruise lines (even those with smaller ships) that do not allow them.

[dramqueenuk]

Hi.

 

I'm taking my Gran on an Alaskan cruise in August. She can work short distances but struggles with stairs (one or two is OK). She's quite slow when walking. I was considering the merits of taking her collapsible manual wheelchair versus her scooter, which can also be dismantled. The airline will accept either and both can fit in the trunk of the car we'll be hiring in Canada. When we're in cities and wandering about, the scooter is much better as I don't need to be involved in any pushing but I wonder if this is more difficult with excursions from the cruise ship. Would it be easier to manage the manual wheelchair or do I not have to worry about the scooter? (Travelling on Celebrity in an accessible balcony cabin).

 

Thanks for any advice! :)

[jpcello]

Hi.

 

I'm taking my Gran on an Alaskan cruise in August. She can work short distances but struggles with stairs (one or two is OK). She's quite slow when walking. I was considering the merits of taking her collapsible manual wheelchair versus her scooter, which can also be dismantled. The airline will accept either and both can fit in the trunk of the car we'll be hiring in Canada. When we're in cities and wandering about, the scooter is much better as I don't need to be involved in any pushing but I wonder if this is more difficult with excursions from the cruise ship. Would it be easier to manage the manual wheelchair or do I not have to worry about the scooter? (Travelling on Celebrity in an accessible balcony cabin).

 

Thanks for any advice! :)

 

If it's her personal scooter, that means she's comfortable operating it. She can get on and off the ship with the scooter no problem and you'll be there to assist if she does run into a problem. My sister and I did Celebrity with her scooter and we didn't have any problems. All the excursions we took were Celebrity-sponsored accessible excursions. We went whale watching, and did a glacier tour (obviously she could only get to parts). Personally I think you'd both enjoy the cruise more if she's in a scooter vs a manual wheelchair. The ship will also be easier for her to navigate, otherwise she's going to have to rely on you to push her in the wheelchair.

[KruiserKat]

Will soon be sailing on the Star Princess and will be requiring a mobility scooter for the first time. I was wondering if you prefer to rent or bring your own mobility scooter. I have found a reasonably priced one on the web, which would basically pay for itself after renting one on 2 cruises.

 

Also, the one I'm considering purchasing (a 3-wheel) is 22" at it's widest point, basically between the two rear tires. We're not in an accessible cabin, so was concerned about door clearance. Could not locate anything on Princess' website, so called Princess and was told the standard door clearance for a mini-suite is 24", so it should fit through, right ? :confused:

 

Best rental quote I found was from "Special Needs at Sea" and the scooter will be waiting for me in my stateroom when I embark. Any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks to all who reply.

 

I would strongly recommend the Shoprider Hero. Look at the specs-it's only 20" wide. Best price I found was Vitality Medical (special price $571) or Walgreens-$579. Take a look!

[Id rather be diving]

I've seen the couple of posts about the Luggie. We originally rented a Luggie for our roundtrip Hawaii cruise from SF. We rented it locally in SF and then were going to return it before departing, but my mom decided she wanted to use it through the airport. We then mailed it back when we got home.

 

Fast forward a couple of years and my husband now needed a scooter. We both really loved the Luggie when we rented it for mom. It is a great size, and although it is heavier than other scooters it works for us. So, we bought it.

 

First - airports - He rides it through the security and they check him and the scooter separately. We have had times that the check is fast and other times where it has taken a long time. We always allow enough time so not to feel rushed. He rides it down the elevator, onto the train, and to the gate. Then at the gate, he gets a gate check tag and then rides it down the jetway. Because of the scooter, we are always allowed on the airplane first to give him time and not be rushed. He gets off at the end of the jetway, I take out the battery, we only fold down the tiller and the seat. We do not fold it in half. The very first time we folded it in half, Frontier broke the controller. My husband was able to install a new one (quite easy) when we got home, but was a pain to use the broken controller while on our cruise. So, now we just leave it open but put the seat down over the tiller so the contoller is not exposed. When we get to the next airport, we wait until everyone is off the plane, then we get out. Most of the time the scooter is there waiting, but a few times we've had to wait for it to be brought from the belly of the plane.

 

I do always let the airline know ahead of time that we are bringing it. We have had one time where there was an issue. Last fall we flew on United from Denver to Dulles to Munich and then onto Rome. In Munich it was a code share with Luftansana Airlines - even though I had booked it all through Untied. They were not going to let him take it onboard because we had not told them ahead of time. We went round and round with the gate agent, because clearly we had gotten to Munich on a United flight. In the end, they finally let him on but then the flight attendant told us when we got to Rome that it would be at luggage. I told them to then get us a wheelchair because he could not walk to luggage. Again, in the end they brought his scooter up from the belly of the plane. It was a bit frustrating dealing with them.

 

Cruise ships: There is a separate line for people with mobility issues so we usually move pretty quickly in boarding. He has driven his scooter onto and off the ship. In some ports when tide is low, they will assist him to make sure he doesn't just go careening down the gangplank. In my opinion, the Luggie is the best scooter out there for cruise ships. It has a wonderful turning radius and is narrow enough that my husband can get by in the hallways, even if the steward has his/her cleaning cart out in the hallway. I've seen lots of other scooters that have to go the other way to get to an area that the cart is not in so they can get around. Not so with the Luggie. We have cruised with both Princess and Celebrity in a non-handicap room with the LUggie and it has worked out beautifully. However, on Celebrity there is a threshold on the door to the cabin, so he could not just drive the scooter into the room. He would have to get off and one of us would lift it over the threshold. He was always with me or our grandson or my sister so it wasn't a problem but could have been a bit harder if he was going to and from the room by himself. The Princess ships do not have that threshold so very easy to get in and out, if you can get the door open by yourself. He is able to do that. This next two cruises we will be in a handicap acessible room so we'll see the difference.

 

Ports: He has been able to get all around in the ports that we have been to. He even has been able to use it on cobblestone streets of Rome, Florenece, Barcelona. The only time in Rome he couldn't use it was at the Forum as those big river rocks are too far apart and create too large of spaces between the rocks. We mostly use private excursions and have only had one issue where the car did not have room for it. We were supposed to have six people on the tour, but one of the participants was sick that day so she didn't go. So, the driver took one seat out and we were able to put his scooter in. However, if she had come, I would have made the driver get a different vehicle because there was no way that all six of us could have fit in that car -even without the issue of the scooter. In the future, however, I will confirm with tour companies that they have room for it. All the other private tours we had, there were no problems. We even squeezed four of us in a taxi and the scooter in the trunk in small cabs in Rome. Thankfully we all had showered that day!!!;)

The tours we have taken through the ship have always been fine. They use those big tour buses so it's never an issue taking it there. I do make sure that the tour allows it...making sure there aren't stairs, etc.

 

Almost always there are people around to help if you need it. The only times we've encountered issues were getting onto the elevators on the ships. We would be standing at the elevator waiting for one to arrive, people would come up after us and then just push in ahead of us. I've gotten to the point where I just "box out" when the elevator arrives and simply put my hand up and ask people to wait.

 

So, all in all we love the Luggie. Everytime we go through an airport, people ask about it. If you have any questions about it, please let me know and I'll be happy to answer them as the best I can.

 

Kari

[Boozebabe]

Will soon be sailing on the Star Princess and will be requiring a mobility scooter for the first time. I was wondering if you prefer to rent or bring your own mobility scooter. I have found a reasonably priced one on the web, which would basically pay for itself after renting one on 2 cruises.

 

Also, the one I'm considering purchasing (a 3-wheel) is 22" at it's widest point, basically between the two rear tires. We're not in an accessible cabin, so was concerned about door clearance. Could not locate anything on Princess' website, so called Princess and was told the standard door clearance for a mini-suite is 24", so it should fit through, right ? :confused:

 

Best rental quote I found was from "Special Needs at Sea" and the scooter will be waiting for me in my stateroom when I embark. Any thoughts or suggestions.

 

Thanks to all who reply.

 

I took my own last week on Carnival. I agree about buying your own. It was a VERY tight squeeze getting thru the door but I did it. Mine is also 3 wheeled so the turning radius is very good. It will take a few attempts to get it thru but you'll get the hand of it. We had a suite so there was plenty room for it. BTW my scooter is exactly 22' but we took the arm rests off and it fit with about 1/4 inch of clearance left.

 

Another consideration is a persons weight. Check out weight limits before you buy. If you rent, they ask the persons weight and height and will provide the proper scooter.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Boozebabe